December 16, 1973

Party held on Dec 15 to pay off remaining $100,000 of Mayor Lindsay's Pres campaign debt described

tentative settlement Dec 14 of strike by TWA stewards and stewardesses that grounded line since Nov 5 expected to help situation on some routes when TWA gets flying again; line hopes to resume limited operations on Dec 19 and be back to normal Dec 21; US lines threatened with shutdown next weekend by some groups of pilots to protest Fed jet fuel allocations that have so far caused almost 2,000 pilots to be laid off; airline officials say they hope to halt any stoppages with ct injunctions

Pres Nixon on Dec 15 urges Cong to complete action before Christmas on legis providing emergency powers to conserve energy as he signs bill putting nation on yr-round daylight saving time starting Jan 6; refers to bill passed Nov 19 by Sen but watered down in 3 days of HR debate earlier this wk; HR passes bill, 265-112, shortly before 1:30 AM on Dec 15; Cong conf will meet on Dec 17 to resolve differences in 2 versions; illus of Capitol lighted up as HR works to pass legis; Nixon postpones annual med checkup until sometime next wk to discuss energy crisis with W E Simon, head of Fed Energy Office, and his deputy J C Sawhill; Simon tells news conf after meeting that Nixon views HR bill as 'basket case' and hopes that workable bill will emerge from Cong conf; refers specifically to amendments that he says are unacceptable to Pres; HR-and Sen-passed energy conservation bills compared; differences are such that long and difficult conf negotiations are likely

Britons face complete suspension of train service on Dec 16 as rr engineers, who have been engaged in slowdown that has reduced commuter traffic by more than 50%, plan to shut down Sunday service completely

educators are reptdly puzzled by steady 10-yr decline in hs students' scores on Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), underlined by low scores reptd on Dec 15 for this yr's grads; exam, sponsored by Coll Entrance Examination Bd, is principal admissions test used by many US colls; Dr W Angoff, official of Educ Testing Service, which prepares and scores exams for Coll Bd, says reason for drop has not been determined; some educ authorities have asserted that more students have been taking exam each yr, including mediocre students who previously would not have expected to attend coll; other possible explanations are that more students are taking test as jrs than as srs, and that fewer are taking test 2d time; unidentified Coll Bd official differs from this view, saying that number of students taking SAT has leveled off at about 1-million; suggests that it is time to seriously consider possibility that schools simply are not preparing students as well in math and verbal skills as they did in former yrs; Coll Bd official S McCandless comments; rept issued by Coll Bd shows that avg scores of '73 hs grads were 445 on verbal portion of exam and 481 on math portion, down from 478 and 502 in '63; test is scored on scale of 200 to 800, with students admitted to selective colls generally scoring above 600 on both parts; list of mean scores on exam, '63-73

UCLA defeats North Carolina State, 84-66, on Dec 15 in St Louis for its 79th consecutive basketball victory; illus

Faisal illus

Amer Psychiatric Assn, deciding on Dec 15 that homosexuality is not mental disorder, urges repeal of all legis making criminal offenses of sexual acts performed by consenting adults in private

Pres Nixon's intended gift to Amer people of his house and grounds in San Clemente, Calif, could give him big tax deduction at about time that 1 he claimed for donation of his pre-Pres papers runs out; new deduction could be spread out from '74 through '79; deed giving property to Govt has not yet been drawn up; gift of sort Nixon has pledged to make comes under special tax rules; since Nixons intend to use property throughout their lives and turn it over to US only after both are dead, they will be eligible for immediate tax deduction, but only for about 30% of value according to formula based on ages of donors at time they make gift; property is currently valued at $1.3-million by Calif authorities but some Calif public officials have argued that it ought to be valued as high as $2.9-million; thus, value of gift as tax deduction could range from about $390,000 to $870,000; entire deduction cannot be taken at once but may be spread over 6 yrs; in no yr may it be larger than 30% of donor's adjusted gross income; therefore, if Nixons continue to have annual income of about $260,000 they could deduct $78,000 a yr from their taxable income each yr for 6 yrs, or total of $468,000; if Nixon expects his income to rise considerably, his tax advisers might suggest that deed conveying property to US not be made right away as deductions begin in yr deed is made; White House press office member B Whelihan comments

heads of 9 EEC member countries on Dec 16 agree on statement on common energy policy; fail to agree on US Sec Kissinger's appeal for joint energy action group with US and Japan, setting guidelines only for Eur action at this stage; do not rule out Kissinger's proposal but decide for time being to use OECD as forum for coordinating with countries outside EEC

China is speeding up agr development of frontier regions to strengthen them against invasion and natural disasters

E E Mills lr on R Metz Nov 25 article on impact of oil shortage and Middle East embargo on stock prices asserts experts were always aware of risks involved in dependence on imports; says econ pressures to use cheaper imported oil resulted in intense pressure toward importation that has operated to detriment of resource development and contributed to present energy crisis