October 29, 1974

NYC Bd of Educ will assume fiscal mgt of school Dists 5 (Central Harlem), 9 (Bronx) and 23 (Bklyn) because of abuses and shoddy practices, which it maintains may have resulted in waste or misuse of millions of dollars; task force of financial and business experts, headed by Deputy School Chancellor Bernard R Gifford; action by bd comes at time when number of city and state audits and continuing investigation by NY Times allegedly have found glaring examples of mismgt and seeming improprieties in number of decentralized dists; evidence uncovered indicates: conditions in Dist 5 are chaotic to extent dits is unable to put together acceptable fiscal budget for fiscal yr that began July 1; Dist 9 has spent thousands of dollars on consultants' fees but has been unable to produce many substantiating records requested by state auditors; Dist 9 also uses neighborhood workers to act as full-time receptionists and secretaries for local bd members, and has placed individuals on paraprofessional payroll despite protests that such action was in direct violation of decentralization law; in other dists dozens of teachers listed on school payrolls were working in non-pedagogical capacity (L)

former Pres Nixon's drs say Nixon will undergo 'urgent' surgery Oct 29 to clamp off a vein in his thigh and thereby prevent clot from running away and lodging in his lung; drs decided on surgery because vein X-ray test showed further larger clots extending into iliac vein and inferior vena cava in his pelvis and abdomen; Nixon agreed to undergo expected 1-hr operation because surgical consultants to Dr Eldon Hickman and Dr Wiley Barker said clot threatened to become pulmonary embolus and thus endanger Nixon's life; Dr John C Lungren says operation involves exceptional risk because Nixon is taking blood-thinning drugs; says Mrs Nixon and their 2 daughters were informed and agreed to need for surgery; cardiovascular surgeon Dr Scott Driscoll describes venograms done on Nixon and results; diagram showing technique for Nixon's medical tests (M)

RABAT, Morocco, Oct. 28—Arab heads of state, including King Hussein of Jordan, called unanimously today for the creation of an independent Palestinian state “on any Palestinian land that is liberated” from Israeli occupation.

NY Times survey finds widespread feeling that crime has become worse in NYS and that state adm has showed poorly on law-and-order issue, Yankelovich, Skelly and White poll; voters in survey rank crime behind only economy and tax reform as most pressing issue they would like next gov to tackle, although they do not think Dem Gov would handle crime much differently from Repub Gov; 56% say they have no confidence that robber would go to jail if caught; in NYC, 67% have no confidence; crime in NYC is 2d most urgent issue, surpassing tax reform; 55% of those interviewed say they worry about walking alone after dark; table shows breakdown of responses concerning fear of walking alone after dark; illus (L)

Watergate burglar E Howard Hunt Jr testifies in Watergate cover-up trial that he continued to withhold 'entire truth' until his Oct 28 '74 appearance in ct; says he lied to Watergate grand jury in spring '73, withheld full truth from Sen Watergate com when he testified there in Sept '73 and even withheld truth in his memoirs, whose publication date is 2 wks away; cover-up defendants and charges against them noted; William G Hundley, atty for J N Mitchell, objects after Hunt's testimony to Judge John J Sirica that Watergate prosecution had behaved improperly earlier in day when, he says, it indicated to Sirica that Hunt might he 'hostile' witness; prosecution had asked, and Sirica had agreed, that Hunt be designated 'ct witness' so that prosecution could have more than usual leeway in questioning him; Sirica rebuffs Hundley; Hunt's testimony in may ways is expanded version of his testimony at hearings, with some new details but with many of same statements, such as his admission of his role in helping to manage Watergate break-in; testifies that a $75,000 payment was delivered to his atty for him on night of Mar 21 '73; at Sen Watergate hearings, Hunt had been vague as to whether money was delivered on Mar 20 or Mar 21; importance of point noted; Hunt corrects previous untruths; tells of G Gordon Liddy's involvement in burglary; asst prosecutor Richard Ben-Veniste's questioning noted; Hunt tells why he has decided to tell full truth; Sirica says gag rule prohibiting statements by attys in case also applies to former Watergate prosecutor Leon Jaworski and to Philip A Lacovara, who resigned earlier as counsel to prosecutor; Hunt illus (L)