June 1, 1975

June 1: US officials believe that likelihood of resumption of step-by-step approach toward peace settlement in Middle East is increasing; reporters aboard Air Force 1 carrying Pres Ford and Sec Kissinger from Brussels to Madrid are told that Ford's meeting with Egyptian Pres Sadat in Salzburg will be 'very important, crucial meeting'; are told that unless there is some progress toward peace 'it is mathematically certain' that war will break out in 6 mos to 2 yrs; US officials believe there has been resurgence of interest in step-by-step efforts toward peace and that USSR, which has been strongest proponent of Geneva peace conf, has become aware of complexities of full-scale Geneva meeting and consequences of failure; do not expect any 'spectacular' announcements after Sadat-Ford meeting because developments at Salzburg will have to be presented to Israeli Premier Yitzhak Rabin on June 11 and 12 before they become public (M)

Iran has signed multimillion-dollar contract with US defense contractor to set up communications intelligence facility in Iran that would be capable of intercepting mil and civilian communications throughout Persian Gulf area; contract, which has been confirmed by State Dept, calls for Rockwell Internatl Corp to recruit former employes of Natl Security Agency (NSA) and its Air Force component, Air Force Security Service (AFSS) for project; intelligence officials describe agreement as unusual because it provides for direct recruitment of past and present NSA and AFSS staff, many of whom have, or have had, access to intelligence techniques; contract reptdly calls for initial payment of $50-million with Iranian facility code-named Ibex, eventually to cost as much as $500-million; US Amb Richard M Helms has reptdly played role in developing Iran's basic communications intelligence needs and is involved in new project; sources say Shah of Iran is planning to use both airborne and ground-based equipment in communication intelligence system (L)

Experts rept alternatives worth hundreds of millions of dollars available to NYC Mayor Beame to avoid threatened discharge of city employes; among them are: raising transit fares; extending sales tax; increasing real estate tax; speeding payment for city bills to win price cuts; closing 4 zoos, munic radio and TV stations, Office for Veterans Action, Human Rights Comm and other agencies that are either nonessential or duplicate work of Fed and state agencies; asking CUNY teachers to take 1 more teaching hr a day; contracting out to private businesses services that they can provide more cheaply than city depts; Beame's press repr Sidney J Frigand says that Beame does not see alternatives as desirable or useful; says that Beame may use authority he already has to impose nuisance taxes; says that Beame has not foreclosed possibility that at least some of staff reductions in Police, Fire and Sanitation Depts can be canceled if other ways of cutting budget are found; says that transit fares may have to be raised next yr, but sees fare rise now as tantamount to putting new tax on public; says that Beame rejects raising real estate tax to $8.49 for each $100 of assessed valuation; comments on other proposals (L)

The U.S. Steel Corporation, in a reversal of policy, agreed to pay an unusual $35,000 penalty for an extra 13 months to clean up its openhearth furnaces in Birmingham, Ala. Page 51.

Survey on increasing trend toward students who are performing coll-level work before they finish hs or combining it with freshman yr of coll to achieve bachelor's degree at earlier age; hs and coll officials are concerned about educ, financial and societal implications of shift in traditional acad structure; Yale Dean Dr Martin I J Griffin Jr holds duration at coll is vital ingredient in degree; Yale has found 20% to 25% of its students are eligible to graduate in less than 4 yrs; weighed ending system of acceleration on basis of advanced work done in hs, but decided move would make it more difficult to attract superior students; College Entrance Exam Bd's Advanced Placement Program, main vehicle for providing hs students with coll-level work, discussed; Simon's Rock Coll, Great Barrington, Mass, accepts hs-age students and gradually eases them into higher educ; schools such as Rockland County, NY, Community College offer part-time enrollment for hs students; other coll programs for hs students noted (L)