April 29, 1991

The collapse of the protest that disrupted the City University of New York for three weeks shows clearly that students were grappling with a different universe of forces than in victorious insurrections of the past. The students' argument this time -- over a $500 tuition increase and cuts in spending and financial aid -- was entirely with Gov. Mario M. Cuomo and the State Legislature, and not at all with the university itself. There were no local grievances, like grading policies, around which students coalesced in 1989 that served to broaden opposition to tuition increases.

Gary H. Ruping, a builder in suburban Burlington, Mass., recently sold a new $400,000 house, no mean feat with the recession gripping New England. But his buyer was denied an occupancy permit because a court ban is preventing most new occupants from connecting to the local sewer lines. "I'm basically out of business until this clears up," Mr. Ruping said, "and I know a lot of other developers with viable deals who can't put people in houses."

After a grim weekend reviewing painful proposals to slash city services, Mayor David N. Dinkins last night asked labor leaders and city and state officials, including Gov. Mario M. Cuomo, to join him this week for what city leaders called a crucial meeting to discuss the city's worsening plight. City officials said that at the meeting, Mr. Dinkins would lay out a plan that would include thousands of layoffs to close a budget gap of $3.5 billion for the fiscal year that begins on July 1 and would ask for immediate concessions from the state and from unions to head off the worst of the cuts.

The ice on the rivers is breaking up, talk of baseball is cropping up in conversations about hockey and final reports are in on the past winter's tests at the nearby General Motors' Cold Weather Development Center. It is tough, though, for residents of this tight-knit community of 12,000 about 500 miles north of Toronto to enjoy the subtle shifts of springtime. The future of the Spruce Falls Paper and Power Company is in doubt and, along with it life as Kapuskasing (kaa-puhs-KAY-sing) has known it for generations.

Caroline Sheedy says she will not be at the Woodson County Courthouse in Yates Center, Kan., on Monday when part of her family's grazing land is scheduled to be sold to the highest bidder. The 1,840 acres of rolling grasslands, rented to ranchers for their herds of cattle, has been in the family for more than 50 years. But Mrs. Sheedy, the 70-year-old widow of a decorated World War II veteran, and her family are on the verge of losing it.