Calendar: 1975-1976 Page 410

xxxviii Annual Report of the Delegacy house refectories the Union common rooms and some improved accommodation for Engineering It is now due to be completed early in 1975 But this is likely to be the last major project we can expect for some time And proposal included in the Sketch Design List for 1975-76 for expenditure of £50 000 to create 100 additional places for arts-based students already included in the student targets for 1976-77 will now almost certainly be deferred too But perhaps the severest cuts have been imposed upon the equipment and furniture grants for the Universities The £3 7m including supplementation originally allocated for 1974-75 has been reduced by £125 The total cut was at first greater £15m but the UGC has by the use of reserves reduced this by £25 and it has been reduced therefore by £12 5m For this the Universities can only be thankful it might have been worse But to some extent the Universities have only themselves to blame for this cut for they had been allowing substantial and growing unspent balances to accrue to their furniture and equipment funds and had attracted unfavourable comment from the Public Accounts Committee The grant was therefore natural candidate for reduction But since in these circumstances measure of rough justice is inevitable those institutions which like this college have small or non-existent balances will be more severely hit by the new cuts We have moreover in the coming year to find funds to equip the two new Engineering laboratories in Stage Ha for use by October 1975 am going to see little later on whether some of our old students might find it possible to help us here but the unavoidable conclusion from all this is that departments and individual staff and students in them must steel themselves for heavy cuts in furniture and equipment grants in 1974-75 leave the financial scene on what fear must be sombre note and am sorry to have bored you with it Housekeeping which is the essence of the operation in many respects isn't the most exciting of pursuits but it has to be reported on There are very many aspects of the teeming life in King's and many developments over the past few years which deserve attention can mention very few only One quite important fact to note is that in this time over the last few years the strident antics of anti-democrats have been absent from our scene Even those who hold with deep conviction views not shared by all their fellows have been prepared to concede that majorities too have rights But the assertion of rights is in any case totally meaningless without the acceptance of responsibilities am