The Boston Globe from Boston, Massachusetts • 21

THE BOSTON GLOBE WEDNESDAY. APRIL 27, 1988 21 TV Radio 27 US says BHA can oust richer tenants xf) BELLA ENGLISH .5 v. r-7 By M.E. Malone Globe Staff Public housing tenants earning more than $40,000 a year can be forced to move out of subsidized apartments, a federal official said yesterday, contradicting statements by Mayor Flynn's administration that federal guidelines make it nearly impossible to evict such tenants. Jacqueline Roundtree, a spokeswoman for the regional office of the US Depart ment of Housing and Urban Development, challenged the city's assertion that it cannot evict from South Boston pub HUD officials are preparing a set of new guidelines to be released this summer that will make it virtually 5 impossible for a family of moderate or high i income to stay in public housing more than three years.

lic housing 20 families who reportedly earn more than $60,000 a year. "The city is interpreting our rules in a different manner than we interpret them," Roundtree said. Doris Bunte, Boston Housing Authority administrator, said -yesterday that federal rules prohibit the removal of a public housing tenant unless a comparably equipped apartment is available for the same rent in the private market. And, because of the high cost of private rental housing in the city, Bunte said she believes it is virtually impossible to evict high-income tenants. Nevertheless, she said the city is looking into the matter and "may very well" refuse to renew the leases of higher income tenants.

"We have to look at these on a case-by-case basis." Roundtree contradicted Bunte's interpretation of the HUD guideline, saying that the city need only "identify available affordable housing" before notifying tenants that their lease would not be renewed. She said it is not necessary for the city to find a similarly priced unit. In addition, she said, HUD officials are preparing a set of new guidelines to be released this summer that will make It virtually impossible for a family of moderate or high income to stay in public housing more than three years. The Boston Business Journal ed this week that 20 families living in three South Boston projects reported In--comes of more than $60,000 in 1986 or 1987: One family reportedly earned $103,384. Mayor Flynn refused to comment on the matter yesterday.

He said he had not read the report and referred questions to Bunte. While federal guidelines are clear on income eligibility for public housing ap-! plicants ranging from $22,700 for disabled or elderly person to $40,500 for a family of eight the question of when to remove a tenant earning more than that is less clear. According to Roundtree, public hous-1 ing tenants have been required since-1985 to pay 30 percent of their income -for rent, under a 1982 act of Congress. But Roundtree said Boston effectively "grandfathered in" all tenants selected before 1982, allowing them to continue paying rent under old formulas, known as "ceiling rents." i "Again, there is a difference' of interpretation," Roundtree said, stating that HUD's regional office believes the city should be charging all its public housing tenants 30 percent of their income for rent. But that point could become moot fore the year is out.

Roundtree said HUD is likely to recommend a return to ceiling rents, but with a caveat that families BHA, Page 23 Globe staff photoSuzanne Krelter William Julius Wilson of the University of Chicago at yesterday's interview. Scholar says Dukakis' view of poverty is too limited INSIDE at Harvard, said several other politicians have shown "far greater understanding than Dukakis" of the problems facing the black underclass. "Dukakis has gone so far as not to acknowledge that there is an underclass," said Wilson In an interview at the Kennedy School of Government, where Dukakis taught for four years and where he has several key advisers. "If he has that kind of vision, I'm a little worried. WILSON, Page 26 By Jonathan Kaufman Globe Staff A University of Chicago scholar who has emerged as one of the most Influential voices in the debate on poverty and the plight of the underclass yesterday criticized Gov.

Michael S. Dukakis' vision of poverty as "limited," and said his proposed solutions were unlikely to dent the problem. William Julius Wilson, who was in Cambridge to deliver the Godkin lecture State higher education officials yesterday unanimously approved a schedule of tuition increases for students in state-supported colleges and universities across Massachusetts over the protests' of student demonstrators. Page 58. Fire marshals from four New England states are criticizing a proposed New Hampshire law that would legalize the sale of fireworks to out-of-state residents.

The bill is awaiting action by Gov. John H. Sununu. Page 24. Private school daze I It's that nail-biting time of year again, Avhen trips to the mailbox are made every 15 minutes to see what the postman has brought: a pitiful, thin envelope, meaning certain rejection and failure in life or a happy fat one, stuffed with acceptance and a promising future.

This after a grueling application and interview process, during which your intelligence, bank account, bloodlines and patience were tested to the limits. We're not talking college admissions here. We're talking 4-year-olds. A woman I know, we'll call her The Good Mother, is among last year's victims of the private school torture method. She has survived, somewhat battered, to tell her story.

A successful writer married to a successful attorney, The Good Mother lives in a good suburb with good public schools. But The Good Mother wanted more individual attention for her son, who was the youngest in his kindergarten class. She began filling out the lengthy applications for private schools in late fall. One question particularly rankled: Who were your paternal and maternal grandparents? "I asked the headmaster what difference it made. I said, 'I hope you don't mind if I don't fill this The Good Mother recalled.

"I knew then I had screwed myself." Another question: "What are the usual methods of discipline in your family?" Her truthful answer: "Idle threats." At one school The School to get into -The Good Mother had to write an essay along the lines of: "Tell us about your child." That was a real stumper. "What can you say about a 4-year-old? That he writes computer programs and builds geodesic domes in the back yard?" The Good Mother asked. "I said that he was generous and nice, and that we love him a lot. I said he'd had the privilege of having two older, loving brothers. I said we were active parents." At The School, you had to give two references.

The Good Mother made a fatal error. She named the two people who knew him best. "His godmother, and a wonderful teacher who had known him since birth." Foolish woman! "People told me later that you have to get someone connected to the she said. Another school asked for. written permission to obtain from the bank any financial information jieeded.

At the same time, The Good Parents were helping their oldest son apply to colleges. "None of those applications were as intrusive or obnoxious as they were for our 4-year-old," The Good Mother said. The angst level skyrocketed as the interviews loomed. Her son was miserably sick on the appointed day at one school. "They said we had to bring him anyway or we would miss out," The Good Mother said.

At The School, the hopeful parents met en masse. "They wanted us to talk about our children," The Good Mother recalled. "One couple's daughter was a ballerina and did these incredible paintings. Another kid was a computer and math whiz. When they came to us, I said, 'My son wants to be the first Jewish Heisman Trophy I thought it was a funny line, but only one other father laughed." By the time the meeting was over, The Good Mother was sweating all over her carefully chosen, quietly understated attire.

"I wanted to go home, take off my pantyhose and put my sweatpants on. I wanted to hug my child and tell him he was wonderful. I found myself comparing my son to the other children, and it was terrible." The time came for her son to be interviewed at The School. The Good Mother told him to pick out what he wanted to wear, but no blue jeans. He chose corduroy pants and a T-shirt that said: "My Mother Has An Attitude Problem." When they arrived, all the boys were wearing suits and ties, mostly with Top-siders.

The children were taken to another room, while the parents sat on tiny kindergarten chairs, straining to hear what was going on in the next room. About 45 minutes later, the children emerged. "They said I could have a cookie now," the son told her. Months later, the letters arrived. Three of four schools accepted the boy.

A rejection envelope came from The School. Worse, it was a Xerox copy with a computer mailing label. "It showed a terrific lack of breeding," The Good Mother said. "Especially since we sent In a $30 application fee." In the end, The Good Parents decided to send their son to a public school. "Fitzgerald was right: the rich are very different from you and me," The Good Mother said.

"All that competitiveness at such an early age is obscene." The son Is less philosophical. He had onjy this to say ofthls interviews: "They stinked." MetroRegion news on pages 21-26, 35, 36, 43, 55, 58 WASHINGTON 5 1 I t. -4 lit i -v. iMl mmm If m. mm.

1 If i.Mi i i mm Group says state must slash budget By Bruce Mohl Globe Staff The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, in a report circled in red, warned yesterday that the Dukakis administration is in danger of running a deficit this year and will have to slash spending by close to $500 million in the coming year to avoid a tax increase. Richard Manley, president of the foundation, said sharp adjustments must be made in spending or the state is going to face a worse situation next year than it did in 1975, when Gov. Michael S. Dukakis came into office and was forced to break a no-tax pledge to keep the budget in balance. Frank T.

Keefe, the governor's secretary of administration and finance, responded that the foundation's warnings about a deficit this year are incorrect and expressed confidence that next year's budget will be in balance and avoid a tax increase. "Warnings are appropriate," Keefe said of the current fiscal situation. "Panic is not." TAXES, Page 36 EC -fi GioDe stall photoSuzanne Krelter A man waits at Downtown Crossing on a granite bench called "Situations," by Lewis Simpson of Seattle. MBTA hopes riders will be transported by art Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority stations spruced up through the Arts on the Line program coordinated by the Cambridge Arts Council. "Now the visual arts can truly be said to belong to all the people," said Bruce Rossley, Boston arts commissioner, at a ART.

Page 35 works include a wrought-iron gate, inlaid ceramic tiles and massive chimes and gongs. The works at ChinatownEssex and State stations on the Orange Line and Broadway, Central, Downtown Crossing-Washington and Kendall stations on the Red Line bring to 23 the number of By Peter J. Howe Globe Staff Tap dancers, an Irish folksinger and a gospel sextet yesterday helped MBTA officials and arts organizers dedicate new artwork at six subway stations. Part of an eight-year-old program to brighten up the underground, the new Joyful reunion heals decade apart for Cambodian family Rom's mother also spoke to reporters in her native tongue, translated by Rom: "She said thank you very, very much, everybody that helped my son." Rom, the foster son of Judy and Douglas Smiley, has been a foster child in Windsor since 1983 under a federal law that brought into this country hundreds of Cambodian children who were believed to be orphans. But the boy believed his family was still alive and soon after arriving here, sent a picture of himself Ith biographical information to the International Red Cross.

The Red Cross made posters of Rom and hung them, along with thousand of others, in the refugee camps that line the Thailand-Cambodia border. After nearly two years of hoping and waiting, Sarin received a letter from his mother three years ago. Since then, he, his foster family, and the people of Windsor have worked to reunite the family in their small town. When relating how he grew up away from his mother fojtf five years on thf, CAMBODIA, Page 35 during the bloody reign of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. Now a high school senior in Windsor, Sarin finally saw his mother and younger brother again last night.

Rom's long search for his mother, Prak Soy, and his brother, Somnang, ended last night under the glare of television lights and camera flashes. Rom told reporters, "The first time I see her is today. I cannot talk. What I tell my stepparents, I tell them I'm not crying, but I can't help myself. Win crying.

Nine or 10 years, can you imagine it?" By Dana Fulham Contributing Reporter LEBANON, N.H. Seventeen-year-old Sarin Rom looked into an airplane window from the tarmac last night and saw his younger brother for the first time since the brother was an infant. He called his brother out of the plane, picked him up, then turned to his mother. The three hugged one another until Rom burst into tears. When Rom last saw his motlier, he was 7 years old and fleeing for his life.