The Boston Globe from Boston, Massachusetts • 14

:14 THE BOSTON GLOBE MONDAY, APRIL 4, 1994 businesses campaign to keep Hanscom air base open Teople are gearing up because they know the closure committee will be meeting and it's too late to do something once you're on the list. DORIS RICHARDS Public relations a team at Hanscom assembling data for review, said, "We're looking at the costs associated with closing or moving programs to other bases and potential to other bases moving here. It doesn't necessarily mean we may close other bases could be moved into Hanscom." With its proximity to area colleges and research laboratories, Hanscom last year was ranked by the Air Force as one of its best bases. Systems developed at the base have included' the Airborne Warning and Control Systems known as AWACS and Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar Systems Joint STARS used during the Persian Gulf War. The base is adjacent to Hanscom Field, which is operated separately by the Massachusetts Port Authority.

About 200,000 flight operations are conducted at the Massport-run field, but only 1 percent are dollars to spend." He said Hans-corn's mission though makes it "clos-er to a giant MIT than an Air Force base," and he said he hoped the type of high-tech work done there would keep Hanscom off the closure list or prevent reassignment of programs to other bases. "People are very worried about their jobs," he said. Hart said Hanscom last year won an Air Force award for having the best small business program in the service and was cited for the quality of its work. Doris Richards of the base's pub-be information office lives in Lowell and said, "People are gearing up because they know the alignment and closure committee will be meeting and it's too late to do something once you're on the list. With the downsizing in government they are trying to put their best foot forward to show why Hanscom should stay open." Lt Col.

Roger Goudreau, part of would have to try to relocate wherever operations were transferred. That would undoubtedly cause a breakage in relationships that we have built up at Hanscom over the years," he said. Since 1961, Hanscom has operated as an Electronics Systems Center and last year awarded more than $1 billion in contracts to Massachusetts businesses, including Raytheon, which received contracts of more than $154 million. Raytheon spokesman Ed Powers said "Hanscom has a huge impact on the Massachusetts economy, and we would want to see this integral part of the community stay in operation." Kevin Gilmartin, chief of public affairs at the base, said the Air Force is downsizing its operations. "If the mission went away, a lot of the work would go away," he said.

Alan Hart of Lowell, who oversees the small business program at the base, said "It will mean fewer roll and a $3.8 billion annual budget It was opened in 1941 to train military pilots, but today specializes in developing electronics weapons support systems. Hanscom is under the jurisdiction of the Air Force Material Command, which by June 1 this year will make a recommendation to the Air Force which bases should be closed or realigned, shifting programs to other bases. The Air Force will review the list and make recommendations to the secretary of defense for more scrutiny before a Congressional Base Realignment and Closure Committee makes final recommendations by June 1, 1995. Although a decision is more than a year away, concern is building on the base and among area companies that rely on Hanscom work about what would happen if the facility closed. Mitre vice president Harold Sor- ByAndyDabilis GLOBE STAFF and Davis Bushnell SPECIAL TO TllE GLOBE BEDFORD There's no evidence that Hanscom Air Force Base will be on the next list of recommended base closings, but area business leaders are planning a campaign to convince military officials the facility should be saved, or maybe even expanded.

"Hanscom is the area's 'sleeping giant' Because tanks aren't rolling down Route 2A, the average person has little idea about what's going on at the base and its impact on the regional economy," said Virginia Allan of the North Suburban Chamber of Commerce, which is putting together-an effort to convince the Air Force the base should remain open. The base has about 2,300 military personnel, 3,000 civilian workers, 7,500 contractors, a $516 million pay Nail shops give newcomer hands-on acculturation 1 i jV r- i r- Jimii i 4 MANICURE Continued from Page 13 ing them enter a new society while keeping touch with the old. At tony shops in Quincy and Maiden, tiny cubicles in Dorchester, and other spots throughout the Boston area, nail salons have become extended living rooms where many new arrivals socialize and, with a hand from their customers, slowly put down roots in New England. For their customers, most of them native-born Americans, a manicure has become a ritual way to relax, and an opening to an exotic but familiar world, a soothing, sensual experience. In 1980, the Boston phone book listed five nail salons.

Today there are 60 in the city alone, dozens more in the surrounding area. And most of the new manicure shops are owned and run by Vietnamese. Ngoc Truong, president of the Vietnamese Women's League of Massachusetts and a trained manicurist, said that the job doesn't require extensive education or English-speaking skills. It's light and pleasant work, the training and supplies are relatively inexpensive, and for about $5,000, a budding entrepreneur can establish a professional-looking nail shop. For a Vietnamese immigrant, "the quickest way to make money is to go into this business," said Ngoc Truong, known as Mary.

To the surprise of some patrons, a growing number of manicurists are men. "To hold a woman's hand, massage it, this is fun," said Phuoc Tan, 32, at Fantasy Nails, speaking through an interpreter. "In Vietnam, men are not in this field. But here I find that women like men to do it." "In the Vietnamese culture, no job is looked down on. They say it's fine as long as you make a living," said Dang Pham, a former Boston resident who was recently appointed a deputy assistant secretary in the US Department of Education.

enson said the company gets more than one-third of its annual $600 million in revenues from contracts at Hanscom. Mitre was spun off from MIT's Lincoln Lab in 1958, and about 3000 Mitre employees work at the base. "If Hanscom should be closed, we GL08E STAFF PHOTO PAM BERRY during fiscal year 1991. Firefighting staffing levels reflected the same decline, but not a similar recovery. Barrett's figures -which a Globe check confirmed were basically accurate showed that fire-fighting levels were down about 8 percent from fiscal year 1991.

New Bedford is not included in that tally. Campaigning in 1990, Gov. Weld repeatedly promised he would not cut local aid. Once in office, however, Weld ended up proposing what amounted to a $106 million local aid cut Since then, the local aid levels have moved back up to a point where they are expected to be at or near the 1989 high of $2.98 billion when-4 this year's budget is signed, according to both the administration and the municipal association. But Barrett said Weld's determination to propose tax cuts rather than offer more public safety personnel frames the campaign issue clearly.

"His Reaganesque tax cuts are a key issue in this campaijh, and he doesn't even know it yet" the sena- In Vietnam, providing nail care is a well-known occupation. As 31-year-old Lee Lan, a manicurist at the Golden Nail shop in Dorchester, put it "Vietnam is a warm country. Ev-, eryone shows their hands and feet." Giving manicures also is "a good way for a foreigner to learn how to communicate. My customers teach me the language, the religion, the customs," Lan said. Most of the shops offer basic manicures for $10, pedicures for $20, and a range of elaborate artificial nail creations for prices up to $70, including rhinestone or glitter appliques, silk or acrylic overlays, sculptured nails, and nail painting with American or Vietnamese motifs: hearts, flags, flowers, fish, geometric patterns, jungle scenes, and dragons.

The job can be fun, manicurists said, but it also brings a long workday and low pay, by US standards. Manicuring is a modern form of piece work, with practitioners typically paid in commissions and about 40 percent of their earnings kept by the shopkeeper. They usually receive no health insurance, no pension-or other benefits, and no vacation -which is taxing, the employees say, since most shops are open about 12 hours a day, 7 days a week. More often than not, their clients are Hispanic or black. "Hispanics and blacks are minorities, too, so we feel comfortable with them," said Pham.

"We're in the same boat." At Fantasy Nails, one of the customers was Myra Lugo, 21, a secretary at a nearby law firm and an aspiring singer, of Puerto Rican descent. Also known as "Pinkie" because of her fondness for that color, she was having long artificial nails attached to her own, all painted bright pink. Lugo had been in and out of foster homes since she was 9 years old, she said, and recently had been depressed. Getting her nails done was Natick man's body found BODY Continued from Page 13 Cox was acquitted, and was allowed to finish his tour of duty, later receiving an honorable discharge from the Marine Corps. At the time of his disappearance, Cox was a part-time employee at United Parcel Service who also worked odd jobs, including landscaping and trash collecting.

He was waiting to hear about a full-time position at UPS wrhen he vanished, leaving behind a paycheck, the keys to his truck and a multitude of unanswered questions. His live-in girlfriend, Elaine TinsleyT reported him missing, setting off a long anB fruitless investigation by Natick police. In a brief interview last evening, June Cox, the victim's mother, said the family was still waiting for information from law enforcement authorities. "We still have no idea what happened," she said. "We're all very upset" In January, Tinsley.told the Globe that Cox was extremely conscientious about letting her know his an affordable luxury, a way to make herself feel better.

"I've been looking at my nails and looking at myself. I said to myself, What's wrong with you? Better fix yourself up." One group the manicurists noticeably do not serve are other Vietnamese. As Mary Truong observed, "We're still preoccupied with making ends meet No one has the time to think about getting their nails done, except for a special occasion." In several interviews, manicurists said they found life in Boston difficult particularly because of the cold climate and the crazy local driving habits. But like Carly Nguyen, at Hollywood Top Nails in Boston, most have concluded, "It's a good place for business. And right now money is what counts." At Wonder Nails in Roslindale, Huy Thai, 43, and her brother-in-law, Khi Cao, 43, remembered their odyssey eight years ago.

They had lived in Tanchau, an agricultural area near the Cambodian border, but under the communist leaders it was hardly living, they said. "We had no freedom of speech, no freedom to move around, and you could be arrested for no reason;" said Cao, through an interpreter. Thai recalled being forced to leave her three small children untended while she did hard labor for no pay. Over tea and whenever they could snatch 5 or 10 spare minutes, they planned their escape. Under cover of darkness, with just a few essential clothes, they snuck away, eventually joining 40 others crammed on a small fishing boat.

"Our boat was so small it was like we were a piece of sand in the desert," said Cao. Why did they take such risks? At Fancy Nails in Quincy, Diane Nguyen, 24, gave the answer heard again and again at Vietnamese nail shops throughout the Boston area. "Freedom." she said, as she added the final polish to a customer's pedicure. "I come for freedom." DAVID COX Acquitted in court-martial whereabouts, and expressed fear that he had been abducted. Tinsley and Steven Cox, the victim's brother, could not be reached for comment last night Medfield Police Chief Richard D.

Hurley said he had no evidence that Cox's history in the Marines played a role in his murder, but said police would investigate every possible angle. Delahunt asked anyone who had seen Cox since Jan. 4 or knew anything about the case to call Medfield police or his officftjle described Cox as a 5-foot-ll-inch, 165-pound white man with blue eyes and blond hair. 1 BRAVING THE WINDS Strollers make their way along Boylston Street yesterday. Challenger says Weld betrayed cities with cuts that hurt police Sunday number 9326 SUNDAY PAYOFFS (based on $1 bet) EXACT ORDER AM digits $5137 First or last 3 $719 Any 2 digits $62 Any 1 digit $6 ANY ORDER All 4 digits $214 First 3 digits $120 Last 3 digits $120 MEGABUCKS April 2: 8 11 17 23 28 35 Jackpot: $2,399,890 PREVIOUS MASS.

DRAWINGS Saturdays' 0012 FHday 6400 Thursday 4505 Wednesday 0772 Tuesday 8772 SUNDAY NUMBERS AROUND NEW ENGLAND Rhode Island 6467 Connecticut 3-digit 019 4,145. A Globe check, which found Barrett's numbers basically accurate, came up with 4,178. The difference is principally the result of varying numbers for Boston's force. According to a Massachusetts Municipal Association survey released in early 1993, the overall staffing level in those same 10 cities in fiscal 1991, which included the first six months of Weld's term, was 4,439. That means, at the very least that current police levels are down 261 positions, or 5.9 percent from the 1991 levels.

Barrett's figures show a 6.6 percent reduction. Troubled Brockton suffered the worst with a dramatic 33 percent loss in uniformed personnel, but four other cities suffered double-digit reductions in their police forces. The situation changes, however, if in-process or planned hires are included in the tally. When those officers currently taking an 18-week academy program are factored in, the 1994 police rose to 4,384, a difference of only 55 people, or about 1 percent from the levels BARRETT Continued from Page 13 to victims, and opposed mandatory sentencing for drug dealers." Mark Robinson, Weld's secretary of administration and finance, said the administration's recently proposed budget underscores Weld's commitment to public safety. That budget would triple, to $15 million, community policing grants; increase funding for domestic violence prevention by $10 million; give the district attorneys $10 million more for fighting crime; and increase discretionary local aid by $40 million, Robinson said.

However, Robinson said Weld's proposed $270 million tax cut remains a priority. "The taxpayers were asked to pony up a billion dol-' lars for two years out of their pockets during the fiscal crisis," Robinson said. "One of our priorities is to give something back to the taxpayers. figures sow that the total sworn police personnel in the state's 10 largest cities is currently Sat Maine. N.H..

Vermonl 3-digit 847 4-digit 7963.