Cambridge News Briefs

Council Censures Sex Sale

The City Council voted this week to censure Harvard Square's HMV Music Superstore for a planned Madonna promotion it termed insensitive.

Responding to an article in The Boston Globe, the council condemned a planned promotion at HMV which would have placed Madonna's new book, Sex, on a makeshift altar, where for a $3 donation to AIDS research, customers over 18 could look through the book. People dressed as nuns and priests would have collected the donations.

According to council members, the publicity in The Globe brought complaints from several Cantabrigians resulting in the record store canceling the promotion.

The council members, however, still resolved to send a letter to the manager of HMV in Harvard Square and the president of HMV in New York, condemning the lack of sensitivity evidenced in planning the event.

Zimbabwe Sister Link Formed

The City of Cambridge now has a sister in Zimbabwe. The City Council Monday night unanimously endorsed the recommendation of the Cambridge Africa Sister City Committee to affiliate itself with Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, in a cultural exchange program.

The purpose of the sister city program, according to the committee chairs, is to bring the "rich culture of Africa to the citizens of Cambridge."

The exchange will include a trip of Cambridge residents to Bulawayo. Mayor Kenneth E. Reeves '72 said that he would be interested in leading this delegation.

Bulawayo has chosen after a year-long search to find a Sub-Sahara African city with which to establish a relationship. The committee chose Belawayo after examinations of several cities on September 30.

MIT Student's Family Visits City

The family of a slain MIT student visited City Hall this month and said they bare no grudge against Cambridge, Mayor Kenneth E. Reeves 72 said.

The family of Yngve K. Raustein, 21, from Os, Norway, told Reeves they view their son's murder as an act of random violence.

The family said the murder was the result of a world economy failing to provide its citizens with basic needs leading to the despair of individuals, Reeves said.

Reeves told the council the family believed this act could just as easily have happened in Norway.

Reeves presented the family with an etched glass plate as a symbol of the town's sorrow at the incident. The designer of the plate had met earlier with friends of Raustein to discuss the MIT student's interests, which were etched into the plate. Reeves said the space shuttle Challenger disaster, which appeared on the plate, greatly influenced Raustein's decision to pursue science.

Residents Claim Sticker Shock

Council members also bitterly debated a city proposal last Monday to increase prices on Cambridge parking stickers.

The proposal will increase the price of Cambridge parking stickers to $8 for the first sticker of the household. A ticker for a second car will cost $12, and any additional stickers would cost $25.

The council originally passed the proposal, but several councillors asked to revise it, saying Cambridge residents did not support it.

"Do you consider it unfair that we are not listening to our constituents?" asked Councillor timothy J. Toomey.

Toomey asked to reduce the proposed prices, removing the progressive increases on stickers. Instead he favored a flat $5 fee for every sticker purchased by a household.

Despite the objects of Toomey the council voted 5-4 to keep the new sticker prices.

Meet You at the Cemetery Gate

Earlier in the month the council turned its attention to the city's cemeteries

After receiving complaints from several constituents, City Councillor Walter J. Sullivan sponsored two resolutions calling for strict enforcement of "all applicable Animal Control Regulations at the Cambridge Cemetery" and an end to rollerblading and roller skating in the cemetery.

"The dogs have been wandering around, and people have been roller skating all over the cemetery. It was upsetting people a lot," he said. "People want to go there in peace and comfort to pay their respects."

Signs will be posted in the cemetery to notify citizens of the new resolutions.

Although violators of either resolution will be issued warnings only, Sullivan said he expects even verbal reprimands to be effective.