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The Continuing Resolution includes $201,432,000 in Salaries and Expenses, $3,400,000 less than requested. Add-on funding above the Smithsonian request included $250,000 to help restore the base funding for computer acquisition at the Smithsonian Institution Libraries. Cuts included $1,000,000 in utilities and communication costs for the Office of Plant Services, $600,000 for lapse salaries on all new positions requested, a decrease of $1,064,000 as a result of the reestimate of costs government-wide for the new Federal Employees Retirements System, a loss of $300,000 for Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute research initiatives, $164,000 less for Columbus Quincentenary support, $150,000 less for accounting and procurement costs, plus additional miscellaneous cuts throughout the Institution totaling $827,000. The Smithsonian was directed to use up to $200,000 from available funds for a study related to possible relocation of the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation. In answer to the Smithsonian's request to redirect $666,000 to fill all authorized guard positions, approval for up to $356,000 was granted with the stipulation to retain $310,000 to maintain extended hours for summer visitors.

In the Construction account, $1,315,000 has been provided for the Whipple Observatory Base Camp design, roadwork, and site work, though the remaining $3,155,000 requested for this project was deferred until fiscal year 1989. The appropriation for the Restoration and Renovation account included an add-on of $5,000,000 to accelerate the reduction of the enormous backlog of restoration and renovation projects at the Institution. In the Zoo Construction account, $3,000,000 was added on for the renovation of the old hospital and research facility.

[underlined]Trust Funds:[\underlined] No changes have been made to the Trust fund budget approved by the Regents in September. However, certain activities have been funded out of the program/administrative contingency. Of the $803,000 budgeted for the contingency, $624,100 has been allocated. This total includes a variety of small projects plus funding of $300,000 to establish the Office of the Assistant Secretary for External Affairs. The following motion was suggested and approved:

VOTED that the Board of Regents approves the establishment of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for External Affairs, and a budget of $300,000 for fiscal year 1988.

As has been the practice for the last several years $3.0 million has been budgeted as a transfer to the Institution's unrestricted endowment. This year it is proposed that $1.5 million of that amount be used to establish an endowment for the Smithsonian Institution Press for the publication of scholarly books. The purpose of the fund would be to provide assistance for worthy scholarly publications which cannot be expected to earn back the costs of publication. Working with the Smithsonian Publications Council, the Press will be enabled to publish important works which it might otherwise be precluded from doing in order to meet its budgeted net income. It was