Good Questions

CAMBRIDGE VOTERS will consider six non-binding referendum questions tomorrow. Perhaps the most important of these is Question 5, which would ask the city not to invest in financial institutions doing business in South Africa. Citizens should discourage any support of apartheid practices, however indirect.

Under Question 3 the city would encourage the use of safe, renewable energy sources, as well as requesting state and federal governments not to license new nuclear power plants. Because nuclear power is not the best long-term resolution to the energy crisis, we support strong measures to develop alternatives.

Question 1 advocates a national health service program. Such a program is a realistic way to insure that those already disabled by illness won't be crushed by increasingly burdensome medical costs. We also endorse passage of Question 6, which would allow Cambridge citizens to control the character of their environment by protecting the historic scale of Harvard, Lechmere, Inman and Porter Squares.

And finally, because Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass) will announce this week that he will enter the presidential race, Question 2, calling for his candidacy, is moot.

It is unfortunate that the city has not issued explanations of all the questions, including the effects their passage would have. While this week's referendum is non-binding, the issues it addresses merit Cambridge voters' careful consideration. Their representatives in Washington may be watching the results.