Arizona Republic du lieu suivant : Phoenix, Arizona • Page 13

MAIL Sta hers te amateur star gazers num jump By CLYDE MURRAY built the Pomelo Park observatory on his property at 3510 N. 35th St. Twice a week he opens his doors to the public, lectures, and lets guests peck through his 12'4-inch telescope. Barry lectures from 7 to 9 p.m. on Tuesdays and Friday.

He does not charge for the lectures. But the 4,000 visitors to the observatory since it opened have contributed to the membership of the observatory association. During the past Yk years membership in the association has jumped from 35 to 85, a ruse Barry attributes' partly to the flights of U.S. astronauts. The club meets twice a month, usually at Phoenix College, and hears some of the world's leading astronomers.

An interest in astronomy and an $8-a-year membership fee is required to get on the rolls of the Phoenix Observatory Association, said Barry. All members are amateurs with one exception, the assistant director of the Kitt Peak National Observatory near Tucson. Arlzonu's amateur astronomers, dazzled by the space race and the feats of the U. S. astronauts, are winking back at the stars.

They are guzzling written material on stargazing, buying and building telescopes, and joining astronomy clubs. Amos Hoff, for years a teacher of astronomy at Phoenix College, estimates the number of amateur astronomers in Arizona runs into the hundreds, most of them living in the Valley. HOFF HELPED found the Phoenix Observatory Association 20 years ago and it attracted less than 20 members. Some labored seven years on the construction of a 24-inch reflector that was completed rn 1956 and today is the heart of the Phoenix College observatory. Other charter members still active in the observatory association are Richard and Helen I lines, Herbert and Phoebe Saladin and Harry F.

Simmons. Hoff retired in June from his Phoenix College teaching post and is now rk JWv, "i I ''Lf 'jp0r I Republic Photo by Yul Conowoy Patricia Wylie, 8032 N. 12th Examines 24-Inch Telescope At Phoenix College Observatory getting ready to teach math and sci- Bray Optics 3118 N. 30th is telescopes is a 4-inch device priced at astronomy," Bray said. "Every time ence at the new Navajo Community besieged with inquiries about the pur- $250, but within the past four years some of our boys go into space, the College at Many Farms.

chase of telescopes, according to its he has sold four 10-inch telescopes at tempo picks up in Phoenix." ONE OF THE STATE'S leading president, Max Bray. $4,000 each. The observatory association presi- manufacturers of optical equipment, Bray said the biggest seller among "There is tremendous interest in dent is Byron Barry, who in 19C6 The ArizonaRepublic Sex education: schools must fill void 0 (Section Page 1 m.iiii mmmm wmmwmwmmmm Sunday, Jan. 5, 1969 Teachers, clergy decry negligence by many parents Don Dedera Casa Grande continues to fascinate as mystery Catholic schools mav have to seek state tax support By MARIE II. WALLING Republic Religion Editor Roman Catholic parochial schools, intended to be a bulwark of the faith against the intrusions of heavily Protestant public schools, are in trouble.

At a meeting here Dec. 20, priests, educators and parents of parochial high school students met to discuss News I Analysis the fiscal woes of the I I Valley's four parochial By JOHN A. WINTERS Schools are teaching youngsters about sex because parents aren't. That's the consensus of educators, clergymen, a psychiatrist and a psychologist questioned by The Arizona Republic about sex education. THEY AGREED that the school role in sex education should be auxiliary to the home.

But they also said that, in an age in which youngsters are bombarded with sex, it is essential that they be able readily to find competent answers to their questions about it. Schools should be involved in sex education "provided it meets with the approval of the people in the community," said Frank Williams, health consultant to the State Department of Public Instruction. He believes each district should make its own decision. Approximately a dozen of the state's 300 school districts have sex education programs, and in each case they were initiated with the cooperation of parents, he said. Williams said his office functions as a resource agency, keeping file of organizations and individuals who deal with specific problems.

"PARENTS SHOULD definitely have a voice in what the schools teach," agreed Herschel Hooper, state director of secondary instruction. He said it is important that teachers of sex education be high quality instructors. "Not every teacher can do it," he said. "It should be a good health teacher." Schools are going to have to cover certain aspects of sex education because "the home and church are neglecting it," Hooper said. Dr.

John C. Waters, assistant superintendent of the Phoenix Union High School District, said only West High and Central High have adequate sex education programs in the district's 10 schools. HE SAID HE HOPES to extend the program to the other schools. The curriculum should be "as complete as we can make it," he said. "The better informed, the better decision they (students) will make when faced with decisions." In Washington Elementary School Discontinued On Page B-2 Grande was abandoned by the Hohokam, whose disappearance is yet another archaeological mystery.

The first European to see and record Casa Grande was Father Kino, in 1694. He described it as being in ruins. Thereafter Casa Grande became a landmark for desert travelers. Not even Pauline Weaver could resist the temptation to scratch his name in the caliche plaster of Casa Grande. TROOPERS, COWBOYS, railroaders, miners, fortune hunters they all paused to peck their marks on the walls of the big house.

Likely, Casa Grande would be fallen down today were it not for early shoring-up by the Smithsonian Institution in the 1890s. A crude roof was thrown over the relic's vulnerable walls. By 1918, Casa Grande was designated a national monument and brought under the protection of the National Park Service. The rangers at Casa Grande run a fairly relaxed station. WELL OFF interstate tourist routes, Casa Grande is seldom crushed by crowds.

Visitors are invited to guide themselves in family units. If demand warrants, rangers lead informal tours through the big house. Ducking through the 3 -foot-high doorways, a tourist can imagine what an enemy might feel, while the Hohokam waited inside with stone axes. Two visitor activities transform rangers smiles into frowns. It is forbidden to set foot on the walls, which might be further damaged.

And heaven help the citizen who dares to scrawl his name in the sacred mud. CASA GRANDE RUINS The miracle of Casa Grande is not that it was built, but that it survived. For 600 years this unique structure, now a gem of a national monument, has withstood the assault of weather and animals and that greatest enemy of all, unregulated man. Today it is ours, but more by good fortune than as a deserved heirloom. "Fools names like fools' faces; always seen in public places," must have been suggested at Casa Grande, whose walls bear the scribbling of vandals dating to the 1700s.

CASA GRANDE is a mystery house. It is on a plain south of the Gila River 56 miles southeast of Phoenix. Archaeologists know when it was built 1350 and they know it was raised by the Hohokam Indians, possibly the ancestors of the modern Pima tribe. But the use of Casa Grande is uncertain. It could have been a lookout tower, a fortress, a temple, an apartment house, or all of these things.

The height alone, four stories, suggests a sentry station. From Casa Grande marauding enemies could be seen at great distance, and Hohokam farmers could be warned. YET CASA GRANDE must have been more than a watchtower. What of the seven round holes in the upper chambers? They are not windows to the ground. Rather, they are aimed at the horizons.

Could they have been sights for setting the seasons by the stars? Casa Grande dominated a walled village. Ladders were the only means of entry into the village, over walls as high as 11 feet. After several generations Casa Republic Photo by Ed Ryan Financial Burdens Of Catholic Schools Worry Rev. Thorn high schools. Discussion centered largely on proposals for state tax relief for the schools and for the students' parents.

"Catholic schools," the Rt. Rev. Bernard Gordon, auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Tucson, told The Arizona Republic, "have been a tremendous strength to the church, both through the children and the interest of adults in the church school. The church surely survives where there are no Catholic schools but she is stronger where there are." The Rev. William Thorn, S.

director of development at Brophy Prep School, noted that "Catholic parents give tax relief to parents of public school children." AN OLD ARGUMENT against state aid to private religious schools declares that, if a patient wants a bed in a hospital ward, he can get it at minimum cost; if he wants a private room, or special treatment, he'd better be ready to pay for it. To which Father Thorn retorted, "A private room in a hospital gives no relief to another patient. Parochial schools give relief to taxpayers." "What Catholic parents are doing," said the Rev. Herb Christ, Bethany United Presbyterian Church and a member of the Washington Elementary School board, "is paying for something they believe they can't get in public school. If there were no parochial schools to attend, their kids would go to public schools and their own taxes would be raised;" DR.

FREDERICK MITCHELL of Phoenix, president of the Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said the already strapped public schools can lay part of the blame for their financial woes at the doors of Catholic parents. He said Catholic parents consistently vote against school bond issues and against federal aid to public schools without some compensation to parochial schools. ful in maintaining their own control. They are always prepared to accept funds and fight off control." Msgr. Gordon doesn't believe the control problem is a threat.

He cited several private school public aid situations in which "there were no problems that I know of." TWO RECENT STUDIES of parochial schools in Denver and Saginaw, revealed that their students trailed markedly behind public school student norms. While the youngsters showed well in religious practices and understanding, both reports noted students failed in matters "such as commitment to working for the improvement of man's life on earth and openness to the differing beliefs of others." Said Father Walsh, mentor of ASU's Catholic students, "If church-going is Catholic, then college youth who were parochial kids are a little better. But I don't think it is. In apostolic involve- Furthermore, he pointed out, "Any time any private school hustling a particular ideology is to be subsidized by the state, other private schools with other ideologies are equally eligible for state support. The Black Muslims plan to set up a school here and, while their religious doctrines are bizarre, indeed, and they also disapprove of public schools, they have just as much right to state support.

So does the Communist Party or the John Birch Society if they wished to establish schools." THE REV. THOMAS WALSH, director of Newman Catholic Student Center at Arizona State University, said he "can't see any future in parochial schools. We can't lick the financial problem. If we get tax support, there will be state controls." He favors a strong Confraternity of Christian Doctrine program instead. CCD is a youth and adult religious education program.

To this Dr. Mitchell replied, "The Continued On Page B-4 $9.8 million issue at stake on PUHS ballot Tuesday Catholic Church has been quite success Stark strikes at bad business practice Bv ALBERT J. SITTER worse. The county has consistently been "If it had been built on schedule By ALBERT J. SITTER worse.

The county has consistently been "If it had been built on schedule," misused. It was being used in 1968 by said Stark, "we would have received much more for our money, because the same amount of money could have 1 .4 Replace buildings 5 and 8 on the Phoenix Union High School campus with a single building at a cost of $2 million. Buy additional school sites at a cost of $400,000. DISTRICT OFFICIALS estimate that the tax rate for redeeming the bonds would not exceed 5 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. The current tax rate of $1.88 is 97 cents below the 1967-68 rate.

Construction of a new school on the west side, officials said, is necessary to relieve overcrowding at Maryvale High School. Now on double sessions, Maryvale, built for 2,500 pupils, is expected to have 4,147 pupils by 1970 and 5,004 by 1974. At Alhambra High School, 3,446 pupils are in facilities built for 2,500, according to school officials. Approval of expansion plans would avert double sessions next year, officials say. THE WEST HIGH construction plan calls for replacing a naval barracks building used to house the fine arts pro-Continued On Page B-9 Real property taxpayers in the Phoenix Union High School System will vote Tuesday on whether to spend $9.8 million for a new' school, expansion of others and replacement of old buildings at still another school.

Taxpayers last May defeated a bond proposal that would have provided for spending $19.8 million. THE LATEST BOND proposal has drawn little open opposition and reportedly will draw good support in low-income areas that were apathetic in the last election. Critics of the earlier $19.8 million bonding plan objected to the scope of plans and described proposals as "extravagant." The current bond proposal pares the building requests down to five: Build a new school in west Phoenix for up to 2,500 pupils at a cost of EXPAND Alhambra High School to accommodate an additional 1,200 pupils at a cost of $1,650,000. Provide' fine arts and science facilities at West High School at a cost of $850,000. people who built themselves a political power.

And in total disregard for what the law said, they did whatever they pleased in running the county." He declined to identify those he accused but indicated that the culprits were Democrats. "The only way to change thrngs," he maintained, "is to change the makeup of the three-member Board of Supervisors to include at least two Republican members." IF THE COUNTY had been run like a business, Stark contended, "we'd have a county hospital already built and occupied. We'd also have bridges over the Agua Fria and New rivers." The bond issue to build a new county hospital was approved by voters seven years ago, Stark pointed out. The building, still under construction, was begun about a year ago at a cost of $10.1 million. If Maricopa County had been "run like a business" in past years, its citizens would have much more to show for their tax money today.

This is the opinion of J. Robert Stark, one of the county's two new Republican supervisors on the all-GOP board. Stark, a 43-year-old Phoenix corporation lavwer. shares the "no fooling around, run it like a business" approach to government expressed by fellow conservative Republicans. They made a clean sweep of county offices in the Nov.

5 election. STARK SAID he ran for office because of a desire to "accomplish needed changes." Asked to elaborate, Stark replied, "I thought the county was being used for the selfish political interests of certain people and not being run according to law, "I saw no change in the past four years (he ran for election in 1C64, but was defeated); in fact it got much a. bought more seven years ago. Instead of getting on with the business at hand, the new supervisor charged, some of his predecessors mired themselves in political patronage and other devious practices. STARK, A UofA law graduate who once wanted to become an architect, said he traces his conservative political beliefs to boyhood summers working on his maternal grandfather's farm in Iowa.

As do other conservatives, Stark takes an uncomplicated view of some of the major problems gnawing at today's society. "What this country needs," he commented, "is a moral and religious revolution. Therein is our only chance for survival." As for much of the current world turmoil, Stark asserted, "It's probably due to the Communist influence." Ml Republic Photo J. ROBERT STARK Change The Makeup 1 i.