Reno Gazette-Journal from Reno, Nevada • Page 55

Today's tip Sunday SEPTEMBER 28, 1986 RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL Section 3D SADDLE CHATTER 4D OBITUARIES 4D VITALS vada The second annual Corporate Olympics will be held at Mackay Stadium on the University of Nevada-Reno campus. The event is a fund-raiser for the American Lung Association. It's back to basics at Duckwater's 1-room school fa My waior discipline problem Duckwater occinartMht beteetfotneKand sister-5 JJS Edna Jean Duckwater School currant Nevada students score higher on ACT Nevada students who took the American College Testing Program's entrance exam scored higher on the average than they did last year and are above the national average, said State Superintendent of Public Instruction Eugene Paslov. State scores averaged a half-point better, at 19, than last year, for the students who graduated in the spring of 1986 and took the test during their junior or senior year. Nationwide, the 1985-86 average is 18.8.

Paslov said that although the Nevada score increased this year, it was lower than the average composite of 19.4 for students in the entire Western region, which includes Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon and Washington. Scoring for the ACT is based on a scale of one to 36. The test includes sections on English, math, social studies and natural sciences. start way down in the lower grades in large cities," she said. "When they go home at night, they all have chores.

They all have things they're responsible for and they're used to accepting responsibilities. "A lot of my students work with their parents. The kids and parents spend a lot of time together," she said. On the bus ride to school, kids pass rock buildings that date back to the 1800s. Ranches full of cattle, sheep, chickens, goats and horses cover a valley made lush by the plentiful water supplies that bubble up from a community spring.

Some of the kids tell stories about how their great-grandparents homes-teaded ranches in the 1870s, when the gold mining town of Hamilton was in its heyday. Other Duckwater students are the See 1-ROOM, page 2D By Steve PaplnchakGazette-Joumai DUCKWATER The biggest vandalism problem at this ranching region's one-room school is the mess left by wayward cows. To avoid the droppings, students must step high before entering a building where education is a family affair. All but four of the school's 13 students have brothers or sisters as classmates, and some of the others are distant relatives. The idyllic era of tightknit families, obedient kids and a life rooted in hard work and basic values remains in Duck-water, a remote community in eastern Nevada.

At Duckwater School, there are no drug problems, fisticuffs or talking back to Edna Jean Forsgren, the school's teacher for the last 23 years. She handles 13 students, ranging in grades first through eighth, in a single classroom. Tiny first-graders' desks I warm jf are to the right. Bigger kids sit across the room, along windows that face sagebrush and the new fence the Nye County School District built to keep the cows out. "It's a unique bunch of kids to work with," Forsgren said.

"My major disci- Eline problem is an occasional fight etween a brother and sister. "We really don't have problems with drugs or any of the other things that can Linda BrennanGazene-Journal Project renews convention debate Measles shots urged The number of reported cases of measles is up by 117 percent nationally, according to the Centers For Disease Control in Atlanta. Two cases reported in Nevada were the first in three years, said Ed Mihalek, immunization program coordinator for the state. "We would like to have no cases." While Nevada's two cases were among children under 5 years old, Mihalek said the state is urging all adults to be immunized. $23,000 raised for charity About 100 walkers raised more than $23,000 Saturday for the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation of Northern Nevada during a 10-mile walkathon.

Gordon's Jewelers of Reno sponsored the Gordon's Diamond Walkathon. The route ran from the Reno Gazette-Journal parking lot on Kuenzli Lane to Sparks' Cottonwood Park and back. "We only expected to collect about $17,000 so we're really excited about what happened," said Pam Atkinson, vice president of the year-old organization. She said most of the money will go to a New York research center, but some will stay in Reno to help local victims of the incurable disease. Donations may be made to the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, 313 Flint Street, Reno 89501 or call 329-1526.

i vn i Jjr ri I t' I v. i i I Lai if Lance tvereenGazeneJournai during the 9th Annual lnternliaral WhistJe-Off in Carson City. Todav's performances begin fct in Mills Park. ON STAGE: Joel Brandon of Chicago performs the theme from "2001: A Space Odyssey" to a standing ovation Saturday art UNLV building delayed LAS VEGAS All bids for an engineering building at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas have been turned down and the project will be delayed about two months, a state architect reports. The bids were rejected because they came in substantially over estimates, said Richard Knapp, an architect with the state Public Works Board.

Sletton Construction's $12.6 million price was apparently the low bid. The estimated cost of the project had been set at $10.8 million, 17 percent higher than expected. State law says bids must be rejected if they are more than 10 percent over the estimated cost. UNLV President Robert Maxson agreed with the decision. "As badly as we wanted the building, we'll be using it for 40 or 50 years," Maxson said Monday.

"I'd rather have a delay of three or four months and do it right." They're wetting their wstles in Carson Developers say south Reno needs 'upscale' resort By Jim NlcklesGaietle-Journa! Some developers say they have what Reno needs to revitalize its sagging tourism business two resort-style hotel-casinos, to be built in a meadow off South Virginia Street. But the project, where the ill-fated Centennial Plaza was once proposed, is certain to reignite longstanding concerns over whether south Reno should be transformed into a tourist center to bolster the fortunes of the gaming industry and the Reno-Sparks Convention and Visitors Authority. The proposed 140-acre Convention Properties development is directly across South Virginia Street from the convention center. Authority officials have long complained that the lack of nearby "first-class" hotel rooms hurts their efforts to attract conventions and trade shows. A master plan for the project, which also includes retail and office buildings, single-family homes and apartments, will be reviewed Wednesday night by the Reno Planning Commission.

Though revised and scaled-down from the defunct Centennial Plaza, the Convention Properties plan is still controversial. When completed, its two 15-story towers will be the largest hotel-casino complex in the city, one-third larger than the Bally's-Reno. To its developers, the project is an opportunity for Reno to expand its tourism industry by moving into an "upscale" market. They say the notels will De full-scale destination resorts, within walking distance of the Convention Center. Convention Properties will revitalize the entire tourism business in Reno, similar to what happened in the late 1970s when the MGM Grand (now Bally's) was built, the developers say.

"There was a 70 percent increase in gaming revenues with the addition of that new product (the MGM)," said Clive Jones, an economic consultant to the See RESORT, page 3D Early snow catches Sierra by surprise An early season storm dumped up to 1 foot of snow on the Sierra Saturday, disrupting traffic in the Lake Tahoe area. Traffic advisories, in effect for most of the day in northern Nevada and the Sierra, were lifted late Saturday afternoon. In Nevada, chains or snow tires were required on the Mount Rose Highway and Kingsbury Grade through Saturday afternoon because of heavy snow. Mount Rose Ski Area reported a foot of snow, while Daggett Pass on Kingsbury Grade reported 9 inches. Sierra Ski Ranch at Echo Summit reported 8 inches.

Up to IV2 inches of snow were reported in portions of the Reno area Saturday morning as the snow level fell to about 4,000 feet, a National Weather Service spokesman said. In California, road controls were lifted Saturday morning on Interstate 80 over Donner Summit and U.S. Highway 50 over Echo Summit. The California Highway Patrol said a truck jackknifed early Saturday on 1-80 near Donner Summit, forcing closure of the highway for several hours and creating a massive traffic jam. The Nevada Highway Patrol reported no major traffic problems due to the storm.

Lake Tahoe area ski resorts have no plans to open soon, despite the heavy early season snow. Spokesmen for two area ski resorts Boreal Ridge and Squaw Valley said their resorts still plan to open no sooner than November. The current forecast calls for mostlv when he was 12 years old. But the 66-year-old Bakersfield, man was having a little trouble Saturday morning because temperatures in the 40s were freezing his face. "The cold's bad on the lips," he said.

"The lips keep chapping and it's difficult to form the notes the way you'd like. I guess I'm just a sunshine whistler." Temperatures finally hit the 50s and the sun peeked out from behind the clouds, but Weems said he could remember only one other time he was colder. "I was 22,000 feet over Germany in 1944," said the retired World War II pilot. "I don't think I was whistling petitor at the whistle-offiwhich continues today from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

with finals in the afternoon. But she did share at least one trait with the other 60 competitors. They were all looking for their moment in the spotlight. At stake: trophies and perhaps a bit of fleeting fame. In fact, Joel Brandon of Chicago has already had his on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.

As national whistling champion, Brandon was asked to appear. A three-time competitor in this international competition which draws people from the U.S., Canada, Mexico, England and Australia, Brandon has never won in Carson City. "I don't know why. I just never have," he said after receiving the most applause of the day from about 500 people attending the event. "Everybody's got their own little quirks and sound." And their own stories which are told back and forth all day amongst the regular competitors.

Ray Weems said learned to pucker up By Laura MyersGazetteiournai CARSON CITY Ask whistler Aurora Letterman about her trill and she'll tell you about the time she was an extra in the movie "The It That Ate The World." Ask the 68-year-old from Reno if she likes to entertain and she'll provide you with samples of her many singing imitations. Judy Garland is her favorite, with Wee Bonnie Baker a close second. Ask what brought her to the 9th Annual International Whistle-Off at Mills Park Saturday, she'll say: "Not a million bucks." Just when you think you won't get a straight answer out of the second-year competitor, she'll smile and with twinkling eyes tell you exactly what you want to know. "I love to sing, whistle and imitate. Nothing else matters in the whole world," she said.

"I don't promise to be good. But I love it, I love it, I love it. "I like break dancing, too. You can add that to the list." Letterman wasn't your typical com tnen. Phil Magariello said he began whistling at age 5 or 6 by copying a tune his sister's boyfriend-soon-to-be-husband used to signal her each time he came to pick her up for a date.

The 60-year-old Stockton, man See WHISTLE-OFF, page 3D School hearings set Year-round schools, one solution to the growing enrollment problem of the Washoe County School District, will be discussed at a series of public hearings starting Oct. 7. David Mussatti, principal of Incline Middle School and president of the Year-Round School Association, will be pitching the idea to parents and students at the hearings. While traditionally a controversial concept, Mussatti said year-round schools have generally been successful once they've started. "Although the motive tends to be to save space and money, it also offers a quality education," he said.

The meetings will be held in the Wooster High School auditorium Tuesday, at McQueen High on Wednesday and at Sparks High Thursday. All the hearings begin at 7:30 p.m. Anderson, Sun Valley and Incline elementary schools already operate on a year-round basis. The school district projects a need for 200 new classrooms by 1990. Last June a report by the Citizens Advisory Committee listed year-round schools as one answer to overcrowding.

i jrass -YJ Gas explosion, fire raze house By Laura MyersGazette-Joumai A Sparks home was gutted by fire Saturday after a natural gas explosion sent black smoke into the air and rocked the neighborhood. No one was home when the explosion occurred and no injuries were reported. The property, at 1363 North O'Brien Way, is owned by Gary Atkinson. Rental residents Timothy and Kathy Freas were in Yerington at the time. The Sparks Fire Department is still investigating cause of the gas leak.

Capt. Lee Leighton said the $80,000, three-bedroom home exploded at about 12:15 p.m., blowing out part of the rear wall. The front of the house and garage were intact. The fire was controlled in 30 minutes. "The explosion shook the windows, everything," said Peter who lives three houses away.

"I thought ifwas the beginning of an earthquake." Hazard-materials training The regional Hazardous Materials Response Team will begin its first week of training Monday at the Washoe County Health Department as part of a program to obtain certification. "The first week will cover chemical formulas and help team members to understand basic chemical properties," said Ron Johnson, the Sparks Fire Department's chief training officer. Wire service and staff reports Craig Sl kwGazene-Journal sunny skies today with some afternoon cloudiness in the Reno, Carson City and Lake Tahoe areas, with mostly sunny skies predicted agim for Monday: Associated Press FIRE: Sparks firefighter Jon Serno hoses down the smoking ruin! of a house at 1363 North O'Brien Way in Sparks Saturday. Leaking gas triggered the blaze..