The Morning News from Wilmington, Delaware • Page 4

The Morning Naws, Wilmington, October 19, 1978 Students find that strike isn 't all fun and games yC I A iTri s'v 4 rr school until the strike is over. "I consider having the teachers picketing in front of the school telling poeple not to go in a negative reinforcement for the children," she said. The strike has affected even children too young for school. Scott Hibbard, 3, was supposed to have his first day Tuesday at-the day-care center run by William Penn High School's home economics students. The school closed.

"We had been counting down each day for three weeks, said Mrs. Hibbard. "He was so disappointed." Some older children have even been reduced to doing errands and chores. "When I got home Monday, I found Blake, my 11th grader, had been chopping wood," said Linda Rodgers, a working mother from Hockessin. Some of the organizations that serve kids have tried to adjust their hours and programs to the strike.

Rosemarie Morris, a Stanton housewife who has a day-care group in her home, said four children who are normally with her only after school are now there all sports programs and band practices. Jennifer Reynolds, student council president of Brandywine High School, and her friend, Judy Glassman, went to Philadelphia for bagels. That's all, just bagels. For some parents, the strike provided an opportunity to do something with their kids. Jeffrey Houtchens, 6, of Red Mill Farms, went shopping with his dad, Robert, yesterday, and was fascinated to see his father buy a "purple light bulb." "I work shift work," Houtchens said, "sometimes I don't see my kids for a week at a time." "But I can tell you, I'm not going to be happy if this thing the strike continues." Catherine Erdman of Sharpley took her two children, Kim, 5, and Travis, 8, to the Wilmington library, along with Travis's friend, Ryan Coughlin.

Travis, obviously, hasn't forgotten what he learned in school. "We saw a movie about a lion," he said. "He left the circus and went to Africa. But they spelled 'circus' wrong, and too. You don't spell those words with a Joan Lovell of Dartmouth Woods decided to give her children, fifth and sixth graders, a geography lesson, and discovered right away they didn't know where Delaware is.

Campbell M. Smith III of Els-mere, a fourth grader at Austin D. Baltz School, nas been making puppets out of egg cartons and bottle caps, and snowing his sister, Shannon, 6, how to draw chickens. Their mother, Sandra, is sorry to see Shannon's first year of school disrupted so soon, but she doesn't plan to send the children to By ISABEL SPENCER Paul Hibbard, 8, usually eats his lunch in the cafeteria at Wilmington Manor Elementary School, and as long as the menuisn't tacos, he's happy. But Tuesday, Paul sat down to a sirloiner, salad and Coke at Gino's on Du Pont Highway.

It wasn't just a fun outing. The New Castle County teachers' strike has closed Paul's school. His mother, Beverly, a school bus driver, was trying to sandwich a family lunch in between the bus runs she must continue to make, strike or no strike. For thousands of parents like Mrs. Hibbard, the strike that has crippled county schools has posed a dilemma: what to do with their small children when schools are shut.

Some found high school baby sitters whose schools also wera closed. Some left children home for the first time, armed with phone numbers and long lists of don'ts. Many parents who were at home with their children tried to continue their educational programs, feeling kids should be learning something. A few parents sent their children to school, as more than half of the county's 68 elementary schools remained at least technically open. Organizations like the two boys clubs in Wilmington adjusted their schedules to accomodate idle youngsters.

Older children jammed shopping malls and bowling alleys. A few others picketed schools and public buildings, trying to persuade the teachers and the school board to end the strike. Still others tried to continue their studies, Christiana Mall's Gallery is a magnet for students idled by the teachers' i strike. (Staff photo by Leo S. Matkins) trying to use their time constructively, but not everyone is doing that.

"A lot of kids just want to sleep," said jennifer. Others, said Fran Willing, a Brandywine senior, are just "going out and getting high. Many are simply bored. "I don't like hanging out in the 'cause ain't nothing there for me," said Peter Adams a junior at Dickinson High School. Some students have tried to overcome the boredom by going to school, if their schools are open.

But Darin Park, a 10th grader at Claymont High School, said that isn't much help. "At school, there ain't nothing to do," he said. "So I left." Some students are worried about their peers getting in trouble. "We recommend that students don't get involved in things that are not right," said Emery Roane, president of the NAACP Youth Council. Many of the students are trying to carry on their studies and school activities.

The Alexis I. du Pont High School band practiced yesterday in the Hockessin Methodist Church parking lot. Many have assignments. "I'm supposed to do a book report on a book on survival," said Dennis Dugan, one of the pinballers. Millicent Ceaser, youth council vice-president, said one of her teachers at Newark High School "suggested we get together at somebody's house and she would come over," but so far no one has taken the teacher up on her offer.

Prentiss Jolly, drawing in the art room at a boys' club yesterday, tried to sum up how the students feel. Prentiss, a student at George Gray Elementary School, put it this way: "We really like it here (at the Boys club. But I don't think the teachers should strike. They should work it out with the Board of Health." Reporters Jube Shiver Jr. and Steve Marshall also contributed to this article.

Info hours changed The service hours of the School Information Center have been changed again. Calls will now be taken between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. The center expanded its hours earlier this week to handle queries about the teachers' strike, but the demand has passed. The phone number is 571-3811.

itnmm mum iiimwiiwiiwmiiwiiMiiMi mi i ihwwr umm MiiuiMmniimnw The teachers' strike gives Robert (left) and Jetfery Houtchens time (or a fatherand-son get-together. (Staff photo by Leo S. Matkins) The Morning News A Gannett Newspaper Published Monday through Friday except holidays bv The News-Journal Company 831 Orange Wilmington, DE 19899 Second class postage paid at Wilmington, DE News-Journal Management City to put 7 'as is' houses on the auction block Sunday day. "I'm doing my best to keep them functioning, she said. I'm teaching math, reading, spelling and writing, for which I am totally unqualified." Wilmington's boys' clubs have changed their hours so kids would have a place to go.

But the change does create problems, according to Joseph Dulin, executive director. "Our senior citizens programs normally operate during the day, and we're not able to operate both programs at the same time," he said. Operators of bowling alleys and arcades, many of whom don't usually let kids in during school hours, have adjusted hour for the strike. One of the chief beneficiaries of the strike seems to be the new Christiana Mall, which officially opened a week ago today. It has been thronged with sightseers of all ages.

Bv 12:30 yesterday afternoon, Robert Fleetwood, 13, a student at Gunning Bedford Middle School in Delaware City, already had spent $4 in the mall's arcade, mostly in the "Disco Fever" pinball machine. Paris Johnson, 16, of Jefferson Farms, who usually gets his recreation in the William Penn High School gym, was scoring 135,360 with his first pinball in the Middle Earth game. Johnson has been busy enough with his part-time job at the Hotel du Pont, he said, "but 1 miss my friends." One friend, Dennis Dugan, 17, said he thinks he's been lucky about the timing of the strike. "I only play basketball and baseball," he said. "I feel sorry for my friends on the football team." Some athletes from William Thomas Charles, spokesman for the mayor's office, said the Pine Street homes and eight other houses in that block and on nearby Vandever Avenue were renovated through a housing rehabilitation project sponsored by the city.

Three homes have already been sold and seven more are "in the process of being sold," Charles said yesterday. The homes range in price from $12,000 to $16,000 and most of the renovations costs were financed with about $250,000 in community development funds, Ms. Traynor said. "For the price, you can't beat 'em," said Lorin Hunt, president of the Kingswood Community Center, which worked with the Vandever Avenue Civic Association and the city on the project. Hunt said the 2100 block of Pine where six of the renovated houses are located, "was one of the worst in the northeast." hands of the more serious Llangollen pollution, which may cost several million dollars to correct.

Apgar said the Tybouts Corner area has few wells and a heavy soil that should limit the spread of pollution. There are several residential wells and a large Artesian Water Co. well field near Llangollen, he noted. He said the state has limited monitoring resources and hasn't considered the Tybouts Corner problem serious enough to warrant monitoring of the water quality there. Penn have been picketing their school.

And yesterday, a half-dozen Brandywine High students, fueled by the Philadelphia bagels, picketed the Public Building in Wilmington where school officials were attending a court hearing. "We need an education riot a vacation," read Jennifer Reynolds' sign. The students said they are Biden Continued from Page 3 issue for him, calling it "a crime against humanity the same thing we were talking about during Nazi war crime trials) at Nuremburg." He endorsed a Constitutional amendment outlawing abortion as well as a phase-out of major federal agencies such as the Department of Helath, Education and Welfare. Baxter said he opposed use of federal funds for abortions and, indeed, abortion itself. Biden said he had voted "I guess more than 20 times" against federal abortion spending bills.

Baxter cited the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) as one federal agency ripe for elimination. He claimed most states already have equivalent bureaucracies and OSHA regulations are often contradictory. Baxter also attacked Biden for supporting some legislation boosting OSHA. The senator answered that he backed those OSHA proposals en forcing safety standards for major businesses. He said he did not like OSHA's involvement with small businesses because the firms are not financially able to meet all the federal standards and because they "are not the businesses where most health hazards exist." Gies said federal agencies should lose their control over "many functions they don't belong in anyway." He said dissolving these agencies and sending the power back to state level could permit elimination of federal personal income and gift taxes.

Biden favored financial disclo sure rules affecting candidates for public office, but Baxter was less free with his endorsement and Gies flatly denounced disclosure. Biden said the Senate Ethics Committee already had established its own disclosure rules regarding conflicts of interest. "It's humiliating but it's good," the senator said. Biden said first he could "see nothing wrong with it" and asserted that baring personal finances was just part of the expected price a candidate must pay. But Baxter also said, "I don't think there's anything you can vote on that doesn't have some conflict with your lifestyle If your start this thing of conflict of interest, where does it end?" Gies suggested that a senator's private life should remain private.

"Politics is the highest form of social endeavor," he said. "If you really go into it for public service, you're not going to do anything in conflict with the people." A bonus for students HAMMOND, Ind. (AP) A school official has proposed paying students $500 a year to attend schools to help achieve racial balance. School board president Richard Schreiber says the program would provide a means to voluntary integration of the district, which faces a desegregation suit filed by the NAACP. Brin Domnlly Gordon Pritt President and Publisher S7J-MM Production Director 573.3030 Frederick W.

Hirtmann d.k... i Vice President and 3- ir0 Executive Editor 573.31 4 Circulation Director 573-21 20 James E. O'Brien Car! B. Slabach Editorotthe Employee Relations Director 573-2011 Editorial Page 573-2070 Lynn R. Bryan Eusene Christmann Jr.

Advertising Director 573-2281 Controller 57J-221 4 The city of Wilmington will auction off seven houses "as is" and conduct a lottery sale of three renovated properties this Sunday afternoon at 3 at Square, 5th and Market streets. The house sales are part of the Old Willingtown Days festivities. Prospective buyers for the three renovated homes, at 1320 Lancaster Avenue, and 820 and 823 E. 17th St. must fill out applications before the lottery, said Janice Traynor of the city's Department of Planning and Development.

The homes will sell for $12,000 each. The applications are available at the planning department's division of real estate on the 7th floor of the City-County Building, 800 French St. Prospective buyers must have $600 for a cash downpayment and meet minimum "income require Want to subscribe? To start guaranteed home delivery service, call 573-2100. Morning or Evening and Saturday: By carrier $1.15 per weekBy motor rout tl.25 per week Morning or Evening and Saturday and Sunday: By carrier $1.40 per weekBy motor route I1.SS per week Have a service problem? Call 573-JIOO in New Castlt County; 734-7577 In Kent County; 854-7371 In Sussex County. Subscribers in New Castle County who receive a damaged copy or who do not receive a paper may call 573-2100 for radio-dispatched delivery.

Calls regarding delivery of THE MORNING NEWS must be received before 9 a.m.; for the EVENING JOURNAL before 6:15 p.m.; for THE NEWS JOURNAL (Saturdays and holidays) before 10 a.m for the SUNDAY NEWS JOURNAL before 12 noon. Rates for mail subscription (payable in advance) ments. FHA financing is available. "If your name is drawn, it doesn't automatically get you the house," Ms. Traynor said, however.

The application must still be processed for approval by the mortgage company. Ten applications have been received so far, she said. Bidding will begin at $1 for each of the seven "as is" houses to be auctioned off. Buyers must renovate the property within 18 months and there is a one-year residency requirement. The properties to be auctioned are at the following locations: 408 S.

Heald 1126 Read 1025 Lombard 1303 Walnut 524 Vandever 714 Douglas St. and 816 W. 9th St. Interested buyers are being advised by the city to tour the houses before the auction, and can contact the planning department, at 571-4058 for an appointment. was paid off to keep quiet about the Tybouts Corner pollution.

Jerome N. Unruh, a partner in Middletown Well Drilling made his accusation during a public hearing Monday on the proposed opening of a new landfill near Glasgow. Apgar denied there was any payoff. He said the owner of the polluted well, whom he identified only as a Mrs. Wagner, never asked for compensation.

He said the state feared that if it came down too hard on the county about the Tybouts Corner problem that the county might wash its Monday through Friday Monday through Saturday Monday through Sunday Want to Polluted well no surprise, state water official admits lyr. 53.40 65.40 91.40 6 mo. 16.70 32.70 45.70 3 mo. 13.35 1635 2245 1 mo. 4.45 5.45 7.50 advertise? Photography 573-2065 Sports 573-2050 DoverKentCounty GeorgetownSussex County 856-7371 NewarkCecil County 738-6000 or (301) 398-4660 Classified Advertising 655-4061 National Advertising 573-224 in Dover 734-7577 Legal Advertising 573-2239 in Georgetown 856-7371 Promotion 573-2260 Retail Advertising 573-2250 Creative Services 573 2256-7 Retail Advertising after 5 p.m 573-2279 (exceot Saturdays) Need a sports score? Call 573-2199 for latest sports results.

Have a comment? If you have a comment about accuracy, fairness or adequacy of news coverage, call the office of the public editor, 573-2142, between 8 30 a and 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Have a news story? State officials have known for two years about the contamination of at least one residential well by the defunct Tybouts Corner landfill, but took no action, the state water supply supervisor has admitted. Michael A. Apgar said the state decided not to press the issue because New Castle County was struggling with a more serious pollution problem at the former Llangollen landfill.

Apgar commented in response to a charge by a Middletown well driller that one property owner Artsreligion news 573-2040 Business news 573-2170 Engagements weddings 573-2048 Government news 573-2164 Healtheducation news 573-2180 Obituaries i 573-2151 NewsroomWilmington 573-2191.