Arizona Daily Star from Tucson, Arizona • Page 1

District 1 Training Of School Bus Drivers Slight tion after being hired, although he had previous experience with heavy equipment in the military. "I just rode with the driver who had the route I was to get, and the next day, I took over," he said. Like other drivers hired by the district, he said he was required to have a chauffeur's license and to take a five-day course in traffic safety. Instruction was limited to classroom reading material, lecture and film strips. No manual experience was involved.

The state requires only three character references and passing a written test for a chauffeur's license. There is no driving test. According to another driver: "They ask you if you've had experience driving large vehicles. But they don't check up on you." One driver who had no previous large-vehicle experience said he did receive limited behind-the-wheel training before taking his an experienced driver," he said. "In-service training is what it is." He added that all drivers must take the five-day, state-required course in first-aid and highway safety.

Employes hired after the school year begins must wait until the following summer to take the course, offered only once a year. Ruppel said he replaces approximately a third of his 72-driver staff each year, with a number of positions being filled during the school year. Drivers receive a refresher course every third year, he said, in addition to in-service meetings twice a year during which safety films are shown and general problems discussed. Ruppel said that nearly one-fourth of his drivers are university students, a fact that, combined with comparatively low pay, accounts for a high yearly turnover. District One driv- (Continued on Page 17A, Col.

1) own route. "I drove it about half a mile, maybe, and that was it. They just took me in. As far as a first-class program, it could be better." None of the drivers interviewed said they were required to demonstrate specific skills such as maneuvering a bus in limited quarters. State regulations require that such proficiency be demonstrated before a school bus driver's certificate is issued.

Comments from the drivers concerning manual training differed considerably with statements from Arnold Ruppel, District One assistant director for transportation. Ruppel reported that his new drivers are first checked "to see if they can handle a big bus." Buses vary in length from 36 to 40 feet and can carry from 72 to 91 passengers. "Then, we take them out for three or four hours of intensive training on the routes with 20. 1972 TUCSON, ARIZONA, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER proficiency before being assigned to transport district children. The situation, which was denied by a district transportation official, compared unfavorably to that in at least one other area school district, where drivers are better paid, work less and are given more behind-the-wheel training.

Despite all this, however, District One has had only three accidents none of them causing serious injury in the past five years. Two of the accidents occurred last month. One woman driver for the district said, "They've been lucky, really. Very, very fortunate. We've all said it will take a big accident before they'll do anything.

I really think something should be done before we have a bad accident." A student at the University of Arizona, working as a parttime driver for the school district, said he received no manual instruc Earthlings Again jmmu By BILL TURNER Star Staff Writer Tucson School District One bus drivers, entrusted daily with the lives of 8,000 children, receive only what one employe calls "around-the-block" driving training from the district. Interviews with six more of the district's 71 other drivers confirmed that, despite official claims, new employes hired to drive the nine-ton yellow giants receive only minimal if any behind-the-wheel training. Of the six, only one disagreed. Other violations of state regulations for school bus operations also reported in a recent check of district transportation service, included excessive working hours for drivers, overcrowding of vehicles and riders standing while the vehicles were moving. In some cases, it was reported that drivers who claimed previous experience in handling large vehicles were not required to prove their Fifteen Cents VOL.

131 NO. 354 After nearly 13 days in space and on the crew is back on the USS Ticonderoga after B52s Swarm Over North For Third Day Tig 4 Vn I vl 5'-t TOP of the NEWS GENERALLY FAIR. The prediction for today calls for mostly fair skies increasing to partly cloudy tomorrow. High today should be near 70 and the overnight low about 40. Yesterday's extremes were 71 and 39.

A year ago extremes were 60 and 38. Details on Page 4A. fC National VITAMIN E. The Consumers Union reports that people who think vitamin enhances their sex lives and relieves a long list of medical ailments, including heart disease, are kidding themselves. At best, says the report, vitamin is a waste of money.

Page 9A. DONATION RETURNED. The Nixon campaign returned $50,000 in contributions from San Diego banker C. Arnholt Smith earlier this year while he was facing three government investigations, a source close to the campaign discloses. Page 14B.

MARKED "CONFIDENTIAL." The idea behind the Freedom of Information Act was to open public records, opinions and policies of federal agencies to public scrutiny. Now, over five years later, the move just doesn't seem to be working. Page 5C. NEWSMAN JAILED. A Los Angeles Times newsman, the chief of the paper's Washington Bureau, is jailed on a contempt charge then freed on appeal.

He had refused to surrender tapes of an interview conducted with a former FBI agent expected to testify in the trial of seven men accused of bugging the Democratic National Committee's offices during the presidential campaign. Page 8B. CAR-THEFT RING. Indictments are announced in Newark, N.J., naming 35 alleged members of several interstate car theft rings. The indictments allege that up to 600 luxury cars were stolen.

Page 5A. NIXON NOMINEES. The SEC has been asked to determine if a company headed by William P. Clements has violated security laws. And Litton Industries, formerly headed by Roy L.

Ash, is being investigated about the possibility of a $60 million fraud. Page 2B. SUPREME COURT. A blue-ribbon panel of prominent attorneys hand picked by Chief Justice Warren E. Burger recommends the creation of a 'junior Supreme Court to screen appeals and petitions submitted to the nation's highest bench.

Page 13B. ACTIVISTS ARRESTED. A former Stanford University professor and six other persons have been arrested in California and Arizona and charged with protecting a convict whose ambush escape last October left a guard dead. Page 3B. CLUB CONTROVERSY.

The New York branch of the American Automobile Assn. admits that its five top officers are also principal stockholders in the private auto insurance agency to which the club refers its members. In response to a Ralph Nader aide's contention that the arrangement is "at least unethical," the officers maintain that they are doing nothing wrong. Page ISA. Arizona INSURANCE RATES.

The public is excluded from the rate-making process in which insurance premiums are decided under Arizona law. Furthermore, the law exempts life, accident and health insurance rates from all regulatory processes. Last in a series. Page IB. -r 1 rrrrrrrrnL Local AIRPORT SEARCHES.

Screening of air travelers at Tucson International Airport will be intensified in the next few weeks to comply with federal requirements. An average of one passenger a day is found trying to carry weapons aboard a plane here. Page IB. REZONING BID SHELVED. The two retiring Board of Supervisor members vote to postpone a controversial rezoning request, saying the new board should decide on it next year.

The request, which was opposed by 1,000 Am-phi residents, was favored by Chairman Jim Murphy. Page 6C. JAIL BEATINGS. Two men are sentenced to additional prison terms for their parts in beatings that occurred in the Pima County Jail last winter. Both are already serving stiff sentences on other charges.

Page 18A. BABY BARGAIN. St Joseph's Hospital is introducing a special rate for mothers who are ready to go home with their new babies after 24 hours: $250 instead of the usual $500 for a three-day stay. Page 9B. ASARCO WINS.

Judge Jacks G. Marks rules that Pima County cannot legally tax the American Smelting and Refining Co. mining operation on the San Xavier Indian reservation, opening the possibility that all mines on federal, state or Indian lands may be tax-exempt The county is ordered to refund $442,616 in taxes paid by ASAKCO under protest, plus six per cent interest. Page IB. NIXON TV BILL.

Sigma Delta Chi, the society of professional newsmen, is strongly opposed to proposed federal legislation to hold local TV stations responsible for network programs, but one Tucson station manager is receptive to the idea. Page JB. 1 sr moon, the Apollo 17 down. Left to right are Harrison H. Schmitt, Ronald E.

Evans and a successful splash- Eugene A. Cernan (AP Wirephoto) FINAL Edition SEVENTY-TWO PAGES and third to hostile fire in the 7Vi years the Strategic Air Command bombers have been flying raids in Indochina the U.S. Command acknowledged the loss of an Air Force Fill fighter-bomber. Its two crewmen were reported missing. It was the fifth of the sophisticated and controversial swing-wing aircraft to vanish without explanation on raids over the North since they returned to the war zone in September.

The U.S. Command, imposing one of the most stringent news blackouts of the war on the renewed air operations over North Vietnam, would not comment on the second day of raids Tuesday and said it had no additional plane losses to report at that time. Its phrasing left open the possibility that (Continued on Page 15A, Col. 2) Accord Blocked By U.S., Says Red Negotiator PARIS (AP) The head of North Vietnam's negotiating team charged on Tuesday that the United States blocked agreement on any peace accord drafted in October by demanding 126 changes. The negotiator, Xuan Thuy, accused Henry A.

Kissinger of "deliberately distorting the truth" by blaming North Vietnam for the breakdown in negotiations. Kissinger said that Hanoi at one time withdrew every negotiated textual change and at another point presented 17 changes. Thuy said the secret talks were continuing and hence refused to discuss details. He said Kissinger had breached the agreed secrecy of his talks with Le Due Tho of the North Vietnamese Politburo when Kissinger held a news conference in Washington on Saturday. Thuy told a news conference that the 126 amendments of the October draft proposed by Kissinger were "attempts to impose changes of substance which would have violated the fundamental rights of the people of Vietnam." In Washington, deputy White House press secretary Gerald Warren denied that Kissinger had proposed 126 changes.

Warren did not say how many might have been suggested. Without going into details, Thuy said the American changes would deny that "two parallel administrations and armies and three political forces exist side by side in South Vietnam." Thuy charged that the changes tried to "perpetuate the division of Vietnam" and, by introducing thousands of truce observers, would create "a foreign military army of occupation. "By deliberately distorting the truth in the negotiations, the United States is trying to deceive American and world public opinion to throw the responsibility for the deadlock on the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, to camouflage the American intention to intensify the bombing, and to impose an American solution in South Vietnam by military power," Thuy said. Thuy repeatedly denied that there as any preparation for a new offensive against South Vietnam, given as one reason for the renewed bombing of the Hanoi-Haiphong area. He asserted that President Nixon violated an undertaking to refrain from bombing North Vietnam above the 20th parallel.

A statement issued by Tass on behalf of the (Continued Page 1U, Col. 7) Splashdown Ends Moon Exploration By JOHN NOBLE WILFORD 1972 New York Times News Service SAIGON (AP) U.S. B52 bombers spearheaded a third day of intense aerial assaults today against the Hanoi-Haiphong heartland of North Vietnam. U.S. officials said scores more raids were flown before dawn by the giant Stratofort-resses.

The new combined effort has proved the costliest of the war to the United States. The U.S. Command reported two B52s were lost to surface-to-air missiles during the first two days of the bombing resumption above the 20th parallel. Four other B52s were damaged by missiles, and one Fill fighter-bomber was lost. Eight American crewmen were listed as missing by the command and seven were reported rescued.

Officials said 100 B52 bombers the entire force available for action in Southeast Asia have been used in the raids. Although about 200 of the bombers are based in Thailand and Guam, generally only about half are on call for combat operations on any given day because of maintenance and other factors. Officials reported intense fire in the Hanoi-Haiphong region. They said up to 100 SAM's were fired in the first day of the resumed bombing when American bombers aimed their heaviest raids of the war against the enemy heartland. Wave after wave of Air Force and Navy attack planes struck at North Vietnam in the unprecedented raids ordered by President Nixon after the latest breakdown in peace talks.

One of the eight-engine B52s crashed 30 miles northwest of Hanoi with six crewmen missing, the U.S. Command said. Radio Hanoi, in a broadcast monitored here Tuesday night, gave the names of six B52 crewmen it said were captured. Apparently speaking in their own voices, two of the men told of having been shot down. One said he was downed Monday night.

The other said his plane was shot down Tuesday morning. The second B52 which the command reported down was disabled by enemy fire in the raid over the North and crashed in northeast Thailand. The seven men aboard that plane bailed out and were rescued. In addition to the B52s lost the second 7th Fleet Ship Hit By Enemy SAIGON (AP) The U.S. Command reported today that at least one 7th Fleet ship had been hit by enemy fire off the coast of North Vietnam but refused to give any details.

A spokesman indicated there were some American casualties but would not elaborate. The command also refused to identify the ship. Hanoi Radio reported that three American warships were "set ablaze" Sunday night off the port city of Thanh Hoa, which is a few miles below the 20th parallel North Vietnam also claimed it shot dowi two more B32 bombers and four more jet fighter-bombers Tuesday night and this morning during U.S. bombing raids "that began just before nightfall and continued mtil dawn." Hanoi has now claimed five B52s and seven fighter-bombers since the raids resumed Monday. Many of the air crews were "cap-tnred aihe," a Hanoi Radio broadcast said.

Report Admits Power Plants' Pollution Threat WASHINGTON (AP) The Interior Department conceded Tuesday that development of coal-burning power plants in the Southwest would spread air pollution into some of the nation's most scenic landscapes. But the department said it could see no immediate alternative for the plants if the future power needs of Southwestern cities are to be met. In a report awaited for the past year, the department said locating power plants near these cities "could be a practical option" in the future "provided the environmental problems of burning coal near the energy use centers can be overcome." Utility companies have planned and already begun construction of power plants throughout the Southwest, to be near coal mines in the Colorado River Basin and to escape the urban areas which face tough problems in meeting federal air pollution limits. The question whether new air pollution can be permitted in areas still pure such as the open spaces of the Southwest is awaiting a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals here, in a lawsuit brought by environment groups against the Environmental Protection Agency.

Although the power plants would be constructed by private firms, Interior Department permits would be required for a variety of uses of federal land. Environment groups asked the department a year ago to prepare a formal environmental impact, statement, spelling out in advance the consequences that would follow such permits. The department refused a formal impact statement, with its specific legal requirements, but began instead a general study of Southwestern power needs and plans. The study, issued Tuesday, found that the planned construction of 30.000 megawatts of generating capacity by 1990 would bring smoglike conditions to areas where the visibility now reaches 50 to 100 miles. HOUSTON The Apollo exploration of the moon, one of the great achievements of all time, came to a successful conclusion Tuesday with the splashdown of the Apollo 17 astronauts in the waters of the Pacific Ocean.

Capt. Eugene A. Cernan and Cmdr. Ronald E. Evans of the Navy and Dr.

Harrison H. Schmitt, a geologist, rode their spaceship, America, to a safe return from the moon at 12:25 p.m. (Tucson timej. In less than an hour, the three astronauts were recovered and flown by helicopter to the deck of the aircraft carrier, Ticonderoga, which was on station about 400 miles southeast cf American Samoa. After the traditional band musk and brief welcoming speeches, Cernan, who commanded the 12Vz day mission, said: "We think we flew a good mission, we think we accomplished something, and by golly, we're proud of it." $200,000 In Heroin Seized At Morel Narcotics agents last night reported seizing 18 ounces of pure heroin with an estimated street-sale value of $200,000.

The catch, was the largest in the nearly four-year history of the Metropolitan Area Narcotics Squad, said Tucson Police Lt. Peter Ronstadt Luis A. Cossio-Acedo, 24, of 1307 W. St. Clair St, was arrested at a motel in the city's northwest side in connection with the case.

He was booked into Pima County Jail on a charge of unlawful possession of narcotics for sale, Ronstadt saii Cossio-Acedo listed his occupation as carpenter. The arrest followed a four-day investigation by drug agents. More arrests may follow, Ronstadt said. Recalling thoughts he had after a previous mission, Cernan continued: "Nothing is impossible in this world when dedicated people are involved. And it's a fundamental law of nature that either you must grow or you must die.

Whether that be an idea, whether that be a man, whether that be a flower or a country, I thank God that our country has chosen to grow." Apollo 17 was the final mission in a project that President Kennedy initiated in May, 1951. with the pledge that "this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to earth." The goal was reached in July. 1969, when Apollo 11 landed on the Sea of Tranquillity, and Neil A. Armstrong and Col. Edwin E.

Al-drin Jr. cf the Air Force took man's first steps on another world. In a statement Tuesday, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration said that Apollo 17 was "the last, longest and most successful of seven manned lunar landing missions" in the J25 billion project. President Nixon, in a statement released at the Manned Spacecraft Center here, said that Apollo lrs splashdown "marks the end of one of the most significant chapters in the history of human endeavor." Drawing attention to the nation's future space plans, the President added: "The making of space history will continue, and this nation means to play a major role in its making." Christopher C. Kraft, director of the Manned Spacecraft Center, described Apollo 17 as "a perfect mission." Almost nothing wrnt wTon? with the spacecraft during its voyage of nearly a million (Continued oa Page 7 Col.

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