Arizona Daily Star from Tucson, Arizona • Page 7

FIRST EDITION best available copy Friday, April 20, 2001 Arizona Daily Star ATI) VIDEOS China, U.S. vie for public's jj mind on spy plane Continued from Page Al i 1 I Net ihvtf rr M0KE9 I dou h35 Tucson teacher Tonya Leigh, center, Max Bscherer Staff protests for better pay. She and colleagues demonstrated at TUSD headquarters on Tuesday. Llaricopa districts' plans PROP. 301 Tucson teachers wait to hear about new pay, benefits Continued from Page Al state for not telling them exactly how much money they'll get from the new tax.

They say contract negotiations are always difficult and typically don't finish yet Some say their districts' contracts are more complicated than those of Phoenix districts. "We're not dragging any feet around here," says Bobby Johnson, TUSD director of employee relations. But teachers like Stacia Reeves are not appeased. "TUSD is exasperating the teachers," Reeves says. "And if something isn't done soon, it's going to get worse." Officials in the Mesa Unified, Glendale Union and Phoenix Union school districts have settled their 301 plans as well as teacher contract negotiations.

Mesa Unified is the largest school district in the state. The plans are diverse, reflecting the proposition's guidelines. It mandates that 20 percent of funds go directly to teacher raises, 40 percent to a performance-pay plan and the last 40 percent to a slew of items such as reducing class size and improving test scores. But it leaves specifics up to districts. Base pay raises range from 5 percent in Mesa to 8 percent in Glendale.

Mesa teachers also get money to offset increases in their health insurance premiums. In Glendale, the raises include pay for five additional school days three in the classroom and two for teacher training. Starting pay will range from $28,455 at Phoenix Union to $30,503 at Glendale. Teachers with high levels of experience and education will get from $57,158 at Mesa to $60,004 at Glendale. The districts took different approaches with their performance-pay plans.

Some educators feared the provision would create tension between teachers by rewarding some of them and not others, but Mesa and Glendale avoided that by making the awards entirely school-based. If the teachers' schools meet certain goals, all the teachers get rewarded. Will Moore, executive director of the Mesa Education Association, the district's teachers union, says his district's performance-pay plan likely will be based on goals similar to those the district already uses for its performance-pay system: success on district-created tests. Tim Rockey, president of the Glendale Union Education Association, says his district will tat 4 the base salaries," says Reeves, who teaches at TUSD'sBooth-Fickett Elementary School. "We're losing teachers left and right to other districts in the country and other parts of the state." But TUSD officials say teachers get many perks in their contracts that teachers in other districts don't get.

Mesa's salary schedule rewards teachers every four years while TUSD advances educators every year. Johnson says teachers have negotiated class-size caps and don't have many extra duties other teachers do. "The majority of school districts don't get into nearly as many issues as we do," he says. The result is better contracts for teachers, he says. But negotiating those perks takes more time and means less money for salaries.

A TUSD task force of district and union officials unveiled its performance-pay plan last week, but the school board wasn't supportive. The plan would have rewarded teachers for belonging to educational groups and being nationally certified, which some say puts too much emphasis on what teachers do outside class. The TUSD task force has gone back to the drawing board. "We're going to have a settlement and teachers are going to get pay raises and they're going to be happy," Johnson says. He says negotiators hope to have contracts in place by May.

fighters near what appeared to be the Chinese coastline. It. seemed to have been shot from the cockpit of a Chinese plane, and an American pilot can be seen taking pictures back. i Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue said the video depicted "dangerous'J and aggressive" U.S. flying.

The Pentagon's Rear Adm. Craig Quigley, disagreed. "That showed clearly the F-14 and FA-18S that were in the; proximity of whatever type of Chinese aircraft it was I as-' sume it was a jet and what you saw was quite a civil distance be-; ing maintained," he said. "Quick with the zoom button" Quigley said the video was shot in such a way as to distort the distance between the Ameri-; can and Chinese planes. "They were pretty quick with the zoom' button on the video camera, and it brought the aircraft much closer.

But I think the starting point of the video that they showed indeed showed the U.S. aircraft at what we would consider a prudent distance from the Chinese aircraft And that's all we're asking for in this case is prudent nonaggressive, non-; threatening flying," he added. The Chinese video was released as a counterpoint to an American video shown at a Pen-; tagon news conference last week by Defense Secretary Don-; aid Rumsfeld in which a Chinese F-8 fighter is shown flying outside the wing of an American turboprop surveillance air-; craft off the Chinese coast earli-I er this year. Rumsfeld said it, proved Chinese pilots had been flying dangerously close to; American surveillance aircraft in international airspace even; before the April 1 collision. "It's dueling videos," said, Steven Aftergood, an intelli- gence analyst for the private Federation of American Scientists.

"There obviously is a battle; of public perception going on." In Thursday's talks in Bei-j jing, the Chinese reiterated their position that the Navy EP-; 3E Aries II surveillance plane turned suddenly into the path of their fighter, colliding with the fighter and sending it plunging into the sea. The pilot was lost and the Navy plane was forced; to make an emergency landing at China's Hainan island. Talks "very frank" i No agreement was reported on what caused the accident or; whether the disabled U.S. plane would be returned. While the American team characterized the negotiations; as "productive," Chinese officials reacted negatively, attacking anew the U.S.

version of events in the April 1 collision with a Chinese fighter jet The Foreign Ministry said the United States was responsible for any lasting damage to relations caused by the incident Zhang, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, said: "The talks were very frank." The U.S. negotiators in Beijing presented a proposal for permitting a team of U.S. experts to inspect the plane to determine whether the plane should be fixed and flown out or taken apart and shipped. China, which has not said it will return the plane, is expected to answer through diplomatic channels. Zhang suggested that the plane, which remains in Chinese hands since its emer-! gency landing, would not be returned until the United States accepted full blame for the crash.

None of the other large Tucson-area districts has made a final decision on how to use their 301 funds, but officials at several say plans could be concrete after two more board meetings. Sunnyside Superintendent Raul Bejarano hopes 301 negotiations can be finished by the first week of May. That's also the goal in Flowing Wells and Marana. But it could take even longer for others, such as Amphitheater, where officials are required to approve teacher contracts by May 15 even if the teachers union doesn't return to negotiations. The district says it offered average raises of 14.4 percent, performance pay bonuses of $2,000 and about $840 more to help with insurance costs.

Catalina Foothills likely won't have a performance-pay plan in place until August Vail is about halfway through the process and has put about 40 percent of funds into teacher pay. Talks could go into the summer. Tanque Verde's assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, Denise Ryan, says the delay in getting accurate money figures has stalled talks. "Until we get projections from the state, I don't see that anyone will make a decision," she says. I Contact L.

Anne Newell at 573-4117 or at lnewellazstarnet.com. days of school, or if their schools do well in other areas, such as improved test scores and dropout rates. Glendale Union: 9 schools. 13,648 students. 8 percent teacher raises, which includes pay for two professional-development days and three new school days.

Teachers earn up to $2,000 bonuses by meeting district and school goals, such as improving test scores and low- ering dropout rates. Sources: Arizona Department of Education, the Arizona Senate and school districts. Numbers recorded Oct. 1, 1999. performance on the AIMS test.

The Tucson Education Association, the union that represents TUSD teachers, has asked for a 5 percent base pay increase, an improved salary schedule and help offsetting rising health insurance premiums. Beginning teachers now get $24,452. The school board voted last week to put 60 per-' cent of the 301 funds into teacher salaries. But some teachers say they want more. 1 "TUSD keeps saying there isn't the money to increase teacher salaries.

It would seem logical that this 301 money, which many voters intended for teachers, would go toward How some Maricopa County school districts plan to use Proposition 301 funds: Mesa Unified: 84 schools. 73,199 students. 5 percent base raises for teachers, improvements to teacher salary schedule and help with rising health insurance premiums. Teachers earn $2,600 to $3,000 bonuses if their schools meet goals. Phoenix Union: 12 schools.

21,726 students. 6.5 percent raises for teachers, an extra day of school and professional development programs. Teachers earn $1,200 to $1,900 bonuses if they meet criteria, such as missing only a few base performance pay on student achievement, dropout rates, parent satisfaction and local school goals. Schools have to meet goals in three of the categories for teachers to earn the bonus, estimated at $2,000. Only one part of Phoenix Union's plan, teacher attendance, is based on individuals, says Shirley Filliater, president of the Phoenix Union Classroom Teachers' Association.

For example, if teachers miss five or fewer days of school, they get $375. If teachers miss six days, the raise is about $281. The other performance-pay goals are school-based and include student attendance, parent satisfaction and student Andy Nichols I Earned his bachelor's degree from Swathmore College in 1959. He went on to earn a medical degree from Stanford University in 1964. He earned a master's degree in public health from Harvard University in 1970.

I Served with the Peace Corps in Peru from 1966 to 1968. I Married Ann Weaver. Had three children: Kathy, Michael and Miles. I Served in the House from 1992 to 2000. Was in his first year as a state senator.

I As a medical doctor, served as the University of Arizona's Rural Health Office professor and director since 1970. He also began practicing family medicine in 1970. Was one of the architects of Proposition 204, the Healthy Arizona initiative that uses money from the state's portion of the tobacco industry settlement to provide health care for the working poor. district. Nichols was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1992, serving there until he won the Senate seat last November in a hotly contested election with fellow House member Kathleen Dunbar, a Republican.

Senate President Randall Gnant said, "He was a champion of so many causes. "He was a member of our Senate family and we already miss him." His main priority this session has been to push through legislation to provide free or subsidized prescriptions for seniors of limited income. That measure cleared the Senate Appropriations Committee earlier this week. Nichols also was actively involved in implementing Proposition 204, a measure to boost the number of people entitled to state-paid health care approved by voters last November. Nichols I NICHOLS Veteran lawmaker championed healthcare Continued from Page Al fourth-year medical student.

"But then he stopped breathing (and had) no pulse." Sciara said he began trying to resuscitate Nichols as paramedics were called. Phoenix firefighters who arrived several minutes later worked on Nichols on the floor of the third floor hallway for about 20 minutes, administering a total of six defibrillator shocks in between chest compressions before taking him to St Joseph's Hospital A social worker there told lawmakers who gathered at the hospital that Nichols was alive when he arrived and his heart was beating. "But they were having a hard time keeping it beating on its own," said Rob Dalagher, the Senate's director of operations. News came shortly after 8 p.m. that Nichols had died.

Nichols apparently exhibited no signs of medical trouble before he collapsed. Sen. Mary Hartley, D-Phoenix, one of the legislators who went to the hospital, said Nichols told her he had a defective heart valve which she said he characterized as "no big deal." An hour before, Nichols was joking with a reporter about the House defeating a proposal of his to extend legislative terms from their current two years. "It's a season of resurrections," he quipped. By state law, it is up to the Pima County Board of Supervisors to appoint a replacement who must be from the same political party, within 10 days.

A likely front-runner is first-term state Rep. Gabrielle Gif-fords, a Democrat from the same Navy's Pacific chief won't court-martial Greeneville's captain By Steven Lee Myers THE NEW YORK TIMES WASHINGTON The senior Navy commander in the Pacific has decided not to court-martial the captain of the submarine Greeneville for his actions in the collision that sank a Japanese fishing boat off Hawaii in February, Navy officials said. The decision by Adm. Thomas B. Fargo follows the unanimous recommendation of three admirals who conducted a formal court of inquiry at Pearl Harbor Naval Station in March.

The officers found that that the captain, Cmdr. Scott D. Waddle, failed to follow proper procedures in the hours before the Feb. 9 collision with the Ehime Mara, which claimed the lives of nine Japanese crew members, four of them teen-age students. Instead of a court-martial, Fargo has decided to punish Waddle in an administrative hearing known as an admiral's mast.

A Navy official in Hawaii said Thursday that the action is expected on Monday. The admiral's mast is expected to include a formal letter of reprimand for Waddle, which will effectively end the career of an officer who had been considered a rising star in the submarine corps. Waddle has said that he knew his career was over after the accident It is not clear what other administrative punishment Fargo will mete out for others involved in the collision. The submarine's executive officer, Lt Cmdr. Gerald K.

Pfeiffer, and the officer of the deck at the time, Lt j.g. Michael J. Coen, were also a focus of the court of inquiry. Two other officers, Capt. Robert L.

Brandhuber, the chief of staff of the Pacific submarine fleet who was aboard the Greeneville, and Lt Cmdr. David Werner, a public affairs officer who helped schedule the Greeneville trip, are also supposed to receive some punishment Testimony presented in the inquiry indicated that the submarine went to sea the day of the collision for the benefit of 16 civilians invited aboard for a public relations trip. Three civilians under the guidance of the crew were at the controls of the submarine at the time of the accident though they were not considered to be a direct factor in the collision. The Navy has since halted the practice of allowing civilians to take the controls of military equipment pending a review. The accident stirred an outcry in Japan and raised new questions about the often contentious U.S.-Japanese military alliance.

The prospect that Waddle will escape a court-martial has already been sharply criticized by relatives of the victims. The Los Angeles Times reported Fargo's decision Wednesday. was a prime mover behind the Healthy Arizona measure, which beat a better-financed alternative pushed by Arizona hospitals. He has been a long-time supporter of legislation to provide tax incentives for solar energy programs. He also was instrumental in pushing through legislation allowing Pima County to levy a new "bed tax" to fund the Rio Nuevo redevelopment project.

But many of his efforts revolved around public health. A professor of family medicine at the University of Arizona, Nichols was a perennial champion of lowering the blood-alcohol standard for drunken driving from 0.10 percent to 0.08 percent That measure finally was approved and signed into law earlier this year. He also pushed through another measure this session to have the state use its funds from the federal Women, Infants and Children program to provide folic acid supplements to women of child-bearing age. Nichols said the lack of folic acid, a vitamin, is a leading cause of birth defects. Former state Sen.

George Cunningham said he and Nichols roomed together the first three years they served in the House. Nichols succeeded Cunningham when he vacated his Senate seat to run for Congress in 2000. "I think he'll be most remembered through his advocacy for the expansion of health care for the neediest children and families. He was a delight to work with most of the time. He was a tenacious advocate and could be overly persistent in pushing his bills." Nichols was not as successful with his plan to require young bicyclists to wear helmets, with most colleagues calling it unnecessary government intrusion.

Nichols got his master's degree in public health from Harvard University and his medical degree from Stanford University. Nichols served in the Peace Corps in Peru in the 1960s. Nichols is survived by his wife, Ann, and three children. Lottery Drawings for Thursday, April 19 Fantasy 5 Pick 3 1, 2, 8, 31, 35 3,8,9 Drawings for Wednesday, April 18 The Pick 2, 9, 26, 29, 35, 40 Bonus Ball: 6 Jackpot: $7.5 million 6 of 6: million 5 bonus: 5 of 6: 4 of 6: 1.019S40 3 of 6: Powerball 6,11.18,20,44 Powerball: 39 Multiplier: 3 Jackpot $10 million No Jackpot winner I Arizona winners: 5 of 5: 4of5 ptall: 4 of 5: 100 3 of 5 p'ball: 3 of 5: I 2 of 5 p'ball: lof5 p-ball: 3.427$4 Powerball: Lottery information: 325-9141 Online: www.an20nalottery.com.