Hattiesburg American from Hattiesburg, Mississippi • 1

I iiiiii 'mi BUSH MIXES BUSDIESS, BASEBALL Page 3A JEWS MARK PASSOVER Page 4A JflCKSOIl MS KIDS A AWESTRUCK Page4B PLAY BALL! I' AT LONG LAST Chris Jackson Page IB HATTIESBURG- George Bush TTZi" 1 Report: South environment ranks worst News Digest TUESDAY, APRIL 10, 1990 Ryan White remembered by high school classmates Top and bottom 10, 10A By Gannett News Service New England led by Vermont has the nation's healthiest environment, while Alabama and the South rank the worst, says a new report. "The South has become the nation's biggest waste dump," says Eric Bates of the Institute for Southern Studies, a non-profit research group producing the study. Basis for the report: Thirty-five in dicators, including air, water quality; public health; land use policies; per capita environmental spending. Other findings: New England led by Vermont had six of the 10 best scores. Others: Minnesota, Wisconsin, Oregon, Hawaii.

"It's wonderful to be at the top of the heap," says Jonathan Lash, Vermont's natural resources secretary. Only non-Southern state in the bottom 10: Indiana. Many Northeast and Great Lakes states faired poorly on the "poison in dex" a measure of air, water quality, waste disposal but compensated because of aggressive regulatory programs to manage the problem. Most Mountain states "scored poorly jn all areas of government initiative." Alaska has the most homes with Inadequate plumbing; Minnesota, the fewest. Iowa uses the most pesticides per capita; Rhode Island, the least.

New Jersey and Maryland spend the most on public health; Alaska spends the most on environmental regulation. Alabama was given the lowest overall scores. "I don't think they know what they are talking about," says Leigh Pegues, director of Alabama's department of environmental management. Says Pat Byington, administrator of the Alabama Conservancy, a coalition of environmental groups: "That ranking doesn't surprise me at all; we've become the dumping ground for everybody." ARCADIA. Ind.

AIDS vic- tlm Ryan White was remembered by his friends at Hamilton Heights High School as a model student and those who once fought to keep him out of school mourned his absence. Students and administrators at White's high school wore oranee ribbons, mementoes of White school pride, and began the day with a 10-minute convocation in memory of White, who finally found friendship and acceptance here ff Je' arter a long legal battle to attend public school. Dnscoveiry grounded White, a junior, attended classes as recently as two weeks before his death Sunday, 10 days after he was hospitalized with an AIDS-related respiratory inrecuon. see page 3A. Atlanta is crime capital ATLANTA (AP) Atlanta's designation as the nation's big-city crime capital for the second con secutive year is a public relations disaster that could till TSioirsda affect the city's bid to host the 1996 Olympics, pollster said.

1 According to The Atlanta Constitution, which analyzed FBI statistics for 1989 that were released Sunday, Atlanta had the highest number of serious crimes reported per 1,000 population of any big city Power problems scrub launch i I those with at least 300,000 residents during 1989. The Atlanta figure was 210 per 1,000. Miami ranked second with 189 per Dallas was third iSr t. with 168 per 1,000. Pat Sajak gets the ax LOS ANGELES (AP) A complete overhaul failed to revive the sagging late-night fortunes of "Wheel of Fortune" host Pat Sajak, whose CBS talk show goes around for the final time next week.

The one-hour time slot at 11:30 p.m. will be replaced after the April 16 show with reruns of other programs until fall, when original programming will be introduced. Exxon in for long haul 1 An expensive adventure, 2A CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) NASA scrubbed the launch of Discovery with the $1.5 billion Hubble Space Telescope today when a problem developed four minutes before liftoff in a unit that supplies power to the shuttle's wing and tail surfaces. "The chances of going tomorrow are not high," said launch control commentator George Diller, as engineers tried to determine the extent of the problem with the Auxiliary Power Unit and what it will take to fix it.

The scrub was a disappointment to the hundreds of astronomers who had gathered at the Kennedy Space Center to watch the launch of Discovery and the telescope that it carries in its cargo bay. Hubble, the most expensive unmanned spacecraft ever built, has been waiting to take its place in space since 1983 delayed by technical problems and the 1986 Challenger explosion. Diller said NASA was disappointed at the latest delay "but the stars will be here tomorrow." If the APU has to be replaced entirely, it would mean a delay of at least several days, said Keith L. Hudkins, chief of NASA's shuttle orbiter division. "There'll be something changed out," Hudkins said.

"Something's broken that will have to be switched." The weather was expected to worsen on Wednesday but improve on Thursday. The space telescope's batteries will hold their charge through Friday, but after that would have to undergo an eight-day recharge on the ground. Once Hubble is in orbit, its solars panels will keep its batteries supplied with power. All the other worries, about weather at the launch site and at emergency landing sites overseas had been swept away and the countdown proceeded without a hitch to the four minute mark pointing toward a launch at 7:47 a.m. CDT.

But then Commander Loren J. Shriver noticed that one of the APUs was running too fast and reported the fact to launch control. See DISCOVERY section back a ANCHORAGE, Alaska Exxon and a subsidiary pleaded innocent to two felonies and three misdemeanors and the corporation's lawyer said the oil spill was a "tragic accident." See page 3A. Moscow gets tougher 4 jT MOSCOW Mikhail S. Gorbachev and his new presidential council have issued a harsh new warning to Lithuania's secessionists, threatening addi tional unspecified "political and economic measures" to control the rebels.

See page 4A. SHUTTLE BUFFS line up to watch as the gantry is rolled back to expose the space shuttle Discovery on launch pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center on Monday. Power problems have since caused the liftoff today to be scrubbed indefinitey. Rival office destroyed TOKYO A rival of an underworld organization used a backhoe to destroy a police car, a guard house and a garage before 10 officers shot out the vehicle's tires, officials said. See page 4A.

Survey: Principals want longer school year AlERICANV By DENNIS KELLY Gannett News Service Almost two of three elementary school principals say students should go to school all year, or at least more days of the year, according to an informal nationwide survey by the National Association of Elementary School Principals. The 479 principals surveyed also said the student-teacher ratio still is too high; their teachers need more planning time; and students should be evaluated for all of their work, not just test results. The principals are attending the association's annual convention in San Antonio. The survey was done through the mail, with 25 percent of the principals responding. Samuel Sava, the association's executive director, said the sentiments reflect frustrations at having to incorporate new things into the curriculum from AIDS instruction to gun safety without additional time.

The survey found that 38 percent of principals said the school calendar should be year-round, with vacations spread out rather than in a big lump Twenty-nine percent said the school year's length, about 180 days, is fine. Longer school years in other countries are often cited as a reason foreign students perform better than U.S. students. Japan is tops with 243 days; South Korea has 220 and Scotland 200. The principals also said: Ideal class size is one teacher to 15 students.

Average class size now is 24 students. Student performance is best measured by portfolios of work rather than solely from standardized tests. The amount of time teachers spend with students should be decreased, but teachers should stay longer each day to do more planning. The survey asked principals how school-year schedules should change if schools adopted a restructuring concept called "The Basic School," proposed by Ernest Boyer, head of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Boyer has recommended that grades kindergarten through fourth become a single unit, where grade levels would be eliminated and language and math would be the primary focus.

I ww iil I pp Rabbit raiser hopping mad after thieves steal bunnies PASCAGOULA (AP) Roy Rogers of Pascagoula is fuming. Roy's Rabbitry was raided in the middle of the night by bunny thieves. "They wiped me out," said Rogers, a vetern rabbit raiser. Someone broke into the rabbitry in the wee hours Sunday and snatched up dozens of bunnies that would have been sold to local families wanting Easter pets. "I can't let it bother me," Rogers said Monday.

I have a heart condition and I can't let it bother me. I can assure you of one thing. Whoever did this will have something serious happen to him. God will see to that." Cages which serve as home for mother bunnies and their broods are located behind a chain link fence only a few feet behind the Rogers' home. Rogers, 71, said the thief or thieves climbed the fence, cut the locks on the cages and took the bunnies.

The mothers were left inside their cages and several bunnies which eluded the thieves were hopping about the yard Sunday morning. Police told Rogers they expect the thieves to attempt to market the stolen merchandise through pet stores or by roadside sales. Landlord-tenant laws nonexistent in state One in a series HATTIESBURG HOUSING I lliri' II I 1 Index. By LAURIE EVANS AMERICAN Staff Writer For the fourteenth time in 14 years, the Mississippi Legislature has adjourned without putting a landlord-tenant law on the books. That leaves Mississippi as one of two states the other is Alabama without laws spelling out the rights and obligations of tenants and landlords.

"We came as close this year as we ever had it," said Rep. Percy Watson of Hattiesburg, chairman of the House Judiciary A Committee and author of the bill. "We debated until 11:30 at night (on March 27) and couldn't reach an agreement. The Senate bill was very tilted toward the landlord." Different versions of the bill had passed both the House and Senate earlier in the session, but died in conference committee when lawmakers couldn't reach a compromise. Sen.

Bob Usey of Gulfport, an oppo- See TENANT page 7A Ann Landers 5B Bridge 9B City-State 5-7A Classified 8-1 0B Comics 6B Crossword 9B Legal Pad 2A Living 5B Movies 4B Marketplace 8 A NYT 5B, 7B Obituaries 6A Sports 1-4B TV log 7B Weather 10A American Graphic by Tctry lliomhiU -T Editorial 9A Horoscope 9B Jumble 10B Judge favors reform, page 7A Balancing enforcement, page 7A One tenant's struggle, page 7A Current law can help, page 7A AMERICAN photo by Nikkl Davit Mautr STATE REP. Percy Watson, who failed again this year in his effort to provide the state with a landlord-tenant law, said without the law there are no rights or obligations spelled out for owners or renters. Watson said tenants of this burned-out house, near his office, only recently left. A GANNETT NEWSPAPER Two Sections Published Dally Hattleeourg, Mississippi i.i aff till I alaialiaJiTl I I illaaa I IP it.