The Fresno Bee du lieu suivant : Fresno, California • 9

THE FRESNO BEE Wednesday March 14 1990 A9 Source of Mayan civilization? book documents route to New World for doing so is that it would be difficult if nut impossible for us to visualize the existence of an important figure of world histoiy who is nameless Therefore we shall refer to the unknown admiral by the name of Nu Sun a translation for the ancient Asian symbols of chi and hsing which stand for a star of good The route of Nu Sun's theoretical voyage in a vessel similar to a Cantonese seagoing junk Thompson suggested would have begun at Hainan Island and could have included Kyoto and Osaka on the wav to Hokkaido Island for the winter and Chumikan for the spring base The next ports could have included Alaska Queen Charlotte and Vancouver islands the Olmec Territory along the Gulf of Mexico coast and finally the Gulf of Fonseca It was at Fonseca that a trading colony was established among the Mayan tribes of Central America he said Thompson has kept his story simple as he ider His book is 500 reaches out to the average rea handsomely illustrated by more than Gunnar Thompson holds a belief that isn't popular among anthropologists See Asian Page A12 A Hindu-Buddhist monument from the 9th century below left has sculptures of religious figures or nobles A Mayan monument from the 8th century below right also features carved figures that are similar to East Asian carvings Kathy Barberich The family tree A night out without guilt 66 usv?" the deep voice on the other end Cof the line askd "Sure but never too busy for you" "Want to rjn away "I thought you'd never ask" I said I hurried home threw together some bacon sjndw ichoN for dinner for the children then headed for the shower do you think you're going?" one of the kids asked "Your father and 1 are going out" Jut?" another asked "Out" I said "As time out Night out Dinner oul Movie out I'hiil out" "WhiH an you going to see?" one asked hen are you going to eat?" another asked "What time will you he home?" another wanted to know it a rest" I said am an adult woman Besides we don't know where we re going yet Just out" sure" said the oldest "It's OK for you to just go out somewhere but when I say going somewhere you want to know specifics such as where I'm going who I'm going with what movie I'm going to see what it's rated what time I will be home It's the old double standard Isn't it? Do as I say not as I do?" your bacon sandwiches" "They're cold" said one boy having cold bacon sandwiches and you and Dad will probably eat steak" "Yeah and you guys get to go to a movie while we have to sit home and watch reruns on TV" said the youngest iet a life" I said as I closed the bathroom door turned on the shower and shut out the rest of ihe world If those tiled walls could talk they amid tell how many times I have gone in there awash of guilt ready to climb the walls ready to sell my children and after several minutes was able to leave feeling renewed and ready to go back to being a parent again It a miracle I discovered the shower's healing powers when my first-born cried a lot like the First six months of his life When his father arrived home I handed him the bundle and I headed for the shower Once inside that cubicle I could hear nothing but the water beating down on me It was heaven My own in-house decompression chamber you be home in time to watch the 1 1 o'clock the youngest boy asked as I stepped out of the bathroom I said worry your brothers will be home with you All I know is that I'm sure we will be home before said Ihe middle son remember that line" By the time their father and I finally made it nut the door and into the car we both heaved a sigh of relief "I thought it was supposed to get easier to get out when the children were older" I said we could leave them and not feel the mean guilty? Those kids have been to something every weekend for the past two months? Do they feel guilty when they go out? Two of them are teen-agers that should tell you The man of the house put the car in reverse and as we were finally about to make our getaway the youngest came flying out of the house wanted to make sure you buckled your seat he said carefully and remember the roads are wet" you forgetting I asked as a good time?" have a good he said smiling not taking any of us with you" We had the last laugh family tree" appears Wednesdays in Tempo Kathy Barberich is a Bee staff writer By EDDIE LOPEZ Bee staff writer it possible that the Chinese sailed to America 2000 years before Columbus? Gunnar Thompson claims that they did in Sun: Asian Voyages to America 500 (Pioneer Publishing 231 pages S25) idea that Asians would have had a profound influence on Central America is virtually unthinkable and if I hadn't found so much evidence I have believed it he said Thompson 44 is an assistant professor in the rehabilitation counseling department at Fresno State University His locally published book has been contracted for national libraiy distribution by Quality Books Although he holds a degree in anthropology and a doctorate in rehabilitation counseling Thompson is looked upon as a maverick by some members of the scientific community After all he was of the anthropology master's program at the University of Wisconsin Madison Thompson said his master's thesis focused on the use of scroll symbols in native American art He was bold enough to suggest that certain similarities between Asian and Meso-American religious symbols were worthy of extended research His views he said were ridiculed by some of his more established colleagues didn't like the idea of someone pursuing something that they thought was a waste of he explained was actually thrown out of the PhD program Why? I thought that Thor Heyerdahl who sailed across the Atlantic in an attempt to prove that ancient Egyptians brought their culture to the New World should be taken seriously made the mistake of being honest about how I felt and became a persona non grata" Controversial role He was given his master's in 1969 he said with the condition that leave the anthropology program He left Madison for a teaching position in the anthropology department at Wisconsin State University Whitewater Reflecting on his rebuke at Madison Thompson explained that he did not realize when he got there that there was a battle going on between two groups of theorists group says that civilization emerged independently in Central America The other group says that it spread to the New World from the Old World My perception is that it's derived from both places sort of synergistic and from that there was a new emergence" he said His theoiy as presented in represents a departure from accepted theories fay leading scholars and scientists on the subject of New World exploration His research he maintains clearly shows that Asian explorers sailed to the Pacific Coast region between Guatemala and Honduras between 500 BC and AD 900 In his book he states: order to recitify the erroneous impression that China lacked maritime explorers worthy of a place in our history books we are called upon to give a name to the unsung hero of the first Chinese merchant voyage to America The reason h- 'W Page designAndars Ramberg I Angel makes last wive walk for Wallendas John Wemer Sonder gave much to radio By AMY SANCETTA Associated Press of her right leg below the knee in 1987 then parts of both lungs in 1988 But is long before Angel was back on the wire miraculously inching her way along on one good leg ana a lifelike prosthesis sort of she explained with complete calm "You feel the wire so you have to just guess really But it's an educated Doctors at City of Hope Medical Center in Duarte plan to operate Thursday to remove the cancer that has reappeared on Angel's lungs Putting on a good show for the crowd or 2000 packing the Mansfield gym gave Angel as much a psychological boost as a financial one perhaps more Her grin was constant as she greeted friends handed out autographs to a seemingly endless line of fans or hoisted her rambunctious son for a moment of parental discipline "You can't look too far ahead or get all out of her husband explained alter the show "I'm just enjoying life today life you know? "That's life" he said glancing at his wife John Wemer Sonder owner of Spanish-language radio station KXEX died the weekend before last a passing that received too little attention Mr Sonder founded KXEX in 1962 but he also was a pivotal figure in the development of the valley Hispanic marketplace He was a native of Boston who studied economics at Columbia University and served in the Army during World War II In 1951 Mr Sonder and his wife of 10 years Sylvia moved with their two daughters to Austin Texas where Mr Sonder began his broadcast career The Sonders family moved to Fresno in 1955 and Mr Sonder sold commercial time at KGST the Fresno area's first Spanish-language station (established in 1948) But after an effort to purchase KGST failed in 1961 Mr Sonder applied to the Federal Communications Commission for a license MANSFIELD Pa Sitting cross-legged on the gymnasium floor in a rare moment of quiet 3-year-old Steven Wallenda II scribbles on a pad Of paper He scrawls two overlapping circles and a long tail like a drumstick is my lung he says matter-of-facuy tapping' the circles "And this is her fake he adds outlining the tail Running the pen from the circles thetails end he says "When you lave cancer it goes real deep All he way down to your foot" Sixteen feet above deftly maneu- -ering a half-inch steel cable his mother 21-year-old aerialist Angel Vallenda is oblivious to the worldly explanation of her illness Shtf and her husband Steven 34 gently traverse the wire testing its Spring and memorizing the tricky arts -in anticipation of the eve ring's the final performance of he Wallendas as a family and Anil's test chance to work on a high dre Lanny Larson' Broadcast beat to establish his own station Originally the call letters were to be KEVC but before the station went on the air on Sept 22 1962 it was KXEX (AM 1550) as it remains today Mr economics train--' ing and broadcast sales expert- ence proved to his satisfaction that a second Spanish-language station in Fresno was a good risk See Beat Page A12 Associated Press Angel and Steven Wallenda walk the high wire together Her husband the last of the clan still performing the feats that made the Wallenda family famous set up the recent benefit at Mansfield Uni versity to help defray the costs of his wife's ongoing battle with cancer The cancer a particularly belligerent breed forced the removal.