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Education lackin 9 Here s one 1 ea
By BETTYE HILL BRAUCHER
In the United States every child gets an educa-
tion. We proudly proclaim this as fact. What a joke.
"Education?" What we actually have is a nation-
wide baby-sitting service that can boast college -
trained sitters who work for peanuts.
Take your elementary -aged child in Tucson: In
1976-1977, we spent $1,163.66 to baby-sit him for 180
days or so, over a period of about 40 weeks. His
teacher/baby sitter not only watched over him for
five hours a day, she also taught him a little about
reading, writing and math, gave him opportunities
to work with paints and paste, to sing a little, and to
play --- supervised — outdoors.
All this for less than $6.50 a day! By sending
along 35 or 45 cents for lunch, a parent had peace of
mind and no child under foot for close to six hours
every day. That's a pretty good deal for parents of
kids in kindergarten through the eighth grade.
Our secondary schools are a pretty good deal for
parents, too. In 1976-77, the amount spent for each
high school student was $1,401.02. For around $7.80 a
day, a Tucson teen-ager could be supervised and
harmlessly occupied by college -trained staff mem-
bers who provided each child with learning oppor-
tunities, in case they were interested.
The average high school teacher/baby sitter
earned around $72 a day for overseeing 150 or so
teen -alters. That's less than 50 cents per child, per
teacher — a real deal.
But there's a caveat emptor in this — one we've
tried to ignore for several generations: "You gets
what you pays for."
Not only are we tight-fisted about paying for the
Time out
This young girl finds a
way to pass the time
while her teacher par-
ents meet for the Tuc-
son Education Asso-
ciation's strike vote in
October. William Pel-
tier, a fifth grade
teacher at Booth Ele-
mentary School, 'was
there at the Tucson
Community Center
music hall with his
camera. Peltier, who
has been taking pic-
tures since he was 14,
is a -member of the
Desert Viewfinders
Camera Club.
Photo by. William Peltier
education of our kids, we're blind too. Take another
look at those figures:
Elementary (grades K-8), $1,163.66, Secondary
(grades 9-12), $12401.42.
Does it make sense to spend less for the basic
education of a student than for his advanced stu-
dies? If he doesn't get a decent "basic," what can
he possibly do with "advanced?"
And there we have justification for the return to
basics that citizens all over the U.S. have been
clamoring for. Unfortunately, most of our good citi-
zens see the "back to basics" as a move to save
money, to keep school taxes down. Furthermore,
what those "basics" are is not very clear, either.
One man's "frill" is another man's necessity and a
pox on anyone who dares suggest cutting out inter-
scholastic sports!
True, costs of materials, equipment and instruc-
tion have risen to astronomic heights, with no end in
sight. To continue the present education system,
which is far from satisfactory, at best, will cost
more next year. To just hold spending level will
require further watering down education pro-
grams.
So, what can we do?
First, let's face some hard facts. One: Kids are
not getting the kind of education they need.
Two: Society refuses to pay for the kind of edu-
cation it want kids to have.
Vhree : Based on figures for 1976-77, each year of
the secondary phase (four years) of public school
education costs a third more than each year of the
elementary (nine years), which is ridiculously illog-
ical.
And four: It's time to change the public school
System.
Carl Bereitter, in his book, "MUST We Edu-
catt�?Y� offers an idea whose time has come: Con-
centrated, mandatory education in kindergarten
through eighth grade only.
Horrified? Don't be. Bereitter's idea is practical
and workable. Why not concentrate our educational
funds and resources on truly basic education? We
can do a bang-up job in those first nine grades and
fulIN prepare our kids for survival in the world.
VV%e can have small classes so a teacher can ac-
tualy teach, working with each student in his
struggle to grasp a concept or to master a skill or to
apply a principle, before he goes on to the .next
task,
Sohools were never intended to be day-care cen-
ters. Teachers were never intended to be glorified
baby sitters with Master's degrees. And children
werO not supposed to be followed around all day
lone being entertained or just kept in line, while
they rode out the years until they could become
citizo-ns.
Bereitter's idea may be shocking, but it could
very well bring to an end this pretence of ours —
public schools.
Do you have a better idea?
Bettye Hill .Braucher is a teacher in Tucson
Unified School District, working with home-
bound children. Her husband is a- .school princi-
pal.
Just give it
some time
By CLYDE E. ARNETT
Whvn I awoke this morning, the sun was shining
and a bird outside my window was making com-
fortable noises. He had not spent the night in our
patio with the usual highly visible results.
Out newspaper was not in the pyracantha bush,
but neer the front door in plain sight.
When I took out the garbage, a teen-ager on his
way to school through our alley spoke to me. "Good
mornifig," he said. I heard him clearly.
MY breakfast bacon was crisp, and my eggs
stared back at me with unbroken yolks.
I w4s beginning to feel uneasy, but our morning
mail contained no bills, and no one conducting a
survey called, so I began to relax.
When I went to the grocery store, no one was
ahead of me at the check-out counter, and the lady
at the counter smiled at me.
Feeling slightly giddy, I stopped at the gasoline
station, My car needed no oil, and the price of gaso-
line hadn't gone up since last week.
At home, I turned on the TV. I didn't see or hear
a single, politician, and Howard Cosell was not on
any channel.
Everything is going well today, and all's right
with the world.
Tell me — why do I have this feeling of impend-
ing disitster?
Clyde E. Arnett, 63, is a retired Army officer
who writes as a hobby.
dear Reader:
This is your page. If you have an
interesting story to tell or a com-
m. ent to make, lust send it to Old
Pueblo Editor, Tucson Citizen, P.O.
Box 26767, Tucson 85726.
Thursday, December 28, 1978
b 0 A g y r in the battle over growth
i ea
By JAMES WYCKOFF
Citizen Staff Writer
A local businessman sitting on the county Mai,-
ning and Zoning Commission got called a son of a
bitch by an irate homeowner, who also suggested of,
might storm up and tear the face off the surprised
advisor to the Board of Supervisors.
East Siders put three supervisors on their politi-
cal hit list for the 1980 elections.
Various red-faced residents shook their fists in
vain at what they called forced, unnecessary
growth in their neighborhoods.
It was that kind of year for Tucson's fringes as
changes in the rural character of desert areAs
marched along, through planning and rezoning ..
mostly rezoning.
In pleading to the county for what many neigh-
borhoods claimed was the survival of an areae
character, homeowner after homeowner in unill-
corporated areas perhaps came away imagining
their zoning fights with the county were like efl-
counters with some great, implacable Buddha.
This was the year when Tucson's development
industry, spurred on by the arrival of IBM, yanked
its heels out of the lingering effects of an economic
slump, and the atmosphere spread with a fever to
the county, which demonstrated it aims to please
when it comes to almost any type of growth.
Developers here who presented the county with
just 59 requests for higher density rezonings of land
in 1976 have so far sent 182 such petitions to the
county this year. That amounts to better than a 300
percent increase.
Many of those requests passed without public
notice or a public hearing, because they conformed
with Pima County's different area zoning plans.
But of the 81 that did require a public hearing by
the supervisors, the board turned thumbs down only
three times. That, some county staff officials say
privately and one supervisor rages publicly,
amounts to throwing planning for growth out the
window and opting for blanket growth by rezoning,
whenever a. developer, large or small, says he
wants it.
Joe Parsons home for the holidays
•
.tiiv has rope, will travel
By SERGIO LALLI paring for this way of life ever since he was a tad.
Citizen Staff Writer He was a child prodigy, a Mozart of calf roping. He
Even cowboys come home for Christmas to gee was a national champ when in high school and a
the folks and get their pickups worked on. collegiate national champ at the University of Ari -
That's what Joe Parsons is doing this week. He's
zone gives
which he attended on a rodeo scholarship. No
ives Parsons a saddle for Christmas because
on furlough from the 11 -month grind of the proles- before he left town to follow the pro rodeo circuit
Related story, Page 6D fulltime he garnered 38 saddles as prizes for win-
mng rodeo events.
sional rodeo circuit. He's already brought his one -
ton truck to the garage. He's said hello to the folks.
He's already starting to fidget.
"Feel cooped up," the 22 -year-old Parsons said,
looking out at the rainy skies and slapping his
hands. "Can't practice today."
Life on the road affects you that way. You're on
the go so much as a rodeo cowboy that you yearn
for home and a chance to rest. You get home, sleep
for two days and then you yearn for the exhilaration
of the open road again.
Parsons, who hails from Marana, has been pre -
And when Parsons left town he took Joy with
him. Joy Paddock lived up the road from Joe's
home and they rodeoed together in school. Now
they bunk together in the living compartment of
their truck van, the back of which is reserved for
their horses. They got married in June and, hitch-
ing their van to their truck, Joe, Joy and Waspy Bar
(his best roping horse) bowled off into the connubial
and bovine -scented future.
That was about 70 rodeos and 40,000 miles ago.
Continued Page 6
Even the Planning and Zoning Commission,
comprised of 10 citizens appointed by the supervi-
sors, turned down more cases this year than the
board. They heard 83 rezoning appeals in public
hearings, and turned back eight. Others were den-
ied by that body before they made it to the public
hearing stage.
Supervisor David Yetman openly flays his fellow
board members for turning down cases in 1978 only
where there was "just too much political heat" to
approve them. But he predicts 1979 may see the
supervisors take a tougher look at rezoning appeals,
whether they want to or not.
The board, he predicts, "is going to start feeling
the screws" when it makes changes in rural neigh-
borhoods.
County planners now are able to use a computer
to fairly accurately predict future costs of individ-
ual rezonings to taxpayers, Yetman notes, a tool
that's going to present the board with the problem
of having to hold itself accountable for the high
Continued Page 6
•
nuiiie rupiiii
on y our own•
Get a Dermit
By THOM WALKER
Old Pueblo Editor
"On weekends you can drive down the streets
and hear the hammers pounding, all over town. We
know its going on, but we cant do anything about
it."
That's James R. Singleton's way of saying he _
knows a losing battle when he's in the middle of
one.
Singleton, the administrator of the city's Build-
ing Safety Division, is Tucson's construction
watchdog. His office issues building, electrical,
plumbing and mechanical permits for everything
from a multi -million -dollar shopping center to the
new bedroom you added on last month.
By his own admission, Singleton's office may be
one of the most ignored in the city bureaucracy.
The city issues about 700 building permits a `
month, and another 25 or so citations to people who
fail to get the required clearance for building
projects.
"That's only the tip of the iceberg," Singleton
said. "We know for a fact that there are a lot of
carports enclosed on weekends when inspectors
aren't on duty. It's a serious problem."
Singleton estimates that for every one person
who takes out a permit, five others do their work'
without the city's "blue card" stamp of approval.
"That's a conservative guess," he added.
If Singleton's estimate is correct, more than 40,-
000 Tucsonians a year ignore the building code alto-
gether, performing their work "underground." And
in the process, technically, they become lawbreak-
ers.
The reasons are fairly easy to fathom. The idea
of a building permit conjures up visions of waiting
lines, bureaucratic hassles, rules and regulations.
And to an extent, the image is justified.
One do-it-yourselfer joined the ranks of the home
repair underground recently to fix a leaky gas main
leading into his home. Through a friend, he got the
name of a retired plumber who sometimes does
work on the side.
Because of Social Security laws, the plumber
was forced into a peculiar, cash -only, underground
economy himself.
Besides, he explained, a plumbing permit takes
time, costs extra money and would require digging
deeper trenches to the vintage -model home, which
would drive up repair costs still higher.
They put in the new pipeline one weekday, even
Continued Page 6
Page 2
Eugene H. Cota-Robles, a graduate of Tucsoi,
High School and the University of Arizona, has been
nominated by President Carter to serve a six-year
term on the National Science Board, the 24 -member
policy making body of the National Science Founda-
tion.
Cota-Robles is academic vice chancellor and a
professor of biology at the University of California
Santa Cruz. He was born in Nogales, Ariz., in 1926
and received a Bachelor of Science degree in bacte-
riology from the University of Arizona.
He is a member of several equal opportunity
organizations and has aided a Mellon Foundation
study on biological differences and social equality.
If his appointment is approved by the Senate in
January, he will leave his administrative duties and
return to full-time teaching as well as serve 'on the
national board.
Carrie
McCartan
Meet Carrie McCartan, a 17 -year-old senior at
Santa Rita High School who was crowned Tucson's
Junior Miss Dec. 2 at a pageant at Amphitheater
High School. I
Miss McCartan was one of nine girls competing
in the pageant, which is sponsored by the Pima
Jaycees. Contestants are judged on scholarship, tal-
ent, poise and appearance and youth fitness.
Miss McCartan, daughter of Col. and Mrs. Rob-
ert McCartan, received a $300 scholarship for win-
ning and also won the youth fitness award.
She will be competing with Junior Misses from
other Arizona cities at the state finals in Tempe
Jan. 13. The winner will travel to the national pag-
eant in Mobile, Ala. in the spring to try for the title
of America's Junior Miss and a $15,000 scholarship.
Miss McCartan has been editor of the Santa Rita
High's literary magazine, has been on the speech
team and is copy editor of the yearbook.
She plans to attend either the University of Colo-
rado or the University of Arizona next fall. She is
interested in the field of communications and 'is
considering a career in broadcasting.
Tucson Citizen
Activities
Arts and crafts classes
You can learn to weave a basket, shoot a picture
or cook up a batch of sour cream enchiladas at the
Fort Lowell Arts & Crafts Center, starting Jan. 8.
Those are a few of the two dozen or so classes to
be offered at the center during the eight-week win-
ter session. Registration starts Tuesday and runs
through Friday, but late registration will continue
through the first week of classes.
Several new classes are being offered, in addi-
tion to stand-bys such as glass painting, loom
weaving, painting, drawing and others.
Frances Manuel, a Papago, will teach the bas-
ketweaving methods of her people, using natural
materials. The fee for the class will be $11 and will
be open to 10 persons.
Another new class, Introduction to Photography,
will teach camera techniques and composition.
There's a $12 fee, for 10 people. Jackie Lewis
Harris, a former Peace Corps member, will teach.
The most appetizing of the new offerings figures
to be four different classes in cooking, taught by
Susie Mangarelli, an expert in many different fields
of cuisine.
Classes will focus on baking, Eastern European
cuisine, American cooking and appetizers. The fee
will be $8.
Fees for other classes vary. Classes meet once a
week. For more information, call Pima County
Parks and Recreation (792-8815) or the Fort Lowell
Arts & Crafts Center (885-7009.)
Warding off evil
Folk legend has it that the Ojos de dios (gods
Thursday, December 28, 1978
eye)helps ward off evil from homes in which it
hangs.
It may not change your luck, but a class on
gods -eye Inaking at Mission Branch Library can at
least teach you how to make a pretty gift for next
Christma4 (it pays to plan ahead).
The class will be offered Wednesday, 1 p.m., at
the branch library, 3770 S. Mission Road.
Star Wars revisited
If you loved Star Wars, you'll probably hate
"Hardwa.-re Wars," a parody to be shown next
Thursday; 7 p.m., at Columbus Branch Library,
4350 E. 22ld St.
Another film, the Spanish "Chulas Fronteras,"
also will tie shown next Thursday at El Pueblo Li-
brary, 101 W. Irvington Road, at 10:30 a.m.
Sign up by mail
You can register by mail for the winter session
activities offered by the city Parks and Recreation
Department, beginning Tuesday. Classes in arts
and crafts, dance, drama, sports and other activi-
ties are offered at various locations. Call 7914877
for more information.
Mail -in registration will continue through Jan.
13.
Child health
A threb-_week series of classes on child care,
"You and your Child," will begin Wednesday night
at Mission Branch Library, 3770 S. Mission Road.
Vincent Fulginiti, a professor of pediatrics at the
University of Arizona, will teach the class, which
will meet at 7 p.m. each Wednesday. The first
week's topic is "child immunization."
Chuckhole report
Here is the weekly report on road conditions
around Tucson — construction work, traffic hang-
ups and special hazards:
Road Closings
County highway crews are still digging out from
under the mud left behind by last week's rampaging
floodwaters, and several creek crossings in the
Tucson area remain closed.
The Craycroft Road crossing at the Rillito River
is closed until further notice, according to °Pima
County Highway Department officials, after the
flood wiped out the wash -level ford. Engineers are
pondering whether the crossing should be rebuilt or
simply written off until a bridge can be con-
structed.
Also shut down indefinitely is, the Fort Lowell
crossing at Agua Caliente Wash, which was wiped
out for the fourth time in last week's flood.
The Mount Lemmon Highway was expected to
be open by mid -week, but will have to be "totally
reconstructed" before it will be back to normal.
. Under construction
Campbell — Traffic is being routed around the
construction work on North Campbell Avenue in the
University Hospital area, and it'll be a good street
to avoid for the next couple of weeks.
The street is supposed to be open again in about
another week.
Overlay Resurfacing work is scheduled =�--
through tomorrow on East Broadway between
Campbell and Stewart avenues, and one or two
lanes are beim closed while contractors lay down a"
new layer of pAvement.
Oracle Road — One -lane traffic, barriers, con-
struction equipment and driving delays can be ex-
pected along Forth Oracle Road, from Miracle Mile
to Roger Road, while crews widen the street and re-
vamp the Mi °acle Mile -Oracle intersection. The
work will be fitlished in April.
Interstate :i9 — There's six miles of two-lane
traffic on I-lla enroute to Nogales, down around
Tubac, while 'vvorkers build a new north -bound sec-
tion of freeway% Watch for trucks and heavy equip-
ment.
Interstate 10 — You can also expect to encounter
construction work on I-10 going either way out of
Tucson. Towards Phoenix, one lane each way is
closed at times for paving overlay and safety work.
Heading East out of Tucson, one lane each way will
will be closed day and night in the Wilmot Road
area, for similfar work.
Got a hot tip for us?
The Citizen's great new local news section, Old Pueblo, is in
the market for news.
Not the big, splashy stories that fill the front page.
We're after the next-door kind of news — neighborhood
concerns and activities, school news, feature stories about in-
teresting people.
That's the kind of news we want, the kinds of things that
happen on your street that tell about life in the Old Pueblo and
the communities around it.
The number to call for Old Pueblo news is 2944433, exten-
sion 209. Or write to Old Pueblo Editor, Tucson Citizen, P.O.
Box 26767, Tucson 85726.
We'd like to hear from you.
Thursday, December 28, 1978
Tucson Citizen
th n ture s alarm clock
Dealing wt. a
By DEBORAH BLOCK
Citizen Staff Writer
There's not much you can say about a rooster,
unless you're a rooster -owner or the neighbor of
one, in which case you can talk a lot about city
statutes, cops, courts and all sorts of other perilous
legal things.
Haboring a rooster within city limits, in case you
didn't know, violates Section 4-59 of the Tucson City
Code, which goes "keeping male fowl or guinea
fowl prohibited."
It is nevertheless estimated that hundreds of
Tucsonians are thumbing their respective noses at
the books.
Now it's impossible to tell just how many
rooster -owners there are — these people have far
too much sense to stand up and be counted. But
such folks do occasionally get caught in the act of
ownership, most often when a disturbed neighbor
turns them in.
What usually follows is a visit by the police. As
authorities tend to be fairly intimidating, the owner
might get rid of the offending fowl, move the bird
inside or else just spirit it away to an out -of -limits
spot until the neighbor cools off.
Every so often, however, such a visit will fail to
produce the desired effect. It will simply make the
owner angry. It will inspire him to continue sneer-
ing in the face of the law, or, rather, let his rooster
do the sneering in the only way a rooster knows
how.
Which is by crowing. Particularly at odd hours.
If the bird crows long and loud enough, the dis-
turbed neighbor might take the owner to court. In
which case the rooster -owner probably will beat
what's known among members of the male fowl
underground as a "rooster rap."
A most celebrated beating of one such rap oc-
curred two years ago when now -lawyer and then -
law student Claudia Ellquist fogged the court into
reasonable doubt as to whether her crowing birds
actually were male.
Which is, after all, what the law prohibits. It
does not forbid, say, noisy female chickens, which
is the way some hens evidently become.
As Morris Franks, the city's zoning administra-
tor, explains the ordinance and its inherent prob-
lems:
"I feel certain it was originally intended to get
rid of crowing roosters. It was a noise ordinance.
But we've found from our great scientific explora-
tion and expertise" (he was kidding, folks) "that
it's not as easy to do as it sounded originally. What
crows doesn't necessarily have to be a rooster."
What's more, Franks said, when it comes to tak-
ing someone to court over a bird that's disturbing
the peace, judicial technicalities make the defen-
dant hard to. prosecute.
"I doubt whether anyone has the expertise to
prove what sex the bird is," Franks said. "And then
you have to prove whether the bird crowed or didn't
crow at a certain time. Obviously the poor police-
man wasn't there while he was crowing. He can't
swear to it."
Even if a cop is confident he's nailed a bird in
the act of -being male, the case will have rough
going in court, at least if Ms. Ellquist's experience
is any indication.
"The first policeman they sent out to cite me
wouldn't," she recalled. "He could neither see nor
hear a rooster from the street."
"The one who finally cited me, after spending
half an hour there, claimed he saw a rooster and
knew it was a rooster because he had judged poul-
try in college."
Although Ms. Ellquist lost her case in the first
round, she came back for a victory on the appeal.
She brought in poultry experts who testified that
markings on a chicken often taken to denote the sex
of the bird are not necessarily accurate indicators
of gender.
"The officer acknowledged he Could have made
a mistake," Ms. Ellquist said. "And then our expert
pointed out that you will have hens, maybe one in
50, that will change gender characteristics and ac-
tually crow. So if this was their only evidence, that
the fowl crowed, there was a reasonable doubt."
The city returned the $22 Ms. Ellquist had been
fined, despite testimony from a plaintiff who
claimed one of the defendent's hens had hatched a
Page 7
chick — a fact that would seem to be proof there
had been a rooster in the vicinity, hens not being
self-perpetuating.
Had noise been a prosecutable offense, Ms. Ell-
quist was prepared to prove with the aid of a Uni-
versity of Arizona noise control expert that her bird
didn't cause any greater disturbance than did the
neighborhood traffic.
"He (the UA expert) agreed to measure the
sound level of a rooster crowing," she said. "He
went to the edge of the property line --to measure it.
It was daytime and it's a pretty quiet neighborhood.
The rooster didn't even record above the back-
ground noise on the street."
Which would lead one to wonder why neighbors
complain regularly to the City Council and the po-
lice about the bird next door.
Ms. Ellquist explains the disturbance away as
"cocktail party phenomenon."
"It's the kind of situation where it's very noisy
and the only way you can hear someone is to hone
in on what they're saying," she said. "You have to
be listening for it."
Others — notably the complainers — say one
does not have to await a crow for it to be audible.
Says one Tucsonian who doesn't particularly
thrill to the cockadoodle of his neighbor's pet:
"I was raised on a farm, and our rooster was
never near the house. It was at least 50 yards away.
At 4:30 or 5 a.m. you could hear it crowing, but it
was the same sort of thing as listening to a distant
train. It didn't disturb you — you just sort of rolled
over in your sleep.
"This one is closer to me than my own garbage
can in the back yard. It's very healthy ... about the
healthiest rooster I've ever seen. And when it crows
it cuts right through you. It jars you right out of
your sleep."
That, he says, might even be tolerable if the bird
crowed once and then quit. But that's not how this
rooster operates.
"It doesn't do it just one time," he said. "It'll go
for five minutes and then- stop, and if you're not too
jangled, you'll go back to sleep. And then five mi-
nutes later, it'll cut loose with another dozen
crows."
His reaction, after complaining in vain to the
neighbor, was to sic police on the matter. He was,
he says, being awakened "as early as 3 a.m. —
absolutely in the dark."
The offending owner subsequently explained to
the law that she had her birds (there was more than
one male fowl here) at home only temporarily. She
moved them into her washroom nights until she
could get them back where they belonged --p with
the horses she and her husband train at the race-
track.
He stirs up interest in cooking
LAURA DIAMOND
Citizen Staff 'Writer
The "class" in Tom Kwik's home last
week was much different from the type he
faces every day at Borman Elementary
School.
Instead of a roomful of squirming third -
graders, he taught a kitchenful of women,
equipped with rolling pins, recipes, paper
and pencils, listening attentively as he
shared his culinary secrets.
Kwik — husband, father, teacher — is also
a great cook. So great thaat five of his friends
(three of them teachers) come to his home
once every three weeks to try to find out how
to improve their own cooking.
"They pitch in for the food and I teach
them some of what I know," he explained.
Much of what Kwik knows about cooking
he learned from 20 classes he took at the
Parisian Kitchen. The rest has come with
practice.
His wife Nancy (also a schoolteacher)
hates to cook, he says, so she takes responsi-
bility for cleaning the house and he does all
the cooking.
The women in his cooking group are there
because they are tired of cooking the same
things all the time. "I just got weary of meat
and potato cooking," explained Sharon
Smalley. "I had tried some of Tom's cooking
and I knew he was good. I wanted to learn
something different."
Since October, the group has learned to
make strudel (dessert and entree), basic
breads and filled dessert breads. Future
classes will include quiches, souffles and
pasta.
Kwik says teaching these women is en-
tirely different from his experiences' with
third graders. "At school, I constantly have
to tell them to pay attention; here, they hang
on every word and never stop asking ques-
tions. It really makes me feel good."
At the meetings, Kwik passes out recipes
and goes over them carefully. He demon-
strates how to prepare the food while the
women take notes; then they try their hand
at it.
At the end of the three-hour session, the
cooks sit down to eat what they've made at a
specially prepared dining room table.
"I try to show them how to set the scene
-for a meal," Kwik says. He does this by
changing the dinnerware, centerpieces, nap-
kins and beverage to complement the food.
"If you want to be a good cook, cook
every day," he says, although he admits that
after teaching school all day at Davis-
Monthan, he sometimes doesn't feel like
cooking.
He and his wife and daughter eat simple
things, he said. "For example, we might
have a soup that I made before and froze and
bread that I made before and froze and a
salad with my dressing."
He makes all his own bread "because I
like to know what goes in it," and uses only
fresh foods.
Kwik feels most housewives have the
wrong attitude about cooking. `'Too many
women just put the food out on the table and
the guy eats it. Then he goes and reads the
paper and she cleans up, or if she's liberated,
he cleans up."
He said he tries to teach the women at his
classes to have some pride in their cooking,
to make every meal special by "using a little
flair."
He sees cooking as a hobby. "I love to
cook. I look at it as a craft, not as a job I
have to do."
Each meal should be a creation, an ad-
venture, "not just something you throw on
the plate," he says.
He says men who cook tend to view cook-
ing this way — as a craft; they usually learn
to cook because they want to, not because
they have to.
Kwik thinks the stigma about men not
cooking is beginning to change.
"It's not a revolution, just a quiet chang-
ing of attitude."
Page f Tucson Citizen Thursday, December 28, 1978
g year in the battle Ve
,.A bi o r rowth
9
CFrom Page 1
costs of improving streets, bridges, sewers and
other services to handle new developments spring-
ing up among the saguaros.
Most of Yetman's colleagues have made it clear
again and again that they were elected promising to
counter the highly controlled growth philosophy
espoused by former Supervisors Chairman Ron
Asta .
Supervisor Sam Lena, often the "swing vote" in
controversial rezonings this year, says that doesn't
mean the board in 1979 plans to gut neighborhoods
or promote widespread "leapfrog" growth, as was
charged by some homeowners upset over a South-
east Side case last summer.
Far East Siders talked almost as if they might
repeat a call to arms for Bunker Hill after the board
by a 3-2 vote approved one -acre -lot zoning on 160
acres known as the Thunderhead Ranch. The rout
of rural zoning on the entire East Side was on, they
feared.
But Lena, who recently asked the state to re-
lease for sale some 1,280 acres of land on the South-
east Side, says the board just wants to put some
housing where there's room and existing county
services. People, particularly those north of Broad-
way and east of the city limits, need not fear whole-
sale rezonings, he related recently.
There are overloaded streets in that area, dirt
roads, undersized bridges and other problems he
doesn't want to aggravate. "I'll be looking closely
Have rope,
will travel
Ur -9m Page 1
Theirs is a working partnership, for Joy partici-
pates in the women's rodeo events. "In August
alone," Parsons said, "we hit 35 rodeos in 30 days . .
. It's a good life when you're young. But if you don't
discipline yourself and save your money, after your
rodeo career is over you won't have nothing `sept
an old horse and a worn-out pickup."
Parsons hopes to avoid that by observing the
cardinal rule of the astute rodeo cowboy: when
you're not riding (a horse or a pickup), sleep. "You
just hurt yourself if you go drinking and fighting
like people think cowboys are supposed to do," Par -
song observed. "You really don't have time to goof
off."
The greatest challenge facing the modern rodeo
cowboy is himself. Parsons is feeling this all the
more this year because he's no longer performing
at home or with his college pals. "You have to do
everything on your own," Parsons said. "There are
no cheering squads to spur you on. There are no
coaches to counsel you. You have to keep talking to
yourself and practice, practice, practice."
The athletic world is coming around to the reali-
zation that rodeo cowboys possess as many physical
skills as their counterparts in other sports. But the
mental side of rodeoing is seldom appreciated.
When you're on your own in a glamorous life style,
the urge for dissapation and distraction is all the
more tempting.
"When I retire and maybe go into the construc-
tion business like my father," Parsons said, "I'll
have learned about a lot of things besides seeing a
lot of towns and roping a calf. Things like self-mo-
tivation, and most important, self-reliance."
And when Parsons conducts a roping school this
week for aspiring cowboys, these are the intangi-
bles that the master roper will be imparting the
novice ropers, even though the scoffers and dudes
will say "Aw, it's just a bunch of cowboys."
Joe says it ain't so.
at any rezoning cases in that area before I do any-
thing," Lena said.
Lena and Supervisors Chairman E.S. "Bud"
Walker through most of 1978 voted often against
rezoning cases on the Northwest Side because they
felt the Tortolita Area Plan, approved last year,
was adequate and the area was taking the brunt of
residential growth while industry is going to the
Southeast Side.
Despite that, most controversial rezoning cases
in 1978 were from the Northwest.
Though there were few big zoning cases to draw
the power and clout of environmentalists and others
out of the woodwork and into the hearing rooms,
planners said they've noticed no slack in public in-
terest, even with the low percentage of rezonings
shot down by the board.
Indeed, planners said, this was a year of active
parochialism by neighborhoods over growth in their
areas. Neighborhood associations that for years did
little more than collect meager dues and crank out
an occasional newsletter mustered the troops to
fight rezoning requests for even a few acres.
And while they had little success in killing off
zoning changes, neighborhood groups did manage to
win compromises.
One North Side neighborhood, in the Wetmore -
Oracle roads area, took compromise to an extreme.
When a developer wanted to put in an apartment
complex amid the chickens and pigs of the rustic
little island near the city, residents were shocked to
learn from the county that the new neighbors could
successfully argue later that the animals were a
nuisance and have them removed.
So the neighborhood struck a bargain: they gave
►.early 100 percent backing to the developers, if they
would change their request from apartments to a
,mall shopping area and storage buildings, where
ilo one would be around at night to complain about
n=oisy animals.
That kind of give and take may be the salvation
of Tucson's fringe neighborhoods, because planners
are predicting another big year for rezoning in
1979.
Meanwhile, the supervisors and planning com-
mission next year will be putting the finishing tou-
ches on four major updates or new blueprints for
area growth.
Already approved by the commission and set to
be heard by the supervisors March 5 is the first of
the area plan changes, this one for the Tucson
Mountains. It may set the tone for future plans that
Will be going to the board for the Southwest, South-
t!ast and Rincon areas.
The commission has recommended approval for
h plan that residents claim is far too dense but
Manners say is realistic given population projec-
tions for the Tucson Mountains. There are 5,000
people living there now, and the plan going to the
hupervisors would allow a "saturation" density of
hbout 70,000, if the bill for new sewers is paid by
developers.
The supervisors have said the metro area needs
more realistic population updates for the other
three areas of town being reviewed now, as well.
Permit needed for home work
From Page 1
though there was a greater chance of getting
caught. "They don't have enough inspectors to
make it worth waiting for the weekend," the
plumber rightly explained.
It was a tense day, for the homeowner. While the
plumber went about his work, he kept glancing un-
easily at the backyard fence, expecting a building
inspector's head to poke over. The biggest crisis of
the day came when a gas meter reader came hik-
ing up the alleyway, making his monthly rounds.
"It must have been the day he checked the north
side of the street, though," said the rattled ho-
meowner. "He went right by without noticing that
my meter was turned off."
The work was done, and there have been no
further problems. A scar across the backyard lawn
is the only trace left of the day's illegal activity. By
next summer, that will be gone too.
Singleton knows the story well, and he concedes
that such widespread disregard tends to undermine
the city's ability to enforce building safety. To
combat it, he's trying to streamline building permit
procedures and improve the image of his office.
Recently, the word "inspection" was dropped
from the office title and replaced with "safety" to
make what Singleton does sound more positive.
"We're trying to convince people that we're here to
help, rather than harass them," he said.
Still, getting a permit does require a certain
amount of hassle. For a typical room addition, it
requires a trip to City Hall or the East Side Council
Office at 7575 E. Speedway.
You need three sets of drawings — a site plan,
floor plan and a cross-section showing the type of
floor, wall and roof you're planning to build. They
can be rough drawings, as long as they show what
the work involves.
hour, before a plans inspector calls your number.
He'll check over the plans, and if necessary he'll
make suggestions to improve it.
The permit will cost about $30, for a $2,000 home
improvement job.
Not all home improvement or building projects
need a permit. Among the exceptions are backyard
fences or walls below a certain height, except for
swimming pool enclosures; curbs, retaining walls
and awnings; remodeling work under $750, that
doesn't involve structural, electrical or mechanical
work; rooftop antennas, except for ham equipment;
and painting, insulation, paving or cabinet work.
Also exempted from building permit require-
ments are storage sheds or ramadas under 100
square feet in size. However, approval is needed
from the city zoning inspector, and storage sheds
should be at least six feet from any building.
Metal storage sheds are probably the single big-
gest building code violator, Singleton said.
So far this year the city has issued more than
13,000 permits, an increase of 18 percent over last
year. Tucson's building boom has swamped the 35
inspectors who work for Singleton.
But they still manage to snare an occasional
building code violator. Technically, violators can be
hit with misdemeanor charges punishable up to six
months in jail or a $300 fine. But usually they get off
with a double permit fee, which avoids long court
battles, Singleton said.
Inspectors find out about illegal work in a num-
ber of ways, frequently from neighbors who call in
tips.
Singleton recalled one case in which a man
called to report his next-door neighbor's carport
addition. He knew it was done without a permit, the
man said, because he helped put it up three years
ago.
Why had he waited so long to report it? Singleton
asked. "Because back then, we were still friends,"
the man said.
Thursday, December 28, 1978
Tucson Citizen Page 3
Holidays alco hol roads Adeadl' mix
By DREW WILLIAMSON
Citizen Staff Writer
Since the holiday season — especially Christmas
and New Year's eves — are exceptionally danger-
ous times to venture onto Tucson's crowded streets,
it might be useful to know why and where so many
of the fatal traffic accidents occur in hof)es of
avoiding them.
Lt. Ken Krieger, who is in charge of the 18 mo-
torcycle officers in the Tucson Police Department's
traffic section, said 50 percent of all fatal accidents
involve the use of alcohol on the part of the driver
or victims in the accidents.
'The typical holiday accident occurs following a
party or smaller get together, Krieger said. "Most
people don't drink by themselves. There's always at
least one person whoets bombed out," he said. An
g
argument might develop when the drunk wants to
leave the party. The host is afraid of losing the
person's friendship so he lets the drunk drive. him-
self, and possibly a loved one, home. "The host has
just gambled the friendship against his friend's life
— a poor bet," the lieutenant said.
Holiday tipplers might use some traditional wis-
dom as a guideline for when they've had too much
to drink: Like when the bartender tells yoti that
you've had enough, or when you introduce, your
lover to your spouse at a party. "I don't know how it
effects other people," Krieger said, "but I've no-
ticed that lately my speech is the first thing af-
fected when I've had too much to drink. My tang
gets all tongueled up."
Unfortunately there are noreal guidelines to
use. "It's different for different` people. I've known
some people who are bombed after two beers. Back
when I was a patrolman, I stopped one guy who was
weaving all over the road. He didn't have the odor
of alcohol or anything but I knew there was some-
thing wrong. He passed all the agility tests we
usually give. Then he told me he drank a whole
quart of vodka. We gave him a breathalyzer test
and he registered .42. He shouldn't have been alive
with that reading, much less on the road," Krieger
said.
However, not only are drunken drivers at fault
but in many instances drunken "walkers as well.
Over the last year or so, there have been 13 pedes-
trian fatalities and in nine of the cases the pedes-
trian had been drinking, Krieger said. In two of the
nine cases, both the driver and the pedestrian had
been drinking, he said.
The police department has run a computer pro-
gram on fatal traffic accidents from Jan. 1, 1977,
through Sept. 22 of this year. From 1 a.m. to 2 a.m.,
Citizen Photo by Manuel Miera
Shopping spree
Will it be a Superman kit, or a Star Wars doll, or ... The choice is a
tough one for 6 -year-old Keith Kimball. Keith was one of about 60
children who were treated to a pre -Christmas shopping spree last
week by Amphitheater High School's Distributive Education Clubs of
America (DECA) chapter. The kids went on their spree at the
Sprouse -Reitz Variety Store in Flowing Wells Plaza.
The Catalina Foothills school board has ap-
proved a contract change that will add two more
classrooms to the new elementary school under
construction at 3000 E. Manzanita.
SchoolThe school; scheduled to open next fall, will
house kindergarten through sixth grades and will
to grow now have 24 classrooms.
Superinten(lent John Eikenberry said the board
decided to ad(l the rooms because the accepted bid
($1,745,900) for the 22 -classroom school was under
what the district had:.budgeted.
"That allowed us more flexibility and we knew
we could use 4;ny available space," he said.
The extra zooms will cost $123,630.
when the bars close, is the most fatal time. The
worst days are on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
The next worst time of day is "happy hour" from 7
to 8 p.m., according to the study.
There were 33 persons who died in traffic acci-
dents in that time period. The deadliest location
was the Nogales Highway from its intersection with
Valencia Road south. Six persons died in traffic
accidents during the time of the study. Nogales
Highway, like many streets with bad traffic pro-
files, is a major arterial, with traffic to and from
the south.
The areas near the intersections of North First
Avenue and Fort Lowell Road, South Park Avenue
and Irvington Road and East 22nd Street and South
Alvernon Way had five fatal accidents each during
the time of the study. The stretch of road along 22nd
Street from South Palo Verde Boulevard to South
Longfellow Avenue was exceptionally bad for pe-
destrians. All five of the fatalities were pedestrians,
four of them at night.
Also mentioned as deadly intersections were
West Congress Street from Grande to the railroad
tracks, South 12th Avenue from South Tucson to
Irvington and North 15th Avenue at West Grant
Road.
If ballfield disappears,
bringy.our diving gear
It may become known as the case
of the disappearing county park.
A little more of Edgewater Park
vanishes each time the Rillito River
goes on a rampage, as it did earlier
this month.
The tiny Northwest Side park was
built li/2 years ago to give kids in the
River Road area a place to play
baseball, according to county Parks
and Recreation Department Direc-
tor Gene Laos.
On the bright side, it gets easier to
knock a homerun out of the park,
each time the river runs.
Unfortunately, a few more floods
and there won't be enough left of the
seven -acre park for a baseball in-
field, Laos noted.
Last March, the Rillito gouged out
a 30 -foot chunk of the baseball out-
field, taking with it a newly -planted
clump of trees that were supposed to
stop erosion along the edge of the
park.
The flooding this month carried
off another 30 feet, Laos said. "The
outfield is now in the river."
At one point, Laos asked a secre-
tary for the address of the park,
which started outwest of Oracle
Road along the river.
"Marana," the secretary quipped.
"That's true," said Laos. "Half of
it's in Marana, now. But where did it
used to be?"
The park, at 4800 N. Idaho,' was
built as a special Comprehensive
Training and Employment Act
project. Laos estimates this month's
flooding caused about $30,000 dam-
age — about the same as last
March.
Laos hopes to coax enough money
out of the county to rip -rap the banks
of the Rillito, before the park disap-
pears.
If the county Highway Depart-
ment can't find a spot for it on its list
of priorities, Laos.said he will ask to
have the work done on a private
contract.
Oro Valley to expand?
The Oro Valley Town Council is how they like the way the town is
eyeing a neighborhood to the south run, Engle said. Meanwhile, a deve-
as a possible addition to the commu- loper who wants to build 300 homes
nity, according to Mayor E.S. in the western foothills of the Santa
"Steve" Engle.
Catalina Mountains has asked to be
That's one of several possible an-
annexed by Oro Valley, hoping the
nexation moves being pondered by
towns reception will be warmer
the council, although it's the only
than the county's.
one on which the town has made
Attorney Robert C. Stubbs, repre-
overt motions.
senting Atlas-Glenex .Ltd., outlined
Engle said the town has written to
plans for a 160 -acre development
about 65 families in the Shadow
east of the present Oro Valley boun-
Mountain West subdivision south of
daries at last month's council meet -
the town "to see if they're interested
ing.
in becoming part of the town."
Stubbs later said the developer
The council is interested in the
had decided to seek annexation by
one-half square mile subdivision,
the town because it is unlikely that
Engle said, because it would help
rezoning could be obtained from
even out the town's southern bound-
Pima County,- due to conflicts with
ary and add more population, which
the Tortolita Area Plan.
equates to increased funding for Oro
Valley government.
While annexation wouldn't guar -
antee the rezoning, Stubbs said he
Shadow Mountain West residents
was looking for "guidance" from the
have been invited to attend Oro Val-
council. He promised to provide de-
ley's council meeting tonight to see
tailed development plans later.
Page 4
Ky KAKDAKA lP,idlBIN children quiet, and without lights glided out onto the
ocean.
One evening in June a Chinese mother and her
child left their house in Vietnam and silently walked That was the beginning of a difficult voyage that
into the darkness. A half hour later three of her eventually would land them in Tucson.
older children went out of the house. An hour after
that her husband walked out with the last two chil- Speaking in Vietnamese, Mien talked about his
dren, leaving all the lights on and the door open as escape as he sat in the living room of Bao Ngoc
if they meant to return shortly. Nyugen, who was translating his story into English.
Mien's wife hovered nearby, wearing loose, pa-
jama -like clothing. Their youngest children played
Instead, the mother, Phuong Thi La, the father, outside on the sunny lawn.
Mien Tuan Tran, and their six children all met Mien told haw the joined several other small
some distance away where a small boat was hid- 'boats all headed for they
same destination -- a bi
den. They lay in the bottom of the boat, keeping the g
A familiar figure in the schools of TucsonUni-
fied School District is a soft-spoken Vietnamese
man, a teacher to about 100 Indochinese refugee
children.
Quy King Pham was one of the lucky ones. An
English teacher at a Saigon technical college, he
and his family escaped in a U.S. Air Force plane in
April 1975, two days before the Communists too
over the capital. Quy's family had four hours to get
ready and were allowed one small bag apiece.
He carne to Tucson because he had a sponsor
here, a former roommate from the University of
Northern Colorado, where Quy studied in 1964.
"Newcomers need moral support more than any-
thing else.. But they have to have a sponsor before
they can come. Without help from organizations
and individuals we couldn't settle. We are grateful
for such assistance," Quy said.
Quy, a teacher in bilingual education, works with
two aides in schools from elementary through high
school levels.
"Most of the teachers are understanding, and
most of the children are friendly to the refugee
children. We have a buddy system. We assign an
American student to help a refugee student.
boat ahchored a few miles out from the Vietnam
coast that would take them to freedom.
They boarded the big boat at night, and Mien
said hip did not find out until morning that there
were more than 100 people on board. They were
mostly Vietnamese -Chinese who had pooled their
money to buy the boat, the only means of escape,'
The boat was so crowded that the passengers
couldn't move around. They could only sit, even
while they slept.
Despite this, Mien said they were luckier than
'those who did not reach boars. Communist soldiers
would atop and probably kill anyone they thought
was ging to escape. Someone carrying packages
or a suitcase would be immediately suspect.
For children entering a strange new world,
school i an essential roadmap, Quy said. "It is a
survival thing so they can get along. It helps them
say `I dont understand' or `1 need help' or 'I need to
use the rest room.' It is really frightening for the
children at first when they can't speak any En-
glish.
"We 'want to preserve certain things, like ways
of preparing foods, and Vietnam holidays. We cele-
brate Vietnamese New Year at the end of January.
It's the biggest holiday of the year.
"We also celebrate American holidays, which
the children enjoy."
Thousands of Indochinese still wait in refugee
camps iii Thailand, Hong Dong and elsewhere for
countries to allow them entry. At the camps they
must receive health and security clearances. Those
coming Here must have a sponsor.
In Tucson, churches, a Davis-Monthan Air Force
Base wing and individuals have sponsored refu-
gees.
"We have an old Mexican woman who has al-
ready helped three families," said Bai Quy Do, re-
settlement coordinator for Catholic Community
Services. "She found houses, jobs and got them
food. She is a wonderful woman,"
So Mien and his family walked out of the house
wearing three layers of pants and shirts but with no
other possessions.
$jx„days out on the ocean the boat stopped. The
motor 'had given out. The passengers waited. A
storm broke. Everyone threw their shoes into a
heap and they made a bonfire, hoping to attract
help.
There wasn't enough water. People began to
panic. Some drank children's urine to stay alive.
After four days a fishing boat from the island of
Hainan spotted them and came to the rescue. For
one night and half a day it tugged the overloaded
boat, finally arriving at the island. There, the is-
landers gave the barefoot passengers water and
rice, while the boat was being repaired.
Mien said the Red Chinese on Hainan were will-
ing to help because he could speak good Chinese.
The big boat set out for Hong Kong, but two days
later it stopped again. This time it had sprung a
leak. The passengers stood ankle deep in water and
bailed. It was early in the morning and, as the
hours passed, once again they thought they were all
going to die.
But inithe evening two boats from Hong bong
found them., and everyone left the big boat and
boarded the fishing boats. A few hours later the big
boat sank.
Mien and his family were in a refugee camp in
Hong Dong for four months. Then they spent one
month in Macao before coming to Tucson Nov. 10.
Mien and his family are staying temporarily
with Bao, who with his wife, three children and his
mother-in-law escaped from Vietnam in 1975. Mien,
a solemn -faced thin man in blue jeans, spoke of life
in Vietnam.
Many Vietnamese left Saigon during the Ameri-
can airlift in April 1975. But Mien was in Da Nang
then, and couldn't get back to Saigon and his fam-
ily. So they stayed there, while South Vietnam col-
lapsed.
Mien had owned a grocery store in Da Nang and
a four-story building, where he rented space to
three American businesses. When the Communists
occupied Da Nang, they took over the store, the
building and Mien's large home. His family moved
to a smaller house, and the Communists threw Mien
in jail for 15 days because he had done business
with Americans.
His businesses were gone, and Mien could find no
other work. His wife stftrted a little business in the
marketplace, buying such items as candles and
notebooks in quantity and selling them singly at a
profit.
In January 1977 the Communists took over the
distribution of food. Each family was allowed the
minimum needed for survival. There were insuffi-
cient supplies of rice, the main staple in Vietnam,
so people were forced to eat potatoes and whatever
vegetables they could find. Meat and fish were
available only on the black market at exorbitant
prices.
Each person was issued a card, and individual
portions of food could be purchased only after the
card was shown. a However, Mien got only six cards
for his family of eight because two of his children
were small. They couldn't buy enough food.
The Communists required that anyone wishing
to travel receive permission from the government.
The schools stayed open, but the main subject
taught was communism.
In order to go to a hospital, you needed a govern-
ment certificate. Sometimes it would take too long
to get one, and people died. In the hospital there
wasn't enough medicine, and salt water was used to
clean wounds.
All the South Vietniamese doctors had fled or
been jailed. The North Vietnamese doctors were
"bad,” Mien said.
Every non-Communist still in Vietnam is trying
to get out, according to Mien.
He and his family came to Tucson because they
were able to get a sponsor, the Catholic Church,
and because people in Hong Dong told Mien it would
be hot here, and he didn't want to go to a cold
area.
His 13 -year-old son entered the room and bowed.
Tiny boys and girls, a mixture of Mien and Bao fa-
milies, peeked in and stared with big dark eyes.
"We're very crowded," said Bao with a laugh.
"This is unusual. There is usually a house waiting
for refugees when they come here. They should be
in a rented house sometime next week."
Mien said right now his big wish is to find a job
so he can support his family and get the children
started in school. Someday he might be in business
again, but he thinks it's too late to start over.
"Mr. Mien doesn't speak a word of English,"
said Bao, who is a parttime English tutor to refu-
gees. "Learning English is one of the first things
he'll have to do."
Page a .. .
Citizen Illustration by Joel Rochon
A strange
country,
a friendly face
�YGar.' M lK'n
' �� 004%AIfiSOf.Itr
%X.
Right now his office is busy help -
f/,j
ing refugees who have been in this
?ti
•
xtiv�mrm
i
IN,
y
vg9000iO4ppW.�(g0p.
ir. H.•nN+w`
other work. His wife stftrted a little business in the
marketplace, buying such items as candles and
notebooks in quantity and selling them singly at a
profit.
In January 1977 the Communists took over the
distribution of food. Each family was allowed the
minimum needed for survival. There were insuffi-
cient supplies of rice, the main staple in Vietnam,
so people were forced to eat potatoes and whatever
vegetables they could find. Meat and fish were
available only on the black market at exorbitant
prices.
Each person was issued a card, and individual
portions of food could be purchased only after the
card was shown. a However, Mien got only six cards
for his family of eight because two of his children
were small. They couldn't buy enough food.
The Communists required that anyone wishing
to travel receive permission from the government.
The schools stayed open, but the main subject
taught was communism.
In order to go to a hospital, you needed a govern-
ment certificate. Sometimes it would take too long
to get one, and people died. In the hospital there
wasn't enough medicine, and salt water was used to
clean wounds.
All the South Vietniamese doctors had fled or
been jailed. The North Vietnamese doctors were
"bad,” Mien said.
Every non-Communist still in Vietnam is trying
to get out, according to Mien.
He and his family came to Tucson because they
were able to get a sponsor, the Catholic Church,
and because people in Hong Dong told Mien it would
be hot here, and he didn't want to go to a cold
area.
His 13 -year-old son entered the room and bowed.
Tiny boys and girls, a mixture of Mien and Bao fa-
milies, peeked in and stared with big dark eyes.
"We're very crowded," said Bao with a laugh.
"This is unusual. There is usually a house waiting
for refugees when they come here. They should be
in a rented house sometime next week."
Mien said right now his big wish is to find a job
so he can support his family and get the children
started in school. Someday he might be in business
again, but he thinks it's too late to start over.
"Mr. Mien doesn't speak a word of English,"
said Bao, who is a parttime English tutor to refu-
gees. "Learning English is one of the first things
he'll have to do."
Page a .. .
Citizen Illustration by Joel Rochon
A strange
country,
a friendly face
At any time of the day or night a
short, slight and energetic man, Bai
Right now his office is busy help -
Quy Do, might be seen at Tucson
ing refugees who have been in this
'i International Airport waiting to
count two ears to obtain a rma-
�' Y �
Hent resident status. U.S. Irnmigra-
greet a group of refugees arriving
from Indochina.
tion Service officials had hoped to
adjust the status of all eligible Indo-
Bai will shepherd the newcomers
chinese (about 250 persons in Tuc-
into his car and drive them to their
son) by Dec. 31.
new home, the first of many services
he will perform to ease their way
Refugees must be permanent resi-
into a strange country.
dents for five years before they can
apply to become U.S. citizens, They
"He does everything for refugees
can't vote, and they can't hold cer-
from shopping to interpreting," says
tain government jobs, but they have
Carlos Flores, director of immigra-
most other rights, according to
tion and special services at Catholic
Henry V. McGehee, officer in charge
Community Services, where Bai is
of the 1 o c a l immigration office.
resettlement coordinator. "And he
• sure doesn't do it for the money,"
The big advantage is that perms-
Flores added.
Hent residents can't be told to Leave
the country, while refugees could be
Seated at his desk and looking
expelled, McGehee eXplained.
much younger than his a38 years, Bai
spoke about his work with refugees.
Around 600 Indochinese have
He helps them enter the country,
come to Tucson, but some have
helps them get settled and then helps
moved on to other places such as
them with their problems,
Texas or California, Bai said. "Some
were fishermen, and they couldn't
A refugee himself, Bai left Saigon
find work here. Others joined rela-
in 1975.
tives living elsewhere."
"When new people want to come
Currently, about 350 Vietnamese,
to Tucson, I receive a telegram from
80 Laotians, 20 Cambodians and nine
Thailand, Hong Kong or wherever
Vietnamese live here, he said.
they are, and I try to find them a
sponsor," Bai said. "Then I find
The refugees are doing well in.
them ahome andet Social Security
Tucson, he said. Some are in the res -
numbers for them so they can e
taurant business, some work at the
food stamps and a job. After, they're
mines and sore at IBM. "One fish -
here, Itake care of their first needs.
erman works for Truly Nolen. He
has
has a good,, 1b, but he is longing for
"Sometimes it's a lot of fun. I
the sea.
picked up a family of eight VietXam-
ese from the airport one night. It
"He fishes at Randolph Park"
anp ark,
was raining, and they all had to
Bai said, laughing.
squeeze into my little car. Then the
Already, six or seven refugee chil-
door fell off. We had a good time,"
dren will be graduating from the uni-
Bai said. ,
versity this year, he said. Some
When refugees from Vietnam are
didn't speak English when they
coming, he calls some local Viet-
came here.
namese to greet them at the airport.
"We have found friendship and
Refugees from Laos or Cambodia
freedom here. It is good here, and
will also find ex -countrymen on hand
we can adjust. It took me a year to
when they arrive.
get used to it, but now I can even eat
"It makes them feel more wel-
Mexican food."
come," he said.
And Bai laughed again.