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Show WS, THE SA AKE TE E SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH 84111 oN’ VOLUMI TODAY'S READE IP: 340,600 PUNISHING PUPILS Educator Catches Hell for Going After Hell-Raisers nank goodness for Ruben Perez, that is what the teachers at Horace Mann Middle School said when the assistant pi a pend 97 students for ism and sassing back in ¢ But Denver school officials, arguing that Perez failed to fully document the infractions of many of thestudents, in stead suspended the 41-year-old Perez for a day with pay and ordered himto take a crash coursein disciplinary procedures Now. with Perez refusing to sign a let- ter of reprimand from Principal Martha Guevara limiting his disciplinary powers Horace Mann Middle School has become —atleast for the moment — thefocus in the U.S. battleto rid schools ofviolence and nihilism And Perez. an Air Forceyete! taught Spanish in New Me moving to Denver in 1992. has become a celebrity educator — making almost daily appearances on television and radio pro- grams and granting a stream ofinter- J. Scott Applewhite Associa views with newspaper and magazine re- ongress’ Motto: Stand and Deliver porters All I wanted to do is make a good school better,” Perez said in his office which is crammed with congratulatory balloons, posters and letters signed by teachers fromacross the nation. “I would rather educate 90 percent of the kids than the 10 percent who aren't doing what they aretold to do and are dragging Still Has a Job: The wave of positive publicity. coupled with job offers from public and private schools seeking a no- ‘OMBINED nonsenseeducator whostands byhis convietions, may havefiguredin school offi- cials’ decision to allow himto keephis position — atleast for now But that has not stopped them from speaking out against Perez whoarrived at Horace Mann with a reputation for taking a maverick stand against school ad- ministrators in Las Cruces, N.M “Whenyoucrosstheline and are going to break the law, what kind of a model is that for youngsters?” asked Denver school district spokeswoman Patti Mur- phy. But WoodyWitte. parent of a seventhgrader at Horace Mann, said Perez should be applauded for having the guts to try to cut through the school district's Byzantine procedures for punishing chronicallyerrant students. For example. six steps are required before a student can be suspended and six suspensions are needed before an expulsion. ‘The school systemfits the paradigm of a dysfunctional family to a T.” Witte said. “What Perez did, I have no problem with. ae. NewSpeaker, GOP Are Off And Running — for 1996 the others down with them.’ How he did it may have ruffled somefeathers.” Indeed, the officials’ primary concern is whether the students slated for suspension received sufficient warning and opportunity to reform, and whether Perez overstepped his mandate by waiting until the principal — whom heconcedes w ould not have approved — was out of town before attempting to bounce them There also are suggestions, lodged by angry community leaders and parents. that the suspensions would have unfairly targeted mostly Latino students. Others, however, point out that 78 percent of the school’s 785 students are Latino ard Gephardt, D-Mo., Rep. lleana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., pumpedher fist in the air as a smiling Gingrich, 51, strode down thecenter above the cheers, have seemed politically impossible six months ago —and R \ Andas President Clinton and the Democrats learned so painfully, it is one thing to promise changeandanoth- er to deliver on it Republican control of Congress did not seempossible when Clinton took the oath of office just two years ago this month. On that cle January day, Republicans sat glumly on the Capitol's West Front, wondering whether @ See THEGOP, Page A-3 a eS e Newt Gingrich is first GOP speaker sini ce 1954, B-4 get amendment BHatch, Leavitt pitch balanced-bud e 38% Food voucher The National LawCenter on places The law centeris worried especially about incarcerating melessness, Herz said In the absence of anywhereelse to go they have todo all the things we erty, said spokesman Rick Herz. doin our homes. in the streets Restricting the homeless use of public places criminalizes ho- cipline after all but oneof the school’s 45 Someof Utah's homeless ad vocates said the state’s cities INDEX lock- em-up’ mentality of manylocal governments across the country Four principal Utah cities — @ See UTAH, Page A-3 said. Joshua Holdaway was behind four other snowmobiles Saturday whenheturnedhis Letters fo Ed AA2 Lottery B-3 Movies C-4 Obituaries AAO Online Info A2 Sci&Medicine. C-4 Scoreboard D-5 machineoff the maintrack and drove down a deepravine. His snowmobile bogged down in heavy snow Not noticing he hadfallen behind, the oth er snowmobilers sped off. Holdaway, his father and four friends were on an outing in the high country near Wolf Creek Pass 20 miles east of HeberCity D-4 D7 For The Record. B-2 Headliners A-2__ Intermountain, A-14 Stocks Television Utah Dateline B-5 C7 B-3 edupthe ravine, the same way he had come This time the machine became hopelessly Jumble Utah News B-4 long winter night, Holdaway again struggled to free his machine. He dug for two hours before giving up Holdaway freed his snowmobile and head miredinatree well. As daylight fadedinto a WEATHER: Cloudy snow over much of state; rain in lower elevations of south Details: B-8 Highs in 30s, lows in 20s. | Knight-Ridder Sports. Star Gazer D-7_ A-6,7 Wednesday said, “Wehave the Facing pressure at home and right to demand explanations.” Karl Lamers, a spokesman Yeltsin on Wednesday ordered anendto airstrikes on the Che- for German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, said the conflict “could chen capital of Grozny But fighters continue to buzz conflagration and endin an in- very well spread into a wider ternational conflict.’ Wes spokesman Mike McCurry, asked about a CIA report the civilian population.” sweeps 3rian Maffly SALT LAKE TRIBUNE ———————————E—E——— CA A42 Page A-9 See CONGRES Meanwhile, support for Yelt sin erodesin the West President Clintonhas called Yeltsin to conveyhis concerns WSecretary of State Warren Christophercalled Russian Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev about the violence. Kozyrev re- portedly pledged to minimize the bloodshed @ Whilecalling Chechnya “an internal affair onch Foreign Minister Alain Juppe on questioning Yeltsin's health, said that Vice President Al Gore, on a recent visit, had a ‘vibrant meeting” with Yeltsin. Russian liberal Yegor Gaidar said theclashis causing a ‘‘seri- ous military catastrophe. Meanwhile, Chechen Vice President Zelimkhan Yandar- biyev threatenedterrorist retali- ation in Russia itself. Chechens were skeptical of Yeltsin's announcement to halt the bombing. He madethe same See YELTSIN, Page A-3 Freezing and Lost, Teen Thought of Family, Kept Moving, KeptAlive teacherssigned apetition to the district complaining that discipline was inadequate at the school DayBreak Editorials @ B® More on Gingrich, Clinton and the new Congress for a newassault Russia said Yeltsin wanted “to prevent further victims among | ti largely have avoided the inflation-adjusted ones, in preparing budget estimates. A troops arebeing sent in, possibly “ i not sional Budget Office to use actual spending levels, the breakaway region and fresh 4 safe zones SOURCE: National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty dren’s chronic disruptive behavior at school — and in the process bring a semblance of peace and order to a campus whereguns, knives and drugs were not uncommon when he arrived In fact, Perez was hiredto oversee dis- people whose only crime is pov- | terms of the re- 's for committee leaders), slashed committee staffs by a third banned proxy voting in committees and required the Congres- abroad, RussianPresident Boris ftes me iote Ce "| 15% Tent City” 15% Negotiated tremeresponseto the poorest of Congress could serveas speaker (six } COMBINED NEWSSERVICES | Police { sweeps to youin jail, a homeless advocacy amined how 49 local governments addressed homelessness. C-5 C-7 A-2 B-4 D-5 C6 D-6 = es PBiemn insists he only was trying get parents more involved in remedying their chil- Ann Landers Asimov Quiz Briefing Business Classifieds. Comics. Crossword 24% panhandling ordinances Living on the street in dozens Homelessness and Poverty ex- | homelessness, according to a recentsurvey of 49 U.S. cities: By Shawn Foster THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE the poor: banishment,” port stated | Approacheslocal governments are taking to address with Democrats helping them along. They limited to eight consecutive years the length of time a member of Yeltsin Halts Bombing, But Not the Battle Maleeg ae eda National look at homeless jaws Anti-homeless actions increasingly suggest a new. ex- “It’s a whole Newt world With the gavel in Gingrich’s hand, Republicans then began a methodical adoptionof rule changes that would wiil comein the months ahead >, when on a party-line vote aisle to mount the rostrum. Another Republican shouted on recap: years, Republicans nowhave their eyes fixed in turing the White Houseto consolidatea realignment American politics. While Republicans moved Wednesday to convert their rhetoric to reality. the real battles || Newt! Newt! Newt! Gingrichwas elected speaker over Minority Leader Rich- Having won control of Congressfor the first timein 40 group's surveyfound “waging war on children to their feet and chanted elections of 1996 tantamount to instead of looking for solutions. There must be an alternative to “tossing 11- and 12-year-old students into the streets.” she said, adding that “it hurts me that he would grandstand on the backsofchildren.” Ridiculous,” responded Perez, who as thefirst Republican speakersince 1954 Cheering members of the new House majority leaped political controlof the country that will culminatein the of U.S. cities is enough to land ICES WASHINGTON — ‘ompleting a historicshift oflegis. lative power, Republicans took control of Congress on Wedn day andinstalled Rep. Newt Gingrich of eorgia WASHINGTON — The speeches, ceremonies and celebrations Wednesday on Capitol Hill had the feel of a mini-inauguration, the crowning moment for an extraordinary Republican electoral victory in November. But forall thefestivities, Wednesday also marked the opening of a great debate about the role of government for in Americaand the beginning ofa two-year struggle Not Child's Play: Nita Gonzales, cochairwoman of Denver's Latino Education Coalition. said Perez's action was As Gavel Goes to Gingrich OMBINED NEW NEWS For Utah’s Homeless: Handouts or Handcuffs? House Pounds Out Votes Joshua Holdaway I got really tired and blacked out,” he “I tried to climb out and search for help The 18-year-old Bingham High School student never made it to the top. Instead, he wanderedin the ravine for 15 hours during oneof the coldest nights in Utah this winter His father, Evert. and the other snowmobilers doubled back to searchfor the missing teen, But they could not find him because the South Jordan teen-ager wasfar off the track Holdaway's rescuers are calling his survival miraculous. But the 6-foot-2 teen-ager mayface amputationof his frostbitten fingers and toes perature to 37 below Holdawayhad no shelter, food or matches. He stumbled back to his disabled snowmobile and flippedonits headlight to attract rescuers. He scoopedout snowto dig ashelter. But the effort left him dangerously tired. If he fell asleep, he would die of hypothermia, a conditionin which the body loses more heat thanit produces. As the hypothermia numbedhis thinking Holdaway removed his gloves. He then walked along the drainage in case the path led to a road he said ‘It looked like a river to me Most rivers go somewhere.” I wantedto die,” he said of his ordeal in Uinta National Forest. But prayer, thoughts of his family — andthe bitter cold itself — ter. But the craft was gonebefore he could Night fell and the wind chill blew the tem- @ See FROZEN, Page A-3 t kept Holdaway moving Overhead. he sawthe lights of a helicopget within view. |
