European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - September 15, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 6 the stars and stripes sunday september 15, 1985 watered Down science texts rejected by California Board Sacramento Calif. A the California Board of education Friday rejected every science textbook submitted for use in seventh and eighth Grade next year saying publishers Walcer Down instruction on evolution to avoid controversy. The unanimous vote by the 10-Membcr Board canc the Day after parents and spokesmen for fundamentalist religious groups contended the textbooks Over emphasized evolution and presented it As fact not theory. The Board rejected about 30 books submitted by a dozen National publishers. It invited publishers of the seven books judged Bat by its science curriculum commit tee to rewrite the books with More comprehensive sections on evolution. The Board action affects an estimated $25 million in annual science textbook sales for nearly 1 million Junior High school students. State superintendent of Public instruction Bill Honig said the vote was a momentous decision with a National Impact because California holds such a Large share of the National textbook Market that publishers usually follow the Sale s wishes. He also said other Stales follow califor Nia s Lead on textbook selection. It is not just this state we re speaking for. For the reality of it is we Are going to establish policy for the Resl of this country Honig said. Honig stressed that the Issue was not science is. Reli Gion but Quality. We must Send a message to the publishing Industry that we cannot tiptoe around certain subjects just because they Are controversial. Doing so undermines our a Flores toward excellence in our classrooms he said in a written statement. The Issue Here is Are a going to allow publishers to water Down texts and draft them politically to avoid controversy or arc we going to insist on Quality standards Honig added in discussion before the Board vote. We have looked at these books from a science per spec a and they just Don t come up to a level that s accept Able As far As making these ideas understandable a sur  creationists said they were disappointed by the vote Friday but their Cri scism was muted. We will look carefully at the revisions. We Don t object to evolution being presented As a  said Kelly so Graves of the creation science research Center of san Diego. But we arc concerned thai there is nothing which gives the impression that it is fact. That creation is  one creationist Jean Sumrall of Irvine said in testimony thursday that books said by the commission to have inadequate sections on evolution already go too far. Evolution is a theory to be presented As a theory in a theoretical context not As history in an historical con text she said objecting to such things As one science Book using the chapter title history of living things to introduce evolution to seventh Grade students. The theory of evolution generally accepted by the established scientific Community holds that life evolved Over a great period of time and that Man evolved from lower life forms. Creationists who usually hold to the biblical account of Man s origin believe life appeared Over a much Shorter time. The commission said All the publishers whose books i reviewed had systematically omitted thorough discussions of Charles Darwin s theory of evolution. Local schools in California arc free to Purchase any books they want with District funds but As a practical matter they rarely deviate from the state guidelines be cause state funds May be used Only for state approve books. The state revises its list of approved textbooks every six years so the Board s action would affect science textbooks purchased through 1992. Honig said California also will reject inadequate text books in other Fields such As history books that gloss Over the holocaust and other unpleasant subjects. Are they going to Duck controversial issues in history we have a requirement that the religious nature of the settlement of this country be addressed. If you look at the history books that s really not talked about because it i somewhat controversial. That is a part of our history and should be in history books Honig said. I / family visits Drummond heart transplant patient Michael Drummond 25, is is led by his father Clarence and his sister Debbie at in Amity medical Center in Tucson Ariz. His audition has been updated from critical to fair and Hospital officials said he was shotting no sign of rejecting his new heart. Drummond was kept alive for 10 Days with an artificial heart until a suitable human Organ became Atai Uble. Dc-9 Jet s Takeoff aborted after engine Breaks Down Oakland Calif. Up the Takeoff of a Jet America dc-9 was aborted at Oakland International air port because of the breakdown of an engine the same make As the one involved in the Milwaukee crash of g do 9 that killed 31 people. The Jet was beginning its Takeoff run when it lot Tail Cone from its engine a Federal aviation administration official said. An airline spokesman however said the engine had blown part of the Turbine  the scheduled flight to Chicago was cancelled and the Jet returned to the terminal where its engine was replaced Jet America vice president Frederick Davis Aid. 8 tons of Bronze artwork stolen sold As scrap Metal Redding Calif. A eight tons of Bronie Art work valued at $400,000. Including 19th-Century pieces and two Complete subway entrances from France were stolen piece by piece from a storage shed Over the put year and sold for scrap officials said. Some of the artwork has been recovered but most of it was destroyed when the thieves Cut it up with a Torch said Shasta county sheriffs sgt. Rusty Brewer. The uninsured artwork was taken after september 1984, owner Nicolaas Borsje Borsje of Beverly Hills told investigators. The thieves made at least six trips to the scrapyard with truckloads of Bronze and sold it for $120 to $150 per Load. At most they made a couple of thousand dollars brew or said. 5 students killed 16 injured in Arkansas bus Accident Berryville Ark. A a bus carrying 38 Itu deals from a religious school went off an embankment Bod overturned in the Ozark mountains lulling five people and injuring at least 1 6 others authorities said. The bus was carrying students from the Ozark Buhle Institute a Small College with an enrolment of about 120 in Neosho mo., to a performance of the passion play t tourist attraction in Eureka Springs Ark., said a tule police dispatcher in Springdale. Fire department Mascot killed by hit and run Driver in la los Angeles a Sparky a fire station Dalma Tian that accompanied firefighters into action aboard Fin engines has been killed by a hit and run Driver. The 10-year fire department Veteran was found Dea a a a cd ral jud8 he " dered the Federal government to nay More than $500,000 to a former Thi Okol chemical co. Employee for injuries Plant " � 971 firc and Pilosio a he compmy"1 it was the first damage award to be made in litigation stemming from the incident that killed 29 people and injured 50 others in Woodbine where Thi Okol worker were manufacturing trip hares under government contractor use in the Vietnam War. Us. District judge b. A. Edenfield ordered the award to Harriet Elaine Perry Spaulding