European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 27, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 4 the stars and stripes monday february 27,1989 quell pre us be ear a teachers advised Washington a in a guide for rearing an unbiased child a group of educators says the place to Start is with a 2-year-old just beginning to notice that people come in different shapes colors and sexes. The advice continues Don t assume simple expo sure to diversity is enough to kill the seeds of prejudice but on the other hand Don t pretend such differences do not exist. The 65,000-member National association for the Edu cation of Young children group says teachers and parents should not pretend that differences Don t matter but should explore them through discussion stories books games and multiracial Persona dolls with a Range of physical characteristics and disabilities. Louise Derman Sparks author of the teacher guide Book and a professor of Early childhood development at Pacific Oaks College in Pasadena calif., recommends discussing with children the differences they see and the ways people Are the same and different. Talking about differences does t encourage prejudice she says. In fact responding positively can discourage it. It is a Lack of response or a negative one that can promote  most attempts to teach tolerance and understanding Are aimed at older students. But in anti Bias curriculum Derman Sparks cites research findings that by age 4, children have internalized to a Large extent gender stereotypes racial Bias and fear of disabled people. Thus her focus on toddlers preschoolers and kindergarteners. Pre prejudice can appear As Early As age 2 when a child runs away from a classmate in a leg Brace or refuses to hold a Black child s hand insisting it is dirty according to the manual. Teachers Are admonished not to ignore or try to excuse discriminatory behaviour. If children insult or exclude one another on the basis of race sex Handicap or ethnic origin the manual advises immediately intervene to explain Comfort and set firm standards of Jacksonville Fla. A this bold new City of the South is attempt ing to shed its reputation As one of thes Mellies places in the nation. Paper Mills produce odor and Chemi Cal companies use a smelly byproduct from the Mills Terrenc to produce Fla Morings and perfumes. The combination creates an odor which sometimes is totally unbearable said Ann Shorstein Deputy chief administrative officer in mayor Tommy Hazouri s office. When Hazouri took office in 1987, he pledged an odor free City within two years. Although officials said he May have been top optimistic they said conditions have improved particularly since the City Council last March passed a toughened anti odor Bill. Under it the City has negotiated with companies about reducing their emissions. It s even fined its own sewer Plant. Not everyone in this North Florida City of 600,000 agrees about the extent of the problem. George Robbins president of Sam Glinco organics corp., one of the companies that has run afoul of the anti odor Campaign conceded that part of Jack Sonville s reputation As a smelly City is earned. But he said part of that is cities competing with Jacksonville for growth could t find much else to be negative about. Frankly Jacksonville s got a lot going for  he called the odor Issue a cosmetic personal preference problem saying the More important problem is health hazards in the air such As Ozone. Countered Shorstein we have peo ple who have been driven inside by the doors to the Point they Are not even Ca Pable of opening their doors or going into their Back  Homeowner Jeanne Oster put it More bluntly last year about the time the new anti stink Law was passed ill Tell you exactly what the air smells like. It s like being locked in a Porto let at the county fair. There s no  there were 4,200 odor complaints Las year up from 2,165 in 1987. I Don t think that says that doors got acceptable behaviour. One of the thorniest problems addressed in the teachers guide is what to do when parents transmit racist or sexist messages to their children. Among the examples Given a Parent says she does t want her child sitting next to any mexican kids or a White Parent who does t want his daughter playing with a Blackpoll. The Best Way to handle such a situation is to talk to the parents about their fears and prejudices the Man Ual said. A companion parents brochure available free from the association describes How to respond to a Young child s sometimes awkward questions. When asked a Parent who is asked Why is Jamal s skin so dark should not merely answer that his skin color does t matter. We Are All the same  rather toddlers should be told that Jamal s skin is dark Brown because his mom and dad have dark Brown  worse Robbins said. There s a height ened Public awareness. Contrary to what the number of complaints says i thin things Are getting  Robbins also pointed out that More than half of last year s complaints were not about the paper Mills and chemical companies. In fact Robbins said the City s sewage Plant got More complaints than his com Pany. The City recently fined the sewage Plant $28,357. As for Sam Glinco Robbins said the company has spent $1.5 million to $2 million on odor reduction changing equipment and procedures at the  Glinco is one of several companies negotiating with the City Over their efforts to come into compliance with the Law. Under the civil Section of the Ordi Nance the City can impose fines of up to$10,000 per Day per violation and can order corrections of problems if negotiations fail. The Law s criminal sanctions were recently thrown out by a judge a unconstitutionally vague. People can report objectionable Dorsby calling a 24-hour hot line. If a company receives five complaints within a 90-Day period it can be cited. Robbins said the City needs to establish objective standards to what is Malo Dorous. For now an odor is deemed objectionable if someone complains. All we need is somebody Tell us that if these compounds and these concentrations Are by Legal definition malodorous and you Emit them we re going to get you he said. We be had complaints about emitting Sweet smelling  deaths from tornadoes drop two thirds in 88 Washington a Torna does claimed Only about one third their average annual death toll in the United states last year despite setting a record for the number of twisters in november the National weather service reported sunday. There were 32 Tornado deaths re corded in 1988, the weather service said Down from 59 killed a year ear Lier and Well below the Long term average of 99 fatalities annually. Meteorologists have attributed the decline in Tornado deaths in recent years to increased Public awareness of the danger of the storms which Are most common in May and june but can occur in any month of the year. Unusually warm wet weather last november helped trigger 121 Torna does across the country a record number for the month. The average for november is Only 23 tornadoes and the previous record was 81 in1973. Last year also recorded the largest Tornado outbreak in 14 years on Mother s Day when 57 twisters Tore through parts of Arkansas Illinois Iowa and Wisconsin. No one was killed but 10 people were injured. Arkansas and Tennessee recorded the most fatalities last year with six deaths apiece followed by Florida with five. There were four killed in North Carolina and two each in Mississippi and Nebraska. After a Low Point in Winter tornadoes begin to increase sharply in March and Peak in May with a National average of 166 twisters for that month according to the National climatic data Center. The typical Tornado is Only about 50 Yards wide and travels about two Miles on the ground 87 percent of the time heading Northeast the National Center for atmospheric research reported. Deputy s arrest As suspect in 3 slayings shocks police los Angeles a police re acted with Shock at the arrest of a sheriffs Deputy for investigation of murder in the shootings of three prostitutes Cit ing his reputation and outstanding re Cord in 18 years on the Force. He s a great Guy a great police offi cer and we re just shocked said police sgt. Walt Burke who has known Deputy Rickey Ross for about six years. This is so out of character so inconsistent with the Rickey i be known. It s so bizarre ican t fathom  everybody is absolutely astounded said los Angeles county sheriffs  Wilber Ross supervisor. Ross 40, a narcotics officer was arrested after officers on routine patrol spotted him Early thursday erratically driving an unmarked county car in South Central los Angeles an area plagued by prostitution and gang wars. After he was pulled Over Ross was found sitting with an alleged prostitute who told police they were smoking crack cocaine police said. In the trunk of the car was a gun that police said was linked by ballistics tests to the 1988 deaths. The District attorney s office was re viewing the evidence on Ross and a decision on charges will be made monday said spokesman Andy Reynolds. Ross was in jail saturday and no bail was set. Although Ross was arrested for investigation of three killings published re ports have said police Are investigating As Many As 12 deaths of the area s strawberries the Street name for prostitutes who sell sex for drugs. Sheriff Sherman Block said Ross who is married and has two children had been assigned to a narcotics unit at los Angeles International Airport. Files show that no serious discipline had been taken against him in nearly two decades on the Force. He has a very Fine record Block said. He has been a very effective investigator in the narcotics  Ross and his family live in a $255,000 Spanish style Home in the san Bernardi no county suburb of Rialto