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OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA--MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS _
62nd Year No. 23 NOME, ALASKA, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 1961 Per Copy 15*
Favors Teachers’ Pay Increase
To $l-1/2 Million for Coining Year
By Virginia Sims
JUNEAU M"l — The Chairman of
the House Committee on Health,
Welfare and Education said today
she would favor a teachers’ pay
increase that would cost out at
about $D/£ million for the com
ing year.
The opinion was expressed by
Rep. Dora M. Sweeney of Ju
neau with a general breath-hold
ing attitude as the Finance Com
mittees of the House and the Sen
ate labored over their depart
mental budget recommendations
on Gov. Egan’s $59 million spend
ing plan.
Finance Committee Chairmen
Sen. James Nolan and Rep. Frank
Chapados indicated it would be at
least another week before sub
committee reports will start to
flow in and the budget bill begins
to take shape in its final form.
Nolan and Chapados both
agreed that any final thinking
on teachers’ pay increases would
have to await the balancing of
the budget with proposed reve
nue income.
Mrs. Sweeney said that her
Health, Welfare and Education
Committee has had under study
five bills which call for teachers’
raises costing out at from $655,
000 to $2,900,000 a year.
The lowest proposed increase
is that introduced by the Rules
Committee at the request of Gov.
Egan. His proposed $655,000 boost
would start with a basic salary
of $5,000 for holders of bachelors
degrees, but with no teaching ex
perience.
Mrs. Sweeney said her commit
tee is thinking in terms of a basic
salary of $6,000.
Mrs. Sweeney said the com
mittee had decided against step
ups allowing for additional hours
of study between bachelors and
masters degrees as proposed in
all of the bills introduced, except
that submitted by the governor.
“That would cost an additional
$150,000-$200,000, Mrs. Sween
ey said, “and since we’re so
pinched for funds, we’ve decided
not to request it this year.”
She said that Ford Foundation
survey of Alask school finances
was currently being conducted
and that a report on the Ford
Foundation team’s findings was
expected next October.
“Until that report comes out,
we’re trying to do the best we
Nome’s BLM
Office Will
Re-Open May 1st
JUNEAU UP> — State Sen. John
McNees said yesterday the Bu
reau of Land Management has ad
vised the Alaska Congressional
Delegation it plans to' keep the
Nome Land Office open from
May 1 to Oct. 31.
The BLM recently announced
plans to close the Nome Land Of
fice, insofar as a fulltime opera
tion was concerned, and open it
only periodically.
McNees said he was advised by
Sen. Ernest Gruening that mem
bers of the Alaska Congressional
Delegation talked with BLM Di
rector Carl Landstrom in Wash
ington, D. C., yesterday morning
and Landstrom said the Nome Of
fice would be kept open from
May 1 until Oct. 31 on a fulltime
basis pending a further study of
the need for a fulltime office at
Nome.
can,” Mrs. Sweeney said. “By j
next year, we will have more de- !
finite information on the fi- j
j nances of our school program
throughout the state and we can
j do better.”
Sen. Irwin Metcalf, Chairman
i of the Senate Committee on
Health, Welfare and Education,
said that while he would like to
see the teachers get a substantial
raise in pay, “it all depends upon
how much we can afford.”
TlCA Wni Traill
Alaskan Youths
Electronics
JUNEAU (J’l — An agreement
which will provide young natives
of Alaska with electronics train
ing and jobs with the Radio Cor
poration of America was an
nounced today by RCA and the
Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Secretary of the Interior Udall
informed the Alaska Congression
al delegation of the RCA-BIA
agreement in Washinton, D. C.
Sen. Ernest Gruenin advised the
Associated Press of Udall’s dis
closure in a wire to Juneau from
the Nation’s Capital.
Under terms of the agreement,
seven Alaskans will be selected
for training during each term of
the RCA Institute in New York.
Those Alaskans who complete
j the course, Udall told Gruening,
will be offered jobs with RCA,
with some returning to positions
with White Alice and BMEWS
Stations operated by RCA in
j Alaska.
The first seven Alaskans to be
selected, Udall said, are sched
j uled to enter the next RCA In
| stitute term starting Feb. 28. They
are:
Harry Kito and Sam Kito,
Petersburg; Joseph Pungowiyi,
Bethel; Russell Attwoed, Ketchi
kan; Percy Ipalook, Kotzebue;
Arthur Peterson, Ft. Yukon; and
Morgan Aukongak, Nome.
Airports Hum With Activity Again
As Flight Engineer’s Strike Ends
NEW YORK (M — Airports
around the nation hummed with
activity again today and the big
passenger planes zoomed into the
air in increasing numbers with
the the end of a flight engineer’s
strike.
The six-day work stoppage,
worst tieup in American aviation
history, it cost the airlines an esti
mated $40 million.
Many more millions were lost
by vacation resorts and indus
tries connected with air travel.
Railroads and bus lines reaped an
unexepected revenue harvest,
| however.
Travel plans of an estimated
500,000 persons were affected dur
j ing the shutdown period. Many
of them were stranded away from
I home when the strike began, and
| had difficulties obtaining alter
I nate transportation.
With the whine of big jets and
! the roar of propeller-driven air
1 craft once more on the runways,
Pan American World Airways
j was the first to restore full serv
| ice. It announced this morning
that operations were back to 100
per cent.
Other lines ranged downward
to as low as 30 per cent. Some
said it might take them a day or
two more to get all schedules
going again.
Miami Beach estimated its reve
nue loss at $3 million a day dur
ing the strike. So did the Carib
bean area including Puerto Rico,
the Virgin Islands and the Ba
hamas.
The end of the strike was an
nounced personally yesterday by
President Kennedy.
Flight engineers agreed to go
back to work immediately while
a Presidential Commission start
ed work on finding a way of
remedying the basic cause of their
strike.
Kennedy made the announce
ment at the White House. At his
side was Secretary of Labor Gold
berg, who had a large part in
bringing about the end of the
walkout.
Six airlines — Pan American,
American, Trans World, Eastern,
National and Flying Tigers — be
gan cranking up their operations
last night. All were resuming
many flights today and expected
to be back to normal by Satur
day or Sunday.
Western Airlines, one of those
struck by the engineers, refused
to join the agreement.
U. S. Musi Maintain
Weapons Arsenal
For Counter-Blows
WASHINGTON UP) — Secretary
of Defense McNamara declared
yesterday that dangerous un
certainties in the world demand
that the United States maintain
a weapons arsenal capable of
launching decisive counter-blows
after surviving a massive nuclear
attack.
The Pentagon chief said that
this is the prime conclusion from
a preliminary study in connection
with the over-all reappraisal of
national strategy and military
power ordered by President Ken
nedy. He said the full examina
tion of how America stands “will
require many months of intensive
effort.”
McNamara was before the House
Armed Services Committee in
response to an invitation from
Chairman Carl Vinson to come
and sketch the nation’s defense
picture as the Kennedy Adminis
tration views it. The Secretary
was accompanied by Gen. Lyman
Lemnitzer, Chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff.
Reporters Barred
Reporters were barred from the
session, but were given copies of
a statement McNamara had pre
pared. They also were given an
opening statement from vision in
which the chairman said the com
mittee “must have the results of
this re-examination (of the de
fense picture) before we proceed”
to consider authorizing the pro
curement of ships, aircraft and
missiles that will cost about $10.5
billion.
Vinson said the committee not
only wanted “to get the big pic
ture,” but also would demand a
detailed and specific accounting
of what the United States now
has to fight with, what it hopes
to have and the best possible in
formation about the military ca
pabilities of the Communist
world.
No Facts Before Legislature on the
Proposed Vocational Education School
JUNEAU i/P> — An Anchorage
Republican told the House yes
terday that members of the Legis
lature who do not live in the
Southeast Alaska were “annoyed
to find we have no facts before
us on the proposed Vocational
Education School.”
Rep. James Parsons said mem
bers of the House Health, Welfare
and Education Committee had
been told by Gov. Egan that no
money has been spent on studies
of the proposed school, to be con
structed North of the Yukon
River.
On the other hand. Parsons
| said, complete studies and hear
I ings have been conducted on the
proposed State Ferry System.
“We came down here with open
minds on the Ferry System and
we appreciate the work that has
been done,” Parsons said, “but it
is disturbing to find that similar
studies have not been made on
! the projects called for by the five
| bond issues the people approved
I last Nov. 8.
“If we are going to make a study
on one of these projects, we should
---
American Protestantism
Join in Approval of
Artificial Birth-Control
SYRACUSE, N. Y. (JP» — Repre
j sentatives of the bulk of Ameri
can Protestantism joined in ap
proving a widely used but religi
ously explosive practice — artifi
cial birth-control.
After extended discussion, the
policy-making general board of
the National Council of Churches
endorsed such methods as morally
j Christian, an adjunct to whole
■ some home life and an aid in
I world population problems.
The U. S. government was
asked to supply birth control help
to countries that ask for it, a
move previously shunned by
Washington. The statement also
deplored state laws restricting
birth-control services.
They “violate the civil religious
liberties of all citizens, including
Protestants,” the statement said.
It was the first collective Pro
testant pronouncement on the
subject, although numerous in
dividual denominations previously
have taken similar action.
Eastern Orthodox churches, al
so members of the council, ab- j
stained from the vote by advance ;
agreement. They traditionally :
have opposed contraception, as do
Roman Catholics.
Dr. Harold Haas, of New York ;
City, a United Lutheran Social,
Welfare official, who presented I
the measure, said it sought to
stress “the spiritual implications I
of marriage.”
While upholding child-bearing
as a “divinely ordained purpose”
of marriage, it said the sustaining
of mutual love between husband
and wife, apart from reproduc
tion, also was “ordained of God.”
Nenana Ice Classic’s
Tripod Now Set
NENANA — With the famous
tripod now set up on the ice of
the Tanana River at Nenana
speculation begins as to time of
the mighty river breakup. There
is 26 inches of ice 350 feet from
shore. Last year at this time there
was 30 inches of ice in the same
spot. While many of the old
timers are predicting an April
breakup, it is still early in the
game.
make studies on all of them.”
Parsons said the last Legisla
ture appropriated $172,000 for
studies of the Ferry System and
some $11,000 for studies of the
Vocational Education School.
In answer to a question by Rep.
Bruce Kendall of Anchorage, Rep.
Morgan Reed of Skagway, Chair
man of the House State Affairs
Committee, said some $23,000 of
the $172,000 set aside for the
Ferry System studies has been
spent.
Much of that money, Reed said,
was used to obtain the services
of bond attorneys for preparation
of the ferry bonding proposition
voted on last Nov. 8 and also the
bill which was prepared to im
plement the bond sale.
Their advice, Reed said, was also
used in drawing up the other
five bonding propositions which
appeared on the Nov. 8 ballot and
the implementing bills for the
four which passed.
Refuses to Vote
For Anymore
Appropriations
JUNEAU UP) — Sen. Brad
I Phillips of Anchorage told the
| Senate today he would “refuse
! to vote for one more appropria
j tion measure until I get some
| clear answers” on the proposed
j $59 million budget for the coming
) year.
“I didn’t come down here to
assist in formulating a plan for
the bankruptcy of the state,” Phil
lips said after taking the floor on
special privilege.
“I have been sitting in this
Senate for 33 days, and so far
all we have witnessed is a pat
tern for spending. This pattern
was set forth in the Budget Mes
sage.
“This budget calls for $59 mil
lion worth of appropriations, plus
$33 million in bonded indebted
ness.
“It has been admitted that we
must use all of our savings. In
addition, we must use $6 million
in federal grants which we can’t
expect again.
“I want to serve notice on this
body that I refuse to vote for
one more appropriation or one
more directive to spend until I
have a clear answer from the ad
ministration to the question
where is the $llVfe million coming
from next year — and the year
after that and the year after
that until all our savings are
gone? And the federal govern
ment has stopped its benevo
lence?”
Phillips said that he was
shocked “yesterday” by the Sen
ate’s failure to pass a resolution
on a “good business climate” in
the state.
Sen. George McNabb rose to
label Phillips’ speech as pure un
adulterated political hogwash —
designed to capture headlines.
Senate President Frank Pera
trovich brought the discussion to
a close.
“I think any budget discus
sions are premature until the Fi
nance Committee comes out with
its report,” Peratrovich said.
In a statement after the ses
sion, Sen. Howard Bradshaw said
that the Anchorage Republican’s
speech “did more to solidify the
Democratic Party than they have
been able to do for themselves.”