The Montgomery Advertiser from Montgomery, Alabama • 1

IT" TM I 1 i '7 ii 4 is Metro Edition leOOi Vmt Montgomery, Alabama Thursday, March 5, 1987 Copyright 1M7 The AtfwiHw Co. 25CenU Hiamainiism Religion, Jedlge Says if, WZsto a religion, while other history and social studies texts overlooked the role of Christianity. Skolrood heads the National Legal Foundation founded by television evangelist Pat Robertson. "Today's order is judicial book burning," former Alabama congressman John Buchanan said. "Never before has a federal court injected itself in the curriculum of public schools." Buchanan, an eight-term Republican U.S.

representative from Birmingham, is president of People for the American Way. The Washington-based group, founded to counter the influence of confer with attorneys before deciding if it will appeal Hand's decision. "I expect there is going to be a reaction from almost everybody in the state and possibly in the country a strong reaction," Tyson said. Tyson, a Mobile attorney, was the only state official present at the Mobile courthouse. He was served with the judgment by U.S.

marshals and received a copy of the judge's 175-page decision, handed down Wednesday afternoon. "It's a great day for religious freedom," said Robert Skolrood, chief counsel for the plaintiffs. They contended several home economics books promoted secular humanism as the Moral Majority, helped defend the school books along with the American Civil Liberties Union. Terming the decision censorship, Buchanan said it put Robertson and evangelist Jerry Falwell in charge of the curriculum in Alabama schools. "A year ago today Pat Robertson said he would follow up a victory here in state after state, so the implications are national" Buchanan said.

Skolrood said there's a possibility textbooks used in other states will be challenged. The banned textbooks included ones published by leading national school book publishers such as McGraw Hill Book Globe, Mac-millan. Rand McNally, Houghton Mifflin and Harcourt Brace Jova-novich. Hand permanently restrained the use of the books in Alabama classrooms except as references in comparative religion courses. The case grew out of a successful challenge of Alabama's school prayer laws by Mobile lawyer Ishmael Jaffree five years ago.

The Supreme Court upheld Jaffree after Hand ruled against him, disagreeing with previous high court decisions by saying the U.S. Constitution does allow a state to establish a religion. In the original case the 624 defenders of school prayer, mostly Mobile Baptists, maintained secular human-Please See HUMANISM, 2A am Calls Sale A Mistake Says Concern For Hostages Interfered WASHINGTON (AP) President Reagan, in a long-awaited speech designed to erase doubts about his presidency, acknowledged Wednesday night that his once-secret Iranian initiative "deteriorated" into an arms-for-hostages deal. "It was a mistake," he said. Noting he had not said much about iiici ii i.

Mi I tfszj -r" i By CATHY DONELSON Advertiser Staff Writer MOBILE Chief U.S. District Judge Brevard Hand, declaring "secular humanism" a religion in the eyes of the law, banned 44 textbooks from Alabama public schools Wednesday. Hailed by Christian plaintiffs who challenged the books in Mobile federal court as a monumental decision, Hand's judgment marks the first time a federal court has enjoined the use of books widely used in schools across the nation. John Tyson vice chairman of the Alabama Board of Education, said the school board will have to Erosion Endangers Landmark By ALVIN BENN Advertiser Staff Writer SELMA Mother Nature has been taking her toll of the Alabama River's banks for years, but erosion damage to a historic landmark this week has several Selma mothers see ing red. "What are you gonna do about that?" Elise Blackwell asked Coun cilman George Swift.

"You gonna let those buildings fall into the river." Mayor Joe Smitherman called an emergency meeting of the Selma-Dallas County Historic Preservation Society on Wednesday after inspecting an obviously wobbly Bridge Tender's House just above the river. Bank erosion from Wetumpka to the south has been a problem for a long time, but recent heavy rains and water pressure from the Alabama River as it turns the bend in Selma proved to be too much for the old wooden house. Built around the turn of the century, the building housed an operator whose job was to swing open a metal bridge to allow boats to pass through. The Edmund Pettus Bridge took its place in 1940 and the bridge tender's house slipped into another corner of Selma's storied past. The area is one of the most historic spots in Alabama.

Not far from the house is a plaque marking the spot where LaFayette stopped during his visit to the young state in 1825. The partial collapse of the house this week was caused by erosion of the dirt foundation and, as one Sel-mian put it Wednesday afternoon, "a good wind probably could blow it into the river." Most of the major buildings along Water Avenue are anchored solidly in the Selma chalk formation, Smitherman said, and do not appear to be endangered by the steady erosion. The site of the Bridge Tender's House, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, had once been suggested for a restaurant, but Smitherman cautioned against it because of the continuing riverbank problems. His words proved to be prophetic at the special Wednesday meeting. He suggested a call to a local engineer or someone familiar with soil erosion in an effort to make sure the other riverbank buildings do not suffer the same fate.

"Don't call any out-of-town people because it's gonna fall into the river and could take somebody with it," Smitherman said. Authorities placed the house off-limits and put a yellow tape around the building in front of the red "City of Selma" caboose. Smitherman, who termed the deteriorating house a city liability, indicated at the City Hall meeting he thought diplomacy had been lost in the shuffle between his office and the women of the preservation society. "I thought we were going to fight on the riverbank," he said. "Hell, I ain't no engineer." Judge Brevard Hand Teachers' Reserve Fund Eyed By AMY HERRING Advertiser Staff Writer Key lawmakers, feeling the political pinch of across-the-board cutbacks in the fiscal 1987 education budget, zeroed in Wednesday on reserves in the Teachers' Retirement Fund to cure future financial ills.

Paul Hubbert, head of the Alabama Education Association, told the interim legislative budget committee his organization would "assuredly and vehemently oppose" diverting funds from the retirement system's reserve account into school operating budgets. State Rep. Taylor Harper, a Grand Bay Democrat who is House Ways and Means Committee chairman, repeatedly questioned David Bronner, director of the Retirement Systems of the State of Alabama, about $11 million in a reserve account which Harper said could be transferred into the fiscal 1988 Special Education Trust Fund. Harper contends the reserve account is significantly higher than is needed to cover projected claims and said any surplus could be used for classroom and operational supplies. Bronner countered by quoting the 1982 law establishing the retirement system that said the state must make an effort to fully fund health insurance for teachers.

The current budget contains $57.9 million for benefits. Bronner said it will cost $85 million in fiscal 1988 to maintain the same level of benefits without raising premiums. Approximately 70,000 members of the teacher's health plan currently pay $2 each month in premiums. Hubbert said teacher's monthly premiums could increase by as much as $30 if the state fails to allocate $85 million to the fund in fiscal year 1988. Hubbert said if lawmakers raid the Please see KEY, 2A Ann Landers 10B Bridge 10B Business and Finance 7-10C Classifieds 2-11D Comics 4B Crossword 3D Editorial 10-11A 7B Local News ID Movies.

10B Obituaries 2D TV Sunny Weather, 12A Emergency Hospital: JACKSON 7 i.m. Thursday to 7 a.m. Friday Circulation: 269-0010; Toll-free Statewide: 1-800-392-5794 E1 Historic Bridge Tender's House on the Alabama River is threatened by erosion the affair since November, Reagan said, "I've paid a price for my si lence terms of your trust and confidence. But I have had to wait, as have you, for the complete story." He never said who made mistakes, but pronounced himself "angry" and "disappointed" with "some who served me." In prepared remarks, Reagan added: "As personally distasteful as I find secret bank accounts and diverted funds this happened on my watch." The Oval Office address marked Reagan's first response to the Tower Commission's criticism of his detached management style and ignorance about the details and consequences of his arms-to-Iran policy. Reagan said, "a few months ago, I told the American people I did not trade arms for hostages.

My heart and my best intentions still tell me that is true, but the facts and the evidence tell me it is not" Once again Reagan said he didn't know in advance about the diversion of arms proceeds to the Nicarguan rebels even though, "as president, I cannot escape responsibility." He noted the panel couldn't determine what happened to all the money generated by the arms sale, adding, "the facts here will be left to the continuing investigations" by Congress and an independent counsel. He defended his management style for its success in the past and said, "I'm taking action" on personnel and national security policy. Reagan, lauding his recent appointees, said he'd told his advisers, "I expect a covert policy that if Americans saw it on the front page of their newspaper, they'd say, 'that makes Addressing the families of American hostages in Lebanon, Reagan said, "We have not given up. We never will. And I promise you we'll use every legitimate means to free your loved ones from captivity." His speech was widely believed to be a crucial step in the White House drive to repair political damage caused by the affair.

Two earlier speeches failed to end the controversy or halt the drop in Reagan's popularity in the polls. Reagan said he did not question his aides enough about the specifics of the Iran initiative. "As the Tower board reported, what began as a strategic opening to Iran deteriorated in its implementation into trading arms for hostages. This runs counter to my own beliefs, to administration policy Please See REAGAN, 12A Power Says paying $95 each a year, he said. The plan, he said, would encourage wasteful use of electricity because a poor customer could use up to 15 percent more electricity in one year than he did the previous year, yet he would pay only a fixed amount.

The average customer's electrical demand increases only 1.5 percent a year, he said. Also, he said Alabama Power is the only electric utility that is sup posed to come under the program, yet 40 percent of Alabama's pop ulation is served by other utilities. Any plan should be statewide, and "the Legislature is the proper forum for consideration of income redistribution plans," Walker said. Mother On Crusade Against Erotic Telephone Messages By DAVE LOVERUDE Advertiser Staff Writer For three weeks, a 13-year-old west Montgomery girl let her fingers do some explicit walking, but now she's being forced to do some fast talking. Her 34-year-old mother wants to know why the girl made 235 calls in December and January to erotic telephone message services.

On Dec. 14, the girl made 34 calls ranging from 1 to 14 minutes from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m., with a two-hour break in the middle. In all, the 235 calls totaled 10 By Alvin BennAdvertlw Staff from back-page advertisements in men's magazines, were circulated throughout the girl's junior high school, the mother said. Officials with the district attorney's office, which has vigorously fought to keep pornography out of Montgomery, were unavailable for comment Wednesday.

The state attorney general's office has received no complaints about the 900 numbers, an official said. When confronted, the girl who made some of the calls Christmas Please See LAWYER'S, 2A bert. None of the three commissioners attended the morning portion of the hearing, which was conducted by a commission employee. Tolbert said he was unsure why PSC President Jim Sullivan and Commissioners Lynn Greer and Charles Martin were not present, but they had assistants attending. More than 75 spectators most of them elderly packed the PSC hearing room for the proceedings.

Walker testified that an Alabama Power study of PIP showed about 212,000 of the utility's 884,000 customers would benefit from the plan. It would generate a $64 million deficit yearly, which would have to be made up by the remaining customers Helping Poor Won't Come Cheap, Ala. hours and $264, the mother said. The mother also wants to let parents know how easy it is for Montgomery students to get their hands on the 900 numbers. The mother, who did not want her name used, sent letters to the Montgomery County district attorney's office and U.S.

Sens. Howell Helflin and Richard Shelby. "These numbers shouldn't be easily accessible to children," the woman bothers me is that children are exposed to enough sex whenever they turn on TV." The numbers, most likely taken Public Service Commission that Ohio has a similar plan that adds only 4 cents a month to customers' bills. Norton represents the Greater Birmingham Ministers and other groups assisting the poor that have been trying to get the PSC to adopt PIP since late 1985. The plan would allow families whose income is below 150 percent of the federal poverty level to limit their electric and gas bills to 12 percent of their monthly incomes.

The Public Service Commission has been conducting periodic hearings on the proposal since Sept. 18 and has no timetable for when it will rule, said PSC spokesman Jim Tol- Associated Press Report More than 600,000 Alabama Power customers would have to pay an extra $95 every year if the Public Service Commission gives a price break to the poor on electric rates, a company executive testified Wednesday. Oscar Walker, assistant manager of rates and regulatory affairs for Alabama Power, said the proposed Percentage of Income Plan, or PIP, would treat middle- and upper-income customers unfairly and would discourage energy conservation by the poor. But an attorney advocating the rate break said the cost was vastly inflated. Charles Norton told the ft.