Prescott High School - Hassayamper Yearbook (Prescott, AZ)

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The persistant plague of the Mediter- ranean fruit flies in California last year has resulted in 500 million dollars (and possibly double that) worth of losses. Besides this, Japan, Korea and Taiwan considered blocking imports of all Cali- fornia fruits and vegetables, but finally agreed to limit their bans to only crops from infested areas. Experts concede that efforts to kill the fruit flies may fail. They are worried that the medfly will build up a resistance to the pesti- cides that are in current use. The re- sult of this is to stop planting and hope that this solve the problem. Otherwise California may be out of the agricul- ture business. The Prince of Wales and heir to the British throne, Prince Charles wed Lady Diana Spencer on July 29, 1981. Over 1 million onlookers waited along the route of the royal procession from Buckingham Palace to St. Paul’s Cathedral where Lady Diana rode with the royal family in a procession of horse-drawn carriages. It was the big- gest social event of 1981, with 750 million people watching On television. History was made last August when Judge Sandra O’Connor was nominat- ed to the United States Supreme Court. O’Connor, the first woman to serve as majority leader of a U.S. State Legislature and, since 1979, a judge in the Arizona State Court of Appeals, was the perfect candidate to fill the space left be retiring Associate Justice Potter Stewert. Judge O’Con- nor was approved by the senate on Sept. 21, 1981 and sworn in on Sept. 25, 1981. 24

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Last November, Prescott had the lar- gest turn out of voters in its history 5,213 out of 10,297 registered voters. Larry Caldwell was elected mayor by a 497-vote margin. Caldwell has also served as mayor from 1977 to ’79. The voters approved of funds for wa- ter, sewer and dump improvements. Last June, for the third time in history the baseball players went on strike. The issue was a hopelessly disputed clause in the collective bargaining agreement between players and man- agement. It dealt mainly with how to compensate teams that lose free agents. After seven long weeks of ne- gotiations, a settlement was made and playing resumed. The owners of the 26 major league baseball clubs voted to split the season in two and hold a second set of divisional races, rather than to pick up play where it broke off before the player’s strike. The fans however were not that wel- coming of the season after being de- prived of baseball for the seven weeks. Ticket sales at most stadium windows were sluggish and the club officials had to dream up schemes such as fire- works and two tickets for the price of one to lure fans back. On August 3, 1981, 12,000 members of the Professional Air Traffic Control- lers Organization walked off their jobs in a dispute over pay and working con- ditions. President Ronald Reagan gave them one day to return to work. When they refused to do so, he fired them. PATCO hoped for public support but lost it completely with the filling of their spots by supervisors and new re- cruits. Although air travel was reduced and economic losses were suffered, by the holiday season things were almost back to normal. The prospects of the controllers returning to their jobs is very slight although Reagan has al- lowed them to apply for other govern- ment jobs. A tragedy occurred at last year’s 61st annual Smoki Ceremonials when 23- year-old Richard Allen fell 40 feet while performing an ancient pole dance. Allen was partially paralyzed from the fall has spent countless hours in physical therapy at the Neurological Center in Phoenix. The Prescott com- munity has raised more than $50,000 for the Richard Allen Recovery Trust Fund. “If I would have been in any other place than Prescott, I don’t think I would have gotten nearly the help Prescott has given me,” commented Allen in an interview with the Prescott Courier. As December came to a close last year, tanks under the Polish govern- ment rumbled in Warsaw. Martial law was declared resulting directly from the Polish Solidarity strikes led by Lech Walesa, union president. As the striking came to a close, thousands had been taken prisoner. The govern- ment began the new year by cutting monthly food rations and predicting it to become even worse as the year progressed due to lower imports. President Ronald Reagan spoke out for the Polish citizens by banning high- technology sales and imposing other trade sanctions against the Soviet Union. The results of this action have yet to be seen in 1982. The Arizona Lottery was without a doubt an overwhelming success in 1981-82. With millions of people play- ing the three-of-a-kind scratch it rich, lottery ticket sales exceeded even the farthest expectations. 23

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On April 11, 1981, John Young and Robert Crippen were the crew of the first U.S. Space Shuttle, the Columbia. They were launched from Cape Ca- naveral into a circular orbit around the earth on a 2 Vi day mission that ended at California’s Edwards Air Force Base. This event marked the first time that human pilots have flown a craft from space, reentered the earth’s at- mosphere, and landed on an airport runway in a re-useable craft. Seven months later the Columbia was relaunched from Capt Canaveral on November 12. This time it was flown by astronauts Joe Engle and Richard Truly. The Columbia landed three days early at Edwards Air Force Base after one of the three electricity-gener- ating fuel cells failed. After two more test flights, the space shuttle, part of a $10 billion project, will begin service as a delivery van, hauling up satellites, scientific cargo and secret defense projects. Last July, 108 people lay dead in front of the sleek, 40 story Hyatt Regency Hotel in Kansas City. More than 180 were injured and at least three more died later. This disaster followed the collapse of two 145-ft. long interior walkways-one four stories off the ground, the other two-that had come ripping down amid a crowd of 1500 dancers. Some victims were pinned for hours beneath tons of steel, ce- ment and cables. It was the worst trag- edy in Kansas City history. 25