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Freightliner Enters School Bus Market
Freightliner Corp., a wholly owned
su b sid iary o f D aim ler-B en z AG
(NYSF.:DAI), made its entry into the
school bus market official today by
unveiling its new school bus chassis.
“W e have focused our engineering
and m anufacturing expertise and m ar
ket knowledge todevelop a school bus
product that has dramatically superior
visibility, maneuverability and driver
ergonom ics," said Freightliner Presi-
d en tandC E O Jim Hebe. "O ur newest
custom ers are millions o f school chil
dren, bus drivers, mechanics, parents
and taxpayers. Their special needs
and well-being are foremost in our
minds. As a result we have designed
an unparalleled new school bus chas
sis and a nationwide service and distri
bution network to support it, 24-hours,
seven days a week."
A significant new market and growth
opportunity for the leading North
American manufacturer o f heavy-duty
Class 8 trucks, Freightliner is taking
aim at the 36,000-unit-a-year market
with a newly engineered conventional-
style school bus chassis that offers
first-of-a-kind advances forthis safety-
driven industry.
First-of-a-Kind Product Advances
In addition to designing the new
school bus chassis to give excellent
forward and side visibility m aconven-
tional Type C model, Freightliner is
the first manufacturer in the school bus
industry to make hydraulic anti-lock
brakes standard — a full tw o years
before federal safety regulations will
require it.
“It is our responsibility and duty to
raise the standard o f perform ance and
safety," Hebe said. “We were the first
truck manufacturer to make anti-lock
brakes standard on our full product
line, and we have done nothing less
with school buses. W e take very seri
ously the transportation o f students to
and from the classroom, as well as our
obligation as a responsible vehicle
manufacturer to advance truck safety.”
The driver’s comfort and produc
tivity have been addressed with a host
of enhancements, such as easy-to-see
and reach controls and gauges on a
specially designed school bus dash
board. The 40.4" set-back front axle
position al lows a 50degree inner wheel
cut, giving it an exceptionally tight
turning radius and better maneuver
ability.
For the school bus mechanics, the
engine is located fully ahead of the
School Program Funds Threatened
Proposed cuts to the sta te’s deseg
regation program would create costly
problem s and further unsettle an a l
ready troubled educational system ,
acco rd in g to A sse m b ly m em b er
Denise M oreno D ucheny and vice
chair o f the A ssem bly Budget C o m
mittee.
D ucheny led the effort to restore
the $250 m illion cut to desegrega
tion funding at S un d ay ’s m eeting o f
the C onference C om m ittee. "The re
duction will cause m any effective
program s to close," said D ucheny.
“Unfortunately, the cities with the
la rg e st m u lti-ra c ia l p o p u la tio n s
would suffer the greatest losses. This
not only m eans that good program s
vanish, but the state leaves itselfOpen
tocostly litigation w hen districts that
run court-ordered desegregation pro
gram s are no longer able to com ply
with the law.
The Republican proposal would
re d istrib u te d e se g re g a tio n funds
throughout California, according to
a com plicated formula. C ritics o f the
plan point out that the 15 largest
urban districts in the state w ould be
left with inadequate funds to fulfill
desegregation orders or to continue
program s such as m agnet schools,
enrichm ent academ ics and other pro
gram s that have effectively integrated
com m unities and im proved school
perform ance.
"Los Angeles could be wrestling with
a loss of nearly $118 million and San
Diego faces a loss of $15 million,”
Ducheny said. “These and California’s
i ither majt>r urban areas have used deseg
regation funds to manage programs that
have become assets in their school dis
tricts and to their communities. To re
verse the progress they’ve made is short
sighted anti ultimately hurts California’s
children.”
O ther districts that w ould be se
verely im pacted include San Jose
U nified w hich stands to lose more
than 40 percent o f its desegregation
funds and San F rancisco U nified
w hich faces a 31 percent reduction in
funds.
According to Ducheny, the claim
that new Proposition 98 funds will
allow these and other schools to re
coup some o f the lost funds, is not
realistic. “Districts will have to move
money from other targeted programs
to com pensate,” she said. “The pro
posed reduction could undo years of
progress and make us party to unlaw
ful segregation.”
As a m em ber o f the Budget C on
ference C om m ittee, D ucheny will
resum e her efforts to restore f unding
for court-ordered and voluntary d e
segregation program s.
Presentation of tiente Cloth to Graduates
By placing a piece o f kente cloth
around each eighth grader's neck,
Tubman Middle School principal
Charles Hopson hopes to encourage
and motivate future graduates o f the
Class of2(XX) during their promotion
from middle school.
I
W ecalled it a ‘conferral cerem ony’
because we want students to realize
that completion o f eighth grade is just
a step toward a higher goal," Hopson
says. "Student began the ceremony as
eighth graders, but after the awarding
o f the kente cloth, they left as candi-
dates for high school graduation in
the year 2000.”
Some 134 Tubman students partici
pated in thecercmt >ny, which were high
lighted by remarks f rom Renee Watson,
Jef ferson High’s student body president
and Rose Festival Princess.
PGE’s Reminder for Summer Safety
The end o f school for another year
means young people taking off for
playgrounds, open fields, parks, and
just about anv location w here they
can fly a kite, clim b a tree or play
ball.
Pacific Pow er rem inds outdoor
enthusiasts to consider pow er poles,
overhead w ires and substations when
seeking the best location for some
sum m ertim e fun.
“E lectrical fa c ilitie s—overh ead
wires, poles, substations or ground-
mounted transform ers are N O T the
place to play,” Pacific Pow er m an
..............
Apple's
1996
Recipients
for Grants
For the 17th consecutive year,
Apple C om puter, Inc. announced
the recipients o f its Partners in
Education (PIE) grants program ,
which includes ten K -12 schools
and te ach in g in stitu tio n s from
around the country. V alued at $1
m illio n , the g ra n ts w ill bring
A p p le's total contribution to $28
million since the program began in
1979. This year, in encouraging
the use o f the Internet as a research
and collaborative tool, A pple will
provide each grant recipient with
an Internet W eb server, including
the A pple Internet S erver Solution
Kit
ager Carl Talton cautioned. “The
d an g er is very re a l—an d can be
deadly.”
Talton offered the follow ing tips
for a safe sum m er:
• Keep all kites aw ay from o ver
head pow er lines. If a kite does be
com e tangled in electrical wires, call
Pacific Pow er—and m ake
No at
tempt to rem ove it!
•Be certain there are no overhead
w ires near trees. If there are lines
present, do not clim b the tree for
ANY reason!
• Substations are fenced for you
protection. C lim bing a substation
fence ju st because it’s th e re -o r to
retrieve personnel property,
is an
invitation to trouble!
• Although ground-m ounted trans
formers are safe while sealed, noth
ing should be poked into or around
the metal containers.
• Be careful o f overhead lines when
raising antennas or irrigation pipe.
M ove well clear o f the danger before
upending the m aterial.
“Rem em bering these simple safety
rules should help assure a safe and
pleasant sum m er,” T alton said.
firewall, giving full engine accessibil
ity that is serviceable from under the
hood and from a com fortable standing
position.
Freightliner's custom engineering
capability means customers can cost
effectively specify from the broadest
range o f engines, transmissions, and
related components, available from
any school bus chassis manufacturer.
Hie best technologies o f engine m anu
facturers are offered, with all horse
power ranges of the Cum m ins B 5.9
liter in addition to the Caterpillar
electronically controlled CFE 7.2 liter
electronic engine. A full range of
Eaton manual and Allison automatic
transmissions will be offered in addi
tion to a wide selection o f axles and
suspension systems. The Thomas Built
Buses/Freightliner Combination
Freightliner has worked with T ho
mas Built Buses in High Point, N.C.,
to develop a chassis/body com bina
tion that achieves excellent visibility
due to a larger windshield area, a raised
driver s platform, and Freightliner’s
sloped hood. I his specially designed
body and chassis combination will be
available lor sale, on a non-exclusive
basis, in mid 1996.
"Thomas Built Buses has seven
decades o f success in this industry,"
Hebe said. I hey are a clear leader in
producing quality school bus bodies
with durability and unsurpassed struc
tural integrity.”
“As with our commitment to raise
the performance and safety level, we
are equally dedicated to advancing the
level of service and support our school
bus customers receive,” Hebe empha-
sized.
"Our nationwide Freightliner
dealer network, working with bus body
distributors, will push customer sup
port to a whole new plane.”
T h e fu tu re o f th e sc h o o l bus
tra n s p o r ta tio n in d u s try o u tlo o k
is h e a lth y . S o m e 23 m illio n s tu
d e n ts are tr a n s p o r te d e a c h d ay
by the sc h o o l b u s in d u s try an d
the n a tio n w id e sc h o o l e n ro llm e n t
is p ro je c te d to in c re a s e by 10
p e rc e n t by 2 0 0 5 , a c c o rd in g to
the U S. D e p a rtm e n t o f E d u c a
tio n .
F re ig h tlin e r C o r p ., h e a d q u a r
te re d in P o rtla n d , O re ., p ro d u c e s
and m a rk e ts c o m m e rc ia l v eh icle s
in C la s s 4 -8 an d is a m e m b e r o f
th e M e rc e d e s -B e n z A G g ro u p ,
th e w o rld ’s la rg e s t c o m m e rc ia l
v e h ic le m a n u fa c tu re r.
Videoconferencing Helps
Schools Share "Secrets"
In response to a W hite Hi tuse repi >i t
stating that HIV is now infecting an
average of two U.S. teens every hour,
Kaiser Permanente and Pacific Bell
are testing the use o f interactive
videoconferencing to accelerate the
delivery of AIDS information to C ali
fornia youth.
On May 29, Kaiser Permanente
will stage its award-winning AIDS
education play "Secrets" at Century
High School in Santa Ana, with a
simultaneous live videocast using Pa
cific Bell GroupV ideo to three other
high schools and two libraries around
California. After the play, Century
and the remote viewing sites will par
ticipate in an interactive discussion
with the performers, professional ac
tors employed by Kaiser Permanente
and trained to answer questions about
HIV/AIDS.
“W eonly have tw o'Secrets’troupes
in California, 5,(XX) high schools to
visit, and a rising infection rate among
teens," said Lisa Beezley, director of
the play. “We could provide schools
with 'S ecrets’ on videotape rather
than a live performance, but a tape
would not allow the kids to interact
with the actors, which is a critical part
o f the educational process. Kaiser
P e rm a n e n te is
in te re s te d in
videoconferencing because it will
greatly expand the number o f students
we can reach with one performance,
and still allows us to preserve the
question and answer process.”
A sense of urgency has underscored the
AIDS education issue since the White
House Office of National AIDS Policy
released a sobering report in March that
said the virus is spreading more swiftly
than ever among American youngsters,
with nearly one-quarter ofnew infections
occurring in people between the ages of
13-19.
"Because there is not yet a cure
for AIDS or a vaccine against HTV,
education is the key to preventing the
spread of the epidemic,” said Beezley.
"But too many young people are either
not receiving the information they need
or do not have the skills to use that
information to priXect themselves. That
is why Kaiser Permanente is exploring
videoconferencing and other technolo
gies that will hasten the prtxxss of educat
ing at-risk youth about the disease and
how to prevent it.”
The harnessing o f communications
technology in the battle against HIV in-
Iectu in comes at a time when the issue of
AIDS education in California public
schools is being hotly debated. A contro
versial bill now making its way through
the state Legislature would require par
ents to give their consent for students to
learn about any sexually transmitted
disease.
Gary Ferguson Tuesday, July 2nd 7:30
In Y e llo w s to n e W o lv e s; th e
F irs t Y ears (F a lc o n P re ss), n a
tu re w rite r G a ry F e rg u so n p r o
file s the s tirrin g o p e n in g m o v e
m en ts o f the fo u rte e n w o lv e s r e
le a se d in th e s p rin g o f 19 9 5 -
Y e l l o w s t o n e ’s f ir s t b r e e d in g
p o p u la tio n in se v e n ty y e a rs , an d
th e firs t w o lv e s in h isto ry to be
tr a n s p la n te d fro m the w ild . T h is
in tim a te n a rra tiv e tra c k s e x tr a o r
d in a ry , n e v e r-s e e n -b e fo re ev e n ts:
the d a ily e x p lo ra tio n s , c h o o s in g
d en s ite s , lo o k in g fo r m a te s -a ll
in a w o rld b e re ft o f th e ir o w n
k in d ; th e first e n c o u n te rs w ith
Yellowstone's elk, grizzly bears, coy
otes, and moose, none o f which had
ever laid eyes on an intact w olf pack.
Yet Ferguson Goes beyond w olf b e
havior to offer close-up looks at the
human side o f (his event as well. For
more information, please contact Gary
Ferguson at 800/208-2665.
Advertise In
¿The P n v t l a u b ( O b s tr u e r !
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