STORIES FROM THE PAST
50 years ago
You can’t keep a good dress down these days, the mothers say.
But how far is down? Somewhere between the devil and the deep blue sea, El Centro school administrators said.
This may sound confusing, but this was the next chapter in the Climbing Hemline Controversy (sometimes known as the Minisnit) when several girls in the El Centro school system were sent home this week for wearing “inappropriate” clothes.
The upset mother of one of the three banished miniskirts at Wilson Junior High School called this newspaper to ask a simple question: “What the heck is ‘inappropriate’ anyway?”
“We’ve never received any definition of what’s too short. How can you find out? Every pronouncement is so vague,” said the woman who would not give her name.
Eugene Tubach, principal at Wilson Junior High, said the three girls who were sent home for short skirts had hemlines “considerably more than two inches above the knee.”
40 years ago
First year kindergarten pupil Steven Hsu refuses to talk about his mysterious disappearance from De Anza Elementary School on Monday.
But the disappearance has a lot of other people talking, especially school administrators who make it very clear they are not responsible.
Police who investigated the disappearance disagree with school officials, but they are not alleging misconduct by De Anza school personnel. They simply think Steven outfoxed the teachers.
Steven, son of William Hsu, director of environmental quality control office, disappeared shortly after 11:45 a.m. Monday, but it was not until 1:07 p.m. that he was officially listed as missing by his mother.
Mrs. Hsu told police her son had been told to wait in front of the school for a ride. When William Hsu drove by, his son was not there. Hsu admitted he was 10 minutes late. Giving thought to the possibility that her son had decided to walk home, Mrs. Hsu waited patiently. About 1 p.m. she decided to call police.
A search of the school grounds failed to run up the youngster. Radio stations were notified and the search spread.
At 2:18 p.m., police reports indicate a Circle K Store employee at Fifth and Brighton called about a small boy who had been standing near the store for over an hour.
Police went to the scene and found Steven.