In this second in a monthly series of LOOKING BACK, the Reporter is publishing some headlines taken from its May editions 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 years ago.
1965
Secondary school building benefit concert in Ajijic
A first in a series of events to raise funds for a federal free secondary school in Ajijic takes place in the gardens of the Posada Ajijic. Professor Emilio Pulido Huizar and his 20 professional dancers will interpret exciting folk dances of Jalisco, Michoacan and Veracruz. The Comite Pro-Escuela Secundaria and Padres de la Familia invite you all to come early, have cocktails and reserve a table for dinner.
New Consulate General bldg
Symbolic ground breaking for a beautiful new building to house the U.S. Consulate General took place at Av. Libertad 1492 with representatives of the U.S. and Mexican governments braving a hot, mid-day sun for the event. The 225,000-dollar building of concrete, stone and glass will be two stories high and is expected to be finished in about one year.
1975
Lake Chapala’s power schedule
A power schedule for Lake Chapala was worked out to provide full electrical service between 5 a.m. and 5 p.m.. So far it appears that there will not be intermittent service. Now you know to take a shower while there’s an opportunity for the water tank to fill (those of you with wells), you know that the goulash cooking in the electric fry pan won’t turn out goopy and that you can leave the beauty shop with a flip rather than a flop. To prevent waking up to a more-than-brilliant sunrise or being jarred out of bed by the 6 a.m. news, be sure to turn out and turn off anything which uses electricity before 5 p.m.
Mexican golf forecast: Fore!
Mexican golf is going to take off like a Lee Treviño drive, says Eduardo Perez, the course pro at Rancho Contento, who has played golf for 26 of his 39 years and was a former caddy for Arnold Palmer. “Just look around,” he says. “Seven years ago there was only one course in Guadalajara. Now there are four 18-hole courses and three nine-hole courses. Bing Crosby has brought a major tournament to the city and players like Tom Weiskopf and Johnny Miller have praised area courses. Meanwhile more and more people seem to be playing; you see whole families out on the course, something new to Mexico.”
Med student wives survive
Some 100 wives of U.S. medical students studying at Guadalajara’s Universidad Autonoma have banded together to form the Student’s Wives Club, an organization aimed at buffering cultural shock and finding ways of smoothing and speeding cultural adaptation. They have published a very practical “Survival 75” booklet to help accomplish this. “Our purpose is to build friendship among the wives of U.S. students living in Guadalajara and make life in Mexico a pleasurable experience,” states the booklet, which includes basic survival information: where to shop, areas in which houses may be found, doctors, tourist services, etc. Survival, most student wives agree, depends on the ability to convert unfamiliar circumstances into a learning experience, developing the capability to cope with problem-solving situations.
1985
Bilateral relations repaired
During a U.S.-Mexico inter-parliamentary conference, Mexico’s presidential spokesmen shocked the nation when he said that 330 soldiers and policemen had perished in Mexico’s war against narcotraficantes so far this year. Some 12 anti-narcotic operations are ongoing, including one in Jalisco.
Gov’t recants new bus system
Confusion reigned for city bus users last Thursday when Guadalajara’s new much-publicized urban transport system was “frozen” and the old bus routes were reinstalled, in the face of general bewilderment, rider confusion and protests from the bus drivers themselves. The new bus system, aimed at making the routes more direct and evenly distributed, will now be introduced gradually. Residents protesting the new routes in Colonia La Calma dumped broken bottles on the roadway to prevent the operation of a bus route that passes in front of the Motorola factory near Avenida Mariano Otero.
Amsoc decries travel advisory
The American Society of Jalisco (Amsoc) executive committee discussed counteractions to the possibility of a congressionally mandated travel advisory for the state of Jalisco by the U.S. State Department. Amsoc President Frank Bolek said he would send a letter of positive support and friendship to the local Spanish-language newspapers as a gesture of good will. In the letter he plans to state that the majority of the over 20,000 U.S. citizens living here feel safe in their homes and surroundings and enjoy friendly relations with their Mexican neighbors.
Mexican airlines offer 50% off to Jalisco
“There has never been a promotional campaign in Jalisco of this magnitude,” stated Jalisco tourism chief Carlos Abitia Baeza in reference to a current push, sponsored by the federal Secretariat of Tourism, national airlines, restaurant owners and hotel operators, to both combat the negative press Jalisco has been receiving since recent drug busts and to bolster faltering tourist levels. Mexicana de Aviacion and AeroMexico will offer two-for-the-price-of-one promotions on all direct international flights to Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta. Also, for just one dollar extra, travelers on either airline can fly to one other place in the Mexican Republic as part of their vacation package. These fares are valid from May 1 to June 15, 1985.
1995
Huichol mercy-mission plane stolen from hanger
Hard luck continues to dog one of the most selfless humanitarian programs based in this city. The 1976 model Cessna 206 owned by the Amistad foundation and the Adventist Church, used to carry food, medicines and other aid to impoverished Huichol indigenous communities has been reported stolen from Guadalajara International Airport. The Cessna had replaced the airplane which previously served the Huichol communities of north Jalisco and neighboring states. That airplane crashed February 6, 1991, killing five people. Pilot Dagoberto Cirilo Sanchez discovered the aircraft missing when he made a routine visit to check it. An airport employee told him he saw the craft take off at 7:37 a.m. and thought Cirilo was piloting it. Airport officials told him no airplane had been stolen there in the past 11 years. The journey by truck to the Sierra Huichol takes 24 hours and there are many communities that can only be reached by air.
Sunday dry law on the way out
The days of the Sunday dry law in Guadalajara and Zapopan are numbered. Changes now in the works are expected to permit wine and liquor sales Sundays in both municipalities. At present only restaurants and bars can legally sell wines and liquors on Sundays. Beer, which is already available at stores Sundays, is not affected by the pending changes.
Amsoc celebrates half century
The American Society of Jalisco celebrated the big five-oh in appropriate style Saturday, April 29. One-hundred-fifty guests filled the handsomely refurbished headquarters to enjoy the milestone event. The American Society of Jalisco continues to fulfill the purpose expressed by its founders: “to serve the needs and desires of the English-speaking community in the Guadalajara/Chapala area.”
To bury the dead?
Public cemeteries in the Guadalajara area are fast running out of space to bury the dead. Only two of the city’s seven cemeteries still have space and by the year 2000 all of them will be filled, say church and municipal authorities. City officials say that it is difficult to locate additional land for cemeteries, and urban planners are recommending Roman crypts (in which coffins re buried one above another in cemeteries) or cremation as solutions. Without a change in traditions and church attitudes, however, cremation seems an unlikely solution in a predominantly Catholic city.
2005
Colima Volcano erupts; no evacuations
The Colima Volcano spewed smoke, ash and lava Monday in its biggest eruption in more than ten years. Civil Protection officials said that a tall plume of smoke billowed at least four kilometers into the sky. Ash from the eruption fell on Ciudad Guzman, some 20 kilometers from the volcano’s crater.
Fox won’t apologize
The Reverend Al Sharpton was upset last week after President Vicente Fox refused to apologize for his polemic remarks about the black community in the United States. After meeting with Fox at Los Pinos on May 23, Sharpton said the Mexican president admitted his “regret” at saying Mexican migrants do jobs that “not even blacks will do,” but refused to make an outright apology for the offensive remark. In Guadalajara, Tapatios were also upset with the remark. “He’s talking about what ‘not even the blacks want to do,’ which means that as Mexicans we’re even more screwed,” said Manuel Becerra. There seems to be no consensus from Tapatios interviewed as to whether, or to what extent Fox’s remark was racist, ignorant, misinterpreted, true, false or irrelevant. But what most, if not all respondents seemed to agree upon was that Mexican undocumented workers in the United States find themselves on the lowest rungs of the labor ladder.
Women wields grocery bags to fend off Ajijic purse-snatcher
Chalk one up for the victims of one or more purse-snatchers who have taken to preying on foreign women as they walk the streets of Ajijic. Targeted as she headed home on foot after a quick shopping jaunt, Alicia Parker reports that she managed to fend off a would-be thief by bashing him in the head with her grocery bags. Startled by her response and the unexpected blow, the thwarted bandit bolted off around the corner, empty handed.
Bankers react to ATM fraud outbreak
Banking officials are trying to figure out how to combat the latest wave of fraud at automatic teller machines in which at least 30,000 dollars appears to have been stolen since mid April in San Miguel de Allende, mostly from accounts of tourists and foreign residents. One victim lost 5,000 dollars through 12 fraudulent withdrawals in two days from Banamex ATMs. “Somehow the daily limit for withdrawals was removed and the card was used over and over again at amounts beyond the limit,” she said. Although Banamex denied it, the thieves had to have inserted a card reader in the only machine she used her card. A report by the Mexican Bankers Association stated that illegal use of bankcards reached 65 million dollars in 2003, up 20 percent from 2002. Mexican banks are switching to a card using a computer chip that can prevent thieves from stealing account information.