Let’s head back to February of 1974 when a UBC professor wrote a letter to the Delta School Board highly critical of an astrology class offered in the night school education program, saying it had no relevance in the modern school education system.
In his letter, mathematics professor Dr. Walter Szetela expressed indignation at the inclusion of astrology courses. In an interview with the Optimist, Szetela, a Tsawwassen resident, said that astrology, along with many other “pseudo-sciences” such as Scientology, was a hoax.
“There is no substance to the claims in astrology at all,” he said.
He also said there was just no way that a study of the movements of planets like Jupiter can show how they affect people’s lives.
“Sure, it would be a lot of fun, but is it proper for the education system to offer it?” he asked.
However, Mrs. L Chapman, who taught the course, said there was a definite need for the study of planets.
“It is a subject that attempts to expand human consciousness beyond purely the material,” she said.
Chapman was also critical of Szetela’s complaint, saying he didn’t know anything about astrology but was saying “all kinds of things about it.”
Chapman also said that it had been “statistically proven” that there were a greater number of robberies, violent crimes, upheavals and burst of madness during the full moon than in other periods, for example.
Armin Kutzner, director of the Delta Adult Night School Education Program, said the district was offering the astrology class, among over 100 other classes, due to public request.
Kutzner said the class had been offered for four years.
The district offered 12 sessions of the class for $15, taken at North Delta Secondary
