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Show WEDNESDAY, JAN. 12,2005 U T A H ^ S T 13 ATESMAN The English Language Center of Cache Valley, Inc Rice shows promising start When President Bush nominated his loyal national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, to run the State Department, hard-liners hoped she would purge it of moderates who pushed for more diplomacy and better relations with U.S. allies. But Rice's first big moves since her nomination - picking U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick as her deputy and prompting the resignation of Undersecretary of State John Bolton - indicate that she is taking a measured approach that is already being greeted with approval in Europe. In contrast to neoconservative pit bull Bolton, Zoellick is a staunch internationalist. He played a key role in negotiations with the former Soviet Union to bring about the peaceful reunification of Germany. He will not revel in actions such as Bolton's needless attacks on the United Nations and sabotaging of its 2001 bioweapons confer- ence. Bolton also deliberately deepsixed nuclear disarmament talks with North Korea and undermined Secretary of State Colin Powell by publicly attacking its leader, Kim Jong II. Zoellick has more moderate underpinnings, but he is no pushover. He cut his political teeth working for a famously flinty negotiator, James A. Baker III, when Baker was secretary of State under the first President Bush. Zoellick, who was in the Reagan Treasury Department as well, has since been a tough negotiator in U.S. trade talks. In Zoellick's words, "Negotiating a free-trade agreement with the U.S. is not something one has a right to it's a privilege." Zoellick's accomplishments include bringing China and Taiwan into the World Trade Organization and easing congressional passage of the Los Angeles Guest JEditorial ^ Trade Act of 2002. Rice is reportedly tapping other former colleagues from the George H.W. Bush presidency, including Philip Zelikow, who was a staff director of the Sept. 11 commission and who later cowrote a book with Rice about German reunification. Rice is reaching out to professionals rather than ideologues. Moderation and competence may be boring, but they are virtues that the Bush administration needs. With her closeness to the president, Rice could ensure that the State Department is more than a doormat in Bush's second term. This editorial appeared in Monday's Los Angeles Times. English as a second language (ESL) Classes Registration: January 6 & 7 (10:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.) Classes start January 10 & 11,2005 (10 week sessions) 106 East 1120 North in Logan Morning and Evening Classes Classes Available / Tuition + Books • Beginning: $25 • Levels 1-4: $25 • Advanced: $35 • TOEFL Study Courses: $80 (this is the last time this course for the present TOEFL exam will be offered) • Advanced English Grammar: $35 Questions? Call (435) 750-6534 or www.elc-cv.com TSUNAMI From Page 12 destruction, perhaps we'll never truly know how many this disaster affected. But there is One who knows the number and names of all those who have suffered and will suffer. It is He who has numbered the very hairs of our own heads and takes the time to even notice every fallen sparrow. And it is He who reminds us, "Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows" (Matthew 10:29). jon Cox is a junior majoring in print journalism. Comments can be sent to jcox@cc. usu. edu. case until we professionalize teacher compensation. The norm now is that a teacher equals a teacher equals a teacher, no matter how desperately society may need a certain skill set and no matter how well a teacher performs in the classroom. The precious few exceptions, such as Denver public schools - where teachers approved a plan that would phase in a system that takes into account student growth, market incentives, evaluations and teacher knowledge and skills - aren't yet enough to change the paradigm; California is. Schwarzenegger deserves credit and support for leading the charge for change. And he's not alone; others, including the Broad Education Foundation in Los Angeles, have been working to develop innovative pay systems. There is no doubt that we will hear from naysayers: Merit pay can't be done fairly; it rewards teachers who have the easiest students to teach - the ones who come from wealthy homes or start out with a head start; it breeds unhealthy competition. But the fact is, a merit pay system can be built fairly to give the most to teachers who produce the biggest annual academic improvement, and to factor in a wide variety of measurements of excellence, including peer and principal review. Even an imperfect system would be far better than the current single-salary schedule. And while we reward the best, we need to empower principals to lead, making sure they have the proper authority to hire and fire teachers. And as far as competition goes, since when is a little healthy effort to be the best at improving reading or math scores such a bad thing? This is not a Republican issue. Building a system that pays teachers based more on results is one of the core recommendations of the bipartisan nonprofit organization I founded - a group that includes a former Democratic secretary of Education and two former Democratic governors. This is not a time for red-hot rhetoric. It's time to look honestly at the shortcomings of the current compensation system and work together to design one that works better for teachers, for students and for us all. Cerstner is the former chairman of IBM and the founder of the Teaching Commission. NEED SOME ENTERTAINMENT? LOOKING FOR FUN? * TEACHERS From Page 12 One reform rises above the rest in urgency and importance: investing in teachers. Invest in them now by building a teaching profession in California that is the envy of the world. Improve preparation programs, which currently don't give teachers the training they ought to, particularly in the subject area they teach. Streamline certification and licensing systems. Strengthen professional development. (According to the Rand study, just 46 percent of California school districts require teachers to be fully certified in the subjects they teach.) And attract the best with good base pay and modern incentives for excellence. While other professions have offered more and more rewards to people who do good work, teaching has lagged. All good teachers in the state are underpaid compared with other professions one study shows teacher pay in California falling below the national average when adjusted for the state's cost of living. And for professionals talented in math, science or engineering who can earn far more in fields outside education, the shortfall is stark. And that will remain the SUVs From Page 12 other than an SUV, they should at least log significant training hours with a parent or qualified driver. As in any vehicle, parents should make sure teens adhere to driver's license restrictions regarding hours they can drive and number of passengers they can transport. Distractions such as cell phones, food and loud music should be strongly discour- aged. Clearly, reckless teen behavior contributes to many accidents. More than half of the 3,660 teen drivers killed in 2003 weren't wearing seat belts, and a third had been drinking. Such risk factors coupled with crash statistics argue for putting teens in the safest vehicles possible to improve their chances for surviving an acci- dent. Teens need an easy-tomaneuver vehicle, not a challenge behind the wheel. The perception of safety doesn't always match reality. For information about buying a safer car or to check rollover ratings, check NHTSA's Web site: http://safercar.gov/. This editorial appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer on Friday, Jan. 7. Look no farthor! Mon, TUQS, Thurs: 11 am - 11 pm WQCI, Fri, Sat: Choose from a large selection of diamond engagement rings between $199-$999 at Logan's only discount jewelry store! § JOTELRY OUTLET 73 North Main Street • 750-NYJO V {across from the Tabernacle) J -Jonathan Potter,'Junior, Marketin pm Monday Tuesday Wednesday Cosmic Bowling with digital camera 7-11 pm $2 activities ALL DAY (excluding rentals) Country $ 2 W/ student ID Thursday Friday Saturday League night Cosmic 6:3O-9pm t Bowling then $1.50 7-11pm bowling from 9-11 pm "I get my textbooks at our Bookstore because they always have the right books." 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