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Show 4 5gnpo5f-Tuesday, May 22, 1984 ECjiTORiAl Flooding Dampens Summer Tourism Educational Practices Should Be Examined by Colleen Mewing Editor-in-Chief Summer, sweet summer and the murmuring word of vacation! And while everyone is worried about the number of tourists that will visit the great state of Utah this summer, I'm worried that I won't be able to make it out of the state of Utah to go on my own vacation (mudslides and floods put aside). Tourist time means big bucks for the state of Utah. But Utah's current floodwatermud situation doesn't make our up-coming tourist season look so good. National news coverage on Utah's "disaster" situation has added to the hampering of new visitors coming to our state. And the higher Great Salt Lake rises and the more sand bags that Utahns fill, the more national news coverage Utah is going to receive. And the more vacationers who will choose other spots of interest to visit on their summer travels. It's really nice how you receive so much national attention when there is a disaster to report -but it's bad when the attention you receive results in negative feedback from tourists. Summer brings relatives and friends together. Family reunions and school reunions are held during the summer. But the situation might be different this summer. Instead of having Uncle George and his family from Pennsylvania come to visit relatives out in Clearfield, Utah, the Utah relatives might have to pack up for a couple of weeks and go visit Uncle George. (That is if the Utah relatives can get out of the state). And what if a local Utah high school is planning on having a fifteen or fifty year reunion? Out of staters are going to be leery of making the trip to Utah because a mudslide might get them-reunions might have to be held at the home town of who was that year's studentbody president. (And if that individual still happens to live in Utah, you might have to cancel the reunion until a dry summer comes along). It's sad, but true to think that Mother Nature is the cause of detouring tourists from seeing all of the wonderful Mother Natural sights that Utah has to offer out of state tourists. (Temple Square is not the only thing in the state of Utah that is worth viewing). But summer is not yet here. Many people haven't begun their vacations (youngsters are still in school) and a lot of people still haven't even begun planning their vacations. So, Utah still has some hope for drawing a large tourist crowd. If anything, people might want to come and see how bad our situation is -see the Great Salt Lake at its highest point, see a river diverted around Liberty Park in Salt Lake City, see anything that they don't have to worry about in their own state. And what we Utahns need to do is forget about our own vacations to those "other" places (Disneyland, Washington, D.C., Hawaii, Europe, etc.) and just have a big party within our own state. After all, we probably won't be able to get out of the state anyway, so we might as well make the most of our situation. THE NEW STUDENTBODY OFFICERS HAVE BEEN ELECTED!! BECOME AN ACTIVE PART OF ASWSC AND APPLY TO WORK ON A COMMITTEE!! DEADLINE IS JUNE 5. APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE IN ASWSC OFFICES. by Stephanie Chamberlain Signature Editor There is a lot of talk these days about education. Sagging college entrance scores as well as poor performance in basic academic areas have spot-lighted educators, forcing at all levels, a painful examination of existing educational practices. Who or what is to blame has been punted around by top officials, all searching for a proverbial scapegoat. Inadequate funding surfaces again and again as the most likely source of our current educational woes. What is needed, educators say, is a massive injection of funds into teacher salaries and expensive educational programs. That may be. Yet scores of informed others are emerging to question this apparently simplistic solution. The failures of education, I agree, appear to run much deeper. As educators search furtively for someone or something to shift the blame to, I say look home. The simple fact is that utter failures lace the teaching profession, individuals who have no respect for what or for whom they teach teachers who appear to have little understanding of the intricacies of the human condition. An incident which happened earlier in the quarter brings this issue sharply into focus. I won't name names or departments. I choose not to embarrass this individual before her associates as she did to me. I had sought information and advice concerning my educational program from an instructor I had never met. What happened remains as pathetically comical now it was then. This teacher, this advisor of students, immediately launched a verbal assault against my failings as a student. In a room choked with peers, she spit out invectives against me, a mere name in her roll book, ultimately reveiling my intellect, my integrity, my worth as a living breathing human being. As eyes bulged and mouths fell about me, I suddently knew how it felt to be a quivering ten-year-old, my self-esteem being methodically torn apart by one who was oblivious to me as an individual. Perhaps I deserved it, you might say. Wrong! Whether or not I "deserved" it or not is irrelevant. Focus instead on the reprimand itself. The setting in which it was given was inappropriate, the manner unprofessional. To her, I had become a mere object, something at which to hurl, in one explosive ecstasy, 20-plus years of career frustration. Oh well, you might add, she's just one teacher. I think not. I fear, rather that she is representative of a malady which plagues our educational system. One six-year-old, new to a local school district, was experiencing problems adjusting to her new school. Every morning she resisted entering her class, so unnerving had been the experience of moving. One morning her teacher "had had enough." The teacher reached out into the hall, yanked the frightened girl into the room and spanked her soundly in front of the class. How can such an experience promote a positive perspective of school? How can a student advance without a positive perspective? No one in education likes to speak of the ineffective teacher. Teaching is a career; its followers, dedicated professionals. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. When for the instructor, teaching becomes little more than a paycheck, that individual should leave the profession. To be sure, adequate funding is crucial to quality education yet money alone will not alleviate the current educational crisis. Comprehensive teacher evaluations conducted by independent objective professionals should beocme a part of the educational system. Only when less than adequate educators are rooted out, will education professionals be able to create and maintain academic environments conducive to high quality education. Letters to the Editor Policy The Signpost welcomes Letters to the Editor. Letters should be typed, double spaced and not exceed 250 words. The Signpost reserves the right to edit for reasons of space and libel, and the right to refuse to print any letter deemed inappropriate. Each letter must include the name, address and signature of the writer. Anonymous letters will not be printed. Letters may be submitted at the Signpost office, UB 267 or mailed to the Signpost, mail code 2110. |