OCR Text |
Show r ) I I 2 BOX Brigham City, Utah Sunday, November 20, 1977 ELDER NEWS, School Editorially Speaking and Home Survey on education can be valuable . . . There are some interesting things happening in Box Elder School dis- trict at the present time. As indicated in a front page story today, a survey is planned to ascertain how parents feel about the education their children are receiving. Box Elder is one of two Utah districts involved in the pilot project, an undertaking of the National Education association in league with its local affiliate Box Elder Edu- cation association. The idea is a simple one. And yet its never been applied locally before. Of course to really be successful, the survey must have cooperation . . . by Dr. Daryl J. McCarty Executive Secretary Utah Education Association from the 200 families who reportedly will receive questionnaires. Ray Hall, executive director of Northern Utah UniServ, which rep- resents teachers, asked that parents be open with their opinions. We want candid remarks.' Wed like people to express themselves freely, he is quoted as saying. Well add a hearty amen to what he said. The survey can be a valuable tool in shoring up areas which parents perceive as weak spots in the education system. But to be truly effective, it must be an accurate reflection of parental opinions. if a teacher brings a questionnaire to your door, parents, please cooperate. So policy on reading? area of deficiency in the schools system reading already is receiving attention. New levels pf expectation have been set for students advancing to the secondary school level. And new teaching efforts to increase reading proficiency are now in effect. Not without good reason, students are expected to know how to read when they graduate from high school. Weve been so lax for so long, this concept seems almost revolu- tionary. In connection with the new emphasis, Supt. Leonard F, Dalton has proposed to the board of education a new policy. It would demand of students the ability to read at sixth grade level and to carry a satisfactory citizenship point average in order to take driver training. a fair policy? Dr. Dalton and board members would like to know how parents and other citizens feel about such a measure. Theres an obvious value in reWould it be quiring students to conduct themselves as good citizens. A person with a negative attitutde can be a hazard to himself and others in the car hes driving. The need to read is not totally disassociated from driving since motorists must have the ability to read directional signs, maps and half-don- e. I did the best I could, your son says lamely. Doing less than a persons best is a tragic trend of the times. Where is the potter who took an ax and shattered any substandard products that came out of his kiln? Where is the silver-haire- d stood outside the Salt Lake City- - County building and boasted to all who would listen that he helped to lay the stone for that structure back in the 1890s? Where, oh, where is the painter who d the portrait 26 times before he was satisfied with it? Theres something beautiful about a healthy respect for excellence. gentleman who re-di- Accepting less than your childs best effort without some and what about One Your young son tells you hes cleaned up the yard as you asked, but you notice a few minutes later that the job is only literature. Perother travel-relate- d at some citation a even traffic haps time. Its a fact of law that driver training must be successfully completed in order to obtain a first-tim- e drivers license. The superintendent doesnt pretend to ignore the motivational value of the proposed policy. The driving privilege means a great deal to most young people. Threatening that privilege could prove to be a great stimulus for those students who are capable of reading well but who havent previously applied themselves. What constitutes sixth grade reading level and satisfactory citizenship? Dr. Dalton said if the policy is adopted, these will be defined. Furthermore, if adopted, the policy probably will go into effect in two years when this years eighth grade students become sophomores, the grade in which students normally take driver training. This will give them time in which to prepare. Should Box Elder district embrace such a policy? It hasnt been tried anywhere else as far as Dr. Dalton reproof from you can be as crippling to that youngster as polio. Giving a youngster license to accept less than the best can cause a paralysis of spirit. Let the boy get away with a poorly-cleane- d yard, and youll have taught him a lesson a lesson that shoddiness is good enough. But ask yourself: Is that the kind of job youd want him to do when he becomes a brain surgeon? The adult who teaches sons and daughters to test themselto do a lesson, ves continually a task or a personal project is doing better every time those children a favor. Sure, its a course of action with some risks. Expect entirely too much of a child, and the result can be an unhappy one. But if we expect too little from the younger generation, we can be steering straight for disast- er. A Salt Lake music teacher tells the story of a young womeif who became a remarkable pianist. The pianist said it didnt come without conflict, though. She admits that at times she was lazy. Every now and then my mother would give me a good whack in the seat with a wooden spoon from the kitchen, the gifted musician says. I appreciate what she did. Letters to the Editor...!" The editor invites and welcomes letters for publication in these columns. However, contributions must be signed and also bear the writers adress and telephone number. It is suggested that letters not exceed 250 words in length. Cites IWY myths The media, who are committed to unbiased reporting also have the dual role of reflecting the communitys views which sometimes conflict with the facts. Enclosed are the five major myths and facts about the National Womens conference: 1. MYTH: The National Commission on International Womens Year has used taxpayers money illegally to promote womens rights. FACT: The General Accounting office has conducted an extensive investigation regarding the use of federal funds by the Commission. It concluded that the commission had not violated any federal law concerning its use of federal funds. Responding ), to an inquiry by Sen. Jesse Helms the comptroller said that the commission was granted authority by the Congress to encourage and promote womens rights as it (the commission) sees them, including advocating passage of the ERA and other measures to improve the status of women in society. 2. MYTH: Both the state meetings and the national IWY meeting in Houston are huge wastes of federal funds. FACT: Only $5 million was appropriated by Congress for all the IWY conferences (state and national). This figure represents an expenditure of less than five cents for every EACH WEEK OR nearly so this newspaper receives a report from Utah Senators Jake Gam and Orrin Hatch on grants, contracts and awards made by the federal government. Here is information lifted from the latest report: The Department of Labor has awarded $253,020 to the Utah Native American consortium, Salt Lake City. Hie funds, part of a $14 million economic stimulus appropriation to Indian and native American programs, will be used to operate a (R-NC- knows.- - Were anxious to hear from people on it, the superintendent said this past week. How about it, how do you feel? officially open the Christmas season. It is a source of some satisfaction to me. Of course there are ways to counter the premature intrusion so widely advertised in other towns. When you hear radios jingling bells and Ho, ho, ho to extoll the virtue of the new electric handkerchief the perfect gift for on everyone your Christmas list scowl and mutter, Bah, humjust bug Thatll dampen the yuletide spirit. When the TV pitchman weighing a skimpy 120 pounds emerges wearing a red suit and a patch of cotton around his face, close your eyes tight and plug your ears. Then repeat three times: Turkey with dressing . . .turkey with dressing . . . turkey with dressing. ! paralegal training program. The Utah senators also announced that the Bureau of Reclamation has awarded a contract to Inc., Salt Lake City. Some $19,059 has been awarded for aerial photographs and ortho photos for the REACH 4 of the Jordan aqueduct of the Bonneville unit of the Central Utah project. Aero-Graphic- s, IN ADDITION, the University of Utah has been awarded $3,980 by the Endowment for the Arts. The grant will be used to support a new work choreographed by Douglas Dunn for the University Repertory Dance theatre. And $10,000 has been awarded to the Utah State Division of Fine Arts to support an outreach touring program including theatre productions, musical ensembles, arts exhibits and writers workshops. No doubt each of these projects can be justified by its supporters. Each has merit, were sure. But just how far afield should National Uncle Sam go in funding worthwhile undertakings? Attempting to be all things to all people? Especially when hes caught in a flood of red ink, the level of which is growing higher and higher. , Mrs. Frances W. Taylor 4483 West 2200 North Ogden, Utah Comments on IWY keeps spending along evident. Heavy government spending stimulates inflation which creates economic and related problems which the government attempts to solve by more spending. hand-picke- Editor: Uncle Sam , he just Weve asked the question on numerous occasions how the federal government can continue to spend money it doesnt have, plunging this country deeper and deeper into debt. The answer seems to exist in the apparent belief by Uncle Sam that he can repeatedly overspend without running into negative consequences down the road. Thus, those holding the purse strings not only have failed to bridle expenditures but are guilty of expanding them. The results of this practice are fVj; female in the United States. 3. MYTH: The delegates elected at many state conferences do not represent the views of the majority of American women. FACT: The delegates elected to the conference are typical of American women across the country. Candidates were chosen according to uniform rules of procedure for all state conferences. All candidates were asked to submit biographical data so that voters could make an informed choice. Following democratic procedures, candidates with a plurality of votes won. No other federally funded national conference has ever made such an effort to be representative of grass roots. In fact, it has long been standard procedure for states to appoint delegates to such conferences. However, the IWY delegate elections were democratically and openly conducted. 4. MYTH: The delegates elected at state conferences were d by the conference organizers because the state meetings were not well publicized. FACT: Public notices regarding state meetings were disseminated to every daily and weekly newspaper, television and radio stations, and to all major organized groups within each state. Every available means of informing as many citizens as possible was used. For example, in New Jersey notices were placed in telephone bills mailed throughout the state; fliers were sent with aid to dependent children checks in Nebraska and the state board of hairdressers in Nebraska mailed posters to 600 beauty shops. 5. MYTH : Women will be pitted against women during the National conference in Houston. FACT: The media often picks up on divisiveness. There is no issue on which all men agree so it is with all women. The purpose of the national womens meeting is to bring all these women and all their opinions together and to Then extract the needs generally perceived to be basic to American women. For example, most women who attended the state meetings came because they were concerned with health care, rape laws, the legal status of homemakers, adequate care and development for children, credit availability, divorce and alimony settlements and employment opportunities. Its time for this scribe, so steeped in tradition as he is wont to be, to declare once more his fierce opposition to and rejection of the old wedge play against Thanksgiving. You remember Thanksgiving. Its the original American holiday that, almost with timidity, slips in between Halloween and the marathon weve come to know as the Christmas season. The commercial evolution is to move out the terror kits and masks and put in their place wreathes and Christmas wrapping paper. Down come the witches and up go the artificial yuletide trees. Theres no interlude enjoyed by pilgrim cutouts or turkey licorice. And Im against it. Dont get ol Pow Wow wrong. Hes the one who plays carols throughout the year. Other folks say its a queer thing to do. I dont think so. But for my cranberry sauce, that intensified merchandising offensive launched each year at this time would be better timed after Thanksgiving. Thank goodness in Brigham City, we wait until the day following to And if that doesnt work, gather the family around and boo loudly while throwing stuffed celery and pumpkin pie at the television set. To me Thanksgiving is an ideal opening to the holiday season which is a nice time of the year. Our Editor: In March 1977, President Carter appointed Ms. Abzug to head the National Commission on the Observance of International Womens Year. He also appointed Jean OLeary, a militant lesbian, and the equally radical Gloria Steinem, as members of the commission. One of the first things those women did was to authorize lesbian workshops at the state conferences. As one news report stated, This brought into the conferences large numbers of lesbians and their sympathizers whose obscene and signs, vulgar language, offensive entertainment, and aggressive behavior were a source of shock and dismay to the non-IWwomen who attended . . . The pornographic films on rape and were also offensive to participants. But there was, of course, no object from Bella. Nor d from any of the other members of the IWY Commission, for that matter. Communist films and literature were prominent at the Minnesota meetings; Two, four, six, eight, smash the family, smash the state! was the battle cry at Wisconsins IWY gatherings; and, Colorados opening session heard Ms. Mildred Persinger, one of the commissioners declare: This is the first federally funded revolution! Ms. Steinem has made quite a name for herself in radical circles, supporting the Black Panthers, raising money for Communist Angela Davis, encouraging draft-car- d burners, promoting the ERA, and so on. And she makes no txrnes about her convictions, as illustrated by a speech she gave in Michigan three years ago. I quote the ANN ARBOR NEWS for April 10, 1974: Responding to a question from the audience she said taht it is not the class system but the caste system that women find themselves trapped in. The overthrow of Capitalism is too small a task for us, she said. We want to get rid of the whole patriarchy! Thanks to Gunn McKay and others like him, things like this are taking place. With friends like him . . . Y pro-fami- ly 40-od- family gathers for the traditional feast and TV diet of football seasoned pleasantly with visiting and a sharing of the days theme thanksgiving. The folks who sat down to that first meal, expressing gratitude for the bountiful harvest, had reason to count their blessings. Just as we have cause today. Thats why to me Santa Claus ought to stay home and bake a few sweet potatoes and things before making his annual swing south. Im sure Mrs. Claus and the elves would like it. After all, they have a lot to be thankful for, too. And from this scribe and the whole PW bunch, you and yours have a good Thanksgiving. Sincerely Mrs. Diana Olsen, 37 South Third East, Brigham City BOX ELDER NEWS pupiiinna nvtry Sunday by tha Eldar l, 55 South Firrt Wart, Irlgham City, Utah, M302 Sacond Clan poitaga paid at tha South Pint Wart, port offlet, I Ingham City, Utah, M102. loi P,l!a,r,, "TuM" Claybaugh Publlihar Ganaral Manaqar Editor ,ruc?.,I-- K.y' Managtng Mika Parry, Sporti Editor Sarah Yatai, Sociaty Editor K. Wayna Claybaugh, Advartiilng Manaqar Shlrlay Richardson, Clatslfiadi lattv Claybaugh, Circulation Arland Tlngty, Nawipapar Supr. |