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Show ryi'n ' Wt'iarflife pgjhr "iin iiwuiwiijw i " liyiii ifigjfciri nianiii liug jwiiitJSiiUft ww 'i rm wViwjh r MaLpM " DESERET NEWS No Generation SALT LAKP CITT, UTAH We Stand For the Constitution Of The United States Gap For Most As Having Been Divinely Inspired 8 A tDITORIAL PAGfc SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 1970 U.S. Teenagers No Easy Solutions By LILLIAN G. GENN To Plane Hijackings CHICAGO Todays youth is conservative, and there is no generation gap with their par- These are among the surprising find,ngs m a ear study of normal adolescent boys through high school and first two years of seven- - Worse yet, if the practice isnt stopped its conceivable could touch off a war just as piracy on high seas once did. Hala-b- They do not espouse any social radicalism, not hung up on drugs, and have a conservative attitude toward sex. are The representative of y, a private learning company conducts A further surprise is that, while they do not approve of the war, all said they would go if drafted. They are not against traditional values of American Society. a reading class in San Francisco. former head of the Federal Aeronautics Administration v ho is now president of Pan American World Airways. Ther e aie some precedents to support the move. Last December an attempt to hijack an Ethiopian Airlines jet to Aden was thwarted when guards killed the hijackers in simultaneous gun battles in the first and economy class cabins. Then in February two detectives disguised as mechanics thwarted the hijacking of a Chilean jetliner in a gun battle aboard the Still, In line with that suggestion, President Nixon also urged the Council of International Civil Aviation Organizations to convene an emergency meeting to suspend airline service to countries that refuse to extradite or punish hijackers. While joint action would be the most effective, the U.S. could act on its own in suspending airline service to nations which welcome or fail to punish skyjackers. For their part, which have hesitated to search passengers the airlines luggage for weapons on the grounds that it created could make such searches routine on fights especially subject to hijacking. Most air travelers would rather be searched than kidnaped. Meamvhile, the world had better brace itself for more skyjackings, since this weeks round of hijackings by Palestinian guerrillas seems bound to put ideas into unstable minds. ll Deadline For Detroit The Senate Public Works Committee wasnt necessarily being unreasonable when it voted Friday to require that cars be equipped with devices to reduce exhaust pollutants by 90 per cent in five years. True, many auto makers say they cant meet the 1975 and theyre in the deadline and would rather aim at 1980 best position to know. But if the deadline is advanced, wouldnt research be accelerated and with it progress in reducing the biggest source of air pollution? The same line of reasoning can be applied to industry in general in its efforts to curtail pollution. Moreover, since it will take a decade after the antipollution devices are introduced on new' cars for old cars without such equipment to disappear from the road, its better to prod Detroit too much than too little. Nobody is going to put Detroit out of business if it honestly cant meet the 1975 deadline, winch can be changed later if necessary. But the auto makers should have come to grips with the smog problem long ago. and with a greater sense of urgency they just might get the job done. Letters To Hanoi The treatment of prisoners of war by North Vietnam is unique in the modern annals of war. No prisoner list has ever been furnished; repeated pleas for information from loved ones, trom government officials and organizations like the Bed Ci oss have consistently fallen on deaf ears. Now Mrs. Strom Thurmond, wife of the senator, is spearcampaign aimed at winning heading a massive treatment for American prisoners in North Vietnam. better There is reason to believe a campaign can succeed. Hanoi cei tainly has been conscious of American opinion favorable to its cause in the U.S. and has exploited it at every opportunity. If the Red leaders can be convinced there is an even larger segment of opinion that is revulsed by its treatment of American GIs, it could lead not only to better treatment but pei haps a prisoner list as well. Texas humanitarian H. Ross Perot, who chartered a jet aircraft in an attempt to deliver medical and food supplies to American prisoners was told by Hanoi that the American people are not interested in only a few men. But, he says, The North Vietnamese do not wfant the attention of the American people directed to their brutal treatment of prisoners. The prisoners are unimportant to North Vietnam. When they see our nation aroused by what they consider to be a minor issue, they will eliminate the issue by releasing the men. Heather David, military correspondent of Fairchild Publiis virtually the cations, adds: An aroused public oninion only thing that has helped American prisoners of war with their Communist captors. camMrs. Thurmond is not alone in her The similar a American Red also Cioss is paign. conducting campaign. For only a stamp, a letter can be delivered to Ton Due Thang, President, Democratic Republic of Viet-AHanoi, North Vietnam. It could save a life. letter-writin- g letter-writin- g ... letter-writin- g 25-ce- nt If this seems contrary to what we aie healing these days about adolescent rebellion, hippies and them culture, demonstrators, and the like, it is easily explained by Dr. Daniel Offer, who has been conducting the research with adolescents. Dr. Offer is Associate Director, Institute for Psychosomatic and Psychiatric Research and Training, and vice chairman of the Department of Psychiatry at the Michael Reese Hospital and Medical Center here. The study was made under a grant from the National Institute of Mental draft-dodger- s, plane. the thought of a gun duel in a pressurized airplane at 30,000 feet with some 150 trapped passengers as cruising horrified spectators is anything but pleasant. Depending on the type of plane involved, the altitude at which it was flying, and the location of the bullet hole, even a small puncture in the shell of the plane can result not only in the prompt loss of cabin pressure but also in bigger ruptures in the superstructure. When that happens, passengers can be pulled out of a plane even though their seat belts may be fastened. Only this week the International Federation of Airline Pilots Association opposed the use of guards as a possible danger to passengers. Instead, the IFALPA appealed for international trade boycotts against countries that support hijackers, legal sanctions, and tighter security at airports. i was open and flowing. Even so, theres room for mixed feelings over putting armed guards on airliners, a subject on which the airline industry itself is divided. The move is favored by such a figure as Najeeb E. I I college. These boys respect their parents, are proud of ttieir schools and communities, and of the achievements of their parents. Communication that airline hijacking ill-wi- t ents. President Nixon's order Friday putting armed guards on many U.S. commercial airliners to thwart hijackers is a case of a drastic problem requiring a drastic remedy. If hijacking isnt eliminated sooner or later the practice Mill result in an airliners getting lost in flight with all the human lives it carries. the I Tty TRISH REILLY and SUNDE SMITH (Newsweek Feature Service) Can it be that private enterprise will be the tHng that finally rescues the nations faltering public school systems? A small but increasingly vocal numand never ber of educators thinks so have firms in the education business to been given a greater opportunity prove it than this fall. From coast to coast, no less than 170 school districts have opened at least g some of their classroom" to entrepreneurs who promise not only to teach Johnny to read but to write and do math as well. This summer, in fact, the U.S. Oflice blessed the of Economic Opportunity often called growing phenomenon by bestow"performance contracting ing $6.5 million on six firms to operate programs in 18 school districts this academic year. Learning Foundations, Inc., one of the firms, has contracted to provide 180 hours of tutoring in both reading and math for 1,800 students in eight schools in Florida, Indiana and New York. Established three years ago in Athens, Ga., by Gary Pleger, the millionaire owner of 27 H & R Block tax - preparation franchises, Learning Foundations now operates a nationwide network of 77 centers that offer tutoring at $5 an hour. The subdued surroundings of these carpeting, drapes, private centeis have fresh paint and air conditioning been duplicated in each of the OEO project schools, as has LFs space-ag- e approach to learning. The students remedial needs, for example, are determined exclusively by the firms NCR Mark IV computer, which inteiprets the results of each students three-hou- r entrance test and then spins out i n d ividually prescribed programmed instruction, Thus set on his course, the student may now take a lesson on the Hoffman Audio-VisuReader, slip a dual track tape card in the Languagemaster or tackle some of the multiple-choic- e questions on the screen of the Welch Autotutor. We present our students with a profit-seekin- whole rooms and four paneled mobile homes in failure? the neighboring communities when an investigation disclosed that students were being drilled to answer spec'fic questions on Dorsetts test sheets. new environment, says Joe! Kaye, the projects director. Why remind them of their old classroom which for so many was the scene of their The chalkless atmosphere does, seem to spur many lackluster like students Lynn Holbrook, whose 40 hours on the Atlanta centers Welch Autotutor increased his read- Both pre- - and should be done by an outside agency, not the local school system or the contractor, insists Massachusetts Commissioner of Education, Neil Sullivan. ing speed by 100 words a minute. Under another federal grant, Massachusetts has brought in Educational Solutions. Inc., of New York in an experimental attempt to upgrade the readirg skills of some 400 pupils at Bostons pre- - His view is widely shared, particularly at the national level where OEO plans to name a respected, independent testing organization to evaluate the programs it has underwritten in the 18 school districts this year. indeed, present our "YVe stu- dents with a whole new environment. Why re- mind them c f their old classroom which for so many was the scene of their failure ?" dominantly School. black Dearborn Elementary Less dependent on hardware than Learning Foundations, ESI offers a sper cial, copyrighted reading program and provides Dearborn teachers with training, instructional material and counseling throughout the school ear. words-in-colo- Predictably, the Boston program like those elsewhere has its critics, especially among school officials aware of the disaster that befell the performance contract in the schools of Texarkana, Ark., and Liberty Eylau, Tex., last year. Set up by Dorsett Educational Systems of Norman, Okla., the project was functioning smoothly out of two class post-testin- g that scrutiny rides the private educators profit. Potentially, for example, Learning Foundations could net as much as $100,000 from its contract but only in the unlikely event that in performance it raises all 1,800 students 2.2 grade levels. Beyond the specifications of the contract, of course, many educators obje that the entry of private enterprise into the classroom debases education by encouraging acquisitive values. And there could be something to the charge. The Dorsett program in the for instance, rewarded Southwest, achievement with S&H greea stamps and And on Learning Foundations gives bogus money with which they can buy prizes from a catalogue of 70 gifts (ranging from ouiji boards to hair dryers). high-score- For all the controversy, though, performance contracting appears to be in at least for a the schoolhouse to stay while. So impressed is Gary, Ind., Superintendent of Schools Gordon McAndrew, in fact, that this fall he turned over the entire operation of one of the steel towns to Behaviorial elementary schools Research Laboratories. For a fee of $800 per pupil, equal to what Gary spends annually on each inner-cit- y child, BRL plans to concentrate on the fundamentals of reading and math before going on to other subjects. Were willing to do anything to help a child learn, says the firms president, George Stern. No one is measuring us except by what happens to the children. We have a let to prove. last ear academic many campuses went to the dogs, and the big y question is wheththis upcoming a c a denuc year will be conducted under the ejes of the pigs. The League for er Industrial Democracy, which is an old-lin-e Socialist organization, has professed to see cheerful signs. The violent radicals, sas the LID, are divided and squabbling for pow er among themselves. Students are beginning to understand that there is a difference between reform and commotion May be. Eut after the bombing of Sterling Hall at Madison, which resulted in the death of a graduate student, Michael Jaliman of Great Neck, N.Y., president of the Wisconsin Student Assn., predicted more bombings and said that it was all the universitys fault. Military research was being carried out in the hall, Jali-ma- n asserted, and the university had not responded to student protests. The root of the problem, says Mr. Jaliman. lies in a society where people have assumed an arrogant, which prevents thnm from carthe desires and aspirations of about ing other people Does this read that wheie the other people do not prevail bombing must be expected? At the other end of the spectrum is a stiff letter sent to the University of Mu h- - JENKIN LLOYD JONES Igan by its alumni dub in Chicago deploring last spring's acquiescence to force. It resolves that the administration take all steps required, including the use of law enforcement officers and the National Guard, if necessary to keep the university open and functioning. The student-facultleft maintains that efforts to keep order on the campus after their demands are ignored is proof of intolerable represssion. Thus confrontation, riot and burning are justified as a way to freedom. But if it were possible to buy peace through weakness, those administrations notable for their jellyfish anatomies should have been rewarded by tranquility. Alas, the opposite has been tiue. Dr. Clark Kerr, who led the parade in denouncing the Vietnamese war, lost control of his Berkeley campus and was fired. Dr. Kennneth Pitzer of Stanford, who sought meaningful dialogues with student mobs, threw in the towel in June. Morris Abram of Brandeis, who personally led civil rights marches in the South and tried to create on his Bosion campus something called participatory democracy, is back practicing law. Mrs. Jacqueline Grennan Vlexler, the ultraliberal from St. Louis, who took over New Yorks Hunter College, finally had to call the police. So even the most obtuse scholar should now begin to suspect that the aim of the militant left is not to redress genuine grievances or even to establish on campuses a general bias in favor of what passes for liberal causes. y ex-nu- n is the destruction of the American university system, to render it incapable of teaching anything except what the revolutionaries prescribe. The techniques of disruption bping used are the same that destroyed the university systems of South America, that caused the outbreaks at the in Paris and that paralyzed the Free University of Berlin. In none of these places were Vietnam, race problems or any of the otner much - advertised grievances of the American rebels an issue. The aim Sor-bon- Angry old grads are playing into the of this destruction campaign by buttoning their purses. Yet our universities and colleges cannot operate without private gifts. The cure is not to starve the colleges but to fire those admiuistratois who dont have the guts to separate from the camnus students whose definition of being listened to is being obeyed. The cure requires finding presidents who will have tne courage to pry off the payroll professors, like the vanished Angela Davis, who have no interest in fulfilling their contracts as teachers, but who are busy promoting bloody revolution and the future dictatorship of something or other, preferably themselves. If we insist on and vigorously support those administrators who are determined to teach school there will, undoubtedly, be classes and confrontations, burnings and blasts. But it w ill probably dawn on tlie vast majority of students that it will take some time befoie all colleges are xestructuied to suit the Weathermen, the Black Panthers and the SDS, that riots have a limited span of novelty, and that a degree in isnt woilh a hands 'Normal' Boys Our study, explained Di Offer, focused on normal adolescent boys. They are not the delinquents, the emotionally disturbed who are seen at the clinics, and who excite the fancy of the press. Our normal adolescents are not visible, and they have few problems. They have their rebellious periods, but they do not suffer emotional turmoil. Rather, they go through a gradual process of emancipation which contributes to their growth. Dr. Offer pointed out that psychiatrists and other social and behavioral scientists concentrate on studying the extremes. They see the problem youngsters and from these studies they draw conclusions about all adolescents. And, of course, the mass media help along by turning the limelight on the rebellious ones. Dr. Offer and his associates began in 1961 to study the normal adolescent in high school The first results appeared in 1967 in the Archives of General Psychiatry, and the American Journal of Psychiatry, and caused wide attention. First complete results are now reported in The Psychological World of the Teen-Ag(Basic Books Inc.) ard should be of value to those concerned with student behavior. er 73 Chosen Two suburban high schools were selected, one in a middle and lower middle class community, the other in the middle and upper middle class. Over 100 boys were evaluated for their normalcy and 73 finally chosen. Clinical interviews and testing were done by one of two psychiatrists. Each student was seen six times. Parents were interviewed in the last year of study. In general, the boys were More than 90 per cent were reared by their natural parents. By and large, therefore, the group grew up in a relatively stable social environment. d, poised, What the psychiatrists found most striking was the good relationship that existed between the youngsters and their parents. Most disagreements took place at the ages 12 and 13, usually over small issues. There were fewer quarrels in high school. We found a great sense of communication, said Dr. Offer. The boys tended to feel close to or r parent or the other, rarely both. But the tended to shift back and feefings of the teen-age- r forth. They felt differently at different times. The Ides Of September In the ancient Chinese calendar, the Year of the Pig follows the Year of the Dog. No one can deny that during the Health. About 60 per cent went to church with their parents, but religion was not of central importance. The vast majority said they were disciplined reasonably and fairly. A few thought their parents were lenient, a few thought they were too strict, mothers more so. In questions about their home environment, the most numerous group of boys stated that the nicest thing about my home life was the emotional comfort. The worst was being cramped for space, and having only one family car. Shared Values The majority of felt that the idral parent was the one they had. They shared the same basic values moral, ethical, political as well as the seme goals and aspirations. This does not include clothes, how one wears them, the kind of music or food. They believed that our social order was just and good. Although they had opinions on the larger issues of our times, they were not going out of their way to work for a cause. They were not involved in protest movements. They had good relationships with other teenagers, were popular socially. Their goals fitted Into the cultural milieu in which they were living. We have been impressed with the capacity of the parents to change with their children, observed Dr. Offer. They show a great deal of tolerance and understanding. More than 90 per cent of our boys believed that delinquency in high school was caused by parents who did not care about their children. Too much freedom and too little love was blamed. Eecause there are some questions that cannot be answeied until the dosing phase of adolescence in the eaily twenties, Dr. Offer and his associates are continuing the study through the four post high school years. We want to find out liow they adapt to new realistic demands. Most of our boys are now sophomores in college and thus far we have found no reason to change our ioiemeiii about their successful adaptation. teen-age- I |