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Show Page 4 The Thunderbird Monday October 29, 1984 OMnmn Education panels report needs attention, action The. -- ujith political debates f Trouble America has a fine system of higher education. SUSC is a shiny, if small, jewel in that system. However, as a report released last week by the U.S. Department of Education points out, both can improve. The report, which is the result of a investigation by seven noted education experts, praises the nations college and university system. But it also points to several disturbing warning signs signs Secretary of Education T.H. Bell said could lead to a major crisis if not heeded. What concerns The Thunderbird most is that the general public doesnt seem to give a whit about the conclusions reached in this report. And they should. Consider these facts: One out of every eight competent high school seniors will choose not to attend college this year. Only half the students who start college will graduate with a bachelors degree or better. of 15 major subject area tests of Student performance on the Graduate Record Examinations declined between 1964 and 1982 the sharpest decline occurred in subjects demanding verbal year-lon- g 1 1 skills. These are not simply dry facts. They are roadsigns, and if we will mark will be the one leading toward oblivion. An uneducated nation is a weak nation. The most disturbing thing to come out of this is really only peripherally involved with the report itself: people seem to be content to ignore the reports warnings. When another panel last year reported that a rising trend toward mediocrity was threatening the foundations of our secondary education system, there was an uproar. People nationwide began demanding reform, and for the most part they got it. It was a positive response to a serious problem. But' the reaction to this latest report has been mild, almost comatose. Certainly there are education professionals who will do their utmost to implement the best of the 27 recommendations issued by the panel and dont doubt that some of them are employees and administrators of this institution but what success will they have if there is not a public demand for that reform? They will find their way blocked at every avenue. Some of the reforms suggested in this report will be met head on by special interest groups. Many of the reforms are unpopular or, heaven forbid, expensive. Is it asking too much that the public get as involved in higher education as it does in secondary and elementary education? The Thunderbird doesnt think so. If the system is to be averted from the disaster of mediocrity, we must act today. This report is a good place to start. arent careful the road they Editor's note: The Thunderbird will be published on Nov. 7 instead of Nov. 5 in order that we may provide the campus with the results of national, state and local elections. 'M VS Che Cfmnderbird VOLUME 79, NUMBER 6 Editor Lynn Nolan Managing Editor Doug Christensen Copy Editors Bradford Lewis Amy Page Photo Editor Tamara Rumbaugh Editor Stewart Smith Sports Entertainment Editor Lanai Greenhalgh Senior Staff Writer Ralph Schriock Production Manager Tracy Girdwood Advertising Manager Laura Wearing Assistant Manager Brian Gnetrlirh Faculty Adviser Larry Baker Tur Thunderbird is published each Monday of the academic year by and for the student body of Southern Utah State College. The views and opinions expressed in The Thunderbird are the opinions of the publications individual writers and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the institution, faculty, staff or student body in general. The unsigned editorial directly above is the opinion of The Thunderbird as a single entity. Letters to the editor must be typed and include the name, student number (if from a student) and phone number. Only the name will be printed. Names will not be withheld under any circumstances and the editor reserves the right to edit letters for length and to preclude libel. Letters must be submitted by noon Friday for inclusion in the following weeks edition. The Thunderbird: editorial and advertising offices at 529 West 200 South, Cedar City, UT 84720. Mail at SUSC Box 384, Cedar City, UT 84720 (801) 58fy7757, 7758. . Senator urges no vote on Proposition the mechanism to create another court of appeals between the District Court and the Supreme Court, a concept that Our present states that 3 To the editor: up As a member of the Utah Legislature and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, I feel a responsibility to help the voters removed from office by a vote of both houses of the has been studied by legislative Legislature. Thats what we call interim committees for years and checks and balances one branch rejected by both houses of the of government checking on the other. Proposition 3 makes it very Legislature time and time again. Section four of the bill gives the clear that the Supreme Court only Supreme Court will have the final say in absolute power to make their own disciplining or removing a judge rules, rules such as the from office. As a legislator I have studied the exclusionary rule of the federal courts that has brought disgrace judicial article as proposed in upon the justice system of our Proposition 3 for many, many convicted hours. In a very limited space I nation, setting murderers free over some tiny pass on to you, the voters of Utah, technicality that has no bearing on some of the deep concerns I have for the future of our state if this the case. Section 13 takes away from the article is passed. E. Verl Asay checks and balances over the Utah State Senate judicial branch of government. of Utah understand that Proposition 3 (the proposed new Judicial Article that will be on the November ballot) is not all that its proponents claim it to be. There are very serious flaws that need to be worked out before it becomes law. The bill was crammed through a special session of the Legislature and therefore caught many legislators off guard. It did not go through the regular legislative process of interim committee work, public hearings etc. The first section of the bill sets Initiative A The Cable not a violation of rights industry has shown in Utah such movies as: TV Decency two-thir- five-memb- is To the editor: constitution now Judges may be Nudie Musical which Initiative, Initiative A, is not a contained a nude chorus line. violation of the personal rights 2. Private Lessons which showed which this nation was founded on. a first bedroom undress scene. The U.S. Supreme Court has 3. Young Lady Chatterly which ruled that communities have a contained a male nude scene, a right to maintain decency. rape scene, and a lesbian love The cable industry claims it does scene. not show X rated movies, but These movies are a sample of several of these ratings have been material that the cable industry changed to R and transmitted has shown in Utah. Indecent material as referred by Cable into homes. The cable 1. to in the initiative is This statute will NOT deprive anyone of the freedom of choice to have filth. The statute will simply protect those who wish to choose a decent society and a decent community free from the intrusion of degenerate material. It is freedom of choice of ALL people that is the issue. Freedom for those people who choose to have a community in which decency and dignity are preserved. well-define- d. Robert H. Hafen |