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Show FRIDAY, December 24, 1299 $83 million but never produced the money. The Foe | American Apathy: If a number of ‘Americans get the feeling that gov- brs, who own a sand and gravel ening in Washington is mostly about these guys fighting those guys, they thehighest bidders at an auction Nov. 4,“ne {final rice was about half what Rogers oe mightbe right. ‘ for. The Threatts’ lawyer, G said fhe dispute was over whatdene oa / furnighings — such as artwork } wereinctided Iin the sale. Details: A-1 .Conviet Holiday: More than 100 ‘convicted terrorists in Northern Iredand were released for the holidays, thanks to the British government’s latestinitiative to support the Belfast Fe rmer '50s teen idol Bobby Vee is ing recording studio in the Minnesota Chr town of St. Joseph. thinks of the studi where sons Jeff, Tom and Rob can the music tradition. The studio is being built ii n a converted historic bank building downtown. The Shadows,with Vee as lead singer, tumed out such gold singles as “Devil_or “Rubber Ball” and “Take Good Care My Baby.” He continues to perform about 1 dates a year. ‘peace accord. , Details: A-3 , Wildfires: California firefighters took advantage cf improved condi- tions to tame three wildfires that have burned more than 4,400 acres. Details: A-12 MILESTONES Charged: By federal agents, a New Jersey man with threatening to leave a van filled with explosives in a tunnel eng to New York City Renato DeSousa Flor was arrested Wednesday at his Newark home Out in the Cold: SLOC’s environmental advisory committee had a terse critique of SLOC’s transportation plan, saying it ignores certain damental issues and does not have a contingencyplan if federal funding falls through. Details: A-1 Seeking Solace: A Utah man who was taken hostage for three months in South America is turningto thereligious traditions of his Navajo heriote! to deal with the effects of the Childrenin thevillage of Pratapura,India, study outdoors. Girls havehistorically been denied schooling in India, butthat is changing. Thanks to a new state program, low-castevillagers have the opportunity to go to school. Indians Demand Endto Ignorance Innovative state program provides way to educate millionsofilliterate villagers Details: C-1 BY DEXTERFILKINS ‘Red Rock Hike: Thecost for private véhicles entering Zion National Park bias double to $20 beginning Jan. 1. Details: C-1 WORLD FOCUS LOS ANGELES TIMES Whenhelaunched the program in 1997, Singh faced a situation in MadhyaPradesh that was at once catastrophic and commonthroughout KHAJOURTOLA,India — Thepeople in this hamletof rice paddies and mud donot know whatyear it is, they cannot namethecountry theylive in and they are demandingan end to northern India: More than halfthe state’s people older than 6 could not read. Numerous studies condemned failed to show up for class, Worge, there were no Christmas Rally: The Dow Jones industrial average soared to a record 11,405.76 Thursday as stocks from néarly all sectors of the economy. joined Christmas rally. The Nas- daq composite rose 32.14 to 3,969.44. Stocks: D-3 Record Highs: Unfazed by Y2Kjitters, stock markets are reaching record highs at home and abroad. Details: D-1 ‘|New Year's Fun: There's plenty to sep and do this New Year's, whether you're celebrating the new millen- nium in Salt Lake City or watching edverage of celebrations in other countries. Calendar:E-1 any village that reqi “We are all waiting for our school, va cided to give preference to people who revolution that is sweeping the Indian found a wayto provide basic educa- villages whose inhabitants haveled lives of almosttotal isolation. Begun nearly three years ago here in MadhyaPradesh,a sprawling and impoverished state of 80 million people, the “education guarantee” program has created 21,000 schools — a pace of population of 350 million constitutes the world’s largestpoolofilliterate countryside and bringing education to about20 a day — in the most remote villages. It's educationatits most basic: Children study in mud huts, next to bean fields, or under the open sky. Theteachers, drawn from thevillages, often havereceived little formal schooling themselves. Many students tionto the villages of India, where the people. ‘The program's backers believe that thelackof universal educationin India has been oneofthe main obstacles athe country’sapie to modernize. They say is to break longheld traditions of ‘caste and gender, whichfor centuries have made the schooling of girls and the impover- ished among the lowestnational priorities. Yetfor all the enthusiasm inspired by the experiment, someexperts worry thatthe village schools may be- cial pariahs in India known as the “untouchables.” A large numberare come a shoddy replacement for more formal education. Their chief concern girls — historically deprived of education in India — going to school for the first time. is the teachers: village men and womor often with little schooling, who ina mere 20 days. Thebig pressed pride that their Supreme “T want to stay in schoolas long as I No Simple Solution:Is Juan Miguel education bureaucracy,he created a parallel system answerable to him. To fight teacher absenteeism, Singh de- Singh andthe villagers of Khajour- tola are the latest enrollees in a social “T don’t wantto be a thumbstamper,” said Sunita Kumari,a9-year-old girl in the remote low-castevillage of Ganeshpura, using aterm todescribe people who cannotwrite their name. ena the father of 6-year-old Elian Gonzalez, sincere abouthis dePee ee care op, Setaread De Cuba, nothing is whatit seems. Details: A-11 schools were out ofreach. Singh,an elected official who wanted quick results, hit on a radical idea: Insteadof relying on thestate’s said Prem Singh. Well-Placed Pride: Vermonters have an independentstreak.So it was yatural that many Vermonters exCourt ruled that same-sex couples are state’s 73,000 hamiets. That left nearly 1 million village children for whom state’s chiefminister to provide a teacher and books within 99days to are the sons and daughters ofthe so- entitled to the privileges of marriage. Details: A-10 schools atall in abouta third ofthe scratched out by oneof the village’s only literate men andsigned with residents’ thumbprints, the villagers took up the unprecedented offer of the test for the schools, the experts say, _will come soon, when the first village children enter the equivalentof fourth grade. “My guess is that the teachers won't be able to do the higher-level lived in the villages, evenif they didn’t have much schooling.To force parents to get involved, they would haveto demandthe school — and eventually help buildit. The most novelaspect of the plan is its preference for hiring villagers as teachers. In ordinary state-run technicians. Today's Birthdays: Actress SharonFarrellis 53. Singer Ricky Martin is 28. THE MILLENNIUM GREENWICH: Whosays England is the center of the world? TheBritish do, and they made it stick. The issue involveslatitude and fongitude,imaginarylines spanning the world to designate an area’s location. It was easy for mapmakers to pick the equator as _oe point for latitude — the east-west bai But there was no obvious choice for longide — northsouth bands. Nations designated different zero longitudes, and maps becamea mess of differ- ent systems. In 1884, Er zero longitude runsth ateed said r- vatory, founded in 1675. : offended others, but British navigational dominance made It easy to adopt its system. international time zones also start at Greenwich, and set clocks to Greenwich Mean Time, the local Greenwich time. The center of the world isn't there anymore. Greenwich in the 20th century, and a plaque marks its zero point. schools, most teachers have a college diploma, butthose assigned to villages quite often continueto live in cities and regularly fail to show up for classes. Singh decided thatthe trade-off was worth it: He wouldhire lesseducated teachers, but teachers who hada stake in whatthey were doing. In early 1997, the leaders of Madhya Pradeshsentnotices to every board governing India’s 500,000 villages. They offered to put a teacher and books within 90 days into any village that demanded a school. Theonly requirements were thatthe village have atleast 40 children — 25 for villages inhabited by oneof India’s indigenous tribes — andthatthe students live at In 1814, the War of 1812 jaly ended as the United States and Briainalgnedthe Treaty of cen Pte i 4 in ire at erp Congress destroyed about 35,000 In 1865, several vomeneoftthe Confederate Army formed a private social club in Pulaski, Tenn., called the Ku Kiux Klan. In 4980, Aenremembered U.:aac in Iran ming candies or igs for 417 seconds, as) second for each day of captivity. least half a mile away from any other can.” The small group of Indian bureaucrats andpoliticians who dreamed up classes,”said Jacob Aikara, a profes_sor ofeducation at the Tata Institute _in Bombay.“They just don't know school. ‘The result: In the first year, more than 10,000 villages stepped forward to the program believe that they have enough.” demandteachers and books. CATS WITH HANDS after America Oniine noticed a message was left in one ofits Internet chat rooms. Died: Environmentalist Alton Lint , who went to Antarctica as a biologist wit Adm. Richard Byrd in 1933. He was Arrested: Two Detroit paramedics after oy were caught robbing a police officer as an unconscious patient, authorities ei Internal affairs officers conducted the sting Tuesdaynightafter receiving about a dozen complaints from residents who said they were ripped off by emergency medical OnLi ‘Today's Highlights at www.sitrib.com & www.sitrib.com/jazz/mvp/ — A retrospective on Karl Malone's career, tos and stories on his socond Most Valuable Player award. A must for Jazz fans. @ www.altrib.com/y2k/ — All the lat- est on attempts to deal with the Year 2000 col. puter bug. cade and win usoiieb=Msemine lucky —- at the Headbone Zone, our cool area for youngsters. |
