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Show The Salt Lake Tribune OPINION Monday January 16 All School Finds Way to Encourage Politics Bell and Cli on wrote at the time that learned only nam were “too youngto vote, but not too young to die.” seemed in- story, Altho the aems, they fail to perceivea to reciprocate by exercising th duties and responsibilities of goodcitizenship. THE WASHINGTON POST WASHINGTON — The Woodson High Scho District of Columbia, was a need- ed antidote to the depression I was in last week after reading the worst news to come across my desk sofar this year It was the annual survey of 333.703 college freshmen, con- ducted by the American Council on Education and UCLA’s Higher ucation Research Institute The survey found the freshmen less interested and less involved in politics than any freshman class in the 29 years such polls havebeen taken. Fewer than one-third of them said that “keeping upwith political a! s’ is an important goal for them. In 1966, almost twothirds said it was important. Simi- lar trends can be found in the number who saythey have anyde- up? Isit just a : a matterof taking responsibil- a PF.AW Vote. It is gives high school seniors to register to vote right in their social studies classes Horwitt tells me he got the idea four years ago from Paul Hanson. who had been doing the same thing in Dade County (Miami) high schools for several years. With the help of the Carnegie Foundation, the program now has spread to 2.000 high schools. Last year. more than 100,000 students registered to vote as part oftheir final school year. One ofits biggest boosters is Ohio Secretary of State Bob Taft (R), who has set the goal of seeing that “every child in the state has the opportunity to register to vote while still in school Most schools run the program time. by anothersurvey, taken six years ago by Peter D. Hart's research firm, in a project co-chaired by schools can make it part of their study, sponsored by People For the American Way. liberal advocacy group focused on civic and constitutional issues. found that onlyoneout of eight young Amer- icans said that part of the definition of being a goodcitizenis voting or taking part in politics Skillfully, she led them into a discussion of the questions raised by the video: What is the differ- ence between a kid and a grown- Woodson with my ‘witt wie directs First programs or efforts to improve the environment orracerelations Theresults were foreshadowed by Hillary RodhamClinton, identified as a Little Rock lawyer. The beenthere. ones mys fr in the spring, close to graduation cationin the Reagan Cabinet, and credible to many of R; dents, whocl ly assur the right to vote at 18 had always People For the American Way or PFAW, took the report as the cue to ge t busy — and that is why I sire to participate in community Terrel H. Bell, secretary of edu- OUNERA? Se their parents’ generation complain that soldiers sent to Viet In Washington, D.C. it’s done twice each year. thanks to a Cafritz Foundation grant, so that commemoration of Martin Luther King’s birthdayif they wish The Woodson classroomwe visited is run by a remarkable, highenergy. fourth-year teacher named Susan Ray. She began by showing the video PFAWsends to each participating school. It recounts the struggle to gain the vote for women, for minorities and finally — aspartof the Vietnamprotests — for young people. All this is remote history for these students. Hearing people from y? Is voting a part of civic re- sare ility? Is it empowering — orj an empty ritual? Ri herstudents quickly showed that these were not academic questions to them. A young woman named Casey said she “felt left out” last autumn, when manyof her neighbors, who were old enoughto vote, were sweptupin the energy of Marion Barry Ccessful comebac of Washington. 1 for mayor A classmatesaid that contest was the exception — in national elections, the choice is simply “which white man you want running things. Ray, who had given the class Republican Contract with America to read as the week's homework, asked how the Repub- Newt, Hillary Could Discuss Welfare MARY MCGRORY lieans haddone so well across the “They suredid.” The discussion swung to Dr King and to South Africa, and thenback home. to the challenge: facing the District of Columbia At the endofclass, Ray asked how many wanted to register. Every hand went up, and the appli tions werefilled out right there — Wouldn't it be a good idea for first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton and House Speaker Newt Gingrich to sit down together and have tea and a goodtalk about welfare reform? the Mrs. Clintonhasalreadyinvited Gingriches to the White House for reasons too well known. Maybe the speaker's mother wouldreturn to her country home so her son andthefirst lady could talk just between CARL ROWAN as the ones we face today minimum wage mayprovoke a 1 of in which millions of children are harmed, the lowest-level workers are discouraged and abused. disillusioned teen-agers turn more and more to crime, and the wealthy will pay only for more prisons, foolishly thinking that they are protecting themselves and theirtreasures. Afewfi about the minimum We are lurching into an emotional orgy of welfare reform based on knee-jerk assumptions about welfare causing dependeney, welfare causing widespreadillegitimacy, welfare as a “wayof life for lazy bums” — and anorgy 1) The purchasing power of the current minimum wage is lower than in anyyearsince 1955, with the exception of 1989. The mini- of simple, brutal contempt for the mum wageis 35 percent belowits pooron the partof well-off Americans Weare entering a withering debate over whetherto raise the $4. an-hour minimumwage for the first time in four years or to abolishit. We are talking of a drastic people out of work is not support- Add these forces up and you get reach a vulturous form of “capitalism” WASHINGTON —I doubt that throws terrible numbersof young ed by studies. Recent surveys showthat a 10 percent hike in the the blacks, Hispanics and others this country has ever faced a confluence of political-economic-social-moraldecisions as dangerous that raising the minimum wage women. within NORTH AMERICASYNDICATE income 3) The cry of some employers. wage, as set forth by the nonparti- san Center on Budget and Policy Priorities peak value in 1948. 2) The minimumwagesustains life not mostly for teen-ager: blacksor Hispanics, but for working women and employees 25 or older. Minimum-wage earners tend to bring in 45 percent of their often-pathetic household's percent decreasein teen-age employment and a one-fourth of 1 percent job loss for workers 20 to 24 years old 4) If the value of the minimum wage were to be the same in 1995 as it averaged during the 1970s, it would have to be raised to about $5.75 anhour. I cannot understand how even the least benighted Americans think theycanfail to provide edueation and jobsto millions of unemployed; force millions more to workat veritable slave levels; use bogus cries of “quotas” to deny good jobs to women and minor- ities; take welfare food, shelter. clothing and health care away from the children of the aforementioned victims of right-wing cruelty and general bigotry, and still wind up with less crime and more tranquility. Is there no political leader of consequence whodaresto declare that this country is following a formula for tragedy? is screaming for bipartisan solution They have both taken some damage over the question: Ging- rich still bears the powder burns from the explosion over his suggestion about the revival oforphanages: Mrs. Clinton is, feels, grossly misunderstood she a defender of the welfare system as it is. Not so long ago, she was tak- ing heat fromtheright as an advocateof children’s rights Actually, there is not that much problem, it is neither she questioned Health and Human Services Secretary Donn: Shalala about the wisdom of “just because they have babies.” Sha- By Joyce Ladner FOR THE WASHINGTON POST As Americans pause to commemorate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., it is especially useful to remember not only thoseideals he stood for — integ- rity, courage, justice and compassion — it is also important to pon- eternal optimism that captivated my generation and provided a larger purpose for oureducation. His words anddeeds were immortalized — and emblazonedin our consciousness. They shaped the ethical expectations of college students of my generation, and can do the same again today. If Martin Luther King were der how he would handle the weightysocial problems confronting our nation today. How I wish college studentstohad a moral leader with the sue the same challengeto college students: Heed the call of the ‘better angels,” get involved and force of Martin Luther King. My take charge of your communities, generation was fortunate to have been shapedby his ethos, to have hadthe opportunityto debate the merits and to practice his philosophy on non-violence. We struggled with our own beliefs as to whetherourcountry should wage warin Vietnam; we tions to poy sought solu- and webelieved in integration becauseit was compatible with the racial equality for which we were fighting Howfortunate we were to have had an educated, young black leader whochallenged us to use the best of the moralfiber of our beings to change the world. As a Southerner, King madeall Americans look anew at the region of thenation that had been despised alive today, I expect he wouldis- become volunteers, bring about social change, make his dreams for a better world your reality Today's college students are faced with challenges that I believe are even tougher than the challenge we faced in attempting to eradicate racial segregation and vigilante violence 30 vears ago. The sharecroppers on Southern plantations have been re- placed by throngs of unemployed aimless youths populating large cities. The growing pervasiveness of a culture of drugs and violence is the antithesis of what King preached. Howcouldour successorgeneration fare so poorly? Perhaps part of the answerlies in the fact as backward As we surveytodaythenational landscape that is littered with on to our youth and youngadults the lesson welearnedin ourpain- broken ful but determined struggle. bodies, maimed spirits and the profoundly alienated, I wonderwhat advice hewouldgive us to cure this cancerthat has atlacked the young andold alike He exhorted Americans to go forth and create a world that rejects the view ghat our social problems areincitrable. It was his that my generation did not pass The lack of an ethical imperative in higher education has meant that professors and administrators alike have evaded part of their social responsibility — a responsibility to teach students that they must use their knowledge for the elevation of the com- mon good, andthat they must be- come change agents in a world that demandsthat they be so, now more than ever. This is a generation that will haveto solve complex social and economic problems that did not exist during King’s lifetime. Teen pregnancy, violence, drugs, inte’ generational poverty, illiter anda plethoraof other pr‘oblems have emerged on a daunting scale since his death in 1968 Thebest wayto rememberMar tin Luther King is not by memori alizing him, but byintegrating his morai imperatives into our for mal educational training. Educa tors must seekto find new ways to late the essenceof that mes sage and to makeit meaningful for this generation Through his powerful vision King foretold the ominously vio lent times in which we nowlive ‘It a climate where mencannot disagree without being disagree: able, and where they express their disagreement through vio lence and murder,” he wrote. “So in a sense weareall participants in that horrible act that tarnished the imageof our nation We have created an atmosphere in which violence and hatred have becomepopular pastimes.” As educators, our challengeis to teach our students howtore. capture that spirit of commitment, optimism and determina- tion, The “empowerment” they seek should enlist them as change agents in pursuit of a better, more caring world. Joyce dent off Ladner is interim pre Howard University. Democrats paid dearly for their If it’s a choice between giving a concern for the non-working poor. Voters believed that Repub- teen-ager with no experience in handling moneythe cash or the help, most people would opt for Americais not a way of punishing the poor. but a new way of doing things. They might take up the central and delicate problem of what people are calling the “restigma- tizing” ofillegitimatebirths. Who licans would force welfare recipi- ents to go to work. force womento identifythe fathers of their babies and hold them responsible for child support — even though one of the greatest scandals of thesituation is the unemployment rate among black males. Each could vouch for the oth- er’s sincerity. Mrs. Clinton could assure theleft about the gallopGingrich. He could tell the right that the heart of the woman heso recently called a “counterculture MeGovernick” is in the right place. Together, they could do a lot for the poor children of America. 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She could explain fromheryearson theboardof the Children’s Defense Fund howdifficult it is to break the habit of dependency. He could explainhis belief that the Contract With Maybe the etrate the whichtends ard pregnancy as the underclass ¢ uivalent of the “coming out™ of esterday. by withholding money At a Househearing last week treating children like adults dispensing the young that it is expected they are having sex andthat it’s OK as long as it is safe Nancy Johnson, a Connecticut Re- WASHINGTON — Let's find something we can agree on thority to tell a sex? 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