Show r'r tf SJ ’v ' tV'tl 'i)' w -- - O ' kV ipfe i ! i s - i ’?' v Ai s v i' ' ' 25 Agriculture 27 Classified ads 29 l The Herald Journal Logan Utah Sunday September 19 1993 Boards right to be cautious over school advertising IMF Local school board members are being cautious about a proposal diet lodes like a good way to bring more money into local schools Their caution is Businesses are interested in paying considerable sums of money for the privilege of putting up advertising and public service messages in high school restrooms On the surface it’s a tempting i— buti: it doesn’t come without a price always are looking for innovative ways to bring in more this proposal carries with it same potential hazards But money As always when die issue of education arid money comes up die question to be asked is why there isn’t enough money to properly educate our children Why does die commercialization of schools seem so attractive? Are taxpayers simply unwilling to pay die real costs of educating our children? Is there too much bureaucracy? Too many students? Aiv die system’s priorities misplaced? There are no easy answers to these questions but they need to be addressed every time die question of education and money comes up well-advis-ed Our view The issue of allowing advertising in schools also presents some hard questions Some see die proposal as a simple relatively harmlwm way to get more money into die education system Since young people already are bombarded by advertising messages why shouldn’t die schools profit from this fact of life? There’s nothing wrong with advertising but schools are different than the mm media that carry most commercial messages The fact that advertising is so prevalent should be a good enough reason for keeping it out of die schools Young people especially need a break from die constant barrage of commercial messages Students are a captive audience — literally They’re already susceptible to die slick ads that implore them to spend their money There would be no escape from ads in schools — no channel to change no page to turn Ad messages in schools could cany more weight than other ads Children are told that what they learn in school is important Schools could be perceived as giving an implied endorsement to die products whose ads appear cm school walls And who’s going to decide what messages are appropriate? Certainly tobacco and alcohol ads would be out But what about soft drink and candy ads? Those products can be just as bad for young people Would creams that prevent pimples be OK but condoms to help prevent sexually transmitted diseases be taboo? Do we want schools to be marketplaces for expensive makeup or e products? Or outrageously overpriced clothing? Even public service messages present a problem Would S g messages campaigns be acceptable but or prohibited? What about family planning issues — pro-limessages? Whoever has to make those decisions would be making some moral judgments for our children They soon would discover dut just about sny product or message could be offensive or immoral to some student or parent In our view there is a place for corporate America in our education system Local schools already have mutually beneficial working relationships with local companies But businesses should investment not as an easy way to lock at education as a long-toteen-ag- e into the market tap Businesses can invest in sorely needed equipment and supplies for schools Companies can set up internships and hands-o- n training programs for students and teachers Employees can offer flair time and expertise to the schools in coundess ways dut will benefit da entire education system s Election letters deadline Each election year The Herald Journal stops publishing letters to da editor concerning the election before the primary and general elections We do this to be fair to all candidates by preventing unfair letters to which candidates or their supporters have no time to respond This Thursday Sept 23 is da last day we will accept letters concerning the Oct 5 municipal primary elections All election letters in da hands of da editor as of 3 pan Thursday Sept 23 will be published on Tuesday Sept 28 and dut is da last day such letters will be published until after da primary elections Any letters concerning the municipal primary election received after 3 pan Thursday Sept 23 will be returned unpublished to da writers last-minu- te X W 17-2- 243-492- The editor 733-21- The signature of da letter tided “Summer citizens dunk Fjeldsted” on Tuesday’s Opinion page should have indicated da letter was written on behalf of all summer residents of da Old Farm apartment complex Winning is not the ultimate goal To da editor anti-dru- fe pro-choi- ce m Education and business make a logical partnership But die relationship only will be effective if it is consistent with die principles and goals of our education system It only will work if students are seen as an investment in the future and not merely as consumers i Agreement first step for peace II ! The past week was nothing less than an incredible chapter in the history of die Middle East The image of Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat shaking hands was something few could have imagined even a month ago The mutual recognition of the Palestine Liberation Organization and die state of Israel is an event of staggering proportions The only possible comparisons are the crumbling of the Berlin Wall the opening cf the Iron Curtain and die demise of the Soviet Union And just as the end of die Cold War was a beginning for Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union die peace agreement also is just a first step toward peace in die Middle East The glow dial surrounded Monday’s historic events in Washington already is fading Rabin and Arafat are facing some grim realities at home with those who oppose their efforts toward peace Palestinian and Muslim fundamentalist groups have been blamed for die continuing violence in Israel and the occupied territories The Associated FVesj reports that some Israelii have blasted Rabin in large newspaper ads There are many potential roadblocks on the path to peace la the Middle East1 Violence and political resistance will continue and perhaps escalate Not all Arabs and Israelis are ready to embrace each ocher much less recognise the rights of their longtime enemies But the difficult tunes ahead should not cloud the incredible events that hav e transpired or dim the hope they have created The significance of the simple fact that Israel and the FLO have recognized each other’s existence cannot be overstated Recognizing a group’s existence — and its right to exist — goes a long way toward eliminating the motivation to destroy it borne so much blind intolerant hatred If these groups dut of each other for so long can take such a significant step there is reason so hrpe die journey toward peace will con tmoe to progress Dorr you mrognin the existence of a group you soon have to realize that a group is merely a coOecrion of people And if there ever is to he genuine peace in the Middle East it will not come at (he peace table c at signing ceremonies it i3 cone from the people M m I J i The editor It seems dut professional -- — 40 Brenda M Anthony Executive Director Miss Cache Valley Logan Scholarship Program Clarification I Hwfr Wie encourage all to watch for Miss Cache Valley 1991 Marquessa Bullock as she participates in da Miss America Pageant Sept 18 on national television We regret dut these names were mistakenly omitted from the program: Dr Brent Peterson and Dr Morris Poole for their generous contributions Lynefle’s Bridal The Kater Slop Odgea Welders Supply Steve Growshaw Carolyn Davidson Shaiuu Johnson (Mary Kay Cosmetics) and Vicki Younker for their services and Thomas Jewelers for supplying da tiara Thank you individuals and businesses who are so supportive of this are invited to scholarship program Eligible young women age 4 participate in the 1994 program For more information call Allison 4 Feinauer or Debbie Peterson hair-car- anti-AID- VW v i ('TTY fotgtftlTTfld finally made its way to Utah State One can hear the echo’s of A1 Davis' “Just win baby’’ in Utah State Head Coach Charlie Weatherbie's “Close doesn’t count in football you've got to win’’ (as quoted in da 91393 edition of The To the editor Herald Journal) Furthermore the coach stated “There isn't such a thing We wish to dunk this community for a great response to and support as a moral victory Anybody who thinks dut is foil of crap” Well I of the Miss Cache Valley Logan Scholarship Pageant held Sept 2 in the believe in moral victories and do not in any way consider myself “fail Eccles Theatre We were very pleased to have a sellout but we of crap” The time is long overdue for female athletes to be given equal billing apologize to those who were not able to get in with da male athletes These women work just as hard as da men We are grateful to dose institutions of education for making and competing in their sport They deserve the same practicing available: scholarships considerations dut die male athletes are given This is especially true Utah State University — $1000 an is event when sponsored by a group such as da Alumni Association — Beau La Reine Beauty College $1000 which represents both male and female graduates of Utah State New Horizons Beauty College — $300 University Bridgerland Applied Technology Center — $300 Congratulations to Leslie Heal on being named Miss Cache Valley -jft KenPruhs Logan 1993 and the recipient of the $1000 scholarship from Rebecca Benson first runner-u- p $230 Jennifer Johnson second Logan Thanks from pageant committee Supports Clark for mayor fourth runner-u- p $200 It is important to recognize this scholarship program for the it volunteer organization dut it is and for flu contribution it makes to our community We believe dut young women who are educated attractive articulate and talented deserve scholarships We are a part of da Miss America Program da oldest and largest scholarship program for young women in the world Thank you to Radio Q92KLGN for sponsoring the program We appreciate Logan Mayor Russell Fjeldsted for da proclamation declaring Miss Cache Valley Logan as an official ambassador of goodwill We dunk Allsion Koemer for serving as Miss Cache Valley 1992 She has represented the program well and we congratulate her To the editor Since my involvement in city and county government I have observed as Darla Clark has immersed herself in Logan city politics She has attended neatly every council meeting which I would dive say gives her a better attendance record than some of da council members She has also become active in many projects and organizations including Main Street Christmas lighting as well as serving on da planning and zoning board for the city She strongly supports an updated and revised master plan which our city badly needs She was also a strong voice counseling da mayor not non-prof- See LETTERS on page 26 Phonics system vital to literacy The bumper sticker on the car in front of me said “If you can read this thank a teacher” But what if you can’t read the bumper sticker and you’ve been to public school? Whom do you thank then? A five-yegovernment study has found dut 90 million adult Americans — nearly half of da adult population — are such poor readers and writers that they cant perform such relatively simple tasks as calculating the price difference between two items or filling out a Social Security form Nor can they write a short letter explaining a credit card bdl error or decipher a Saturday bus schedule Worse than the lack of basic skills Education Secretary Richard Riley says the study “paints a picture of a society in which the vast majority of Americans do not know that they do not have the skills to earn a living in our increasingly technological society and inrenutional marketplace' While most nations have a rising or stable literacy rate America’s is falling From a high of 98 percent early in this century we have steadily declined to w here there are nearly 30 percent illiterate or barely literate citizens The reason for such dismal news about American education is the way we educate particularly the way we leach children to read (or not to read as the survey shows) Fairfax County Va is a good example of the problem which is M limited to one suburban Washington school system but is national in scope Teachers in Fairfax County are required to use a “see and say” method of leading rather than a phonics-base- d system that teaches ar Cal Thomas much-advertis- children to sound out words See and say is ” thought to be better for a child’s even though it clearly isn't leaching them to read So they look at a familiar box of cereal and wy “Cheerios” or at a department store shopping bag with which they arc familiar and name the store But day are associating images not reading words or learning how to sound out da letters phonetically Fairfax County are trying to learn to read using fairy tales fables and classic stories even though this approach has produced the results that the education secretary and almost everyone else criticizes This is aa issue dut has consequences beyond one's ability to read comprehend and act on one’s understanding of words A Justice Department study published this week states dut “research provides ample evidence of the link between academic failure and delinquency” and it recommends a return to intensive systematic phonics as one important step to reducing delinquency Why don't public schools turn to such a simple answer as phonics to improve da reading skills of children? According to Robert Sweet president of the Right to Read Foundation (and former head of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention) “Government doesn’t fork for simple answers “self-esteem- first-grade- rs only problems for which it can appropriate billions more in tax dollars” Parents are catching on quickly to how their children are being deprived of a basic skill For example one of the phonic kits which can be used at home to leach children (and illiterate adults) to read are selling at the rate of 10000 per week In da 19th century students who were taught how to read early using the phonics system were able to begin reading classic literature as early as fifth grade Elementary readers in wide use 100 years ago included the following authors: Sir Walter Scott Mark Twain William Shakespeare Henry Thoreau George Washington John Bunyan Daniel Webster Samuel Johnson Lewis Carroll and Ralph Waldo Emerson among others These were some of the authors fat Appleton’s Fifth School Reader copyright 1881 Those children weren't any smarter dun the ones today They just read better because they were taught properly Our society may be frustrated in other areas of education but reading should not be one of them If phonics worked before (and Hill works where it is tried) why not use phonics everywhere? The answer is that like so much ebe in public education it is more about politics money anJ power than about achievement It certainly u not afout reading which is why fewer are learning to read — properly and the cost continues to and because of the link financially culturally between illiteracy and crime criminally ed OtttUMArvtoTnnSftioni |