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Show 'WSattie Creek B,K 8 General Motors and the Ford Motor Company have begun negotiations nego-tiations with union leaders representing repres-enting the United Auto Workers of America. Chief bone of contention centers around the demand of the workers for a guaranteed yearly wage. The way things stand now, it is practically impossible for the companies com-panies to fire a union worker, regardless re-gardless of how trifling- and inefficient in-efficient he may become. Now, with a guaranteed yearly wage, the "strangle hold" will be almost unbreakable. This is just another step along the road to guaranteed security. The farmers, through their price support programs, have what amounts to about the same thing. Even the teachers are now talking about "life-tenure" and "five-year contracts," based on seniority rather than efficiency in the classroom. class-room. All of this seems dangerously close to the disastrous point of view that some people hold, namely: name-ly: that the world owes them a living. Guaranteed security of course has its talking points; but it always has a tendency to destroy de-stroy ambition, efficiency and initiative. in-itiative. When men are afraid to take the calculated risk in the things that they do, then the great American principle of free-enter-prize will cease to operate as a factor of strength in our way of life. BCB A district-wide committee of laymen and educators is currently being organized by Alma P. Burton, Bur-ton, Superintendent of the Alpine District Schools. This is just a part of a state-wide school evaluation plan approved by the Utah legislature. legis-lature. The purpose of the activity, according ac-cording to Superintendent Burton, is to "study the aims, purposes, objectives and philosophy" of the schools in Utah. There is little doubt but that this is a step in the right direction. School procedures and courses of study have changed little in the past 25 years. No doubt the schools are doing a great many things today to-day for no better reason, than that they have always done them that way. Until definite and valid ideals and objectives of education have been set up, no definite constructive construc-tive changes can take place. It has long been the opinion of this column, col-umn, that Boards of Education should have committees of representative repre-sentative citizens to advise them. No five men, regardless of how conscientious and intelligent they may be, know all the answers. The same is true of Superintendents and Supervisors. If the committees now being organized or-ganized are "not dominated too strongly by school people, much good could come from their investigations inves-tigations and deliberations. Furthermore, Furth-ermore, all the time and energy expended by the committee members mem-bers will go for naught, unless something is done about the findings find-ings of the committees. It's relatively rela-tively easy to set up a code of ideals and objectives; but it's a far more difficult task to make the objectives function in the tradition-bound institutions of education. educa-tion. If it becomes just another "word-bandying" exercise, nothing worthwhile will result. So long 'til Friday. |