) . 9 The Dallas Post Dallas, PA Wednesday, March 22, 1995 5 - John W. Johnson Next June, the caps and gowns will be neatly pressed, the music will play, and there will be suffi- ‘@cient smiles to light up a Big Sky country night. Still, it is conservatively esti- mated that more than 700,000 high school students will not be able to read the diplomas they will be handed next June. In championing public educa- tion, Thomas Jefferson under- stood that only a literate constitu- ency could make our republican @ democracy work. Instead, we now have millions of illiterate young persons in the inner city, unable to participate; indeed, a by-prod- uct of illiteracy is that those so afflicted cannot even come to understand the extent and rami- fications of their deficiency. Oh, they can see and feel it on a daily basis as they struggle with (and are condemned to) street life. And we can feel it when we are asked for more tax dollars to support yet another single mother on welfare. But we as a nation are going to feel it even more succinctly and severely as the nation continues to polarize—not simply along have and have not lines—rather also along, literate and illiterate . lines.....because those two phe- ‘ganomenon almost always are paired. ‘And for those who do become literate, there is the scourge of television. Evidence is now avail- able to support those parents who've long suspected a relation- ship between watching television and a child's performance in school. The bottom line is that the more a student watches televi- .aSion, the worse he or she does in @.chool According to the Pennsylvania State School Boards Association, “no matter how much homework the student did, how intelligent they were, or how much money their parents made, the relation- ship between TV and test scores was practically identical.” Test’ 'scores of more than 500,000 students in the sixth and Vm grades in California schools declined steadily for each hour of television they watched. There's little doubt that televi- sion ¢an and does educate. But indiscriminate use of television, particularly as a substitute par- ent, makes the mind a receiver, not a seeker. Then the medium can-‘and does limit the total edu- cational process by numbing in- /@tellectual desire, by robbing the Polarization goes hana in hand with illiteracy mind of time to expand, even to contemplate the effort. Television watching is more complex than its electronic in- sides. Its complexity raises larger issues than the medium'’s ques- tionable use as a substitute par- ent. There is no question of the development of future leaders. There are now more than 170 million television sets in use. Leaders are going to be more dif- ficult to find in a populace in- creasingly more accustomed to being led than to leading. As well, participatory govern- ment, essential to the mainte- nance of freedoms, has a good chance of succumbing to benign neglect, crushed under the cush- ions of all those watchers. To suggest that the nation stop watching television would be just as mindless as some of that me- dium's programming. The alter- native is for adults to find the on/ off switch and assert the right to be guardian of the child's develop- ing mind and master of their own. As we wrestle with how televi- sion affects education, the clear message that public education is in trouble, can clearly be seen by. the increased numbers of enroll- ments in both p.ivate and paro- chial schools. This has happened largely to the lack of efficiency, lack of disci- pline, and a general lack of fin- ished product quality coming out of public schools. This has happened largely to the lack of efficiency, lack of disci- pline, and a general lack of fin- ished product quality coming out of public schools. Why....? Since education is the yardstick by which we are meas- ured and then permitted access to the arena of chasing success, one would think that we would give our children the best possible tools. With public education, what we, in fact, are doing is lying to them and ourselves, reduced to mass producing the average, rather than challenging the best. Put another way, a self-deceiv- ing fraud is being committed upon the intelligence of the entire na- tion as we mouth rhetoric about quests for perfection/excellence, and turn a blind eye and deaf ear to the mediocrity our public edu- cational system is actually producing...and has very little choice but to produce. This happens, in part, because parents don't want to be told their children are not doing well. The fraud is most apparent to those who must try and teach beginning college students; students who are woefully unprepared to do college level work because those students were cushioned from reality in primary education by something called “grade inflation”, a reducing of standards to the point where a former D is now a B. Looking at the numbers makes this clear; high school students nationally score a B average, and yet only & percent of high school students can do college level math, and only 40 percent have college level verbal and cognitive skills. Somebody is lying to somebody here. And it's clearly the nation’s educators and parents in a mu- tual self congratulation society, while the rest of the world main- tains higher primary education standards. The balance of the blame here is in the notion of public educa- tion itself. This morass of medioc- rity was inevitable. Public educa- tion. by definition and in order to in fact be public, must tailor its product to the average student. That means the bottom half pulls the top halftoward the middle. As it was put by novelist and philoso- pher Ayn Rand: “If you would destroy greatness, do not attack it; merely elevate mediocrity.” Private education i: ne alter- native to this morass ‘ per- petuating mediocrity. .. cre, for example, the random violence and lack of discipline found in public schools simply find no easy home. At a private school, the student who is a discipline problem is expelled or simply not admitted. The appeal of a private school is that anti-social elements are kept out and education is paramount. Does this mean that by'allow- ing private schools to operate, we are turning our public schools into pits of despair where armed patrols in the hallways will be- come the rule? That's the wrong question. Private schools did not create the discipline and mediocrity prob- lem; private schools are one alter- native presented should be viewed seriously by those in public school asamodel. And that model would be that private schools offer in- dentifiable goals, a common pur- pose, and sense of direction for faculty and students. With clearly defined parame- ters of objective and rules of disci- pline, potential problems at a private school find it difficult to have sustenance. Public education was formerly a system whereby one was edu- cated. Education now seems to be secondary to insuring that everyone attends, and that ever- one receives and ‘equal education....whatever that is. Without clearly defined objec- tives, objectives which go beyond experimenting with the equality theory inherent in public educa- tion, public education is rapidly disintegrating into a mentality geared more toward keeping the assembly line moving, rather than feeding the mind. a 7 Library news Library names By NANCY KOZEMCHAK The Back Mountain Memorial Library is pleased to announce the chairman of the 1995 library auction will be Peggy Harvey. Peggy has been connected to the library and the auction ever since she was a mere child. Her par- ents, Dr. Lester Jordan and Ann were involved with the library for many years. Dr. Jordan was a ember of the library board of directors for a number of years and general chairman of the 1961 library auction. Doc and Ann were also involved with the Dallas Rotary Club, Doc served as the student exchange chairman for years, with Rotary. Ann is still involved with Rotary Women. Doc Jordan was also an auction auc- tioneer through the years. To quote Peggy, “I love the auction”. She has worked with new goods and other committees. Her husband, Glenn, will serve as her right hand, and Kiley, 16 and Erica,;12 will be helping hands. Cochairmen of the 49th annual Publishes poem auction committee chairmen auction will be Connie Scott and Ernie Ashbridge. n= Committee chairmen to date: New Goods: Lois Townsend and Joe Dwinchick: Vendors, Peggy Dwinchick and Chances, Jennie Valick. The auction dates are July 6, 7, 8 and 9; Thursday through Sunday. The seventh annual “Lunch- eon With A Special Author/Art- ist" will be held on Thursday, April 27 at Appletree Terrace, Newberry Estate. = Hospitality at 11:30; Lunch at 12; and 1:15 the pro- gram featuring the artistry of Sue Hand of Dallas. Donation for the luncheon is $16.50 payable to the library, paid in advance. Your check is your reservation. Sealing preference will be honored for group atten- dance. Tables of eight will be available. Forms for reservation are available at the library. New books at the library: “The Cunning Man” by Robertson Davies is the story of Dr. Jon- athan Hullah, a former police surgeon. As he watches Father Dallas resident Marlen Lukacinsky recently published original poetry Edge of Twilight, a treasury of today's poetry compiled by The @ National Library of Poelry. The poem is entitled Moon Beam and its main subject is love. Marlene has been writing for 20 years. Her favorite subjects and ideas are life, nature and love. Water company changes hame General Waterworks of Pennsylvania, a United Water Resources company, has announced that it has changed its name to United Water Pennsylvania, Dallas operation. The name change includes a new corporate logo to be phased in during 1995. United Water Resources is the second largest investor-owned water services company in the country. The Dallas operation provides water service to 2,900 people in the Back Mountain and has nine employees. Hobbes die in front of the High Altar at Toronto's St. Aidan’'s on the morning of Good Friday, he wonders how he died. We learn the answer on the last page of this ‘case book’ of a man’s rich, obser- vant life. “The Disciples of Market Lead- ers” by Michael Treacy and Fred Wiersema explains how to choose your customers, narrow your focus, and dominate your mar- ket. Why is it that Casio can sell a calculator more cheaply than Kellogg's can sell a box of corn flakes? Why can FedEx ‘abso- lutely, positively’ deliver your package overnight? Case studies included. “The Neon Smile” by Dick Lochte is the story of Terry Manion, New Orleans private investigator who agrees to work for Pierre Reynaldo, the king of exploitation TV. He doesn’t have a clue about what he's gelling into. He wants to reopen a case the police slammed shut 30 years ago — the racially motivated murder of Ty- rone Pano, a black militant leader Kingston Twp. posts yard sale sign rules The Kingston Township Zon- ing Officer reminds residents that it is illegal to attach garage/yard sales signs to telephone poles or trees. Signs should be attached to individual stakes and removed no later than two days after the sale. Violators may be fined up to $300. Additional information may be obtained from the zoning ofli- cer al 696-3809. Jack Hilsher ...The Dirt on Kirk Sorry, butl must burst the bubble of Captain Kirk worshippers out there, Kirk being from the starship ENTER- PRISE and a.k.a. William Shat- ner. My tool is a direct quote from George Takei's autobio “To the Stars.” George you'll recall was Mr. Sulu, helmsman of the EN- TERPRISE. He wrote, “With the colossal spectacle of 100 extras in alien dress standing around, the production was brought to an expensive and stubborn halt. Bill would not play a scene the way it was directed. It would be shot his way or not at all. “We stood around and waited as the weary extras hunkered down trying not to soil their exolic outfits, technicians rolled their eyes. Shatner remained totally oblivious. I felt sadness for him. He had changed over the years. He seemed ignorant of the pain he inflicted, had denigrated his col- leagues and giggled about it. He had diminished himself.” Beamyourselfup, Captain Kirk, you jackass. ...Books ‘R’ Us from the Ameri- can Library Association: “50% of a child's intellectual development occurs between birth and age four. Children who are read to in the home, and who use a library, do better in school.” MORAL: Take a grandchild to the library this week. And next. ...Gem from Sam - Samual Johnson that is, who once coun- seled a young writer asking for advice, “Your manuscript, sir, is both good and original. But the part that is good is not original, and the part that is original is not good.” ...Iwo_similars - one is A.J. Leibling's: “Freedom of the press belongs to those who own one.” and from Anon: “The Golden Rule means, he who has the gold makes WER A RE ee AR the ruies.” James Kirk was no nice guy ...How did you do? Asix-month study of classic literature circula- tion in libraries nationwide, using 58 litles, resulted in these top 10 winners: 1) The Scarlet Letter, 2) Wuthering Heights, 3) Pride and Prejudice, 4) Tess of the D'Urber- villes, 5) Sister Carrie, 6) Sons and Lovers, 7) Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, 8) Vanity Fair,. 9) Silas Marner, and 10) Mans- field Park. Frankly, I didn’t do too well. ...Check on checkups...Like everything else these days, medi- ‘cal opinion has changed regard- ing your annual checkup. Ex- perts now recommend something completely different: For ages 50 to 59 two examina- tions about five years apart. This means you should have a com- plete physical each time, includ- ing the usual tests for hearing and/or vision defects, diabetes, heart disease... the whole schmeer. For 60 to 74, exams every (wo years will suffice, and from 75 and up, go back to the annual checkup. And don't forget your dentist - get a cleaning and ex- amination yearly so you can keep what you have in your jaws. But if you have a medical problem needing more frequent attention, for heaven's sake Get IU ...Letter to ye ed - from a recent Te NY Times letter column, “Sitting at the counter of a sandwich shop in Miami Beach in the 50s, I no- ticed Walter Winchell sitting right next to me. I had a letter ad- dressed to my mother and I asked - him to autograph it, saying my mother would love to have it. At A first he declined, but then he asked « for the envelope and signed his name. “He proceeded to talk endlessly all through lunch. Among other - things, he told me the difficulties of being a celebrity. Everywhere . he went, people expected him to pick up the check. He was going . broke by doing this. I'sat, en- tranced, listened as he spoke for more than 30 minutes and hardly uttered a word. : When the waitress tried tohand' me my check, he grabbed it and said it was a pleasure for him to pay for my lunch, as I was the most interesting person he has met inalongtime."—Helen Rosen- berg, NY _ COMPANY | (Near Rt. 309-415 Intersection) Fe 675-7347 i Ziti & Lasagne Wed. - Thurs. Special Meatballs w/ Salad 3 4 Every Sunday # Homemade Our Own Homemade Lasagne Served With Choice of Soup or Salad 2, rr II Sate Sata2ata ts 0e0 ® x : : 2 $3.99 i og $4.99 serve you better. Your Franklin First Office in Dallas is leaving its location at the Dallas Shopping Center. You've made us so successful, we're moving to a bigger building, complete with drive up windows and MAC? 24-hour banking to ~ We're Leaving. And It’s Your Fault. After June 5, 1995* you'll find us Lo at Route 309 and Upper Demunds 8 ot Road. But in the meantime, stop $e by the old place to do your banking. And even though it's your fault, we won't hold it against you. FRANKLIN FIRST ( J 1 800 262-1210 Hi Member FDIC * Pending regulatory approval. ; ae A - w ce segs Ee ST TE ? WE i 4 ® 3 X = bi a KE SAL SRE er Cs RA nes le InP BS ta S——_— A TOA TE HE SP ATR TS RA a aa a Ae EE TE Ee EEN Comet errr een Hr re a = <i +4
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers