inter/national
Bell comments
on U.S. colleges
WASHINGTON — Education
Secretary T.H. Bell said today a
study by a team of scholars
shows “American higher
education has the sniffles” and
needs prompt action to avoid “a
bad cold or even pneumonia.”
But Bell, at a news conference
after briefing educators on the
report commissioned by his Na
tional Institute of Education,
said colleges have not fallen as
far behind as elementary and
secondary schools.
The education secretary said
he had expected the scholars to
render an even harsher verdict
on the quality of the nation’s
nearly 3,300 colleges and
universities than they did.
“American higher education
has the sniffles. It might come
down With a bad cold or even
pneumonia if we don't do
something about it,” he told
reporters.
Earlier, he told 150 educators,
lobbyists and congressional
staff members, “We have the
finest and the most advanced
and emulated system of higher
education in the world. Our
justifiable pride ought to be
tempered with a bit of
apprehension.”
But “no one should conclude
we are poorly served” by the
nation’s colleges, he said.
The report was written by a
panel of seven scholars, chaired
by Pennsylvania State Universi
ty professor and administrator
Kenneth Mortimer. It makes 27
recommendations to improve
undergraduate education, in
cluding the proposal that all
students take at least two years
of liberal arts courses, even if
that forces them to spend more
than four years getting a
bachelor’s degree in business,
nursing or other fields.
Mortimer called it “a report
written by insiders about the
enterprise to which they have
all devoted their lives.” He said
the nation’s debate about educa
tional excellence has now ad
vanced to colleges, which have
“the opportunity and indeed
the obligation to concentrate on
qualitative rather than quan
titative growth.”
Bell said, “We need to act
promptly to maintain the tradi
tional excellence in our higher
education system. Some ‘warn
ing signs and trouble spots’
identified in the report will re
quire the prompt attention of
the higher education communi
ty if we are to avoid some of the
difficulties that have affected
our elementary and secondary
schools.”
Polish church
fears for cleric
WARSAW. Poland —
Poland’s Roman Catholic
Church said Monday that it
feared for the life of a kidnap
ped pro-Solidarity priest, and
government spokesman Jerzy
Urban asserted that the abduc
tion was aimed at undermining
the authorities.
The church also said there
were indications the kidnappers
had political motives.
The whereabouts or condition
of the Rev. Jerzy Popieluszko
were not known and no one had
claimed responsibility for his
abduction, which occurred Fri
day in northern Poland.
Keston College, an institution
near London that monitors
religious affairs in Eastern
Europe, reported Monday that
Popieluszko had received
i
numerous death threats in re
cent weeks. Solidarity leaders
confirmed the report.
The Catholic episcopate, in
its first comment on the priest's
disappearance, said it “brings
deep concern."
* ‘On the one hand there is fear
about his life and on the other
there is fear that kidnapping
may become a method of
political strife in our country,”
said a statement issued by the
episcopate in Warsaw. “The in
formation we have about the cir
cumstances of the kidnapping
indicate that the culprits acted
for political motives.”
The statement did not
elaborate.
Popieluszko. 37, is one of the
Polish clergy’s most outspoken
advocates of the now-outlawed
Solidarity labor union and had
been the target of frequent
government attacks for his pro
Solidarity sermons.
In Washington. State Depart-.
ment spokesman John Hughes
voiced concern over the kidnap- ,
ping and expressed "the strong
hope that the Polish govern- ' .
ment will ensure Popieluszko's
speedy release."
Polish government
spokesman |erzy Urban said
police had received “signals »
.from the population" that
Popieluszko wa°s seen alive after
the kidnapping, but had not -
been able to establish the identi
ty of the kidnappers or to deter
mine Popieluszko’s
whereabouts.
Urban, who said he was
speaking in an unofficial.,
capacity, dismissed as "sensa-. .
tional" allegations that the
authorities had been involved,
in' the. disappearance of
Popieluszko.
The kidnapping “is a careful
ly timed provocation aimed
against us,” Urban said.
The priest’s disappearance
came at an awkward moment,
for Polish leader Gen. Wojciecih
Jaruzelski, who welcomed
Prime Minister Andreas Papan
dreou of Greece to Warsaw oil
Monday in the first visit by a
leader of a NATO country since
the Dec. 13, 1981, imposition of
martial law that crushed'
Solidarity. ”
Solidarity activists said they
would.press authorities to ex
plain the priest’s ’disap
pearance. They organized daily
prayer sessions at factories and
a round-the-clock vigil at St. .
Stanislaw Kostka Ghurch in
Warsaw, where Popieluszko
served. -
A senior Solidarity adviser
said the kidnapping was similar
to at least three other abduc
tions in the Torun area this
year, and confirmed reports that
an anti-Solidarity “terrorist
group” had been operating in
the region.
It’s not what you see...it’s how you see it
Everyone has his or her own way of looking at things. Now,
Kodak is giving you a chance to show your vision of life at
school, through the “Freeze Frame' program. The theme is
'Campus Life.' How do you enter? just submit photos like
these, following the instructions below. In weeks to come,
pictures will be chosen and published in this space. Each
school's 'Freeze Frame" will then be entered into a national
competition. If your school wins, your photograph will be seen
in Kodak's Break magazine, distribute! at colleges all across
the country!
Make sure your entries are on Kodak film. Kodak has the
right film for all your picture-taking needs.
So get out there with your Kodak film and give us your
best shot!
Campus Life.
Vi x
photographs dup: November 26/ 1984
Submit Photos to: MichflCl Clflpp _
Publication Dato: December 3, 1984
HIM vjMkuii ivlJOkunuM-JO
Opening of
Moosehead
Season
at
The Paddock!
Wed. Oct. 24
Details in
Wednesday's Emerald