SIX MEDFORD (OREGON) MAIL TRIBUNE
Many Educational Authorities Beginning
To Aqree That Homework Is Waste of Time
By LOUIS CASSELS
United Press Correspdonet
"Washington 0? When junior
complains that homework is a
waste of time, he has a good
many authorities on his side.
But there
also are ex
perts you can
quote when
you tell him
that home
work teaches
him independ
ent study hab
its, stimulates
initiative and
responsibility,
Louis Cassels
and gives him necessary prac
tice in basic skills.
A survey by the National Edu
cation Association shows a wid
er range of professional opinions
on the value of homework than
Quotes From the Hews
By UNITED PRESS
San Jose, Calif. Navy Secretary Thomas S. Gates, in saying
U.S. military forces must be able to win any limited war decisive
ly enough to make any aggressor back away from a nuclear war:
". . . To win decisively in hot but limited war ... to make it
unthinkable to any aggressor to resort to thermonuclear war. This
we need no more, no less."
Lawrence, N.Y Sen. Estes Kefauver (D.-Tenn.) in calling for
a cabinet-rank civilian agency lo coordinate government scientific
and technical research:
"In the long run it may be beneficial to us that the Soviet
hurled its satellite into space before we did. Nothing that I know
of could have so shaken us out of our doldrums."
Memphis. Tenn. Mrs. Grace Lorch, the white housewife who
protected a Negro girl from white mobs in Little Rock, after being
told to get a lawyer and return for Senate Internal Security sub
committee questioning:
"When I get on the witness stand I am not going to recognize
the committee as one which has any right to look into any anti
segregation organization in the South."
New York Assistant District Attorney Alexander Herman, in
asking that Anthony Coppola be held as a material witness in the
slaying of underworld kingpin Albert Anastasia:
"If this man walks out of the courtroom, it very well may be
the beginning of open warfare by the hoodlums in this city."
Hoquiam, Wash. J. A. Greenwalt, the 24-year-old man who
apparently crashed his stolen light plane into tjie ocean after send-.
Ing this radio message:
"Tell Marilyn I never did love her. I've been depressed and
I'm going in the water now."
Washington State department press officer Lincoln White, in
announcing the temporary reassignment of protocol officer Victor
Purse, whose wife accepted a 53,000 auto from King Saud of
Saudi Arabia:
"Mr. Purse's transfer from the protocol office was not related
directly to the acceptance by his wife of an automobile as a gift.
The department feels, however, that his failure to consult and in
form his superiors ... regarding the gift was an exercise of bad
judgment."
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122 E. Main St. Medford
Store Hours: 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. -
on any other question of school
policy.
Some educators favor starting
homework at about the fourth
grade and stepping up the as
signment load each year through
high school. Others would abol
ish homework altogether in fav
or of supervised study periods
pi scnooi.
Between
are all shapes of
opinion and practices. Even in
the same school system home
work policy may vary from
token assignments which . are
more recreational than educa
tional, to heavy doses of out
side reading and "research proj
ects" that require several hours
an evening for a . child to com
plete. The NEA survey revealed that
homework is a matter of almost
universal concern to parents who
i
HI-FI TONE...
i
-I
- Phone SP 3-5348
Open Mondays 'til 9 p.m.
4 Co) 00
(2)
Tuesday, October 29, 1957
have the responsibility for
ing that it gets done (and who
are often faced with demands
for help which they should not
or cannot give). But parents,
like educators, are sharply di
vided in their attitudes.
The Complaints
Some complain that excessive
homework assignments disrupt
family activities, create tension
in the home, and prevent chil
dren from getting the sleep and
recreation necessary to health.
Others insist on homework
for their children, to keep them
in the evenings, or to get an
idea of what kind of progress a
child is making in school.
While there is apparently no
single statement about home
work that would command a
unanimous vote, NEA research
ers found that the preponder
ance of expert opinion now holds
that:
Conventional homework as
signments have "little value"
for younger children, and could
well be eliminated in the lower
elementary and junior high
grades. But it should be limited
to an hour a day; in senior high
school, a maximum of an hour
and a half a night is recommend
ed. Home assignments should
be held to four nights a week,
with week ends and one even
ing in the middle of the week
left free for family activities,
social life, development of out
side interests such as art and
music, and other non-school pur
suits. Homework should never be
assinged as punishment for in
dividual or group misbehavior
in class.
Most students will accomp
lish more in 15 minutes of sup
ervised study at school than in
an hour of study at home.
Too many homework as
signments, even in senior high
schools, consist of routine of
routine drudgery. Long written
assignments particularly encour
age copying and other forms of
cheating. More imagination by
teachers in- thinking up stimu-
'Little Fellows' Get
Praise, Criticism
y Market
By ELMER C. WALZER
United Press Financial Editor
New York (IP) The little
fellows who often make the big
stock markets are the pets of
the financial
district when
the matket is
rising and the
butts of criti
cism when
go down.
Jacques Coe
of the stock
exchange firm
that bears his
Elmer Waizer name notes
there is a big mass of public par
ticipation in the market which
buys and sells on what it reads
in the papers, hears on radio or
sees on television.
"Is it any wonder," he asks,
"that after one has analyzed the
buying and selling of odd lots
over a period of years, and es
pecially the short selling of pdd
lots, one is obliged to reach the
inescapable conclusion that the
mass mind (when it comes to
Truman Would .
Support Symington
Omaha, Neb. (TP) Former
President Harry S. Truman,
holding that any good Democrat
is better than any Republican,
said he would support Senator
Stuart Symington (D-Mo.), if he
runs for president in 1980.
Truman,, a guest of the Stra
tegic Air Command, kept to
domestic politics Monday and
declined to answer questions
dealing with foreign policy or
Russian claims of superiority. ,
Truman said he has not yet
received word from Democratic
National headquarters on wheth
er his campaigning services will
be wanted in the 1958 congres
sional elections, but said he's av
ailable. He foresaw a good year for
the Democrats in the 1958 elec
tions and said he did not believe
a third party would hurt the
Democrats "or hurt anybody."
As for the Democratic presi
dential nomination in 1960, Tru
man said he had no "favorite,"
adding, "of course, I'd have to
be for my own senator from Mis
souri if he is a candidate."
Small Business Fair
Indefinitely Postponed
Portland The small business
fair, set Nov. 5, 6 and 7 in
Seattle, has been indefinitely
postponed, according to Port
land branch manager of the
Small Business administration,
John G. Barnett.
The current economy move of
the government coupled with
the uncertainty of future pro
curement activity make the
fair not feasible, according to
Barnett.
see-ilating assignments, tailored to
individual abilities and interests
of students, would greatly re
duce resitance to homework and
lead to greater achievement.
Doubtful Help
Parents should provide a
quiet, well-lighted place for a
child to study, and should never
interrupt homework with er
rands. Beyond this, parental
"help" with homework is of
doubtful educational value un
less the parents if qualified to
teach a child how to help him
self instead ' of doing his home
work for him.
Dr. Fannie R. Shaftel, assoc
ate professor of education at
Stanford University who visit
ed schools in all parts of the
country during the past year,
found that "most schools have
yet to do a really thoughful
job" with homework. She sug
gested that "much which goes
under the guise of homework"
is merely a "holdover from the
days when to keep busy was an
end in itself."
Parents have observed in rec
ent years a tendency in many
schools to "load up" students
with more routine homework
than ever.
Dr. Ronald P. Daly, super
visor of elementary education in
New York State, agreed that
this is the trend. He said it is
an unfortunate result of school
conditions.
"Because of crowded build
ings, large classes and overwork
ed teaching staffs, some teach
ers feel that they cannot ad
equately cover required subjects
j in the allotted hours," he said.
Dr. Rodney Tillman, execu
tive secrtary of the Association
for Supervision and Curriculum
Development, said reliance on
"meaningless assign ments at
home", is the hallmark of an
"insecure teacher."
"It gives the teacher a feeling
of accomplishment to have stu
dents bring in large quantities
of written homework to be cor
rected and grade," he said. "The
secure and confident teacher
rarely feels the need for a lot
of routine homework.""
People
stock market technique) is in
variably on the wrong side."
Wrong Thing
He adds that when the little
fellows wander outside their
sphere, "to enter an endeavor
where they are out of their ele
ment, they are liable to do the
wrong thing at the wrong time."
Mitchell of Canada is more
critical of the uninformed trader
who believes that "when a stock
is good it automatically goes up,
and when it is bad it goes down
just like clockwork."
Mitchel, who writes reams on
the stock market in an easy flow
of language spiced with tart re
marks, holds that the public
never "seems to get wise."
"The easy marks," he says,
"are the ones who approach the
field with a basically wrong at
titude. "Some of them even seem to
think that speculative stocks are
just like a bank, only better
you just have to sit back and
watch your money grow.
"Then when they lose, they
panic. Hysteria sets in, and they
do the worst possible thing,
namely, come right back for
more. In trying to recoup their
losses they take bigger and big
ger risks with larger and larger
sums of money when they have
no chance to win."
He offers this advice: "The
time to buy stocks is not at the
peak of the bull market when
heavy public participation
causes a scarcity of offerings.
"Neither then, is it time to sell
when the public is liquidating at
the expense of heavy losses. In
brief, this market is fast under
going a change and is rapidly
becoming more of a long term
proposition than a short one."
Well there it is the little
fellows helped make the big
market of today. Then they took
a beating. And now they are
being scolded.
One thing seems sure, how
ever. The little fellows still have
a lot of money left and they are
now busy getting information on
new things to buy.
Goblins . . . Ghosts . . .
all sorts of spooks prowl
on the new
HALLOWEEN
CARDS
J,
MANY COLORS AVAILABLE The 1958
Imperial models will feature 20 exterior col
ors. The new model will be longer than the
1957s. A "landau top roof" section will be
featured on the four-door hardtop (pictured
Wednesday Marks Seventh
Year of Medford SS Office
Wednesday, Oct. 30 marks the
seventh anniversary of the open
ing of the Medford office of the
Social Security administration,
according to W. V. Nusbaum,
district manager.
The period since the Medford
office was opened has seen a
number of changes in the Old
Age and Survivors Insurance
system, which the Social Secu
rity administration administers.
On Jan. 1, 1951, self-employed
persons were first covered by
the program. Others covered for
the first time included domestic
workers, agricultural workers,
employees of some non-profit
organizations, and some employ
ees of the federal, state and local
Man's Error With
Car Fatal To Wile
Tacoma, Wash. (IP) A man
driving to pick up his wife at
a hospital struck and killed her
with his car Monday as she walk
ed toward him. Madigan Army
hospital spokesman said Harlan
J. Stone accidentally stepped on
the gas pedal instead of the
brakes as Mrs. Stone, 52, moved
in front of the auto to enter on
the other side. Mrs. Stone, who
had accompanied her daughter
to the hospital, died shortly aft
erwards of head injuries.
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VALLEY F
26 West Main
governments.
In 1952 other amendments
were passed, including one pro
viding for an increase in the
payments and one further in
creasing the amount of earnings
a beneficiary could have and
still receive his or her pay
ments, Nusbaum said.
More Persons Covered
Beginning in 1955, an addi
tional 10 million persons were
covered by the program. The
largest group consisted of self
employed farmers. In addition,
members of state and local gov
ernment retirement systems, un
der voluntary agreement, minis
ters and members of religious
orders on a voluntary basis, ad
ditional farm and domestic
workers, and accountants, archi
tects, engineers, and funeral di
rectors were included, and the
amount of the payments was
again increased.
Further important changes
made in 1956 included provi
sions for payments to disabled
persons at age 50, lowering of
the retirement age for women
to 62, coverage of the armed
forces beginning in 1957, and
coverage of further professional
groups as of Jan. 1, 1956.
As of December 31, 1956,
6,930 persons in Jackson and
Josephine counties were receiv
ing $354,237 in monthly bene
fits, or an annual total of $4,'
250,844. In addition, since Jan
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i'
above). The cars also will have the largest and
softest tires on any production car, accord
ing to the company. The models will go on
display locally at Hamlin Motor company,
Eighth and Front sts., Nov. 1.
1, 1957, the Medford office has
forwarded 1,600 applications for
retirement and survivors bene
fits from residents of the two
counties plus 206 -applications
for payments from disabled per
sons 50 or over, Nusbaum said.
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Portland Gasoline
Dealers Quit 'War'
Portland IIP) Gasoline pric
es went back up here today fol
lowing an agreement among
dealers to end a "gas war" that
saw prices of regular gasoline
drop to an average of 29.9 cents
per gallon.
One dealer said his new price
would be 34.4 for regular and
38.4 for premium.
David R- Potter, executive
secretary of the Oregon Gasoline
Dealers association, said 95 per
cent of the dealers in the Port
land area had signed pledges
not to engage in price cutting.
Many dealers, he said, had been
"driven to the wall" by the price
war.
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