Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (March 22, 1961)
MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE, MEDFORD, ORE. WJ WEDNESDAY, MARCH 22, 1961 Reading Poorly Taught in Many Schools, Harvard Group Declares Br LOUIS CASSELS UPI Correspondent Reading is being taught poorly in many American schools. But the problem can't be solved by a return to the phonetic method of instruc tion. . That is the conclusion of a Harvard University study group which has just com pleted a year-long investiga tion of the nation's number one educational dilemma. - The Harvard group was headed by Dr. Mary C. Austin, president of the International Reading association, and its study was financed by a Car negie Corp. grant. The find ings and recommendations were published this week in a paperback volume entitled "The Torch Lighters" (avail able at $1 per copy from Har vard University Press, Cam bridge 38, Mass.). "Unlike some professional educators, who have tried to pooh-pooh the reading crisis in U.S. schools, Dr. Austin and her colleagues readily acknowledge that millions of children are not learning to read. Teaching Quality Blamed But they say it is the qual ity of teaching-not the method of- teaching-that is to blame. To improve the situation, they call for better screening of. college students preparing for teaching careers, more emphasis on training future teachers specifically in read ing instruction, and a thor ough overhaul of the "prac tice teaching" system under which a student teacher gets actual classroom experience before graduation. As Dean Francis Keppel of Harvard's Graduate School of Education notes in a foreword to the report, this is hardly a "dramatic" prescr i p t i o n. "But," Dr. Keppel adds "it has the great advantage of being sensible." In recent years, many critics of U.S. education have argued that reading problems would disappear quickly if schools would abandon "m o d e r n" teaching methods and go back to the time-honored phonetic Appling Says Bill To Save $100,000 Salem - (UPI) - Gov. Mark Hatfield Tuesday signed a bill that Secretary of State Howell Appling Jr. says will save the state about $100,000 over a two-year period. HB1288 transfers the ma chine accounting function of the state finance department to the secretary of state, who also does machine accounting. The merger will give the secretary the largest electron ic data processing center in Oregon state government. Appling said the move will eliminate some positions re sulting in a saving of $65,000 in wages. It will also elimi nate duplication of certain equipment. The new operation allows the switch to higher speed and higher capacity equip ment, Appling said, and also permits purchase of equip ment over a three-year period for the same cost as rental. Appling has asked the legis lature for the purchase author ity, involving about $200,000. approach, based on the sounds of the letters of the alphabet. Argument Rejected The Harvard group rejects this argument. It is convinced that reading is best taught by modern methods, which rely primarly on visual clues to word recognition, with some supplementary use of phonet ic analysis. The real trouble, according to the study group, is that too many teachers don't know how to use the modern meth-ods-or any other methods-of teaching reading. On the basis of interviews with faculties at 74 teacher training institutions in all parts of the country, and ques tionnaires completed by 371 other colleges and universi ties, the study group reached these major conclusions: 1. There is great need for better screening procedures to insure that college students who sign up for majors in elementary education really have a "marked potential for teaching." At present, only one-fourth of the nation's col leges make any effort to size up the capability of students who embark on preparation for teaching careers. Forty per cent of the faculty mem bers interviewed said that the caliber of students preparing FAVORS THE HOUSE Las Vegas, Nev.-(UPD-In this gambling resort motorists can now gamble for free gasoline. Service station owner John Karas will fill your tank free if the price for filling it such as $3.33 corresponds numerically to a figure posted each day. to teach in elementary schools is lower than that of students in other academic fields. 2. A 1 1 students preparing for elementary teaching should be required to take at least one full semester course in reading instruction. Only half of the colleges now re quire this. The other half in clude reading instruction in an overall course on the language arts, and the actual classroom time devoted to reading is frequently less than five hours. Neglected Fields 3. Teacher training courses should put much more em phasis (at present, they put very little or none) on helping the future teacher learn how to diagnose and overcome the various disabilities which may keep a child from learning to read. Another neglected field, which should be stressed, is how to teach reading in the intermediate grades - above the third grade level. 4. When a student teacher is sent out to get actual prac tice in a classroom, she should work under (he supervision of a professional teacher who really knows how to teach, and is capable of evaluating and correcting her perform ance. At present, few colleges make any effort to screen, train or compensate adequate ly the "cooperating teachers" under whom student teachers get their practice. Also, the practice teaching experience is usually scheduled during the final semester of a stu dent's senior year, when there is no opportunity for further training to correct the defic iencies which may be revealed. Heeding The Upswing KISE) HOOT Rambler News is good! March Sales are running at an all-time record rate. That's right! More people bought Ramblers in the first third of March than in any similar period in Rambler history! Yes Rambler leads the economic upswing as more car buyers discover that Rambler Excellence gives a bonus on every car dollar they invest. Now Is A Good Time To Buy! Rambler means business! Right now, Rambler dealers are out after even more sales with the kind of fair-and-square liberal deals that car buyers can't afford to pass by. Used car prices have firmed. That means your present car is worth more in trade now on a new Rambler. Why Is Rambler Breaking Sales Records? Compact cars are capturing an ever-growing share of the new car market. Why does Rambler continue to hit new sales heights? Because Rambler is better than the big cars and best of the compacts. Here are the reasons: ONLY RAMBLER offers 3 distinct sizes of compact cars RAMBLER IS voted most trouble-free by owners RAMBLER'S RECORD ECONOMY proved by 11 years and 35 billion owner driven miles ALL RAMBLERS HAVE such exclusive quality features as Deep-Dip rust proofing way up to the roof . . . rattle-free Single-Unit construction . . . Ceramic-Armored muffler and tailpipe to far outlast ordinary mufflers RAMBLER OFFERS America's lowest prices ONLY RAMBLER has a compact car for six 6-footers RAMBLER HAS top resale value Ask Your Neighbor About His Rambler He'll tell you why Rambler dealers sell twice as many compact cars per dealer as most other dealer groups. And your Rambler dealer can give you a better deal on the best of the compacts. Drive Rambler world stand ard of compact car excellence! RAMBLER DEALERS ARE DEALING! COME IN TODAY! LEA MOTORS, Bartlett at 5th ENGAGEMENT TOLD Millionaire builder Hal B. Hayes, frequent escort of some of the world's most glamorous women, has announced his engagement to Rail I. Hannincn, a 26-year-old former United Nations guide from Finland. They are shown at a hotel in Washington where Miss Han ninen told UPI they would be married during a round-the-world trip they plan to take after, Hayes finishes testifying in a Senate investigation on construction of houses he was building for armed services personnel near military bases. (UPI Telcphoto) The Family Council Editor'. Note: The Family Council consists of Judge, a psychia trist, three clergymen, three editors and a women's editor. Each article is a summary ol an actual case history. The council reports on proh lems that have been dealt with by responsible agencies and counselors. (Copyright 1961 General Features Corp.) Carl P.-It's none of their business where I go and when I'll be back. Mrs. E. P.-His father and I can't ' relax until we know where our children are. Carl P.-I'm over 21 and, al though I'm still living at home with my parents, I'd like to have some of the privacy, re spect and independence I'd have if I were living alone. But if my parents continue in sisting that I "report to heao quarters" at every move, I'll have to leave. What makes it hard for me is my sister's easy compliance with their requests to know all, see-all. But she's 21 and a girl and maybe she likes being babied. To' me, my parents' cross- examinations are annoying and humiliating. I'd like to remain under their roof for a few years yet, not only to help out financially, but also because I'm genuinely fond of them. But they must stop treating me like a little boy. If I were in the Army, or on a trip, they wouldn't wor ry about what time I get to bed each night, would they? Mrs. E. P.-All we ask Carl is where he's going, or where he can be reached if we need him. We tell him the same, whenever we leave the house, it seems the natural thing to do. But now when I ask, "How long will you be?" he flares up at me and answers, "Until I get back." It's not that I'm snooping or prying. It's just that while were all under the same roof, we can't help counting noses and keeping track of who's in, who's out, and who's where. We hear a key in the door at two or three o'clock in the morning, we like to make sure it's Elinor or Carl and not a "third-story man." Suppose I really needed Carl for an emergency? I'd like some idea of how to reach him. He's mistaken about the Army. I wouldn't worry about his whereabouts at all because I could always ask his sergeant! The Council - Writhing un der the "tics that bind," Carl is confusing affectionate In terest with parental prying. For an opposite viewpoint, he might canvass the park benches, depot waiting rooms, and furnished flats. Here he'd find the lonely and the lost who d give a year of their life if only somebody cared, if only somebody had any inter est in whether they were dead or alive! Independence is a two-sided com. it s tine to stand alone, free and strong. As Carl would have it, he doesn't need" his family and they mustn't "need" him. But Carl doesn't mean that literally. He wants to hang around, on his own terms. He wants to en joy and absorb the warmth of family, and be a completely "cold potato" in return. That's his selfish definition of "inde pendence," and it doesn't ap pear in any dictionary. It's found more often in the an nals of family misery. It's a nice cozy feeling for Carl to know he can reach his folks at any old lime, if he wishes. And even cozier (al though completely selfish) to feel he's completely out of their reach. No, he'd better be consist ent. Either 100 per cent inde pendent (and there's really no such thing this side of the grave!) or admittedly a mem ber of a family household where absent parties are "missed," and homecomings are hailed! How about settling for be ing 90 per cent independent and 10 per cent human? Lenten Message By THE REV. ANDREW M. WEYERMANN Our Savior Lutheran Church, Raleigh, N, C. (Written for UPI) There is so much tragedy in life. The newspaper screams the bitter headline, "Six-Year- Old Boy Killed By Drunken Driver." The father grieves in his soul, "My son, my son." He hopes to hear an answer ing voice, but there is onlyi the stillness of the night. Per haps God is hiding. Perhaps He is dead. Perhaps He never, really existed except in our; fantasy. ! There is no simple elegant j answer for stillborn children. the rape of the innocent, and j the failure of those who have! truly tried. This is the way! our world has been since the day man thought he could be like God. It is God alone who holds all the answers within Himself. Reason To Hope There is a sign that will enable us to face the horrors of our life and still have rea son to hope. It is the sisn of the cross. The terrible death of the Son of God was possible only because men crucify love, justice and good by their self-interest. The cross re minds us of how cruel we human beings are to each other. Innocence is betrayed, youth is killed and God seems to be a million miles away. Yet God is present in the hour of darkness. The same cross is the sign of God's un fathomable love for us. The curses of the murdering mob are answered by the Son of God's pleas, "Father, forgive them." The innocent suffers and dies unjustly, but not meaninglessly. Ho fulfills God's higher purpose of man's redemption. The Prince of Life dies, but the dead are raised in the instant of His death. Once the signal of re jection, the cross is the sign of reconciliation with God. The answer to human suf fering is not altogether clear. Looking at the cross one is reminded of his need for for giveness and the lact that God's love in Christ conquers the evil that seeks to destroy us. -A 3 El K'lW I 1 KM 1 Bomb Scare Delays Plane at Pendleton Pendleton - (UPII - A United Air Lines plane en route from Pendleton tn Snokane wa rin- layed Tuesday by a bomb scare. An unidentified man was reported to have told the stewardess to be careful when she set his briefcase down because there was a bomb in it. The stewardess Informed the pilot who called police. Two city police cars, two slate police cars and two Umatilla county sheriff's cars converg ed on Ihe area. A search of luggage failed to reveal a bomb. The man was being questioned. Bills Approved By Legislature Salem - (UPI) - Measures ap proved Tuesday: By the Senate SB34-Public employees re tirement. SB230 - Allows Dammasch hospital to accept patients from Clackamas and Yamhill counties. , SB327-Local budgets. SB338 - Commercial fisher ies. By ihe House HB2068, 2069, 2073, 2077, 2079, 2083-Budgets for na tional guard, state police, de partment of justice, civil serv ice commission, Oregon state library, state game commis sion. , HM2104, 2105-Budgets for deaf and blind schools. HB1007-Property tax de ferrals on homes of the elderly. ENVOY RESIGNS POST Johannesburg, South Africa -IUPD-U.S. Ambassador Philip K. Crowe has resigned his post here, the embassy an nounced Tuesday. The an nouncement said President Kennedy has accepted the resignation. ADOPTS 5-DAY WEEK Pierre S.D.-IUPII-South Da kota became the last state In the Union to authorize a five- day work week for state em ployees. The action, taken Tuesday by the slate Board of Finance, goes into effect April 1. Curb on Welfare Move Gets Approval Salem (UPI) The House Health and Welfare commit tee Monday voted out "do pass" a bill seeking to prevent Gov. Mark Hatfield from moving Ihe State Welfare commission from Portland to Salem. The vote was 8-2 with Reps. Wlnton Hunt (R-Wooriburn) and Frilzl Chulnard (R-Port-land) opposed. Voting to keep the commis sion In Portland were Reps. Grace Peck (DPortland); Gust Anderson (D-Portland); William Gallagher (R Port land); Nancy Kirkpatrick (D Lebanon); Ed Benedit (D-Port-land) and Juanita Orr (D Lake Grove). Rep. Emll Stum (D Nyssa) was bsent I I 1 NEED A NEST EGG? CalOre Electrical League dealers are prepared to PAY YOU ... In special bonus allowances . . . for trading that old stove or water heater or both -- for modern electric appliances Gil ielsils (ton iht Mit ihpktj'ini Mi whim in hit tlott niniow... I Here Is The One You Have Been Waiting For! on 2000 YARDS OF FINE NAME BRANDS BROADLOOM CARPETS 7WRP SAVE $$$$ ON THIS ONE! 100 Virgin Wool Use Tested 11 Colors To Choose From S95 S8. YD. Includes FREE Foam Rubber Pad! II 100 Continuous Filament NYLON A Really GOOD Nylon Carpet Includes FREE Foam Rubber SO. YD. Pad Choose From 10 Colors $095 Foam Rubber Back, Beige & Brown BROADLOOM Economy SH95 SPECIAL! SQ. YD. Roll Ends At Cost Sizes Up To 12x16 FLOORCOVEftlHG 1228 North Riverside Next to O.K. Market TERMS TO FIT YOUR BUDGET! 1
