g i g SUNDAY. FEBRUARY 17. 1963 ' , MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUHE, MEPFOHP. OREGON , -
iducator Believes Schools Fail To Teach Children To Think
By LAWRENCE R. WERNER
United Press International
Pittsburgh -ttJPU- "I'm not
worried about why Johnny
can't read or spell ai well as
Ivan, but why Johnny can't
think." -
That, in a nutshell, Is what
a Duquesne university profes
sor believes is the failing of
American education John
ny never learned to think.
Dr. Helena A. Miller be
lieves the answer is a com
plete overhaul of the U. S.
educational system from pre
school through the college lev
el. She's on the brink of tak
ing a nine-month sabbatical
to finalize her proposals for
Worth of Address
Of Area Residents
Depends on Position
How much is the name and
address of a Jackson county
resident worth? On a mailing
list Dlenty,
. Just how much depends on
his nosition. economically and
otherwise. If he Is wealthy
and i thereby a good pros
pect for a cabin cruiser or for
membership in an exclusive
club, his name Is worth quite
a bit. i
However, if his name is a
readily-obtainable one, as is
the case with school teachers,
doctors, lawyers and the like,
To Speak
Rabbi Rosenthal
alSOC
Next Wednesday
' Ashland Rabbi Richard
Rosenthal of Temple Beth El
in Tacoma, Wash., will repre
sent the Jewish Chautauqua
society as lecturer at South
ern Oregon college, Ashland,
Wednesday, Feb. 20.
He will speak at the 10 a.m.
assembly In Churchill hall on
"Monologues and Dialogues."
Rabbi Rosenthal lectures on
college campuses under the
auspices of the Jewish Chat
auqua society, an organization
which creates better under
standing of Jews and Judaism
through education.? 1 ;
Keynote Speaker
Rabbi Rosenthal also will be
keynote speaker for Religious
Emphasis Week at Southern
Oregon college, Feb. 20 22,
Jack Hcnncn and Doug Olsen,
Eugene, co-chairmen, have an
nounced. At 4 p.m. Wednesday there
will be a coffee hour at which
time he will talk on the Jew
ish faith.
Among guests who plan (o
attend will be Mr. nd Mrs.
Bud Hinkson.. Hinkson Is a
former University of Oregon
student body president and is
now northwest representative
of the Campus Crusade, a na
tional religious organization
which includes members of
many faiths and creeds who
work' together to promote an
interest in religious activities
in colleges and universities.
Mrs. Hinkson, who has
served as a national repre
sentative for Campus Crusade,
will speak at a Girl's Tea at
4 p.m. Thursday. The Hink
sons also will talk to dormi
tory students.
or if his buying power is low,
t brings less.
There are about 250 firms
that compile such lists and
lease them or sell them to
companies that wish to ap
proach prospects by mail or
by direct solicitation, either
in person or by telephone.
The price may range any
where from 1 cent per name
to as much as $1 for each time
it is used. ,
The majority of Jackson
county residents are on a num
ber of such lists, as is evident
from the amount of letters
they receive from all sorts of
organizations.
A total of 2,327 of them, for
instance, are on lists that con
tain the names and addresses
of local families with incomes
over $10,000 a year.
Among those who purchase
and use such lists are resort
operators and automobile
dealers who handle expensive
types of cars.
List May Be Limited
On the other hand, a book
publisher with a special edi
tion of Shakespeare's works
may want to limit his ap
proach to college graduates.
A listing of this group would
yield 3,319 names in Jackson
county.
There are 1,791 men In the
county who are within 1 to 5
years of retirement age of 65.
Travel agents, realtors and
others are Interested in just
such people. They are willing
to pay for a list of them.
Companies dealing in baby
products, laundry services
and beauty-care preparations
may feel that married women
in the 25 to 34 age category
are their most likely pros
pects. They would want the
names of those in the local
area.
Many other specialized lists
are prepared for firms that
want to aim at specific tar
gets with their products and
services. Among them are lists
of recent brides, now home
owners and two-car families.
Memorial Asks Speed
In Timber Salvage
5alem-(UPD-A memorial urg
ing Congress to order specific
steps to speed the salvage of
windfall timber cleared the
Oregon legislature Friday.
Portland-IUPIl - Three Kla
math Indians have appealed a
U. S. District Court ruling
which upheld the placing in
trust of their shares of Kla
math Termination Act funds.
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m
such an educational reforma
tion and, hopefully, to put it
to practice in a pilot school.
"When I have to drill six
weeks of fundamentals into
college students before we can
proceed with two weeks of
reasoning, it proves that they
did not obtain the knowledge
they should have acquired in
the lower levels of schooling,"
according to Dr. Miller, an
educator for 27 years.
Presented at Levels
Under her plan, as yet un
named, two-thirds of the ma
terial now taught college stu
dents would be presented at
elementary and secondary lev
els. The time saved would be
devoted to work now being
done by graduate students.
The foundation of her sys
tem, at all levels, is to let
students "discover" as much
as they possibly can on their
own. i
This, in essence, Is Dr. Mil
ler's plan: ,
The education of the child
begins at pre-school age, per
haps as early as three years,
when lie is taught to discern
"minute sensual differences."
The child's natural curiosity
is encouraged so he becomes
intimately acquainted with
every object in range of his
five senses.
For instance, instead of
teaching him to read and
write in the conventional man
ner, the child is allowed to
feel letters, geometric designs
etc. until they become so fa
miliar the youngster begins
tracing them in sand, on a
blackboard or tablet or in
some other manner, discover
ing eventually that he is mak-
DR. HELENA A. MILLER
Proposes Education Change
ing letters. Carried further,
the discovery leads to words
and sentences.
Dr. Miller . contends this
type of "learning by discov
ery" is unlimited because of
the natural curiosity and de
sire of pre-adolescent children
and permits them to enjoy the
learning process.
In the elementary stage,
which she sets ai from ages
5-13, Dr. Miller plans to have
students continue their own
discovery, but more under the
guidance of a teacher. At this
level, she also would employ
a system similar in some re
spects to team teaching, a
method now used in the Pitts
burgh public schools, to give
a wider scope to her plan by
allowing college-level instruc
tors to work with and advise
elementary educators.
Foreign Languages
Not only would the pupils
learn their own language and
Latin by rote memory in the
elementary phase, but two
modern foreign languages
along with a concept of num
bers and other basic subjects.
"Learning the languages
and history of other nations
during this period," said Dr.
Miller, "will result in less de
linquency and help 'abolish
prejudice. Children have to
learn to hate. Being exposed
to other cultures when they
are young will help pupils
identify with them, nipping
future distrust and hatred be
fore it gets started."
In the secondary phase,
children would spend more
time on things that have to do
with relationships, giving
them time to organize the
data and knowledge assem
bled in earlier periods.
The tertiary, or college
stage, would deal with the ab
stration and testing of the
knowledge absorbed in the
other stages.
An Ungraded System
"I would employ an un
graded system which would
allow the student to advance
as far as desired in any given
subject," she explained. "But
I would not allow him to pass
a given point in any subject
without progressing at a rea
sonable rate in related sub
jects." By the time the student was
able to project abstractions
into the future, to develop
theories, he would be ready
for college. Dr. Miller be
lieves. Dr. Miller, a Phi Beta Kap
pa who received her Ph. D.
in biology at Radcliffe college
and Harvard university in
1943, has been teaching at
Duquesne since 1948. Her dos
sier reads like a who's who
in education, but she is a mod
est and unassuming educator
with, an unswarvtng faith in
the potential of education to
perpetuate into adulthood the
"tremendous conception of
beauty, love and happiness"
possessed by children.
Visits Washington
Dr. Miller visited Washing
ton recently to discuss her
ideas with officials of the
U. S. office of education. She
is hopeful of receiving a fed
eral grant to put a pilot school
into operation.
Without such funds, her
problem will be to find dedi
cated teachers "willing to live
on faith instead of food" in
an effort to prove out the
theory. - .
"One difficulty in setting
up the pilot school is that it
would take about 20 years
before the cycle was complet
ed with the college level," she
said. "But I believe once I
get the pilot school set up.
the advances will be so fast
and marked that others will
pick it up within two or three
years." .
Possess Seventh Sense
' Inherent in her drive for
establishing a new educational
system is a belief that young
sters possess a heretofore un
developed "seventh" sense
uhirh mav be drawn out by
her teaching method. "It's evi
dent in some gifted cnuaren,
she said. "I'm not sure what
it is, but I'm convinced it ex
ists, and perhaps we will un
cover it in this system."
"I have talked to college
presidents and educators
throughout the country," she
said. .'They all have. encour
aged me in my theory.
nr Miller helievcs her cur
riculum will meet the needs
of all students, including fu
ture scientists, statesmen, au
thors and industrialists.
"It will be a welcome con
trast to a system where a stu
dent never learns to use more
than a small fraction of his
r-anacitv fnr learnine say
about 10 per cent," said Dr.
Miller. "
'Perhaps better plans can
be made for the improvement
of education to meet the pres
ent crises," she concluded,
"but this is one with concrete
suggestions pointing in the
direction I am convinced we
must go."
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I JIIHJMUIIUIIll.llNI! iff'!'! mutJuL.. 1 JwZMK
This month we're observing our 59th Birthday, here at Snider's. It's the anniver
sary of Oregon's oldest licensed dairy, operated by the same family since 1904.
We've taken a bit of license in the picture above, depicting one of Snider's
milk wagons soon after the turn of the century. Actually, Little Daisy wasn't in
existence in those days. She was born but a few years ago and, strange as it
may seem, hasn't changed a bit in appearance.
Medford was quite a town when Snider's Dairy was established. The Medford
Daily Tribune carried advertisements of Iowa Box and Lumber Company selling
cement for $5.00 a barrel, the young blades of those days gathered at Russell's
Confectionery, and the Condor Water & Power Company of Tolo informed
southfern Oregonians that their firm operated substations in Medford, Jackson
ville, Gold Ray, Central Point, Woodville and Grants Pass.
Just after Snider's Milk became popular with the few Medford residents of
more than a half-century ago, J. F. Reddy launched his promotion of the Blue
Ledge Copper Mine, the 4-Paw & Sells Bros, "enormous shows united" brought
their circus to the Rogue River Valley and Uncle Josh and his Hayseed Band
delighted enthusiastic crowds at the Davis Opera House. The Nash Hotel was
the center of "city" life, and folks who came to town parked their horses and
buggies at the Nash Livery Stable.
And so, it went, down through the years, with Snider's expanding its services
and facilities as the Rogue River Valley and Medford progressed. All of us,
here at Snider's, are proud of Medford today and proud to have shared in
the growth of this fine community.
And to you, our neighbors and friends of many years and recent months, we
pledge our continued efforts to please you with the quality of our products and
excellence of our service during the next 59 years!
iiidcrs