PAGE-
HERALD
The
Every once in a while some scientist or
science writer takes a flier into the future to
predict the marvelous things that thinking ma
chines will do someday.
Don't look now but they're already
doing it.
Richard Bellman, a mathematician with
the Rand Corp., points out that computers
are, among other things, beginning to control
traffic in big cities, direct the complete pro
cessing of steel, handle drug quality control
and take over many bank jobs.
The man from the Air Force's "think
factory" claims that by applying just what
we know today about computers, all our mass-
s The
(Medford Mail-Tribuns)
The Parent-Teacher Association has long
been a fixture in most of the schools of the
nation. Has it helped the schools? Has it hin
dered educators in doing a good job? Has the
PTA outlived any usefulness it once had?
Or Is it still a beneficial influence in educa
tion? These questions are almost always good
for a lively discussion these days. We do not
pretend to know the answers to them, but
they are a legitimate subject for debate.
A recent issue of the Seattle Argus car
ried an article by Philip Bailey in which he
calls for the abolishment of the PTAs. Give
both the teachers and the kids a break, he -asks.
. .
Bailey does not see the PTA as a threat
to the republic, but says "The main objec
tions to its continued existence are that it
wastes a lot of time of both parents and
teachers, and only further muddles an already
confused educational effort." He adds:
"The teachers, of course, are forced to .
attend the gatherings, and in most instances
must spend considerable time and effort in
getting their rooms ready for periodic inspec
tions. I have talked to many teachers about
the PTA, and have yet to find one who thinks
the schools would not be better off without
it. In fact, the main objection to the PTA is
the strong and not so subtle pressure exerted .'.
on (he teaching staff. Woe to the teacher who .
docs not cooperate, and no unorthodoxy or
hanky-panky will be tolerated. . . .
"Wo wonder if the cause of education
would not be bettor served if it were left in
the hands of professional educators, and let
parents confine their activities to the neces
sary training in behavior, religion and mor
als .. ."
In discussing this article with a parent
of our acquaintance, we found her in partial
disagreement not with the thesis that the
PTAs were not really useful, but because it
was her experience that they tended to be
used as "rubber stamps" for decisions of the .
administration.
A HOLMES
We
IV"
By HOLMES ALEXANDER
Dictators liavc their dreams.
You wouldn't know it from the
press clips of Fulgcncio Batista
and Pore Jimenez, two strong
men who arc down on Uieir luck,
but they liad an idea in their
heads beyond stealing Die money
and the liberties o( Uieir country
men. Batista did this in Cuba and
Jinuw! did it in Venezuela, and
1 had the luck to interview bwth
men when tliey thought them
selves secure and both were be
iiiiibed with visions o imagined
grandeur yet to come.
1 saw JSalisla in his office in
Havana, and later at his villa,
when ("astro was far off in tlie
hills. Between these interviews.
American Ambassador Arthur
Gardner had walked me earnest
ly aroiuid the Embassy grounds,
speaking of Batista as "a god
send." At last, said the ambassa
dor, a Cuban leader had estab
lished the kind of government
which attracted American busi
ness ouVr than tourism and gam
bling. At last through agricul
ture, construction, industry and
even oil exploration the Yankee
dollar was a seed-dollar for in
vestment that would produce in
come lor Die Cuban people.
Batista was conscious of Gard
ner's aprobation. He was proud
of it. lint 1 do not Hunk the
dictator panted much for Uie bet
terment of his people. 11c was a
self-worshipper. A peasant, he
was snubbed by the American and
Cuban elite, who preferred tlie
well born, university-trained "Dr."
Castro.
AND .NEWS, Klamath Tails, Oregon
Load Bearers
PTA Outmoded?
Our own experience with the PTA consist
ed of taking out a 50 cent membership for
each of several years, under pressure from
youngsters, who in turn were under pressure
to make the room "100 per cent" thus enti
tling it to a prize or recognition of some sort;
and service on a PTA safety committee for i
short time (We did succeed in having a traf
fic signal installed at a school crossing.)
We resented the pressures involved, and
usually found the tea-and-cooky committee
sessions just as fruitless as the full chapter
sessions.
It is our conviction that parents sin
cerely interested in the education of their
children as opposed to such things as room
prizes, tea parties and social chit-chat would
do better by visiting the classes their children
attend, discussing problems personally with
teachers and administrators involved, and in
working with the children in an attempt to be
helpful.
We do not deny we cheerfully acknowl
edge the PTAs have some real accomplish
ments to their credit.
But are the accomplishments worth the
wheel-spinning, the pressures on children and
teachers alike, the half-baked explanations of
the "educational programs," the endless com
mittee meetings, which are involved?
We are inclined to doubt it.
Teachers are gradually gaining status as
a profession. More and more they are well
educated, intelligent, dedicated people, who
are trained to do a job, and in most cases do it
.well, . .
Would it, in Mr. Bailey's words, be better
to leave education "in the hands of profes
sional educators" and to concentrate on other
parental duties and obligations?
Let each parent answer for himself and
herself. Let the teachers answer, too. For,
ultimately, we must decide if teachers are to
teach, or if they are to be subjected to pres
sures, subtle and not so subtle, to conform and
to present a bland and pleasant "image" to
parents in general. E.A.
ALEXANDER . . .
All Can Dream!
Batista felt this snobbery, but
did not resent it. He gloried in it.
All about him were pitcures and
biographies of Lincoln. He had
Jim Bishop's "The Day Lincoln
Died" on his desk. This squat,
swarthy son of the Cuban earth
was not a candidate in the presi
dential election of 1958 when 1
saw him. He knew that he had
overstayed his time in office and
he had a retirement home in Day
tona Beach.
But he hoped to leave his of
fice to a Constitutional successor,
and to have history say that lie.
tlie peasant-President, had begun
Die emancipation of his people
from poverty and economic over
lordship. Hail the Eisenhower tinv
crnmcnt supported him to tlie
end. and recognized his successor,
Batista's fantasy might have liecn
at least as real as most men s
dreams.
Peres Jimenez, a drowsy little
jellybean of a man, talked with
me last summer in his Miami
Beach walertront home a house
no grander tlian otlicrs in the
neighborhood, not nearly so gran
diose as some of tlie adjectives
that it attracted alter Jimenez
was snatclH'd (mm it and sent In
jail. 1 later wrote of Jimenez as
a pockctbook pirate, a horsclwck
dictator. So he was, although I
still feel lie was a victim of
managed justice by an adminis
tration which prides itself on sup
porting Civil Kights.
Anyhow, Jimenez, despite hems
a multi-million-dollar emliezzler
and an overaged Latin lover, was
something of a dreamer, too. He
looked upon himself not as a Lin
Thursday. August IS. 1MJ
produced goods could be made by just 2 or 3
per cent of the population.
Hcnein lies the great question which will
have to be answered by the next generation:
What to do with all the leisure time that
will be available?
Although tomorrow's computers will be
marked by machines that deliver more than
is programmed into them that is, they can
repair themselves and teach themselves
fears that they will ever "take over the world"
are groundless.
Machines will replace men only in doing
things men don't want to do themselves.
coln but as a Caesar Augustus
the Emperor who turned Rome
into a city of marble. Like Mus
solini and Huey Long. Jimenez
saw his own glory in the great
buildings and highways which
were constructed during his re
gime. But the little man. now jailed
in Caracas and awaiting trial by
the forces of his arch rival. Presi
dent Romulo Betancourt. used to
laze in tlie Florida sun and dream
dreams of a return to Venezuela
very different from tlie one he
came to experience. He dreamt
that some (lay the people would
send him tlie message: "Rule us
again, oh wise and mighty."
Perhaps these two (alien tyrants
demonstrate the only equality that
is common to Uie sons of earth.
We all can dream, can't we?
Al
manac
It y United Press International
Today is Thursday. Aug. 29.
the 241st day of liitWJ with 124
to follow.
The moon is approaching full
phase.
The morning star is Jupiter.
The evening stars are Mars
and Saturn.
American poet and essayist
Oliver Wendell Holmes was born
on this dale in ISO'.).
On this day in history:
In 1921, newspapers said Uie
Ku Klux Klan had tarred and
feathered 4.1 Texans in the past
seven das.
IN WASHINGTON . .
By RALPH de TOLEDANO
During the 1900 campaign,
John F. Kennedy and the Demo
cratic Party pounded away at
two points: The missile gap and
economic growth. They said that
the "missile gap" would allow
the Soviets to surpass us by 1963
in the new weaponry. Mr. Ken
nedy and Defense Secretary Mc
Namara took care of that one
very soon after the Inaugural
ceremonies. There was. they
admitted, no "missile gap" and
today fin 1963) they arc boasting
of our tremendous rocket lead.
But the Administration clung to
the economic growth gap, in the
face of overwhelming evidence
la the contrary, for some time.
Depending on tlie speaker, the
"statislics" cited showed Hurt
whereas the economic growth of
the United States was as low as
2.5 per cent, the Soviets were
zooming ahead with percentages
running as high as seven or eight.
To listen to the "experts," the
Communists would be far ahead
of the United Stales in the pro
duction of steel, butter, consum
er goods, and hangnails before
1970. If doubting Thomases
doubted, hand-picked Soviet fig
ures from the mouth or pen of
Nikita Khrushchev were quoted.
The greatest exponent of this
By SYDNEY .!. HARRIS
Purely Personal Prejudices:
The basic difference between the
artist and the entertainer which
is a vague distinction in most
people's minds is that the former
works to satisfy himself, while
the latter works to please his
(.udience; great artists rarely
command the popular appeal of
talented entertainers, because
they do not give the public what
it wants, but what it ought to
want.
Some people are so hopelessly
utilitarian in their outlook that
they can't buy a hurricane lamp
without halt hoping or a hur
ricane. What bigots never understand
is that any group treated like
inferiors become inferiors (try
it with children!; ns C. I..
Dickinson observed long ago.
"Every kind of discrimination
Is a protection of the Incompe
tent against the competent,
with the result that the nwitive
to become competent Is taken
away."
Does ainonc join me in admir
ing my profound sell-restraint al
being almost Hie only journalistic
commentator in the i'nitod Slaies
to have thus l.ir refrained Irom
writing a single w o r d about
the Profumo case"
The four most dangerous words
in anv language are "all."
"none." "alu,is" and "ncvei"
for tlie basic lest ot any civili
zation i as ol any man' is Us
capacity to quality ami modi
ly us judgments and divisions:
and the beauty of demivracv.
despite its detects, is that it
"Maybe We Should Trim Off a Little
Say About Here"
Growth Gap Disappears
"growthmanship" was Dr. Walt
Whitman Rostow, an Administra
tion stalwart who wrung his
hands at the thought of Soviet
superiority and pleaded for a
planned economy to "help" us
catch up with those busy-bee Rus
sians. What he said was good
campaign and post - campaign
talk and it made headlines in
places overseas which were look
ing for "(acts" to prove that the
U.S. was on the skids, and the
U.S.S.R. the wave of the future.
But times have changed. It is
now important 'for the Adminis
tration to prove how tremendous
ly successful the United States
has been, how little we have to
fear from the Soviets. (lft;lhis-.
poinl can be driven-home prop-
oily, Mr. and Mrs. Joe Blow will
be convinced that the Adminis
tration saved the U.S. from eco
nomic defeat.)
Dr. Rostow, therefore, lias been
trotted out to offer up a new
set of "statistics" to show how
superfine this country is. (I have
nothing against that this is a
superfine country but I am not
impressed when those who have
been downgrading us suddenly
get the message. l The economist,
now chairman of the State De
partment's top planning board,
has suddenly discovered that pri-
STRICTLY
PERSONAL
makes modifying the main politi
cal process.
Nearly everyone uses the
word "preposterous" as a mere
synonym for "absurd." which
is the Viss for a useful word;
"preposterous" means a spe
cial kind( of absurdity, such as
putting the cart before (be
horse, or sentencing a man be
fore his conviction.
The conflict between the gener
ations was succinctly put hy Ly
man Bryson, when he said: 'The
error of youth is lo believe that
intelligence is a substitute for ex
perience: while the error of age
is to believe that experience is
a substitute for intelligence."
Architects customarily look
more harassed than any other
group of professional men be
cause theirs is the only profes
sion in which the client usual
ly thinks lie knows more than the
expert: no surgeon is told by the
patient where to make the inci
sion, nor is any lawyer ordered
lo rearrange jurisprudence hut
architects ottcn have to satisly
bad tasle more than their own
canons of esthetics.
Ruthless letters that are sent
nut with (he bumptious inscrip
"Kicliileil hut not read." should
he promptly returned with the
nnlalinn. "Received hut not
necessarily believed."
Water lapping against the
shore at mclit outside one's win
dow is the greatest soporific in
the woild: to me. a land-locked
vacation, nowhere near a coast,
line, is a waste of time and mon-
v a t e enterprise societies have
greater economic growth than
Communist societies. iVe could
have told him all along that this
was so.)
With a great show of indigna
tion. Dr. Rostow brushes aside
the benighted fools of underde
veloped countries who still cling
to the notion that free nations are
slipping back and being out-produced
by the intrepid Commu
nists. Ridiculous, he says, looking
angrily at the nearest radical
lighter. The exact opposite is
true.
For this. I feel a considerable
gratitude. Throughout the cam
paign and since then, I have been
offering facts and figures In show
that it will be a long, wet day be
fore tlie Soviets even begin lo close
the economic growth gap. The
. figures were all there for any
reasonably inquisitive reporter to
read, but few enough did.
Listen, therefore, to Dr. Ros
tow. The Gross National Prod
uct in the Communist empire
rose an average of 3.6 per cent
in 1962 with the Soviet growth
not quite achieving foui per cent.
On the other hand, the NATO
powers were expanding al a rate
of 4.8 per cent with the U.S.
marking up a dse of 5.4 per
cent.
In I960. John F. Kennedy was
telling the electoral,! thai U.S.
economic growth was declining.
The new Rostow figures are hard
ly corroborative. It would be in
teresting to compile all the Presi
dential references to the "eco
nomic growth gap" and to com
pare them with the current
words of Dr. Rostow. He is still
calling or economic planning,
hut he is ready lo admit that
"efficiency in producing many
diverse products is hr.rd for a
government bureaucracy to at
tain" because "there are not all
that many competent bureaucrat
ic managers."
I've been saying that, too. for
quite a while. But it's nice to
know that Dr. Rostow now agrees
with me.
BERRY'S WORLD
- -t
"Tby can't VOL' grt ynurtrlf hbclti by
4omt masanHti"
Letters To
Concerned
Why wasn't Mrs. Betty Cote re
tained as head librarian? It is
our understanding that her capac
ity was a much more perma
nent one than was indicated in
the article a few days ago which
stated that she had been "act
ing" head of the County Library.
Furthermore, in the discussion of
consolidation of the two libraries
a few months ago. the present
staff was to be retained.
We have no personal friends at
either library, but after two years
of being constant customers, we
have grown to appreciate the
pleasant and conscientious people
who have always been kind about
assisting us when we needed it.
And one of the most helpful has
been Mrs. Cote.
So little has been said about the
subject that we are inclined to
feel that there has been some
thing underhanded about the
whole business. Please w ill some
one explain the situation. I am
sure there are others who are as
concerned as we are. We would
certainly hate to see the rest of
the staff disappear in the same
unorthodox manner. Mrs. Cote
and all the rest have done a
fine job and certainly desserve
better treatment than this inci
dent leads us to believe they will
receive.
Mrs. Glenn J. Shannon,
6047 Shasta Way.
Reconsider
To the Klamath County Library
Board:
It has been learned that the
court and the Klamath Library
Board have required Mrs. Cote's
resignation after hiring Mrs. Karc
zag. When questioned last Janu
ary at a joint staff and board
meeting the board stated that all
employes would be retained. Both
county and city librarians were
to be retained under the survey
by Mr. Coolidge, and according
to the court and the board.
The staff is willing and antici
pates cooperating in every way
with the new librarian: however,
it is felt that she will be greatly
hindered in her efforts since with
Mrs. Cote gone, there is no one
on the present staff who knows
the procedure, files and policies
connected with the administration
of the main library, branches,
bookmobile and extension services.
With all the responsibilities of
consolidation facing the new li
brarian we feel Mrs. Cote's knowl
edge would be of great assist
ance to Mrs. Karczag.
The replacement of Mrs. Gladys
WASHINGTON REPORT . .
Russians Have Long
Record Of Perfidy
By KCLTON LEWLS Jit.
Senator Frank Lausche had
done his homework. Dean Rusk
had not. The story is that simple.
The Secretary of State journeyed
down Pennsylvania Avenue to
Capitol Hill the other day where
he was scheduled to plug the par
tial nuclear test ban before the
Senate Foreign Relations Com
mittee. Waiting for him was Lausche.
the maverick Democrat who may
well be the only member of his
party representing a Northern
state to vote against ratification.
Lausche had a few questions he
wished to ask about the Soviet
record of treaty violations. When
Rusk indicated he did not know
(lie answer to one of Lauschc's
queries, and that he "w n u I d
have lo be advised on that point,"
the Senator obliged.
The wavy-haired onetime Ohio
Governor launched into a ten-minute
lecture on Soviet erfidy. Thirty-four
years ago. Lausche re
minded Rusk, the Soviets signed
the Kellogg-Briand Treaty and
The Editor
Cox. reference librarian, when she
retires has already been brought
to the attention of the board. V,
feel this person should be in train
ing at present time to carry on
with any degree of efficiency in
this department. Mrs. Cote has
many qualifications for this posi
lion, including knowledge of
materials and library holdings.
This would shorten the training
period necessary. Statistics show
training periods are expensive.
With the best interest of the
library at heart and a knowledge
of the tremendous job facing all
of us during the consolidation, the
staff asks the board to recon
sider and retain Mrs. Cote as a
staff member.
i Signed i Ethel E. Zcvcly, Betty
Emmert, Wendell B. Smith, Anne
M. Briggs, Gladys Cox, Marjorie
P. Eberl, lima Matthews, Beulah
Campbell, Mike Ferguson, Gretta
C. Moorman.
Mess
Recently about 30 Mazamas,
members of a Portland mountain
eering club, visited the Sky Lakes
area in the Winema National For
est for the first time. We were
very favorably impressed with
what we saw. Some of us hiked
from Seven Mile Marsh to Cold
Spring, savoring the good trails,
the fine mountain views, and the
many lovely lakes. We thoroughly
enjoyed our twenty mile hike and
weather favored us until a heavy
rain began just as we came into
Cold Spring Camp for lunch.
Imagine our dismay and disgust
in finding the attractive log shel
ter too befouled for human use.
Some riders had ignored the hitch
ing rack and corral and stabled
their horses in the shelter render
ing it unfit for a long time. It is
hard to believe that anyone could
so misuse the only building in a
campground affording people pro
tection from a storm.
Since these trails and camp
grounds were established by the
U.S. Forest Service for the com
fort and pleasure of hikers,
campers, hunters and fishermen;
their use by horses or mechani
cal equipment must be strictly
regulated or prohibited if neces
sary to protect these facilities
from abuse or misuse. One such
instance of abuse can ruin the
comfort and pleasure of count
less people who come later, right
fully expecting lo enjoy a shelter,
a clean campground and safe
trails.
Mrs. Martha Ann Piatt.
2738 N. E. 14th Street,
Portland 12, Oregon.
agreed lo outlaw war. Within
months. Red soldiers crossed into
Manchuria.
Then Soviet diplomats inked a
"non-aggression" pact with Fin
land that contained an escape
clause identical to that found in
the current lest ban treaty. Either
side could abrogate the treaty by
giving three months advance no
lice. Without five minutes advance
notice, the Soviet Union invaded
Finland. Nov. 30, 1930.
Lausche referred back to 1933
when President Franklin Roose
velt established diplomatic rela
tions with the Soviet Union. Soviet
diplomats then swore there was
no agency located on their soil
mapping world-wide Communist
strategy. Al that very time, the
Comintern was headquarters in
Moscow, its agents plotting world
revolution.
Senator Lausche got Rusk to ad
mit the Soviets had violated an
agreement with this country as
late as last fall. At that time.
Premier Khrushchev agreed to on
site inspection that would prove
all long-range missiles had been
removed from Cuba. The promise
was never kept.
Other treaties broken by the So
viets: In 1920. the Soviet Union en
tered into separate peace treaties
with Estonia. Latvia and Lithua
nia, recognizing their independ
ence and autonomy and renounc
ing voluntarily all Soviet rights to
their territory.
Each land is now occupied by
Soviet troops.
-On July 23. 1932. the Soviet
I nion agreed to a non-aggression
pact with Poland. On Sept. 17,
1939 as the Pules fought valiantly
t" fend olf Nazi troops in the
west. Soviet armies attacked in
the east.
On Dec. 27. 1943, the Soviets
agreed in support formation of a
provisional government for North
and South Korea. From Ihe very
beginning the Soviets violated the
agreement.
-On Jan. 29. 1942. the Soviet
Union asreed to withdraw it
tones from Iran. Three years lat
er, tlie Soviets armed pro-Com-mumst
rebels, supplied them with
Red uniforms, and repudiated
ihoir agreement. In January of
l'46. tiie Iranian covet nment ap
lualed to the United Nation
charging the Soviet Union with
violating the 1942 agreement and
interfering in its domestic al-
I