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aiofiflU ' com.. i— Reflections And Prespectives By Hoyle H. Martin Sr. Executive Editor As the Bicentennial reached its climax on July 4, many Americans glorified our past, some questioned it, a few ignored it, and still fewer condemned it. Nevertheless, what ever our choice in considering these past 200 years and now that the hoopla and commericalization of the celebration has reached its peek, it appears time for all Americans to reflect and attempt to put in per spective these 200 years of the world’s nearest sustaining democra cy. As we reflect on the past we must begin by saluting our Founding Fathers, men who wrote a Constitu tion that has endured longer than any other in the world’s youngest democracy. We must recognize too that is has been the strength of the Constitution which has enabled black men to elevate themselves from slavery to positions of power, yet, with the realization that complete equality is not yet theirs. We must recognize further, that with all of its shortcomings, Ameri ca is nevertheless the greatest land of opportunity to have existed in the annals of human history. As significant as these reflections are in terms of what they symbolize for the nation, it is even more significant that we view them from a perspective for a look to the future, i Watergate, landing on the moon, and Martin Luther King appear to symbolize America of the past de cade - in many ways the 20th century and more, clearly than anything else, - should remind us of what the future can and should hold for our nation. Again, because o iur Constitu tion, and inspite of • fralities of men, we survived tergate. In addition, while wc ...astered the science of outer-space, we failed to grasp fully the ethics ol the teach ings of Martin Luther King. inereiore, as a nation looking toward its 300th birthday we should, as Vernon E. Jordon has reminded us, “re-examine the ideals that led to the founding of this nation and the gap between those ideals and the reality of today. And (this year) should be a time of national debate to formulate goals for the next century.” To do less would be to jeopardize our <;hance to have a Tricentennial. Courts Abandon Blacks Last week the U.S. Supreme Court imposed strict limitations on the power of federal judges to make year-to-year changes in school dese gregation orders. , By a six to two vote - Justices Marshall and Brennan the dessen ters -- the High Court said that once school officials have complied with the “affirmative duty to desegre gate” its school system the authority of the courts is over. The majority opinion of the Su preme Court said that once a satis _ factor desegregation plan has been approved, the court has “fully per formed its function of providing the remedy for previous racially dis criminatory attendance patterns.” The POST takes strong exception to this decision. The Court, in our opinion, has focused its attention only on “previous” racial discrimi nation and has totally ignored the fact of present aiid future shifting population patterns that will even tually , result in re-segregating the schools. The Court obviously dis allowed the fact that only in cases where re-segregation is caused by some official actions can federal judges intervene. Charlotte-Mecklenburg School Board Chairman William E. Poe confirmed the POST’s reason for opposing the High Court’s decision. He said the Supreme Court’s ruling could have “a tremendous impact down the road” on the local schools. He said further that the ruling “relieves the pressure” on the school board to avoid letting some schools become re-segregated. We believe the Supreme Court decision to be wrong for two very simple but factual reasons. First, the Court’s concern with only “pre vious” racial discrimination incor rectly implies and assumes that the forces opposed to intergrated schools have ceased to exist and function. Secondly, the Court has left for future legal consideration the fact that most of the shifting popula tion housing patterns that will result in re-segregating the schools are caused by both official and unofficial actions. We hope that the Court will find it wise and necessary to consid er and act on these points in the very near future. Something On Your Mind? Something on your mind is the name of a column devoted to our readers of this newspaper-as long as it relates in some way to young people, regardless of age. It will be written by you and about whatever is on your mind! So, if you have something to say...WRITE ON! Some subjects that may be of special interest to you are: Drugs, Generation Gaps, Welfare, Gangs, School, Going Steady, Police Revo lution, Whites, Blacks, Integration, Busing, Draft, God, Negro churches, etc. ' THE BEST OEFENSE AGAINST RATS IS A GARBAGE CAN WITH THE UP ON TIGHT." This Is Something You Can Do! REPORT FROM iktimWasb' ngtQJl-.— ! Government Procedures For Using A Ladder oy jim marim, am District Congressman With the help of the federal government we now know how to pro perly build and use a ladder. That’s right, a ladder. For those who aren’t sure what a lad der is, the definition can now be found in the Federal Register, that helpful publication of rules and regulations is sued each day in Wash ington. Last year, the Register helped us by publishing 60,000 pages of rules and regulations and complicated defini tions generated by go vernment agencies. . One of the latest help ful projects of the go vernment has been the issuance of 72 pages of regulations defining a ladder, how it is to be constructed and what weight it should be able to bear. If it is a wooden ladder, the Register carefully defines “knots, as found on trees, and tells you how many and how large they can be in the struts of a ladder. It is a wonder how we ever managed before tnese regulations were promulgated by OSHA, the Department of La bor’s Occupational Safe ty and Health Adminis tration. OSHA, you may recall from earlier Washington Reports, is charged with oversee ing worker safety and health in business and industry. That’s a good objective, certainly. I realize that there are areas of work where OSHA is justified in set ting guidelines for em ployee safety, but I think the taxpayers’ money could be better spent than having a group of OSHA em ployees sitting around drawing up regulations defining a ladder and its use, and deciding how to define a knot on a slab of wood. OSHA left no stone unturned in describing the functions of a lad der, and how it is to be stored, and what to do if it becomes damaged. They have taken 72 pag es in the Federal Regis ter to tell us that “a ladder is an appliance usually consisting of 2 siderails joined at regu lar intervals by cross pieces called steps, rungs, or cleats on which a person may step in ascending or descending.” Then there are definitions of single ladders, step lad ders, extension ladders and a catchall special purpose ladder. If you own a metal ladder, the Federal Register dic tates that “all metal parts shall be made of aluminum, steel, wrought iron, mailable iron, or other material adequate in strength for the purpose intended.” In other words, don’t use gold, lead, copper or mercury. In case you do not know how to use a ladder, the regulations say, “when ascending or descending, the user should face the ladder.” Incidentally, these regu lations make no provi sion for the bad luck that follows if you walk under a ladder. ino sen-respecting house painter will want to be without the ladder section of the Federal Register. All of this may seem a little ridiculous to you, but your tax dollars are paying for such trivia. THE CHARLOTTE POST "THE PEOPLES NEWSPAPER" Established 1918 Published Every Thursday By 1 he Charlotte Post Publishing Co., Inc. 2606BWest Blvd.-Charlotte, N.C. 28208 Telephones (704 ) 392-1306, 392-1307 Circulation 11 ,ooo 57 YEARS OF CONTINUOUS SERVICE Bill Johnson .Editor-Publisher Gerald O. Johnson .Business Manager Rex Hovey .Circulation Manager Second Class Postage Paid at Charlotte, N.C. under the Act of March 3,1878 Member National Newpaper Publishers Association North Carolina Black Publishers Association Deadline for all news copy and photos is 5 p.m Monday. The Post is not responsible for any photos or news copies submitted for publication. National Advertising Representative Amalgamated Publishers, Inc. 45 W. 5th, Suite 1403 2400 S. Michigan V/e New York, N.Y. 10036 Chicago. III. «o«]6 (212 ) 489-1220 Calumet 5-0200 i lie r ronlems W ith Self Pace [vacation Uv (lor alH n Inknonn Post Staff Writer There is a new concept lr educating our youth. This con cept is termed “Self Pace Education". It differs from conventional teaching in seve ral aspects. Self pace advocates theorize that their method emphasizes a student learning whereas the conventional method em phasizes a teacher teaching. Self pace works like this. A teacher prepares a list ol objectives for his course. The objectives are no more than the things a student should know upon satisfactorily com pleting the course. The course is then divided into modules. Modules are units of instruc tion covering material which should meet one or two of the objectives. The student is given mo dules The teacher lectures from the modules and stu dents can study the modules on his own time After a given period of time, a student is evaluated on how well he met the objectives of the course It his evaluation is good he is movea on 10 me next module. If his evaluation is poor he has to repeat that module. The student is allowed to continue at his own pace on a particular module until he meets the objectives of the course. If the term ends before a student completes all the mo dules of a course, he is given a grade of “I" for incomplete. He can remain in a course and attempt completing modules for up to 4 terms at most schools. Different schools have different time limits as to when a student must com plete a course. A grade of “F" for failure is given if a student hasn't completed all the mo dules after the given time limit. The method looks good on paper but in reality, it stinks! The problems that the self pace method incurs are too numerous. One problem is that most teachers are conventional b; nature and they bumble th< self pace method so bad it is ridiculous. Probably the most critical problem is the management of you will, having 50 or so students in a course all rrov ing at different paces Ui Ke the conventional method where a teacher prepared for all students in a course once, the teacher in self pace must prepare for every module she has a student in at that time I is like having different classes in one. To compound this problem, you will have stu dents starting with one mo dule and within a term moving on to other modules Multiply I this transition by the number of students in that course and you have a mess. The management is the key to self pace yet all self pace programs that I have witness ed are poorly managed. The problem again is that teachers are conventional by nature. Still other problems with self pace is that it is not characteristic to our society. It tends to make students lazy. It do«s nothing to motivate learning, and it de-emphasizes competition Our society being of a capi talistic nature is based on competition. Since jobs are the basis for educatoin in our society (something that I don't concur with either; we should educate people to be able to do jobs in our society. Since I don't know of any jobs that is self paced, it is fundamentally wrong for education to be .self paced. Advocates of self pace also like to emphasize the fact that it gives diversification within a course. Since all students entering a course are from different learning experienc . . .DOWN One Monoply That Works For a number of months, Black Americans have been reading about overbearing regulatory commissions, and how this country could func tion better with less regulation, not more. In 1976, the anti-Washington, anti-big government rhetoric has grown louder and louder. One area, however, where pervasive go vernment regulation has helped the Ameri can people is being threatened by regula tory “experiments” contrary to the public interest. That area is telephone service. While we’ve all had our “hor ror stories’’-about a call mat aian t go rnrougn me nrst time or a call billed to Taiwan when we weren’t even home, there’s no doubt in my mind that telephone service in the United States is the best in the world. Now, these self-serving Washington bureau crats are trying to change that. In the name of what they call “competition”, they are in fact putting policies into effect that will raise the cost of telephone service for the vast majority of Americans while reduction costs for privileged few. Many Americans-myself included--have tak en telephone service for granted because day after day, it is there when we need it-and at resonable cost. But the Federal Communications Commission, through its recent decisions, has opened my eyes to the danger inherent in tampering with a system that has worked and is working well. L>et s look at tne record. In the early 1900’s literally thousands of telephone companies sprang up, resulting, in some cases, in three or four companies in a single town. If you wanted to talk to everyone, you needed three or four telephones in your home or business. In addition, this wasteful, costly duplication of facilities and service resulted in much higher prices for telephone service. But a series of wise decisions on the state and federal levels eliminated these problems by establishing telephone service as a regulated “natural” monopoly .with regulators replacing competition. The goal: the widest availability of high-quality communications service at the lowest cost to the entire public. That is, one company in a given area would provide quality telephone service at a price virtually everyone could afford. In return, that company’s profits would be limited to a reasonable amount. The result? More than 95 percent of all people in the United States have telephone service, and while the cost of most things has skyrocketed over the years, telephone charges to customers have risen at a much lower pace. But competition, not monopoly, has been the “American Way” for 200 years. How can a monopoly be in your interest? Cyrus J. Colter, Professor of African-Ameri can Studies at Northwestern University, is an attorney and, for 22 years, was a commissioner on the Illinois Commerce Commission, which regulates telephone service. In testimony before the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Antitrust, Professor Colter addressed the question of monopoly versus competition. Now though, it looks as if our legislators in Washington ar^waking up to the problem. In my next column, we’ll look at how Barbara Jordan and others are getting down to business to save the nation’s telephone service. es, self pace will allow faster learners to move while slower learners are bored from being left behind. It Is theorized that conven tional education moves too slow for the fast learners and too fast for the slow learners. Conventional education is geared for the average learn er. Self pace supposedly reaches more students. This I will agree with to a point. Also, this is the only merit for self pace instruction. But the problems incurred by a self pace program are a too high a price to pay for that merit. Moreover, there is no con crete evidence to prove self pace instruction is better than conventional instruction The advocates of self pace have no current means of evaluating the self pace method as com pared to conventional me thods. The conventional method of teaching with a tutorial pro gram for the slow and addi tional assignments for the fast learners is still in my opinion the best teaching method. With a well prepared course plan outlining the objectives of the course, the conventional method offers far more than the self pace could ever offer. There is a place for self pace programs, however. Students who have to take remedial courses without credit could be allowed to take self pace courses. Since the course would be given for no credit, the student could be allowed to study at his own pace. Since most students are in a hurry to graduate they would be moti vated to complete the self pace so that they could go on to a course with credit. I will say that any rinethod of teaching is only as proficient as the teacher. The faults that are inherent with the conventional way of teaching is not a fault with the method but rather a fault with the teacher. Few teachers, especially at the college level, prepare pro perly for a course With pro per planning and an under standing of the subject a con ventional way of teaching is a very effective tool
The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, N.C.)
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July 8, 1976, edition 1
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