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THE RED AND BLACK
VOLUME 81, NUMBER 89
Georgia's only collegiate daily newspaper
TIIE UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA. ATHENS, GEORGIA 30602
WEATHER
Today’* forecast calls for
partly cloudy with a 20
percent chance of showers,
a high in the low 70's and
a low tonight in the upper
TUESDAY, APRIL 1, 1975
IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Educational quality on wane
Editor's note — This is the first of a
series of articles on the deteriorating
quality of public school education in the
South and the rest of the nation.
By KATIIY IIOGAN
Associate news editor
Three recently released studies on the
progress of American public school
students indicate that the quality of the
American educational system is experi
encing serious problems
Scholastic Aptitude Test scores (SAT),
the standard college board tests for most
colleges, have been falling every year
since 1962. Over the past 12 years, the
scores on the verbal portion has dropped
38 points, from 478 to 440. and the scores
on the math section have dropped from
502 to 478.
A federally funded testing organization,
the National Assessment of Educational
Progress, recently reported that 90.000
students in elementary, junior and senior
high schools knew less about science in
1973 than they had three years earlier.
The test also showed that the sharpest
decline was among 17-year-olds in large
cities, although students’ scores in urban
areas also fell.
Year
SAT's falling
1969
1507
COO
1971
505
1972
493
fc:*:*:*:*:*:*:rn /
1973
487
1974
477
t; fl O
Score
100 200 300 400 500 600
Key
Verbal *** Math ■■
A Til I HI) study, sponsored by the U.S.
Department of Health Education and
Welfare announced that the reading
levels of public school students have been
falling since the mid-1960's.
And southern schools have the dubious
honor of being at the bottom of almost
any yardstick of public school education
al quality.
The same National Assessment of
Educational Progress cited earlier show
that southeastern 17-year-olds lagged
behind the national levels in all subject
areas tested The subjects tested included
science, writing, citizenship, reading,
literature, music and social studies.
Southern college-bound high school
seniors had the lowest average scores in
the nation in 1974 with average SAT
scores of 426 verbal and 455 math In
comparison, high school seniors in the
Rocky Mountain Region had average
scores of 490 on the verbal portion and
502 on the math portion of the test.
Although many educators question the
validity of such tests as the SAT’s as an
indicator of intelligence, the fact remains
that the test scores are dropping on a
nationwide basis, and they are dropping
fastest in the Southeastern states.
IN GEORGIA, university system offi
cials have estimated that one out of
every five entering students come to
college with poor preparation and that
many require remedial classes before
they can pass the “Rising Junior Exam,"
an elementary reading and writing exam.
According to Ted Hammock, assistant
to the vice president for instruction. 79.11
percent of students taking the rising
junior exam in winter quarter of this
year passed, with 21.89 percent failing
the test
Hammock also stated that there had
been a four percent increase in the
number of failing students since summer
quarter of last year He qualified this
statement, however, by saying that the
test was administered to relatively small
numbers of students during that quarter
The number of students exempted from
taking basic level courses like English
101 has also dropped somewhat in the last
four years. Dr. Donald Barnett, head of
the remedial English program at the
University, said
Barnett also said that while "roughly”
40 percent of incoming freshman exempt
ed English 101 four years ago. that
number dropped to 25 to 28 percent
exemptions two years ago
I.AST YEAR, however, almost 35 to 37
percent of the freshman exempted the
course. Barnett said.
Although SAT scores are no longer
used as an admission standard here at
the University. Director of Admissions
M.O. Phelps readily admits that the SAT
scores of freshmen entering have fallen
during the past four years.
Phelps said that a student's grades and
his college board scores had been an
admission standard up till about five
years ago. but that since that time the
major requirement for admission was a
"B" grade average
The average SAT scores of entering
freshman was at an all time high in 1969,
Phelps said, with the verbal score being
507 and the math 539.
Since that time, however, the average
scores have dropped every year, with
last year's average scores being 477
verbal and 509 math.
Farmers aren't profiting
from food price inflation
By JIM I1EMBIN
Everyone who buys their own food
knows that retail prices for foodstuffs are
going up The farmer, however, is not
4 profiting from this inflation, according to
Dr. Walter Harter, head of the Universi
ty's extension farm management depart
ment
Cattlemen, who lose over $100 a head
on their cattle, are currently getting
between 18 and 24 cents per pound for
t their beef, but "should expect at least 40
cents a pound," Harter said
According to Harter, a group of
Georgia cattlemen plan to slaughter
thousands of cattle Friday, grind up all
the meat into hamburger, and sell it at
about 66 cents a pound Although this will
do away with valuable cuts of meat, it is
the only way that the cattlemen can
make any money, he said
Harter also said that farmers in
Florida recently gave calves away be
cause they were losing money on each
animal they raised, and California dairy
men last summer dumped thousands of
gallons of milk into Los Angeles sewers
in protest of the low prices they were
receiving for the milk
)
*
Photo by STEVE MILLER
Now, listen...
Photo bv BOB PUSEY
This enterprising Georgia student has devised a way to increase his
maneuverability to and from classes Rolling his way down the hall, he has found a
mechanism more efficient than “negative heel shoes" to preserve his feet from the
daily wear and tear of trekking to class This unusual method of wending one’s way
has all the potential to become a new fad on campus
AAUP members believe
faculty needs more input
Offensive line Coach Jimmy Vickers sends his troops through offensive agility
drills for the annual spring training program Spring football training began last
Friday and will run for four weeks Practice will culminate in the G-day game to
be held on Apr 26 at the stadium
HARTER SAII) the problem "is one of
supply and demand." Two years ago beef
was selling at over 60 cents a pound on
the hoof, and more farmers invested in
cattle than ever before. As a result there
are now a record number of beef cattle in
the United States causing prices farmers
receive for beef to plummet
“Farmers must project as mush as
three years in advance." Harter said
"They base their production on expecta
tions and they get into trouble when the
market collapses or surpluses occur."
Harter predicted that "in order to
make money, farmers will gradually
reduce the herd." and prices at the
supermarket will go up again. "This is
the natural law of supply and demand." h
he said.
Georgias cotton producers are in
equally difficult straits, according to
Harter Even the most efficient cotton
producers lose two cents a pound and less
efficient ones lose up to 12 cents, he said
"The economy slowed down, and mill
consumption was off As a result, some
cotton producers are losing their shirts "
TURKEY FARMERS are also having
their share of problems Harter described
last year's turkey prices as "terribly,
disastrously low "
Because of low prices paid for their
produce, farmers are being forced to
organize. Harter said Dairymen recently
‘ had to negotiate together to get higher
amounts" from processing companies,
even though minimum milk prices are
established by the government
"The problems of supply and demand
are a good argument for greater farm
organization, along the lines of labor
unions. Harter said
Certain areas of agriculture are still
profitable, according to Harter Among
these are poultry, swine, tobacco.and
peanuts. Corn is described by Harter as a
marginal affair, and soybeans are profit
able even though prices for that crop
were cut in half of what they were two
years ago
-ONLY FARMERS who have money,
who are very efficient, and who know
what they’re doing are making money.
Harter said
Harter noted that in the past foreign
demand kept American farm prices high
"Prices went down when the government
announced that it would control foreign
agricultural trade." he said
"Really, the farmer's worst enemy is
his next-door neighbor They are raising
the same things, and selling them on the
same market They have to go against
each other." Harter said
By SANDI MARTIN
Assistant news editor
The faculty does not have enough input
into University policy, according to
members of the American Association of
University Professors (AAUP).
According to Dr. Joseph R Berrigan. a
history professor and president of the
local chapter of AAUP. “The major
problem we face is faculty governance
The faculty should be involved in running
the University, but in actuality the
faculty system is excluded from real
responsibility.
"Usually at big universities the faculty
would have a very great role in
everything done, including appointments
of chairmen of departments, appoint
ments of deans, budgetary considera
tions. and curriculum." Berrigan said.
Berrigan explained that the AAUP is
the organization in higher education
which tries to represent teachers and
resident faculty in every conceivable
way It deals primarily in the areas of
academic freedom and tenure, rights of
faculty and compensation, according to
Berrigan.
DWIGIIT ERESIILEY. chairman of the
speech department, and a former presi
dent of AAUP. feels that the faculty
should have more input into how the
University should be run
"Regrettably, the traditional communi
cation of scholars, and the idea that the
faculty is the University tends to be
disappearing That’s where part of the
problem lies." he said
"There tends to be an adversary-
relationship between the faculty and the
administration It should be a comple
mentary relationship Some of it is mis-
Capsule news
Pollworkers
Poll workers for the Apr 9 SGA elections are now being hired The pay is $2 an
hour Interested persons, who are not associated with any campus political party,
should contact Jan George at the SGA office or call 542-1901
Dance auditions
The Period Dance group, sponsored by the drama department, is holding male
auditions on Wednesday. Apr 2 in the basement of Fine Arts Applicants will learn
a routine on Wednesday and Thursday, and auditions will be held on Friday
Everyone is welcome
Judiciary vacancies
There are several vacancies in the Student Judiciary in the areas of traffic and
main court Persons interested in applying for these positions should contact the
student government office in Memorial
Student arrested
A 20-year-old University student was arrested late Thursday evening by
University Police and charged with invasion of privacy Charles Billy Smith Jr of
I t Spring-Valley Trailer Park in Winterville. was observed by a University officer
looking into the windows of several rooms on the ground level of Brumby Bond
was set at S2.54MI
understanding the roles lof the faculty
and the administration), some of it is a
lack of responsiveness and good timing of
the administration to faculty requests,
but much of it is misperceiving each
other s intentions." Freshley said
The entire problem is not, though,
confined to University administrators.
Berrigan explained that a few years ago
the University Council made some
changes that allowed much more faculty
input, but the changes were stricken by
the Board of Regents in Atlanta.
Berrigan believes that there should be
a general body which would express the
attitudes of the University. Although
certain schools have such a body,
Berrigan said, "for the whole University
there is no such body "
THE UNIVERSITY Council, which is
made up of 30 administrators, 8 students
and 90 faculty members, could help ease
tensions between the faculty and the
administration, but, according to Fresh
ley, the crunch comes with issues such as
tenure, budge! and promotions The
faculty is even excluded from such areas
as general educational policy, which
includes determining degree programs
and curriculum
"The faculty is the legislator of educa
tional policy,” said Freshley, "and they
should have input into what the educa
tional policy says
"We are not being treated as faculty,
but as high grade janitors," Berrigan
said "If the administration wanted to
change, they could but the administra
tion's attitudes are not improving and I
don't see unionization too far off in the
distance The crunch from inflation is
making the situation worse and the
administration has not been fighting our
battles," he said
However, Berrigan does not advocate
unionization for the University. He feels
it would be unfortunate.
In comparison with other public institu
tions in the Southeast, the University has
a high salary level for faculty, but is
weak in the area of fringe benefits, noted
Berrigan
"We would be much better off if we
had an optional retirement program,' he
said If the retirement program was
optional, he explained, it would help in
the University faculty recruiting pro
gram
THE AAUP believes that there should
be as much faculty involvement in ad
ministrative policies as is practical,
according to Freshley. For example, in
1971, in the association's statement on
colleges and universities, the AAUP
asserted that the faculty should actively
participate in all procedures governing
promotions, a right which is presently
denied them
"The administration seems to view
itself as the head of the plantation house
and the faculty as the foremen, which
reduces the students to slaves." Berrigan
said