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Samira Jafari | Editor in Chief
editor@randb.com
Kathleen Baydala | Managing Editor
me@randb.com
Jaime Sarrio | Opinions Editor
opinions@randb.com
1
Our Take
Majority opinions of The Red & Black’s editorial board
Below the standard
Bush's “No Child Left Behind" bill
works against teachers and children
Making good on his promise to increase edu
cation spending, President Bush signed a bill
into effect on Tuesday that will pump more than
$26.5 billion into schools. But the bill’s heavy
emphasis on standardized testing is one of many
elements of the plan that will do more to ham
per educational improvement than to help it.
During the 2000 election, education was a pri
mary issue for both candidates, , while some criti
cized that the plans were virtually identical.
Ultimately, Bush’s “No Child Left Behind” bill
won out, and the president was faced with the
difficult challenge of trying to appease
Republicans who wanted more state control and
Democrats who wanted more support for failing
schools.
The plan underwent revisions as it passed
through Congress — the finished product is
without the controversial voucher program,
which gave students in failing schools money to
attend private institutions.
What’s left is a bill that relies almost entirely
on standardized testing to bring “accountabili
ty” (the hot political phrase of the moment) into
schools.
The tests in math, reading and science will be
administered yearly to students in grades three
through eight in order to assess the progress
and standing of the school.
After six years, schools who have not
improved will be forced to make staff changes.
Schools that fail to meet performance require
ments after two years will be given increased aid
and students will be given aid to seek outside
tutoring.
In theory, this plan sounds like an effective
way to ensure that students aren’t trapped in
failing schools, but in action it could do just the
opposite.
By placing such intense emphasis on stan
dardized testing, the bill is forcing teachers to
teach to the test.
This will take all creativity and talent out of
the classroom by requiring teachers build their
curriculum around the annual test or otherwise
lose their jobs.
In Georgia, teachers are in heavy demand, so
much so that persons who do not earn a degree
in education can be certified to teach if they
complete a brief program and sign a contract
pledging to return to school and specialize in
education.
Such a reliance on standardized testing could
potentially make life in the classroom a uniform
and ungratifying experience, detering candi
dates from an underpaid profession.
In addition, the plan is built for the nuclear
family.
It assumes parents will care enough to remove
their children from failing schools and place
them in tutoring or other institutions.
It assumes that parents will have the time and
means to transport children to other schools,
and it limits parents years before they can make
alternative, federally-funded choices about their
children’s education.
Other aspects of the bill are geared towards
ESL students and requires they meet language
standards, but the bill does nothing to strength
en the help that they are getting at home.
Compassionate conservatism stressed family
values, yet this plan doesn’t improve conditions
at home and this is the root of educational
success.
Our Staff
NEWS: 543-1809
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Opinions expressed in The Red & Black other than unsigned edkonais are the opinions of the writers of signed columns and not nec
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Edtorial board members include Samira Jafari, Kathleen Baydala. Jaime Sank) and Mack Wiliams.
Reaching Us
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subject to editing for length, style and libelous material.
A lesson learned in responsibility
T he snow last week was
simply amazing. I was at
work when it first hap
pened; a feUow worker and
I took turns going outside
to look at the entrancing
white.
I am a manager at the
Ramsey Center, so I got to
watch it through the many
windows in the building.
Being that it was stiU win
ter break at the time, we
were very understaffed, and
the snow certainly didn’t
help to aUeviate the
problem.
Almost as soon as the
first flakes were falling we
got calls from the token
lazy employees who said
they wouldn’t be able to
make it in to do the
“adverse weather.”
Where in the world were
they at the time? Light
snow is NOT adverse
weather. I grew up in North
Carolina, where snow up to
your knees was still man
ageable.
Being a manager I found
myself doing and saying
things I never thought I’d
do: “It’s not much, but this
is still a job.
“I wish these people
were a little more responsi
ble.”
I stopped in my tracks.
I, a former prince in the
slacker kingdom, was com
plaining about lack of
responsibility.
“What's happening to
me?” I asked, looking at my
hands as if I had trans
formed into some kind of
beast.
As I thought about it
more, I realized that what
had happened to me wasn’t
a bad thing.
In fact, what actually is
happening is this slacker is
evolving.
I remember a time when
I’d be late to work and it
wouldn’t matter to me, and
I’d roll my eyes at whomev
er berated me for it.
I remember class assign-
Greg Woods
ments that I put off until
the last minute with little
or no worry, and the low
grade I received wouldn’t
even faze me.
I remember spending
money on wild nights out,
completely neglecting that
my cash would be better
spent on my water bill than
my beer bill.
But people do change,
especially during
transitions.
Last semester was the
beginning of my time as a
manager at my job. It was
also the time that I started
paying for virtually every
thing in my life on my own.
Lastly, the realization
came to me that I’m more
than halfway through with
college — and I’d better get
my act together.
I’m sure there are an
immense number of ladies
on this campus who would
call us college man-folk
immature.
I’m inclined to agree
with anyone who makes
that assertion about any
other person in college.
The reason immaturity is
so widely bred here has to
do with lack of
responsibility.
Most of the people in
this town own cars bought
for them by their parents.
A good deal more have
never received a bill in the
mail that had their name on
it.
There are kids in college
who still have checking or
credit accounts that are
connected to their parents
or someone else.
This is why college peo
ple shun responsibility —
because they truly wouldn’t
know how to be responsible
or handle adversity even if
they had to.
Unfortunately, many of
the people reading this will
completely avoid taking
charge of their own lives
and duties until absolutely
forced to, if ever.
However, it is not nearly
as difficult as one might
think.
Being in college, we stu
dents have an advantage
over people who just charge
into the real world.
We can ween ourselves
off of juvenile behavior and
irresponsibility, and become
well adept at handling our
own lives.
We can do this by getting
a job and actually taking it
seriously.
We can do this by under
standing the value of a
dollar.
We can do this by appre
ciating people who do help
us.
There needs to be a fair
balance between work and
pleasure in even a college
student’s life.
Now I’m not saying that
I’ve got it all figured out,
nor do I handle as much
responsibility as I surely
will someday.
But, I do try my best.
I value my own time and
I take on as much as I can,
which is more than many
college students can say.
To those who are han
dling their own lives, or who
are trying to, I salute you.
To those who are
mommy/daddy dependent
and don’t even know what
the word “responsibility”
means yet — we’re starting
a new semester and a new
year — maybe it’s time you
grew up.
— Greg Woods is a junior
in English.
E-mail, letters and faxes from our readers
Lottery will hurt South Carolina colleges
Having lived most of my
life in South Carolina, and
after attending coUege
there through the under
graduate level, I have mixed
feelings about them getting
a lottery for education.
On one hand, I’m thriUed
that the most under-taxed
portion of our society (the
poor and the stupid) will
now be paying their fair
share through the voluntary
tax system known as the
lottery.
Indeed, now all the rich,
white, suburban kids will all
be able to attend coUege for
free.
And it won’t cost the
high achievers of the state
who pay most of the taxes a
dime.
However, I am saddened
because now colleges in
South Carolina, including
my alma mater, will start
seeing more students come
out of high schools ill-pre-
pared for college work
because of grade-inflation
and watered-down classes.
Moreover, teachers will
be more concerned with lit
tle Johnny getting the mini
mum requirements for
whatever HOPE-like pro
gram they institute instead
«
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of preparing him for the
rigors of higher education.
So congratulations to
South Carolina for turning
your higher education sys
tem into a crap-shoot.
JASON K. VOHS
Graduate Student,
Athens
Chemistry
HOPE makes debt-
free degree possible
I would like to thank
Rachel Votta for her col
umn, (“Lottery gives HOPE
to students,” Jan. 9), and
reiterate her point.
I transferred to the
University in the spring of
2000, after having attended
New York University for
three semesters.
I loved going to school at
NYU — the city, the people,
the classes — and my deci
sion to transfer was based
on a number of factors, the
most significant of which
was financial.
Being a Georgia resident
and having had good
grades, I knew I would be
able to go to a Georgia uni
versity tuition-free thanks
to the HOPE Scholarship.
While NYU had provided
me with a hefty academic
scholarship, it covered less
than half of the $20,000+
per semester I was paying
in tuition and fees.
It seemed silly to spend
the rest of my natural life in
debt rather than transfer to
the University.
My classes here have
generally been no different
than my classes at NYU.
In my experience, the
only real differences
between the two schools
are location and cost.
Fortunately I don’t need
a degree from a “presti
gious” private university to
feel proud of my accom
plishments.
AMBER RHEA
Senior, Athens
Linguistics
Jack Gayle
A
Cops unfair
to college
students
I t has been said that
“power corrupts, and
absolute power corrupts
absolutely.” Nowhere is
this more evident than
within.the folds of our
local law enforcement.
Cops play a vital role in
society. There is no deny
ing that, but too often that
vital role is twisted into
some sort of power trip or
superiority complex.
How many times have
you had a cop coolly pass
you on the freeway at 10,
15, or even 20 miles over
the posted speed limit?
While it is true that the
boys in blue have the right
to exceed the speed limit,
it is equally true that
under most circumstances
they must do so with their
lights flashing to signifying
that they are responding
to a call.
This is a small
grievance however when
compared to the glaring
eye that constantly is
hanging over those of us
who fall into the category
of “college-aged.”
We are the troublemak
ers, the rowdy class of
young adults who must be
watched with scrutiny for
at any moment we may do
something so ridiculously
stupid, it will make the
front page of this very
newspaper.
While in many respects
this may be true, it does
not entitle us to maltreat
ment simply based on our
age.
Such maltreatment is
akin to racial profiling
because it is making an
unsubstantiated general
ization about a group of
people based on a trait
that we have no control
over.
I cannot help the fact
that I am 22-years-old any
more than another person
can be held responsible for
the color of his or her skin.
Many towns such as our
own make a great deal of
money off of the various
violations passed out to us
mindless college kids, but
then again, what can we
do about it?
The solution is simple
although it does require a
bit of research and
thought.
The most basic level of
protection is an adequate
knowledge of your rights
and the procedures by
which they are enforced.
Do not expect any
police officers to give you a
crash course on your indi
vidual freedoms while he
writes you a ticket on the
side of the road.
For instance, what is
wrong in this scenario?
Over the break, I was
riding with a friend, and
we were pulled over
because he was driving
with his brights on which
is, at most, a stupid mis
take.
The police officer
ordered my friend out of
the car, interrogated him,
searched the car without
his permission, interrogat
ed me about where we
were going, accused us of
being drunk (neither of us
had been drinking), told
me that my story didn’t
corroborate his, told us he
was going to follow us to
our destination and then
got in his car and sped off.
While this officer was
obviously a jackass, it does
not make my treatment as
a tax paying citizen any
less appalling.
Would the same have
happened to my father?
Probably not, and it is
this sad fact that makes
me realize I must be on my
toes at all times and in all
situations simply because
of my age.
Maybe if our illustrious
law enforcement officers
spent a little less time col
lecting money and being
belligerent and a little
more time enforcing the
peace we would all be bet
ter off
— Jack Gayle is junior
in advertising.