UP FRONT Growing Up Fast Continued from preceding page TRADITION. Isn't there one more worth carrying on? Friday night. The end of the week. The beginning of Shabbat. A time to relax, reflect and renew. And as much a part of this tradition as the candles and the challah was knowing the weekly Jewish News had also arrived. It brought news about the community, the nation and the world. Today, that tradition hasn't changed. In fact, it's gotten better. Each week award-winning journalists combine the warmth of community with world issues using candor and compassion to strengthen Jewish identity and...tradition. Keep the tradition alive. Give a Jewish News subscription to a friend, a relative, as a special gift. If you don't subscribe, (and you find yourself always reading someone else's copy) maybe it's time to start your own tradition. The Jewish News. It's a tradition worth keeping. THE JEWISH NEWS No Other Publication Has More Faith 1 r Save 40% over the newsstand price. Receive 52 award winning weekly issues plus five separate Style magazine supplements for only $31.00 (out-of-state $41.00). ❑ Why should I be the only one to enjoy? I'd like to ❑ Yes! I want to be a faithful reader of the Jewish send a gift subscription. News, I'd like to order my own subscription. Send my thoughtful gift to: My Name Name My Address Address City State Zip City State Zip Gift card to read Please send all payments along with this coupon to: Jewish News, 27676 Franklin Road, Southfield, MI 48034 Or call (313) 354-6060 and charge your order to Mastercard or Visa. J L 12 FRIDAY, APRIL 24, 1992 ing high marks on the bagrut. But every committee that has looked into the issue has decided that the bagrut should continue." Ms. Rogev, the geography teacher, is all for it. "It's a great challenge," she says. The bagrut teaches students how to struggle toward a goal. "If it's one of the many conditions of life that make Israeli kids grow up fast, that's good," she says. "We have exchange students here from the U.S., France, Ger- many and other countries, and those kids are infants compared to ours." But Professor Anita Shapira, dean of humanities at Tel Aviv University, con- tends that the life-and-death importance placed on 'the bagrut distorts high school education. "All work in the senior year is pointed towards the exam. The students don't develop their thinking; they don't study subjects in depth; they just study for the bagrut. It shrinks their horizons." Professor Shapira also finds that the exam is by no means a sure-fire test of knowledge; many high scorers cannot speak or write well in English or even in Hebrew and are fre- quently out-performed at university by those with lower bagrut marks but greater intellectual depth. Only about 30 percent of the annual 50,000 high school seniors take the exam; the others get technical school certificates, which prepares them for a trade, or they forgo the bagrut, which prepares them for the unemployment or un- skilled labor pool. Of those who take the test, some 80 percent pass with an average of 55 or better in the mandatory subjects: Bi- ble, history, mathematics, Hebrew language and litera- ture, English and citizen- ship. But to get into one of Israel's six universities, a 55 average in the basic subjects won't do, except in rare cases. To get into the most sought-after departments, such as medicine, law, busi- ness administration and economics, which accept only a small minority of ap- plicants, students may have to score over 100 by getting bonus points for extra years of study and have to do the bagrut on a much wider range of subjects. All of the half-dozen Shaul Levine students interviewed said they intended to go to university after the army. None had yet decided what to study, but each figured he or she would need at least a 90 or 95 average on the bagrut to get into a good department. If they did poor- ly on any individual tests, pulling their overall average down, they would take these tests over again in the army or afterward. A thriving cot- tage industry has grown up in Israel preparing students, especially after the army, for the exam. There have been a - few other suicides and attempted suicides by high school students in recent years, but it's hard to determine if they were caused by test pressure. Asked if she knew of any cases of extreme anxi- ety brought on by the bagrut, senior Michal Bar-El said, "My, girlfriend had a ner- vous breakdown last month. It seems it was from the pressure and lack of sleep from studying. But she's all right now She'll be taking the bagrut in May." ❑ m l LOCAL NEWS Grant To JCC To Aid Impaired The Jewish Community Center of Metropolitan Detroit has received a $20,000 grant from the Corn- munity Foundation for South- eastern Michigan for expan- sion of services to individuals with hearing and visual impairments. The Center will offer a range of specialized program- ming opportunities for all ages, including support groups, physical education classes, social groups, drama classes, speech reading classes, educational forums, adaptive equipment, and sign interpretation for a variety of programs. For information about these programs, call Margo Weitzer at the JCC, 661-1000. JARC Art Show At Sinai Hospital Works of art by 20 par- ticipants of JARC programs will be on display in the Fisher Lobby of Sinai Hospital from April 26 through May 11. The mixed-media art ex- hibit is the fourth annual col- laboration between the Sinai Hospital Guild and JARC, a Jewish association for residential care for persons with developmental disabilities. Works will in- clude watercolor, acrylic, fiber, and ceramics. An artists' reception will be held 2-3 p.m. April 26.