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CilpitIIJ News Sewice
LANSING - Unless they
change to keep up with the
times, more industrial rkers
could find themselves out of
date, out of styLe and just plain
out of k.
America must join the
"revolution' to shift &om an in­
dustrial ceo omy into the new
informational age in order to
stay competitive with industrial
Asian and European nations,
the director of the Michigan
Department of Commerce said.
"Weare ,0iDg through a
basic .CCOIlOIDlC retolutio right
now,' Doug R said. "We are
going from an • trial society
to an informatioaal society. It
dumges drastically the way we
makea�'
A state AFL-CIO repre-
entabve said the trend y
&om economic dependence on
in trial rk d manufac­
turing will affect many wOrkers.
-rhere' DO doub that we're
moving toward an economy
ere it takes fewer and fewer
workers to prodeee goods,' said
Jon Ogar, director of com­
municatio for the Michigan
AFl.rCIO.
Ogar said older- workers who
are used to ma - good wages
at factory-type jobs would be
hardest bit
job
Ross said i . hard for such the informatinal age, be warned
segments of the population to that manufacturing should 0011:­
make the adjustments they will tinue to play an important role
C\altually ba\'e to make in order in America's economy. .
to surviYe. '('I1le informatiooal revolu-
w(In the past), for most don)· a trend we should con­
people making a living meant trol in the sense that we should
working for a living. • Ross said. not abandon the manufacturing
'Today there is almost DO path , industry,' Ogar said. ., don't
to the middle class if you want to think you can have just a service
work fo a � The only path 'or just a manufacturing
to the middle class no is really ecoDOmy. You have to have a·
thinking for a � W steady manufacturing base to
Ross said the working path to support the informatien/ser­
mid�income living is aum- vices industry.
bling as it becomes cheaper' to ., don't think we sbouldaUow
physically produce' and our manufacturing base to
manufacture goods in less erodeiffornootherreasonthan
�Ioped countries. for national defense reasons.
"In the old economy there You can't make tanks at fast­
were mass production systems food restaurants and you can't
with all kinds of manual jobs get &ira-aft at a laundry.'
which were hooked up witb such Ogat also said that factors
a productive ay of making besides the information revolu­
things that yo could earn a tion are responsible for the
decent living doing it,' Ro dedine in inudstrial jobs.
said. He cited the trade deficit and
'Now, if it CAn be made lack of government action to
routine enough so that you can open foreign markets as major
produce something physically, it. causes of job losses.
will be done in the Third World, ., think it's happening for a
because you can get someone number of- reasons, some of
equally unskilled, using the which we can control, but have
same technology, to do it for SO chosen nl)t to,' Ogar said.
cents an hour or 75 cents an Both Ross and Ogar agreed
hour.' that training worker to blend
Although Ogar agreed that into the new age smoothly is a
America is moving steadily high piority.
away from manufacturing into
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JaD.....,15-21, 1989 MICHIGAN CITIZEN Paae 3
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ets Up training
s to help kids
ByRoa
Sa\'e Our SoDs and Daughters (SO-SAD), an or­
ganization deaIiDs with youthful vio1en� in the Detroit
area i setting up programs where young people can talk
with each othu abour personal problems, including
pressures on them to do things they consider wrong or
harmful.
While the' prwam mostly involves young people
talking to each other, there will be dulls organizing the
pl"�r:ng foe such 'adult facilitators' will be held
Saturday January 14 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the SO­
SAD office, 453 Martin Luther King Blvd., Detroit,
Michigan4820L .
For those who miss this sessi on, another will be held I
on Saturday J anuary 28 at the same time and place.
For further information, call the office at (313) 833-
3030.
Edward Cox. who is organizing the program says,
"The value system of our country is not geared toward
growth and development-
He suggested such sessions among young peop
would add to growth and development and reduce the
emotional pressur� which lead to violent behavior.
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SO-SAD
fora
Competi ion demands
. \
educa tio overhaul
By Jenny·L;Gri
Capital News Service .
lANSING - lfstateschools
are not overhauled, Michigan
will lose its competitive edge
against Asian and European
. countries, the director of the
state Department of Commerce
said
Director Doug Ross said
education must go beyond rote
learning to meet the demands of
Michigan's changing economy.
Ross said as Michigan chan­
ges from an industrial - to an
information-based economy,
teaching methods "will be
turned upside down."
As technology ina-eases, the
demand for "thinking" skills will
rise, phasing out unskilled
labor, Ross said. And more
Michiganians will lose jobs to
Third World workers, who will
accept lower wages than U.s.
workers, he said
"There is a growing demand
for teachers who can teach for
understanding rather than rote
learning," Ross said. "We don't
-need memorizing, we need
.. reasoning.
Michig now can produce
. as much it did in 979, but
with 200,900 fewer workers,
Ross said
Donald Bemis, state superin­
tendent of public instruction,
agreed schools need to be more
r bout education and less about
teaching students how to tak
tests.
. Now, teachers try to educate
and trai students at the sam
time, B ntis said, adding the two
goals need to be separated.
But Mary Christian, a
Michigan Education As ocia­
lion vice president, noted it is
difficult to teach students ho
to think and develop a test th t
adequately assesse their
ability.
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Any changes in education
rest on the school finance
reform proposal pending in the
Legislature, Christian said.
Without the funds, many state
school programs will not
progress, she added
-I think we are �ing a good
job: Christian said. We just
�n't have adequate resources.
But Ross said schools ran
short of teaching children these
skills, especially compared to
Asian and European nations.
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Ross said the Asian and
European system more effec­
tively teaches students reading
and math skills d combines
education with apprenticeships .
"It doesn't mean we can't
catch up," he said. "But they are
better positioned to go through
the (economic) revolution."
But Christian said Asian and
European schools te ch rote
learning rather than thinking
skills, and they have different
missions.
, American school are
obligated to teach the mass ,
while in other countries the ys­
tern is more el dive, she said.
Christian said Michigan has
a "long way" to go in improvin
education and preparin stu­
d nts for the future's unkn wns.
"It's more than training stu­
dents, he said "We also need
to make legislators, the com­
munity and parents more aware.