THE MICHIGAN DAILY
THURSDAY, MAY 24,' 1962
TIlE MICHIGAN DAILY THURSDAY. MAY 24. 19112
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FORT LAUDERDALE EDUCATION CENTER:
Report Pupils Studying Harder
Florida Public Schools Launch 'Bold Experiment'
Eventually, the 550 -acre campus
of the center will provide continu-
ous education from kindergarten
through the first year of univer-
sity graduate work.
But the excitement here centers
on the six-year high school which
will open in the fall of 1963, and
the elementary schoci to come a
year later.
"It is time for total reformation,
not a piecemeal patching up of
existing programs," Arthur B.
Wolfe, director and chief planner
of the center, said, "It is time for
a big leap forward, not a series of
little hops."
Total Reformation
And this is the shape of total
reformation at the South Florida
Education Center:
By lengthening both the school
year and the school day, the cen-
ter is adding the equivalent of five
regular school years to the normal
schedule over a 12-year period.
The school year will total 220
days, 40 days longer than the na-
tional average, 40 days longer than
Florida law requires, and 25 days
longer than any other public
school in the country.
Redd Refugeessest Embarrassment?
sr: : "r: :::: :::>r,::;:. ::?::;::.. . By FORREST EDWARDS
::;;"{.;. ,, J:,.{i;,:..,,:::,,;";. ::Associated Press News Analyst
s hHONG KONG Communist
China may be aiding. the human
. :::.::.:..J:.;:::} .:.:. : ........::.: > rt., sea of refugees pouring across its
v'.. bordersrinto Hong Kong in an e
dfort to embarrass the Westh ndo
.?:?41:"4"?:. ease the strain on its own short
food stocks.
The flood of Chi kinges o
I ~escape their Communist homeland
has prompted Hong Kong police
and British troops in recent days
Sto round up and send back thou-
sands who slipped across the bor-
nder or arrived in smugglers' Junks.
This crown colony no longer can
handle the tide of fugitives.
Hong Kong police sources have
said it has become evident that
Communist border guards have
>fi {relaxed controls
t. A nonrefugee arrival from Can-
tonsaid Communist officials have
ben "extremely liberal in issuing
i one-way exit permits" since Hong
Kong stepped up its efforts to
stem the refugee flow.
v4 Y.4.._<{He said the Communist action
had two purposes: An attempt to
place the blame on Hong Kong
for stopping persons from being
united with their families in the
colony, and getting rid of the
"nonproductives"-the aged, weak,
sick and children - in an attempt
to alleviate the serious food short-
age in southern China.
British authorities have put cap-
tured refugees in a police camp
near the 'border area and sent
groups back to Red China in police
AP Wirephoto vans and trucks. Officials refuse
HARD ROAD BACK-A British soldier sourfully carries a weeping to say how many have been re-
Chinese boy back across the border into Communist China as turned. Sources close to the police
the youth was caught in the Itong Kong area recently. However were quoted as saying several
many Hong Kong residents are trying to obstruct this return of thousand were sent back in the
refugees. past week.
McNamara Views
Viet Nam Conflict
NEW YORK ()-Secretary of
Defense Robert McNamara pre-
dicted last night it might take
"three to five years at a minimum"
to settle the situation in South
Viet Nam.
The school day will run from 8
a.m. to 3:30 p.m., an hour longer
than usual. On top of this, an op-1
tional extra hour will be available1
for such no-credit "non-essen-
tials" as driver education, clubs,1
and instrumental music.
The extra time available per-
mits more flexibility. To capitalize
on this, the center is discarding
the time-honored two-semester
plan. Instead, the school year will
be divided into three equal ses-
sions, called "trimesters." This
plan has been adopted by a num-
ber of universities, never before
by a public school.
But this is only.the framework.
Learning Program
What's going into the learning
program at the center is a heavy
emphasis - from kindergarten;
through high school graduation-
on the language arts (English and
foreign languages), science, math-
ematics and the social sciences.
Instruction in Spanish will be-
gin in kindergarten; Russian, Ger-
man and French will be intro-
duced in the seventh grade.
The reading program will be
based on a phonetic approach,
rather than the so-called "look-
and-say" or "word-recognition"
method.
One of the "new math" pro-
grams will be introduced in the
first grade. Second graders will
tackle equations, and some 11th
graders will be taking college-level
algebra and calculus.
Wide Range
Instead of such formal levels as
first grade, fourth grade, 11th
grade, etc., the center will have a
wide range of learning levels. Each
of the levels will be only slightly
advanced over the level just be-
low, and the pupils can move up--
ward from one to the other on any
day, week or month of the school
year. Some students may graduate
from high school 10 years or less
after entering kindergarten.
If the demands are great, the
rewards are consideable.n
In the Nova High School, in-;
struction will be given in a variety
of ways.
There will be large group lec-
tures of 80-200 students, middle
group instruction for 30-50 stu-
dents, small group instruction for
10-15 students, and independent
study for individual students.
Eachstudent will have at least
10-15 hours of independent study;
each week.
College Campus
Nova High School will be laid
out like a college campus, with
separate buildings for science,
mathematics, language arts and
social science, technical science.
administration and a gymnasium.
All will be air-conditioned, and
so designed that classrooms may
be made larger or smaller. All will
be wired for instructional televi-
sion, although that device may not
be used for a year or two. d,
With the notable exceptionof
the longer school year, there is
little about the center'sindividual
projects. that is startlingly new.
Virtually everything has been
tried and proved in other schools.
What makes the center different
is. that no school in the United
States has put all these things to-
gether at one time and in one
place. This is the big leap forward,
with intermediate hops.
Traditional School
"The center is going to be
cheaper to operate than the tra-
ditional school," Wolfe said.
"We can raise the salaries and
get better teachers by increasing
the teacher-pupil ratio. We don't
know exactly how many young-
sters a teacher can teach effec-
tively, but we know the number
can be increased if the teacher is
given the help and the tools he
needs, when he needs them."
"We are going to cut down our
operating costs by eliminating or
de-emphasizing the welfare activi-
ties which the schools have taken
on over the years," Wolfe said.
There will be no bus service from
public funds, no big and expensive
cafeterias or auditorium.
"Parents also may be asked to
pay part of the costs ofbthe special
texts, supplies and equipment we
need-although we will, of course,
make exception for hardship
cases."
Powiver Can
'Break' UN
By WILLIAM N. OATIS
Associated Press Staff Writer
UNITED NATIONS - Acting
Secretary-General U Thant has
said a powerful nation could bank-
rupt the United Nations by with-
holding its dues out of dislike for
a UN peacekeeping operation.
Thant did not mention the So-
viet Union's refusal to pay its one-
sixth share of the cost of the
peacekeeping operations in The
Congo and the Middle East. Other
nations, such as France also have
refused to pay.
He said that cost was $11.8 mil-
lion a month and, up to the end of
1961, member countries had paid
only 65 and 73 per cent respective-
ly of what they owed toward those
two operations.
"The United Nations depends
on three M's for the peacekeeping
operations," he said, "money, men
and materials. If we do not get
these three M's, I think the fu-
tune of the United Nations is, if
I may say so, quite gloomy"
Thant said the United Nations
was solvent on its normal activi-
ties and was running behind only
on The Congo and Middle East
forces. The pending $200 million
UN bond issue is the most sensible
means of financing legitimate UN
functions, he added.
Thant took issue with the no-
tion-advanced by British Prime
Minister Harold MacMillan and
Sen. Richard B. Russell (D-Ga)-
that it is unfair for every country
to have one vote in the UN general
assembly, however large or small
its financial contribution.
"As regards representation in
the context of their (the mem-
bers') capacity to pay," Thant
said, "I think we should look at
this problem in the light of the
practices prevailing in many
countries."
PTA Criticizes
Rightist Groups
PORTLAND (P)-The National
Congress of Parents and Teachers,
in an obvious attack on extreme
right-wing groups, warned yester-
day that "irresponsible and ill-
informed efforts to combat Com-
munism are also destructive of
true democracy."
By G. K. HODENFIELD
Associated Press Education Writer
WASHINGTON-Schoolchildren
are " studying much harder today
than they did five years ago, and
they will have to study even hard-
er in the future, the National Edu-
cation Association said recently.
The NEA, reporting on a sur-
vey of grade school and high
school principals, said higher
standards for college admission
was the single most powerful in-I
fluence for a more rigorous pro-
gram in the public schools.
Other major sources of pressure
cited were critics outside the
teaching profession, scientific
achievements of the Soviet Union,
general public demand, and critics
inside the teaching profession.
Somewhat Surprising
"The concern on'the part of the
elementary school principals over
admission to college is somewhat
surprising," the NEA report said.
"It well could be that the gen-
eral anxiety over college admis-
sion might have an adverse effect
on noncollege students who may
need a different curriculum."
There was general agreement
that instruction in science and
mathematics left much to be de-
sired in the pre-Sputnik school
year of 1955-56. However, most of
the principals reported that the
emphasis on these subjects now
is "about right," although they
expect increasing stress in the
years ahead.
Basic Skills
Much the same feeling was ex-
pressed about elementary school
instruction in the basic skills of
reading, writing, spelling and
arithmetic. Only 58 per cent of
the elementary school principals
said the schools gave adequate at-
tention to these skills in 1955-56,
but 80 per cent of them said it is
satisfactory today.
There was a sharp division on
the critical question. of how child-
ren should be taught to read.
During the period from 1955-
1961, small school districts tended
to increase the emphasis on phon-
ics and alphabet. In large districts,
the increase in emphasis was on
whole-word recognition, the so-
called "look-say" method.
laboratories and films. Greater stress on foreign lan-
An increase in the practice of guages, particularly at the ele-
grouping pupils according to abil- mentary level.
ity rather than by age or grade. An increase in team teaching.
NEW PROBE:
Did HMS Lusitania
Carry Arms .After All?
By DENNIS NEELD
Associated Press Staff Writer
LONDON - A young American
skin diver who plunged 300 feet
to the wreck of the Lusitania has
tion of steel deck appears to have
been cut away with torches.
Light also photographed a heavy
steel door bent like cardboard,
uncovered indications the Ger- sheared from its fastening.
mane may have been right in say-
ing the liner carried munitions
when they sank her 47 years ago.
The famous British passenger
ship went to the bottom of the At-
lantic on May 7, 1915, 20 minutes
after being struck by a German
torpedo. Of the 1,950 people on
board, 1,198 died.
Among the drowned were nearly
200 Americans and the sinking as
much as any other single event, set
the mood for United States entry
two years later into World War I.
Carrying Munitions
Later the Germans claimed they
were justified in treating the Lusi-
taniaas a ship of war because she
was carrying munitions and may
have been armed.
In an attempt to clear up the
mystery, John Light 'of Elmhurst,
N.Y., led a team of divers to in-
vestigate the wreck 10 miles off
the south coast of Ireland.
Light's findings led him to be-
lieve the wreck of the Lusitania
has been tampered with. A sec-
"Everything suggests an explo-
sion on the side away from the
torpedo," British commentator
Patrick Troughton said,
The American diver also locat-
ed a "flying bridge" projecting
from the upturned side of the
Lusitania. He found the bridge
has two holes roughly driven into
it and what looks like a mooring
wire shackled in.
Private Venture
Only one other expedition-
as far as is known - has ever
been down to the wreck. This was
a private venture in 1935. It did
not use mooring wire such as
found by Light.
There is no dispute that the
ship was designed to carry guns.
The British claim, however, it was
unarmed when torpedoed. Light
found no gun on the foredek as
shown in the ship's plans.
There is more evidence that the.
Lusitania was carrying' ammuni-
tion. The ship's manifest showed
the cargo included 4,000 cases of
small arms ammunition.
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