Page 6--Saturday, July 29, 1978-The Michigan Daily
N.Y. grads now must pass test
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - About 260,000 NEW YORK is second only to "The mere fact that the tests exist, newspapers.
students who graduated from New California in the size of its school may providea stimulus to the schools," The department is proudestc
York state high schools next June will population, it has 3.8 million students said Education Commissioner Gordon writing tests, which require st
have to pass competency tests in the registered from kindergarten through Ambach. write a business letter, a bri
three R's that some critics say are a lit- grade 12. New York education officials claim and a 200-word persuasive ess
tle too basic. The current tests, given in schools on their new competency tests differ A business letter could get
But according to a state Education a practice basis for the past three markedly from those required by the 34 grade of 65 per cent, even if itc
Department report, 15 per cent of the years, have been called ridiculously other states, because they are keyed to a number of grammar, spe
11th graders statewide and 37 per cent easy. The reading test has been of- curriculum, require remedial help to punctuation errors. The m
of those in New York City who have ficially described as being at the 4th insure students pass and will not grading the letter would e
taken the practice tests have failed. or 5th-grade level, and the math test is become final until education officials organization and continuity ra
BY JUNE 1981, however, high school limited mostly to simple arithmetic. can assess public reaction to them. grammar and spelling.
graduates will have to pass much stric- Assemblyman Leonard Stavisky, The math test would be ta
ter tests in reading, writing and arith- chairman of the Education Committee, THE NEW reading tests would the curriculum of a new gene
metic to earn their diplomas. gave a sample test to his nine-year-old require students graduating in 1981 to course, which revises ele
The decision by the Regents, the son; the boy passed. A majority of be able to read 10th-lath grade tex- arithmetic taught in the lowe
governing board for education in New school administrators polled by the tbooks, materials the Education Depar- Students not taking any otel
York state, is part of a growing nation- state Education Department agreed tment described as being equivalent in course in high school would b
wide movement for minimal- with Stavisky that the tests are too difficulty to the sports pages of local to pass it.
competency education, easy.
Eleven states, including New York, DISSATISFIED WITH the results of
leven tates icluing sew Yorkn the practice tests, the Regents warned
Florida and California, use or plan to local school systems this week they ex-ll
use competency standards and teats a pect them to teach the students what i sp o Sa l a llo w ed fi
part of s requirement for graduation. they need to know to pass tougher tests
Some 24 other states have adopted in 1911. And they added a requirement 1
minimal competency education but do that studentsrmustrtakeB B-mathcceurse
not require it for graduation.intihastudets must fe et edu a 111 P B

of its new
udents to
ef report
ay.
a passing
contained
lling and
ethod of
mphasize
ther than
ken from
eral math
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r grades.
her math
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or
als

LANSING (UPI) - A bill signed into
law yesterday gives state officials the
power to condemn farm animals -
other than dairy cows - that may have
become contaminated with PBB
through a tainted environment.
The new law, enacted by Gov.
William Milliken, expands the current
PBB statute to allow agricultural of-
ficials to condemn tainted poultry and
other livestock and reimburse their
owners.
The new measure was born of con-
cerns that farms which were heavily
contaminated with PBB may have
enough of the substance lingering in
soil, dust and other places to cause a
spurious recontamination.
Michigan law now requires that dairy
cows found to contain more than 20 par-
ts per billion of PBB must be destroyed
LIMA WERTMULLER'S 1976
SEVEN BEAUTIES
An egoistic, would-be machismo
brother who gets into trouble with
the law while trying to defend the
honor of his seven sisters, learns the
meaning of humiliation under the
Italian fascists. Powerful, dark
comedy filmed in lush, foreboding
color.
Sun: Lang's METROPOLIS
(Free at 7:30)
CINEMA GUILD
TONIGHT at 7:30 & 9:30
OLD ARCH AUD
$1.50

and their owners reimbursed. That
level is considered the lowest that can
be reliably measured.
RECONTAMINATION has been
blamed for violative PBB levels
agriculture officials have found in a few
sheep, chickens, eggs and beef cows.
Under the new law, state officials are
authorized to test a representative
sample of livestock or poultry on farms
which were quarantined because of
high PBB levels if one animal is found
to contain more than five parts per
million of PBB or if five animals con-
tain more than the federal guidelines of
.3 parts per million.
Testing can also be carried out on
farms where 30 per cent or more of the
dairy cows violated the 20 parts per
billion level.
FARMERS WOULD be reimbuised
the market value of any condemned
livestock or poultry.
Milliken also signed:
" A $26.6 million supplemental ap-
propriation to continue a variety of
state construction projects.
' A measure exempting travel and
camping trailers used primarily for
recreation from the state's property tax
law.
a A bill eliminating the mandatory
three-day jail sentence in cases where a
driver's license was suspended for
failure to appear in court, giving judges
discretion to order that or a lesser
penalty.
peA measure requiring an annual
audit of the massive Detroit water and
sewer system and mandating that the
water board hold a public hearing at
least 120 days before any proposed rate
increase takes place.



CINE MA II
presents
TRASH
Produced by Andy Warhol, Joe Dallesandro and Holly Woodlawn star in this
American underground version of BED AND BOARD. With tongues held
firmly in cheek, Dallesandro and Woodlawn portray a struggling couple trying
to survive New York's beat scene. Complete with welfare workers and jealous
spouses. And they prove that it is quite possible to live on all that trash that
New Yorkers dump on their own beloved city. A useful guide for Ann
Arbor's own struggling street people. Rated X.
7:30 & 9:30 Angel Hall, Aud A $1.50

q