Thursday, Septembers, 1985
Pago 4
Daily Nebraskan
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Teaclners College.
Mgher standards
he National Educational Association's latest effort to
increase professional compentency among teachers
shows a concern to upgrade the quality of teaching, but
the association needs to set even higher standards.
The NEA's new publication, "An Excellent Teacher
in Every Classroom," identifies four areas where teaching
standards should be heightened. The first recommends that
students interested in teaching must complete a "strong liberal
arts curriculum and master an academic major before entering a
teacher preparation program." A 2.5 grade point average should
be maintained as well, according to the publication.
The second suggestion involves students successfully master
ing the professional end of teaching through core courses and
student teaching. The third area includes a three-year intern
ship under the direction of experienced classroom teachers.
The last recommendation made by the NEA would require
that teachers be evaluated annually.
Howard Carroll, NEA spokesman, said the recommendations
were published in response to recent criticism about the quality
of teaching in the United States. The publication is also part of a
move to upgrade teaching standards that began in 1982, he said.
But these "rigorous standards" that the NEA is advocating
are already in use at UNL, said James O'Hanlon, teachers college
dean. Usually, when such recommendations to raise teaching
standards are made, O'Hanlon said, other schools end up raising
their standards to match those at UNL.
UNL, then, needs to increase its standards for teacher prepa
ration even more to remain ahead of the rest of the country's
teachers colleges and produce superior professional teachers.
UNL Teachers college students could be required to maintain
a higher grade point average. It doesn't take that much work to
maintain a 2.5, increase their in-class teaching experiences or
devote more study to the pupil-teacher relationship area of the
teaching profession.
The Teachers College also needs to send a message to the
NEA that UNL has been encouraging outstanding teaching for
years and that even higher national guidelines should be
stressed.
By recommending higher teaching standards, the NEA has
challenged UNL to once again, set teaching college guidelines
other schools must strive to equal.
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1400 R St., Lincoln, Neb. 68588-0448
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ALL MATERIAL COPYRIGHT 1985 DAILY NEBRASKAN
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Reagan imposes morals overseas
Let us imagine the following scena
rio: A woman goes into a public
family-planning clinic in any U.S.
city, looking for a way to limit or space
her children.
The clinic gives her information
about "natural" family planning, an
updated version of the rhythm method.
She is told that with careful monitoring
of her vaginal mucus, tracking her
temperature and with abstinence, NFP
is "highly effective."
Ellen
g Goodman
How highly? she might ask. If the
clinic shares the best research on the
subject, she will be told that among
careful users, 24 percent will become
pregnant during one year.
Let us now imagine this is the
easy part that she gulps and asks
what else the clinic has to offer. The
answer she gets is: "Nothing."
Ths is just a fantasy It couldn't
happen in the United States . . .yet. A
' federally funded clinic is required to
offer a full range of options to each
client. We called this "informed con
sent." In any medical encounter, a
patient must be given full information
before she can consent to treatment.
Change the backdrop now to a Third
World country and the scenario becomes
all too real. The Reagan administration
decided this summer to fund organiza
tions that offer Third World women
exactly one option: the "natural" one.
Under a new directive, the Agency for
International Development is passing
out money, not to the medically sound,
but to the politically correct.
It is all part of the successful busi
ness in exporting our political dis
putes. Those who can't ban birth con
trol here are trying it overseas. The
government is, in effect, dumping right
wing ideology that they can't sell in the
United States (the way others have
dumped banned chemicals) onto Third
World markets.
The export business first began to
thrive at the population conference in
Mexico City last year. The U.S. govern
ment told an astonished collection of
countries that we no longer believed
that family planning was so vital for the
developing world. The administration
then went on to deny family-planning
funds to the International Planned
Parenthood Federation and withhold
funds from the United Nations Fund for
Population Activities.
In both cases, the "hook" that pulled
the funding rug out from under these
organizations was the abortion issue.
But neither group was using U.S. govern
ment money for abortions. The real
attack was on artificial birth control.
It is no secret that many of those
opposed to abortion are also opposed
to "unnatural" family planning. The
American Life Lobby, for example, has
opposed Title X that provides five mil
lion American women with family plan
ning. Now the Reagan folk are using for
eign policy, not just to appease but also
to fund this right-wing constituency.
Money has been taken away from the
United Nations by the one hand and
given to groups like the Family of the
Americas Foundation by the other hand.
As a longtime AID staffer says, "This
is no aberration. It's part of a concerted
effort by groups opposed to family
planning programs to bring them to an
end." As Faye Wattleton, leader of
Planned Parenthood, puts it, "They're
promoting these policies abroad be
cause it's the only place where they can
give this constituency their red meat."
A World Health Organization study
showed that 35 percent of the women
who use NFP in the Third World give it
up after 13 months. Half of them give it
up because they are pregnant. NFP
supporters argue that the method isn't
at fault, people are. But how do you call
the method a success if the patient is
pregnant?
The argument becomes theological,
rather than scientific. But the main
question is quite straightforward: Are
women in foreign countries entitled to
make the same choices from the same
range of options that U.S. women have?
Will we allow Third World women to
decide for themselves?
1835, The Boston Globe Newspaper
Co. Washington Post Writers Group
Goodman Is a Pulitzer prize-winning
columnist from the Boston Globe.
Letters
Brief letters are preferred, and longer letters may be edited. Writer's
address and phone number are needed for verification.
ASUN decision based on fallacies
This letter concerns the ASUN
Senate's decision against the non-discrimination
bill (Daily Nebraskan, Aug.
29).
I would like to point out the fallacy
of the comments of some senators who
opposed the bill. These include the
notion that sexual orientation is "per
sonal business" and therefore does not
need to be on the bill, and that the
policy would be unenforceable anyway
(as stated in a Lincoln Journal-Star
article).
With regard to the first comment, let
me remind the senator that age, race,
creed and place of residence also are
"personal business," but were presum
ably included in the bill because past
experience, at this university and else
where, tells us that there are those who
would discriminate against others on
the basis of these characteristics.
The second comment is even less
valid. The point of a non-discrimination
bill is not to guarantee that discrimi
nation will not occur, bigots will be
bigots, regardless of legislation to the
contrary. The point of such a bill is to
provide a basis upon which those who
think that they have been discrimi
nated against can seek official action
and, if the complaint is found valid or
enforceable for persons of minority
sexual orientation than for those of a
racial minority group: A discrimination
complaint is filed, an investigation
occurs, and the matter is decided on
the basis of the evidence. It's simple,
straightforward and protests the rights
of all people involved.
The ludicrousness of the defenses
makes it clear that the major and, per
haps, only reason the bill failed was
that the senators think it is acceptable
to discriminate on the basis of sexual
orientation. The senate needs to be
aware that most major U.S. universities
have not only passed such a bill, they
passed it years ago.
The rights of everyone on campus,
regardless of sexual orientation or sta
tus, are violated when the rights of any
one group are violated.
If a black student, a Jewish student
or a woman is denied access to oppor
tunity because of race, religion or
gender, it affects us all.
I call on faculty and students to refr
ognize that a non-discrimination bill at
UNL is long overdue and should apply
to all minority groups on campus,
including those whose sexual orienta
tion is non-traditional.
This has nothing to do with approv
ing or disapproving of gay or lesbian
lifestyles. It has to do with basic
human rights and with creating a cam
pus atmosphere in which all students
can self-actualize and grow.
Pat Mirenda
assistant professor
special education and cmiaxcal
