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Viewpoint The Battalion Texas A&M University Friday September 5, 1980 Slouch By Jim Earle “It is true that we have a few space problems here and there. Carter plans focus on Reagan’s mistakes By HELEN THOMAS United Press International WASHINGTON — Politics is the order of the day at the White House these days. No one pretends it is anything else as President Carter and his lieutenants begin the re-election cam paign from what they believe is an underdog position. Reagan has managed to get diverted from this subject, and some of his remarks have been repudiated by his own strategists. When Reagan spoke of a Carter “depress ion,” his economic adviser, Alan Greenspan, thought that went too far, calling it a “reces sion.” Their aim is to keep the focus on Republican opponent Ronald Reagan, hoping he will make mistakes along the way, and to depict him as a man who wants to turn back the clock. Their broad smiles these days indicate they believe that Reagan is helping to keep the spot light on himself with misspoken words that alienate some voting groups and hurt his poli tical prestige. The Ripon Society has issued a white paper entitled “A Call to Excellence in the National Political Dialogue.” No sooner had Reagan extracted himself from the mire of a confusing China-Taiwan policy, when he took a swipe at Carter for launching his campaign in Tuscumbia, Ala., which Reagan erroneously described as the birthplace of the Ku Klux Klan. The document expresses some of the wide spread frustration as to the campaign and the candidates. The remark gave Carter an opportunity to lash out against Reagan and to express his re sentment “as a Southerner and an American.” “America needs excellence in leadership now,” it said. “We are looking in this campaign for the qualities of foresight, courage and direction that make great leaders. To date we have had very little basis on which to judge. Those are only the beginning skirmishes. There are nearly nine weeks ahead of unrelent ing campaigning for the big prize. And there are signs that the contest may get rough as it goes along. Carter’s battle plan is clear. In television commercials he intends to focus on his accom plishments in getting through Congress the na tion’s first comprehensive energy program, in bringing Israel and Egypt together in the Camp David peace accords, and in naming more blacks, minorities and women to the federal bench and top government jobs than any other president. He also keeps stressing that the voters have a choice in this election in deciding the kind of future they want for the country. Reagan’s advisers are urging him to tackle Carter where he is most vulnerable — the eco nomy and the empty pocketbook. But somehow The white paper also urged that the voters not be satisfied with empty rhetoric, sloganeer ing and rank appeal to special voting blocs. And it urged the candidates to make their language more “meaningful” by not merely stating a posi tion favoring a national goal but setting forth the specific steps it would take to achieve that goal. Warped Report urges parental discipline By PATRICIA McCORMACK United Press International If a kid turns mice loose in the lunchroom, plays a radio full blast in the library, or does something else disruptive in school, do parents bear any responsibility? Or is it a plain case of teacher failing to keep order? The question’s more than academic for this reason: A just-released poll reports parents would be made to bear more responsibility for acts of kids in class if teachers had their way. Ninety-one percent participating in the 1980 National Education Association Nationwide Teacher Opinion Poll said so. But only one out of five said such a policy has been instituted in their school districts. The point about parents was made when teachers were asked if selected practices had helped or would help with student behavior problems and whether or not each had been instituted. Other practices the teachers were asked ab out and the percent feeling the practice would help: — Strict discipline, 91 percent. — Special classes tor problem students, 80 percent. , — Teachers allowed more authority to sus pend unruly students from class, 80 percent. — Special schools for problem students, 75 percent. — Corporal punishment allowed, 85 per cent. — Security personnel during school day, 40 percent. About half the teachers said student behavior interferes with their teaching — 21 percent to a great extent and 33 percent to a moderate ex tent. Elementary teachers said they have, on aver age, three students with chronic behavior prob lems; junior high teachers, six; high school teachers, five. Discipline policies within respondents’ schools were described as being in writing 69 percent, and clear, 60 percent. But such policies, the survey showed, are not consistently applied — 67 percent; not strict enough — 61 percent; and not comprehensive enough — 58 percent. The survey also showed: — Almost 490,000 — one-fourth or 23 per cent — of the teachers had personal property stolen by a student over the past 12 months. An estimated 310,000 or 14 percent said their per sonal property was damaged intentionally dur ing the year. — An estimated 113,000 — 5.2 percent — were physically attacked hy a student over the past 12 months. Some 13,000 were attacked twice; 13,000 others, three times or more. Teacher atttacks are more common im . school systems or in systems with 25,1 more. But the report said “there are sign! numbers of attacks in other school system; — About three-fifths or 59 percent o(4 attacked believe the attack was intentionill 15 percent weren’t sure and 26 percents was incidental — that is, they were struck breaking up a fight among students. . , — Of those attacked, about 2,600«! percent received a serious physical i. 27,000 or 24 percent, a minor physical®. 43,000 or 38 percent, emotional trauma!' and 40,000 or 36 percent — apparent udIj ables or diehards — suffered neither a pk injury nor emotional trauma as a result attack. tillS! — Ninety percent of those attacked die: miss any school time but two percent list part of a school day and eight percent ms live school days, on the average. 1 — About 15 percent of those attacked™ report the incident to school officials orto| enforcement officers. Most feared beingseef a failure by their bosses. A few did notrt® because of a “what’s the use” attitude orati ing the administration wouldn’t act anyw About 10 percent of the attacks resiljd i charges filed against students — 6perceiili| teachers; 2 percent, by the school systei percent, by law enforcement officials. Bring Silver in this tion a The question of Carter-Reagan debates is still up in the air with the White House waiting for some “third party” to come up with a solution to break the stalemate. The sticking point is whether independent John Anderson should participate. Each side is accusing the other of being ‘afraid to debate.” Human brain like giant prune Study on daydreaming flawed “The real candidates lie hidden behind the defensive tactics of image-makers counting short-term considerations. When ahead in the polls, they avoid engaging in debate; when be hind they dwell on the vulnerable attributes of their rivals. We have watched the campaigns for many months but still know little of what to expect for the next four years.” “We ask the candidates to speak honestly with us, to show themselves candidly, ‘warts and all, to trust our ability to see them fairly rather than to ask us blindly to trust them,” the Society said. By DICK WEST United Press International WASHINGTON — In me you see one of the world’s foremost air castle architects. I prob ably spend more time ruminating than most fullblooded Guernseys. But try convincing your employers that reverie enriches the mind. Now comes supportive evidence from a Min nesota psychologist, Eric Klinger. He has made a study of daydreaming that directly challenges the old canard about woolgatherers being shift less fantasizers who never amount to much. Daydreaming, says Klinger, is good for you. Relaxes the body and stimulates the brain, often resulting in creative insights, he reports. Which is exactly what I keep telling them down at the office. I must admit, however, that the study is flawed in spots. It offers spurious statistics to the effect that people occupy 30 to 40 percent of their waking moments with abstract musings. The thing that makes the validity of those figures questionable is the fact that the volun teer subjects who participated in the study were college students. Everyone knows the daydreaming habits of college students bear no relation to reality else where. College students are by their very nature deeply into reverie. With them it’s a defense mechanism — a way of surviving classroom lec tures. Unless college students let their minds wan der off into cloudland during learned disquisi tions, their heads soon would be so cluttered with knowledge they would suffer erudition overloads. The human brain once was commonly assumed to have sponge-like qualities that en abled it to absorb enlightenment almost indefi nitely. We now know from neurological re search that this concept was fallacious. We now know that the human brain is more like a giant prune. Each new tidbit of information forms a wrink le on the brain until, at some point, the brain comes completely puckered. When that If pens, all subsequent information enterinji brain either slides right out again or one of the existing wrinkles. College students, being constantly expos to pedagogy, are especially vulnerable. 1 out wisdom intake restrictions, the braini college student could become entirely cos 1 | gated before his sophomore year was Daydreaming, fortunately, is an idealai crinkling technique. It stops the flow traneous material to the brain without creal any furrows of its own. In any event, a daydreaming study baseJ college students must be viewed as serM unscientific. There’s a big difference bet# woolgathering and torpor, you know. A# representative study off campus might I that what passes for daydreaming in thegeiit 1 population is mostly benumbment by the 1980 presidential campaign By Scott McCullar The Battalion U S P S 045 360 MEMBER LETTERS POLICY Texas Press Association Southwest Journalism Congress Editor Dillard Stone Managing Editor Rhonda Watters City Editor Becky Swanson Sports Editor Richard Oliver Focus Editor Scot K. Meyer News Editors Todd Woodard, Lynn Blanco Staff Writers Kurt Allen, Marcy Boyce, Mike Burrichter, Pat Davidson, Jon Heidtke, Uschi Michel-Howell, Kathleen McElroy, Debbie Nelson, Liz Newlin, Cathy Saathoff, Jana Sims, Cartoonist Scott McCullar Photo Editor Pat O’Malley Letters to the Editor should not exceed 300 words in lengl! and are subject to being cut if they are longer. The editoritlsld reserves the right to edit letters for style and length, butti make every effort to maintain the author’s intent. 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