Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (June 9, 1987)
Tuesday, June 9, 1987TThe Battalion/Page 3 State and Local illiteracy rate in Brazos Valley reaches 20 percent for adults timeiorJ ■ Education experts: Problems often start in early childhood ,r etostoi t By Audrey Cardenas •'lend awl Reporter Literacy is an invaluable tool for Hpl in a world deluged with a eenn iiM ns arra y P r > nte d material, I ' 1 1 111 it approximately 20 percent of netoni . azos Valley adults are oblivious to “ whaiytuBarntge because they are func- nr hallcbnally illiterate — they are unable I realize Illiteracy in Texas lies for Part one of a two-part series I Ilf Me\! • NotoniRd or write well enough to sur- •tliei oieon a daily basis — and their prob all mv fWsuallv starts in high school. • [ A survey by the Bryan Public Li- placehiMB shows that 20.3 percent of razes Valley adults are functionally iterate and a Texas Education hedod'Bey survey concludes that one in sbielij ye ^ exas af l l| l ts i s illiterate. n ' Many reasons contribute to illiter- \ :y,|i)ut chief among these is high- "t Stud)ii{Mj ) | dropout rates. According to mdmy^exas Education Agency’s 1986 doit mud report, dropout rates ex- lided during I he 1986 school year. Mreport also says Texas currently II navc'H 35 4 percent dropout rate and HngtOs lsIne of the nation’s 10 worst liter- i w les - Hie increase in dropout rates re- ilts from an increase in sociological, Homical and cultural problems Hi by students, as well as physical idlnental handicaps. mm “ft’s a complex thing,” says Ches ter Christian, a Texas A&M modern languages professor. “All kinds of forces work against considering reading important. It’s part of an anti-intellectual society.” Childhood education is one major force that determines an individu als’s literacy level, he says. “Once a child gets beyond the physiological age of about three, there are more distractions,” he says. “But at an earlier age, it is a matter of interest for the child and he can then read more accurately.” It is this early education that de termines whether a child will grow up with an interest in learning, Christian says. “If a child does not become inter ested in learning early on, then this could create educational problems later on as a student,” he says. Sociological aspects contributing to illiteracy often come from chil dren’s do-as-they-see practices, Christian says. If they don’t see other people reading at home, then they won’t read either, he says. Instead, chil dren see their parents watching tele vision, and the satisfaction a child could receive from reading a book he gets from the television, he says. Sondra Cooke, the Bryan Inde pendent School District’s special ed ucation director, agrees with Chris tian. “We depend too much on tele vision,” she says. “We have made it too easy for people not to have to re ad.” Furthermore, Christian says that if neither parent has a complete high-school education and both are functionally illiterate, both will fail to understand the significance of their child being literate. Cooke, who views the matter as a cycle, says teen-agers may try to help their families financially by drop ping out of school and getting a job, put they become adults who can’t hold a steady job because of their poor educations. Their children, in turn, fall into the same trap. Rowena Reed, a Texas A&M Con solidated High School senior coun selor, says although many students drop out, some leave with the intent of getting ahead. “I had a student who couldn’t wait until he was 16 because he wanted to get out of school,” Cooke recalls. “He wanted to drive a gravel truck for his grandfather’s gravel com pany, but he couldn’t read a lick. “Eventually, his grandfather died and left him the business, but he still couldn’t read.” Cooke further explains that the teen-ager had to marry someone ca pable of leading so that he could carry on his grandfather’s business. But not all teen-agers are this for tunate and in an attempt to combat increasing dropout rates, many schools have established vocational programs designed to give the stu dents work experience and to help keep them interested in school. Reed thinks these programs are beneficial, but only in some in stances. “Co-op doesn’t help all the time, but some students do choose this program and it usually works for them,” she says. However, Cooke says these pro grams can influence students to drop out. “Some kids enrolled in these co op programs see that they could make $90 a week, and they think that’s great,” she says. “But later they realize that it isn’t that much, and by then it’s too late to come back to school.” Cathy Hackett, Travis County Adult L.iteracy Council’s administra tive assistant, describes the types of jobs open to illiterate dropouts. “The jobs that many illiterates re ceive are janitorial positions or re pairing cars,” Hackett says, “and they usually get fired when their boss finds out they’re illiterate. Also, adult illiterates earn 42 percent less than a high-school graduate.” But Jim Lovan, employment su pervisor for the Texas Employment Commission, says most students don’t quit high-school for economi cal reasons. “If he does, he would have to work in the family grocery store or something like that,” Lovan says. Prisons to reopen as inmate population dips HUNTSVILLE (A?) — The Texas prison sys- Hwill reopen to new arrivals because the in- aate population has dropped below a state-man- lated limit, a spokesman said Monday. The doors will open Tuesday at 8 a.m. and of- dals are expecting to take in about 225 new in flates, Texas Department of Corrections spokes- nan David Nunnelee said. On Friday, the prison system announced it would close the doors to new inmates because the inmate population had surpassed a 95 percent of capacity limit. It was the 12th time this year the system had closed because of crowding. As of midnight Sunday, the inmate population totaled 38,424, or 94.65 percent of capacity — 143 inmates under the 95-percent cap, officials said Monday. The inmate population at midnight Thursday had totaled 38,505 inmates, or 95.18 percent — 74 over the legal capacity, officials said. The prison system, generally closed on week ends, released 224 inmates on parole Saturday, but it still remained closed on Monday to new ar rivals. The last time the prison department was forced to close its doors because the population exceeded the limit was April 13. Severe weather causes flooding in Victoria area Officials said more than 100 homes were flooded near the Vic toria area this weekend after the Guadelupe River swelled to nearly three times its usual size. The flooding caused several hundred residents to leave their homes. The river waters appeared to crest Sunday at about 30.5 feet, compared to an average normal depth of 8-10 feet, according to river gauger Jim De Leon. Resident John M. Villafranca said, “We looked out the window when we woke up (Saturday) morning and the houses across the street looked like they were floating away.” He and family members were helped to safety Saturday af ternoon by workers from the Vic toria Fire Department. Elsewhere, uprooted trees floated downstream, and car roofs were seen barely protrud ing above flooded streets. Victoria Fire Chief Henry Juenke said the river was not wide enough or deep enough to carry the huge overflow that has come down the river from its headwaters in Hill Country. Juenke said about 125 homes in a 50-block area suffered the worst flooding. He was unable to provide an estimate of flood dam age, and he added that city offi cials had not yet met to consider whether to apply for disaster aid. Some of the stronger storms Sunday were located near Victo ria and offshore southeast of Cor pus Christi, the National Weather Service said. The forecast for today called for mostly cloudy skies in the south and west with a chance of widely scattered showers and thunderstorms. It should be partly cloudy in the north through Monday, the weather service said. Already, farm experts say heavy rain and flooding that inundated wide areas of Texas last week may have swamped some farmers’ hopes for their 1987 crops, although other pro ducers and ranchers welcomed the moisture. Early estimates put the poten tial for damage to the state’s crops as high as $500 million, said Dr. Zerle Carpenter, director of the Texas Agricultural Extension Service at Texas A&M University. However, there were hopes that some crops might recover, and Carpenter said the soaking rain should dampen the subsoil for future production. Texas Department of Agricul ture officials also believe many farmers and ranchers would rather be drenched than face drought conditions, as much of the Southeastern United States did last year. “They’d rather have moisture in the ground and have it deep,” TDA spokesman Andy Welch said. “It’s also going to do wonders for the livestock producers,” he added. “Their stock tanks are going to be full. The pastures are going to be green.” The heaviest losses were ex pected in South Texas, where more than a foot of rain accumu lated over several days and kept farmers from getting to their crops, which were ready for har vest. “In the Winter Garden of the state, the San Antonio area, we’ve had a substantial loss in onion production, simply because farm ers were unable to get into the field,” Carpenter said. Carpenter expected other crop losses in the Rolling Plains region around Wichita Falls and Vernon and some damage in the South Plains and High Plains of Texas. r be r writin? i ajob I rnalisisf lents. indcall lucky d niiddlf I'm on 11 ibe able e n. do :ay> n0 ! ’I forg fl aina* le g rff|: noug 1 ' . And’ 1 m’DH kl’H ndon"’ •:‘p' Good Citizens checking: With a $400 balance it's free. Good Citizens want a good deal on checking. The Good Citizens checking account. It's free with as little as a $400 balance. Never costs more than $6 a month. Never charges by the check. And your money's available anytime. In cluding 24 hours through Teller 2 and Pulse automatic tellers. Free checking with as little as $400. A Good Citizens service from your Good Citizens Bank. Where banking and Briar- crest begin, in Bryan. CITIZENS BANK 1200 Briarcrest/Bryan/779-6666 Expanded lobby hours: 9-3 Monday-Thursday 9-6 Friday Mi-WiK r I I'R FACILITY • Indoor swimming pool • Racquetball • Volleyball • Basketball • Indoor jogging track • Tennis • Weight machines • Aerobics studio • Tanning bed • Snack bar • Lounge STUDENT SUMMER SPECIAL! Join B/CS largest and most complete health club for only 72C per day! HURRY! Offer ends Saturday, June 13 CLASSES • Aerobics • Karate • Gymnastics • Racquetball • Tennis • Water babies • Ballet • Scuba • Water aerobics • CPR • Massage therapy