University of South Carolina Libraries
<* ?he v ' 1 * ^/olumB LXX. No. B Univeraitv of South Carolina, Columbia , S,C. September 10, 1980 Wl w ^ ? ,,> ?* i *< -r A v. Southern Bell had to ab students failed to pay th Mncf hi well-pr( 1mis is ino rirst or a inrw-pan series deafng with the quality of education in Columbia area high schools. Friday's segment will present an opposing view, f By Donald B. Weatherbee Staff Writer The quality of high school education in South Carolina ? i ! - J nas Deen quesuoneu recently, but surveys conducted by Columbia area high schools indicate their graduates are well-prepared for college and careers. The State Department requires high schools to conduct surveys of recent graduates, said Barbara Jeffcoat, a 12th grade guidance counselor at Brookland-Cayce High School. High schools receive college freshmen's grades. Most reports indicate the students are doing well. nonny morgan, a iwhi graduate of Richland Northeast High School, said: "I was prepared very well here. I'm going into the service next year, so the education I received will help me there. I'm interested in their nuclear science program. To be accepted in this field in the Army, you must take a special nuclear science tesl along with the Americar A ... f wr% ? ? n _ _ Armea rorces Ejiiuiiuct Examination. I turned in one of the highest scores on mj particular test day." John H. Hudgens, prin ?innl A# DS/^hlonH KAQC F tljjfll UI iilVIIIMIAU ilVl tllV/UU High School, said the survej indicates graduates of hii school are passing mori courses in college than the? passed in high school. MANY HIGH schools offe & to ?L' '-.'?'S':.T v Mbtwc - __ - * < . ... . tt m.V tor 7 ^ & sorb $ 12,000 in bad debts / sir STAN card bills. (Photo by igh scho epared, i special programs for gifted students. < Keenan High School has an I advanced placement 4 program for juniors and 1 seniors and an honors j program for all grade levels. 1 Kennan also offers courses ] for college credit, according | to Principal Johnny H. Lee. A rvc\r/>lt/\l nrftr n pojr V11VIU5J v.vu? ov available to upperclassmen gives students three hours of college credit. The school offers other college credit courses from the USC School of Education, Lee said. Lottie Evans, who teaches the psychology course, said sometimes "one has to look at the students individually. "Some students 1 teach are very capable in the course. These students really put themselves into it. Some students can't take the course seriously," Evans said. She said most of her students go to college. HIGH SCHOOL students ! are required to take the 1 . California Test of Basic Skills. It covers two areas: language expression and ! reading. The test results s determine the average i reading level of the class, t according to Ben Nesbit, i Spring Valley High School 5 principal. k r spring vauey seniors were tested in the nth grade. Juniors were reading at a t 12th grade level. Now those t juniors are seniors, and 5 they're reading at a collegei freshman level, Nesbit said. / Soring Vallev also has a well-established vocational program that includes job r placement. * -mm ? V? sir ' X V "'jJ^SSSa * I '* . * V4- ; . f ast year because USC Barry Newman) ol grad > survey i "Niiiety-f ve to 97 percent >f our vocational students ind jobs," said Nesbit. 'This includes military jobs. We help our graduates find jobs. Almost half our vocational students are [iidizcu in juua ireiui c uicj* graduate." Improved teaching contributes to the success of high school students, according to John M. Drummond, one of five assistant principals at BrooklandCayce. "THE MARKET for teachers is flooded, which is on aHuantaOP for high Ull - ? - 0schools. It enables us to pick quality teachers, which improves the quality of th* teaching," said Drummond. But not everyone agrees. "I think the teaching could be improved. Most of my teachers teach out of the book and not out of what the> know," said Renee Shealy, a Brookland-Cayce junior. Brookland-Cayce separa tcs students into thre< programs. Level three is th? college-preparatory level Students in level two tak? traditional high schoo courses, and level on< provides a more basi< ^duration Students doini well in one level may ad vance to a higher level. Brookland-Cayce has n< honors programs or ad vancod placement for it academically talente< chiHontc hut Rarbari ^ V v. , ? Jeffcoat said the school i planning such programs. ,4I have parents who woul< Sout SJIi JJI By P? McCarthy Staff Wrk*f The unpaid bills of USC STAN card holders cost Southern Ben aoout 912,uuu last year, according to Don Caughman, Bell public relations manager. Neariy ?,uuu siuuenu* on campus use STAN card accounts for billing longdistance telephone calls. Caughman said some students misuse their STAN numbers by billing calls to other numbers. "A lot of people wno wouldn't ever steal uates says * like to see an honors * program put in the school, and we are moving toward that. The present collegeprep program will prepare a student for college if the ftiiflont fnllmuc it " loffpnat OIUUV/I1V IVllVTfO IV, vviivv/mv said. * Bgigl?.. v% - I v * . . Onnni/ mart a f Q. s Northeast High Schot in front of the set i Johnson) hern i $12, lone something tangible would cj trunk aosoiuieiy nouung or c< stealing telephone service," a he said. ii Toll fraud is serious r< business, Caughman said. s< On-campus students can lose & * 1 U meir caras, anu oii-campus u students can lose their phone r service. State and federal penalties range from r moderate fines to prison. r Despite last year's $12,000 I loss at USC, Caughman said, 1 "I wouldn't say students i misuse service that much" < compared with non-students. j Delinquent accounts are another of Southern Bell's ? ?? -ii ? proDiems. n a cara noiaer fails to pay a phone bill by the date indicated on the monthly bill, a service representative calls to encourage payment. If the . customer has financial " problems, Caughman said, the size of the bill, payment records and other circumstances are considered before Bell takes further action. "Believe it or not, we try to be as understanding as possible/' Caughman said. But we are a private enterprise. We have share owners. We're as concerned about collecting our debts as anyone." If it can't collect from the M 80 graduate of Rich/and oh sits with a c/assmate boo/. (Photo by Kevin ?uuu bills ard holder, the telephone ompany cancels the STAN ccount. If a debt is not paid 1 one state and service is equested later in another tate within the Bell System, ervice will not be granted ecause of the poor credit ating. Southern Bell has equested a $39.6 million ate increase from the state >ublic Service Commission, rhat increase, however, will lot directly affect longlistance rates, Caughman said. "When we ask for a rate increase, we ask for increases in some services out of thousands of services," Caughman said. No changes will be made in the rate structure of longdistance calls. Southern Bell plans to develop one basic rate schedule that would eliminate major problems such as rate inconsistency. For example, an 80-mile outof-state call may now cost less than an 80-mile in-state call in some areas, Caughmansaid. The proposed rates would increase monthly charges for residents and businesses. Also, rates for optional services would increase Dr. Donald Weather ;; IS# first foreign scholar Mm .0vm/ &e war* avagedprovhiee of East Timor In Indonesia, will speak ill his experience at 3:30 p.n*. in Bm. 429 of OamM Bail, ; CV^RK|Fil?tt^ fe*5r>; arfttrta ** . & Cki! American^ cl^sic i ggl^eaf||ei!^ ?? S In ' ? " ,4 ^ ^ '.Xeimif- Wa&ablvl l|^pdfH xs with a *? ? '** *4^/1 " J%:#!; . f Jj * J : Iderstoirwiii: High Mar?O.0imtt && Thursday: Fair and, lh/ upper SO^aX