Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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e<mtJWboaf 61 lasas^bibi^p i korseshe* ~ - i k * ; . USD to bee By Job Cumbie Operation Serve, a program designed to cater to the needs of disabled students in the state's elementary and secondary schools, was announced yesterday by USC President James HnlHprman Vice President George Bush's wife Barbara, Washington laywer Harold Krents and state superintendent of Education Charlie Williams also witnessed the announcement, which was made at a luncheon. Holderman said the program, the first of its kind in the nation, will use the nine USC campuses as catalysts. He added that the program was not conceived to make up for program reductions resulting from state budget cuts. "This was not designed for budget cutbacks," he said. "It attempts to provide a vehicle in the nine communities of the USC system to identify the needs of the communities and help these needs through committees to meet the challenges of the particular area." In her speech, Bush praised USC officials for being far-sighted in initiating the i Donald Senese, assistant secretary for Edu Department of Education, gave the keynote s yesterday in the Wade Hampton Hotel. Computers may ir r_ Pa.ii n ? num oiair nupuns Computers may hold the key to improving educational trends in the United States, a federal education official said yesterday at USC. In the UNESCO conference's keynote speech, Donald Senese, assistant secretary for educational research and improvement for the U.S. Department of Education, cited a lag in technology used to teach high school students math, nnH twhnnlnaif>ol cfi?4iao t.vva<*?V?v^lvUA OtUVIlW "I do think the computer must have an important role to play (in education), and so does the secretary of the Department of Education, to whom I report," Senese, who received his doctorate from USC in 1970, told the conferees. SENESE CITED as reason for educational concern falling Scholastic Aptitude and other achievement test scores for high school students, in creased enrollments between 1975 and 1980 for remedial math instruction at four-year colleges and universities nationwide, and data that show only onethird of high schools teach calculus. Other data suggest that students who do not plan to attend college or who major in a technical field often do not receive adequate math and science training, Senese said. He cited three contributing factors to the lag in technology instruction: a Dossible shortaofi of nualified senondnrv school math and physics teachers, the relatively short school year (180 days, fin disabled program. "This is a wonderful event. It will help to wipe out illiteracy and provide a better education for handicapped children. "Most recent figures show that one of eight handicapped children receive no education and half of the remainder receive an education that is substandard." Bush continued. "I'm excited about this program because it runs on people power. "We owe it to ourselves to give that measure of America to ttu, o who are not so blessed. I compliment USC for being so farseeing, for doing something that is so extraordinarily right." Williams also spoke highly of the program's willingness to help the disabled. "I'm delighted to be a part of a program that gets up and says 'these are our children, we need them.' "In 1961, less than 6,000 handicapped students were administered to in this state, and today, over 66,000 are served by the public sector. Doors have been opened and services provided. This program says we want to help too. It's great," he said. The program, conceived by Krents, inSee "Operation serve," page three. r . % f ' \ < W ' . -. t "* ?f * ' <s. ' m ' ' ' r" Photo by Pat Evans cational Research and Improvement, U.S. peech for the week-long UNESCO conference nprove education compared to 240 days in Japan) in the United States, and the theoretical nature of much high school science and math instruction. "I cannot forecast exactly how these problems will be ameliorated in the U.S. at a time when no level of government, whether federal, state or local, is likely to try the approach of "throwing money" at them, and at a time when teacher salaries are lagging salaries in the rest of the economy," he said. COMPUTERS CAN help solve these problems through individualized drilland-praotice instructions, Senese said, a practice educators have "long known of." Uses of the computer in education will increase with the decline in hardware prices, increased graphics capabilities (similar to that in video games), improvements in synthetic speech and speech recognition by computers, which Senese said would be available in a limited form by 1990. The Department of Education will assist schools in "realizing the full benefit of modern information technology " e?iH Amnri^an schools now have more than 100,000 small, personal computers for student use, he said. "We value highly the American system of state and local control of education," he said. "With this federal program, we hope to assist schools in benefiting from the micro-electronics revolution while avoiding the dangers either of briberv or of coercion by the federal government." student's ] y. v *' vii -?*mKmm??;\ s -' v*^"-": -vs' ' ? ^ 1 ft USC President James Holderman and Barbara talk during a Tuesday luncheon at USC. Holdern program to meet the needs of disabled elementa Impact of new UNESCO conft By Jim White This week's UNESCO conference at USC deals primarily with the impact of new informationandcommunication technologies on education. It 'Is the first in a three-year series of international educational studies. Because this conference is the national coordinators' first meeting for the studv of the impact of new technologies on education, "the groundwork will be laid for a continued sharing of information, ideas and methods," USC President James Holderman said. Holderman is chairman of the U.S. National Commission of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. HOLDERMAN SAID information and communications technology has an ongoing effect on education systems worldwide, particularly in their potential for development. "The insights gained from this important UNESCO study will serve to strengthen our abilities to make best use of these resources," he said. USC's College of Education is host for the conference Educational officials from Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Canada, Finland, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Israel, Spain, United Kingdom, United States, Soviet Union and Ukranian SSR are involved with the conference. The conference features presentations on new educational technology. Participants are studying potential educational contributions of various audio, audiographic, computer and video technologies. These contributions may include developing educational strategies, possibly adaptating the new technology to fulfill teaching and learning needs in different situations, and integrating it with other educational media. LAWRENCE GRAYSON, UNESCO's U.S. coordinator, explained its function. "When the countries of the world back in 1946 created the United Nations, they determined that there should be a number of specialized agencies to carry out particular functions of interest to the United Nations. UNESCO, as the title implies, is that agency concerned with education, science, culture and communications," Grayson said. irogram M sc; i I ? % ! * . jjfl , V<; vSSRt' *. ri &?&?>! ^;i|9E^S^?j^H^9^H^Bfi^HK id Photo by John Otbont Bush, wife of Vice President George Bush, lan announced plans for Operation Serve, a ry and secondary school students. technologies irence tonic " ? ? B " He said more than 150 countries are UNESCO members. The United States is UNESCO's largest contributor, providing about a quarter of its budget, Grayson said. "The purpose of UNESCO is to get all the member nations to communicate more effectively among themselves," he said. "Hopefully, the exchange of information will lead to the improvement of education, science, culture and communications." The member nations identify and help each other with common problems, he said. Grayson said UNESCO member countries must estahlish natinnnl pnmmiscinnc as communication systems between themse 1 ve s and UNESCO. IN THE UNITED STATES, the UNESCO national commission members are appointed by the U.S. secretary of state. The State Department provides the commission's staff, Grayson said. "The commissioners themselves who determine the work of the U.S. national commission are private individuals who represent various private organizations in this country," he said. Most UNESCO programs are aimed at developing countries, Grayson said. For developed countries like the United States, UNESCO is largely a one-way flow of information and technical assistance to growing countries. Grayson added that developed countries can also learn from sharing experiences with each other. At a June 1980 UNESCO meeting, members decided that countries in UNESCO's European Region should meet and try to initiate some joint activities in educational fields, Grayson said. They made plans for a series of studies. See "UNESCO." paga 3 inside Student Government is giving students the chance to air their gripes about campus parking. Page five. Ray Charles opened the USC Cultural Series Sunday with a stirring performance at The Township. Page 11. USC's junior varsity football team lost its first game in six years Monday af ternoon.Page 14.