The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, December 06, 2000, Page 5, Image 5
TDit (Samccock
Students
from page 4
formed the United States.
They are Australia, the Flemish
*. (Dutch) part of Belgium, Canada, Tai
wan, Finland, Hungary, Japan, Korea,
Netherlands, Singapore, the Slovak Re
public and Slovenia.
U.S. students shared the average
field with Bulgaria, Latvia and New
Zealand; American children did bet
ter than those in 17 other countries in
both categories.
Students were asked questions about
algebra, geometry, physics, chemistry
and other topics that children would
have been expected to have covered at
their grade level.
Questions went well beyond sim
ple math and science knowledge. In a
typical math question from the test,
which was translated into each coun
try’s language, testers were given the
problem 691+208 and asked to show
which of several other sums were clos
est. The choices were 600+200,
700+200,700+300 and 900+200. An
swer:700+200.
Other nations’ reactions to their stu
dents’ standings varied widely.
“We are looking at ourselves, not
comparing ourselves with other coun
tries,” said Thailand’s Chaiwat Witchara
mai, a national education testing offi
cial. Thailand scored below the U.S. in
both science and math.
With average national performance
set around 500, math scores ranged from
604 in Singapore to 275 in South Africa;
science scores ranged from 569 in
Taiwan to 243 in South Africa. The U,S.
score was 502 in math, 515 in sci
ence.
France and Germany did not par
ticipate, the only major industrialized
nations that didn’t. The tests, which all
nations were invited to give and were
expected to pay for, drew three African
countries, Middle Eastern states in
cluding Jordan and Iran, several East
ern Eur opean countries and a lone South
American nation, Chile.
More than 100,000 children, in
cluding 9,072 frpm the United States,
were picked randomly from each na
tion’s eighth-graders or the national
equivalent and were tested in the pri
mary language of instruction.
The study also analyzed results from
23 nations that gave the eighth-grade
tests both in 1995 and 1999.
- *
1
U.S. Education Department offi
cials, which funded and administered
the U.S. tests along with the National
Science Foundation, cautioned against
comparisons, either to current nations
or to 1995 rankings.
“It would be incorrect to assume
no learning is taking place,” said de
partment researcher Patrick Gonzales.
The scores “could indicate a pace of
change in other nations that is signifi
cantly faster.”
-1
Japan’s troubled prime minister seeking
improvement with launch of new Cabinet
by Ginny Parker
Associated Press
TOKYO —Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori
, launched a new Cabinet on Tuesday, cut
ting the number of posts and beefing up
the lineup with two influential former
leaders. Even so, doubts remained over
his ability to run the nation.
To bolster an eroding power base,
Mori gave key positions to former prime
ministers Kiichi Miyazawa and Ryutaro
Hashimoto.
“There’s an election next year, so
they want to do anything they can to im
prove the image,” said Ronald Morse, a
politics professor at Keitaku Universi
ty. “They can’t kick Mori out, so they
have to surround him with people that
look good.”
Mori still faces major tasks, namely
the revival of Japan’s still-struggling econ
omy, a government restructuring plan
that takes effect next month and elec
tions for Parliament.
“Mori is the weakest prime minis
ter in history. I don’t think they can do
much,” said Shigenori Okazaki, a polit
ical analyst at UBS Warburg in Tokyo.
“This is another government of the sta
tus quo.”
Many Japanese agree.
“I don’t have any hopes that the new
Cabinet will bring any changes,” Masa
ki Nagase, a 35-year-old office worker,
said outside a Tokyo coffee shop. “What
we need is to remove that prime minis
ter.”
Following the mass resignation of his
Cabinet in the morning — an expected
formality — Mori had the difficult job
of putting together a lineup that satisfied
rival factions within his Liberal Democ
ratic Party and a publicunhappy with his
performance since he took office in April.
Stressing the need for continuity, Mori
had several ministers retain their former
posts and drew almost exclusively from
the ruling three-party coalition.
This is the first time in Japan’s his
tory that two former prime ministers have
served simultaneously as Cabinet mem
bers —a situation that could lead to bick
ering for power.
But the presence of Hashimoto, a
powerful politician who controls the
LDP’s largest faction, could give
Mori’s administration a renewed sense
of legitimacy along with the influence it
needs to pass key legislation in Parlia
ment.
The new Cabinet included some fa
miliar faces: Yohei Kono remained on as
foreign minister, and outspoken Chikage
Ogi kept her post as construction min
ister. Masahiko Komura, a former for
eign minister, was appointed to head the
‘We have to regain public trust. We are com
mitted to tackling various reforms to have a
newborn Japan.’
Yasuo Fukuda
Chief Cabinet Secretary
Justice Ministry.
Mori did make some changes, in
cluding appointing Hashimoto to serve
as head of Okinawan affairs and govern
ment reform, and he’s hoping the change
will bolster his sagging administration.
Public opinion polls put his support
at under 20 percent, and he just barely
survived a rebellion within his own par
ty to beat a no-confidence motion two
weeks ago.
“We have to regain public trust,” said
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda,
who retained his post. “We are commit
ted to tackling various reforms to have a
newborn Japan.”
Mori’s new Cabinet can expect some
difficult months ahead.
Figures released this week showed
that although the nation’s economy is ex
panding, it is still not clearly on the road
to recovery after its worst slowdown in
decades. Concerns have been raised that
Mori is not strong enough to push for any
tough economic measures.
Such concerns showed in the finan
cial markets’ reaction to the reshuffle
news.
The Nikkei Avenge, the main barom
eter of Japan’s stock market, has fallen
to near two-year lows. The Nikkei fell
further Tuesday, down 1.74 percent at •
the close.
“As there do not appear to be any
changes ahead, the market has no hopes
for improvement,” said Akihiro Niino
mi, an analyst for Tokai Bank in Tokyo.
Another challenge for Mori’s Cabi
net will be the new bureaucratic frame
work initiated to make Japan’s govern
ment less cumbersome and more
responsive to the nation’s needs. The
streamlining goes into effect next month.
To reflect the changes, the current
22 Cabinet portfolios will be reduced to
17, with many of the former posts
combined and other new positions cre
ated.
is as likely in coming meetings to cut rates
as to raise them.
Economists believe the Fed will
not actually cut rates at the December
meeting and may remain on hold for some
months to come unless the economy
threatens to stall out.
Greenspan’s remarks on Tuesday to
the America’s Community Bankers Con
ference signaled that he has apparently
signed on to moving the policy statement
to a neutral stance.
Talking about the impact the fall in
stock prices could have on the real econ
omy, Greenspan said it was essential to
remain alert to the possibility that falling
stock prices “could signal or precipi
tate an excessive softening in household
and business spending. ”
Greenspan’s remarks indicated he be
lieves the economy has shifted into a low
er gear and the third quarter was not just
a temporary pause likely to be followed
by a rebound that would bring back in
flation concerns.
At one point, he talked about “the 1
economy’s transition to a more sustain
able balance in the growth of demand and
supply.”
One of the primary reasons the Fed
has given for its six rate increases was
concern that the demand for workers was
outstripping the supply because of an un
employment rate that has fallen to a three
decade low of 3.9 percent.
While labor markets remain tight,
Greenspan said the rise in new claims for
unemployment benefits in recent weeks
“may be an early harbinger of an easing”
of hot labor market.
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Greenspan
from page 4
profits and contributed to a sharp sell-off
in the stock market this fall, particularly
for high-flying technology companies.
Recently, more economists have be
gun expressing fears that the central bank
has overdone the credit tightening and
could be running a danger of ending the
current record-long economic expansion,
now in its 10th year.
Many analysts believe the Fed, at its
next meeting Dec. 19, will recognize
those concerns by moving its policy state
ment from one leaning toward further
rate cuts to a neutral stance, indicating it