Severely handicapped class arrives - The Lowell

The myth of the admissions same
DyAk&Uti
Cotlcfe admission! officen arr
widely rcjtrJe.1 (by high school
t*kfcatft, mmt'y STUMS) as the
'Vtxrjc of the cducaLinn process."
ruhleuly taking away the opportuni.
ry of «a excellent edfotttoo from
deserving >ounj[ adults.
Mvy (Mother) Jones is B colics*
admia-Jwis officer. Shr I*, a
housewife by profession i*i» • f.jf*?«
to cat henclf • domett* engineer)
and took up the college admissions
game as a bobby.
She wakes up one fine spring moruing,
looks si her horoscope in the
newspaper, apd then tumt 10 the file
of one Johnny B. Coode.
Johnny, ihe rejds, is an excellent
student whh many varied after-school
actnritie* and b talented in music, an
and jporu. In short, hchi perfect
candidate for admission at any
unJversfc/.
After reading this. Miry decides
lohttny b a nice enough bny to wtrnm
a dechion. Se, she nptm up her
Quija board, RCU our her fortune
cookies and Lcdks Oracle, and staru
working.
The fortune cookie reads. "You
are happy today, but iherc arc s:orm
[Life behind
ciaod* on the horizon.'
"Five points nlT." she muttirs (o
hcttclf. and nuru it on a piece of
•xmich pjper.
Ne*|, she checks t-tt Ladies'
Oracle, wbc«c answer b worth ten
points. She asks, "Ought 1 to accept
the propositions ft* «re madr me7"
Mary (I'M through ihc book anxiously.
*». * Oracle came up with
ditioru." She .miles and matkf ten
points on ihe scrap of piptr.
Now Johnny's rcote was five
fxiinu. and it wi\ all up to the
I J-point consultation with the Ou'ja
'joani, as it always was.
"Hear me. spirits of the uaiventry."
ihc whisper* ominously, eyes
closed and hands loosely on the
pointer. "Tell me if 1 shouW recommend
admtuion for this youngster
(she pecks at the fttit. lolmny B
tioude."
The pointer moves arr.ncl. seemingly
independent of the nxn-cment
of her fingers. Finally thr pointer
slopi and Muy opens her e>es. ll
b st-uartly on ihc circle ubelcd
"No." Mary ^phs.She pulls out a
rubber sump and mirk* Johnny's
file " D "
©00
I © © © the wheel
By TInii Vu
What type of person would give a
teenager a ride for only & mere 25
cents? (These of you who need a
cheup way to get to the prom, this article
i* for you!)
No, t>e answer isn't a con-artist
nor a limousine driver — it's our
friendly MUNI bus driver.
For rhose of us who must take imu
transit to school in the wee hours of
the morning, ihe brown-clad man cr
woman, sitting at the wheel of the
bus. has the power to maVc or break
a morning schedule.
It seems the days you'dn* cm tune,
the bus driver arrives on lime — but
the few lime* that >ou'rc 1-ne, the but
b nowhere in sight.
If you're "lucky" enough to be
given the opportunity to crush both
yourself and an overstuffed backpack
onto the already crowded bus. the
driver wilt iavarisbly utter. "Step up
and keep moving to the back of the
coach! I know there's room back
there!"
Ones on Ac bus. the driver will
wair until every single person b safely
behind the yeUow lines marked on the
floor. Meanwhile you * m hyperventuatia
{ because you arc going to have
* big math lest that morning and it's
late enough as it b.
After the ride finally staru. you
begin to doubt ihe skills of the driver
at the wheel as he screeches around
sru.p crrners, stops suddenly at stop
tights, and comes frightaiingly close
to pancd cars.
Sometimes in the middle of the
duo*, the d-ivcr may get out of the
Month; '*-«. Johnny receive? a
thtn lettct from his first choice
university, heginniug with, 'I regret
U* inform you..."
Now, let's tool at saothr: prr*ilc
of a different college adiniuions
officer.
'. Quincy (Cif/jir, Kiik. B.S., is
ail associate dean of admissions at a
n-jjw private i w oveniry. It b ihe middk.
r* the applications cyde, and Kirk
hj3jr*rrvic* over 100
more ipptkruioru before his iW-parl
mem will cot.se out with its final
dcciikra.
Finally, the file uf Johnny B.
Goode reaches his desk. Kirk KCS the
exact same inform-tica as Mary, but
reads between the lines for what lies
behind the Information.
He sees that Johnny pUys druna in
the school fond, but doesn't pUn f>
continue music in college. He sees
that Johnny it most interested in ha
artistic endeavors, but has not submitted
any \amptes of h*s work.
Kirk is impressed with Johnny's
overall ability, but Johnny Ucks that
standout qualify that Kirk b looking
for. The bottom line is. Johnny just
wouldn't add anything special to the
ncM freshman ilau.
Weeks Utcr. Johnny rt?cei*^ »thin
I letter from hi* second choice unner*
I itty, i«Ttinninp *iih, "1 rrprtt to in-
I fu.m vou..."
The colL-gc admiuioa* fame, the
I se*ectitmpnK*es.s. whatever it's tall*
' cd, wilt alA»>f be sn unwlsed
tn>stcty to high school students. Al!
swJcnts can do is accept the fjci that
college *trtnuv*.kxi officers arc here to
Seniors, can you answer tnis question? 'Frienas-tn-Touch' can help you
lyo^ringah!gnquam,simpteprogramofnewsiemstohetpfrlends
keepintouchthroughtheyears.ThIscanbeforanyspedalgroup.grad
doss, dub or team. An Idoal grod present.
For free Information. Just send
your namo and address to:
Ihr bmtll. May 7. 1986. fn> '•>
JWURE
CARTOON CORNER,
The Uilnl In • series of tkctcbts aUrrnpiing »o capture the pcnmaUtln
of LtiwrU faculty members. Ihb month: math tracber Don B>krr.
stay
Real life teachers don't fit their image
coach to buy something at the corner
store for nrcikf*.*;. It. ihe t.icanlimc,
tapping )our loot and pcnpinnu a\
you pbnee at your watch at .V) vxond
intervals.
To look on the bright side,
remember that the driver could have
pawed you up at the fa* stop in ihc
beginning as he looked and pointed
behind him to inform you thjt another
bus would be cominc in 15 minuses.
Actually, hus timers aren't at bad
as it may seem.
If you have Ihc same driver every
morning, he or she may look for you
at thr stop a»»d wait for %ou if you are
across the *uce* waving your arm*
wildly in the air. veiling. "Wait,
stop!!"
Looking al then: nicer drivers
though, you can't hslp but wonder if
tney ate vying for the "Driver of Use
Month" award, so that they can get
a free dinner at a fancy restaurant and
be jenored by their fellow drivers.
By Andrew Let
What do teachers really do after
they leave die confines of Lowell
High? Do they really spend their
nifthu toiling over 40-page c**a>*.
grading each one carefully and
meticulously, or do they secretly put
those papen avklc until the ncu morning
and spend their nigh:* watching
Miami \1cr while talking on the
telephone with other teacher* for
hjurs on end?
I : or year*. mo*iic*> and iclc«i«ton
ollcn depicted the ilercixy picjt
tether at a potiie, young: woman
wN> alv-ay« seemed to devrne ;n
"apple (or the teacher" tt\im one «>f
her cute, n^y-checked student*
Television *Jr)»*. like Un\r It m
Btmrr prumtKcd Urn inuj*c. purtnryinf.
teachers as fricn-Jly people irut
piients couM trust wiih then
children.
As the years went by, the image of
ihc tcjchcr dctrriorjted in both icto i •
won and movies. Abund'minkd professors
were popular, and the
stereotypical teadicr tmt *ctne of the
qualities that he or she had in the *50*
and 'tOx. In the '70s. shows such as
Wttcomc Back, Kotter depicted
teachers is people who struggled io
deal whh students at their own level.
utin( humor, sarcauii, cr seriousness
whenever necessary.
In the late "70s and into the '80s
with the vrcasing popularity o\
movies for and about teenagers, such
as Faa Times at Rld&\-»->S ••.
There t>l>to Other 1
TuxedJlikelt 1
hTheWorid 1
may av experience exDerience many irritating iin-
xo-i.cn lost much of the respcaonce
cidents on IV bus, n'« still the easiest
and least eipensive way of gening to
accorded to the earlier stcreotvpe.
The stereotypical iccchcx of the '80s
CoOt •jmurm tQVK/t
hlTIIHJWlB-» QWM,
1
I
school and back tact) day.
his beovne a target for practical
Trlends-ln-Touch"
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