Severely handicapped class arrives - The Lowell

YOUR. AEMI
Court permits searches
The recent- Supreme Court ruling that ethical. Rather, the question
school officub and administrators may scorch students should be .norc vul
i student based on "reasonable grounds" ascncs or such things than sa<
opposed to the previous requirement or "pro-Qfjjcc,
bible cause," not only Is an inrringement or
the rights or r jdenti under the
of « ho ° l "**• "Fw the court.
students will not have lhe same rights in """'"'"""' '-"••» *"» - >•
school as they do on the street. When school officials are loo quick to
The majority or the Snpreme Court deeid- search a student, it is likely to result in an
ed that sarcry or the general student body "armed-camp" atmosphere within lhe school.
»hould come before an individual student's For instance, in Brooklyn, a majority of the
privacy, and there Is justification for their c|ajj of fcird graders was stripped searched
concern. • whe" $50 was reported missing rrom a
There has been an increasing number or substitute teacher's purse — a majority, condrop
and violence recently in the schools. In sioering lhe rod that most or the money was
Detroit high schools, special security squad* found on UK first ch:!d examined,
round 49 guns and 69 knives, along wiUi other ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ Mon. ^ m m
the Treasury. To pay the foreign anl
domestic dtbts Wt over rrom the American
Revolution, Hamilton persuaded the governroeti
Is lwrrow more than S70 million from
the country's affluent. That way the United
States could establish foreign credit, and the
wealthy would arc about the country's
"well-being even if only for selfish reasons.
Since the federal deficit has always existed,
why is it suddenly turning into a
monster that threatens to devour our future?
Even taking into account thr costs of the
Korean and Vietnamese wars, the annual
federal deficit averaged only S3 billion for
the:25 yean following World War n.
However, in the 1970's. the government
ventured into grand-scaled social and
- nuhtiry spending! without commensurate
pT
dependence, we must
7'l e L our , ers , oad
US With perpetual
Self-scheduliiig: student
right and responsibility
Just what does sclf-sclieduling day r«H>'iionorthe 'balancing' process it employed at
nx-anj fast September's scheduling ubles. and for
For some, it means a long-awaited escape fe continued commitment to offering
rrom a cerain uninspiring course or teacher, courses which, beocuse or their advanced
For others, it means the opportunity'0 spend na!ure. toceivc only a lew number or
another semester with a teacher who has students on their sign-up srrxts.
proven to be quite interesting or dilTcrait. M(Jfc t,,JlJcntl seeded i0 walk awty rrom
Yrt. for every student, it means one thins. lhe UD|es this year with complete schedules
Something which no other high school stu- ^^ o(hcr m a a scheduling day.
dent in tin city is allowed: the privilege u- M p^iem, j^med to come from the
enroll in most any course that is offered in ^.y^ department. Students have voiced
any y time slot that it is taught, g with any in- ^
structor who will be leaching it.
inl£n£ dw.,laBUre
l d
less difficu nKtene$l>,
been, for Modems who scheduled last '° when „„„».„„ c
C T^VH^h^hl U .5.dbE«cd or «*Von.
g y
way out. and «lack
students, ranging from Speed Reading .o have the privilege or scir-schcdu!.ng uan
Electronics. Too often. Lowell students lack they often realize. Many students attempt to
the appreciation which a privilege such as abuse the system by scheduling themselves
self-scheduling day warrants. to arrivr unusually late or Icnvc school ex-
Many problems seemed to come from the
English Department. Students have voiced
their intense displeasure with that depart-
ment's policies regarding the resolution of incomplete
programs.
But statistics for 1983 reveal that 68 per ^ . . , . . . .
Many students ihis semester have a 2-3 iremcly early. This abuse threat:ns Lowell's
class with mods 4-5 free. Many courses continuation as a high school with a 20-mod,
which were previously offered 4-5 arc now self-scheduled day. Administrators are now
being scheduled for earlier time slots. Why? seriously discussing the possibility of rctum-
Lown such laxity ,n the iMcrprcu- To meet state requirements for a lengthened ing Lowell students to a seven-pcriod day
_2* tion of student '» rights, could have a large im-
school day. Unlike many other schools in wiih assigned classes and teachers.
muter how much the schools tighten up the < the educational system in the United ^ FrolciM.(, i^.,.,, iv |eni!Ihcning in.
M.-tuM)l day Rftuliuilly. Last September's
Lmtclt. students arc granted lhe
securityandsearchorihcirownstudcnlt.lt' ... . .
freedom of being permuted to
seems that they will not be able to prevent the It is ironic that, in our schools, the institu- scheduling day btought wilh it for some "" "*' "r
majorityor such violence irpeoplc outside the I upon which we rely to leach the children courses, such as typing and freshman P.E.. ""*
own t
school are involved. of this country the rights and responsibilities an increase in instruction time from two to ' j
As for drugs, it is unrealistic for officialsor our constitutional form of government, three mods. 77iftn»rH has heard it.nmorcd ' .... ... .
to think that there will be a decrease in drug violations of those rights are countenanced, that the goal of this slcp-b> -step program is sen-scncauiing pmucges may appear to oc
use among the studenu through the incrcas- Although the recent ruling was made with "• eventually increase instruction lime for all ^Uj J^T * rc :
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