European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 9, 1969, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Use seashells so to of the world of learning an is report in its seven barely pronounceable letters us Desea stands sulkily As the abbreviation for the world s Geo graphically largest educational system. Whether it is for an american teeny bopper in Ankara Turkey a pair of Youthful Baltimore Oriole fans in Oslo Norway or an absorbed High school senior Reading Catcher in the Rye Ashe strolls Down a British country Lane the name of the game is education an these kids Are part of the game. Us Desea which is the easy Way to avoid saying United states dependent schools european area was born a the rubble of world War ii and now embraces a physical territory two and half times the size of the ., although move than half in students and schools Are in Germany. Its beneficiaries Are the some 100,000youngsters who come out for the Bell daily from North Africa to Norway from Pakistan to the United kingdom. Although they May be conscious Only of going to an american school with american teachers and american text books and american report cards these kids in fact Are contemporary representatives of the most remarkable Experiment in education in the history of learn ing. System has grown like Jack s beanstalk undergoing changes and weathering crises with laudable perseverance. A i Ever before had a nation at tempted and succeeded in establishing an entire educational system on foreign soil. With its annual budget of some 560 million and More than 4,000 teacher holding Forth in 15 nations us Desea represents an awesome organizational Enterprise. For All its similarities to stateside school systems us Desea cannot be tossed readily into the same bask Tonly us Desea for instance May Lay claim to having moved an entire school because of a War the outbreak Between India and Pakistan. Bus and Airlift we reused to evacuate students a rare experience in cultural Shock for a collection of american youths. The none too Subtle influence of Politi Cal issues on the school system was evidenced last fall when several teach ers earmarked for Turkey failed to show reportedly frightened off the scene bythe czechoslovakian crisis. In the More than two decades since Desea began actual operations with the 1948 opening of 38 elementary school Sand five High schools in Germany the he Man behind us Desea at pres ent is or. Joseph a. Mason an amiable Man with a passion for ugandan exotica and string ties a dedicated educator known among his cohorts mostly As Doc Seldom As  the 54-year-old administrator has had10 years of leadership in american schools in Europe with an additional two years tossed in As a chief education advisor to Uganda for the  Agency for International development add. He operates out of a second Story of fice in a typically grim Cavern building at Karlsruhe s Smiley Barracks sur rounding himself with a staff of specialists whose expertise ranges from curriculum to school supplies Public relations to military Liaison. About 100 administrative personnel among which Are secretaries whose ranks include 10 nationalities help us Desea s vast operation Glide along a somewhat even keel. Structurally us Desea is divided int six districts some of which Are consolidations of formerly separate districts each headed by a District superintendent. Largest of these districts is that one headquartered in Wiesbaden. Taking in Belgium Norway and Northern Ger Many it embraces 72 schools. Us Desea traditionally has placed High Premium on effective leadership at the District and local Levels because of a High degree of autonomy imposed by the problems of distance. Problem cropping up in the hinterlands must of necessity be resolved in the hinterland Sas often As possible. Not surprisingly us Desea encounters the same headache As any other phase of the american military operation in Europe communications. The sound of bellowing As an official parents and teacher meet to discuss child s Progress or Lack of same. Tries to make himself heard Over the Telephone is commonplace. Us Desea Public relations direct ored Reich remarked when we re Lucky enough to get a Good line everybody gets in the act As we try to take care of everything at once. Somebody hollers we got a Clear line from Turkey and up to the third floor or wherever it May be you  oddly enough one of the major prob lems with which us Desea must continually Deal is not a result of the organization s size but of its unusual character. Because of the professional transient of the military it is All but impossible to predict with accuracy the numbers of pupils which will show up within us Desea when school opens in the fall. If the troop count is increased or the number of servicemen having school age children increase the system willbe caught Short not Only of teachers but also of supplies. Further these projections of probable enrolment May be accurate Overall but May find the projected count too Low in England and too High in Spain forcing a shift of person Nel. These become functional problem that tax the imagination of officials to resolve and Over the years the constant presence of such problems has taught us Desea the Virtues of adaptability. Today s Large schools such As Kaiserslautern High school with its approximately 1,600 students contrast sharply with those started with funds from class i profits in the Days immediately Fol lowing world War ii. I these kids in fact Are contemporary representatives of the most remarkable Experiment. In the history of learning. N Heidelberg the first american elementary school was set up in Hie Home of Robert Wilhelm von Bunsen inventor of the Burner that bears his name. A teacher and 10 pupils made up the class in Giessen that met in a German weather observation station while i Rochefort France a High school was opened in an Arsenal used by Napoleon to store equipment and supplies in preparation for the invasion of England the original Munich High school which served 38 students was locate Din a German Home whose basement attic and bedrooms did very  you for classrooms. In those Days school supplies were often scrounged today they Are a sub Stantial part of the Mimi Raili Ion Doua budget. Yet for All its statistical impressive Ness us Desea is still relatively unnoticed or disregarded As a huge entity by a startlingly Large number of people even those with children children who May be benefiting from one of the world s More cosmopolitan sophisticated and thorough going educational set . A technician at the Karlsruhe headquarter Check Over a film returned after uie by a school. Page 10 or. Joseph a. Mason head school system that sex twi from Post than to or Tat Britain. Tin stars and stapes sunday february 9, 1969