European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - September 20, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 10 columns . Rosenthal the stars and stripes sunday. September 20. 1987 pass on for the Constitution puzzles foreigners american Navy in combat readiness in persian Gulf. Hart raises privacy Issue. Killer executed in Flor Ida. Justice department organizes anti obscenity drive. Bark nomination dominates Washington poli tics. Anti abortionists demonstrate in state capital. The headlines have one thing in common every one of them involves the Constitution of the United Stales so do dozens of other stories appearing every Day in newspapers and on to. Bui there is no escaping the Power of the Constitution in american life politically and emotionally. In is inc very Center of our Day by Day National debate particularly when we try to bypass in. Thai is its uniqueness and its importance. Two Hundred years later the Constitution is no Only providing answers but just As important raising questions about itself and the society in encompasses. There is no other country so involved in talking about Funda mental Law its limits and flexibility. That is Why we Puzzle so Many others what is this watergate business what crime did Richard Nixon commit an iranian colonel an aide to he Shah asked me that once. After a couple of minutes we decided 10 drop in. Even democratic leaders friends like prime min ister Margaret Thatcher of Britain and president fran Cois Mitterrand of France fail to understand american passion about the Constitution. Europeans react Calm James j. Kilpatrick Iylo incidents thai would cause a constitutional juror in the United state like the British ban of a Book published abroad even newspaper reviews or the French blowing up a peace ship in new zealand Waters. For americans the questions involved in he stories listed above arc the sift of National life because they determine what kind of nation and life we have. Docs the Constitution guarantee privacy even for Ordinary citizens where is in written can it be assumed to be the intent or is it a Mailer for legislation to decide is execution of a murderer so cruel As to be unconstitutional is the number of Blacks executed so High As to indicate illegal Bias who has the right to say a woman can have an abortion who has the right to say she cannot courts stale Legislatures or Congress or is in a right she was bom with inalienable would England France. Italy Switzerland name your own democracy Ever have a Public discussion let alone a shouting political Battle Over the appoint ment of a judge but there is another Story listed up there the one about an american Fleet on combat Alert in Fara Way Waters. So Wail a minute before we break our arms clapping ourselves on the Back about the Constitution. Americans not Only debate and celebrate the Constitution but Are pretty Good at violating h. For a Good part of our history american presidents have been violating the Constitution by going into or getting ready for War without bothering to involve the people through its elected Congress. President Truman did hat in Korea president Ken Nedy and president Johnson in Vietnam. In his own Way president Reagan in the persian Gulf is doing some fancy Constitution evading of his own. The charade of flying the red White and Blue Over kuwaiti ships carrying Oil to Japan is Nous pocus not worthy of a great country. But openly sending the Fleet and declaring our National involvement was within International Law and our right. Reagan has not declared War but he must be ready 10 right in if the unpredictable iranian zealots hit our warships otherwise we should Clear right out. There fore the president has the obligation under the War Powers Resolution of 1973 to inform Congress that american forces Are now in a hostile situation. Doing so would be a political headache. Not doing so violates the legislative Powers Given to con Gress by the Constitution Congress weakly permit it. There is nothing in the Constitution about Freedom from headaches not a word. Studies show . Education foiling to educate who was Gulliver who was Achilles and Why was his Heel important who was Midas and what was Memora ble about his touch Don t ask the typical Ullh Grnde Stu Dent in american schools. Don t ask this student about Richard Wright Jane Addams Henrik Ibsen or Henry James. Some of our High school students might Tell you thai . Morgan of All people was the first president of the american federation of labor. Forty percent of them have a vague notion that world War i was waged prior to 1900. Brace yourself one More stunning re port on the i Nade Quaty of american Edu cation is at hand. This is what do our 17-Ycar-Olds know by Diane Ravitch and Chester e. Finn or. She teaches at Columbia teachers collide he is an assistant Secre tary of education. Their report is based upon the findings of a National study of Lith graders. The object was to assess the students knowledge of history and literature. As it turned out the students knowledge was deplorable poor. The Ravitch finn report comes on the heels of other devastating critiques of american education. In inc Spring of 1983 a commission on educational excellence produced a nation at risk with its stunning exposure of inc thin Broth thai is served by most of our local school systems. More recently we have heard from professor . Hirsch on our cultural illiteracy and from pro Fessor Allan Bloom on the deterioration of higher education. Last month brought a blockbuster from the National endow ment for the humanities. The conclusions Are identical our schools for the most part Are squander ing our inheritance of the past. The Typ ical ill grader culturally speaking is an ignoramus. In their Book Ravnich and finn re View the findings of a test administered by inc National assessment of educational Progress in the Spring of 1986. The i was Given to a statistically valid Sam ple of 7,812 students across the nation. On 141 questions having to do with his tory Only 54.5 percent provided Correct answers. On 121 questions dealing with literature the rate was 51.8 percent if it assume thai a score of less than 60 percent on an examination Means fail ure Nur students Are flunking badly the picture probably is much worse than those figures would suggest. Questions were posed with four or five multiple Choice answers. It was not pos sible for a participant to Check Don t know which meant that Many scores were improved by Guesswork skipped or unanswered questions were Noi counted As wrong answers. The lest questions might fairly be described As easy questions. They required no analysis interpretation or calculation. Virtually All of the questions about history dealt with american history a subject most of the 11lli-graders were taking. Not even half the students knew thai Jefferson s presidential term was be tween 1800 and 1820. Barely half could place Franklin Roosevelt in the 1930s. More than two thirds of the students had nol even a foggy notion of when the civil War was waged. The Good news if soil May be described is that 80 percent had heard of George Washington and could place his presidency within 20 years. This was a question in the portion on literature Aesop is Best known for hav ing written a fables b dramas a proverbs or d epic not quite two thirds of the students got it if King Solomon was famous for his courage frugality eccentricity or wis Dom 39 percent flunked. Half of the Stu dents evidently knew nothing of the Iliad nothing of Don Quixote nothing of Shakespeare s Julius Caesar four out of five had at least a nodding acquaintance with Robinson Crusoe and Huckleberry finn. That is about the Best that could be said. All in All the authors conclude the examination turned up a shameful level of american 17 year Olds they emphasize Are nol stupid or apathetic. This younger generation is not going to the we merely conclude that it is Igno rant of important things that it should know and that it and generations to Fol Low Are at risk of being gravely Handi capped by thai ignorance upon entry into adulthood citizenship and let us read that Mere conclusion and weep. But i c0uu always
