European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 05, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse Smart bombs can to obliterate math miseries a a Dave newspaper Quot tit Quot ast week i witnessed a chilling example 1 v of what Secretary of education Arthur g a. To Hcrman was referring to in a re a Iceni speech when he said that in terms r of Basic mathematics skills the United a slates has become and l quote a a a nation of Stu this Inci Ilent Occil Rcd alien my Soi fund i standing in line at toys a a re us which is what we do for father son bonding because it involves less screaming Ilian Little Ltd ague our immediate a a goal was to Purchase that my son really a needed called the intruder Alert this is a Bat a Tery operated surveillance device that can by in placed at strategic locations Quot around the House it makes an irritating electronic shriek when you the intruder walk past. This important v logical breakthrough enables the child to get on your nerves even when he is not Home the woman ahead of us wanted to buy four _ tee 11 age mutant ninja tur11e drinks which Comein those Little cardboard drink boxes that adults cannot tip Erale without dribbling on items docs but which pull children can instinctively trans form into either drinking containers or squirt guns. The toys a a re us Price Vas three drinks for 99 cents but the woman wanted to buy four. Drinks. So the mathematical problem was How much should the cashier charge for the fourth Box a talk about your brain teasers the Bustier tried staring intently at the fourth Box for a while As if maybe one of the ninja turtles would Sud a Donly blurt out the answer but that did t. Work. Then she got on the Horn and talked or somebody in management a a re a us but that. Person did t answer either. So the. Cashier made another phone Call and then an a other. By now i assume to some. Body in the highest Echelon of toys a or Quot Uitti Pirc some wealthy toy on his. Giant yacht which is powered by 176,485 a cd Quot cell batteries not included. A a finally the cashier got the word v Box should Cost i am this up--29o cents. This is of course ridiculous. As anyone with a Basic grasp of mathematics can Tell you if. Three drinks Cost 99 cents then a fourth drink would Cost lets see four by 99 Cunis carry your six Over Here and put it on the dividend and your answer is. Of your answer is definitely not 29 cents and this is not an isolated incident of Amer cars mathematical Boneh sadism. In a recent v study done by the american association of re cent studies 74 percent of . High school students a nearly half a were unable to solve the following problem 1 a a Quot while travelling to their High school ceremony Bill arid Bob decide to fill their. A a undershirts with cheer Whiz. If Bill wears a a size-32 Brief and a 40, and Chez a Whiz comes in an 8-ounce Jar How Many limes v do you think these boys will have to repeal their senior year a _. Here is the ironic thing America produces uni arts bin Psi while Europe and Japan do not. Yet our Young people done to know the answers to test questions that arc child s play for european and japanese students. A 1 r jul us should by done about this the Macri can Council if mathematicians after a lengthy a. Study of this problem f ill losing solution a a we Tell Europe and Japan to give us the test answers and if they done to we _ drop the bombs on 1 la. A those mathematicians still bitter a about not having prom dates seriously though _ a it this nation is a far cry from the am cried of the. V 1950s, when i was a student and we were no. _1 in math and science constantly astounding the. World with technical innovations Sueh As color television Crunchy Peanut butter and sputnik. What was our secret How did we learn so much athe answer is that Back then math was taught a by what professional educators refer the a a Nogic method at least this Vas the method a used by or. 0�?Trcgan, Alaric Man who taught me the times tables. Or of Regan would stand directly behind you and yell �?o9 times 7�?� and did no to stat Che answer immediately mrs of Regan would give us a Boogie. You can easily identify us former or. students be cause we have dents in our skulls Large enough for chipmunks to nest in. -. A Sonc of us also have facial tics these were caused by algebra which was taught by or. Schofield using the thrown blackboard Eraser method. But the Point is. That worked to this Day can 9 times a a 7 is around 50. Its Good that i remember my math training Quot because i can help my son with his Homework. Hell by sitting at the Kitchen table slaving Over one of those horrible pages full of Long division problems having trouble and ill say a you a know Robert this May seem difficult and Boring now but you re learning a skill that you la probably never use a a if More parents would take the time to show this kind of concern we americans could a stand again instead of being a Lazy Sloppy nation where a prepare to be shocked a some new spa a per Coleii insists in Thor than doing simply make up the name of the Secretary a of Fooy v ,. I England Quot did you see How that policeman jumped. When we swooped Low Quot l _ no kidding How Long does it last a face lift a 6-10 years a Quot Pencil a 30,000 words cat�?15 years t _ Dogwood tree a 115 years refrigerator a 17 years car Muffler a two years Tornado a 10 minutes. Mayfly a _. A source world features Syndicate Quot a a o. Only recreation More popular than Bingo. Swimming bicycling a a a a a a a _ camping source the Philadelphia inquirer of i Page 24 a Quot sunday 7 a maytt991
