European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 7, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Thursday july 7, 1994 t commentary the stars and stripes Page 17 Cal Thomas gop planning to the 17-count indictment of House ways and Means committee chairman Dan Rostonkowski is More than an indictment of one Man. It is an indictment of one party Rule and unchecked Power privilege and Perks and it is a commentary on How corruption greed and selfishness can harm a nation and its principles. Consider the definition of a a corrupt and whether it characterizes not Only the House leadership but also the feelings of Many americans about a government and a culture now out of control a to degrade with unsound principles or moral values to alter from the original. To become morally debased to cause disintegration of ruin. A the Republican party has its greatest Opportunity in 40 years to transform to e political landscape Lor perhaps As Many As the next 40 years but it will require Unity and something dramatic to capture enough people s attention and allegiance. The party should consider emulating the 16th-Century theologian Martin Luther and Nail its to Ness to the Capitol door. The next House Republican Leader Newt Gingrich of Georgia met recently with possible gop presidential candidate William Bennett to plan such a strategy. Gingrich plans to invite All House candidates to gather on the Capitol Steps sept 27, where they will a sign a contract with the american  if voters were to give republicans control of the House this year Gingrich says the gop members first act would be to change the rules to require every Law passed by the House to apply to its members. Next he says would come a new committee Structure featuring a 33 percent Cut in staff and a similar reduction in staff spending. Then he would announce which firm has been hired to audit the House books for the period the democrats have been in charge. Gingrich says he a asking gop National chairman Haley Barbour to buy ads that will include a checklist so voters can Check off each Promise when it is kept. In the first 90 Days of a Republican House he says legislation would be introduced on welfare Reform that emphasizes work and family and tax Reform that expands the earned income tax credit eliminates the out democratic dirt a marriage penalty and restructures soda Security. He promises to push an economic growth Bill with tax and regulatory changes to reduce the number of lawsuits by reforming Laws concerning product liability and malpractice and to Cut crime with legislation a that will do All the things the liberals wont let us do  in addition to addressing economic concerns republicans must not shy away from the moral social Agenda and real de. Cation Reform a their strongest issues. As to charges that people like him and the gop Senate nominee from Virginia Oliver North Are extremists Gingrich notes that the real extremists arc a the Gay rights fanatics and a anti Catholic bigots like surgeon general Jocclyn elders. A the elite Media a he says a is terrified their world is ending and they re right.�?�. Gingrich and North who characterized the White House As being run by a Twenty something kids with an earring and an a to grind Quot Are on to something. Most americans Are sickened by what their country has become. But the Republican message must be cast Quot in positive not negative terms. It would be dangerous to dwell on criticism As a substitute for via Sion. A a a on the most volatile Issue of All abortion republicans should Craft a new approach that will emphasize life Over death and help to women. Working with pro life groups and crisis pregnancy Cen tors republicans should offer financial and emotional assistance to any woman who seeks an abortion. Surveys have shown that most women get abortions for economic reasons. Eliminate that reason demonstrate compassion and the Issue is redefined. Republicans Are on a Roll. President Clinton and his party have run out of ideas and out of steam. Theirs is the. Final gasp of big government �?T60sstyle liberalism _ if the gop can twin big this fall if it engages in political cannibalism carving itself up Over social issues while the nation starves for Lack of moral leadership a it will not deserve the Faith or support of the american people. So far the election results since Clinton a inaugural have encouraged the gop but its a Long time Between now and november a republicans have self destructed before. The emphasis should be offensive not defensive. It Isnit conservative republicans who have corrupted the culture so they have nothing to defend. It is Liberal democrats who have gutted the structures upon which America was built a by too much taxing too much spending and a refusal to emphasize personal responsibility and accountability. Nail that Agenda to the Capitol door and democrats hid and everyone will be talking in november about the conservative comeback. C los Angeles times. Ic1 engineers it was one of those disheartening things. The people who ran Georgia techs a a challenges program a a pre freshman a a Bridges course to get disadvantaged youngsters ready for the Rigours of academic life a decided to see How Well they were doing. A when we looked at the data a Norman Johnson special assistant to the president of tech recalled the other Day a it turned out that the kids who enrolled in Challenge weren to doing any better than those who didn�?Tt.�?�. Georgia tech was serious about the program and made a serious commitment of staff and other resources to it. Why Wasny to it working. Johnson trained As a sociologist and experienced in boosting minority youngsters toward academic achievement thought he knew the answer. A we were starting off with the idea that the kids were dumb. We did no to say that of course but the program was set up on a deficit Model. We were going to fix what was wrong with these minority kids. A suppose we started with the idea that these youngsters were unusually Bright that we had very High expectations of them a that was five years ago the 1992 freshman class had 21 minority students a 14 african american and seven hispanic a who finished the year with a perfect 4.0 Grade Point average. That a 10 percent of the minority students compared with just 5 percent of the White students who scored that High. That 21, says Johnson were More minorities than had achieved a 4.0 in the entire decade from 1980 to 1990. Retention rates for minority freshmen in the engineering school approach 100 percent. Indeed the program is so successful Fiat it is being offered to All tech enrollees a White students have cute handed it a and colleges across America Are looking at Challenge As a blueprint for their own a a Bridges programs. The old program says Gavin Samms of Georgia techs office of minority development had a lot of minority youngsters feeling better about themselves it helped some of them become less isolated and better adjusted on Campus. But it did no to help their classroom performance. Norm Johnson chief architect of the current program that includes five intensive summer weeks of freshman math and chemistry lists three critical Steps in its development. A in 1990, a Young brother named Rick Zeigler a an Engineer on loan from ism a became fascinated with the idea of understanding performance a Johnson said. A a study of 15 years of data convinced him that first Quarter performance was the biggest single determinant of whether you a make it the William Raspberry rest of the Way. In other words Good starts feed on themselves. But its hard to get off to a Good Start if you re being treated As someone to be  that pushed us to get rid of the deficit Model a then a football player who was also an engineering major came up with the a preseason idea. Athletes get used to the idea of preseason training he told us. From Little league to division i College bail to the pros you have preseason training a not because there a something wrong with you but to get ready for the regular season. Challenge is our preseason  perhaps More important than any of the specifics of the program was techs Success in changing the academic culture for minorities. Said Johnson who is also a member of the Atlanta Board of education a we had a culture that said All you had to do once you re admitted is figure out How to get out. Just be Cool. But we get the Best kids Black America has to offer and As Cedric Stallworth the engineering graduate who runs the Challenge program puts it a Good enough is not Good  we had to make it of for a Black student to be  not a Genius a just smart. One of the youngsters who racked up a perfect 4.0 scored just 1050 on his sats. The Challenge program gave him the courage to enter the intellectual Competition the self Confidence to work hard. C Washington Post