European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 07, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 10 the stalls and stripes education wednesday september 7,1994 Navy launches its first a Roth in Europe by Marian Hamilton Mediterranean Bureau naval support activity Naples Italy the school Bell rang for the Navy s first Junior Reserve offi cers training corps unit in Europe last week in Naples. With the Start up of a a Roth unit atthe same time in Japan the Navy has two overseas programs. We want to prove that it can be viable and our intent is to be the bests Roth program in the Navy said re tired Navy capt. Michael Grulli who will direct the Naples program with the help of retired Marine master gunnery sgt. Michael Copeland. For most High school students pro this their formal introduction to military leadership and discipline. A Roth cadets Wear uniforms visit ships and train in physical education meteorology navigation and Drill and Rifle Competition. Ca dets at the Naples a Roth also will participate in a color guard for school and Community functions. We want to prove that it can be viable arid our intent is to be the Best a Roth program in the Navy retired Navy capt. Michael Grulli Grulli a 48-year-old Providence . Native grew up in Yerington and graduated from the naval Cadamy a Annapolis md., in 1968. He served for 26 years in the Active military Well More than half of them overseas. Grulli retired from Active duty july 1 but immediately volunteered for duty As a Naples a Roth instructor. A Roth was launched in the states 30 years ago. The program is really on the move Grulli said. We were one of the few Navy programs that have increased fund ing this year. We Hope to open up 45 new units a year until 1996. This year we opened 38 new units worldwide mostly in the inner cities in the Grulli Felt that european a Roth pro Grams have a built in advantage Over stateside programs. The majority of the kids Here come from a military background Grulli said. Naples also has an advantage because we can show them the students the real life however he said no Roth is not just about the military. It s about the ten ets of the military discipline and self re Liance. We Are not Here to recruit for any the Navy a Roth program will Coop Erate with other army and air Force a Roth units in Europe Grulli said. Stu dents who participate in the Naples unit can Transfer credits to other schools inthe United states Europe or the far East he added. / the instruction for a Roth cadets at Naples will not be All classrooms boo Sand theories he said. It will be More of a see feel touch and do Grulli also wants to get the students involved with Community projects. The pro Gram offers achievement ribbons Simi Lar to the Active services for cadets to earn and display on their uniforms. The future of the Naples unit hinges on the number of students. Programs must have at least 10 percent of the Stu dents in a particular school aged 14-17. Grulli said about 55 to 60 kids were needed to enrol and there were just enough 60. All of the a Roth positions except those of instructor and general Leader Are held by students Grulli said. It s so easy to say that children today Are messed up he said but they re no different from children of any Era. We just need to give them a aim at guns Arsenal stocked with detectors by Robert Dvorchak a National writer it s Back to school time which Means new clothes new classes and in these violent times More Metal detectors surveillance cameras gun sniffing dogs Book bag bans and locker searches to keep kids from toting guns. Seventy percent of the nation s 50 largest school districts have installed Metal scanners to detect fire arms up from 25 percent two years ago according to the National school safety Center. But Preven Tive measures Are also becoming the Norm in suburban and Rural areas. There is no school District now that is immune whether you re Rural suburban or City said Peter Blauvelt of the National association of school safety and Law enforcement officers. No National figures exist to underscore the depth of gun related killings in schools although a study is due in january by the . Centers for disease control and prevention. Just As it tracks out Breaks of flu the cd is tracking the rate of death in schools from guns. An preliminary numbers show 102 homicides and suicides in and around schools in the past two years a number that suggests an epidemic. An epidemic is what Public health officials use whenever there is an unprecedented increase in the rate of death. Clearly the increase in rates of fire Arm related injury and death in and around schools warrants calling it an epidemic said Patrick a Chur an epidemiologist in the cd s division of violence prevention. It s Clear to most people the problem is significant and it s on the in a 1993 Survey by the metropolitan life insurance co., More than one in 10 teachers and one in four students reported they had been victims of Vio Lence in or around school. Thirteen percent of the students said they had brought a weapon to school at least once. Educators Are fighting Back not Only with equip ment but also with programs such As peer intervention and conflict Resolution to prevent Dis agreements from turning deadly. Such programs Are now being used for example in upper Perkio men High school outside Phila Delphia. In 1993, a loth grader at the school pulled 9 my Ruger pistol from his Book bag and killed a classmate during first period biology class. The Pupil told policy fact he fired because the classmate punches me cos me and makes me look liken conflict Resolution programs Are also in place atthe Margaret Leary elementary school in Butte Mont. Last april an 11-year-old boy was killed inthe schoolyard by a 10-year-old classmate who had fired a gun at another youth following an. Argument. It used to be you d go to school and have a fist fight. Now you Nave gunfight said Ronald Stephens of the National school safety Center in West Lake Village Calif. A Large part of the country has just had it with kids bringing guns to More schools adopted tougher policies for the new school year after Congress passed legislation i March requiring them to address the Issue of guns or risk losing Federal Money. While the goal May be Zero tolerance for guns in school Metal detectors alone won t work. New York City began using scanners in 1988. But last year 3,905 weapons were seized in schools including four rifles in addition to 3,349 weapons detected by scanners. Officials stress that conflict Resolution must be part of the cure. To Here is no school District now that is immune whether you re Rural suburban or City Peter Blauvelt National association of school safety and Law enforcement officers the real solution is not turning schools into for tresses where you have to search students before they come to school. Schools Are part of society. Pecan t prevent the problems of society from seeping into school doors said Robert Terte spokesman for the Board of education. One of the sticking Points is that Cash strapped districts must spend Money on crime control instead of academics. In Georgia about $21 million in proceeds from the state lottery was made available to schools for anti gun measures. Ware county High school in Waycross ga., used lottery Money to buy walk through and hand held Metal detectors hand held radios and surveillance cameras. School districts in san Diego and Eugene ore., have gone a different Toute. They be removed Stu Dent lockers that they feel Are Likely hiding places for weapons. Some schools in Charlotte n.c., an Norristown pa., prohibit students from carrying Book bags which May conceal weapons. And in Prince fee Orges county md., students re turning to fall classes encountered More surveil Lance cameras More Metal detectors and More Secu Rity guards. The extra Security was planned even before a teacher was wounded last april by a Stu Dent who brought the service revolver of his police officer father to school in an attempt to sell it. Shot in the line of duty. Nve used to use that phrase for policemen and soldiers. Now we re hav ing to use it for teachers said Sandra Farnham president of the county s federation of teachers. School boards ii a in . Likely to regain clout by Cindy k1llion Washington Bureau Washington school boards at the 16 state Side elementary and secondary schools located on Mili tary installations appear Likely to regain their Power. Known As Section 6 schools the stateside facilities Are funded solely by the defense department and receive no local tax dollars. The schools originally were built on military installations considered Remote or Inan area where the local school system could not absorb the military Pupil population. In december 1992, the boards were stripped of their authority through a Pentagon decision and were told that they were Only advisers much like the school advisory committees of the department of defense de Pendents schools. The ruling came after the school Board at fort Rucker ala., wanted to fire the superintendent. The superintendent appealed his Case through the defense department and some Pentagon lawyers decided the boards did t have the authority to fire him said Catherine Ahl of the National military family association. The parents of children attending these schools too exception to the ruling citing the inequality it created Between Section 6 schools and the regular Public school system. We asked Why military children were being treated different from Public school students Ahl said. And we wondered Why military parents were being takeout of the process of educating their after getting no answers from the defense depart ment the parents and the family association took their cause to Congress Ahl said. The parents made their Case to the lawmaker through More than a year of letter writing phone Calls and hearings. The fiscal 1995 defense authorization Bill clarifies the role of Section 6 boards and gives them the same authority As boards in the Public school system. Although the authorization Bill is not final until the full Senate votes on it the Only Way the school boar clause won t be included is if a senator successfully fights it on the floor during the voting process. But that sort of move is typically reserved for big budget items or controversial topics not issues such As the school boards. Ahl said her organization and the parents Are extremely pleased with the congressional action. And knowing of Carolyn Becraft s commitment to military families and their right to have full authority Over their children s schools we anticipate a defense depart ment directive which spells out that authority in Clear and precise language Ahl said. Becraft is the Deputy assistant Secretary of defens for personnel support families and education. Ahl said it s time to put this fight behind us and get Back on track which is giving Quality education to
