Canton Observer for September 9, 1982 - Canton Public Library

14A(C)
danton ©bserurr
461 S. Main
Plymouth, Ml 48170
(-^13) 459-2700
Dennis O'Connd
Nick Sharkey m
r editor
anaging editor
Dick Isham, general manager
Fred Wright circulation director
a division of
Suburban Communications Corp.
Philip Power chairman of the board
Richard Aginian president
Education winks at its worst enemy
IN ALL THE politics I've covered, I never ha
heard a member of the education lobby ci
the social services lobby. And I've covered a
lot of politics.
The education lobby is teachers, teachers unions,
school administrators and school boards. They need
money to operate. Although they tend to weep copiously,
for the most part I agree with their positions
and respect educators.
services' slice of the pie grew, and education's
shrunk. The figures have been disrupted a good deal
with this year's budget cuts, but the last batch of
figures showed that education had slipped below the
30-percent mark and social services had risen
above 30 percent.
One can't dismiss that as the result of the current
depression. The change has been steady for 20
years.
The social services lobby is concerned with he
1,001 programs that used to be called "welfar
Today s programs are so extensive that "social services,"
despite its ring of jargon, is perhaps he
WHAT BRINGS this topic to a head is Gov. William
G. Milliken's current executive order cutting
state spending by $150 million — the fourth cut of
the fiscal year.
beter term to describe them.
In round terms, the governor proposed taking
about half the amount from K-12 education, a
WHAT HAS happened over the last two decades quarter from higher education and a quarter from
is that social services have become a larger and revenue sharing with other local units of govern-
larger portion of Michigan's state budget.
ment.
In the early '60s, I can recall seeing pie cha rts
where education, both K-12 and colleges, got a bit
more than half the pie, and social services wer^ in
for about 11 percent.
Each year — in prosperity or recession — social
To quote from a legislator's memo to city and
school officials in his district: "(Budget Director
Gerald) Miller said July auto sales were 'a disaster'
and Michigan's economy is 'extremely weak.' He
Scouts devise programs
to meet changing needs
MORE SINGLE-PARENT families.
M< re
Other
ds.
families with two wage-earners,
non-traditional family units.
Social changes have been tough on k
They also have been tough on organizations that
till
help kids, such as the Boy Scouts of America.
led
Scouting has been organized around the tradi- ght
tional family. Cub Scouts (ages 8-10) are ?
watched over by Den Mothers. Boy Scouts are
by men, cutting the apron strings with overn
c amping trips.
So in 1979 the Boy Scouts of America ran a national
survey of scouts, non-scouts, parents of both,
professionals, volunteers, and members of chartering
groups (PTAs, churches, service clubs).
THE RESULT, said Walter J. McCarthy Jr.,
president of the Detroit Area Council of the sckits,
i> a new package of programs to help kids in those 0 is
non-traditional families.
this
McCarthy, the Birmingham resident wh new
chairman of Detroit Edison Co., reported that
month the new package is being unveiled. The
. An
developments:
as a
e Tiger Cubs, a fun program for 7-year-olds
adult "tiger" and a "tiger cub" participate
team. The tiger may be a mother, father, aunt, un-
< lt\ grandparent, older sibling or even a neighbor.
Tiger Cub groups will be organized by existing Cub
packs but function independently. There is no uniform.
an emblem may be ironed on a shirt or
House. J
e "Prepared for Today," an activity book to
teach children ages 6-11 skills to cope withlbeing
left alone at home and in the neighborhood. An adult
and child go through the book together. Thi child
learns how to handle emergencies, fix a Simple
meal, care for younger children and deal With a
Fun weekend
spent in a
'concrete city 9
1LIVE IN AN urbanized suburban city. At times,
it can be depressing.
The derisive term "concrete city" seems
too true. Only on rare occasions can tjhe stars
be seen at night. Houses are too close together. Most
vards are small.
Friends in outstate Michigan and other sftates do
not envy me for living in the metropolitan Detroit
area Unfortunately, "murder capital" and the riots
helped,
of 1967 still plague the reputation. The current
o live in
downturn in the automobile industry hasn t
Anyone reading this knows it's not easy
the Detroit area in 1982. We don't need fore reminders
of our woes.
BUT THERE is another side to living in this area
that's not readily apparent. It requires a little probing
and even exploring. Take, for example, the past
Labor Day weekend.
For the price of gasoline, we could enjoy the finest
jazz north of New Orleans. I went down to Hart
Plaza on Sunday and listened to several free concerts
at the Montreux/Detroit Jazz Festival.
Thousands of jazz fans enjoyed concert^ at three
sites at the plaza. I was part of the standing-roomonly
crowd at the amphitheater who listened to the
mellow sounds of the J.C. Heard Orchestra on Sunday
Oakland University's Doc Holiday was a featured
performer in the orchestra. Among the local
groups performing was Bloomfield Hills' Lahser
High School Jazz Band
I'm not a jazz fan. But the quality of the music
was obvious. The crowd was polite, but enthusiastic.
If you missed the second annual Montreijx/Detroit
Jazz Festival, don't miss it next year.
A FEW MILES up the road, the Mich gan State
Fair opened its tents. Again, the price was reason-
stranger at the door or on the street. The book will
be available to Cub packs, Scout troops, churches,
schools, social agencies, housing organizations and
neighborhood groups.
e An improved second-year Cub program. The
fourth-graders are offered such contemporary activities
as computers, communications, law enforcement
and cooking.
e More marketing of the Explorer program.
Said McCarthy, "Exploring is an exciting program
for young adults. It is co-ed. It stresses career interest
activites. And it offers tremendous flexibility
to participants and advisers alike.
"But Exploring is often referred to as Scouting's
best-kept secret." In the region, there are only
4,500 explorers.
THE IDEA for a marketing survey came from
Robert Gaynor, vice president for personnel of
AT&T Long Lines and a veteran volunteer in scouting.
Some 19,000 questionnaires were sent out and
10,000 returned, an excellent response, say pollsters.
It meant people are still highly interested in
the scouting movement. The survey showed:
Adults and youngsters alike still hold to scouting's
ideals of patriotism, reverence for God, leadership
training and emotional development.
Boys and adults want more family activities,
more outdoor activities and more camping opportunities.
An obstacle to membership in the Boy Scouts is
competition for time.
Scouting professionals were pleased to learn the
movement has a good overall image, even among
non-participants.
It deserves a good image.
Nick
Sharkey
able. Children under 12 were admitted free. I was
part of the record-setting 67,000 persons who attended
on Sunday. . „
It had everything that is expected of a state fair .
— rides, live entertainment, cotton candy and special
exhibits. The fair attracted its share of politicans,
religious zealots and dubious salesmen.
On Labor Day (Monday), Kensington Metropark
near Milford had a five-mile bike hike. Naturalist
Mark Szabo took groups out at 9:30 a.m. and 1 p.m.
for a two-hour trip. Again the price was right — for
$2, a carload of people could enter the park. That's
the only charge I paid during the day.
Bikers made frequent stops as Szabo pointed out
various plants and animals that could be seen on the
route. Scenic Kensington provided an excellent
background for an enjoyable romp with nature. This
is part of a 30-year-old nature program at Huron-
Clinton Metroparks.
IT WAS AFTER an interesting weekend that I
collapsed in front of the television late Monday afternoon.
There it was again, for the 17th consecutive
Labor Day — the Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy
Telethon. It was just ending, and the telethon
was in trouble. The telethon ended up with the
smallest collection in five years, $3 million under
last year.
But Detroit-area collections were different. Detroit
people, battling a depression that caused a 16percent
unemployment rate, pledged $2,145,011.
The generous people in this area contributed only
$90,484 less than last year. Detroit ranks second
only to New York in money pledged this year. New
York is about eight times the size of Detroit.
It's all enough to make one think at the end of a
long holiday weekend. Living in "concrete city" is
not so bad after all.
Tim
Richard
also said the Department of Social Services is having
'continual problems,' probably indicating need
for a higher supplemental appropriation in September."
A House committee, to be sure, rejected the governor's
proposed cuts. Our beloved local lawmakers
will bargain for some modifications. But the truth is
they will save the schools little, because there is
little except school money left in the current budget
for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30. Education will
continue getting it in the neck.
A LOT OF people in public life have offered pro-
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.
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Memories
of U-M's
Fritz Crisler
ONE BY ONE, the Old Guard is silently leaving
the sports trail, and with each passing,
The Stroller is left with a flood of fond
memories.
On the first day of his recent vacation, he heard
that his friend H.O. "Fritz" Crisler, former athletic
director at the University of Michigan, had lost his
long battle with cancer. The Stroller's thoughts
turned from the beauty of the St. Clair River to a
hot afternoon more than a decade ago in Michigan
Stadium.
At the time, Fritz was enjoying his retirement,
and we both sat there in the sun watching the famed
stadium floor being covered with artificial turf.
We were alone in the vast 100,000-seat bowl
when The Stroller asked Fritz what he thought of
the move to eliminate sports from the high school
programs around the state.
He stared out in the open for a moment, then
replied:
"IT WOULD be a regrettable move as sports provide
the last bastion for discipline.
"If we lost the boy or girl at that age, chances are
they will be lost forever. And that would be a sad
result."
This was a new twist to the problem, and ihe
Stroller asked for a bit of explanation. Fritz was
quick to reply:
"When a young fellow goes out for athletics at the
high school level, his one ambition is to 'make the
team.' He reports with an earnest desire to play and
be a vital part of the success of the team.
"He will do almost anything to reach that goal
He'll listen to the coach's program for behavior. If
he has any tendency toward bad habits, he will give
them up — just to be a member of the school team.
"He will keep up in his studies. He won't carouse
around after dark. He will pay attention to his appearance,
and he'll pay attention to anything the
coach says."
opinion
O&E Thursday, September 9, 1982
posals to reduce social services costs.
I A minor party candidate says we should rely on
private charity.
A Berrien County commissioner and legislator
pUshed a ballot proposal to reduce Michigan's welfare
rates to those of surrounding states.
Others advocate that general assistance (helping
rhainly able-bodied men) be eliminated in Michigan
because other states don't pay it at all.
Brooks Patterson has a program for prosecuting
Welfare fraud.
The point is that the education lobby never talks
about social services. It's as if there were an
unwritten law thai educators are never to point the
finger of blame at social services. It seems to be OK
to blame mossback legislators, unenlightened voters,
regressive tax structures, President Ronald
Reagan and the military for cutting education money
— but never social services.
The mood in the Legislature is that education has
been cut too much and needs help. Unfortunately,
the education lobby is reticent about going after its
own worst enemy.