Columbia Missourian Newspaper 1976-08-27

              -- In towa
M today
mR 8 pan. Barber of Seville, Lyric
Wk Theater, Boonville.
BR Exhibits
MS CoBttaulng: Ellis Library, mt Italian Baroque Drawings and
l Textiles Through Two Millenia, 2 m to 5 pan. Public Library, Scenes
am From Columbia, watercolors. by
Lois Mikrut, and Twentieth
Hg Century Doll Collection, loaned
Kg byLouMiller.
SeePageI5formovielistings.
I Report fails
ito answer
questions
ii Students learn
S while on the job,
hut does it help?
Iff By David Vkial
', N. Y. Times Service
M NEW YORK At one community J college in Michigan, student chefs
M prepare a gourmet meal that they offer
H m the cafeteria for just 50 cents more
M man the regular lunch price of 75 cents
Ja At a high school in Illinois, handicapped
M and other vocational students operate a
H combined motel, restaurant and gas
M station entirely on their own
These are among the examples of
If how schools are using vocational
J education one of the causes that has
produced most debate among
educators in recent years in an
-- iS attempt to link the classroom to the
m work place. Over the last few years, the
efforts in this Geld have so expanded
- that where there were almost four
- million vocational students in 1960, in
" jj 1974 there were 13 4 million students
enrolled m vocational education
v programs in schools and colleges
across the United States
Now a new study by the National
' Research Council has determined that,
' Insight
i despite a federal government
- ezpftaditnreof ope quarter of a wlhcn
dollars for studies designed to improve
and determine the effectiveness of
vocational education programs, the
effort " has had little impact on
vocational education."
Indeed, some of the main questions in
the debate such as whether these
programs have, in fact, brought the
schools closer to the needs of their
students or of the labor market, or if
they have reduced the gap between nch
and poor have remained basically
unanswered, the report asserts.
" The costs and benefits of vocational
education and the distribution to the
public and private sectors of costs and
benefits has not been investigated,"
said the report, prepared for the Ui
Office of Education by a committee
formed in 1974
" The $ 250 million spent by the United
States Office of Education on
vocational education research and
development during the last 10 years
has not had documented, widespread
impact The available data do not
indicate that findings have had an
influence on the knowledge, skills, or
employability of large numbers of
students," the report said
The 131- pa- ge report, which will be
available through the National
Academy of Sciences about Oct 1, was
prepared by a committee whose tasks
were to review and assess the research
and development activities in
vocational education sponsored by the
federal government, as well as to
recommend changes in policies and
programs for the coming decade
Citing a widespread problem of a lack
of coordination, the, committee said
there was unanimous agreement on
" the need for important changes m the
management and structure of the
program." But, it added, " We were
able to recommend strategies for
change but unable to recommend a
solution for every important problem "
The federal government, through its
funding and policies that broadened the
scope of vocational education
programs, has been largely responsible
for the rapid increase in enrollment in
these programs. The Vocational
Education Act of 1963, and another act
in 1968 that proposed' major
amendments, were the prune sources
of change
However, the report said, " There are
no hard data to substantiate the belief
( See BUREAUCRATS, Page 13)
Homes need
water too,
experts say
ByRh& Stoff
Missourian staff writer
The drought that has hit mid- Misso- uri
this summer has caused
countless homeowners to water their
lawns and gardens in hopes of saving
their greenery. Many probably should
be watering their houses as well as
their lawns.
Walter Strange of Strange Concrete
Contracting, Inc., said he receives calls
daily from persons who have
discovered cracks in their house
foundations. " A lot of people who
haven't had this problem before are
finding cracks in their basements
because moisture is disappearing from
the soil," he said
TonyBonderer of the B D Simon
Construction Co said, " The hot, dry
weather is hard on foundations because
the dirt shrinks and pulls away When it
rains again, it expands."
A way to prevent the problem, said
Frank Oncken of Meyer Foundation
Co, is to keep the soil around a
foundation hosed down to keep the dirt
from drying out and contracting " But
it would probably take quite a bit "
Oncken said the amount of water
required to keep the soil moist depends
on the shrubbery and trees that grow on
it " I've heard a good- size- d tree can
take 250 gallons ( 950 liters) of water out
of the ground a day," he said
Ray Rothenburger, assistant
professor of horticulture at the '
University, said the problems caused
by shrinking soil could be worsened if
the homeowner takes the wrong action
" People have told me that if the sod
cracks away from the foundation and ,
people fill it in, when the sod swells
there is no place to go back again and
( See LONG, Page 18)
C7ATS HIVr: RICL SOCIETY
HI.? & '-',-
V. 3Y ST.
C3LU': 3IA, Mi. 65201
ST. 12- 5-- 74
68th Year - No. 286 Good Morning! It's Friday, Aug. 27, 1976 16 Pages - 15 Cents,
BBW - . . Parents protest bus system
By Ginny Hilton
Mfesoorian staff writer
More than 100 angry parents crowded
into a protest meeting Thursday night
to complain bitterly of danger, delay
and expense in the school system's new
busing program.
Sixty persons signed a petition calling
for a referendum on restoring free bus
transportation for all students living
more than one- ha- lf mile ( 0.8
kilometers) from school. Only 10
signatures are required. Thirty- fiv- e
pstttftons were takm oct to circulate in
the affected neighborhoods. They wjll
be presented to the school board Sept
13
Board member Patsy Garner, who
attended the meeting, said she does not
think the district has the money to pay
for free busing. The board, she said,
would work first on cutting the budget
before again seeking a tax increase to
meet the additional costs. The failure of
tax referendums led to the contracting
out of bus service this year for the first
time. The private firm is charging
students living less than 3 miles ( 5.6
kilometers) from school.
Marsha Conner, 1301 Fairview Drive,
said she wished the education system
were second to the safety of her
children " You don't need all these
special programs if thp kids don't show
up"
Pat Strong, 1117 Elleta Blvd said her
three children affected by the change
are not going to school She said it is too
far and too dangerous for them to walk
and they are not allowed to ride any
buses though she had tried to secure
bus transportation
Ed Bartolacci, 4610 Mexico Gravel
Road, one of the organizers of the
petition drive, said children affected by
the new mileage requirements must
walk, be driven or pay $ 12 50 per month
per student to ride the buses operated
by Harmon & Sons Even then, he said,
the scheduling is bad and sometimes
the buses do not come into the
neighborhood
Anna Lee Tucker, 1005 Elletta Blvd ,
has six children affected by the school
board's action She said her children
walk approximately 3 miles ( 5 6
kilometers) to school because there is
no city bus that could get them there at
the time school starts She said the
buses are too late or much too early
Some parents expressed concern that
they eventually would not be able to pay
for city or Harmon & Sons bus
transportation
A resolution, also passed by those at
the meeting that will be presented to
the school board, will ask the board to
request a profit statement from
Harmon & Sons The company is being
paid 65 cents per student per day by
the district
The angry parents also lashed out at
( See PARENTS, Page 16)
Students from the Rock Bridge area spilled into the aisle of a school bus headed home Thursday. DgAte
Overflowing
buses add
to problem
By Jon Peck
and Martha Polkey
Missourian staff writers
Some Columbia public school
children again were forced to nde
overcrowded buses Thursday, and
several kindergarten buses ran from 10
minutes to more than 1M; hours behind
schedule
About 80 elementary, junior high and
high school students were crowded into
a bus to take them home from school in
the Rock Bridge area The maximum
legal capacity for the bus is 66
Russell Thompson, interim
superintendent of schools, said
Thursday that school officials are
working with representatives of R W
Harmon and Sons to solve the problem
Harmon and Sons, Kansas City , won the
contract to bus Columbia school
children this year after the school
board decided it no longer could afford
to run its own bases
Thompson said the company has
brought in a manager from St Louis to
help resolve the problems " I think
they'll modify routes, " he said
Thompson said some of the problems
may not be eliminated until next week,
although he said certain troubled areas,
including the Rock Bridge and Blue
Ridge areas, probably will receive
more immediate help
Meanwhile, Boone County Sheriff
Jack Meyer told the County Court
Thursday morning that his department
may begin cracking down on
( See MOTHER, Page 16)
Piigh compromise helps social services
By David Firestone
Missoorian staff writer
Defecting from the conservative
ranks, Mayor Bob Pugh gave the City
Council a lesson ip political
compromise Thursday night at the
council's fourth budget hearing
The result of the lesson was that the
council agreed to consider
appropriating $ 35,000 more for social
services in Columbia.
In May, the council agreed to place a
$ 155,000 ceiling on all social services
spending in the aty budget The
Community Development Commission,
which was assigned the task of
suggesting how to spend a $ 945,000
federal grant, recently recommended
that the council spend $ 68,000 of that
grant above the ceiling
The question that Thursday's debate
centered on was whether that ceiling
placed a limit on just social services
spending out of the city treasury, or
whether it meant all such spending,
including outside money from the
federal grant
The council appeared to be split on
the question along its normal
conservative- liber- al lines The
" liberals" Second Ward Councilman
David Lindstrom, Sixth Ward
Councilman Clyde Wilson and Fifth
Ward Concilwoman Fran Frueh
favored spending the federal grant
money above the original ceding, thus
having more social services spending
The conservtive wing Mayor Pugh,
First Ward Councilman Pat Barnes,
Fourth Ward Councilman Les Proctor
and Third Ward Councilman Phil
Hanson favored imposing the ceiling
on all spending and thus not
appropriating the extra $ 68,000
Battle comes to end
See story, Page 16
Then Pugh, realizing there might be a
fight over the commission's
recommendation, stepped in with a
compromise The council should cut
the recommendation to $ 35,000, and
have Dwight Collins, acting director of
the Community Services Council,
consult with City Manager Terry Novak
and come back at the next City Council
meeting Sept 7 with a suggestion on
how to spend it
Despite Pugh's stated opposition to
any additional spending, he joined the
three " liberals," and the council voted
4 to 3 in favor of the suggestion
Proctor, Barnes and Hanson were
opposed
" I don't want to debate this issue for
24 hours," Pugh said " Personally, I'd
like to see us stay at $ 155,000, but I can
see points on both sides So let's take
( the commission's) recommendation,
compare it with our priorities, and
make a decision I want to get it out of
the way "
Pugh said the council had bobbed and
weaved on the spending issue for too
leng
" What's 35 or 40,000 bucks to avoid a
whole bunch of hassle'" he asked
' Here's a chance to get it out of the
way If nobody's pleased, it's a good
deal"
Hanson disagreed " I think the
original resolution says social services
spending be limited to $ 155,000," he
said " It doesn't say spending out of the
General Fund, or on the
recommendation of councils, just out of
the total budget of the city "
But Wilson said he saw the federal
funds as belonging to a different
program, unrelated to the council's
original ceiling " My vote would be to
go beyond $ 155,000," he said " I think
we could justify it"
Harper asks High Court to remove Brown
ByTomWard
Missourian staff writer
Prosecuting Attorney Milt Harper
- asked the Missouri Supreme Court
Thursday to remove Boone County
Presiding Judge Bob Brown from
office, in a petition charging that Brown
sought a $ 10,000 bribe in a zoning case
earlier this year.
The petition, which also asks that a
$ 10,000 fine be levied against Brown, is
the first official detailing of the alleged
bribe. Brown faces three criminal
charges related to the incident
The Supreme Court will act on the
petition in the " very near future," said
public information officer, Nancy
Dunn
She said before the Supreme Court
holds a hearing on the petition, Chief
Justice Robert Seder probably will
issue a summons or a show cause order
against Brown
A summons would require that
Brown respond to the petition; a show
cause order would require that Brown
show why he should not be removed
from office.
If Brown does not contest Harper's
petition, there probably will be no need
for a hearing, she said
Brown's attorney, Everett Van Matre
of Mexico, said he has not seen the
petition and had no comment on it
Brown could not be reached for
comment
A Boone County grand jury indicted
Brown m June on three counts of
perjury, one count of attempted
subornation of perjury and one count of
attempting to induce a witness to
withhold evidence in the alleged
bribery scheme and coverup
The petition accuses Brown of
misconduct, abuse, neglect and fraud,
in violation of Missouri statutes
Brown sought $ 10,000 from Columbia
attorney David Bear III, who
represented a firm seeking a zoning
change, the petition states Brown
allegedly told Bear the money was for
then Northern District Judge Clarence
Drew
Drew, who resigned as county judge
in June and later pleaded guilty to an
unrelated charge of misconduct in
office, told the Columbia Missourian he
never had talked about bribery with
Brown or anyone else.
On April 15, the Boone County
Planning and Zoning Commission
denied a rezomng request by J M
Morns Co , which appealed to the
county court for a heating on April 22
The petition states that on or about
April 16, Brown told Bear that Southern
District Judge Carolyn Lathrop and
Drew probably would vote to deny the
rezomng application
According to the petition Brown told
Bear he had heard Drew had " taken
things" in the past to vote favorably on
issues before the court
" Respondent stated that Drew ' liked
to play' and that Clarence might vote
for it if he got paid and that Drew had
some ' bag men' through whom people
convey things to Drew, that they ' take'
some money for him," the petition
states
Brown told Bear that Drew had a bad
heart and needed an operation For
$ 10,000, Brown said, Drew would not
attend the April 22 County Court
meeting, the petition states
Brown allegedly said that at County
( See PETITION, Page 16)
Find next week's
Area School lunch
Menu
in Today's
Classified
Section