>Another report on the same study. By the way, Patrick Henry never said, >"Give me liberty or give me death!" No attendee at his speech remembered >his saying this highly memorable lines. The attribution first appeared in >a biography written much later. Also, the "conservatives" who passed out a >test of 14 questions to entering freshmen at Dartmouth got *three* of >their answers wrong. > >Date: Tue, 27 Jun 2000 18:23:53 PDT > > WASHINGTON (AP) -- Do the words ``Give me liberty or give me >death'' sound only vaguely familiar? Do you think Thomas Jefferson >was the ``Father of the Constitution''? > If so, you're not alone. > Nearly 80 percent of seniors at 55 top colleges and universities >-- including Harvard and Princeton -- received a D or F on a >34-question, high-school level American history test that contained >historical references like those. > A group of lawmakers, lamenting the results Tuesday, plan to >introduce later this week a resolution calling on boards of >trustees, college administrators and state officials to strengthen >American history requirements in all levels of the educational >system. > More than a third of the students surveyed in December 1999 >didn't know the Constitution established the division of power in >American government, according to the Center for Survey Research >and Analysis at the University of Connecticut, which administered >the test as part of a study to measure the teaching of American >history. > Students were much more knowledgeable about popular culture. For >example, 99 percent of the seniors could identify profane >adolescents ``Beavis and Butthead'' as ``television cartoon >characters.'' > But only 23 percent identified James Madison as the principal >framer of the Constitution. > Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., lamented the findings. Quoting >Jefferson, he said that ``if a nation expects to be ignorant and >free it expects what never was and never will be.'' > ``This nation seems well on its way to testing this >proposition,'' Lieberman said. He, along with Sen. Slade Gorton, >R-Wash.; and Reps. Thomas Petri, R-Wis., and George Miller, >D-Calif., will introduce the resolution. > The study, sponsored by the American Council of Trustees and >Alumni, found none of the 55 schools require American history for >graduation. And 78 percent of the schools don't require students to >take any history classes, according to Jerry Martin, one of the >report's authors. > ``These students are allowed to graduate as if they didn't know >the past existed,'' Martin said. > Martin's group has been working to try to get colleges and >universities to stress American history, but does not advocate a >particular curriculum. > Within the last two years, the State University of New York >system agreed to add American history to its core curriculum. > The problem also must be addressed in elementary schools, said >James C. Rees, who oversees former President George Washington's >estate in Mount Vernon, Va. > ``George Washington has been virtually eliminated from >elementary school textbooks,'' Rees said. > The history test was given by telephone to 556 college seniors >chosen at random. The questions were drawn from a basic high school >curriculum and many had been used in the National Assessment of >Education Program tests given to high school students. > *------ > On the Net: http://www.goacta.org > > <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html">Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
