Nexus - 0306 - New Times Magazine-pages

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... GLPBAL NEWS ... NEWS PHONICS FOR IMPROVING LITERACY SKILLS A report produced by the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) in the UK, dramatically confirmed that the methods used by teachers to teach reading do not work. In fact, 80 per cent of pupils in 45 inner London primary schools could not read properly at the age of seven. But the significance of the report goes even further than that. For the first time in a generation, it gives unequivocal official endorsement to phonics as the sole, effec- tive foundation to the teaching of reading. It says that, instead of being taught to guess at words or recognise them by their shape, children should learn to sound them out. According to the report, "Learning the letter-sound system of English comprises a set of knowledge and skills which is basic to learning to read and write an alphabeti- cal script. "Phonics provides pupils with the knowl- edge to decode and build words, upon which success in early reading and writing depends, and gives the pupils more confi- dence they need to tackle new texts.” The situation in the USA is even worse. After years of watching programs like Sesame Street, a whole generation of chil- dren has regressed in terms of literacy skills. This has led to a dramatic increase in the number of families adopting home- schooling—the only way they can expose their children to a phonics reading system. Phonics reading systems were abandoned in the UK during the 1970s. Teachers who PVC PHASE-OUT? Will PVC (polyvinyl! chloride) be the ‘asbestos’ of the '90s? Already, battle lines are being drawn between environment and health researchers, and the plastics industry and other organisations it funds. The "Poisonous Plastics” article in this issue dives into some of the deeper consid- erations at stake. Meanwhile, we thought readers might like to know that several European countries, including Germany, Sweden, Switzerland and Austria, have instigated moves to phase out PVC at vari- ous levels. (Sources: The Age, 2 September 1996; PVC Fact Sheet, Greenpeace International) persisted in phonics methods found them- selves hounded and persecuted by the edu- cation bureaucracy. A phonics technique, the "Spalding method", is being introduced to teachers in Australia. Spalding-trained teachers begin by teaching kindergarten pupils the 45 sounds of the English language, with the help of the 70 "phonogram" cards, The results are speaking for themselves! (Sources: Daily Telegraph, UK, 15 May 1996; Sydney Morning Herald, 29 July 1996) BRAIN pH LEVELS AFFECT INTELLIGENCE A team of scientists led by Caroline Rae at the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, UK, has discovered a link between IQ and pH in the brain's cortex. A higher, or more alka- line brain pH is likely to be associated with a higher IQ, according to tests measuring the acid content in the brains of 42 boys aged between six and 13. It is the first time that intelligence has been linked to a biochemical ‘marker’ in the brain, raising the prospect that one day it may be possible to increase intelligence by artificially raising the pH levels in the brain. The report reveals this was an accidental finding made during a study of children with muscular dystrophy. They were studying the possible correlation between brain biochemistry and intelligent behav- iour. (Source: The Sunday Telegraph, UK, 18 August 1996) WAS IT A MISSILE THAT HIT TWA FLIGHT 800? Conspiracy theories are thriving amidst the deafening silence from authorities regarding the cause of the crash of TWA Flight 800. What is adding fuel to this fire is the large number of eyewitnesses who accu- rately describe an object approaching the 747 just before it burst into flames. Consider the following: * Many eyewitnesses heard a "sonic boom" which drew their attention skywards and resulted in their witnessing the explo- sion; * CNN reported that a radar operator tracking Flight 800 saw on his screen another smaller blip approaching the 747; * More than 100 eyewitnesses claim they saw an orange flame streaking towards the spot where the plane exploded; * Two commercial airline pilots reported . seeing a missile actually in flight; * One person at a social event accidental- ly photographed an object streaking towards the jet. The FBI confiscated all photos except one, which has now been put onto the Internet (see Art Bell's web page). All these reports suggest to military and intelligence experts that someone fired a "Stinger" missile at the plane. Due to its small weight and size, a Stinger can be car- ried, positioned and fired by a single per- son. It has a range of four kilometres and can reach speeds of Mach 2, or twice the speed of sound. Researchers are worried that authorities will not reveal such a conclusion to the American public for fear of embarrassment, and fear of causing panic over air travel. (Sources: Various newspapers, wire services and the Internet) 8 * NEXUS Sonali. OCTOBER - NOVEMBER 1996