WHY IS EVERYBODY ON VACATION?
Oh, I know everybody isn't on vacation, it just seems that way. For example, schoolchildren are on vacation-typically they get most of June, July and August off. Is it any wonder that they're surprised when they go into the work world and find it involves a twelve-month year, not a nine-month year?
Results are showing that children should spend more time in school, less time on vacation. America still has the most "vacationed" school children on the globe, with most other countries hosting school year-round, or at least an additional 20 or 30 days annually.
This comes to mind because I ran across a report sponsored by the American Council of Trustees and Alumni. They recently conducted a test with what they considered high school level questions to over 500 seniors at more than 50 leading colleges and universities, including Harvard and Princeton. Only one student answered all 34 questions correctly, and the average score was just 53%. Remember that these are college seniors at some of our finest universities answering high school level questions.
This group of questions covered American history, although, interestingly enough, none of the universities involved require American history for graduation. There isn't time or space to go through all 34 questions, but here are a few of the them, with the answers and the percentage of those college seniors who knew the correct response.
When asked, "When was the civil war?" and given choices; a) 1750-1800 b) 1800-1850 c) 1850-1900 d) 1900-1950 and e) after 1950, only 60% knew the correct answer was "c," 1850-1900. When asked, "When was Thomas Jefferson president?" and given the choices; a) 1780-1800 b) 1800-1820 c)1820-1840 d) 1840-1860 and e) 1860-1880, only 45% knew the correct answer was "b," 1800-1820.
When asked, "When was Abraham Lincoln president?" and given the choices; a) 1780-1800 b) 1800-1820 c) 1820-1840 d) 1840-1860 and e) 1860-1880, only 44% knew the correct answer was "e," 1860-1880. When asked, "Who was the second president of the United States?" and given the choices; a) Thomas Jefferson b) James Madison c) John Adams and d) Benjamin Franklin, only 73% knew the correct answer was "c," John Adams.
When asked, "Who was the president of the United States at the beginning of the Korean War, and given the choices; a) John F. Kennedy b) Franklin D. Roosevelt c) Dwight Eisenhower and d) Harry Truman, only 35% knew the correct answer was "d," Harry Truman. When asked, "What social legislation passed under President Lyndon B. Johnson's Great Society Program?" and given the choices; a) the Sherman Anti-trust Act b) the Voting Rights Act c) the Tennessee Valley Authority and d) the Civilian Conservation Corps, only 30% knew the correct answer was "b," the Voting Rights Act. Finally, when asked, "Who was the leader of the Soviet Union when the United States entered WWII?" and given the choices; a) Peter Ustinov b) Nikita Krushchev c) Marshall Tito and d) Joseph Stalin, only 72% knew the correct answer was "d," Joseph Stalin.
I think you get the point. It's a shame that we're graduating kids from colleges and major universities who know so little about our history. Perhaps that is why so many of them don't appreciate just how good they may have it, and how great the sacrifices have been over the years to get where we are.
Speaking of vacations, Congress is now on it's an annual August recess. RECESS?? I thought recess was something given to schoolchildren under the age of 10! Congress is gone for the entire month of August, purportedly because it is "too hot" in Washington. What?? Are they telling us they don't have air conditioning in Washington D.C.? No, I think the real reason is that Congress wants to come home and tell us about what a good job they've done. Then they can quickly go back to Washington for part of September, and then they're gone for the year so they can come home and tell us again how good they've done, in the hopes that we will vote for them in November. Talk about a privileged class! By the way, I do not accept the argument that a that Congress not in session is a good thing, because then they can do less harm. Some of you have previously written or called to tell me so, but I think it's a poor excuse to defend, in a backhanded way, the last vestiges of "royalty" in our country.
(Tom Butenhoff is a First Vice President with J. E.
Liss & Company in Milwaukee. The views are his and not necessarily
those of Liss Financial Services or the Job Connection/Hiring
Network.)