Utah Schools

Sir:

... It is hardly a sign of malnutrition that Utah ranks 37th in the U.S. in the amount spent on each [school] pupil [TIME, Jan. 11]. That is exactly where we rank with other states in our ability to support public schools, as measured by the total personal income per enrolled pupil . . . Despite our low rank in ability to support education, we nevertheless lead the nation in our efforts to do so, as measured by the percentage of personal income devoted to our schools. Comparison of the amount expended per school child is not always a good indicator of the quality of education offered, in any event. For example, the smallest school district in Utah spends almost twice as much per pupil as the largest, but the largest district likely has the better quality program.

The decrease in the number of graduates from the schools of education at our college and university (we have no "teachers' colleges," as you implied) corresponds to the general decline in overall enrollment at these institutions . . . Your statement that 400 teachers in Utah, angered over their salaries, quit their jobs in disgust, is far-fetched and leaves an erroneous impression. In 1952-53, despite our low rank in ability to support education, Utah paid its teachers a higher salary than the average of our surrounding states and higher than the national average . . . All factors considered, we are doing well by the teachers in Utah.

I did not appoint a committee to study school costs, as you stated. The committee (School Survey Commission) was appointed by the Legislative Council, and it recommended, among other things, that teachers be paid on a merit basis and that all school districts be subject to the regulations of the State Textbook Commission. You imply that I brought these matters before the Legislature as outlandish proposals of my own . . .

. . . Finally, you mentioned my political

troubles. I have always believed that public

officials who give thought to their political

future cease to be good public servants . . .

J. BRACKEN LEE

Governor of Utah Salt Lake City

SIR:

. . . MANY OF THE STATEMENTS [OF GOVERNOR LEE] ARE AS FALSE AS HIS CONCEPTION OF ECONOMY. HE SAYS FOR EXAMPLE THAT UTAH TEACHERS' SALARIES ARE HIGHER THAN

THE AVERAGE IN SURROUNDING STATES AND HIGHER THAN THE NATIONAL AVERAGE.

A REPRESENTATIVE LAY SURVEY COMMISSION . . . FOUND UTAH TEACHERS' SALARIES TO BE BELOW THE AVERAGE OF THE EIGHT MOUNTAIN STATES . . . BELOW THE AVERAGE OF THE WESTERN STATES AND BELOW THE U.S. AVERAGE.

MOREOVER, OFFICIAL FIGURES OF THE U.S. OFFICE OF EDUCATION SHOW THAT UTAH HAS DROPPED IN ITS POSITION AMONG THE STATES IN THE AMOUNT OF MONEY SPENT PER PUPIL EACH YEAR SINCE GOVERNOR LEE'S FIRST TERM BEGAN.

THE PEOPLE OF UTAH, IN THE SPECIAL SESSION OF THE LEGISLATURE, REPUDIATED THE GOVERNOR'S LEADERSHIP, AND A SUBSTANTIAL NUMBER OF REPUBLICANS JOINED THE DEMOCRATS TO BEGIN TO REPAIR THE DAMAGE HE HAS DONE TO OUR SCHOOL SYSTEM THROUGH HIS "ECONOMY-AT-THE - EXPENSE-OF-THE-FUTURE" PROGRAM. THE PEOPLE OF UTAH WANT GOOD SCHOOLS AND THEY ARE WILLING TO MAKE THE EFFORT TO HAVE THEM. THEY HAVE INDICATED CLEARLY TO GOVERNOR LEE THAT THE PEOPLE OF UTAH DO NOT WANT TO BE PROTECTED FROM THEMSELVES ANY LONGER.

REP. ELIZABETH VANCE, WEBER COUNTY

REP. JOHN ROWBERRY, TOOELE COUNTY

REP. NELLIE JACK, SALT LAKE COUNTY

REP. JAMES WEST, SALT LAKE COUNTY

REP. WM. G. LARSON, SALT LAKE COUNTY

REP. WENDELL GROVER, SALT LAKE COUNTY

Sir:

As members of the West High School faculty, we want to congratulate TIME Magazine upon the informative article entitled "The Governor and the Schools" ... It will enlighten people of all states on the way one man has tried to destroy education, which is the very foundation of democracy, for the sake of economy.

We question his wisdom, competency, and authority in berating our schools.

JOSEPH H. DEMMAN

JOSEPH D. NELSON

PETER S. MARTHAKIS

TONY PRPICH

Salt Lake City

Sir:

I should like to be able to send a copy [of your story] to every citizen of the State of Utah ... But, alas, I am a school teacher and can't afford to indulge such whims . . .

GUY E. SMITH

Associate Professor, University of Utah Salt Lake City

Sir:

Your article is one of the most flagrantly biased, grossly unfair and palpably "slanted" diatribes in journalism. You have obviously accepted the opinions of one who is bitterly opposed to the Governor . . . He has acted honestly, fearlessly and in accordance with his promises to act for the benefit of the state as a whole, not for selfish pressure groups . . .

ANGUS K. WILSON, M.D. Salt Lake City

Admirable Admiral

Sir: I congratulate you on your masterful treatment of the story of Admiral Rickover [TIME, Jan. 11] It made exciting and thought-provoking reading . . . The success of a man with Rickover's personality and ability is all too rare an occurrence in the world today. The force of conformity is too harsh and too severe . . . The Rickover types (e.g., the scholars, the nonconformist intellectuals, the creative but unsociable "cold fishes," etc.) do not have the prestige they deserve . . . [They] are unsociable, but at the same time are supremely social beings. Their egos and society are amalgamated--all their energies are directed to the improvement of their community . . .

JACK SKLANSKY New York City

Sir: It's time--that TIME recognized a man beyond our times--Admiral Rickover !

JACK B. Guss Denver, Colo.

Sir:

Your story of Admiral Hyman Rickover makes the average citizen wonder just how many conscientious, devoted Navy officers have been eased out of the service by that smug, tax-supported little social club, the Selection Board.

A. W. GAINES Sioux City, Iowa

The Color of Justice (Contd.)

Sir:

. . . May I gently suggest that your reader from Panama City, Fla. [TIME, Jan. 11] is a bit behind the times in expressing his heartfelt gratitude that the blood strain of the South is the "purest in the world" . . . Hitler tried the same line in Germany some 10 or 15 years ago, and finally strangled himself and his super-race with it ...

M. EMERSON

Cincinnati, Ohio

Sir:

. . . With very few exceptions, Americans cannot accurately lay claim to unmixed descent, particularly many born since the great flood of immigration during the latter iSoos. But the product of such dilutions of the earlier bloodstreams of Northern Europe surely cannot all have concentrated above the Mason-Dixon Line, and must have gravitated down as well as out and upward. On the other hand, miscegenation in the South was no mere rumor. The masters of the great plantations and farms, and their menfolk generally were not insusceptible to the charms of the better-favored females in the slave quarters. Were these by-blows all shipped to the North? . . .

JOHN MONTGOMERY MAHON

Harrisburg, Pa.

Sir:

... I think that in the course of another few thousand years, when the human race has become civilized . . .there will be only one skin shade--a golden blend of all the human strains on earth . . .

C. A. DAVIDSON Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

Sorokin & Sex

Sir:

Congratulations to Sociologist Sorokin for his refreshing statements [TIME, Jan. 11]. The church has a way of summing up his statements: Mores do not determine morals.

ALEXANDER R. CRAW Frederick, Md.

Sir:

May I nominate Professor Sorokin as Man of the Year for 1954, and give him three cheers to boot (to boot Kinsey downstairs, that is).

H. C. FRANCIS London, Ont.

Sir:

We who are interested in sociology are deeply concerned with the importance of raising the field to a level of esteem enjoyed by the older sciences. It was therefore discouraging to read Sorokin's views on morality in the U.S., implicitly presented as those of a noted sociologist.

Sorokin is not considered to be a leader in the field--on the contrary he is believed by most to hold tenaciously and irrationally to a largely outmoded scheme of analysis. More important, his arguments are emotionally based and hardly representative of current procedure in the field of sociology . . .

BEVERLY PARTRIDGE SHERMAN Old Lyme, Conn.

The Hartley Case

Sir:

I have just read with disgust your article on the Hartley baby [TIME, Jan. 4]. It seems to me the doctor who tried so hard to make this child breathe is not a humanitarian but a mad research fiend . . .

An animal with its limited reasoning power would not let its young live in this case. Only a human could be so cruel . . .

ELSIE VALESKI Seymour, Conn.

Sir:

I was deeply shocked by Dr. Vance Chat-tin's attitude ... his "heroic" attempts to save the life of a creature that can be described as a monster, makes me doubt in his and his colleagues' sanity . . .

ESTHER VARALLYAY Montreal, Que.

The Price of EDC

Sir:

It will take more than blunt talking from Secretary Dulles to induce the French to ratify EDC [TIME, Jan.11]. France wants the U.S. to give her guarantees of our protection in case of a resurgent Germany attacking her again.

It seems to me that if that is the price we would have to pay to obtain French ratification, it would be a low price indeed . . . Would it not be much better to give her the guarantee now, and thus create EDC and the unity it may produce, rather than drag our feet on this final issue, withdraw into isolation, see the old European rivalries rise again, and 20 years hence be sucked into another war? . . .

ERNEST O. BUHLER Albuquerque, N. Mex.

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