[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 108 (Thursday, September 14, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1484-E1485]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 SPENDING FOR ARTS PROGRAMS IN SCHOOLS

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. BERNARD SANDERS

                               of vermont

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 14, 2000

  Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the outstanding 
work done by participants in my Student Congressional Town Meeting held 
this summer. These participants were part of a group of high school 
students from around Vermont who testified about the concerns they have 
as teenagers, and about what they would like to see the government do 
regarding these concerns.
  I am submitting these statements for the Congressional Record, as I 
believe that the views of these young persons will benefit my 
colleagues.

          Hon. Bernard Sanders in the House of Representatives


    on behalf of TOM CHICCARELLI, JOHANNES GAMBA and JAMES GREENOUGH

Regarding INCREASED SPENDING FOR ARTS PROGRAMS IN SCHOOLS--May 26, 2000

       JAMES GREENOUGH: I would like to start off by saying my 
     partners and I are very happy to be here today to present our 
     topic. It is on art spending in schools. In experiment after 
     experiment educators reported of high school seniors who 
     follow instructions to perform a task, only about one-quarter 
     wrote instructions clear enough for someone else to follow 
     them successfully. In most instances, students left out 
     pertinent details or key information.
       Students are currently lacking in arts education. Search 
     Institute and the asset approach giving children what they 
     need to succeed has identified building blocks of healthy 
     development that help young people grow up healthy, caring 
     and responsible. Out of 100,000 6th to 12th grade youth 
     surveyed, only 19 percent spend three or more hours per week 
     in lessons or practicing music, theater or other arts. This 
     is the lowest percentage of the 40 developmental assets 
     surveyed. It reveals the absence of arts in the nation's 
     schools and the need for improved fine arts programs.
       With this in mind we recommend that the United States 
     Government institute a fine arts framework and curriculum. 
     The Federal Government should provide resources to schools to 
     encourage the development of effective fine arts programs.
       The arts convey knowledge and meaning not learned through 
     the study of other subjects. They represent a form of 
     thinking and a way of knowing that is based in human 
     imagination and judgment. Recent statistics show of students 
     who have taken a fine art credit for four years score 59 
     points higher in verbal and 44 points higher on the math 
     sections of the SATs, significant increases.
       Research also addresses examples of young people who are 
     considered classroom failures, perhaps acting out because 
     these students often become the high achievers in arts 
     learning settings. Success in the arts becomes a bridge to 
     learning and eventual success in other areas of learning.
       The world of adult work has changed and the arts learning 
     experience has shown remarkable consistency with the evolving 
     workplace. Ideas are what matter and the ability to generate 
     ideas. To bring ideas to life and communicate them is what 
     matters to workplace success. Working in a classroom or a 
     studio as an artist, the young person is learning, practicing 
     future workplace behaviors. These quotes came from Arts Ed's 
     Webpage. ``Art in all its distinct forms defines in many ways 
     those qualities that are at the heart of education formed in 
     the 1990s: Creativity, perseverance, a sense of standards, 
     and above all striving for excellence,'' and the quote came 
     from Richard Reilly, U.S. Secretary of Education.

                                  ____
                                  

          Hon. Bernard Sanders in the House of Representatives


                 on behalf of REMEMBERANCE (REMY) HENRY

               Regarding GRADUATED LICENSES--May 26, 2000

       REMEMBERANCE HENRY: My name is Rememberance Henry. The 
     State of Vermont has passed graduated licenses for teenagers. 
     Last week I went to the Chelsea prom. Under this law my 
     girlfriend would not have been allowed to ride in a car with 
     me and I think this is discrimination against teenagers. 
     Although teens are 8 percent of the population, they account 
     for 15 percent of the motor vehicle accidents. This is a 
     disturbing statistic, but I do not think legislation that 
     will not allow your friends to ride in the car with me will 
     bring down this number. It is underage drinking and peer 
     pressure that cause the accidents.
       We need to address this issue as a social, not a licensing 
     problem. We do not empower our teenagers as a society. Of 
     course some do go crazy and do stupid things when finally 
     given a license, but they are in the minority. What about the 
     majority of us that do not speed, do not get in accidents and 
     do not drink and drive?
       I lost friends last winter because of peer pressure while 
     driving. The driver lost a dare to outrun a truck through a 
     traffic light. Two of my friends died because of that 
     accident, yet graduated licensing would not have prevented 
     it. The teenager had stolen the car from his parents, and 
     this number is reflected in the statistics. I think drunk 
     driving laws for all citizens of Vermont should be 
     restricted, not just teens.
       Empower us as teens. We need more of a voice in our lives. 
     Making good decisions behind the wheel begins by allowing us 
     to make decisions within our communities. Teenagers should 
     sit on school boards, we should have a voice at town meetings 
     and should have the opportunity to practice citizenship 
     before we hit a magic arbitrary age.
       I thank you, Representative Sanders, for empowering me for 
     these few minutes. I would like the legislative body of 
     Vermont to rethink graduated licenses.

                                  ____
                                  

          Hon. Bernard Sanders in the House of Representatives


              on behalf of CASEY HUIZENGA and LUCAS SMITH

               Regarding SCHOOL DRESS CODE--May 26, 2000

       LUCAS SMITH: Our topic is school dress codes and in our age 
     legality class that we have in high school we have kind of 
     talked about this topic quite a bit lately. We have been 
     talking about it quite a bit; discussing it and everything. 
     Casey and I both feel that we should not have dress codes 
     because we just think that it is better for children to wear 
     what they want to wear. It is kind of a statement for them to 
     wear their clothes. They chose them, they wear them, so I 
     think it is a good thing that we can chose our own clothes.
       CASEY HUIZENGA: I agree with Lucas. It kind of tells us 
     about the person, what they wear, it expresses how they feel. 
     Like baggy pants, if they want to wear them, let them. And 
     hats and stuff.

                                  ____
                                  

          Hon. Bernard Sanders in the House of Representatives


   on behalf of BRYCE JAMES, WILL W. GUSAKOV and JEREMIAH H. SPOFFORD

             Regarding MARIJUANA LEGISLATION--May 26, 2000

       JEREMIAH SPOFFORD: I will begin. Our group is in favor of 
     legalizing the cannabis plant in the United States, okay? We 
     have some extensive research to back it up, but pretty much 
     we have some main points.
       Industrial hemp has an insane number of uses. It would be 
     very beneficial for the environment to use industrial hemp. 
     And marijuana as a drug is on an equal plane with alcohol, so 
     we do not see why it shouldn't be under the same jurisdiction 
     as alcohol.
       WILL GUSAKOV: About industrial hemp, it is classified as 
     having less than point three percent THC while marijuana has 
     three to ten percent THC, so it is easily distinguishable. It 
     produces four times as much pulp per acre as trees and it has 
     longer fibers than cotton, so it is more easily recyclable. 
     Trees require decades to grow while hemp matures in about a 
     hundred days. And hemp helps the soil it is planted in, 
     instead of cotton which leaches it. There are a lot of 
     ecological values of hemp as an agricultural product.
       BRYCE JAMES: To talk about marijuana as the drug, one of 
     the common myths that is presented about marijuana as a drug 
     is that marijuana is a gateway drug. People say that even if 
     marijuana itself causes minimal harm, it is a dangerous 
     substance because it leads to the use of harder drugs like 
     heroine or LSD, where the fact is that marijuana does not 
     cause people to use hard drugs. This is a spurious 
     correlation based upon the theory that presents marijuana as 
     being a causal explanation of statistical association with 
     these other drugs, that it comes about by an increase and 
     decrease in which drug is prevalent for the time.
       Another myth brought about is that marijuana has no medical 
     value where it has been proved that marijuana has been shown 
     to be effective in reducing nausea in cancer chemotherapy, 
     and it also stimulates hunger in AIDS patients and reduces 
     interoccular pressure on people with glaucoma.
       There is also evidence that marijuana reduces muscle 
     spasticity in patients with neurological disorders, and it 
     has been proven back in 1937 by the presidential 
     administration of the time that marijuana has no physical 
     addiction.


[[Page E1485]]



                          ____________________