ILLINOIS' SIMON SUGGESTS SCHOOLS RAISE QUESTIONS

Paul Simon, a former U.S. senator who now directs the Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, emphasized in an address here Friday that academia should raise questions that guide the U.S. toward a better direction.

"I sometimes sense that we are floundering a little," said Simon, who spoke at the first event to kick off a week of activities leading to the inauguration of Dr. Dale F. Nitzschke as the 16th president of Southeast Missouri State University.

Simon spoke before a group of about 100 people in Glenn Auditorium of Robert A. Dempster Hall.

Gov. Mel Carnahan will be keynote speaker at the two-hour inauguration ceremony Thursday.

The university is celebrating the inauguration with a week of activities that also include appearances by comedian Bill Cosby; Dr. Maya Angelou, poet, author, educator and actress; William F. Buckley and former U.S. senator George McGovern.

Simon, a former senator from Illinois, had more than 40 years in a political career that started in the House of Representatives in Illinois and ended with his retirement from the U.S. Senate last year.

Simon, a Southern Illinoisan who joined the SIU faculty this year, also teaches classes in political science and journalism at SIU.

Before leaving the Senate, Simon ranked as Illinois' senior senator. In the 104th Congress he served on the Budget, Labor and Human Resources, Judiciary and Indian Affairs committees. He has also served on the Foreign Relations Committee.

Simon was sponsored by the office of the provost and department of speech communication and theatre.

"Simon is a big fan of mine," said Nitzschke. "He impressed me with his 1990 book, ~~~`The Tongue-Tied American.'" The book, one of 17 Simon has authored, pointed out some of the language-barrier deficiencies in the nation's schools."

"Simon is certainly a friend of education," said Nitzschke.

Simon touched on language during his address.

"The United States is the only nation in the world where a student can receive a Ph.D. without having a foreign language," said Simon.

Academia and students have a greater role today than ever in terms of national and international government, he said. "Schools like Southeast Missouri State University and SIU and young people in school should stay involved in helping make government what it ought to be," said Simon.

In his role as director of the Public Policy Institute, Simon will meet soon with a bipartisan group and Social Security representatives to discuss Social Security and its problems.

"We hope to move on something," said Simon. "We'll be discussing a variety of things."

He talked Friday about foreign aid, taxes, public health, education, crime, prisons and other topics.

"We're not doing what we should be doing in education in the U.S.," said Simon. "We need to work on adult education.

One concern of the former senator's is the amount of time spent in school each year. "Students in the U.S. attend school 180 days a year," he said. In Japan students go to school 243 and in Germany 240 days. "We're not keeping up."

Simon explained that when the school year was first designed in the U.S. it was to allow students to be out to harvest crops. "We should go to at least 210 days now," he said.

Next on the schedule of inauguration events will be three Sunday activities -- Phi Eta Sigma Freshman Honor Society Induction at Academic Auditorium at 2 p.m.; opening of the annual Art Students Juried Assessment Exhibition and Art Faculty Exhibition at University Museum at 3:30 p.m.; and International Carnival and Flag Dedication for International Festival Week from 4 to 9 p.m. at the University Center.

Most of the events, including the inauguration itself, are open to the public. There is no admission charge, but tickets are required to attend the inauguration ceremony, university officials said.

Free tickets may be picked up between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. at the Show Me Center box office. Persons wanting tickets must provide photo identification. Tickets will be limited to two per person.

Inauguration week will end April 12 with a performance by comedian Bill Cosby. The university is selling tickets for that event, which begins at 8 p.m. in the Show Me Center.