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Former U.S. Sen. Paul Simon, professor of political science and journalism at Southern Illinois University, spoke Oct. 9. Some highlights:
“There are three areas [of politics] that concern me; one is excessive partisanship. For world issues like water preservation, there are no Democratic or Republican answers; there are practical answers that people sit around a table and figure out. . . . Another problem is campaign finance--the image is given that public policy is for sale, and too often the reality is too close. . . . The business of polling in order to determine where we’re going is of concern. The problem with polling is that it becomes a substitute for substantial coverage of real issues and leadership. My belief is that Bill Clinton would have been a better president if he had never seen a poll. . . .
“Eighty-one percent of people in our prisons are high school dropouts. With a little reflection we would see that maybe if we spent more on education, we wouldn’t have to spend as much on the incarceration of these people. . . . In Singapore, they have 280 days of school each year; in Germany, it’s 240. Why do we go to school for only 180 days? In theory, it’s so our children can go harvest the crops. . . .
“Another idea would be to promote the teaching of foreign languages. We are the only nation on earth where someone can get a Ph.D. without studying a foreign language. We are also the only nation on earth where someone can take French for two years and say, ‘I have studied French.’ ”
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