The Record from Hackensack, New Jersey • 23

5 QPIN1QK1 MONDAY, JANUARY 11. 1988 THE RECORD B-11 Our state colleges turn out winners Solid trade pact Is New Jersey losing its best and brightest students to out-of-state colleges? If this were so, I wouldn't be attending the graduation ceremonies Thursday at Ramapo College. No one likes to be counted among losers. But I will be there among winders, some of them 10 years my junior, to accept with pride the diplomas we have earned. Even in college, learning does not occur just through books and exams.

It is acquired mostly through experience with life and interaction with people. My experience as an undergraduate in New Jersey colleges has been one of challenging myself, succeeding, sometimes failing, but always growing. In the process, I've discovered that New Jersey has not lost its best and brightest nor its ability to educate them. A large number of the students I met were from working-class, blue-collar backgrounds. Most of them had jobs to juggle along with their studies.

Some, including myself, would be the first generation in their families to receive college degrees. Many of us at Ramapo were there because a state college was the only school that we or our parents could afford. But we did not get shortchanged in education. Ramapo's philosophy stresses global literacy and a strong liberal-arts foundation. As well as learning how to videotape campus events, I learned about worldwide satellite communications.

I was introduced to artists such as Jackson Pollock, composers such as Debussy, and philosophers such as Plato at the same time I was trying to master eco nomics and algebra. Ramapo's prospectus says the college faculty has no "ivory tower" scholars. And it doesn't. As well as PhD's, the college has corporate executives, lawyers, authors, and musicians who bring real life into the classroom and infuse their subjects with enthusiasm and energy. I met professors who not only taught me how to understand literature, art, philosophy, and music but also taught me to love these subjects and make them an important part of my life.

These were down-to-earth professionals who could hand you back a terrible paper in class, then join you in the cafeteria for coffee and treat you as an equal. Advisers encouraged and supported students in personalized programs tailored to our interests and needs. Internships and independent studies provided a means of earning credit for invaluable work experience, using one's creative talents, and gaining market- The college was melting pot for students of varied ages, races, and backgrounds. I met other mothers, some grandparents, people from Switzerland, Africa, India and the Philippines. I met freshman who were watching "Sesame Street" iWjinfKW- wk titi.i IMtW 1 By James J.

Kilpatrick In the matter of the trade agreement between the United States and Canada: Don't count- your chickens before they hatch. This is an excellent agreement, but it isn't law yet. The pact was completed in principle last October and formally signed Jan. 2. Before it may take effect, both the U.S.

Congress and the Canadian Parliament must give their approval. Prospects are fairly good in Washington and excellent in Ottawa. It would be a pity if shortsighted special interests succeed in killing the agreement. If it's ratified, the two nations would create the largest free-trade area in the world. By the end of this century, trade restrictions on an immense variety of goods and services would be eliminated.

Nobody loses in this deal. Canadian exporters will find openings for fair competition. Opportunities will develop for increased commerce in automobiles, auto parts, lumber, and newsprint. Meanwhile, U.S. industries vtfll be able to expand marketing.

All this will take time. Parts of the agreement relating to fresh fruits and vegetables contain a 20-year clause. Tariffs on automobile tires would be eliminated over 10 years. Most of the provisions would begin to take some effect oh Jan. 1, 1989.

The agreement would not? satisfy everyone. American pharmaceutical manufacturers wouldn't get all the help they'd sought against infringement of patents. Canada wouldn't win any of "Buy American" rules on military goods. No change would be made in the Jones Act, which requires that goods shipped in coastal trade must be carried in American vessels. Barriers to financial and professional services would be substantially eliminated.

Investors here and there would be treated "with respect to purchase of shares in Canadian-controlled financial institutions." For its part, the United States would agree to opening markets for Canadian securities. Restrictions on the establishment of new businesses, which now require certain minimum levels of equity holdings, would be abandoned. In an official summary of the agreement, the United States specifically recognizes "the importance to Canada of maintaining its cultural identity." Toward that end, existing barriers affecting books, magazines, movies, and music are left substantially untouched. Both nations would undertake to facilitate temporary entrance and easier border crossings for business travelers. Because many trade barriers are concealed in differing industrial standards, the parties would undertake to harmonize these regulations over a period of time.

A theme of conciliation runs through the whole of the pact. The outlook in Canada is good. Prime Minister Brian Mulroney's Progressive Conservative Party holds 210 of the 282 seats in Parliament. Seven of Canada's 10 provinces have voiced support of the agreement. Mulroney will introduce implementing legislation next month.

Barring an unprecedented revolt, the bill will pass easily. Here in the United States, the agreement provides a chance to make manifest our professed dedication to free and fair trade. Those who believe in this goal will want to fight for early approval. James J. Kilpatrick is a Washington-based syndicated columnist.

poor arid hide your money when I was graduating from high school; but I found much in common with them, as we complained about a demanding professor ar. impossible exam. As a nervous returning student in 1984, I felt oui of place in my first class, until I befriended a woman from Argentina. She had come to this country determined to get the education that isn't available to all people in her homeland. To her, Ramapo was more than a college; it was a new home.

A retired businessman auditing my international-marketing class once remarked about the students at Ramapo: "These kids are kidding themselves. They'll never go out and get the salaries the Ivy League graduate will." Well, just step aside and watch us. We'll be looking forward to the future with the same dreams and anticipation as the Ivy Leaguers. down. He's got no choice, so he stages a magnificent display of outrage.

"Rick, I'm shocked. There's gambling going on here," he declares. Then he pockets the proceeds of his latest round at the roulette table. Inspector Renault, a.k.a. Governor Kean, is no dope.

At fiscal finesse, he's no mean hand himself. Parkway operators underestimated revenue, did they? Democrats have complained for years that Kean underestimates sales-tax receipts and other revenues, so he'll have a larger surplus to spend the following year. In Fiscal 1984, state revenues were predicted to be $6.6 billion, and they came in at $7.1 billion. In Fiscal 1985, revenue was predicted at $7.4 billion and came in at $7.8 billion. Fiscal 1986, $8.1 billion vs.

$8.4 bilion. You talk poor and do everything you can to hide your money. Otherwise, someone might pressure you to spend it in ways you don't want to. This spring, Kean insisted repeatedly that there would be no surplus money for the year ending June 30. He insisted right up until the day before he agreed to use $12 million from this nonexistent surplus to hire extra police.

Kean received his education in some schools, remember. Before he was governor, he was a commissioner of the authority that operates the Garden State Parkway. Want to see creative budgeting? You talk Peter Yerkes Governor Kean is outraged that he has caught the Garden State Parkway using some highly creative budgeting techniques. "Questionable if not basically unsound fiscal practices," he thunders. The governor's sharp-eyed auditors caught parkway operators squirreling away another $2.5 million in reserve accounts for maintenance.

This does look odd, DOONESBURY andvwesses, tm HAPPY TO ANNOUNCE THAT THE PRAFT REPORT OF 1 CALIFORNIA SELF, 3 (LjIlJ: -vl I I ESTEEM TASK V) And for one, will buy a college ring with Ramapo engraved or side, I'll wear a cap and gown, 1 11 frame my diploma. I'll be at the graduation ceremony Thursday not only because I earned it, but because I'm proud to be there. I'm proud to be among New Jersey's best and brightest. Janet Dengel lives in New How about a new helicopter for the governor, complete with VCR and cellular phone, that was hidden away in the state's budget under the bland heading "state police At budget hearings, Attorney-General W. Cary Edwards assured legislators the money was for a medical helicopter, and, for a while at least, no one knew the governor had a flashy new chopper.

A little good-natured sleight of hand with budgets is expected. In the days when I ran The Record's State House bureau, I had a few tricks myself. If the bureau spent $3,500 for travel and expenses one year, I'd fight like a tiger for a 10 percent increase the following year. Never mind that the $3,500 paid for trips to the Republican Convention, the Democratic Convention, and a National Governors' Association bash in Hawaii, and that nothing more costly loomed during the coming year than a drive to Atlantic City. I didn't want my budget to shrink.

Once the money went, I'd never get it back. When I look at the parkway budget put forth by Chairman Judith Stanley, I don't see questionable practices. I see the work of a fellow artist. So, I suspect, does Kean. But the governor's outrage has to be understood for what it is.

It's part of a strategy designed to extricate Kean, who apparently colluded with the parkway in secret preparations for a toll hike, from OTHER dollars for a vaccine is far cheaper than treating a child with diphtheria or whooping cough. THE ALABAMA JOURNAL Montgomery No national test scheme will turn attitudes around any more than it will raise the general level of the nation's education systems. Still, some people are pushing federal legislation to mandate new national exams for U.S. students. These tests aren't about learning.

They're about easy handles for politicians to label alleged improvements during their reigns. line and since the $2.5, million put in the reserve last year is still unspent. And, horror of horrors, the governor found that operators of the parkway were underestimating revenue. All this, presumably, is to make the parkway look poor and justify the toll-hike proposal that's turned into New Jersey's worst transportation disaster since the Hindenburg blew up. Striking a blow for fiscal integrity, the governor vetoed the parkway budget and put' the toll increase, which would boost tolls from 25 to 50 cents, on hold.

The governor's right, and I'm glad his accountants caught the parkway's accountants. But I can't help thinking of "Casablanca." You remember the scene. Claude Rains, the French police inspector who likes to wager a few francs at Rick's cafe, is ordered by the Germans to close the place Garry Trudeau AFTER AN EXHAUSTIVE ANALYSIS OF 3,000 STUPIES, WEHAVEGmWEP THM5ttF-E5TcEMI5R5UUbPTu SOC1ALBE- HAVIORl HOW MUCH ENOUGH TO MONEY DO FE6L60CP UJS HAVE il tEFTf I 1 richard milhollandlos angles times embarrassment. And the hike, or most of it, is to be preserved. Stanley, the impeccably Republican chairman of the parkway, helpfully tipped her hand.

She welcomed Kean's budget veto, she said, because it allows a fresh start. Translation: "We've atoned. This whole botch job never happened. So go ahead and give us our money." She'll get it, or most of it. Nothing will be done to curb the independence of the authorities that control the parkway and the New Jersey Turnpike, and they'll remain sinkholes of political patronage.

Nothing will be done to address the real reason for the public outrage over the toll hike, which is that people in New Jersey are angry that they see more and more concrete and cars and less and less green grass. The parkway, I believe, will get a toll increase to 35 cents. That will give it pretty much what it wanted. The 50-cent toll, remember, was only for people who didn't buy discount tokens for 35 cents. So the parkway will get to lay down more pavement, and Governor Kean will look like a hero for killing the 50-cent fare.

Maybe I'm wrong. But if I were a betting man stopping by Rick's, that's where I'd put my money. The Judith Stanleys of the world get what they want in New Jersey. As the old song says: The fundamental things apply, As time goes don't need VOICES Suggestions that governors will compare test results from state to state to evaluate their school systems illustrates one of the worst uses of this old tool. Tests only help measure systems if exactly the same material has been taught in the same way to students of the same ability and preparation.

It doesn't apply from school to school. Members of Congress can't deal with the deficit, budget, and social services they're now responsible for. Let them keep their hands out of school curriculum. THE KANSAS CITY TIMES Help kids need and The nation is beginning to neglect an ounce of prevention in the form of immunizations against childhood diseases, and that has health officials worried about a possible return of diseases now all but forgotten. There are several reasons for the decline in immunizations, including greatly exaggerated fears of reactions from the vaccines and complacency among parents and even some physicians.

Surgeon General C. Everett Koop has set a 1990 goal for having at least 90 percent of the nation's children fully immunized by the time they are 2 years old. Increased federal expenditures on immunization would save many times their cost. Spending a few FriMid of Hi People It Sarvae Established June 5, 1895 Published Sunday through Friday by BERGEN RECORD CORPORATION Macromedia company 150 River St. Hackensack, N.J.

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