Students Do Not Always Like Being Told What to Wear (Duh!)

A look at clothing policies in American schools.

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A listener in Fukuoka, Japan, Shinji Abe, would like to know about school uniform policies in the United States.

American schoolchildren often wear uniforms if they attend religious or other private schools. Most public schools do not require uniforms. But over the last ten years or so, more of them have moved in that direction, including high schools.

Students may have to wear a specially purchased uniform. Or they may just have to dress alike -- for example, white shirts and dark colored pants or skirts.

Even schools that do not require uniforms generally have a dress code or other rules about what they consider acceptable. Policies commonly ban clothing that shows offensive images or words, or simply too much skin. Items like hats may be restricted because, for example, different colors may be connected with violent gangs.

Some parents like the idea of uniforms. Some say it means they do not have to spend as much on clothing for their kids. Others, though, argue that uniforms represent an unnecessary cost. There are also debates about whether uniforms or other dress policies violate civil rights.

Students and parents have taken legal action against school dress requirements. Just last week, a judge blocked a middle school in Napa, California, from enforcing a dress code unless families have a way out of it.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California brought the case for the families of several students who were punished. Most attention centered on a girl who wore socks with the Tigger character from Winnie the Pooh.

The school said its clothing policy, including no pictures of any kind, was needed to control a growing problem with gangs. The families argued that the policy violated free speech rights as guaranteed by the United States and California constitutions.

The United States Supreme Court says student expression is protected as long as it does not harm the work and discipline of a school.

Americans value individual freedom. But some educators believe dressing alike helps improve student learning. They believe that uniforms help create a sense of unity and reduce the risk of fights. They also say uniforms make it easier for security reasons to tell if someone belongs at the school or not.

But just how effective are school uniform policies? Studies have found mixed results. That will be our subject next week.

China, Russia Win Top Results in Physics Olympiad in Iran

High school students from 73 countries, including the US, competed in Isfahan.

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More than 300 secondary school students competed in the 38th International Physics Olympiad last month in Iran. They came from 73 countries, including the United States.

Students from China had the top results: four gold medals and one silver. Russia was second with three gold, one silver and one honorable mention.

Next came the United States and South Korea. Each team brought home two gold medals and three silver medals. And the teams from Iran and Japan had two gold, two silver and one bronze medal each.

The ten-day Olympiad took place in the ancient city of Isfahan. There were written examinations and laboratory experiments as well as discussion meetings.

And there was news of the death in Isfahan of the president of the International Physics Olympiad. Waldemar Gorzkowski was 67 years old. The Iranian Students News Agency said he died of a heart attack. He led the Olympiad for many years.

The physics competition is one of the International Science Olympiads held around the world.
The American Association of Physics Teachers and the American Institute of Physics choose members of the United States team. Physics teachers across the country nominate students and committees choose about two hundred of them. The students take additional tests to choose the twenty-four members of the team.

In May the members attend the United States Physics Team Training Camp at the University of Maryland. They go through nine days of intensive studying, testing and problem solving. At the end of the camp, five members of the team are chosen to travel to the Olympiad.

The five this year were Kenan Diab of Ohio, Rui Hu of Delaware, Jenny Kwan from California, Jason LaRue of Florida and Haofei Wei from Oklahoma. All five won medals.

The first International Physics Olympiad took place in Warsaw, Poland, in 1967. Until the early 1980's it was held only in the former communist countries of eastern Europe. The United States organized a team for the first time in 1986.

Historic Antioch College Faces an Unsure Future

A shortage of students and money leads to a disputed plan to close the Ohio school next July and reopen in 2012.

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Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio, is a private liberal-arts school with a history of social activism. It was the first American college to name a woman as a full professor and one of the first to admit students of all races.

Antioch also became one of the first to offer work study programs, so students could gain experience in jobs. And it was among the first to stop using grades to record progress.

A Protestant group known as the Christian Church started Antioch College in 1852. Even in those days it was different from most other American colleges because it admitted women as well as men.

During the 1960's, Antioch students were active in the civil rights movement and opposition to the Vietnam War. At that time, the college had more than 2,000. But times changed.

In 1978 Antioch University was created. Antioch College became the undergraduate residential program.

But it has struggled with a shortage of students and money. School officials say students are rejecting the college because it lacks modern dormitories, wireless Internet or new athletic buildings. The number of students has dropped to only 400 this past year.

Now, the university Board of Trustees has voted to suspend operations at Antioch College next July. School officials say the goal is reopen the college in 2012. They say they want to raise enough money to design what they call a 21st century campus.

Today Antioch University has five other campuses around the country designed to serve working adults. The closure will not affect the other campuses.

Some people say Antioch's expansion is one reason the college is in financial trouble. But university officials say the other campuses have been helping to support Antioch College. They say the college has been operating at a loss for several years.

Antioch College has been closed and reopened three times already in its history, for financial and other reasons. Teachers and former students have talked about the possibility of legal action to try to stop the new plan. The Antioch College Alumni Association has been collecting money to try to keep the school from closing again -- or at least make sure it reopens.

School Ends, and So Too Does Our Foreign Student Series

A look at graduation time in America.

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Summer means the end of another school year in America. May and June are graduation season.
Centuries of tradition explain the special caps and gowns that students and professors wear at commencement ceremonies.

Top members of the class and invited guests offer speeches and advice. Finally the time comes for what everyone has been waiting for: one by one, the names of the students are called.

They go to the front and shake hands with school officials. They might receive their official diploma that day or maybe a few weeks later.

Graduations are always emotional events. But in May, at Fort Hays State University in Kansas, a graduate named Nola Ochs received special attention. Her major area of study was history. Nothing unusual about that. But Nola Ochs is 95 years old.

That made her the world's oldest graduate for the keepers of the Guinness World Records. Until now they have recognized a 90 year old journalism graduate from the University of Oklahoma in 2004.

Nola Ochs' granddaughter graduated with her. One of the commencement speakers told the students to take a lesson from Nola Ochs and never stop trying.

That is good advice on which to end our Foreign Student Series on higher education in the United States. We began in September with the process of applying to an American college or university. We talked about admissions tests, financial aid, online education, student exchange programs, programs for disabled students and a lot more.

Population experts at the Census Bureau say American colleges and universities will have an estimated 18 million students this fall. Twenty years ago, there were 13 million. Today there are not only more college-age Americans, but more going to college, including older people and women. At last report from two years ago, 56% of undergraduates were women. And women were 59% of graduate students.