by professorpan » Wed Jul 19, 2006 4:17 pm
Here's a piece of militaristic propaganda that Hugh and I can agree on.<br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.prwatch.org/node/4986">www.prwatch.org/node/4986</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br><!--EZCODE IMAGE START--><img src="http://www.prwatch.org/files/images/156-1.jpg" style="border:0;"/><!--EZCODE IMAGE END--><br><br>As a child I absolutely adored Cricket magazine, published by Carus Publishing. I now have a twelve-year old daughter who likewise enjoys their magazines for kids, but the May 2006 issue of Cobblestone Magazine floored me with its blatant pro-military marketing pitch to children.<br><br>Chances are, depending on your age, that either you or your children have read one of Carus’ publications at home, school, the library, or a doctor’s waiting room. For the smallest tykes—those under seven years old—they offer Ladybug, Babybug, and Click magazines. For six- to nine-year olds they put out Spider, Ask, and Appleseeds. And for the “tweens,” Calliope, Cobblestone, Cricket, Dig, Faces, Muse, Odyssey, and Cicada.<br><br>The Carus Corporation<br><br>Carus Publishing is part of the Carus Corporation, which also includes the Carus Chemical Company, specializing in “chemicals and services” for water and wastewater treatment, air purification and other environmental applications” according to its website. M. Blouke Carus is the Chairman and CEO of the Carus Corporation and serves, along with several family members, on the board of the Hegeler Carus Foundation, which, according to their IRS 990 filing, preserves the heritage of the Hegeler Carus mansion in La Salle, IL. This home belonged to the grandparents of Blouke Carus.<br><br>Blouke Carus has consistently kept conservative company. In 1982, Carus was appointed by then-President Ronald Reagan to the National Council on Education Research, which provides policy for the research areas of the U.S. Department of Education. Added to the Council at the same time were several prominent conservatives, including Onalee McGraw of the Heritage Foundation, and Penny Pullen of the American Legislative Exchange Council. In addition, George C. Roche was made chair of the Council at the same time. Roche was the President of conservative bastion Hillsdale College in Michigan, which according to its website “values the merit of each unique individual, rather than succumbing to the dehumanizing, discriminatory trend of so called ‘social justice’ and ‘multicultural diversity.’” It also does not accept federal student aid or loans of any kind, in order to avoid any federal control.<br><br>Duty, Honor, Country<br><br>The May 2006 issue of Cobblestone, titled Duty, Honor, Country, is unabashedly pro-military, appearing as if it were the product of military recruiters trying to market enlistment to children. According to the Boston Globe Francis Lunney, a sixth-grade English teacher in Hudson, MA, immediately lodged a complaint with Carus Publishing, saying “It looked exactly like the [official recruiting] material you get in high school. It didn't seem to be that different the way it was packaged.”<br><br>The emphasis of the issue – and particularly the teachers’ guides – on the present and future of the military seems like an odd departure for Cobblestone. Look at their website’s list of upcoming themes and you will observe that they are squarely planted in the fairly distant past. The coming academic year will debut with issues on “Rediscovering Jamestown,” “The Battle of Yorktown,” “The Golden Age of the Steamboat” and “Ulysses S. Grant.” Similarly, the three months previous to the May 2006 issue covered “Those Roaring 20's,” “The Great War - Women Join the Fight - Breaking Barriers in World War I,” and “Ellis Island - Gateway to America.” Managing editor Lou Waryncia admitted to the Boston Globe that the current issue is out of the ordinary, but goes on to say that while they will weigh the criticism they received of this issue, they are considering issues dedicated to the Marines Corps, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard in 2008.<br><br>The two teacher’s guides provided free on the website are the work of Virginia Schumacher, the Visitor Services Manager at The History Center in Ithaca, New York, and Mary B. Lawson, a teacher at Michigan Avenue Elementary School in Saint Cloud, Florida and Florida Geographic Alliance Consultant. She defends the guides to the Boston Globe:<br><br>“Joining the military is a career option for any child. That doesn't suggest they should or should not. Recruiters go into the high school all the time. Part of the curriculum in New York state is career options and how to make wise choices. In that magazine, I felt they gave a wonderful portrayal of jobs that are not what everyone thinks of when they think of the Army. It was not meant to meant to offend anyone.”<br><br>More at link. <p></p><i></i>
