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"I CHALLENGE TV" Do you get downright disgusted with television? Are you fed up with the heavy quota of "bang-bang" mysteries, cowboy shows and soap operas? If you're one of the millions of Americans up in arms about the stuff offered on TV today, I think you'll agree with this statement: There is a tremendous need to set aside a great many TV channels for educational purposes only. Already, schools and colleges throughout the nation have asked the Federal Communications Commission to set aside more than 350 channels for educational TV. Without question, the FCC is under heavy pressure to curtail educational TV in order to make room for more commercial stations. To bolster their case, commercial interests claim that educational TV will be dull and that it will be too expensive for educators to handle. I disagree with both of those ideas. And, I feel strongly that if the assignment of all channels for commercial use should cripple educational TV, we will have lost a wonderful chance to strengthen our democracy in this period of world crisis. Now, just what is educational TV? I think it can be divided essentially into three parts: TV for actual use in college, secondary and high school classrooms; TV piped into your living room to teach you a variety of things-how to sew a dress, or how to repair your lawn mower and finally, programs that will enrich your life. By that I mean programs explaining art, music, literature, today's government problems, your school system, your child's behavior and a host of other subjects vital to your happiness. * By Earl James McGrath, U. S. Commissioner of Education, Federal Security Agency, Washington, D. C., published in the March 23, 1952 issue of PARADE.