New superintendent oegins familiarization Dr. John A. Murphy, from foleigh N.C., began his duties Sept. 15 as ^superintendent of Maine Township. Dr. Murphy said, "I applied here because of the outstanding recommendaitons Maine Township has. I was looking to move to a smaller quality district." Mrs. Charlotte Storer, school board president, said, "We started the whole search by laying down the characteristics of the person we wanted. Dr. Murphy measured up the best as to the things we were looking for." In Raleigh, Dr. Murphy consolidated two school districts of 56,000 students into the Wake County School System. As superintendent, he implemented reforms in curriculum, finance, and administration. The school system rose from 35th to 75th percentile in the California Achievement Tests during his administration. The Raleigh News Observer and several elected officials recently accused Dr. Murphy of charging personal phone calls to the school. He was also charged for hiring a consulting firm for which he worked to help him consolidate the school system.
The Wake County School Board's finance committee report found "no conflict of interest" in Dr. Murphys use of the consulting firm. He has also agreed to reimburse the shcool system a sum of about $2,900 for the phone calls. Mrs. Storer said, "He was very straightforward with the board and he told us what to expect. We knew all about the investigation and examined it thoroughly. The completed investigations have inexorated him from any wrong doing." Dr. Murphy says his biggest problems in Maine Township will be finances and declining enrollment. His main goal will be "to continue the same tradition of excellence that's in existence." Mrs. Storer said, "He has a lot of experience in different school districts. He has faced the problems that we are facing." Dr. Murphy "hopes to spend a lot
Fire alamis investigated by Van GaijloKd
A rash of mechanical problems has plagued the Maine South fire alarm system the last couple of weeks ac-
southwords 18, No. 2
Maine South H. S., Park Ridge, IL
September 25, 1981
Nortli Glialrmen move to Soutli Maine South has a new art department chairman. He is Mr. Kennit linberg, and he has big plans for this year's art department. Art first interested Mr. Linberg, however, it wasn't until after high school he really started his career. He enrolled at the University of Illinois, where he began to study all phases of regular art. Later, his classes in pottery and painting took him to Northern Illinois, Northwestern, University of Wisconsin, and finally, back to the University of Illinois, where he received his masters degree in art. Mr. Linberg has a lot of experience in teaching art. Back in 1959, iMr. Linberg started Elk Grove grade ^school's first art program. In 1964, he moved to Maine East. He switched to Maine North, five years later, to become the school's first Art de-
Dr. John Murphy, new superintendent, talks to Soutlwofidi reporters. of time with students. It's very important for students to have a say in what's happening in their education. I plan to make a special effort to meet with student groups."
Shirley Przybylski was recently named new math department chairman. Mrs. Przybylski, a native of Chicago, held positions in math departents at a high school in P ris, II. hients at a high school in Paris II. for one year, at Regina Dominica for three years, and Maine East for seventeen. The new chairman plans to start a computer club at South which will participate in the Aroa College Programming contest and the Northwest Suburban League. The mathletes will participate in this year's Illinois Math Association of Actuaries and the Illinois Math that is sponsored by the Illinois Console of Teachers of math and the C.N.A. company. "I enjoy working at Maine South. The people are helpful, experienced and most of all cooperative."
cording to Mr. Ken Reczkiewicz, asstant principal. A series of four false alarms had students emptying the building between Thursday the third and Tuesday the eighth. The false alarms were caused by a number of problems. The first was an electrical problem between South and the fire station. The assistant principal said that they have looked at the system at South and thaft the problem might be in the fire station. The second problem was a couple of damaged smoke detectors in the centers area. These were what set off a few of the alarms. An overheated motor in the centers area caused a detector to go off in one instance. There was not enough heat to start a fire but the detector was set off. One of the things Mr. Reczkiewicz wants to stress is that when a fire alarm goes off, the students should not go to their lockers or stay in the bathrooms but go directly to the designated exits. "It's been very frustrating with all the alrams going off," said Mr. Reczkiewicz. He emphasized, "This creates a poor reaction time and the students start thinking like 'here we go again—why bother.'" Mr. Reczkiewicz was teaching at Maine East during their serious fire last year so he feels he knows just how important fire drills and alarms can be.