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Norris teacher pushes for conversion to metric

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BY KEVIN ABOUREZK/Lincoln Journal Star

Monday, Mar 31, 2008 - 12:29:37 am CDT

RURAL FIRTH — In an empty middle school classroom in rural Lancaster County, a mild-mannered math teacher engages in subterfuge.

His hands on his hips, the red-haired “math man” speaks animatedly into a video camera, his voice rising and falling as he explains the metric system’s many advantages.

“Hi, my name is Tom Price. I’m a math teacher, and I want to change this country to the metric system,” he says. “Why? Because two systems do not work.”

Story Photo
Norris Middle School math teacher Tom Price is spearheading a grassroots campaign to covert the United States to the metric system. (Robert Becker)

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Teacher preaches metric system

Norris Middle School math teacher Tom Price has launched a grassroots campaign to make the metric system the standard measurement system in the United...

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When metric and English collide

On its Web site, the U.S. Metric Association lists serious and humorous incidents involving confusion between the metric and English systems of measurement.

Here are two of those stories:

* A record jump never recorded

In March 1983, University of Houston sophomore track star Carol Lewis made a record-breaking long jump at an NCAA indoor track competition.

But her jump never made the record books.

Why? Non-metric college track and field measurements don’t qualify as official records. And the NCAA officials hosting the 1983 competition refused to use metric tapes.

* Flight gone wrong

In April 1999, Korean Air flight 6316, headed to Seoul from Shanghai, crashed shortly after takeoff.

The aircraft was destroyed, its three crew members and five people on the ground were killed, and 37 on the ground were injured.

How did it happen?

The flight had been instructed to climb to 1,500 meters, but the crew erroneously concluded they had misinterpreted the altitude.

Having decided they should be at 1,500 feet instead — aircraft altitudes are in feet throughout the world, except in China, Mongolia and Russia — they began a rapid descent.

While descending, they lost control and crashed.

Later, he’ll upload the video to YouTube in the hopes it will light the spark necessary to pressure federal lawmakers to convert the United States to the metric system.

As a seventh-grade math teacher for Norris Middle School for the past 24 years, Price knows how difficult it is to teach students two systems of measurement year after year.

And how entrenched the standard English system of measurement — pounds, feet and inches — is in this country

But that isn’t stopping him from trying to wake America up to its reliance on what he considers to be an outdated measurement system.

“If there’s enough people pushing, enough pressure, enough voices being heard, it’ll become law,” he said of conversion to the metric system.

The 48-year-old has launched a grassroots campaign that has involved him sending e-mails to math professors, high school teachers and government officials across the country.

He created a Web site, www.grassrootsmetriccampaign.orgto spread his message of metric revolution.

His goal: to get enough people signed on to the effort to convince Congress to enact a law by 2010 making the metric system king.

So what’s so great about the metric system?

Easy, Price said.

It’s based on the number 10. No messy conversions — like 12 inches in a foot or 5,280 feet in a mile — to memorize to convert to larger units.

Just add a zero.

Only two other countries have yet to convert to the metric system: Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, in Southeast Asia, and Liberia in Western Africa.

In the United States, several efforts have been made in recent decades to convert to the metric system, including the congressional Metric Conversion Act of 1975.

But something happened on the way to metrication.

The effort lost steam, said Ted Watson, assistant roadway design engineer for the Nebraska Department of Roads.

Watson recalls a time in the 1990s when the department began switching projects to metric units in anticipation of a federally-mandated Sept. 30, 2000, deadline for all federally funded highway construction to convert to the metric system.

“But, as that date drew closer and closer, it seemed that a lot of the (roads departments) were in a quandary about whether the feds were really going to hold us to that date,” Watson said.

As it turned out, Congress rescinded the deadline while still recommending federal agencies convert to metric units.

But Nebraska roads officials, seeing the movement falter within the ranks of construction contractors and other state roads departments, backslid.

“We started going back the other way,” Watson said. “We’re not completely back to full English, but we’re almost there.”

He said it likely will take a grassroots effort, like that started by Price, to convince national leaders to once again take up the metrication banner.

Converting to the metric system would certainly make Watson’s job easier, he said.

“It actually is, from an engineering standpoint, easier and more logical than the conventional English system,” he said.

So where does opposition to metrication come from?

Price has some ideas.

Among the hundreds of e-mails Price has sent as part of his campaign, he has received only eight responses from people he didn’t already know.

Half supported his proposal.

Half opposed it, saying they worried the cost to change road signs, product labels and tools would be too heavy a burden on the U.S. economy, Price said.

But the Norris teacher believes other forces are at work.

“We don’t have to redo a lot of things,” he said. “We just rename them.

“I think it’s just tradition, the fear of change.”

For his part, Price plans to continue working to convince others of the metric system’s superiority.

Next month, he’s scheduled to speak on that topic at the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics’ annual conference in Salt Lake City.

The reason for his mission, he said, is clear.

“It would make America better,” he said. “We could also spend time on other math topics.”

Reach Kevin Abourezk at 473-7225 or kabourezk@journalstar.com.


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Mike wrote on March 31, 2008 2:36 am:
" Oh great so what about the other millions of people that forgot how to use the metric system. Does he plan on reteaching everyone how to do it? This would cost the tax payers a lot of money to do this. Figure every highway, map, automobile, plane would have to be switched. We have used this system for years and it works. Canada switched to metric in 71 and there are a lot of people up there that don't like it. What to make a change switch everyone to the ft and inches that would be better. "

 Terry wrote on March 31, 2008 5:37 am:
" Anothr attempt to undermine the "American way" by a member of the "education elite." "

 Inchworm wrote on March 31, 2008 6:55 am:
" As a technician I personally think the metric system is great for science and technical stuff, but thats as far as I want it. I like the system we have, county roads every mile, making up sections and 640 acres to a section etc... This is what we have here in the USA!! Get over it, accept it, or move to a metric country if you have to, but quit beating this dead horse!! "

 Metric-Chick wrote on March 31, 2008 8:22 am:
" It's not so amazing to see how many don't mind remaining in the dark ages. "

 connie wrote on March 31, 2008 8:46 am:
" they already tried this once when I was in school. My teachers said the country would be entirely metric within 3 years. That was 40 years ago. If he's counting on grassroots, it'll never happen. Measurements are exact. They don't change. What's the difference if we use inches or centimeters? Anyway, teaching kids the mathematics of measurement wouldn't change either. It's all simple operations, add, subtract, multiply, divide. "

 Nic F wrote on March 31, 2008 9:17 am:
" The English system is long overdue for a change. People centuries ago were able to move away from cubits and stones for measurement, and supposedly we're smarter now then they were back then, so this should be no problem for us. Just because something we have now "works" doesn't mean it's the best. Isn't that part of the American lifestyle, work hard to be the best? Oh, that's right, I'm talking about the real America where the new lifestyle is do as little as possible in order to just get by. Live off the government and everyone else who works their tails off. Sorry, I forgot what America I was living in. :-) "

 Randy wrote on March 31, 2008 9:20 am:
" I agree that the metric system makes sense, however I really don't want a change. Somehow I don't want to hear that the Colts have 2nd down and 7.9 meters to go for a first down. As a former teacher I remember having to force feed the metric system, and its so called superiority to my students in the 70's and 80's, we have survived quite well without adopting it. "

 cls wrote on March 31, 2008 9:23 am:
" The English system of pounds, acres, feet and Farhenheit was designed around human needs. 0 - 100F mirrors the range of temperatures most people will experience. An acre was about the amount of ground a team of oxen could plow in a day. A mile was a 1000 paces for a Roman soldier. The most common road speed is about a mile a minute -- 100 miles from Lincoln, you'll be there in about 100 minutes.

The French created the metric system out of whole cloth as a statement against the monarchy. "

 Guillermo wrote on March 31, 2008 9:24 am:
" Everything is about taxes isn't it? Funny how the only other countries still using the English system are "Developing Countries." I have an idea, how about we return to the days where blood-letting was seen as a legitimate medical procedure? Or how about we go back to using Ether for anesthesia? It's called progress people, you should try it some time. "

 Joe wrote on March 31, 2008 10:02 am:
" As far as tools and nuts and bolts goes the metric system sucks. It's a lot easier to look at a 7/16, 1/2, or 9/16 bolt or nut and tell the difference between them as opposed to a 10mm, 11mm, or 12mm because the difference is so slight. "

 NAP wrote on March 31, 2008 10:04 am:
" Keep dreaming Mr.P "

 forget that wrote on March 31, 2008 10:12 am:
" I remember being told when I was in high school that Metric system would be the ONLY way---let's see I graduated in '81---still nothing! It was a pain than! Sorry I vote to keep things the way they are. If someone is in to mettric that much than they can move somewhere that has only that! "

 Andrew wrote on March 31, 2008 10:19 am:
" The future of the world is in science. Why should we as Americans put our students at a disadvantage by teaching a complicated standard system when they will inevitably have to convert to metric anyway for any scientific work?

The argument that "Americans will never be able to adapt to the metric system" is deplorable. We've heard it all before. Let me remind you of some other things Americans "will never adapt to": computers, cell phones, automobiles, electricity, modern medicine...you get the picture. There's no shame in adopting a superior system of measurement; why cling to a derelict tradition?

Oh, and as for your concerns about football, a football field could still remain 100 yards and be measured in yards. Sports are already divided between metric and standard (ex. swimming and running are metric, while football is standard). No changes are necessary here.

And finally, what kind of person attacks a middle-school math teacher as a "member of the 'education elite'" trying to "undermine the 'American Way?'" It seems to me like this math teacher is earnestly trying to do something constructive with his life, improving his nation and our way of life. Is that such a foreign concept to you? "

 Chris wrote on March 31, 2008 10:33 am:
" Because it is now such a small world, finally switching to metric only makes sense. Why can’t the "Bureau of Standards" be held accountable to their own standards or deadlines? Convert to Metric in 1974, 1985, 2000; convert to all digital television signals in 2006; all cars must have daytime running lights by 1995. I say quit talking about it and just get it done!

I suppose progress was halted by people similar to those who wailed and gnashed their teeth about losing the "1-" "2-" or "59-" from their license plates. Those people who bombarded their congressman's mailbox with fearful complaints peppered with phrases such as, "...good enough for my gran-pappy." If they wish to live in an America run by coal fired trains and covered wagons pulled by oxen, that is their rightful delusion; they should not have the right to complain the next time NASA crashes a $3.5 billion space explorer because an outsourced computer programmer in India didn’t know that there are 2.54 centimeters in an inch. I believe a contemporary of those complainers had a famous saying, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself”
"

 Welcometothe21stcentury wrote on March 31, 2008 10:38 am:
" C'mon folks, you can't tell me that a system in which there are 5280 ft, or 63,360 in. in a mile makes more sense than 1000 meters, 10,000 decimeters, 100,000 centimeters, 1,000,000 millimeters in a kilometer. Imagine a world where you can do conversions without googling a conversion caluculator. Or a world where a bottle of water doesn't have to print both 700 ml AND 1 pt, 7.7 fl oz. Oh well, I guess I should be used to the stubbornness of my fellow Americans by now. But it's this "We're right, even when we're wrong" attitude that is leading our country down the toilet. "

 Wise Acre wrote on March 31, 2008 10:38 am:
" I can't fathom why this controversy is inching up on us again. The metric system simply doesn't measure up. If it's so great why don't we see any metric clocks or calenders? Even in metric countries there are still 24 beers in a case & eggs are sold by the dozen...why? And why does this article refer to the American system of measurement as the English system? When was the last time you saw a diet commercial claiming you'd lose up to 5 stones in a fortnight? And think of the turmoil this would cause in the container industry. Nearly every product on American store shelves are sold primarily in ounces, gallons etc with the metric measurement listed as an afterthought as in 12oz/355ml; 1/2 Gal/1.89L etc. The notable exception to that rule being wine & liquor bottles...perhaps mere coincidence. "

 In a world of needs wrote on March 31, 2008 10:47 am:
" Im sure this is on the top of the list! Both work fine - why is this still a issue? Last I checked I could give the exact length of a item in standard method or metric. Your main problem does not stem from the white collar stand on this (ie engineers, etc) - it is the blue collar workers that deal with hands on measurements of products that are the most effected - those are also the ones who will need to be retrained, good luck! "

 Sue wrote on March 31, 2008 10:55 am:
" I agree with "forget that." I graduated in 1981 and they taught metric to us too. What a waste of money. I have NEVER used it in almost 30 years. Teach the students what they need to know to be productive citizens and don't waste taxpayers money teaching them metric that they will never use. "

 tim wrote on March 31, 2008 10:57 am:
" thirty five years ago high school math teachers were spouting the same thing. it simply isnt going to happen. nothing wrong with teaching the metric system but why make it into a crusade. "

 jim wrote on March 31, 2008 11:03 am:
" i love metric i only weigh 118 instead of 250. now my body mass index is within reach "

 pete wrote on March 31, 2008 11:07 am:
" math nerd. bet he's a good teacher though. "

 CLS wrote on March 31, 2008 11:24 am:
" Watched the video. Sounds like he's tired of teaching his students simple facts and how to use them. Perhaps Price's employers need to remind him of his job requirements.

As an engineer, I've worked in both units of measure. It's no big deal to move back and forth. You do what the job requires.

In reality, outside of the concrete grain elevator that serves as the ivory tower in Firth, measurement units don't really make that much difference. What is important is buyers and sellers, designers and builders each understand the other. Try walking into a Amsterdam diamond market and ask for a gram of diamonds. You will either get laughed out of the place or thrown out by the security guard. Ask for a carat instead -- they will immedidately understand that common unit of measure. A carat is not metric by the way.

One advantage of doing unit conversions on US customary units is mis-placed decimal points are blatently obvious. In metric, the eye tends to gloss over the multiply or divide by 10 conversion.

The other reality check is that units of measure have little impact on day-to-day life. You purchase a container of milk -- it make no real difference if that container is labeled as one gallon, four quarts, 231 cubic inches, 3.8 liters or 3800 cubic centimeters. You get a container of milk in a standard size that will last your family for X days.

His example of weight on a bag of chips is bogus. Those weights say whatever the graphic artist who designed the bag. The equiment filling the bag does it by weight --
it may be set in ounces or grams with a small production tolerance. It's NOT measured twice.

At the end if the day, there is no real need to do a wholesale convertion of weights and measures in this country. The chaos and errors it would introduce in real estate records, engineering design programs and historical records would make the Y2K kerfluffle seem like a frolic in the park. "

 rac wrote on March 31, 2008 11:37 am:
" Conversion to the metric system (so we can be like the rest of the world, and is much needed) won't get going in Nebraska due to the abundance of "old farts" here. Lest us not forget NE is the land of "change is very bad"! It will have to get moving on one of the coasts and be done on the Federal level. "

 Joe wrote on March 31, 2008 11:48 am:
" Check this out, 1 milimeter x 10 = 1 centimeter x 10 = 1 decimeter x 10 = 1 meter x 10 = 1 decameter x 10 = 1 kilometer. Wow I just taught you how to measure length in less the 10 seconds. Now for mass you just chop off the -meter and add -gram, so you have 1 gram x 10 = 1 decagram x 10 = 1 kilogram, and for volume you do the same using liter. It's so simple, I don't know why people are worried about teaching it to everyone.

And another thing, why does he need to move to another country just because he has an idea that he feels will change his country for the better. "OH MY GOD IT'S SOMEONE WHO THINKS DIFFERENTLY THEN ME, LETS DEPORT HIM." Mr. Price is a great guy who loves his job and wants to make life better for his students and the rest of the country. So rather then attacking him, maybe you should come up with your own arguments for why the english system is better. "

 parent wrote on March 31, 2008 12:10 pm:
" Would like say that if don't know this person or child(ren) don't go to this school than don't mock this teacher. I 2 kids who have had this teacher and one of my kids has hard time with Math in school.And to let know this teacher has went above and beyond to help my child in anyway that can .I personally think he doing something that should done long a go. This Math tearcher only wants whats best for his kids and his school ,so leave them alone. Don't put down a school unless your kids attend the school or have meet the staff or this teacher. He is a good teacher. "

 JAZZY wrote on March 31, 2008 12:23 pm:
" This is just great. Most of our children struggle with regular math and lets add something new to mess them up with. We are not in Europg, this is America. "

 Galen wrote on March 31, 2008 12:39 pm:
" When I worked for the Kansas Dept of Trans, they jumped in with both feet and started designing road projects in Metric. What we found out was - every contractor would AUTOMATICALLY convert it back to US measurements. It was a HUGE waste of money, and led to difficulties and problems with conversions. It's not a "resistence to change" thing. People know the US system and have NO DIFFICULTY converting feet to miles, quarts to gallons, etc, when needed. The Metric system is great - when it is all that you know. The trouble comes when you have to convert BETWEEN US and Metric. That will take generations (and HUGE amounts of money) to end.
Why bother? As far as I can tell, the average Joe on the street is ok with using the US system, and could care less about Metric. Another case of a liberal thinker deciding what's "best" for everyone..... "

 Jorge wrote on March 31, 2008 1:08 pm:
" Metric clocks or calendars? Surely that is sarcasm I sense. CLS is absolutely correct. The units of measurement do not matter as long as both parties understand what the units mean.

Actually I am suprised that with the number of religious conservatives in this state there hasn't been a grassroots effort to return to the measurment units of the Bible. After all isn't it considered by those folks to be the infallible word of god? If so then why aren't people making a fuss about our use of the English system? After all the bible's units MUST be the only true units anyway. "

 Stephen wrote on March 31, 2008 1:32 pm:
" We all know that this will fail, America will never switch to the metric system. Myself, a graduate from Norris remember Price's attempt to convince all of his students to believing his view. While it would prove to be easiest in the future, but the short run costs outweigh the benefits in the long run. Besides there wouldn't be a great enough force behind this topic to drive it to National attention. America already has it's hands full with enough problems to even think about converting it's measurement system. I admire Mr. Price for his efforts, and it's nice to see a Nebraska man being recognized for a cause. I believe that this just isn't going to work out for him. "

 Seth wrote on March 31, 2008 1:35 pm:
" I dont really care but wat hes doing is sweet is it easier to rember 5,280 ft in a mile or 1,000 m in km. "

 n/a wrote on March 31, 2008 1:36 pm:
" america is fine the way it is, metric shouldent even be here we are americans "

 metric junkie wrote on March 31, 2008 1:38 pm:
" Im from norris and im all for the metric system because its a ton easyer cough cough Andrew. "

 Tim wrote on March 31, 2008 1:38 pm:
" People have been trying to convert the nation to metric since the '70's . I don't think it will change now. "

 brady yo student wrote on March 31, 2008 1:40 pm:
" me and my parents dissagree. We think that standard is better because i am usually taller in standard than I am in metric.

"

 What else wrote on March 31, 2008 1:45 pm:
" not any different than the way Spanish is being shoved down our throat as well. enjoy that litre o' cola while you are brushing up on the espanol, welcome to america... "

 Former Math Teacher wrote on March 31, 2008 2:01 pm:
" One of the reasons US students have problems with math is BECAUSE OF OUR ANTIQUATED MEASUREMENT SYSTEM!

Let's say you have a tank that's 3 feet x 3 feet x 3 feet, or one cubic yard. How much water would it take to fill it? How much would it weigh when full?

I wouldn't even try to calculate that without converting to metric.

If I had a similar tank that was one meter x one meter x one meter, or one cubic meter. How much water would it take to fill it? 1,000 liters. How much would it weigh when full? 1,000 kilograms.

That's the real beauty of the metric system is converting between linear, volume and weight measurements. "

 Gas prices wrote on March 31, 2008 2:14 pm:
" Converting to metric will lower gas prices to under $1 (per liter). Wouldn't it be nice to see 0.869 at the gas station. "

 Lisa wrote on March 31, 2008 2:25 pm:
" These comments make me nearly ashamed of being an American. This blatent 'Our way or no way' mentality will, I pray to God, die off with whatever generation is so desperatly holding onto it.

"

 CLS wrote on March 31, 2008 3:42 pm:
" "Why students have problems with math" is not because of a measurement system. It is because 'educators' teach it poorly and students never learn the basics.

Doing metric conversions is a excellent way to learn how to chain units together, learn to attack a problem methodically, learn to look up conversions and learn to check your work.

All too ofen, valuable class time is wasted on extraneous activities. Looking at Mr. Price's seventh grade syllabus, it seems he shows a lot of video tapes, that "relate mathematics to other cultures and bring out a variety of viewpoints."

Sorry, in arithmetic, it is right or wrong -- not how you feel about it.

He also spends time exploring the "connection between Islamic art and the geometry of tessellations" A tessellation is a fancy name for a repeated geometric shape -- bathroom tiles or fish scales are common examples. Clearly studying bathroom tiles is time taken away from the task at hand -- learning the how to calculate and use numbers.

If American kids can't learn how to handle numbers, there are untold millions of Indian, Korean, Japanese and Chinese childern (and teachers) who are putting in the time and effort to do it correctly. "

 metric is so much easier wrote on March 31, 2008 3:46 pm:
" The metric system really is simple. it is based on 10. It will be easy to convert even for the old fogies that don't like change. Most people do not know how to read a standard tape measure anyway. Most of the world is based on the metric system. This country is so close minded it will be hard for Tom to get it across. Good Luck Tom!!! "

 Dan wrote on March 31, 2008 4:36 pm:
" Former Math Teacher - WRONG - our students don't know math anymore because it was easier for Math teachers to teach them how to use a calculator instead of how to do math in their head or on paper!! [But, you are not really to blame either...we tied your hands when we took discipline and respect out of the classroom.] Yes, students do need to learn how to use calculators and computers, but only AFTER they have a full grasp of the concepts.

There are both good and bad arguments for changing to the metric system. However, being in the land of the free, why should we allow our government dictate/mandate what kind of measurement system we should be using. Seems the free market provides a better way to gauge what system should be used. I am surprised the food industry hasn't jumped all over this conversion. What we need to really watch out for is when they start using the same package/price - but use the metric system to fill the package (with less product)...thereby stretching their inventory and bringing in more $$'s.

And, yes - this is AMERICA. We are a melting pot, but we are also a land where it is expected that those who come here ADOPT our ways - not try to change us to the way it was in their country or elsewhere. That is why our forefathers came here in the first place!! AMERICA - LOVE IT AS IT IS, AND DON'T TRY TO CHANGE IT, OR LEAVE IT!!!! "

 JB wrote on March 31, 2008 4:38 pm:
" Going to school in the 60s and 70s there was a big push by the federal government to have all students learn the metric system. Now people seem to have no interest in it and don't understand. Outside of bottles and track most people don't see it in use. "

 To: Parent wrote on March 31, 2008 4:51 pm:
" Your kid may have a problem with math, and I'm glad Mr. Price is helping, but you have a huge problem with English. Either that or you need to quit drinking before you leave a comment. "

 To former math teacher wrote on March 31, 2008 5:22 pm:
" So all liquid weighs the same using the metric system or is the metric system based on water weight to volume ratio? "

 Laurie wrote on March 31, 2008 5:56 pm:
" Oh please. A country where people have no problem learning how to use new cell phones, TiVO, video games, and digital freaking everything... but can't use an easy to understand and perfectly logical system of measurement. Is that lazy or what? I hope your kids are ALREADY learning metric in school, since the sciences and health care fields use it pretty much exclusively. As for metric being "liberal".... I hope you are joking, and if you are not you need to take that "kick me" sign off your back right now. It's totally embarrassing. "

 T wrote on March 31, 2008 6:36 pm:
" You think you can go online and learn everything there is to know about this man's class? You seem to imply that his students are somehow missing out on a quality education because he wants to relate his field to real-world applications. Shame on him for trying to get students to understand the pracicality of mathematics. Anyone who has dealt with adolescents knows that if they don't care about the subject, they aren't going to try and learn it.

Since you seem to like researching the man so much, maybe you should check out his H.S. Contests page and see how the teams he has coached have done at the state's largest math contest at UNL. Don't tell me he is some sort of inferior teacher who doesn't care about his students, just going through the motions and showing videos everyday. Every video he showed was accompanied by a "special project", which required real-life problem solving with mathematics. He spends more hours helping kids understand those projects than you would ever know. Call me biased, but I was a better student and am a better person thanks to Tom Price's commitment to my success. "

 Alfred Einstein Neuman wrote on March 31, 2008 6:48 pm:
" I have no desire to change to metric, but if we had to, I would adapt. That seems to be part of the problem with most people in America...... the majority seems to lack the desire (ability?) to move out of comfortable routines.

Someone complained about how it would be more math. Tough! Buckle up and use that brain. If I were to assess the American scholastic abilities based on the comments from the metric detractors, I would come to the conclusion that not only can you not do math, but you lack any English grammatical and spelling skills above a second grade level.

Smarten up people. Everyone is complaing that it's banks' or the government's or other countries that are stealing our jobs for our economic woes and declining standing on the world stage. It's YOUR fault for being complacent.

Many Americans are becoming overweight, overindulged cry babies that think someone else should bail them out of their perceived miserable lives. All one has to do is walk the aisles of Wal-Mart to see this.

We can go metric or not. Either way, I will adapt. The rest of you can go on wasting energy complaining instead of trying to do something bigger than yourself in a positive manner. "

 rlu wrote on March 31, 2008 8:06 pm:
" I'm with you Tom!! I was a teacher and support you all the way!! Good Luck! "

 NEA < L * G * M wrote on March 31, 2008 9:59 pm:
" The problem with teaching the metric system in the US schools is the NEA only wants to teach WHAT to think and not HOW to think. (yes, I am an ex-teacher) "

 bilbo wrote on March 31, 2008 11:29 pm:
" from experience of a conversion to metric note that there are several versions The SI (Scientific International) system uses mm/metres, gramme/kilogramme which are in steps of 1000's whereas continental europe also uses cm centimeter 1/100th of metre 3/8th inch: area a hectare is10,000 sq metres (2.5 acres=1 hectare) "

 Sylvia wrote on April 1, 2008 11:33 am:
" Base 10 is so human-centric. We are base ten because most of us this side of Wilbur have ten fingers. It is time to base our measurements like we base bytes and kilobytes, where everything is a power of 2. It is time to get with the rest of the universe. I also find it funny that all of these "AMERICANS" want to stay with the "ENGLISH" system. It is like they don't know there is a country called England, and we are just children of their illegal emigrants and language. "

 Dano wrote on April 1, 2008 12:50 pm:
" Stop undermining our systems. If i wanted to be British or European or Chinese, I would move there and use there systems. The "educational elite" shold not be making a decision for the whole.

Do yo uhave any idea of what the cost to change would be? Trillions of $$$$. I don't think you can afford that. I have heard what teachers make for salaries. The only people that think this is a good idea are those that have nothing better to do with their time or money.

Put it to a vote, and you lose, especially if estimate of the trillions it would cost to convert roads signs, packaging, laws, odometers, building codes, scales for all uses, etc, etc. This is not news, go back to your books and teach something useful to our kids and stop trying to force your beliefs on an entrenched society. "

 jj wrote on April 1, 2008 2:00 pm:
" Tom Price is a great teacher that goes above and beyond. All the work he is doing is on his own time. The metric system is much easier to use and to learn. But, people here in Nebraska are so close minded to any growth. The comments on here against this is coming from those type of people. Open your mind to the idea with the understanding instead of being bull headed and close minded. "

 MarkyMark wrote on April 1, 2008 3:42 pm:
" Geez people the earth is not flat.....Metric is a system that uses 10 as a base it is much simpler.....dont be afraid to grow and progress. Jeez, this just illustrates why we are still a Red State so.... "

 Abe Simpson wrote on April 1, 2008 3:48 pm:
" The Metric System is the tool of the devil! My car gets 40 rods to the hogshead, and thats the way I likes it! "

 Hey CLS wrote on April 1, 2008 4:24 pm:
" Please refer to the Nebraska Math Standards for "justification" when teaching tesselations.
8.4.5 By the end of eighth grade, students will apply transformations to two- and three-dimensional geometric figures.
Example indicator:

• Draw geometric figures using translations or slides, rotations or turns, reflections or flips, and scale.

I think Mr. Price's school board would be thrilled to know he is teaching what the State of Nebraska Schol Board has deemed essential for a student to know by the end of 8th grade.

"

 Ignorant common Joes wrote on April 1, 2008 4:25 pm:
" They already label most products with both metric and English. As for knocking the elite, why don't you stop taking medicines and taking advantage of what the "educationally elite" provide you. I am not going to move to another country to be a scientist but people like you make me wonder why we even try to make humans lives better.

You want everything but can slam those who make a difference. "

 BOTH wrote on April 1, 2008 10:07 pm:
" In many countries both systems work together. For instance, for the size of bolts, boards,the English system is used. For anything else, the metric systems is highly used. "

 Rumpy wrote on April 2, 2008 7:00 pm:
" mr. p you are the bomb
infact you are the bomb digity
infact you are the.....
o forget it
you are really cool
besides...
i weigh less in metric
the gas prices are lower
hey infact metric is a whole lot better
than that STANDARD
mr.p keep teaching the "right thing"
p.s. i hope rumpy is ok!! "

 Robin wrote on April 3, 2008 3:57 pm:
" Poor foolish maths teacher! I have a copy of the report about the meeting between the EU and NIST, with a view to imposing the Napoleonic metric system on America. It was intended to criminalise anyone who would not comply, and who even mentioned the traditional English mensuration.

You might like to know that even in China their carpets are measured by the English foot. Also there is a basic chinese character, called a Radical and used in their pictorgram written language, which is sounded as cun [with the falling tone]. Cun has the meaning "inch"!

It is characteristic of these metricators that they only want to teach one view in schools. This is what we call 'indoctrination'. Indoctrination is practiced by totalitarian states, and was used by the communist Vietnamese on American soldiers.

Enjoy the company of equals.

Regards
Robin "

 Bob? wrote on April 3, 2008 4:46 pm:
" Having read almost all of these comments and realising that your all stubborn I can only but help laugh: Listening to 40 year old people complaining about how hard it would be to change to a the metric system. You sound like a bunch of students... I know only a handful of people who know how to convert the 1/16 scale into decimal or list the decimals correctly in order, yet i can go to any elementary and have them count by 1's, 10's, and 100's. They might not know the metric system but they already can use it because its so easy. It would cost a lot to change to metric but since when has money stopped America from doing anything? I won't lie I love the standard system BUT only because I grew up with it. I'm ready for change but are you? "

 alix wrote on April 4, 2008 1:53 pm:
" hey...i totally agree. i don't get which is which. i am on your side with my sidekick sarah. good luck with this whole thing!!!!!!!!! GO MR PRICE.
alix "

 sarah wrote on April 4, 2008 1:54 pm:
" i cannot believe that people dont believe that metric is simper...... it goes by tens!!!!!! standard doesnt have a certain number that is goes by 12 in. in one foot, 3 feet in 1 yard???? this is not easy for children and people to understand?! think about it! "

 Seth Schwaninger wrote on October 11, 2008 8:30 pm:
" Love mr price one point 32 degrees or 0 degress Im 13 and get the picture all you nerds that get all complex IT GOES BY TENS "

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