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viewp dc dam GAM Wayne Brooks Associate Editor Collins Walker Photography Editor THE GAMECOCK welcomes lette subject and a maximum of 300 wo Pseudonums or other aliases will circumstances warrant. To assist your mailing address and a toleph class standing and major, also. Wc to meet our space limitations. Ai USC. Columbia, S C. 29208. <juc?i v ui Si" By DR. LORIN W. AND College of Education The average test sc Q/?holc ofin A r\f Ulirlrk uvuvii. nuv. n(;iiiuuc 1CSI, SA^T, have been declining few years. On the Verbal Subtest, the average score has approximately 480 in proximately 430 in 1975. T of this decline can be und clearly by considering th< student scoring at the 50tl 1963 would be placed at ? percentile with respect tc who wrote the test in percentile score is the sco of the test takers got or di Several reasons have b< to account for this d< reasons generally fall .;categories: 1) a change and numbers of student examination; 2) a chang ifprrtQ nnH toct on vwaaw M(i\4 tVOl WlllCUb ) Ctll in the academic emphas Each of these potential some support and each h within the educational co The kinds of studentstf have changed. Historica was constructed to be u League" schools as pi selection process. So only oints ritihtj :nial ne ron 7 IECOCK Marguerite Ryan Editor Lloyd Woods Associate tailor Chuck Cromer Entertainment Editor Bob King Advertising Manager rs from its readers. Letters should be limited to a sir rds. They must be signed with the writer's true nai not be used, but the writer's name will be withhel us in verifying the identity of writers, please incl one number where you can be reached. Please incl t reserve the right to edit all letter*, not for content, ddress: Campus Opinion, The Gamecock, Drawer ninn LTsco ERSON nf thp hiah cr?V bothered to pay t examination. ^ Ovi ores on the schools began re< known as the for admission, m over the past ferent abilities ar the test. These a< for example, were less well prej dipped from because the top s 1963 to ap- taken test. The o he magnitude were those who lerstood more average score, e following. A In addition, sor i percentile in "save places" foi tbout the 70th their scores or ) the students Preliminary Schol 1975. A 50th which is adminis re 50 per cent juniors. That is, d better than, cepted to colleges ien suggested scores on the PSA' icline. These from taking the S/ into three which would h? in the kinds average, ptopped s taking the the SAT avera e in the test population of test d 3) a change Some educators hi is of schools, portion of the test I reasons has factor; others ha^ as Advocates The SAT has immunity. revisions in its fi iking the test several different 1 lly, tyfe SAT available. Those> ised by "Ivy nate and revised f( art of their to make su^e knov the "cream" on all forms eve By LLO Associa While merits < ^ we do f denied ploymer all pers It is i person 1 efficient job. Se: effect or lesbian straight jokes th Sjobs. Nc Not all Accor piled b) Wallech Stein ar ^ Dickins< homose: Socratei Lion He; Hans C John M Ten n ess One homose^ Anita Bk homose: in thf?ir lg(e on no co mo. have soi children ude Few, if J b^' the chili condemi J minority mi] iooI students e heir fee to take er time, as m quiring examinat ore students of id backgrounds t dditional test tak j 1 i i eu anu scored J students had alw nly new test tali pulled down ne schools begar r students based l the PSAT < lastic Aptitude Te tered to high scl students were on the basis of tl r and were exemj iT. Their high scoi ive pulled up being counted i ge. In sum, takers has chang we attributed a la score decline to /e attributed littl undergone sev< fty year history forms of the test who wrote up al )rmsof the test, ti /ledge is being tes n though the it< YD WOODS te Editor we do not propose to d< "\r Hnmorifc nf KnmACAviiol bfA vAVtllVl 1VO v A IIVlllVOWVUCU eel that the Miami June 7 a homosexual's right to pi it was also a slap at the civi] ons. ridiculous to deny employn ttecause of actions not relat ; performance of that pers< tual preference has no de 1 job performance. A homos* can perform the same jobs counternarts. Confrarv tr ere are no stereotypical ho >t all hair dressers are hom football players are straigh ding to The Peoples Almai r Irving Wallace and his s insky writers Will a Cather, id Virginia Wolf and poete )n were lesbians. Their tuals includes Sophocles, >, Alexander the Great, Ric arted, Leonardo di Vinci, Job hristian Anderson, Walt i [aynard Keynes, W.H. An ee Williams. of the fears espoused dial riuhts nnnnnpnts in Mia yant, a Miss America reject, cual teachers would corrupt charge. This was a fear tac ncrete facts. It is easy in Ai mething declared evil if the i can be inserted into the a any, homosexuals are likely dren they teach. Would it 1 n all male teachers Ix y had sexual relations wi ilexi ven themselves change. I the experts have pointe lore different items testi tion same content can dif- difficulty. For exam ook simple skill of addii ;ers numbers. Results reli less Jersey Department ays dicate that for sevenl :ers the item difficulty vai the the format of the average 86 per c< i to problems presented v on 46 per cent on the [the presented horizo .r?4 \ Lk J l cuuuaiurs nave saiu l 100I scores can be dir< ac- changes in the diffic leir and-or the content of r? i iL. ji.cu ncivc utciieu uiai iner res, relationship betweer the and the test score de into Perhaps the mosl the concerning the decli: led. concerns the differe irge being emphasized I this simply, schools are e. ferent knowledge anc eral did 10 or 15 years ago. and strongly that this is are decline that they i ter- something be done a ried interesting, however }ted agreement about wha ?ms Some educators say t female student! case could be homosexual r ibate the relations with behavior would say tl vote that dangerous. Ai lblic em- examples of I rights of possibilities, ye willing to accej lent to a While we are ed to the religious reasor >n on the must protest he trimental Practically eve jxual or a rejected becai i as their passages are t ) ageless context. Anoth* mosexual Should homose: osexuals. what she calls t. While we do i nac com- normal sexual ] on David have been tail] Gertrude ''normal," we ss Emily civil rights moi list ftf ? uaiug iiicuijc ui i Aristotle, homosexual opp ihard' the will be able to d in Milton, wish to exterm Whitman, analogy, but a iden and destroy an enl consider "norm by the the vote in Mia mi led by We bring thii , was that reported elsewl ; children homosexuality tic based new. It's alwaj nerica to students have safety of sexual activitie irgument. activities, while ' to abuse we may not a| de fair to support their rif icause a Anita we do ni th young obligation to dc I ssue Vs several testing changed d out, however, schools, ng virtually the creasing vary greatly in the test pie, consider the the sch< ig several whole basics." eased by the New changed of Education in- dicatedt th grade students proportk ries depending on tradition problem. Pupils school c jnt on addition preparat ertically, but only drop in i problems when factor th ntally. Some SAT scoi he decline in test the sch jctly related to educator ulty of the items Why a ? lL * * ^ me tesi. utners respect 1 e is little, if any, For one t i these changes answer t dine. gathered t popular belief they an ning SAT scores complex mces in content "causes. )y schools. Put SAT s emphasizing dif- decline is I skills than they the decl People believe so servable. a cause of the are impc aic urging mai searcn t ibout it. What is telligentl; , is the lack of cnticing t should be done, simple ai he test should be j? Of course not. Yet if one documented showing that a nale teacher had sexual a young male student most lat all homosexuals are nita's group provided no the latter behavior, only it the public was more than )t the possibilities. rtrtf iirillinrf fn offoAnUn'o I1WV WW lillllg 11/ CHlCa\,IY ruitui o is against homosexuality, we r use of religion as a weapon, rything can be supported or ise of religious reasons if aken from the Bible out of >r .question arises for Anita, uial athiests be exempt from a 1.1 line a^aiiui uuu: not consider homosexuality a preference based on what we ;ht, and also believe, to be fear the possible loss of our *e than we fear gay activity, he arguments manipulated by anents in Miami, other groups 41 ai cuy uie nguis ui perMins uiey inate. Some may oppose the man not long ago decided to ire race his society did not ial." Hitler would have loved mi. i subject closer to home. As tiere in this issue we tell of on this campus. It's nothing rs been here. Professors and been able to separate their s from their campus related : not affecting straights. While gree with what they do, we ;ht to do as they please. Unlike at feel we have the right or AIJ UUlliUAlALLUi 1 l&IILA. ^MWSwri<:> V'. to keep up with the changes in Other educators (and an innumber of lay people) believe should remain the same and x>ls should move "back to It is evident schools have . Recent studies have inI A It ' * uiti mere is a large drop in the m of pupils enrolling in the al basic courses of the high ourses designed for college ion and a general enrollment icademic courses. Is this the lat has caused the decline in *ftS? If it is chnillH UIO nViorirtn UI.UU1U TT v-nangc ools or the test'.' Again, s are divided. re educators so divided with to such an important issue? hing, the data that can help to he questions are still being . More importantly, however, i attempting to explain a "effect" with several, simple H icores are declining. The ; easy to see. But the causes of ine are not so easily obIf the causes of the decline rtant, we should continue to hem out, but to do so iny. We should not fall into that trap of seeking the single, nswer.