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Testing I Changes in SAT examination might bring teaching changes ' The ability to write is becoming increasingly important. Nor only is it a necessity to know how to write well, it is also important to know how to think rationally and critically. Unfortunately, too many students come to college without a grasp of the fundamentals of writing, and even less are capable of logical thinking. TKd rvj Dnnr/l tniWnHnAcHox/ tr\ mol/n OilKcton i ui/ VxUllCgv uuaiU UUM^vo vuiv/u TT vunv/ouaj' IU niai^/ ouuoiaiitial changes in the Scholastic Aptitude Test. The SAT, which is the most widely used college entrance examination, will move away from being merely a multiple-choice test and, in 1994, will include essay questions. This is a move in the right direction. Hopefully, more school districts, principals and teachers in junior high and high schools will begin to place more emphasis on writing and critical thinking. The changes in the SAT might also encourage national emphasis on inferential thinking, rather than memorization. Too often, students are taught to memorize names and dates without truly understanding concepts and ideas. Changing the SAT to include essays will also be an asset to some students who do not do well on standardized tests. There are many students who can express ideas and issues in essay form but freeze up and get confused on multiple-choice examinations. The SAT is not fair to all students and should not be the main criterion for college admission but will continue being used. At least changing its format will make the exam more accurate in determining how well students can express themselves in written 'form. ^ '"im . V jltf ^ A * '7 N ... Pr The Gamecock ? News: 777-7726 Advertising: 777-4249 ar nc ? or Jeff Wilson Sharon Willamson of Editor in Chief Managing Editor /Copy Desk Chief at Lynn Gibson Elizabeth Lynch News Editor Carolina Life Editor SU dougaube kenee meyer Sports Editor Photography Editor 03 Kelly C. Thomas Viewpoints Editor na Elizabeth Fox Sherri Tillman ca Assistant News Editor Assistant News Editor david bowden kathy heberger Assistant Carolina Life Editor Assistant Carolina Life Editor Brant Long Julie Bouchillon LJ Assistant Sports Editor Assistant Photography Editor Sara Verne Octavia Wright ( Assistant Copy Desk Chief Assistant to the Editors Kristin Francis Erik Collins y Graduate Assistant Faculty Adviser Ed bonza ' Laura S. Day t< Director of Student Media Production Manager Ray Burgos Renee Gibson ci Assistant Production Manager Advertising Mana8er SC Kyt.rhi7.dry Caroi.yn Griffin w Assistant Advertising Manager Business Manager 13 tic Letters Policy: The Gamecock will try to print all letters received. Letters should ar be, at maximum, 250 to 300 words long. The writer must include full name, pro- ar fessional title if a USC employee or South Carolina resident, or year and major if ^ a student. An address and phone number are required with all letters sent. The / Gamecock reserves the right to edit letters for style, possible libel or in case of ' space limitations. The newspaper will not withhold names under any Tl circumstance. m * J pc p 1 COVERT OPERATIONS (CONTP.) i o?9^5><4fS Sush's actions show 1 The jury is in. George Bush is a lousy President Bush has been on a roller-coaster mW public opinion. He has gone from having the , JS. J DAVI ghest approval rating in history to his latest ; w of 48 percent. He could have a 99 percent approval rating, id it really wouldn't matter. Public opinion is ?? r >t necessarily a good determinant of whether not a president is doing his job. A majority He did absolutely no the public can't find America on a map. peaceful revolution in Eaj To find out Bush's quality, let's look strictly all the credit for its eventu his actions: to give any meaningful a He sent envoys to China to pledge America's tions or to support Soviet pport of the Communist government practi- in his own reform efforts, lly before the blood had dried from the Tianmen Square massacre. He reneged on his "n He refused to support a military coup in Pa- making him a liar to the / ima that would have ousted Noriega months He has sent hundreds o rlier, without a costly U.S. invasion. can troops into an uncerta I LETTERS TO THE EDITOF .'imp Pnliimn j 1411 iv vvriuiiiii was wriuen 111 yuui <uiu.it. inanus # II for expressing in words what every written W0ll Bulldog fan surely feels about the post-game "riot." Again, well a the editor: written. Congrats, Rich. You took an in- Ed Johnson dent that you easily could have USC graduate student en from a biased viewpoint and rote a perfectly objective editor- ?1 Inform ioKc 1, "Post-game field clearing tac- v^dl IUUII JitUo As a graduate student at USC, I at economics n a Gamecock fan. But because I n also an alumnus of The Ci- To the editor: del, the Oct. 20 contest was my The editorial cartoon "My Latest >le time to pull against Carolina. Trick ..." in the Oct. 19 issue of lie post-game brutality angered The Gamecock invites further come greatly. I could dwell on this ment. Both the administration and )inl, but that would be senseless Congress deserve unflattering cari ?? (\i^S? V TO \ I SAPPAM \ * ~ . t ^BEjjezxzzk: tiis failure as leader sian Gulf with no real agenda other than the vague promise to "protect American interests." Whether or not this action is warranted is D BOWDEN another matter. My gripe is that the president doesn't seem to know what he is going to do next. That is the essence of Bush's failure as a leader. Instead of making bold initiatives to fix the budget or other problems, Bush only rething to support the sponds to other's actions, be they the Demostern Europe and took crats or the Despot of the Week, lal success. He has yet Before any Young Republicans out there grab ssistance to those na- their monogrammed stationary to tell me off, let : President Gorbachev it be said that I think the Democrats are just as responsible for our nation's sorry shape. However, the Republicans have dominated the o new taxes" pledge, White House for 10 years, and all America has American people. to show for it is status as the world's biggest f thousands of Ameri- debtor nation. At least we're still number one in in situation in the Per- something. catures for their dismal handling of was not validated was that the tax the budget issue. My quarrel is cuts would "pay for themselves." with Mr. Herblock's gratuitous jab However, the revenue loss can be at "supply-side" economics. traced to the middle and lower Today's budget crisis is not a brackets, where the rate cuts were product of supply-side economics, less dramatic. Granted, in the early 1980s, the tax The current deficit hysteria is cut did account for about 30 per- being used as an opportunity to decent of the deficit But by 1987, all nigrate the remarkable boom of the of the deficit was the result of in- 1980s, to discredit the successful creased spending. Meanwhile, the supply-side policies of tax reduc1981 income tax cuts were playing tion and to rekindle class warfare a key role in driving the record economics. If you don't like the economic expansion. GNP, invest- decade of greed and growth, welment, real wages and real private come to the decade of envy, re sector net worth all increased. So sentment and recession, did the share of the income tax Arthur C. Mayer III paid by the wealthiest taxpayers ? M.I.B.S. '92 a key supply-side prediction. The College of Business only major supply-side claim that Administration