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EDITOR IN CHIEF
Ryan Frank
EDITORIAL EDITOR
Kameron Cole
SATs
should
go
AWOL
Universities should widen their focus
from standardized test scores to
promote out-of-class activities
Most of us have been there.
On some Saturday late in our high
school life, we were sitting in a
crowded, quiet, pressure-filled
classroom coloring circles for either the SAT or
ACT.
For some of us, this could have be the defin
ing moment in our educational future. More
than any other isolated moment in our lives,
those four hours were supposed to tell us our
worth to college recruiters.
Fail, and we may have been looking at com
munity college. Succeed, and big-time college
here we come.
But why so much attention to four hours of
our lives?
More than 280 of the 1,600 colleges and
universities in the nation — the University
not included — are asking that same question.
Those schools are shifting their focus from
standardized test scores to GPA and high
school subject requirements.
The new standards seem to be a good start,
but we are wondering why there are not more
schools going in the same direction and why
the new focus is not more broad. And to be
more specific, why the University isn’t fol
lowing.
It seems to us that colleges and universities
have been steering students toward one
goal: academic success. While good
grades and high test scores general- >
We are not saying do away with standardized
tests, but instead start taking other qualities
more seriously.
Qualities such as community service and
travel that help create more complete people
who have a better understanding of the world
and their place in it should be given more im
portance. Drama, athletics, debate, student
government and anything that would enrich a
high school student’s life should be moved up
in the admissions standards.
Martha Pitts, the director of admissions at
the University, says previous course history
and GPA are better indicators than the stan
dardized tests. She cited whether the student
challenged him or herself in the classroom as
the most important criterion .
Again, by looking at things other than pure
numbers, this is a good starting point, but part
of that challenge includes out of class activi
ties. Did the student challenge him or herself
with activities that help in becoming a well
rounded person?
Standardized tests are never going to be
done away with, but if universities started tak
ing other activities as seriously as the grades
and test scores, that would be a step in the
right direction. There is much more to life
than coloring circles.
This editorial represents the opinion of the Emer
ald editorial hoard. Responses may be sent to
ode®oregon. uoregon edu.
ly reflect an intelligent person
who has the potential to suc
ceed in higher education, it
seems there are other criteria
that should be given as much
weight in the application
process.
There should be other crite
ria that reflect more of a person
than how well he or she can take a
grueling test and how successful
they are in the classroom. Both are still
imperative and should be considered.
Why fc WO
Have To TAKE r\
SATS?,
r~ . , / _y 7
Clioi win i Salimena/Emeralci
Said
&Done
"There are only a
few punishments
worse than being
denied a right to
make a living.”
—Former boxer
Muhammad All in
a statement writ
ten on behalf id
boxer Mike
Tyson’s successful
bid to have his
boxing license re
instated by the
Nevada Athletic
Commission after
twice biting Evan
der Holyfieid’s ear
during a title fight
last year. With a
multi-million dol
lar payoff from
each fight, Tyson
needs some sym
pathy.
“I’m very excited
and can't wait to go
back and see my
next baby. I have
two daughters, and
I’m a single father.”
—ViliFualaau,
15, after his sec
ond baby, Geor
gia, was bora to
36-year-old Seat
tie teacher Mary
Kayletoumeauon
Friday. Tuck.
“We stopped
polling a few weeks
too soon. We ted
been lulled into
thinking that noth
ing much changes
in the last few
weeks of the cam
paign."
—Georoe Gallup
Jr., co-chairman
of the Gallup orga
nization and son
and namesake of
another of
polling’s giants,
on the poll Mat led
to the notorious
1948 headline
“Dewey Defeats
Truman." Duh,
George.
“No.”
—David Cash, a
19-year-old Uni
versity of Califor
nia student, when
asked on “60 Min
utes” whether he
would do anything
differently after
watching his
friend rape and
strangle a 7-year
old girl in a Neva
da casino a year
and a half ago.