; THE TWIG ORIENTATION ’84
Race, geography & wealth help determine college choice
WASHINGTON, D.C. (CPS] -
About the same percentage of
America’s tiigh school grads
went on to some sort of college
education in 1980, but for the
first time more women lhan
men continued their educa
tions.
Moreover, a student's race,
What’s
by Ginny Leech
Water fights! No tests!
New sweat shirts! A picnic!
Practices! Cheering! Lots of
secrecy! Hiding in Jones
Auditorium!
Sound iil^efun? It is! These
are just a few of the bizarre
practices that comprise l^/lere-
dith’s very own Comhusiin'.
The first Thursday night in
November is designated as
Cornhuskin’ night - the night
when practices end, enthu
siasm lingers, and the competi-
socio-economic background
and geogrs^)hlc location seem
to play a role in deciding if the
student \MII go on to college
after high school, and if the
student goes to a two-year or
four-year school, the National
Center for Education Statistics
(NCES) says in a new survey.
tion begins.
The competition is be
tween each of the four classes,
and areas being judged include
a parade (which is a story in
which each word is depicted by
a girl), a tall tale told by one
girl, a hog calling skit, and
songs sung by the entire class.
All of these have a central
theme chosen by the class at
class meetings. These meet
ings are really important, so t>e
sure to t)e there!
Other areas of competition
Over half tiw nation’s high
school seniors of 1980 went
straight to college. NCES’
annual “High School and
Beyond” survey found.
The enrollment rate was
not unexpected.
“Ttie overall percentage (of
students going on to college)
Include apple-bobbing, and
yes, even comhuskin’. This
week is a week in which lots of
new friends are made, lots of
pictures are taken, and lots of
great memories are captured for
a lifetime. If you’re womed
about what your class will dofor
Comhuskin' don’t fret - you can
rely on your big sister class and
th^ are ready and willing to
help you. This year’s Com
huskin’ promises to be big fun,
and who's gonna be great? '86
and '881
has been fairly constant in re
cent years,” says Tom Snyder,
NCES’ education program
specialist.
“Through most of the
seventies, the rate has hovered
around 50 percent, except for
during the Vietnam era when it
was up somewhat,” Snyder
says.
Even more 1980 high
school grads continued their
educations in the three years
since they graduated, the report
reveals.
Besides the initial 54 per
cent who immediately enrolled
in post-secondary schools, an
additional 14 percent attended
some form of post-secondary
Institution in the three years
after their graduations.
The high school class of
1980 also marked the first time
since World War II that more
women than men went on to
college.
By fall, 1980,33 percent of
the women had enrolled in four-
year colleges and 19 percent
went to two-year schools.
Men's attendance rates were 30
percent and 19 percent, respec
tively.
Asian Americans had the
highest college attendance rate'
of all racial and ethnic groups,
the study shows.
Seventy-four percent of all
Asian-American high school
grads went on to attend some
fwmof college, compared to 51
percent for whites, 44 percent
for blacks. 33 percent for His-
panlcs, and 34 percent for
Americai Indians.
Of the students who scored
high in academic ability tests in
high school, nearly 80 percent
went directly to college.
Sixty-four percent attended
four-year colleges in fall. 1980.
Only 15 of the “low ability”
students opteds for some form
of post-secondary education.
While race and academic
ability played important roles in
determining if students went on
to college, socio-economic
factors appear to have played a
big role in detemiining what
kinds of schools they chose.
Fifty-five percent of the
students from high socio-eco-
nomic families went to four-
year colleges, compared to 30
percent of the middle-income
students and 17 percent of the
low socio-economic grads.
Geography also played an
important role in choosing be
tween two-year and four-year
colleges, the study notes.
In the Northeast, 36 per
cent of the students went to
four-year colleges, while 14
percent chose two-year
schools. Students in most other
regions picked four-year and
two-year institutions in_ the
same percentages, except in
the West. There, 28 percent of
the students went to two-year
colleges and only 22 percent to
four-year campuses.
The discrepency reflects “a
different pattern of state em-
hasis on two-year colleges in
the West, particularly In Cali
fornia,” Synder asserts.
Meredith
Sports World
{Continued from page 8]
INTMMURALS
The MRA sponsors intra
murals in basketball, swim
ming, volleyljall, tennis, and
other sports for which there is
demand. Students are en
couraged to use college
facilities and equipment for
their own leisure-time activity.
For individual relaxation, there
are hours for recreational swim
ming and gym activities: tennis
courts, the archery range, and
the putting green are available
except when in use by classes.
The CCA makes available in the
Cate Center billiard and ping
pong tables.
Rags to Riches: The Sen/ore display their 1963-84 Cornhuskin' iheme on the wall of the Bee/?/v».
Comhuskin’?
A grant for Spring ^85
IDS women’s course
Woman’s Odyssey is a
course designed to exploit and
explain the experiences of
women today. As an interdis
ciplinary course (IDS), Insights
and infonration are drawn from
eight disciplines: Art. Econo
mics. English, History, Latin
American Studies, Psychology,
Religion, and Sociology.
The purpose of this course
is to help students integrate the
connections between educa
tion, selfhood, career, and
family, and to address the pro
blems confronting women in
many aspects of life in the
modern world. Issues will t>e
examined in a broad context by
attempting to achieve an his
torical perspective on women’s
experience and by discussing
the situation of women in
minority groups and invarious
cultural settings.
Faculty: Peggy Starkey. Coor
dinator; Rosalie Gates, Susan
Gilbert, Bluma Greenberg,
Rosemary Homak, Evelyn Sim
mons, ^ndra Thomas, and
Rhonda Zingraff.
There’s a place
for you
Here is a list of positions
that will available on the Twig
staff next year. If you are in-
erested in one of the jobs,
please call contact Cynthia
Church in 113 Heilman or call
the Twig office, 833-6481, ext.
299. We would appreciate your
support.
Staff Reporters
Columnists
Layout Staff
Sports Reporters
Photographers
Advertising Staff Members,
Circulation Staff
Proofreader(s).
Entertainment Staff
Classified Section Editor.
Be a part of The Twig and
help it branch out.