Newspapers / Elizabeth City State University … / Oct. 14, 1988, edition 1 / Page 5
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Friday, October 14, 1988 THE COMPASS Page 5 Nation’s SAT scores up, down Scores stay despite (CPS)-In spite of a huge wave of school reforms aimed at help ing students do better on stan dardized tests, Scholastic Apti- lute Test scores have stayed flat for the third straight year, the College Board announced Sept 20. flat 3rd year wave of reforms Nationally, this year’s fresh men had average verbal scores of 428, down two points from the year before, and average math scores of 476, Uie same as in 1987. “There’s no medal for Amer- Students air concerns Water, cont. from page 1. case basis, if they felt the water crisis would impair the teaching and learning environment.” Although ECSU students ex pressed many concerns about the University’s lack of “a no classes” water policy and a back up water system, other schools in the UNC-system also lack a formal policy concerning problems with water. “There is no formal policy that I know of here for class ex cuses and cancellations because of water problems,” said Jim Mergner, Director of UNC-Cha- pel Hill’s Utilities Operation. “In situations such as this we would deal with each problem individually.” As the countdown without wa ter passed into its second day at ECSU, students struggled to cope. “We haven’t had any water for almost two days,” said In grid Wright, who lives in Mitch- ell-Lewis dormitory. “I have missed three classes because the bathrooms are so unsani tary.” “I am very upset about the water problem, but I have man aged to deal with it,” said La Tanya Turner, who lives in Bias Hall. “My major problem is having to walk to Tony’s Pizza to use the Dathroom. Hopefully, we’ll have water by the end of the day (Tuesday). We came to school for an education, not ag gravation.” “Certain problems are not for- seeable,” said Hezekiah Cooper, Acting Director of ECSU’s Phys ical Plant. “These things hap pen. We are doing everything we can to fix the problem quickly.” Despite official attempts to as sure the Viking family of a speedy recovery of water, many students found it difficult to maintain optimism. “I have missed classes be cause of the problem,” said Sy- mera Hall resident, Timmothy McCray. “I was always taught to step out into the public with a sense of cleanliness.” Three, two, one... On Wednesday, October 5, wa ter was restored to the campus. “Our men worked all day Monday, Tuesday and on through Tuesday night to get the water main fixed,” said Mc Lean. “As we are still trying to get all the water lines back to gether.” Afterwards, Danny Thomas, a resident of the new complex, was willing to forgive and for get, concerning the water cut off. “I felt like it’s nobody’s fault,” said Thomas. “The pipes just burst. It was an act of nature, and it’s over now.” Nicholas Allen, Craig Avondo, Rene Knight and Alisa Robinson contributed to this story. ica in this news,” said former U.S. Secretary of Education Wil liam Bennett. “I said in April that ‘the absolute level in which our improvements are taking place is unacceptedly low.’ To day it’s a bit lower and still not acceptable. Come on team, back into training.” College Board President Don ald Stewart chose to stress the positive: “It is certainly reas suring to see that the decline in scores on the SAT has leveled off in recent years, because this probably means that some posi tive things are happening in the nation’s schools.” Average scores peaked in 1963, and various observers have blamed everything from tenure to atmospheric nuclear testing for the decline since. In the interim, verbal scores reached a high of 466 in 1968 and math scores a high of 493 in 1969. Yet from the verbal low of 424 and the math low of 466—both recorded in 1981—average scores began to rebound mod estly until they leveled off again in 1987. Although the College Board sternly warns people to weigh the test scores “in the context in which the particular test scores were earned,” politicians al ways trumpet them as proof of something. When scores turned upward in 1982, President Reagan claimed they vindicated his education policies. Education Policy Analyst Jeanne Allen of the Heritage Foundation, an influential con servative think tank, says the Reagan administration can still take credit for improving SAT scores. “A lot of the dialogue of the Reagan administration sparked efforts to improve education,” she said. “The states responded to that dialogue, but im provements take time. We’ll see some real innovative cesses.” suc- Still others don’t see much room for interpretation in the scores. John Katsman, president of Princeton Review, a New York firm that coaches standardized test takers, has fervently crit icized the SAT for what he says is a bias against women and mi norities. The SAT, he says, doesn’t test actual knowledge, just students’ ability to take standardized tests. “It’s a lousy test that doesn’t measure aptitude, written by a bunch of guys from New Jer sey,” Katsman said. Minority SAT scores outpace national norm (CPS)-Minority students’ av erage Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) Scores rose faster than those of “majority” students this year, the College Board said September 20. “The math scores of all ethnic groups rose this year,” College Board President Donald Stewart said in announcing the results of SAT’s taken by college-bound high school seniors during the 1987-88 school year, “while the verbal averages for most of the ethnic groups stayed the same or went up.” On the math tests, Asian- American students’ averages rose three points to 408. Ameri can Indians averaged 393, Mexi can Americans 382, Puerto Ri cans 355 and black students 353. The nationwide math SAT aver age was 428. On the verbal tests, black stu dents recorded the biggest gain: seven points to an average 384. Asian-American students aver aged 522, American Indians 435. Mexican Americans 428, and Puerto Ricans 402. The average for all the students who took the verbal portion of the SAT was 476. While critics have long argued that the SAT and other standard ized tests are “culturally bi- ased”-claiming they more ac- curately measure how thoroughly students have adopted middle class values than how much aptitude for learning they have-Stewart noted ethnic groups’ scores have enjoyed “substantial increases” since 1978. “I am very pleased by the steady progress shown on thfe SAT in the past decade by ethnic minorities,” he said, “but the fact is that the averages of most ethnic groups still lag behind the national mean.” ■ Peterson publishes massive new study Contemporary Black American Playwrights and Their Plays, a 625-page study of about 700 black playwrights since 1950, has been released by Green wood Press. Called “origi nal and quite important” by James V. Hatch, a professor at the City College of New York and an authority on black playwrights, the book was written by Bernard L Peterson Jr., ECSU Profes sor Emeritus and former member of the Department of Language, Literature and Communication faculty. Peterson plans to publish his second book next fall which will cover black play wrights from 1820 to 1950. His third book, “The Ency clopedia of the Black Amer ican Musical Stage” should be in print by the following year. ECSU’s Bernard Peterson. ECSU’s new folklore center I GOLD RING SALE to study psychic events ECSU now has a Black Folklore Research Center, ded icated to gathering and preserv ing unique, extrasensory experi ences, especially among blacks. Funded by a grant from the Parapsychology Foundation in New York, the center is focusing on a study to gather and pre serve folklore of North Eastern North Carolina. Five ECSU stu dents are presently interviewing CAMPUS-BRIEFSL ECSU to adopt ‘alphabet’ system Effective the spring se mester, 1989, ECSU will in stitute a new official regis tration process designed to allow students to register according to the alphabet system and designated time schedule (beginning with the alphabet of your last name). You will not be al lowed to register before your designated time. ECSU will observe the des ignated time schedule listed below for students register ing in WiUiams Hall. Last name (alphabet) A-F, 9:00 a.m.-10:30a.m.; G-M, 10:30 a.m.-12:00 noon; N-R, 12:00 noon to 1:30 p.m.; S-Z, 1:30 p.m.-3:00 p.m. From 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. is open registration. Open registra tion is a period of time when new students, returning non-preregistered students, and students who missed their designated time may register for classes and/or pay tuition and fees. Bio students attend summer institutes Several students from ECSU’s Department of Bi ology took part in educatio nal programs this past sum mer. Felicia Griffin and Johnny Reid attended eight weeks of lectures and sym posia at the 1988 Dental Ad missions Preparatory Pro gram at the University of Missouri -Kansas City School of Dentistry. Griffin and Reid attended lectures on starting and managing a dental practice, periodon tics, oral surgery, orthodon tics, and dental research. Martha Britt and Tonya Little worked as research assistants at a marine labo ratory in Morehead City, North Carolina. As part of their work samples of shellf ish were collected and used to study the lasting effects of Red Tide. Biology majors also par ticipated in numerous hospi tal assignments and other health-related positions and programs, according to Dr. Curtis Turnage, chairman of the Biology department. people who report ghost stories, extrasensory perception, clair voyance, out-of-body experi ences, mystical experiences, dreams which mirror future events, and near-death experi ences. A major purpose of the grant is to train students in social sci ence research and computer skills. The five students who serve on the present research team will learn computer skills required to record the informa tion gained from their inter views. The study will focus partic ularly on unusual black experi ence since little research has been conducted in this area. Oc cult folklore constitutes a unique aspect of the black cultural heri tage. The five ECSU students con ducting the present research are Dwayne Lawrence, Fay Spivey, Stacey Eley, Delois White, and Karen Abdulluh. During the week of September 12-17, the team distributed ques- tionaires to 20 randomly se lected classrooms, polling stu- dents about unusual experiences. The team also con tinued interviewing people who have reported paranormal expe riences. National surveys indicate that a large percentage of Ameri cans have had paranormal expe riences. Over half of the respon dents in one survey reported ESP experiences and approxi mately one third reported “con tact” with a person who had died. Dr. James McClenon, Direc tor of the ECSU project, is the author of Deviant Science: The Case of Parapsychology, pub lished by the University of Penn sylvania Press. Anyone interested in partici pating in this project should con tact Dr. McClenon in the Depart ment of Social Sciences. 600FF18K 4OOFFV1K ■200FF10K Jostens Gold Sale. For one week only. Order and save on the gold ring of your choice'.* JOSTENS AMERICA S COLLEGE RING’^“ Date: Oct. 21, 1988 Time: 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. Deposit Required: $20 Place; University Bookstore Payment Plans Available Meet with your Jostens representative for full details. See our complete ring selection on display in your college txx)kstore. 87-198(CP-12l-8e)
Elizabeth City State University Student Newspaper
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Oct. 14, 1988, edition 1
5
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