Editorials
Septembers, 1991
Page
e 2
Viewpoint
Distributed by Tribune Media Services
Newspapers might offend
Last spring during the changing of the guard at
The Pendulum, retiring editor Kelly Potter gave some
much needed advice to her nervous successor.
I was worried about offending people with an
article that would appear in the final issue of the
paper. Potter's response to me was, "The Pendulum
IS a newspaper."
She put everything into perspective with that
simple statement. The Pendulum is a newspaper.
We probably will offend some people over the
course of the year.
The Pendulum is also a learning tool for
journalism, communication and English majors. It is
run by students for students - period.
Wc will make some mistakes. We will write
some good articles. We will write some bad ones.
But, we are a newspaper.
We gather news, information you have a right to
know. Wc practice gatekeeping, making decisions as
to what to print and not to print. It is a ^at
responsibility, one which is not taken lightly.
Wc write the copy and someone with sleepy eyes
reads it for accuracy. Then we lay out the pages in
the wee hours and pray the columns are straight.
Our target audience is you, the student. The
editorial and op-ed pages are places you can air your
views. The administration, faculty and students can
respond. Your opinions and rebuttals are welcome.
Open communication is a necessary part of any
good relationship. Even the best of families have
disagreements, discussions, fights.
The Pendulum is a newspaper, and we can throw
some light on a problem and serve as a catalyst for
change. We are a necessary member of the Elon
family.
The Pendulum
ITS
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SAT's - same old song
Editor: Deborah Duricee
M*naginc Editor. Murray Glenn
Sport* Editor: Ted Toomer
EntMtaiiunont Editor: Dee Dee Carowan
Rcportora: Jennifer Atkini, Kriitin Blaaa, Jennifer Cowman
Copy Editor*: Bianca Erode-SmiUi, Charity Apple
Sport* R«port«r*: Rogers Harrison, Keith Parson*
Coluomist: Jadd Robert*
Mu*ie Colunuiist: Kristen Meyer
Photograi^jr Editor: Rob Whiteside
Photographwrs: Marie Wheeler, Caa* O'Meara
AdTortiainc Diroetor: Christine Rudiger
AdTisor: Brad Hamm
Offieo: 102 Williamaon Ave., Elon College, N.C., 27244. News;
6S4-2331. AdverUsing: 684-2467.
The Pendulum, fmmied in 1974, is piMished by Elm College ttudents each Thunday
durmg regukr tchool term$. The Pendulum wdamm your optnkm$, with Ullen
limiled to about 250 wonb, if pouMe. Utlen muil be signed end a phone numfcrr
gioen for ver^ioHioH. Dmidline foriubmiuioHS is 5 pjn. Monday.
The SAT scores for 1991
came out on August 26, and what
do you know: The verbal scores
of high school seniors hit an all-
time low. Scores on the
mathematics part of the exam
declined for the first time since
1980. The response from the
educational establishment was
predictable; same song, umpteenth
verse.
The Scholastic Aptitude Test
is not intended to measure
achievement as such; neither is it
regarded as a test of basic
intelligence. The SAT is supposed
to measure a high school senior's
ability to read, write and reason at
the college level. ThlstJast spring
1,032,685 students took the test,
an increase of 7,162 over 1990.
The findings were dismal.
How dismal? Fifteen years
ago, young men averaged a score
of 433 on the verbal part of the
SAT. Young women averaged
430. In 1991 the men slumped to
426, the women to 418.
On the other half of the test,
involving mathematical skills, the
score for men was exactly where it
was in 1976, at 497. Between
1976 and 1991 young women
improved in math from 446 to
453, but 1991 was two points
down from 1990. The maximum
potsible score on each part of the
Janies Kilpatrick
exam is 800.
Looking at these miserable
results, some educators were
honest enough to lay the blame
squarely where it belongs - upon
teachers, principals and
adminisuaYors of the f^blic school
system, and also upon the
permissive parents of a generation
gone mofally and intellectually
soft.
The predominant reqxNise, to
judge from The New York
Times, was to fuzz the picture by
minimiz^g the statistics. The
universe of test takers, it appears,
has becomc "more democratic.* A
wulcr variety of students are taking
the test. Moreover, each state
measures a different sample. Thus,
Iowa, which came in first, tests
Mily 5 percent of its high school
graduates; South Carolina, which
finished last, tests 58 percent.
The downward trend, said one
comfortable fellow, is not really a
downward trend. When more
students are taking the test,
including more students from
disadvantaged socioeconomic
backgrounds, a drop in scores
should be expected. Properly
analyzed, the test results are "a
great victory."
Another educator, this one an
associate professor of psychology
at Columbia Teachers College,
was not alarmed. The composite
scores on both the verbal and the
math exams for 1991 were two
points below the composites for
1990. "That two-point drop is not
a drop in my eyes," said the
professor. "It's such an
infinitesimal amount as not to be
worth commenting on."
The larger point is that there
is no trend whatever toward
improvement Teachers, parents
and society as a whole are failing
in the most important task before
the nation. We are failing to rear a
generation intellectually equipped
to compete in the coming century.
The schools are doing a fair to
good job with the bright and gifted
youngsters. On tests of specific
achievement, students arc doing
better.. But when we look at the
Sec Kilpatrick, Page 3