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Show • ; ~ 0 1ITHira cc.&~~ ----=----___;;;;__,;;,,...,--THE _ _u_NIVER _ _ITY_.:...JO_U_RN_AL_·_so_lIT_HERN __ UT_AH_U_NTVE _ _RS_ITY_·_TH_U_RS_D_A_Y_:_ ,D _E_<.._EMB_ER_3....:..'_199_8 Scores lose importance By VERONI CA GARNER SEN IOR STAFF WRITER I know ytlllf l~ndlocd prob~ really 1ppreciates the (act that yot're paying oH his moct9a9e, but It's time he made other arrangements. You'll be buying your lirst home. Thank yt11, and I'll show you how. Let's Go! Stephen R. Brown 586-7202 Mo r e and m or e colleges are making SAT and ACT scores o ptio nal for admission. More than 280 campuses now admit som e or all of their appl icants without regar d to the tests And many of them say the S}Stcm has improved the academic quality-and the diversity-of their <,tuc.lents, 'i:tic.l the Camhric.lge-hased J\at1onaJ Canter for Fair & Open Testing o r FairTe<,t The hulk of the nation 's 1,600 school s still use the scores to determine which students will he accepted But the report shows colleges can prostcr without relying on the ubiquitous entrance exams, said Charles Rooney, the l ead author of the study. Critics say the Schol asti c Assessment Test (SAD and American College Testing (ACD exam do not adequately m easure a student 's intelligence or ability to p er form in the classroom, and is h iased against minorities. Su pporters say the tests encourage high standards and increase accountability. According to Admissi ons Dir ecto r Dale Orton , SUU weighs heavily on test scor es when admitting students. Particularl y the scores of incoming freshmen. " A student's index rating, which i s a comhination of the SAT/ACT scor e and GPA, is a factor which heavily influences the admission of a student," said Orion . " Leadership experiences and such arc taken into more considerat m for scholarships and such ." FairTest wants the tests to be o ptional and ha~ heen tracking SAT admission polic ... s for several years. FairTest said than in a lc.:ss scientific survey in 199-t , 192 universities made the tests optional or emphasized other criteria ,uch as gr.ide point average . This 1s al'io the first ll ne the organization ha, .nal} zed how individual school, have far ed without the tests. FairTest r esearch into wo schools in Pennsyl vania, one 1n Maine and the puhlic university systems in Texas and Californi a showed that dropping tests resulted in a larger proportion o f minorities, poor students and children of parents who had never attended college. "There is a pretty sizcahl e slice of our applicant pool and o ur enrolled student body for whom the tests are simply not accurate predictors," said William Hiss, vice president for administrative services at Bates College in Lewi ston , Maine , which switched to opt ional SAT po licy in 1984. Between one-quarter and one-th ird of Bates applicants, and at least half of all black and Hispanic applicants, do not suhmit any test .,cor es, he said. |