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Show Special Features The Utah Statesman 32 Wednesday, Aug. 30,2006 SAT records biggest score drop in 51 years; change to new exam cited like Connecticut and New Jersey appear to be taking both exams to try to improve their applications to selective colleges. The high school class of 2006 The initial indication SAT scores recorded the sharpest drop in were down this year prompted SAT scores in 31 years, a decline speculation students may have that the exam's owner, the College Board, said was partly due to some been tiring out toward the end of the marathon exam. students taking the newly lengthened test only once instead of But in announcing the scores, twice. the College Board said an analysis of 700,000 critical reading and Fatigue wasn't to blame, the math exams taken in the spring College Board insisted, even and fall of 2005 showed students though this year's class was the were performing about the same first to take a new version of the exam which added an essay. It now early and late in the exam. takes an average of Lhree hours and Instead, the College Board 45 minutes to complete the test, explained the drop by saying fewer not counting breaks, up from three students were taking the exam a hours previous])'. second time, which typically boosts The results come several months scores 30 points. The price of the test has risen from $28.50 to after numerous colleges reported surprisingly low SAT scores for this $41.50, though fees are sometimes waived. year's incoming college freshmen. The nonprofit College Board, which Experts say the changeover in had said scores would be down exams probably affected how stuthis year, released figures Tuesday dents approached the test, and thus showing combined critical reading the scores. Students in the class of and math skills fell seven points on 2006 had the chance to take both average to 1021. the old SAT exam, until midway through their junior year, and the The average critical reading new SAT after that. If they did score fell from 50S to 503, while math dropped from 520 to 518. On well the first time out, some may have opted to stand pat with those the new SAT writing section, the scores. Some colleges continued to class scored 4-97 on average, with accept scores from the old test durgirls scoring 11 points higher than ing the bridge period. boys. In addition to the new writing "When a new test is introduced, section, the exam taken by the class students usually vary their testof 2006 had other new features, taking behavior in a variety of ways including higher-level math and and this affects scores," College the elimination of analogies. Board President Gaston Caperton said in a news release. The College Board noted the drop in math scores amounts to On the SAT, boys' scores fell one-fifth of one test question, and eight points from 513 to 505 in the reading to one-half of one critical reading and from 538 to question. But over about 1.5 million 536 in math. Girls' scores fell from test-takers such drops are signifi505 to 502 in reading and from cant, and this was the biggest year- 504 to 502 in math. to-year decline since the class of Average reading scores for black 1975. students rose 1 point from 433 to The results come two weeks 434, while math scores fell two after it was announced the class of points from 431 to 429. 2006 had posted the biggest score The College Board lists three increase in 20 years on the rival categories for Hispanic students. ACT exam. The ACT, which is also Scores for Mexican-Americans rose accepted by almost all colleges three points overall, Puerto Ricans' that require standardized tests, is fell two points and scores of stugenerally more focused on material dents who identified themselves as covered in high school classes than "Other Hispanic" fell 11 points. the SAT, which is more of a measure of general ability. But more On the Net: students in traditional SAT states http://www.collegeboard.com B^ JUSTIN POPE AP [du< ,ilion VViiler THE. HOTTEST NEW COUNTRY ON FLOOR 1 HEART FOUNDING HIP Charges of security flaws hit popular Internet site YouTube BY GRIFF WITTF The Washington Post Michael De Kort was frustrated. The 41-year-old Lockheed Martin engineer had complained to his bosses. He had told his story to government investigators. He had called congressmen. But when no one seemed to be stepping up to correct what he saw as critical security flaws in a fleet of refurbished Coast Guard patrol boats, De Kort did just about the only thing left he could think of to get action: He made a video and posted it on YouTube. com. "What I am going to tell you is going to seem preposterous," De Kort solemnly tells viewers near the outset of the 10-minute clip. Posted three weeks ago, the video describes what De Kort says are blind spots in the ship's security cameras, equipment that malfunctions in cold weather and other problems. "It may be very hard for you to believe that our government and the largest defense contractor in the world (are) capable of such alarming incompetence and can make ethical compromises as glaring as what I am going to describe." In response to De Kort's charges, a Coast Guard spokeswoman said the service has "taken the appropriate level of action." A spokeswoman for the contractors said the allegations were without merit. A Web site normally reserved for goofy home-movie outtakes and Paris Hilton parodies may seem an odd place to blow the whistle on potential national security lapses that require complex technical explanations. But receiving millions of hits a day and carrying the intimacy of video, YouTube.com and other sites have become an alluring venue for insiders like De Kort who want to go directly to the public when they think no one within the system is listening. "This is an excellent example of the democratization of the media, where everyone has access to the printing press of the 21st century," said Dina Kaplan, co-founder of Blip.tv, a site that hosts grassroots television programming. Kaplan, like others, was hardpressed to think of another video like De Kort's. "We have some people that come to mind that like to complain about government conspiracies," she said. "But in terms of something truly substantive and credible, nothingsprings to mind." De Kort knew his strategy for raising concerns about communications and surveillance systems on a 123-foot Coast Guard patrol boat was unorthodox. That was the point. "My thought was, 'What could I do that would be novel enough that it draws attention to itself, and through drawing attention to itself, something gets done?' " De Kort said in an interview from his home in Colorado. He is unemployed after being laid off by Lockheed Martin days after he posted the video. Lockheed said that the video did not influence the decision to lay off De Kort and that he had been notified earlier this year that he would be out of a job. As of earlier this week, his video had been viewed more than 8,000 times. That is low by YouTube standards, where a 42seeond clip of a cat on a wheel received more than 800,000 views. But it is higher than might be expected for a video that features nothing more than a bearded, middle-age engineer talking into a camera and periodically glancing down at his prepared text. The video also has caught the eye of people in high places. De Kort's video has been covered by defense trade magazines, and this week. Rep. Bennie Thompson, DMiss., ranking Democrat on the Homeland Security Committee, wrote a letter to the Coast Guard asking for an answer to De Kort's "'extremely distressing" allegations. "I want to make sure that the product we paid for is a product that does not jeopardize our men and women in service," Thompson said. The Department of Homeland Security's inspector general's office had launched an investigation into De Kort's allegations before the video was released, and spokeswoman Tamara Faulkner said that inquiry should be completed in the next few months. SS Minnow from Villigan's Island' restored in Vancouver PARKSVILLE, British Columbia (AP) - If you're interested in a three-hour tour, George Schultz of Parksville has just the boat for you. For about $89,000 (U.S.), you can buy the boat famous for setting aground on an uncharted desert isle to set the stage for the 1960s television classic "Gilligan's Island." The S.S. Minnow was supposedly off for a threehour tour when, as the theme song explained, "The weather started getting rough, the tiny ship was tossed. If not for the courage of the fearless crew, the Minnow would be lost." The real-life Minnow also ran aground. The twin-diesel, 36-foot mahogany Wheeler Express Cruiser hit a reef in Hecate Strait as the former owner was taking the vessel down the coast from Alaska. Scotty Taylor of Parksville said the owner sold the 46-year-old boat to him for salvage on condition that he promise to restore it. Schultz, a boat broker, estimated Sunday that the work cost more than $180,000. 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