NATIONAL

Vol. 12 No. 4 Fall 2004 Published by The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education Code of Conduct ROD SEARCEY FOR CROSSTALK Air Force Academy adopts changes in response to 2003 sexual assault scandal By Kathy Witkowsky In the spring of 2003, the public learned COLORADO SPRINGS that dozens of women had alleged that HE DAY BEFORE she enrolled they had been sexually assaulted or raped at the United States Air Force while enrolled at the academy over the TAcademy in Colorado Springs, past decade; many of them said their claims Mryamn Ruth wrote an entry in her new had been ignored or mishandled. The scan- journal, a gift from a friend. dal led to the replacement of USAFA’s top In neat block letters, the former high school valedictorian and martial arts expert Between 1993 and 2002, (she holds a second-degree black belt in Tae Kwan Do) listed the reasons she had 142 cadets alleged that chosen the academy over other institutions they were sexually of higher education: 1) Love of country; 2) Drive to service; 3) Great education; 4) It’s assaulted or raped, a challenge; 5) Astronautical engineering. “No matter what happens,” Mryamn according to an Hoping to undo the damage done by the 2003 sexual assault scandal, the Air Force (pronounced Miriam) added in a note be- Air Force report Academy has adopted new rules and procedures. low, “I’m walking across that stage in four years with an astronautical engineering de- released in June 2003. The academy suffered another black men entered the academy along with Mry- gree.” eye last spring, when dozens of freshman amn; they make up 19 percent of the class The slender, self-assured 18-year-old officials and an overhaul of many of its cadets were suspected of cheating on a ba- of 2008. Mryamn, who wants to be the first from Oklahoma City is beginning her ca- policies. It also made headlines in national sic exam. Nineteen cadets were subse- woman on Mars, didn’t even apply any- reer at USAFA at a time of radical change, publications ranging from the New York quently found to have violated the honor where else. She is putting her faith in her- prompted by a sexual assault scandal that Times to Vanity Fair (which titled its piece, code: seven others resigned. self and in the new USAFA leadership, hit the academy like a sledgehammer. “Code of Dishonor”). Despite the publicity, a record 249 wo- continued on page 15 LOS ALAMOS NATIONAL LABORATORY Political Football In This Issue

Partisan politics could determine FOR CROSSTALK BLACK STAR, MIKE FALCO, management of Los Alamos laboratory

By Carl Irving research labs at this iso- lated site, 34 miles north- LOS ALAMOS,NEW MEXICO west of Santa Fe and CIENTISTS at this national labora- 7,400 feet above sea level, tory, many of them helping to main- found virtual unanimity S tain and protect the world’s largest that the name of the next nuclear stockpile, tensely await word president will determine whether a university in Texas or California whether or not Texas will manage them a year from now. campuses replace UC as They expect to find out as soon as the manager. That judgment outcome of the November 2 presidential was confirmed by scien- tists and officials not con- The presidential election nected with the lab, though their comments The most important mission at Los Alamos is likely will determine were mostly not for attri- maintenance of an enduring nuclear stockpile, says lab whether or not Texas bution. official Donald J. Rej. A Bush victory, according to this con- This outlook gained adherents after re- campuses replace the sensus, means the U.S. Department of cent widely publicized allegations of secu- University of California Energy (DOE) will opt for the University rity problems at the lab. Virtually all opera- of Texas and/or Texas A&M University as tions were shut down indefinitely on July as manager of Los co-managers, with a private enterprise.And 16, and 23 employees ultimately were sus- a Kerry win, it is expected, means that UC pended. DOE Secretary Spencer Abraham Alamos national will be retained as lab manager, also in said employees had engaged in “wide- ALF OF PRINCETON Uni- partnership with a for-profit business. laboratory. spread disregard of security procedures.” versity’s freshman class began “It’s scary to think decisions about na- H Representative Joe Barton, Republican the year with a week-long outdoor election is known, even though the present tional security will be affected by national from Texas and chairman of the House En- orientation program. After a soggy, contract with the University of California, politics,” said George Blumenthal, chair- ergy and Commerce Committee, promptly trouble-plagued start, they did just first and only manager for 60 years, runs man of the UC faculty academic senate. traveled to Los Alamos, praised the DOE fine. (See page 8.) through next September. “The reality is everyone seems to think for moving “aggressively,” and called for an Interviews in the swarm of offices and that it will.” continued on page 4 Page 2 CROSSTALK ENSBAK LC TR FOR CROSSTALK BLACK STAR, DENNIS BRACK, AN INTERVIEW MARK WARNER Mark Warner became governor of Virginia in January 2002. This summer he was chosen by his colleagues as chairman of the National Governors Association. Governor Warner also serves as Chairman of the Education Commission of the States, a national nonpartisan policy organization. The interview was conducted by Patrick M. Callan, president of the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education. Patrick M. Callan: Virginia is one of a higher education institutions before the handful of states that has made a signifi- end of the decade, and we just don’t have cant financial investment in higher educa- the space right now. tion. How did you come to make higher We have been increasing tuition costs. education a high priority in these very Our top-tier universities—University of tight times for state budgets? Virginia, Virginia Tech, and William and Mary—have asked for a dramatic restruc- Mark Warner: In Virginia this new invest- turing of their relationship with the state. ment was absolutely critical. It was close And they have proposed to become char- to $270 million for our two-year and four- ter universities, which would give them transition between secondary and post- education. year public institutions, and our Tuition more tuition flexibility and oversight flexi- secondary education easier. Transition to college, affordability and Assistance Grant program for students at- bility in terms of how they operate their It not only saves money, it frees up ad- access, and output in terms of degrees tending private colleges. This was essential campuses, build their facilities, and com- ditional seats or spaces at our four-year granted without diminishing the quality: because Virginia’s nationally recognized pensate their faculty and staff. institutions, because this articulation These are all areas that we are aggres- reputation for having great public institu- While the proposal has a great deal of agreement makes it easier to transfer sively addressing. tions of higher learning was in jeopardy. merit, if we are going to enter into this from community college into four-year PC: You’ve said at Education Com- And we have been dealing with the same renegotiation, it needs to take into ac- schools. And for certain first-generation mission of the States and other national budget crisis that other states have been count how we are going to meet the college goers, if they can get some college meetings that the “K–16” ideas represent dealing with. Commonwealth’s overall needs for higher credits under their belt in high school, it more rhetoric than reality. What can be Colleges and universities traditionally education in terms of access, affordability, may increase their participation in higher done to put some meat on these bones. are one of the areas where the legislatures completion rates and participation. And education. and governors cut (funding), because they that is what we hope to do over the com- That is one area we are looking at. MW: Well, I am someone who came from can at least make up a bit of the shortfall ing months. The second has obviously got to be fi- the high-tech world, and more specifically with tuition increases. But that can only go nancial assistance. We have a goal of pro- the venture capital world, where perhaps PC: How will Virginia address the need to so far. In Virginia, I believe we were on viding at least 50 percent of the financial accommodate 60,000 additional students the verge of losing some of the national needs of all of our students. Some univer- in a decade’s time? stature that our universities have enjoyed. sities, like the University of Virginia, have We have a goal of MW: One piece which has been not only a gone much further on their own to be providing at least 50 It is our goal to make focus here in Virginia, but hopefully will able to try to help low- and moderate-in- be a focus across the nation, is to redesign come students, either with grants, or with percent of the financial sure that every high the American high school with a particu- a combination of grants and loans. I ap- needs of all of our school student in lar emphasis on the senior year. You in- plaud that, but I also know that we must crease the connectivity between sec- make sure that we are not only granting students. Virginia can earn up to ondary education and postsecondary. In this student aid, but that we are main- Virginia we have recently signed an artic- taining the percentage of students with we could be criticized for acting too a full semester’s worth ulation agreement between every two- need who are getting into our colleges quickly at times. But I find that the re- of fully transferable year and four-year, public and private uni- and universities. If we only accept a few verse is true in education. There has to be versity in the state. Sixty-three out of the students with need, then, you know, we a happy medium here. I feel particular college credit during 65 universities have signed this agreement can take care of all those needs. We need constraints in Virginia with the one-term high school. which will establish a common set of to make sure that we continue to broaden governorship. I am very focused on put- courses that a high school student can the access for low- and moderate-income ting forward initiatives that can actually take—whether it is through Advanced students, and for minority students. show results during these four years. So, luckily, with the bipartisan tax reform, Placement or dual enrollment at a com- A third thing is to challenge our uni- So the notion of making sure that we were able to make a significant step in munity college. Those courses will not versities to not simply look at how many every high school in Virginia is offered an reinvesting in higher education. But that is only be accepted by all of these 63 univer- students enroll in college, but how many opportunity to provide a full semester’s only the first step. sities, but will actually count towards the students in fact graduate, and how we can worth of college credit—not simply the PC: What do you see as the other steps? degree requirement. increase those numbers without lowering isolated pilot programs, or the governor’s What comes next? It is our goal to make sure that every quality. I have challenged the Virginia sys- schools or the well-performing schools— high school student in Virginia can earn tem of higher education to move from but making this available in every school MW: The next step is to enter into a de- up to a full semester’s worth of fully trans- granting 47,000 degrees, which they did in the course offerings. Equally important bate over the coming months and into our ferable college degree credit during high last year, to 57,000 by the end of the as the course offerings is making sure that General Assembly session that starts in school. In Virginia, that would save a stu- decade. If we can grant another 10,000 de- these courses are accepted towards the January about what should be the future dent and his family about $5,000 at a pub- grees by the end of the decade and keep degrees. And we have accomplished that of higher education in Virginia over the lic university, and substantially more at a those people working in Virginia, the in Virginia. next decade. This debate is spurred by the private university, by decreasing the num- added earning power alone will make up With regard to the challenge of moving fact that we have close to 60,000 addi- ber of semesters needed to graduate from for the necessary additional state invest- from 47,000 to 57,000 degrees, the univer- tional students who want to attend our eight to seven. It would also make the ments that will need to be made in higher sities are coming back with plans for in- CROSSTALK Page 3

creasing those output numbers.And, in ef- MW: We had 6,500 students participate gains. Thirty years ago, in the aftermath of fect, this is a quid pro quo: We are fighting last year. There were about 78,000 seniors the G.I. Bill, our country was viewed as for additional money that is needed for in our high schools, so we were close to the land of educational opportunity. By higher education; they have got to show ten percent. I would like to see that num- comparison, the U.K. system was viewed how they are going to increase their out- ber more than double this year. And with as a more stultified tracking system: put. the efforts we’ve made, I won’t be satis- Unless you had the family connections, Board of Directors James B. Hunt Jr. Another area where we have seen fied unless we see that kind of return. you weren’t getting into the university. CHAIRMAN some significant improvement, but have That has changed. That has almost PC: You’ve stated that Virginia has had to Garrey Carruthers still got a long way to go, is research and flipped, because here in the United States go through a difficult exercise of tax re- VICE CHAIRMAN development in our colleges and universi- we now see our participation and comple- structuring to be able to pay for the in- Patrick M. Callan ties.Virginia has got a great system, but on tion rates flat, and also a declining per- vestments in higher education and other PRESIDENT a relative basis in terms of university- centage of minorities and low-income stu- state priorities. Do you expect that other Ramon C. Cortines sponsored R&D, we are in the $600 mil- dents getting access to higher education, states will have to take similar steps? Dolores Cross lion range. I have challenged our colleges which is vital to the American dream.As a Alfredo G. de los Santos Jr. and universities to get above $1 billion be- MW: Yes. As painful as it was in Virginia, first-generation college graduate, I would- Virginia B. Edwards we went through a kind of straight-for- n’t be sitting here today if there had not Roger A. Enrico ward debate with the people of the state. been programs and initiatives in place James M. Furman We need to make sure What do you expect from state govern- that made college both possible and af- Arturo Madrid Robert H. McCabe that we continue to ment, and what are you willing to pay? fordable for me through grants and loans. Howard “Pete” Rawlings (1937–2003) And how do we make sure that the way And we are seeing, with the rising tuition John Brooks Slaughter broaden the access for we collect those revenues, taxes, is fair? costs, with state support for higher educa- Thomas J. Tierney low- and moderate- In our tax reform agenda, we didn’t tion being cut back in virtually every state, Uri Treisman create a series of new programs. We sim- with increasing costs to attract quality fac- Harold M. Williams income students, and ply asked how we can pay in a fairer way ulty and to promote research at our uni- FOUNDING DIRECTORS for minority students. for what Virginians have come to expect versities, that we are going to need to Clark Kerr (1911–2003) in terms of law enforcement, K–12 educa- make that investment. And I am not sure Virginia B. Smith tion, higher education, and some level of it is going to be possible for that invest- fore the end of the decade. I think that is Medicaid and healthcare reimbursement. ment to come from financially strapped Patrick M. Callan President very doable. A remarkable thing happened. We forged states alone. Virginia does a little better when you Joni E. Finney a broad-based bipartisan coalition that I think it is a national imperative. It is a Vice President look at the research done in our federal was made up, not only of education advo- truism, but the idea that you can build it labs, but I think our colleges and universi- William Trombley cates and business advocates, but environ- anywhere and that knowledge-based jobs Senior Editor ties can do more. To try to focus our col- mentalists, law enforcement supporters, are going to go to where the knowledge- Daphne Borromeo leges and universities, we brought in a se- healthcare workers. And a wide swath of based workers are, is absolutely true. As Assistant to the Director of State and Media Relations ries of national experts to do an outside Virginia’s population turned out, in some governor, I take very seriously my job as Jill De Maria Communications and Production Manager peer review of the status of our research cases in record numbers, to be supportive chief economic development officer, and work. Where should we focus our re- Jennifer Delaney of this agenda. the first question people ask me is, how Policy Analyst search efforts? For instance, we don’t I think it is going to happen in other well educated is the workforce. They want need four different duplicative nanotech- Holly Earlywine states because most states created long- to know where the colleges and commu- Accounting Manager nology efforts going on in Virginia. With term structural imbalances during the nity colleges are if they are moving to a Young Kim this outside review, hopefully our focus boom years of the late ’90s, surrounding Policy Analyst and emphasis on research will again show the internet frenzy. That structural imbal- Gail Moore real discernable results. ance was caused by creating massive new I have challenged the Director of Administration and Special Projects Finally, coming back to our high school government entitlement programs or by Virginia system of Sue Murphy reform initiative, I think that is particu- substantially cutting revenues. Assistant to the Vice President larly significant not only because it makes In Virginia we took the revenue-cut- higher education to Mikyung Ryu Senior Policy Analyst the senior year of high school more mean- ting proposal. It doesn’t take a fiscal ex- ingful, but because it really does offer a move from granting Todd Sallo pert to realize that when you get back to Editing and Production, National CrossTalk cost benefit, and a benefit in terms of the normal revenue growth, and you cut rev- 47,000 degrees, which space available at our institutions. Noreen Savelle enues more than ten percent, as we did in Executive Assistant When you look at some of the other Virginia, even with the growing economy they did last year, to reforms that took place in the mid to late Michael Usdan you are not going to be able to provide 57,000 by the end of Senior Fellow ’90s—particularly in the south with the the same level of service. So, while certain Shawn Whiteman HOPE Scholarship-type programs, great states are grasping at (revenues from le- the decade. Assistant Director of Administration initiatives—many of them, especially galized) gambling, or hoping to patch to- Stacey Zis those that were funded entirely by lottery gether one more budget, ultimately I community. And if we see our industrial Policy Analyst proceeds, are coming up against a finan- think most states are going to have to competitors around the world surpassing cial wall. This Early College Scholars pro- National CrossTalk is a publication of the National Center have this kind of debate about revenues us, we need more national focus. for Public Policy and Higher Education.The National gram in many ways is a similar kind of ap- and about what level of services their peo- I wish these issues were at a higher Center promotes public policies that enhance opportunities proach. It is merit-based; it is offered to for quality education and training beyond high school.The ple expect. level in the presidential debate. We look National Center is an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit every student in Virginia; and it has a sig- at higher education, it seems to me, often organization that receives core support from national PC: The message of Measuring Up 2004 philanthropic organizations, including the Pew Charitable nificant financial value at about $5,000. times from the federal angle, from a fed- Trusts, the Atlantic Philanthropies and the Ford Foundation. But because we can deliver this course is that college participation rates in the eral perspective, only on the basis of par- The primary purpose of National CrossTalk is to stimulate U.S. have been flat for a decade and that work through AP or dual enrollment, it is ticular programs—you know, what level informed discussion and debate of higher education issues. significantly cheaper. In many ways, it ac- college completion rates have improved The publication’s articles and opinion pieces are written of funding is one program or another go- independently of the National Center’s policy positions and only slightly. How important is this? Is it those of its board members. tually saves money to the state as well. It ing to receive.There has not been the kind mainly a federal issue, or a state issue? may cost a little bit more for an AP exam of full-fledged federal discussion of what Subscriptions to National CrossTalk are free and can be or to have the state pick up the cost of a obtained by writing a letter or sending a fax or e-mail to the MW: The wake-up call that the Measuring we want from higher education in our San Jose address listed below. community college course. But that is still Up study sounded was that this is the first country, and I think that discussion is long Higher Education Policy Institute significantly less than the subsidy the state decade, I would imagine, in recent overdue. And hopefully, the Measuring The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education provides for every student at a four-year 152 North Third Street, Suite 705, San Jose, CA 95112. American history, where we didn’t see an Up study will serve as the catalyst that Phone: (408) 271-2699; Fax: (408) 271-2697; E-mail address: institution in Virginia. [email protected];Website: increase in college participation and com- policymakers, educators and, perhaps www.highereducation.org. PC: How long is it going to take to get pletion. That is remarkable. And when we most importantly, the business leadership Washington Office: 1001 Connecticut Avenue, Suite 310, these opportunities in place for every high look at our competitors around the world, of America, will use to launch this na- Washington, D.C. 20036. school senior in Virginia? we see that they still made significant tional conversation. Phone: (202) 822-6720; Fax: (202) 822-6730. Page 4 CROSSTALK

manage the lab but says it makes no profit source as important as Los LOS ALAMOS NATIONAL LABORATORY LOS ALAMOS from the arrangement. Alamos should be allowed from page 1 About a third of the Los Alamos tech- to languish for years as a FBI investigation. nical staff are physicists, another one fourth political football, losing The new lab director, retired Vice Ad- are engineers, and the rest include people and prestige with miral George “Pete” Nanos, joined in the chemists, materials scientists, mathemati- every bounce.” chorus of condemnation. In closed sessions, cians, and computational, biological and During interviews, sev- he used words such as “butt-heads” and geo-scientists. Many universities other than eral scientists here cited the “cowboys” in accusing workers of careless- UC are involved in projects—including the Nature editorial as reflect- ness, according to scientists who were two in Texas—but UC research predomi- ing their views. nates, according to Donald J. Rej, acting “I don’t want to say the “We consider the Los program director for science and technol- sky is falling, but I believe ogy. Staff scientists reflected varying de- that’s true,” said Michelle A. Alamos contract to be grees of uncertainty, fear and frustration Espy, 34, a staff biophysicist, an exciting opportunity over recent developments, as criticisms who has worked here for 13 about lab operations flowed in. years. Her lab, like others, for the University of Criticism came from many directions. was shut down indefinitely UC’s S. Robert Foley, vice president for in July. She and her col- Texas system.” laboratory management (and, like Nanos, a leagues had been in a race —CHANCELLOR MARK YUDOF former Navy admiral) told the regents in of international interest July that “there has been a lack of account- against researchers at The Los Alamos National Laboratory covers 40 there. However, a lab spokesman said re- ability, virtually a sense of entitlement that Berkeley to develop im- square miles on top of several mesas, northwest of cently that the facilities are likely to be al- developed over the years in the culture at proved brain-imaging tech- Santa Fe. most entirely back in operation before the laboratory.” nologies. Present MRI scans November. Inspections subsequently found that the can only look at brain anatomy; the new In an interview, Friend said the council Following the shutdown, Abraham’s first items to be publicized as missing—two technique might simultaneously find how was unanimous on this, because “UC is agency formally added the two Texas uni- security disks—might not be missing after the brain is functioning. critical to national security, for world-class versity systems to its list of potential prime all. But the shutdown continued amid re- “The research was so exciting, we were research at Los Alamos and Livermore.” contractors. Texas’ senior senator, Kay ports of other missing items, including 19 really on fire,” Espy said. “Only two places Los Alamos, he said, had “become almost a Bailey Hutchinson, joined by several Texas storage devices and classified e-mails, con- in the world were going down this path.” whipping post. It was hyped in the media. congressmen, “actively encouraged UT tents unknown, which had been sent out Now she fears the National Institutes of (Yet) statistics on safety there are quite and A&M to bid,” said a well-informed on the public internet. In August, five em- Health will cancel its three-year grant to good.” source. “The openness for change is palpa- ployees were suspended after an avoidable complete the research, leaving the field to While UC hesitates, the two Texas uni- ble at the DOE.” Long-awaited details misuse of a laser beam had affected the Berkeley.“I really love this place, and most versities have been active in seeking other from DOE on how to go about the formal eyes of a student intern. scientists would agree what a great place it research agreements this year with large bidding process now are expected some By September, four employees were is. But we fear what will happen to us,” said national labs. Early last summer, Texas weeks after the election. fired and a fifth had resigned. Seven others Espy, who grew up in southern California A&M submitted a formal bid to co-manage Los Alamos is one of three national lab- got reprimands, demotions and salary cuts. and got her Ph.D. at the University of the newly organized Idaho National Lab- oratories managed for the federal govern- Meanwhile, a DOE sub-unit, the National Minnesota. “Most of us my age are getting oratory, which specializes in engineering ment by the University of California. UC is Nuclear Security Agency, announced it their resumes ready.” and energy research. The University of expected to retain management contracts would move all weapons-grade nuclear The litany of widely publicized prob- Texas had previously signed an agreement for the other two—in Berkeley and in material from the part of the Los Alamos lems here has left the University of Cali- with another engineering center, the Sandia Livermore, 50 miles southeast of San lab that has been the subject of security fornia officially undecided about compet- National Laboratories in Albuquerque, Francisco. But stewardship of Los Alamos, concerns to a Nevada test site. ing for contract renewal. That stand might New Mexico, for “collaborative research where the first atomic bombs were devel- Last summer’s publicity revived years have been reinforced after the Los Angeles and other activities,” including faculty, staff oped 60 years ago, is uncertain. of controversy over security that began Times, California’s most widely read news- and student exchanges. Sandia does feder- At issue is a lab with an annual budget with the 1999 arrest of staff engineer Wen paper, editorialized on August 2 that the ally sponsored research, which a spokes- in excess of $2 billion, more than 10,000 Ho Lee, who was charged with spying for UC decision “should be a no-brainer. By man said involves the military, homeland workers, and an annual payroll that ex- China. After nine months in solitary con- bowing out, UC would save itself the mil- security, renewable energy, the environment ceeds a billion dollars. Scientists here and finement, Lee pleaded guilty to a single lions needed to make a bid and perhaps and “U.S. economic competitiveness.” elsewhere generally agree the lab plays a charge of mishandling nuclear secrets. lessen national security threats.” Los Alamos and Sandia together em- crucial role in American and world secu- Over the next three years, suspicions about Two days later, during a Los Alamos ploy “some of the best scientists in the rity, because of its collective expertise in re- security at Los Alamos began to fade, but visit, UC President Robert C. Dynes said search and working aspects of nuclear last summer produced the newest and his system had not yet decided whether to weaponry, here and abroad. UC is paid be- most controversial moments. invest in a bid to renew the contract. But “We hope that tween $14 million and $15 million a year to These events led Nature, the interna- seven weeks later, Dynes told a UC Board President Bush is not tionally prominent science jour- of Regents meeting that “I’d rather have nal, to observe that “the plagues some influence on the decisions than be a playing politics. but the afflicting Los Alamos National bystander.” He was “fully committed to re- elections could well Laboratory in New Mexico are store confidence that the nation has some- beginning to reach Biblical pro- what lost in Los Alamos.” play a role.” portions.” California’s senior U.S. senator, Dianne — NEW MEXICO HOUSE It would explain, said the Feinstein, remained steadfastly silent on August 12 editorial, why the two the issue. “We’ve been told that if we don’t SPEAKER BEN LUJAN universities in “the politically bid with an industrial partner, we might as well-connected state of Texas… well not apply,” said a top-ranking UC offi- world and are among the state’s main eco- have expressed an interest, and cial. Foley, Dynes’ lab deputy, said talks had nomic drivers,” accounting for about 40

DAVID TOERGE, STAR, BLACK DAVID FOR CROSSTALK why Representative Barton vis- been “far down the road” with aerospace percent of all research in New Mexico, said ited the lab and called for an firm Lockheed Martin about a partnership, Rick Homans, who heads Governor Bill FBI investigation.” The lock- until the latter had “backed away.” Richardson’s economic development unit. down, it said, has had “a pro- The sole strongly worded argument for Juan Sanchez, vice president for re- foundly negative impact on lab- contract renewal came from Dynes’ advi- search at the UT Austin campus, confirmed oratory morale, which was al- sory council, a mix of university and indus- that his system was “considering” a bid to ready beaten down by the trial executives, headed by William L. manage Los Alamos. Earlier, UT system prospect of staff losing their val- Friend, a member of the governing board Chancellor Mark Yudof had announced ued academic affiliations with of the National Research Council, and for- that he was ready to explore collaboration University of California President Robert C. the University of California…It mer executive vice president and director with Texas A&M as co-manager at Los Dynes favors renewal of the Los Alamos contract. is intolerable that a national re- of the Bechtel Group, Inc. Alamos. “We consider the Los Alamos CROSSTALK Page 5

contract to be an exciting opportunity for Last spring, before the latest furor over stockpile stewardship. If you read what’s in three years ago by chemists and others the UT system, given the science and engi- security issues at the lab, a UC faculty sur- the newspapers and what DOE says, you here of ways to detect hidden supplies of neering strengths at the academic and vey on whether to renew the contract see where the priorities are. They have deadly anthrax. health science institutions across the sys- found three to one in favor. But some shifted. The world has changed from the Scientists had time to spare during the tem,”Yudof said in a news release. question the poll’s significance, because university being an asset to a liability. recent shutdown to display unclassified re- “Texas A&M has strong ties to the na- only 26 percent of the faculty bothered to We’ve seen that take place,” said Shank, a search that could some day save many tional security history of the United vote. “It’s no longer a hot-button issue,” professor in the physics, chemistry, electri- lives. One example, described by Charles States,” said Lee Peddicord, vice chancellor said one senior UC official. “The passion is cal engineering and computer sciences de- R. Farrar, who deals with engineering sci- for federal relations for the A&M system. gone.” partments at the adjoining Berkeley cam- ence and applications as well as weapon re- Of the students at the main campus in At the September Board of Regents pus, who retired as lab director in Sep- search, involves studies done jointly with meeting, Berkeley nuclear engineering tember. faculty and students at UC San Diego that “There has been a lack professor William E. Kastenberg strongly While Los Alamos and other national might promptly pinpoint damage after supported renewing the ties, citing evi- weapons labs remain very important to earthquakes affecting major bridges, such of accountability, dence of extensive joint research: In the American security, Shank asked, “Does as San Diego’s Coronado or San Fran- virtually a sense of past 14 years, he said, UC faculty and stu- that play to the strengths of a university? cisco’s Golden Gate. dents, jointly with lab scientists and engi- Does UC fulfill its declared mission of pub- Staffers such as biophysicist Espy extol entitlement that neers, have published 2,080 articles in sci- lic service by managing Los Alamos now the advantages of the lab’s multidiscipli- entific journals and conference papers. Last that it’s being transformed…to doing nary research. “Los Alamos is one of the developed over the year, the lab had 131 ongoing research pro- weapons production?…My view is that the few places in the world where you’ve got years in the culture at jects involving UC campuses. “Social and university is not as central (to Los Alamos) multidisciplinary chemists across the street, financial” issues should not affect deciding as it once was, because of its transition and the best computer scientists, and best the laboratory.” whether to renew the contract, Kastenberg from scientific innovation to stewardship computer science resources in the other di- —S. ROBERT FOLEY said. Renewal should be “in the best inter- and archival activities. The country’s losing rection,” she said. “Unlike at a university, est of public service.” patience, because what matters now is rigor people actually talk to each other. Here College Station, 2,200 are enrolled in the But UC Santa Barbara physicist Walter and discipline, not what a university’s good there is a real collaborative spirit.” undergraduate uniformed corps, and the Kohn argued that classified war-related at—science and capability. So the univer- Dean E. Peterson, who heads the lab’s university is the largest provider to the U.S. work was not consistent with the UC mis- sity has seen the world change; the univer- superconductivity technology center, re- officer corps after the service academies. sion. All final decisions were made by the sity finds it difficult to change. It’s not clear cently directed a mix of scientists who Texas A&M also has the “largest nuclear Department of Energy, not the university, to me where we go.” made important discoveries, such as wires engineering department in the nation,” said Kohn, a Nobel laureate. “It is wrong In response, acting program director that can carry 100 times more power, and Peddicord said.The campus historically has for our university to help design, develop, Rej, a veteran physicist, said the Los Ala- vastly more efficient fuel cells. “We’re on many close ties to Los Alamos in both re- even manufacture, nuclear weapons,” he mos lab’s mission—to maintain an endur- the cutting edge of doing things probably search programs and graduate student said.“We’re fundamentally incompatible.” ing nuclear stockpile—needs constant no one has ever done in all the world,” he training, he added. Peddicord confirmed Faculty chairman George Blumenthal, work by a wide range of scientists on new said. that his campus has been “in touch” with an astronomer who has been at the UC kinds of instruments, not only to protect Like others interviewed, Peterson em- UT about sharing the Los Alamos man- Santa Cruz campus for 32 years, said in an the stockpile but to prevent nuclear terror- phasized that UC ties make a difference: agement, along with private industry. interview that he remained “studiously ism elsewhere in the world. “You couldn’t have some small univer- In past years, New Mexico politicians neutral” about the Los Alamos contract, “It’s an ominous task, where the lab di- sity that couldn’t provide oversight or guid- have solidly supported the UC connection, but added that he is “kind of shocked” by rector goes to the secretary of energy, who ance with what’s going on here, while giv- largely because of the jobs it provided, but what he has read about alleged misdeeds goes to the president of the United States ing us the respect we need. California has also to escape too tight an embrace from at the lab. and says ‘it is safe,’ or ‘it is not safe,’” Rej that in spades. We need to have that tie Texas. Officials in Santa Fe say that grudge Changing expectations about Los said. “And there’s also proliferation and with professors and students to build on has roots going back to a bloody conflict Alamos might justify a new approach, said non-proliferation, a legacy of 60 years of collaboration that we may not have with a during the Civil War, and earlier differ- Charles V. Shank, director of the Lawrence manufacturing, waste and environmental lesser university system. [The University of ences over Hispanic heritage. They still Berkeley National Lab for the last 15 issues.We send people all over the world to Texas and Texas A&M] are perfectly good quote a long-ago Governor Peralta, who years. “What has happened is that (in the deploy devices and portable monitors.” universities, but their repute in physics and supposedly observed, with regret, that his past) Los Alamos was a weapons design Over the past 40 years, most of the inspec- fundamental science is tiny compared with state was “so far from Mexico, so close to lab. In the last few years, it has actually tors that work for the International Atomic that at UC.” Texas.” been manufacturing and producing parts Energy Agency were trained at the Los While acknowledging that much of the New Mexico’s two senators, both mem- for bombs, such as plutonium tips—the Alamos, he said. research carries risks, Peterson said, “We bers of the Energy Committee, have con- core of the primary stage in a weapon. Its Scientists who worked here, past and have one of the best safety records com- sistently supported the UC management job had been to prevent scientific surprise; present, echoed these sentiments, including pared with anyone, in terms of lost work contract, but one of them, Republican Pete today, after 60 years, it has a new role— Charles Keller, who worked under every days.” Domenici, the committee chairman, director who followed the first one, “Until recently, our public record has backed away a bit from this view after the Robert J. Oppenheimer. “UC is so been as good as you can expect from any security issues arose last summer. The much better than anybody else,” organization in the world,” said Albert other senator, Jeff Bingaman, a Democrat, said Keller, who did weapons re- Migliori, a top-ranking laboratory fellow, said in an interview that while what hap- search here before heading the Los who has been here for 34 years, working on pened at the lab was a cause for concern, Alamos branch of the UC Institute both nuclear weapons and peaceful pro- he hoped UC would bid. The lab, he said, of Geophysics and Planetary jects. “benefited greatly from having UC as con- Physics. Like others here, Migliori is concerned tractor,” allowing it to “attract and retain Current promising collabora- about who becomes the next manager. “I top scientists and engineers.” tive research includes defenses think the prize of running the labs…has to Democratic Governor Richardson’s against what frequently has been do with control, and which senator and public affairs office ignored requests for an TOERGE, STAR, BLACK DAVID FOR CROSSTALK cited as a serious potential threat: which congressman can make the biggest interview, and would not respond to ques- the smuggling of dangerous nu- stink over how a university system is run- tions about his views on the Los Alamos clear weapons into ports. Devices ning the lab. The UC contract is critically contract. But two fellow Democrats and are being developed here that important to maintaining the very strong state legislators, House Speaker Ben Lujan might be able to scrutinize cargo scientific credentials we really need to sup- and Senator Phil Griego, co-chairman of containers and detect such threats. port nuclear weapons and defense pro- the legislature’s Los Alamos oversight The process, called proton radiog- grams—by having really smart people committee, said the governor had openly raphy, examines cosmic rays scat- around, broad-based scientific talent when favored renewing the UC contract. “The tered off the containers. Such dis- you need it.To keep nuclear weapons func- governor made his support public in open coveries come from “clever people tioning, you can’t hire machinists.” session,” Lujan said. “We hope that UC Santa Barbara physicist Walter Kohn thinks outside defense” who help manage President Bush is not playing politics,” he it is “wrong for our university to help design, security, Rej said. “It’s incredibly Freelance writer Carl Irving lives in the San added, “but the elections could well play a develop, even manufacture, nuclear weapons.” important, and not just in nuclear Francisco Bay area. role.” physics.” He cited the discovery Page 6 CROSSTALK Preparing for Success in College California State University is working closely with high schools to improve English and math skills PHOTOS BY AXEL KOESTER FOR CROSSTALK By Kay Mills lar figure on the cost of remedial courses are working closely with K–12 that these students take, Spence said, but it schools. “It wouldn’t have been CHULA VISTA,CALIFORNIA could be as much as $30 to $35 million a possible without collaboration,” NN RANSBURG and Kim year, in a system with more than 400,000 she said. Armbrust, teachers in the Sweet- students. Some other states, among Awater Union High School Dis- The new courses that are being devel- them Colorado and Oklahoma, trict south of San Diego, are on the front oped sometimes aren’t an easy sell to are using the national ACT as a line of change as their schools and others either teachers or students—teachers, statewide measurement for in California try to prepare students for because they require a new mindset and high school juniors so that stu- success in college. Ransburg teaches new preparation; students, because either dents, parents and local school rhetoric and writing, and Armbrust teach- they are not courses their parents took, or districts can see who needs es math. Both have helped to develop new they are not yet perceived as college prep- additional help. courses because state educators felt that aratory. But “this is the type of reading stu- But California educators felt too many California students were not dents are going to do in college and for that existing tests, such as the learning how to read expository texts, or life,” said Ransburg, who teaches at Bonita ACT or the SAT, were not tied needed another math class, even though Vista High School, in Chula Vista. “In the closely enough to the state’s they might not major in math or in science. past, we have been preparing kids to be standards, which mandate what For many years, students had demon- mini-literature majors, reading Shakes- students should know in strated these weaknesses with failure rates peare and the Romantic poets,” adding English and math. They needed on the California State University system’s that she has nothing against them. “But in their own measuring sticks, but placement tests, taken by all first-time reality many don’t go on to be English ma- couldn’t develop an entirely freshmen, that alarmed the Cal State jors. They need to read in science, to read new test because many Califor- Board of Trustees. In 1996, the trustees in history. They are not succeeding in col- nians—especially some state established a goal that all freshmen would lege, because they cannot read critically.” legislators—thought students Kim Armbrust, a California high school teacher, be ready for college English and math by “Our problem is reading—it’s not writ- already were being asked to has developed a new math course for prospective 2007. But it became clear as the years went ing,” Spence told the Board of Trustees take too many standardized California State University students. by that too many students were still not earlier this year. “It’s a tougher nut to tests. may receive a conditional exemption (if doing well on the tests. A year ago, only 52 crack than math or writing.” So, starting in 2001, Cal State faculty they take an approved senior-year course, percent of entering freshmen passed the There are vast discrepancies among the began to develop math and English items and pass, then they are also exempt from system’s English placement test. Sixty- 23 Cal State campuses. At those with the to add to existing tests that all public high the placement test); students who do poor- three percent passed the math placement largest freshman classes, the percentage of school students take in the junior year. ly on the CST in their junior year are test.The rest needed remediation. students who demonstrated math profi- Designed to help high schools assess their advised to take another math class. Then Faced with thousands of freshmen ciency ranged from 80 percent at San own programs, these tests did not contain they take the math placement test the needing remedial work, Cal State has Diego State University to 45.4 percent at enough high-level math problems to help summer before they start college to deter- launched an effort to try to identify earlier Cal State Northridge. On the English test, predict college success, said Marshall mine whether they will need a remedial those students who should receive help, 70 percent of San Diego State freshmen Cates, a Cal State Los Angeles professor course once on campus. and then to assist the schools in providing demonstrated proficiency, while only 37 who serves on the math test review panel. School and Cal State officials are hop- it. Unless Cal State is able to offer a warn- percent at Northridge did so. Among Fifteen questions, designed to measure ing that students will come to see the value ing and help school districts prepare the schools with smaller first-year classes, deeper understanding of mathematics, of the augmented CST and will take it courses students might need in order to do scores ranged as low as 25.1 percent pass- were added to the end of the California more seriously. “Now there’s something in college work, “it’s not fair to the students,” ing the math test, and 18.2 percent the Standards Test (CST).“If you can do these it for the students,” Cates said. “It may said David Spence, Cal State executive English test (at Cal State Dominguez multi-step problems,” Cates said of the take a couple of [years] for the high school vice chancellor and chief academic officer. Hills), and 38.4 percent passing the math students taking the exam, “we think culture to convince them of that.” “They’ve been getting B’s; then they’re test, 23.5 percent the English test (at Cal they’re in your workbox rather than just About 100 high schools across the state admitted, and we’re telling them they’re State Los Angeles). on the shelf—you really know how to use not ready.” Explanations for the disparities vary: things.” California State In an era of severe budget pressures, San Diego State receives far more applica- The augmented CST English test also money is a problem. It’s hard to put a dol- tions than it can accept, so higher grade contains 15 additional questions and an es- University has point averages are required for admission; say. As with the extra math problems, this launched an effort to Cal State campuses at Dominguez Hills, portion of the test is voluntary, although Los Angeles and Northridge have many last spring about half of the state’s high try to identify students students for whom English is not their first school juniors took it. Both the math and who should receive language or who attended high schools English tests measure proficiency in areas that might not have prepared them for col- covered by the state standards. In English, help, and then to assist lege-level work. for example, a student must be able to the schools in “By connecting the Cal State’s college read a passage and understand what is be- placement standards in English and math ing said in a more than superficial way, providing it. to existing school tests, we believe we can said Robert Noreen, a Cal State North- better determine if students are ready for ridge English professor who helped de- piloted the new tests in spring 2003, includ- college,” said Cal State Chancellor Charles velop the questions. ing those in the Sweetwater district. Last B. Reed, when the three-year collabora- If students pass the English test, they spring the augmented CST was offered to tion between his system, the California will be exempt from the Cal State place- all juniors. Of the state’s 400,000 juniors, Department of Education, and the State ment exam that all entering freshmen some 186,000 took the English exam, and Board of Education was officially unveiled must take. If they don’t pass the English 118,200 took the math exam, surprising last November. “The better prepared stu- test, they will be advised to take some Cal State officials. “We thought we would dents are when they come to Cal State, the course during their senior high school be fortunate to have 100,000 take the better the chances are that they will suc- year—like the one Ann Ransburg teach- English exam,” said David Spence. “This ceed and graduate.” es—that will improve their critical reading exceeded everybody’s expectation.” California is not alone in this work, skills. Last year, high school staff members Marshall Cates, a Cal State Los although Janis Somerville of the Educa- On the math test, there are three possi- did not receive the pilot program results Angeles mathematics professor, worked tion Trust, an expert in school-college rela- ble results: Students who pass will be until April, too late for counselors to ad- on the math test being taken by high tionships, thinks the state’s effort is very exempt from the Cal State math place- vise students about anything except sum- school students bound for Cal State. special because Cal State faculty members ment exam; those with marginal scores mer school opportunities. Cal State CROSSTALK Page 7

pledged to provide the results in a more opinion. To understand the author’s evi- proved as meeting the timely fashion this year. However, because dence takes critical reading,” she added. 12th grade English re- of the large number of students taking the Her students are used to reading fiction quirement. tests, schools did not receive results until and talking about how they feel about it. Teachers know that the end of September. “This is more focused reading.” the material they are pre- “We are absolutely committed to hav- Ransburg asks her students to preview senting to students in ing the results for the schools no later than the reading, whether it is a newspaper edi- both English and math August 15 next year,” Spence said. “We torial or a political commentary. “Look at must be offered in a dif- didn’t want to cut off the number taking the title. What are they saying? Who wrote ferent context from the the test this year, and so it took longer it? Where did it appear? What’s the audi- one they have already than expected. The good news remains ence? Is it by a group like the American studied, said Karen Cliffe, that students still have time to engage in Civil Liberties Union or the Southern the Sweetwater district’s math and English activities to get up to Poverty Law Center, with a point of view? math curriculum special- speed.” Read the first and last paragraphs—try to ist and an Advanced Among 11th graders who completed make a prediction about what the person’s Placement calculus the English test, 30,000 to 35,000—or 20 to point of view will be.” teacher. “Even though 25 percent—were deemed ready for col- Then she asks the students to chart the some of these students lege-level English and will be exempt reading, paragraph by paragraph, and an- need remediation, you from taking Cal State’s English placement swer questions about the evidence pre- will lose them if they say, test if they are admitted for fall 2005. sented.They need to learn new vocabulary ‘I did that already.’” Between 60,000 and 65,000—or 50 to 55 as well. English is not the first language for At Chula Vista High percent—of those who took the math test many of Ransburg’s students, so they may School, Kim Armbrust High school teacher Ann Ransburg believes her new were assessed as ready for college-level not be familiar with expressions like teaches what is called fi- critical reading and writing course will help students work. Ten to 12 percent of those students “Good Samaritan” or “Madison Avenue.” nite math. She explained pass the Cal State English placement test. will be exempt from taking the Cal State In the Sweetwater district, which stretches that the typical finite placement test. The others did well from the southern end of San Diego to math course involves study of numerical Cal State allocated $3.2 million to ad- enough to earn exemption from the Cal San Ysidro on California’s border with sequences and series. In addition to that minister the augmented test to all 944 of State test if they successfully complete an Mexico, about 66 percent of the students work, the course that she and others the state’s public comprehensive high approved math course or activity during are Hispanic. Nine percent of the district’s helped devise for the Sweetwater district schools last spring, and has budgeted the their senior year. 38,000 students are Filipino. One fourth of includes a unit on logic, one on probability same amount for next year. That money Spence remains confident that Cal the Sweetwater students speak limited and statistics, and college study skills. As a covers printing, distributing, collecting and State and the local school districts can English. result, said Cliffe, “they are learning some grading the tests, as well as reporting scores meet a 90 percent proficiency goal. “I “This is not a remedial course in any new math at the same time we are doing to students and their school districts. know we can do it,” he said. “The real way,” said Marsha Zandi, the district’s the remediation we need.” In addition, $3.9 million has been set change will be next year, because we will English curriculum specialist. “This is se- Many students typically would not take aside for the training institutes for English have had a year to tell them they aren’t nior-year work that is valid and needs to math in the senior year and have forgotten teachers, development of the writing and fi- prepared and they have to do something be done. It is not a substitute for college, much of what they learned by the time nite math courses, and online diagnostic about that.” but to prepare them for college courses.” they take the placement test, said Cal writing and math services for students, The essay portion of the English exam Ninety percent of reading after high State Los Angeles’s Marshall Cates. “If we Spence said. Through the writing service, takes the most time to grade. The essays school is expository, Zandi added. “We can get them to do some math in their se- for example, students can submit an essay are based on a “prompt,” that is, a short want them to be more critical so they nior year, we believe they will retain the electronically and receive comments from paragraph setting out an author’s position question what’s handed to them.” information.” Cal State faculty about their strengths and on topics such as, perhaps, whether manu- Ransburg, who serves on a committee In addition to testing and preparing weaknesses as writers. In addition, each Cal facturers of legal but harmful products helping Zandi develop the course locally, courses to help students do better on the State campus has received money to hire a should have to pay financial settlements thinks the effort is worthwhile.“But I’ll tell placement exams, Cal State also is training coordinator to work with local high schools like those to which cigarette makers you, I’m certainly out there by myself,” she teachers to teach these new courses. The to develop appropriate programs for se- agreed, or whether working mothers said. “Many of my colleagues don’t want system is sponsoring institutes and devel- niors who did not do well on the math or should always be immediately accessible to do it. And it’s so new the kids grumble.” oping materials through which teachers English tests. for their children. The students have 45 But several of her students who had failed can improve their own skills. This year, 555 As California tries to dig out of a fiscal minutes to plan and write an essay in high school teachers have been participat- crisis, the Cal State system’s 2004-05 budget which they explain the author’s argument ing in 80-hour professional development was cut by $157 million, but the early as- and whether or not they agree, using sup- A year ago, only 52 reading institutes at 13 Cal State campuses, sessment program remains a priority, porting information from the paragraph percent of entering in a program paid for by the university. Spence said. “We’ve protected this because or from their own experience. The essays Basically, they are learning “what is univer- it’s so important.” are scored on a six-point scale, six being freshmen passed Cal sity-level work and what process does it To try to reach 90 percent student profi- strongest. State’s English take to bring students to that level,” said ciency on the placement tests by 2007, Cal There are many good writers in 11th Nancy Brynelson, co-director of the Cal State’s trustees have set an interim 2004 grade, said Robert Noreen, but reading is placement test. State Center for the Advancement of goal of 74 percent math proficiency and 78 the problem. They know the mechanics Reading. percent English proficiency—clearly, as but “they don’t have sufficient training in the English placement test before now The institutes involve teachers of his- yet, unmet. At a January board meeting, reading prose, whereas when they get to have passed it. “I don’t think they would tory, science and other subjects, as well as Cal State trustee Roberta Achtenberg freshman English that’s usually what they have without this class,” she said. English, because “literacy is not something asked Spence, “Is it really true that we’ll are reading.” Instead of reading, this gen- Cal State plans to make modules of a you do only in English,” she added. “We make our goal?” eration of students watches television. critical reading and writing course like find students need a lot of support in read- “Yes,” said Spence. “They are very visual, oral,” he added. Ransburg’s available this year so that ing carefully, synthesizing what they have “Are you willing to bet your job on it?” “Watching TV, talking non-stop to friends, teachers can plug them into existing read, and writing (about it).” he was asked by Chancellor Reed. even e-mailing, fosters a very superficial English courses, David Spence said. So far, Next year Cal State officials are hoping “I am willing to bet my job on it,” kind of response.” however, the University of California, another 550 teachers will participate in Spence replied. Students who do not do well on the which must approve courses acceptable similar reading programs. They will also be English portion of the CST now can take for admission to both UC and Cal State starting three-day programs for people Kay Mills, a former Los Angeles Times ed- a rhetoric and writing course like the one campuses, has not approved the English who teach English to high school seniors, itorial writer, is the author of “Changing Ann Ransburg teaches in Chula Vista. course so that it would be required for and who are willing to take the lessons that Channels: The Civil Rights Case that “The biggest problem students have com- high school seniors. are being developed on reading and inte- Transformed Television” (University Press ing in to the class is understanding the au- UC wanted more literature in the grate them into their current courses. “Not of Mississippi, 2004). thor’s argument,” Ransburg said. “They’ll course, Spence explained, but he ex- every teacher is willing to commit to 80 read something about cloning, for exam- pressed confidence that the course will be hours, and we need to get a lot of them in- ple, and instead of looking at the author’s approved soon. In the meantime, the volved to get their feedback,” Brynelson evidence, they want to give their own Sweetwater district’s course has been ap- said. Page 8 CROSSTALK HTSB IEFLO LC TR FOR CROSSTALK BLACKPHOTOS STAR, BY MIKE FALCO, Into the Woods Outdoor Action program offers a rewarding college orientation experience By Kathy Witkowsky among the largest. Scott and Aiala (pronounced “EYE- BLAIRSTOWN,NEW JERSEY la”) had been through many hours of T WAS a warm and rainy late August training to ensure that this orientation night in a northwest New Jersey forest, would be successful. But from the despair- Iand things were not going well for ing looks on their group members’ wet and Princeton University junior Scott Welfel dirty faces, they were failing miserably. and Princeton sophomore Aiala Levy. As Bad enough that the group had slept volunteer leaders for Princeton’s Outdoor poorly the previous night, crammed next Action frosh trip, an optional orientation, to each other on a tarp and kept awake by they were trying desperately to make this an endless procession of daddy-longlegs six-day camping experience a pleasant one that crawled over them. And that they for the eight freshmen assigned to them. were all sweaty and tired from a seven- After all, this was the first official activ- mile hike earlier that day. And that it had ity as Princeton students for these 17- and been more than 48 hours since they’d been 18-year-olds, and an opportunity not only able to shower, change their t-shirts or use to learn about the outdoors but also to their cell phones, which they had surren- dered to Aiala when they packed up back A group of Princeton frosh buckles up for the “high ropes” course, part of the “Part of the uniqueness on campus. outdoor orientation program. Now it was pouring, they were soaked of wilderness and hungry, their campsite was a sea of at Princeton (group leaders all have cellu- rope was so wet it required a group effort mud, Scott couldn’t get the camp stove to lar or satellite phones in case of emergen- to get a grip on it, but there was singing and orientation programs stay lit, and their makeshift tent—a blue cies), returned, looking chagrined: His call laughter as they tugged in unison. is that you are so plastic tarp strung between two trees—was had been greeted with derisive laughter. A And that was when everything began to leaking. They seemed to have completely leaky tarp, he had been told, did not qualify shift. By the next morning, the group’s dependent on forgotten about their group’s “full-value as an emergency. So he had rustled up two mood was as sunny as the weather, which everybody else.” contract”—the orange-and-black plastic extra sheets of plastic from the summer had completely cleared up. A short hike football on which they had each written camp, and even though they weren’t big that day in Worthington State Forest pro- —RICK CURTIS one positive quality they hoped to con- enough to cover the entire length of the vided the setting for a number of amusing tribute to the group and one goal for the group tarp, he hoped they would stem the riddles and other group games. At a lunch bond with each other and boost their self- week. A staple of the Outdoor Action worst of the leaks. spot on the trail they treated a group of esteem. The idea was for them to start the frosh trip, full-value contracts can be signed Scott, a sweet and lanky 20-year-old backpackers, who were on a similar wilder- school year with a support system in place, on other objects, such as Frisbees, but the philosophy major from Roseland, New ness orientation trip from rival University feeling good about who they were and purpose is always the same: to serve as a Jersey, initially had been so excited about of Pennsylvania, to a spirited rendition of what they had to offer. Such wilderness ori- tangible reminder of group and individual introducing his group to the outdoors that “Ride That Pony,” one of the many silly entations have become commonplace at goals. he had written “share the love,” and songs Aiala and Scott had taught them. colleges and universities throughout the Emily Moses, a gregarious blond balle- “stokedness,” on the toy football. Now Afterwards,Aiala and Scott addressed a country. With about half the incoming rina from Farmington Hills, Michigan, a even he felt defeated. Looking back, said more serious topic: alcohol, a subject freshman class participating, Princeton’s is suburb of Detroit, had written on the foot- Scott, “At that point I decided, the kids Outdoor Action (OA) leaders are encour- ball: “enthusiasm” and “tough aren’t going to like the trip, but let’s just get aged to talk about. A study conducted in it out.” Now she was in tears. through it, and I’ll look at it as a learning 1998 indicated that the trips can help give “There are puddles in the experience.” freshmen a more realistic view of drinking tent!” she sobbed. Alfredo So he did the only thing he could think on campus, so that they do not feel com- Robles, a shy, soft-spoken of: He leveled with his group. “This sucks,” pelled to keep up with an imaginary and young man from Pico Rivera, he acknowledged. “But we have to deal California, outside of Los with this.” Angeles, who had barely And then something funny happened. “It’s not that I like eaten since the trip began, They did deal with it. They slung the new doing things that are blurted out what everyone tarps over the center of the old one. They else seemed to be thinking: “I made a little dam at the uphill end of the scary, ‘cause I totally want to go home!” So much ground tarp so it would prevent any more don’t. But it helps me for “learning to live without water from flowing in. Rearranged their meat,” or the “relaxation” sleeping bags and pads, crowding them to see how far I am he’d hoped to add. (“Make closer together into the driest section of able to push myself.” sure to write this in your arti- the tarp. And then they took cover, fortify- cle,” he implored. “Do not go ing themselves against the damp, at Scott —FRESHMAN LIZ MALTA outdoors!”) and Aiala’s insistence, with peanut butter, Their faces brightened con- tortillas and trail mix. false social norm. siderably when Aiala sug- When the rain let up a bit, Scott man- Both non-drinkers, Scott and Aiala em- gested that perhaps the group aged to light the stove, and even though phasized that it was possible to have a so- could spend the night inside the green peppers and onions he sauteed cial life that didn’t center on drinking. the dining hall of the were covered in flecks of dirt, everyone— It’s true, Scott said, that much of Princeton-Blairstown Center, even Alfredo and Emily, who by then had Princeton’s social life revolves around “The the summer camp whose apologized for her meltdown—emerged Street”—the colloquial term for Prospect grounds they were on. They from the tarp long enough to have a Street, home to the school’s venerable eat- immediately began collecting chicken fajita. Afterwards, without being ing clubs, which host parties featuring free their sleeping bags to make asked, they all helped lug the nylon sacks beer. “Freshman year, I was completely the quarter mile trek there. filled with food to a spot several hundred overwhelmed by the amount of drinking at Rick Curtis, director of Princeton’s “Outdoor But then Scott, who had feet from the campsite, where they hoisted Princeton,” Scott acknowledged. But he Action,” organized 69 trips, in eight states, for 548 stepped away from the group the sacks high overhead, out of reach of warned his group not to get pressured into frosh this summer. to phone his boss’ office back black bears and other forest critters. The over-indulging. “Don’t feel like everyone’s A SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT TO NATIONAL CROSSTALK • FALL 2004 GRADING THE NATIONAL REPORT CARD Critics and supporters respond to Measuring Up 2004 MEASURING UP

By William Trombley and Lori Valigra EASURING UP 2004, the National Center for Public Policy and Higher widened, and white students still are attending col- Education’s third biennial “report card” on state higher education perfor- lege at much higher rates than African Americans 2004 M mance, has received mixed reviews. or Latinos. “I think the process is good for us,” said Daniel LaVista, executive director of the • Despite improvements in college preparation, THE NATIONAL REPORT CARD State Council of Higher Education for Virginia. “To have this information and know smaller proportions of young and working-age ON HIGHER EDUCATION that it comes from an objective source is good because we don’t often have a mirror adults are enrolling in education and training to hold up to ourselves.” beyond high school. For instance, the percentage E. Joseph Savoie, commissioner of higher education in Louisiana, said the report of Minnesota 18-to-24-year-olds enrolled in college will be helpful as he and others press the legislature for an increase in need-based dropped from 43 percent in 1990-92 to 36 percent financial aid for students. ten years later. In Wisconsin, the decline was from Sally Clausen, president of the University of Louisiana System, said that when 39 percent to 31 percent. legislators ask why Louisiana received low grades, “I tell them they’ve flunked, and I • Only modest gains have been made in the per- give them a list of what it will cost” to make improvements. centage of students completing certificate or Travis Reindl, director of state policy analysis for the American Association of degree programs over the last decade. Most of the State Colleges and Universities, said the report “still is a very good diagnostic tool,” gains were in certificate programs, which increased though it contains “few surprises.” by 50 percent in the last decade, while the gain in “It’s kind of akin to your mother’s reminder to eat your green vegetables when associate’s and bachelor’s degrees awarded was you go off to college,” he said. only ten percent. Dropout rates remain high in Quentin Wilson, Commissioner of Higher Education in Missouri, said, “I was many states, in both community colleges and four- pleased that we were making progress in several of the categories…despite the dra- year institutions. matic state funding cuts over the last few years.” • Substantial gains were made in the “benefits” Rolf Wegenke, president of the Wisconsin Association of Independent Colleges category, which includes such measurements as and Universities, said he hoped the report would spur state policymakers to take the percentage of a state’s citizens who hold a bachelor’s degree or higher, and steps to increase minority participation in higher education, and to provide more increases in total state personal income due to higher percentages of people holding money for student financial aid. these degrees. However, several critics found fault with the way Measuring Up 2004 dealt with • Progress is being made in the effort to grade student learning—what college- affordability, one of five categories of state performance that are examined. Thirty- educated people know and can do. Forty-five states received an “incomplete” grade six of the 50 states received an F in affordability, 27 more than in the 2002 survey. in this category because of a lack of data that would allow state-by-state compar- Another 11 states were graded D; one state (Utah) received a C, one (Minnesota) a isons. However, a pilot study of five states (Illinois, Kentucky, Nevada, Oklahoma and C-minus and one (California) a B; there were no A grades. South Carolina) has persuaded the National Center that it will be possible to grade “The affordability grades don’t make sense,” Mark Musick, president of the 16- this category in the future. state Southern Regional Education Board, said in an interview. He noted that Travis Reindl, of the state college and university associa- Georgia, for example, “has the lowest tuition in the south and a pretty good student tion, questioned the report’s findings that much larger num- Several critics financial aid program (though it is based on merit, not financial need), yet it gets an bers of high school students are ready to do college work F in affordability.” than was true a decade ago. “We have to be really careful not found fault with the “The report has gotten attention,” Musick added, “but the fact that some of it to string up the ‘mission accomplished’ banner,” he said. doesn’t seem to make common sense detracts from its credibility and makes it less “There is still a lot of work to be done.” way Measuring Up likely that legislators will do much” to change state policies. Patrick M. Callan, president of the National Center, agreed. Giving so many F’s “gives the states no idea where they are,” said David A. “We’re not saying the problem is solved; it certainly isn’t,” 2004 dealt with Longanecker, executive director of the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Callan said. “But we do think there is evidence that there has Education. “Many see it as not a very useful number.” been demonstrable progress” in the nation’s high schools in Joni E. Finney, vice president of the National Center, who directed the staff work the last ten years. affordability, one of on Measuring Up 2004, said the low affordability grades reflect what has been hap- Most of the criticism of the report was directed at the pening in recent years—support for higher education has dropped in most states, affordability category and the low grades given to almost five categories of tuition has been increasing, and student financial aid has declined in some states every state. and has remained flat in others. “The unique way they measure affordability, and the state performance “What the report shows is that there is no longer any public consensus on how unique way in which they look at it over a ten-year period, to fund higher education,” Finney said. In the absence of such agreement, “we’re really distorted a lot of things in terms of affordability for the that are examined. shoving the costs on to the students” and their families. state of Oklahoma,” said Ben Hardcastle, a spokesman for the Among those interviewed, there seemed to be general agreement with the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education. Oklahoma “has one of the lowest report’s other major findings: tuition rates in the country, so it sort of distorts the view.” • High school students are significantly better prepared for college-level work “Measuring Up 2004” evaluates affordability mainly on the basis of the percent- than they were a decade ago; more are taking upper-level math and science courses age of family income it takes to pay net college costs (tuition and fees, room and and more are taking, and performing well, on Advanced Placement exams. board, minus financial aid), a percentage that has risen rapidly in the last decade. For • The gap in college participation between affluent and poor students has (continued on page 4A)

Page 1A “A college education is now required to Washington, D.C. symposium marks participate in the prosperity that America can generate.” the release of Measuring Up 2004 —Thomas J. Tierney, chairman and founder, the Bridgespan Group Photographs by Dennis Brack, Black Star “Although more students are prepared for college, our nation’s progress in improving college opportunities has literally stalled.” —James B. Hunt Jr., former governor of North Carolina and chairman of the Board of Directors of the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education

James B. Hunt Jr., former governor of North Carolina and chairman of the Board of Directors of the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, Mark Warner, governor of Virginia, and Garrey Carruthers, Thomas J. Tierney, chairman and founder, former governor of New Mexico and vice chairman of the Board of Directors, National Center for Public the Bridgespan Group Policy and Higher Education

“This is going to be the first decade at least since the GI Bill…where both participation and completion rates are flat. That is stunning.” —Mark Warner, governor of Virginia

Peter Ewell, vice president, National Center for Higher Education Management Systems

“We have a serious problem here—higher education is in fact becoming a bottleneck Dolores Cross, visiting professor of education, DePaul University to opportunity in “Our data indicate that in [Fiscal Year 2003], America.” the rate of growth in higher education —Anthony Carnevale spending across the 50 states was about .03 Anthony Carnevale, senior fellow, the National Center on Education and the percent. In 2004 it actually declined for the Economy first time since the early ’90s.” —William Pound, executive director, National Conference of State Legislatures

Matt Kisber, commissioner, Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development

Margaret Miller, professor of education, Curry School of Education, University of Virginia William Pound, executive director, National Conference of State Legislatures

Page 2A “I have sensed in my life in higher education a good two decades “We want to of policy drift in the higher ed arena.” increase graduation —David Breneman, dean of the Curry School of Education, University of Virginia rates with no compromise on quality—that is what we have got to figure out how to do.” —Paul Lingenfelter, executive director, State Higher Education Executive Officers

Paul Lingenfelter, executive director, State Higher Education Executive Officers

Kati Haycock, director, The Education Trust and David Breneman, dean of the Curry School of Education, University of Virginia “Low-income youngsters in this country who are performing in the top quarter of all kids nationally are exactly as likely to go on to college as kids from upper-income families performing in the bottom quartile nationally.” —Kati Haycock, director, The Education Trust

Arturo Madrid, Murchison Distinguished Professor, Trinity University “We have made extraordinary strides in improving the quality of our elementary and, increasingly, our secondary institutions. But we have failed woefully, as this report says, in increasing participation and making institutions affordable, and in —Charles Kolb, president, Committee for Economic Development having our students complete “I think that this report and today’s data have the their programs of study.” potential to do for higher education what the 1983 —Arturo Madrid, Murchison Distinguished report, A Nation at Risk, did for K–12.” Professor, Trinity University —Charles Kolb, president, Committee for Economic Development

Dennis Jones, president, National Center for Higher Education Management Systems

“The sum total of institutional self- interest…doesn’t necessarily get you good public policy, and that is the system we have had.” —Robert Atwell, President Emeritus, American Council on Education Robert Atwell, President Emeritus, American Council on Education Virginia Edwards, editor, Education Week

Page 3A from preceding page example, in New Hampshire it has climbed from 23 percent to 32 percent, Eight Days a Week and in New Jersey from 24 percent to 34 percent. The Rocky Mountain News, published in Denver, editorialized, “Since Working your way through college is a thing of the past somewhere around 14 million people are attending college right now in the By Javier Serrano First, consider the national context. For the two low- United States, it must be somewhat more affordable nationwide than this est-income quintiles (40 percent of the student popula- measure suggests.” ANY STUDENTS would jump at the chance to tion), the average net price of community college is But the report’s authors pointed out that students, realizing the value of pay all their college costs by working full-time $6,779. Assuming a national minimum wage of $5.15, a degree, are working extra hours or taking out large student loans to pay Mduring summers and holidays. But in today’s the work-to-college ratio would be 8.23 months. This for higher college costs. environment of skyrocketing tuition and deficit-ridden means that a college student (in this segment of the Ronald Kermani, a spokesman for the New York State Higher Education budgets, working to pay your own way through college population) would have to work full-time for more than Services Corporation, said that state’s Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) is a thing of the past. eight months just to pay for a year of community col- gave $846 million to 390,000 students in public and private schools during In some states, students would have to work full- lege. If he were attending a public four-year college, the the 2003-04 academic year—making it the largest state financial aid pro- time up to 17 months—of course a logical impossibili- same student would face a net price of $8,571, and gram in the nation—yet was graded F in affordability. He said this hap- ty—in order to pay for just one year of college. The would have to work full-time for almost ten months to pened because Measuring Up divides the financial aid money among all of harsh truth is that in many states, hard work just isn’t pay for a year of college. the state’s college students, not just those receiving TAP grants. enough to pay for the exorbitant costs of college. Things are no better at the state level; in fact, the The National Center’s Joni Finney said the report considers a state’s While research was being conducted in higher edu- national aggregate only masks the bleak work-to-college entire student population, not just aid recipients, because “we know that cation finance at the National Center for Public Policy ratios across the nation. For example, a community col- many low-income students and Higher Education last summer, a seemingly simple lege in Ohio has an average net price of $8,681 for the “What the report don’t have the same opportu- question popped up: What would it take for a student to 40 percent of the population with the lowest incomes. nities” to learn about financial pay for his own higher education, after financial aid, if (Again, “net price” takes into account financial aid, so shows is that there aid plans that might enable his only source of income was his work wages while in we are not talking about the oft-quoted “sticker price” them to attend college. college? here.) In Ohio, the minimum wage is $4.25, so the is no longer any Some state officials sup- Here is a look at how the “work-to-college ratio” is work-to-college ratio is 12.77. That’s right: A student ported the report’s approach determined. There are two levels would have to work full-time for to the affordability issue. of analysis: national and state. A more than a year just to pay for public consensus “We don’t like the low basic assumption is that college The harsh truth one year of community college. grade, but I think it’s an accu- students earn the minimum In this same income range, a on how to fund rate one,” said Patrick Dallet, wage while in college: $5.15 at is that in many student at a public four-year uni- deputy director of the Council the national level, and ranging versity in Kansas faces a net price higher education.” for Education Policy, Research from $2.65 (Kansas) to $7.16 states, hard work of $7,233, and a minimum wage and Improvement in Florida, —Joni Finney, National (Washington) at the state level. of $2.65. This indefatigable stu- which received an F in afford- Many states, primarily in the just isn’t enough dent would have to work more Center for Public Policy and ability. “Hopefully it will get South, have no minimum wage, than 17 months just to pay for a Higher Education some folks in states paying in which case the analysis uses to pay for the year of college! attention to the fact that the national minimum wage as a Ohio and Kansas are not alone putting a lot of money into merit-based aid isn’t necessarily the most effec- default. exorbitant costs in presenting students with im- tive strategy if you’re really interested in access and affordability.” The next step involves finding possible work-to-college ratios. Don Sevener, a spokesman for the Illinois Board of Higher Education, the “net price” of college (from of college. Colleges in New Hampshire, New said the board was “disappointed that Illinois has gone from being one of the family ability to pay indicator Jersey and Maryland would also the leading states, and, in some aspects of affordability, the leading state, in Measuring Up 2004), which is derived by adding up require more than a year’s work to pay for a year of col- to a grade of D in the four years that have spanned the three report cards. expenses (tuition, fees, room and board), and subtract- lege. In fact, students in states with good work-to-col- “All states have declined in this category, and most of them had far ing financial aid (federal, state and institutional). The lege ratios would still have to work full-time for six or greater declines than Illinois has seen. But that really is small solace for the tricky part is that net price varies by income group, since seven months to pay for a year of college. state and for its higher education community, and certainly for the students lower income students generally receive greater The traditional idea of a student earning enough who are struggling to pay for college.” amounts of need-based financial aid. The analysis money through three or four months of summer work included the net price for three income groups: the low- just does not hold. William Trombley is editor of National CrossTalk. Lori Valigra is a freelance est income quintile; the two lowest income quintiles (or Like all studies, this analysis is limited by its writer in Boston. poorest 40 percent of the population); and the net price assumptions. Students of the lowest income group have for all income quintiles (which is the aver- lower net prices for college. Not all students make the age price for the total student population). minimum wage. Some students receive full-ride schol- NationalAffordability Affordability Finally, dividing the net price by the arships, while others receive outside aid from private minimum wage results in the number of groups. Parents and relatives usually help with financial State Grades “work hours” necessary to pay for a year resources, somewhat easing the student’s burden. Last, A WA VT ME MT ND of college (with the unrealistic assump- students can borrow, instead of work, to pay for their B MN OR NH tions that no taxes are deducted and that education expenses. ID WI NY SD MA C MI WY RI all the income goes toward college costs). But calculating a work-to-college ratio is really meant PA D IA CT NV NE OH This figure is then divided by 40 (the as a thought-experiment. In the real world, few students IN NJ UT IL F WV DE CA CO VA would have to depend only on their own work income to MD average number of hours in a work week) KS MO KY NC to get the number of “work weeks” nec- pay for college. But the point of the hypothetical exercise TN AZ OK SC essary to pay for college. Dividing again stands: Working, no matter how hard or long, to pay for NM AR GA MS AL by four (to get the number of months of your own higher education is nearly impossible while AK TX LA full-time work necessary to pay for one the costs of college remain so high.

FL year of college) gives the final work-to- college ratio. Javier Serrano was in intern at the National Center for HI It is not as complicated as it might Public Policy and Higher Education last summer. He is sound. now a student at the Stanford University law school.

Page 4A CROSSTALK Page 9 going there and getting plastered,” he said. should know, and are still there to answer “There’s stuff for everyone at Princeton,” any questions we have,” she wrote. And he added, including plenty of activities for though she dwelled on the “horror stories” non-drinkers. when she described the trip to her parents, That came as a relief to most of the she would definitely do it all over again, group, including Paul Kompfner, a surfer she said. from San Diego, California. “It’s nice to Even Alfredo gave the experience posi- know that Scott and Aiala don’t drink and tive marks. “I made lots of friends and don’t have a problem,” he said on the hike learned to appreciate the luxuries I often back. take for granted,” he wrote in a post-trip e- By the next morning, Emily reported mail. that she had slept “great,” a relief since she None of this surprises Rick Curtis. For thought she might be fighting off one of 24 of its 30 years, he’s been the director of her routine migraine headaches. Alfredo, Princeton’s Outdoor Action program, and whom the group had taken to calling Alfie, has watched as its frosh trips grew in popu- said he was having fun, now that he had larity. This year, he organized 69 trips for gotten a handle on his all-consuming desire 548 first-year students (slightly less than for a shower. half the class) and another 186 upperclass All told, Scott said, in an interview two leaders, who were sent out to experience weeks after returning to campus, “the trip the outdoors in eight Northeast and mid- Atlantic states. Each group is composed of Outdoor Action eight to 12 freshmen, and two or three up- perclass student leaders. The trips cost leaders are encouraged $420, but about a quarter of the partici- pants were awarded some scholarship to talk about alcohol. money. Sure, students can—and do—make The trips can help give The six-day outdoor orientation program helps Princeton University frosh meet friends on campus, said Curtis, a 1979 new friends and build self-confidence. freshmen a more Princeton graduate. But the immediacy of realistic view of the outdoor setting helps strip away pre- able to cut it here?’”Through informal dis- course, and a day of outdoor community tenses and forces the students to engage cussions as well as organized group activi- service. drinking on campus. with each other on a far more intense and ties such as “fear in a hat,” in which partici- But even these easier trips present intimate level than they would normally. pants anonymously write down a fear for challenges. Mid-week through her trip, for turned out absolutely amazing. Everyone “The challenge and hardship part of it the group to discuss, they learn that their instance, Liz Malta had yet to pee in the loved it.” Since then, he said, the group had helps bring the group together,” said concerns are not so unique, he said. woods, preferring instead to use the porta- gotten together for several “reunions,” and Curtis. “Part of the uniqueness of wilder- That was exactly what happened to 18- potty near her group’s campsite. Neither many of the individual group members had ness orientation programs is that you are year-old Liz Malta of Ocean Township, had she given up her mascara, which she been hanging out together on campus. so dependent on everybody else. Some- New Jersey, a self-described “girly-girl” tried to apply surreptitiously. “The trip has definitely helped me settle body next to you is carrying the stove, whose upbeat, outgoing nature and ability She never did give up the mascara in at Princeton,” freshman Kristen Molloy somebody else is carrying breakfast, some- to laugh at herself belied an underlying in- (though she did have to endure some teas- of Long Island wrote in an e-mail the first body else is carrying the tarp.” security. Like virtually all of her Princeton ing from other group members when they week of classes. “Before the trip, I didn’t Those friendships can reduce the anxi- classmates, she was a stellar high school discovered her secret). But she did pee in know anyone at Princeton, but now I have ety that freshmen often experience when student. Still, she said, “I was nervous at the woods—once. In keeping with the pro- a great group of friends.” they start school—anxiety that is exagger- first about meeting all these crazy genius gram’s Leave No Trace philosophy, she Kira Schiavello, of Saddle River, New ated at a place like Princeton, Curtis said. people.” Her Outdoor Action trip helped Jersey, agreed. “The OA leaders have “Because it’s a high-pressure academic en- put those “crazy geniuses” into perspec- “The trip has definitely helped me adjust to college so easily be- vironment, people are very nervous,” said tive. “It was really a great equalizer,” she cause they shared with us everything we Curtis. “They wonder, ‘Am I going to be said. “These people are really down to helped me settle in at earth. They too freak out when they see a spider.They too are freaking out about not Princeton. Before the getting to shower.” trip, I didn’t know And she heard other things that she found reassuring: Her OA leaders encour- anyone at Princeton, aged her not to take on too much academ- ically, not to be intimidated by her profes- but now I have a great sors, and not to be too disappointed if she group of friends.” didn’t make all A’s—an idea she was hav- ing a hard time getting used to. Still, she —FRESHMAN KRISTEN MOLLOY said, it was good to hear it from people she respected. also learned to routinely eat food off the The trips vary in terms of their diffi- ground, no matter if it meant swallowing culty. Some backpacking groups hike as some dirt, too. many as eight to ten tough miles in a day, And even though it brought her to with packs that weigh 50 to 70 pounds; the tears, she managed to complete a tough canoe trips cover eight to 20 miles a day. high ropes course that required her to Some trips combine backpacking with a climb up swinging tires, then walk across a day of rock-climbing. wire strung between two trees. Other trips, like the one that Scott and “It’s not that I like doing things that are Aiala led and that Liz Malta was in, are scary, ‘cause I totally don’t,” she said. “But less strenuous:These trips are based on the it helps me to see how far I am able to grounds of the Princeton-Blairstown push myself.” Center, a summer camp in Blairstown, That’s by design. The hope is that she New Jersey, that is affiliated with the uni- will be willing to bring that same attitude versity.They were added in 1998 to appeal to her life at Princeton. to students who might be reluctant to sign “I think the most important thing we up for the more arduous itineraries, and try to teach our frosh is to experiment— Rajiv Ayyengnr, an 18-year-old freshman from Menlo Park, California, struggles include a variety of activities, such as hik- with classes, extracurriculars, friends, etc.,” up a rock face, part of his “Outdoor Action” experience. ing, group games, rappelling, a high ropes continued next page Page 10 CROSSTALK

ing and experience for upperclassmen. tem. Clad in a kilt FOR CROSSTALK BLACKPHOTOS STAR, BY MIKE FALCO, PRINCETON Years ago, OA leaders simply took a and carrying a plastic from preceding page first aid course and went on a backpack battle axe, he ad- OA leader Adi Hirshberg, a Princeton ju- trip before they were sent out with their dressed the OA lead- nior from North Woodmere, on New freshmen. Now they’re required to take a ers from a balcony. York’s Long Island, wrote in a post-trip e- 21-hour first aid/CPR course; a six-hour “Sons of Prince- mail. “OA is just an example of facing a team-building and group facilitator work- ton,” he began, as his challenge, something new, experimenting, shop; a six-hour leadership and group dy- classmates cheered or whatever you want to call it. We try to namics workshop; and six two-hour work- his Mel Gibson imi- teach them not to be afraid of experiment- shops on the use of equipment such as tation. In a speech ing because it’s new. Try it, and then see stoves, maps and compasses. It culminates adapted from the what happens.” in a rigorous six-day leadership training film, he exhorted Curtis and others have long based their backpack trip. Canoe and rock-climbing them to lead, con- faith in these trips on the overwhelmingly leaders also take specialized courses with cluding with this positive anecdotal evidence indicating that professionals. thought: “And dying they are effective in terms of helping fresh- In addition, all OA leaders have to go in your beds, many men form friendships and a social support through a two-day pre-trip refresher years from now, system. Now more scientific evidence ap- course that includes diversity training as would you be willing pears to back that up, said Brent Bell, di- well as alcohol awareness—a concern that to trade all the days OA training began to address five years from this day to that, ago. This year, leaders gathered in Dillon for one chance, just Some backpacking Gym for a presentation by a professional one chance, to come groups hike as many as drug and alcohol counselor; last year they back here, and tell heard from a Princeton alum who had to our enemies that eight to ten tough miles drop out of school to go through alcohol they may take our treatment. Student leaders are urged not to lives, but they may in a day, with packs glorify drinking and to remind frosh that never take our fresh- that weigh 50 to 70 there are numerous non-alcohol related ac- men!” tivities at Princeton. A policy adopted last It was a humor- pounds. year goes even further: Because they are ous riff, but the real considered role models even after they re- point—that the OA rector of Harvard’s First-Year Outdoor turn to campus, OA leaders are not sup- leaders were under- Program, which is nearly identical to posed to serve alcohol to “their” fresh- taking a huge re- Princeton’s. men—those who have been on their sponsibility—was not Bell, who is also a Ph.D. candidate in ex- trips—anytime during the coming year. lost on them. periential education at the University of The idea is that, while leaders teach Scott Welfel, for New Hampshire, surveyed more than 1,600 “Leave No Trace” skills in the outdoors, instance, was so ner- Alexis Tucker, of West Orange, New Jersey, tackles rock students at two Ivy League schools. they should “Leave a Trace” when it comes vous about the com- climbing as part of the “Outdoor Action” program. His analysis isn’t complete, but prelimi- to their freshmen. ing week that on the nary results indicate that students who had The message was dramatically under- bus ride to the campsite, he said,“My stom- to discover that a black bear had gotten participated in the schools’ wilderness ori- scored just before the freshmen arrived, as ach was in knots. I was physically getting into the food bags, which apparently had entation programs reported having signifi- nearly 200 OA leaders sat on the gym ill.” not been hung far enough out of reach. cantly more social support than those who floor, surrounded by camping equipment His worst fears appeared to be coming That made for a couple of tense nights had not, and also more than students who and anxiously waiting for Rick Curtis to true when the tarp started leaking and the for the group’s co-leader, 20-year-old Adi had participated in other pre-matriculation open the front doors and let in the crush of group started to panic, which in turn orientations, such as community service students gathering outside. But before he caused him and his co-leader, Aiala, to Alfredo said he was programs or pre-season athletics. did, Princeton senior Tim Churchill, his panic as well. The trips also fill a second, equally im- face half-covered in blue paint, stormed Looking back, he said, “The tarp leak- having fun, now that he portant function, said Curtis: They’re a ve- into the gym as music from the movie ing wasn’t a big deal; kids’ tarps leak all the hicle to provide valuable leadership train- “Braveheart” blared over the sound sys- time. Our approach was a big deal,” he had gotten a handle on said. Still, he said, “I think I his all-consuming learned a great deal—that you have to be cool when shit desire for a shower. happens!” And shit does happen. In Hirshberg, who also found herself frus- the past, numerous students trated by other issues that came up during have broken bones; and in the week, she said. “Looking back, I don’t 1989, one student was struck think I handled the stress too well,” she and killed by a car as he wrote in a mid-September e-mail. But, she crossed a road to set up camp. added philosophically, “That being said, Last year, most of the groups OA is a time for leaders to learn about had to contend with six their weaknesses, and I think the trip straight days of rain; several brought out a lot of mine.” abandoned their trips for a Still, her group loved the trip, she said, night to dry out at nearby mo- and so did she. “The best part of being an tels. This year, said Curtis, OA leader is just easing the transition for three groups got lost and had the frosh,” she wrote. “They’ve e-mailed to be met by support staff and me numerous times this week with con- shuttled to their correct hiking cerns about classes and extracurriculars trail, and 22 freshmen had to and other advice, and it’s great for me to be be evacuated for various med- able to help them.” ical reasons ranging from cuts to hot water burns to sprained Kathy Witkowsky, who also wrote about the ankles. One of those students Air Force Academy in this issue, is a free- suffered a serious anaphylac- lance reporter in Missoula, Montana, and a tic reaction. frequent contributor to National Public Student leaders of the orientation groups, and freshman participants, gather in Dillon Gym, on And twice a group returned Radio. the Princeton campus. to its campsite at Blairstown CROSSTALK Page 11

added that, incredibly, some six months after their deaths, student visas for two of the deceased hijackers were routinely reissued. The initial response in Congress was clearly overkill. Senator Dianne Feinstein, a Cali- fornia Democrat whose state probably hosts the largest number of foreign doctoral students, seriously proposed a six-month moratorium on all student visas. The higher OTHER VOICES education community protested so draconian a move, and Feinstein relented. Several weeks later, the House of Representatives passed a version of the USA PATRIOT Act that would “Many of the best have barred foreign students from working in any research laboratories. Mercifully a calmer, wiser and brightest Senate did not concur, settling instead for specific students from restrictions on certain persons and certain haz- ardous materials, but no blanket ban. abroad no longer What did emerge was a refinement and believe that the tightening of the visa-granting process through the Student Exchange Visitor and Information Service United States is the (SEVIS), a web-based system designed to track foreign students and scholars. Although such a destination of system had been in development since 1996, two choice.” major changes were made. All colleges and universities were required to participate in the system by the spring of 2003, and the Trouble at the Border Immigration and Naturalization Service (which had maintained the system) became part of the Department of Homeland Security in the spring of 2003. The administration of SEVIS How U.S. anti-terrorism efforts affect foreign was then transferred to a new Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement within Homeland Security. students and visiting scholars Two aspects of the current system seem to have depressed international applications and By Robert M. O’Neil enrollments. One has simply been the protracted process of implementing SEVIS—missed deadlines, incompatible reporting systems and the like—which has caused far more grief to S THE NEW ACADEMIC YEAR opened on the nation’s college and university the institutions that enroll foreign students than to the students themselves. Recent reports campuses, there was an alarming decline in the number of international graduate suggest, however, steady improvement in the operation of SEVIS, along with a heightened Astudents. The Council of Graduate Schools reported in early September that the federal government concern. A General Accounting Office report in late June number of such students admitted to U.S. graduate programs had declined by eighteen per- acknowledged some residual problems and delays with SEVIS, notably in preparing to cent from the previous year. collect the $100 fee which every foreign student or visiting scholar must pay as of September Such a loss reverses a trend that has been generally positive since World War II.A nation 1, 2004. that for decades had actively sought, and eagerly welcomed, graduate students from all parts For students from abroad who seek to study in this country, far graver concerns involve of the world, now appears to many prospective scholarly visitors to be ambivalent at best obtaining visas for entry and re-entry.A mid-August letter from the major higher education and downright hostile at worst. The causes and consequences of so dramatic a change merit groups to the chair of the House Committee on International Relations laments that “many the urgent attention of the academic community. foreign students and scholars have experienced significant problems in securing visas” and The case for embracing foreign graduate students needs little documentation. The warns that “the extraordinary delays that affect some foreign students and scholars have quantitative measures alone are striking. During the past two decades, non-citizens have had the unintended effect of making the nation seem less welcoming than it truly is.” The accounted for more than half the growth in the number of Ph.D.s earned in this country, letter closes by urging the committee to hold hearings as soon as possible on the visa system most especially in the biological and agricultural sciences.As Princeton University President and its effect upon international academic exchange. Shirley Tilghman (herself once a foreign graduate student in the U.S.) recently reminded a Much evidence of the impact of such delays is anecdotal—a Chinese graduate business Congressional committee, nearly a third of current doctoral degrees in science and student at MIT who went home to visit his family but could not return to Cambridge for engineering go to foreign nationals; even more impressive, she stressed, is that “two thirds of three months, missing two conferences, a semester of classes and eligibility for summer foreign students who receive a Ph.D. in science or engineering stay in the U.S., taking internships; or a French doctoral archeology student at Berkeley whose Iranian birthplace positions in academia and industry. And nearly 400 of the current U.S. engineering faculty has kept him in France for more than a year awaiting a return visa; or a Pakistani are foreign-born.” engineering doctoral student at MIT who was in limbo for more than two months after a The qualitative assessment is equally compelling. American Council on Education home visit. President David Ward (who first came to the University of Wisconsin from the U.K. for While such experiences are not easily aggregated, an informal survey last spring of 1,700 graduate study) may have put it best in recent Congressional testimony: “International foreign students and scholars at Berkeley revealed that sixty percent of them had students and exchange visitor programs… experienced delays at U.S. consulates and embassies or at U.S. ports of entry—even among dramatically increase the knowledge and skills of Sixty percent of the lucky ones who did eventually get to the campus in reasonably timely fashion. our workforce. They boost worldwide appre- More ominous than such individual horror stories are broader impressions one gleans ciation for democracy and market-based eco- foreign students and from visitors; the MIT Pakistani engineering student, for example, lamented that most of his nomics and give future world leaders first-hand scholars at Berkeley classmates had initially applied for U.S. visas, but gave up along the way—“given the general exposure to America and Americans. At the same perception that, oh, it takes so long and why waste one year of your life, when you can time, international education generates billions of revealed that they continue somewhere else. Now I would say the top ten percent of my high school class is dollars in economic activity every year.” either in Germany or France right now.” Association of American Universities President If one views Dr. Ward as a possibly biased had experienced Nils Hasselmo, urging improvements in the visa-processing system, recently warned that source, similar claims pervade a May, 2002, delays at U.S. “many of the best and brightest students from abroad no longer believe that the United statement by Attorney General John Ashcroft: States is the destination of choice.” “Allowing foreign students to study here is one of consulates and While evidence of such disenchantment remains largely anecdotal, we do now have hard the ways we convey our love of freedom to embassies or at U.S. data on recent trends in applications and enrollment of foreign graduate students on U.S. foreign students who will one day return to their campuses.These data describe disturbing shifts in the presence and prospect of international countries and take on leadership positions.” Thus ports of entry. visitors at our most prestigious institutions. The most reliable information about application there is little question that, in the abstract, the and enrollment trends comes from surveys conducted in spring and summer, 2004, by the presence at our universities of substantial foreign graduate enrollments has been a laudable Council of Graduate Schools. objective. Of the 230 member institutions that responded to the surveys, almost 90 percent Sadly, the climate has greatly changed since the attacks of September 11, 2001. This reported declines in the number of international graduate applications for 2004-05, nation has felt compelled, as President Tilghman described the dilemma in her testimony, to compared with the previous year. That decline averaged 32 percent, covering all types of “balance two exceedingly important objectives: to minimize the risk that our laboratories institutions.This report finds striking confirmation from a wholly different source: One third and the materials in them will be used for terrorist purposes, and to maximize the likelihood fewer international students took the Graduate Record Examination (required for most that the American scientific enterprise will flourish.” U.S. post-baccalaureate study in the arts and sciences) during the 2003-04 academic year The source of this tension was the realization that, as Homeland Security Undersecretary than had taken the test the previous year. Asa Hutchinson cautioned,“[One of the hijackers] came in on a student visa and was on the The reported decline was sharpest among applicants from China, India, South Korea and flight that went into the Pentagon, and so 9/11 reminds us that there are foreign students Taiwan, although forty percent of graduate deans reported fewer Western European that come into the United States not to get an education, but to do us harm.” He might have continued next page Page 12 CROSSTALK

from preceding page Middle East. Such unexplained hostility toward a senior foreign scholar could well applications. Non-trivial declines were also noted in applications from Australia and New undermine the modest gains that have recently occurred, and might further depress the flow Zealand, from Central America and Mexico, and from Canada, albeit smaller than the of foreign graduate students who so enhance the quality of our academic programs and our losses in Southeast Asian applicants. By subject matter, the decline was most pronounced in institutions. engineering, agriculture and biological sciences, although half reported a drop in humanities applicants, and more than half noted a falling off in business and in the social sciences. Robert M. O’Neil is a professor of law at the University of Virginia School of Law and Perhaps most ominous, the CGS survey noted that the reduction in the applicant pool director of the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression. was greatest at the fifty institutions that traditionally enroll the largest numbers of foreign students, all but one of which reported declines in 2002-03. The actual admission data reported in late summer were quite consistent in all respects with the application trends that had been noted earlier. Although CGS cautioned that eventual enrollments this year may not decline in lockstep with applications, if only because some students apply at many places, prior year data on actual enrollments are consistent. The There is little distribution of registered foreign graduate students reflects significant differences by nation of origin— question that the though not necessarily the differences one would presence at our have expected. From the academic year 2001-02 to 2002-03, the numbers of students coming to the universities of U.S. from Indonesia and Thailand declined by substantial foreign more than ten percent, while enrollments even from Canada and Germany declined by five graduate enrollments percent and four percent respectively—thus A Bold Proposal has been a laudable suggesting that the impact of the more restrictive environment has not been limited to “sensitive” or Increasing college access without spending objective. “unfriendly” nations and regions. Eastern Europe, which had been a rapidly growing source of more money international enrollments in the United States, for the first time sent fewer students in 2002- By Donald E. Heller 03 than the year before. It would be easy to attribute the entire problem to heightened security measures and a OFTEN SPEAK with state and federal policymakers, legislators and others about the less welcoming climate. Other factors could, however, affect the equation, and might have issue of college access in America. The conversation eventually gets to the question of caused some decline in international enrollments even without the terrorist attacks. The Iwhat can be done to close the stubbornly persistent gaps in college participation in the Council of Graduate Schools report summarizes these elements: “Overall, global capacity nation. These gaps, whether comparing rich students to poorer students, or white students for graduate education is on the rise. Several countries, notably China, have expanded their to African American and Latino students, are as large today as they were thirty years ago. systems of graduate education, and several countries, specifically Australia and New Many people are looking for a quick and easy answer to this question. And given the bud- Zealand, have become highly active in international graduate education. Foreign gov- get constraints in recent years, any solution must be one that does not require an infusion ernments are making aggressive and conscious decisions to expand graduate access and of large amounts of new money. opportunities, both for domestic and international students. Further, the participation of As with most social problems, there is no “silver bullet” for solving the access problem scientists educated abroad in U.S. research is also increasing.” in the nation. Most researchers agree that the gaps are due to differences between wealthi- In such a complex environment, it would be unfair to blame the foreign student decline er students and those who are less well off in a number of factors: academic preparation solely upon heightened national security measures. Moreover, some regions of the world received in K–12 schools; peer, community and family influences and support for college that seem to be sending fewer graduate students to this country are not primary targets of going; and college costs and the availability of increased surveillance and visa restriction. Perhaps the most that can be said with financial resources to pay for them. The era of low confidence is that some part of a deeply disturbing trend may fairly be attributed to current The federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) act limitations on access, and to a less receptive climate for foreign academic visitors. has as its key goal improving the quality of the tuition, which There are some modestly promising signs that persistent pleas from the academic schooling received by students in the K–12 sector. predominated in community are being heard. In late July, the Citizenship and Immigration Service (a unit Many efforts, including the federal TRIO and within Homeland Security) granted an extension or grace period so that student visa- GEAR-UP programs, as well as those of private public higher holders could remain within the U.S. for a month or two while awaiting renewal or ex- organizations, are focusing on increasing the col- education for most of tension of work visas. Previously—even before September 11, 2001—when the supply of lege aspirations of lower-income students. such visas was exhausted before the end of the academic year, visitors had to return home The problem of financial resources for college our history, is gone and await the issuance of a new batch of work permits. is different from the first two issues in an impor- On the very same day, SEVIS announced increased staff support and 24-hour avail- tant way. Unlike the more difficult tasks of deter- and most likely will ability, among other measures designed to expedite visa processing during the summer. At mining how best to improve K–12 education (wit- never be seen again. the end of August, Homeland Security announced it was seriously considering extending ness the debates over the effectiveness of NCLB) security clearances to foreign students and scholars for the duration of their academic and how to increase the aspirations and desire of lower-income students, we have a good program or teaching appointment. Because current clearances are valid for only one year, understanding of what it takes to solve the problem of paying for college for lower-income regardless of the length of the academic students. commitment, such a change would markedly Eastern Europe, A wide and disparate body of research over more than three decades is consistent in improve the experience of many visitors, and finding that poorer students are the most sensitive to rising tuition prices—they are most would sharply reduce visa delays. Since this was a which had been a likely to choose not to enroll, or be unable to enroll, in college as prices go up, and they are dispensation for which higher education groups rapidly growing most likely to drop out of college if already enrolled. In the absence of low tuition prices, had been pressing for some time, the an- financial aid—and in particular, grants—has been shown to be most effective in getting nouncement was applauded in the university source of these students into college and keeping them there. world. international It is important to understand that not every student from a poor or moderate-income A curious irony brings us full circle. This family is confronted by all three of these barriers—poor K–12 preparation, underdevel- welcome change coincided almost to the day enrollments in the oped college aspirations, and a lack of financial resources—when they are making their with news that the State Department had can- United States, for the post-high school plans. Some of these students are able to overcome the challenges they celed the visa of Professor Tariq Ramadan, a face and prepare themselves academically for college and aspire to go there. distinguished Muslim scholar who was about to first time sent fewer A 2002 report of the federal Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance, assume a senior faculty position at the University students in 2002-03 titled “Empty Promises,” used data from the National Center for Education Statistics to of Notre Dame. Although the reasons for this examine the college participation of students who both indicated that they wished to action remain obscure, The Department of than the year before. attend a four-year college and were qualified to do so, “having adequate academic course Homeland Security apparently found Ramadan preparation, grades, and aptitude test scores to meet the minimal entrance requirements of to be a “person of prominence” whose admission to the U.S. could be barred under a law most four-year colleges.” The report estimated that there were more than 400,000 students that targets visitors deemed likely to “engage after entry in terrorist activity.” nationally from families with incomes below $50,000 who met these standards and yet The evident basis for such a harsh judgment seems to be Ramadan’s widely expressed were unable to enroll in a four-year college because of financial barriers. More than hostility toward Israel, and his association with outspoken Islamic critics of U.S. policy in the 160,000 of these students did not attend any college due to these barriers, not even a two- CROSSTALK Page 13

year institution. The best way to implement this program would be to use a “carrot” approach as a Given that the era of low tuition, which predominated in public higher education for means of encouraging institutional behavior. Six years ago, in their book, “The Student most of our history, is gone and most likely will never be seen again, the easy answer of Aid Game,” economists Michael McPherson and Morton Owen Schapiro suggested a course is to simply spend more money on financial aid. But as described earlier, that is a new “piggyback” Pell program that would award additional federal grant dollars to stu- solution that most policymakers in both the state and federal governments are not willing dents attending institutions that pledge to meet a substantial portion of the financial to embrace. And as state and college leaders rightfully point out, states and higher educa- need of Pell-eligible students. tion institutions have greatly increased their spending on financial aid. But in the current policy environment that dominates Washington, it is unlikely that From 1980 to 2002, tuition prices at public and private four-year institutions have Congress will commit significant new funding for federal grants. If the carrot is not avail- increased at almost the same rate: 412 and 414 percent, respectively (in current dollars). able, then Congress could use the stick by requiring that to participate in the Title IV stu- While federal grant spending increased only 135 percent in this same period, institutional dent aid programs, which provide Pell and other grant spending increased more than 1,000 percent. State grant spending increased more The crisis in college federal grants and guaranteed loans, colleges and than 600 percent, but the fastest-growing type of aid in the states is merit aid, which is universities would have to agree to award all or a awarded disproportionately to higher-income students. access for lower- significant portion of their own aid using the So, absent a major infusion of new financial aid funding, can anything be done to income students calls same financial need criteria used to award Pell address the college financing barriers faced by the hundreds of thousands of students of grants. moderate means? There is a relatively simple solution, one that does not require spending for bold action. Any proposal by Congress to move in this another penny by either the federal government, states or higher education institutions. direction is likely to be met with an outcry from And while it likely would not resolve the barriers faced by all these students, it would higher education institutions and their membership organizations in Washington. Shouts have a substantial impact on improving college access for many of them. of “institutional autonomy” and “don’t tell us how to spend our own money” will be The solution is to require that all state and institutional grants—money already bud- heard up and down the halls of the Capitol. But Congress does have the legislative geted and being spent, not new funds—be awarded according to financial need criteria authority to make such a change if it so chooses. similar to those used in the awarding of federal Pell grants.While funding for the Pell pro- As with most other policy proposals, this one could have unintended consequences. gram has lagged behind the increases in tuition With less control over how they can spend their own institutional grant dollars, colleges Most policymakers prices, as noted above, Pell has remained highly and universities may cut their spending on financial aid. Alternatively, they may choose targeted to students from families below the to raise tuition even higher, in order to generate more tuition revenue that can be recy- in both the state and median income in the nation. cled as grant dollars to replace some of those redirected away from the higher-income federal governments Data from the National Postsecondary Student students. But as long as a significant proportion of this increased grant spending is target- Aid Study, a nationally representative survey of ed at lower-income students, this might actually help increase college access. are not willing to college students conducted in the 1999-2000 acad- Accomplishing the redirection of state aid is a bit trickier. The Higher Education Act emic year, show that 97 percent of Pell grant provides the federal government with no direct authority over state aid programs. States embrace spending funds awarded by four-year institutions to tradi- would have to be encouraged to reverse the trend toward non need-tested merit aid.This more money on tional-aged college students went to those from could be done by implementing income caps on these programs, which would allow families earning below $45,000 annually, or them to still reward “merit” as defined by each state while ensuring that the grants are financial aid. approximately the median family income in the awarded to students who need the money to be able to attend college. nation. I spend enough time researching and engaging in higher education policy discussions The targeting of state and institutional grants is quite different from that of Pell to know that it will be difficult to garner political support for this proposal. But the crisis grants, however. In that same year, these four-year institutions awarded more than $8.5 in college access for lower-income students identified by the Advisory Committee on billion in grants to undergraduates, and 64 percent—$5.5 billion—was awarded to stu- Student Financial Assistance calls for bold action. dents from families with income above $45,000. In addition, $800 million in state grants If constrained resources make it unlikely that large new sums of money can be made (38 percent of the total) went to these higher-income students. Thus, more than $6 billion available for targeted aid, then it is time for the discussions about financial aid policy to in grants were awarded to students whose families were too wealthy to qualify for Pell examine other alternatives that can help needy students attend college. The debate will grants. likely be emotional, difficult and potentially divisive, but it is a conversation in which this This $6 billion, if redirected to Pell-eligible students already attending college, would nation needs to engage. double the total amount of grant aid they received. Alternatively, all or some of this money could also be used to promote the college participation of the 400,000 students Donald E. Heller is Associate Professor and Senior Research Associate in the Center for the from low- and moderate-income families whom the Advisory Committee found could Study of Higher Education, at The Pennsylvania State University. not afford to enroll in a four-year college. And all of this could be accomplished without adding a single new dollar to the financial aid pool. But what about the wealthier students from whom the grants were taken? Would the increase in their net cost of attendance cause them to drop out of college or not enroll in the first place? The research tells us that very few of them would respond in this fashion. These students tend to have what economists call a low price elasticity; in simpler terms, their college participation is much more resilient in the face of price increases. Some may argue that using median income is too harsh a cutoff point, that middle- income students still deserve some grant support. We could increase the cutoff to $65,000—or approximately 150 percent of median income—and still increase the amount of grant aid available to Pell-eligible students by 63 percent, or $4 billion. Others may argue that it would not be fair to take away all the grants going to stu- dents above the cutoff point. A compromise that would redirect just half of the aid to poorer stu- Merit aid programs, dents would still generate $3 billion in new grant aid using the median income cutoff, or almost $2 which award billion in new aid using the $65,000 cutoff. Two their grants Assessment Literacy billion dollars would provide enough funds to award a Pell grant of $4,050 (the current maxi- disproportionately Do educators know how to make use of the mum) to every one of the 400,000 students identi- to higher-income new avalanche of standardized test data? fied by the Advisory Commission as being priced out of a four-year college. students, are the By Rebecca Zwick It is unlikely that this change would occur if states and higher education institutions were left fastest-growing T IS NO SECRET that standardized testing in America’s schools has undergone to their own devices. Merit aid programs, which form of state aid. unprecedented growth in recent years. A 2001 survey showed that California students award their grants disproportionately to higher- Iin grades two through 11 spent an average of six to eight hours per year on standard- income students, have proven to be extremely popular in the states and are the fastest- ized tests. To the existing array of state- and district-mandated testing, schools are now growing form of state aid. Merit aid is also growing faster than need-based grants in col- adding the tests required by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001: Annual assessments in leges and universities. The competitive environment faced by many institutions has reading and mathematics for students in grades three through eight are to be implemented encouraged them to use financial aid for enrollment management purposes, rather than by the 2005-06 school year, and by 2007-08, schools must test students in science at least to promote access for needy students. All the jawboning in the world is unlikely to once in elementary, middle and high school. change the recent trend of awarding more and more grants to higher-income students. continued next page Page 14 CROSSTALK from preceding page needed now more than ever before. Educators must do a better job of using assessments No Child Left Behind (NCLB) has also increased demands on teachers, principals and to inform instruction. Good decisions are often hampered by a limited understanding of superintendents to use standardized test data to strengthen instruction and improve the what test results really mean.” management of schools. Future school leaders “must be adept at using data to improve But why hasn’t the recent boom in state and national testing produced a flurry of teaching and learning,” according to a 2002 report from the Center on Education Policy, training efforts in the area of educational measurement and assessment? Ultimately, the an independent organization based in Washington, D.C. “Too often, test data are used answer lies in state licensing requirements. Students in teacher and administrator training only for accountability, rather than to diagnose programs have schedules that are jam-packed with required courses and internships. the needs of individual students and improve Most educators are Classes in areas that fall outside the requirements are, at best, reluctantly omitted or, at their education. Much more test data will soon worst, regarded as unnecessary frills. be available, because the new federal require- not well-equipped to In a 2002 Education Week article, Rick Stiggins, founder of a company called the ments require states to produce descriptive and Assessment Training Institute, noted that “only a few states explicitly require competence diagnostic information, as well as individual test respond to the in assessment as a condition for being licensed to teach. No licensing examination now in results.” increasing emphasis place at the state or federal level verifies competence in assessment. Since teacher- But what if teachers and school admini- preparation programs are designed to prepare candidates for certification under these strators don’t have the training needed to in- on the interpretation terms, the vast majority of programs fail to provide the assessment literacy required to terpret or use this wealth of information? The of standardized prepare teachers to face emerging classroom-assessment challenges. educational software industry has been quick to “Furthermore, lest we believe that teachers can turn to their principals for help, almost respond to this potential market by generating assessment results. no states require competence in assessment for licensure as a principal or school a raft of new products. For example, according administrator at any level. As a result, assessment training is almost nonexistent in to the website for one software package, the system can create “NCLB-like reports,” as administrator-training programs.” well as “collect real-time data and perform sophisticated analysis of multivariate data such What can be done about this state of affairs? Clearly, state licensing requirements for as student demographics, test scores, attendance, discipline, staff development, financial teachers and administrators, including the licensing exams themselves, must be reformed information, and more.” Users are assured that the product will “empower their decision- to reflect the importance of assessment literacy in today’s testing-conscious environment. making processes” and allow them to “assess the relationships between student learning Required topics must include the educational measurement and statistics concepts and the learning environment.” needed to interpret the results of large-scale standardized tests, to use these results to Software availability, however, is not the answer to the assessment training gap. On the inform instructional decisions, and to explain them to others. Once the content of teacher contrary, these classroom computer packages often serve only to add to the glut of and administrator licensing exams is modified, curricular changes in teacher education impenetrable data with which today’s school personnel are inundated. One teacher told programs are sure to follow. me that her school had provided her with classroom software that yielded an abundance Unfortunately, because changes in licensing and course requirements need to clear of statistical information about student performance. The problem, she said, was that she multiple bureaucratic hurdles, they are likely to be slow. What steps can be taken in the had no idea how to interpret these student results or use them to improve her teaching. meantime to address this critical training gap? This question was considered in a 1990 To get an idea of just one type of standardized test data that teachers must digest, I document, Standards for Teacher Competence in Educational Assessment of Students, obtained a report of math and language scores for a local fifth grade class on the Stanford developed by the American Federation of Teachers, the National Council on Achievement Test Series, a widely used assessment tool published by Harcourt, Inc. (The Measurement in Education, and the National Education Association. The statement report was for the ninth edition; the tenth edition is now in use.) proposed standards for training teachers in assessment-related skills, including Assuming the teacher can decode the many obscure abbreviations, she still needs to “competencies underlying teacher participation in decisions related to assessment at the understand the following terms and concepts in order to comprehend the report: mean school, district, state and national levels.” raw score, mean national normal-curve equivalent, national individual percentile rank, The document enumerated concepts and terms with which teachers should be familiar, stanine score, and national grade percentile rank (all of which are provided for ten such as percentile ranks, percentile bands, grade-equivalents, and errors of measurement. mathematical and verbal “subtests and totals”). The report also gives the percentage of The statement further expressed concern “about the inadequacy with which teachers are children who are below average, average and above average in 38 “content clusters.” prepared for assessing the educational progress of their students” and recommended that When I subsequently met with students pursuing master’s degrees in education and “assessment training be widely available to practicing teachers through staff development teaching credentials, to get their reactions to the score report, many acknowledged that programs at the district and building levels.” Although this standards document is now 14 they found much of it baffling. And in surveys conducted by my research team, both years old, it is, regrettably, still current: On-the- teacher education students and current school personnel revealed substantial gaps in their job opportunities for teachers and adminis- The No Child Left knowledge of fundamental principles of educational measurement and statistics. Many trators to increase their assessment literacy are were unfamiliar with basic concepts, such as the definitions of test reliability and still needed. Behind Act has measurement error. And when told that “20 students averaged 90 on an exam, and 30 During the next three years, my research increased pressure to students averaged 40,” only half of a group of experienced K–12 teachers and ad- team at UC Santa Barbara will be making one ministrators were able to calculate the combined average correctly. effort in this direction. As part of a project use standardized test This finding, of course, is just the tip of the iceberg. Understanding standardized test sponsored by the National Science Foundation, results well enough to use them productively requires much more than just a grasp of we will be developing instructional materials data to strengthen technical terms and a knowledge of basic statistical principles. A teacher or principal for teachers and administrators at K–12 schools. instruction and might well have many questions about the These 30-minute modules, which will be Teachers should be interpretation of a test score report that go available in DVD, videotape and web-based improve the beyond definitions and formulas. How precise formats, will address a variety of questions management of familiar with terms are these scores? Are some more important about the appropriate interpretation of stan- and concepts such as than others? When is the difference in scores dardized test results. schools. between two students large enough to be In order to be successful, on-the-job in- percentile ranks, noteworthy? How about the difference in struction of this kind needs to have three properties. First, it must be practical, using percentile bands, average scores between two classes, or the common-sense language and emphasizing information that is needed in the daily work of change in average scores over time? How do school personnel. Second, it must be specific, ideally making use of examples involving the grade-equivalents, changes in the school population affect the same standardized tests the teacher or principal must administer, score or interpret.Third, interpretation of achievement trends? What the instruction must be convenient: Instructional materials must be made available for and errors of does it mean to say that a difference between teachers and administrators to use at the time and location that is convenient to them. For measurement. average scores is statistically significant? How is some, this may involve taking advantage of a free class period; for others, it may involve statistical significance related to educational borrowing materials to take home. importance? What information about a student’s particular strengths and weaknesses can We have entered an era in which teachers and school administrators are expected to be gleaned from the test results? use standardized test results to make instructional decisions, pinpoint schools, classes and Although there is little formal research in this area, it is widely recognized that most individuals that require added attention or resources, and explain test results to students, educators are not well-equipped to respond to the increasing emphasis on the inter- parents, the school board and the press. At least until certification programs are pretation of standardized assessment results. According to a local superintendent, restructured to provide the required instruction, on-the job training efforts will be needed “Increasingly, school personnel are expected to use test results to make curricular to help school personnel perform these functions effectively. decisions, to identify students, classes or schools that require additional instruction or resources, and to explain test results to parents, students and the media. Many teachers Rebecca Zwick is a professor in the Gevirtz Graduate School of Education at the University and principals, however, do not have the background needed to perform these tasks of California, Santa Barbara. She is the author of “Fair Game? The Use of Standardized effectively.” Admissions Tests in Higher Education,” and the editor of “Rethinking the SAT: The Future Another school administrator said, “In this era of increasing accountability, training is of Standardized Testing in University Admissions.” CROSSTALK Page 15 PHOTOS BY ROD SEARCEY FOR CROSSTALK must respect strict curfews. The door to her To add insult to injury, many cadets AIR FORCE ACADEMY room must remain open if a male is with were dismayed to have learned about the from page 1 her. She may never engage in public dis- allegations from the media rather than which has begun a remarkable effort to plays of affection on campus or when in from USAFA leaders. “All of us were sur- transform the academy into a safer and uniform, nor may she engage in sexual re- prised,” said cadet Christine Knieff, 20, a more effective school. lations on campus. political science major from Brookings, “This is the only place I wanted to be. In exchange, she receives a tuition-free South Dakota, who is in her third year at It’s been a lifetime dream for me,” Mry- education at one of the nation’s top col- the academy. “We were caught in the mid- amn said in early August, shortly after com- leges (The Princeton Review recently rated dle of a storm.” And, she added, “It was pleting five grueling weeks of basic train- the academy 18th for overall undergradu- frustrating, because I felt the media was at- ing, and the day before she was officially ate academic experience), and a monthly tacking us.” accepted into the cadet wing during an stipend of nearly $800. Upon graduating, Some cadets—especially females— elaborate outdoor ceremony that included she will be commissioned as a second lieu- downplay the legitimacy of the sexual as- a marching parade and a flyover by a tenant, at which time she must serve at sault allegations. “No” should mean “no,” fighter jet. “I could have gone to an Ivy least five years in the Air Force. but some of the girls involved were “a little League School, but it’s not the same.” If the new leadership is successful, she sketchy,” said Jessa Liegl, 21, a senior (or Not the same, indeed. As a USAFA will earn her degree from a much-re- “first-degree”) from Lincoln, Nebraska, formed academy, one that not only does a echoing a common theme voiced by fe- “We looked under the better job of protecting its female students, male cadets and their parents. rock of sexual assault, but ensures that all of its cadets are treated “These things happen on all college “This is the only place I wanted to be,” more professionally than in the past. It will campuses,” said Kim Dalrymple, of O’Fal- says first-year cadet Mryamn Ruth. and there was a be an institution that demands the highest lon, Illinois, who is thrilled that her daugh- “It’s been a lifetime dream for me.” standards of integrity, rather than reflecting ter, Diana, is one of five members of her rattlesnake.” what leadership has come to believe is so- high school class to enroll at USAFA this helped foster a breakdown in values which —LT.COL.CHRIS LUEDTKE ciety’s lack of it. year. “They want to be with people as pa- led to the pervasiveness of sexual assaults.” That will not be an easy task, but it is triotic, motivated and as concerned about When Weida set out to examine and cadet, she is a member of the armed ser- imperative, said Brigadier General Johnny life as they are,” said Dalrymple, a retired define the issues the school faced, he was vices. So, except on rare occasions, she must Weida, who in April 2003 was appointed Air Force colonel who came to the acad- disturbed by what he learned. “The prob- wear a uniform on campus. She must snap commandant of cadets and acting superin- emy in early August to watch her daughter lem was described as a sexual assault is- to attention when an officer enters her dor- tendent (he has since relinquished the lat- in the Acceptance Parade.“I know that the sue,” he said. “But what we found was that mitory area or classroom, salute when an ter post). Immediately,Weida set about im- officials here will take care of everything. I it was really broader and deeper than that. officer passes her outside, and address all plementing sweeping changes called for by don’t fear for my daughter at all.” And it’s not just at the Air Force Aca- those who outrank her as “sir” or “ma’am.” Air Force Secretary James Roche. Laid out Mryamn’s father, retired Air Force Lt. demy.” Her room must be neat and orderly, her in a March 2003 document called “Agenda Col. John Ruth, also attended the parade. The sexual assaults, USAFA officials bed made to specifications, and her clothes for Change,” those new policies cover vir- At Mryamn’s request, he had made the have come to believe, were symptomatic of neatly folded in the drawer beneath it, laid tually every aspect of cadet life: from how journey from Oklahoma City so that he far more deep-seated and insidious prob- out according to a diagram provided her. women are housed at the academy, to how could pin on her newly earned epaulets, or lems that have their roots outside the acad- She can’t display more than two pieces of cadets are disciplined, to how reports of “shoulder boards.” He was so proud, he emy, but which festered inside its gates. personal memorabilia, like photographs, or sexual assaults are handled. said, that he was nearly in tears. He is not Alcohol was often involved in the inci- use non-issue bedding until her second “It’s extremely important that we get worried that his daughter could be sexually dents. Officials also believe a general de- year; can’t have a plant or a coffeepot until this right,” said Weida. The United States assaulted, because he trusts Mryamn to cline in societal values and integrity is her third year; can’t have a television until Air Force wields lethal instruments of na- make good choices. “Each one of those partly to blame. her last year. tional power, and its officers, Weida said, girls put themselves in that situation,” said Several times a week, she must march “can do great harm, because they’ve been Ruth, adding,“I think it’s overblown by the “Every challenge is an to lunch in formation. Attending classes given great responsibility and are asked to media.” and extracurricular activities is a military do things in far-flung places where there’s But there is no such equivocating or de- opportunity to make duty; skipping them could lead to discipli- very little supervision.” nial by the USAFA leadership. nary action. As a freshman, known as a So, what happens at the academy, which “Sometimes it takes a crisis to address your organization “four-degree” or “fourth-classman,” she is graduates 20 percent of all Air Force offi- an issue,” said Commandant Weida.“Every better, and that’s the expected to memorize academy trivia and cers, has implications that extend well be- challenge is an opportunity to make your Air Force regulations, and other informa- yond its secluded 18,000-acre campus at organization better, and that’s the ap- approach we’re tion that she can recite on demand. At the base of the Rocky Mountains. proach we’re taking. We’re not hiding from taking.” football games, she has to do “motiva- Weida arrived at the academy to find it. We’re admitting it, and we’re going to tional” push-ups whenever the Air Force the cadets reeling in the wake of the scan- make it better, if it can be made better by —BRIGADIER GENERAL team scores. dal, focused on what they quietly referred human effort.” JOHNNY WEIDA Throughout her academy career, she to amongst themselves as “Operation Between 1993 and 2002, 142 cadets (in- Graduation,” and little else. “We were just cluding three males) alleged that they were “We looked under the rock of sexual counting the days,” said Priscilla Giddings, sexually assaulted or raped, according to assault, and there was a rattlesnake,” said 21, of Riggins, Idaho, a biology major and an internal Air Force general counsel’s re- Lt. Col. Chris Luedtke, deputy director of competitive power lifter who wants to train port released in June 2003. Nearly two- the Academy Response Team, which was to be a pilot after she graduates in June. thirds of those allegations involved cases in created to ensure that allegations of sexual “I almost cried the first time I came which both the victim and perpetrator assault and sexual harassment are properly back (in April 2003),” said Colonel Debra were cadets, according to the report, but handled and investigated. Gray, vice commandant of cadets.A gradu- only 61 cases were investigated. The actual In a “commandant’s guidance” memo ate of the academy’s class of 1980, the first number of sexual assaults may be much distributed to all the cadets and officer class to admit women, Gray had served in higher: According to a May 2003 survey of squadron commanders in September 2003, the administration twice before. But never female cadets conducted by the Depart- Weida wrote: “If we are to right the course had she seen the cadets like this. “They ment of Defense Inspector General, 80 and put this institution back on an honor- were dejected, they were demoralized. percent of those who said they had been able footing, we must embrace the prob- And I was so sad. It broke my heart.” victims of a sexual assault did not report it. lems and seize the opportunity to do Female cadets are fond of saying that An independent commission chaired by what’s right. We must recognize we have they think of their male classmates as former U.S. Congresswoman Tillie Fowler an environment that incubates sexual ha- “brothers,” and all eight who were inter- subsequently blasted the academy and the rassment until it festers into sexual assault. viewed for this article insisted they feel safe Air Force leadership for failing to respond We must recognize we have an environ- Lt. Colonel Chris Luedtke is deputy and always have. Male cadets were dis- aggressively to the charges, and blamed ment that sometimes marginalizes the director of the team that makes sure tressed to find themselves thought of as what the commission called “a chasm of achievements of our teammates based on sexual assault and harassment rapists. leadership,” and “an atmosphere that their gender. We must recognize we have allegations are investigated. continued next page Page 16 CROSSTALK

from preceding page The new leadership concluded that that PHOTOS BY ROD SEARCEY FOR CROSSTALK an environment that…tolerates the unlaw- was not an effective way to train good ful and inappropriate use of alcohol…tol- leaders. erates violations of cadet wing stan- “If you’re abusive and disrespectful dards…tolerates cynicism.” when you train, then that’s what you’ll get,” That environment was fomented by an said Rosa. institutionalized system that pitted the up- The administration also handed out perclassmen against the freshmen. physical punishments as part of the cadet disciplinary system: Cadets who violated According to a May rules could be forced to march in circles, carrying a training rifle, for hours at a time. 2003 survey of female “We were teaching these cadets the wrong things, things they wouldn’t use after gradu- cadets, 80 percent of ation,” said former squadron leader those who said they Rickman. The new policies have been designed to had been victims of a make the academy more like the opera- sexual assault did not tional Air Force. The cadet disciplinary sys- tem, which relied on demerits and physical report it. punishment, has been replaced by the “The system got off the tracks,” says Academy Superintendent Lt. General John Uniform Code of Military Justice, which Rosa Jr. “Young people did not respect each other.” “The system got off the tracks,” said Lt. also governs the Air Force, and which relies General John Rosa Jr., who was appointed on counseling, admonitions and reprimands Bloomington, Minnesota. “It was really 33 percent of female cadets said they USAFA superintendent in July 2003. (and in extreme cases, legal action). Upper- hard at first to adjust. But it’s made us a bet- would report a sexual assault. That is up “Young people did not respect each other. class cadets still are responsible for helping ter academy.” from 22 percent last year, and twice as high They used power, control, influence.” to train the four-degrees, but they no longer But USAFA officials say true culture as the national average, still, many cadets “As an underclassman, you couldn’t do impose physical punishments, and they no change will be years in the making. “We’ve indicated that they would not report a sex- anything that was right,” recalled cadet longer lead the dreaded afternoon training come a long way, but we still have miles to ual assault for fear of self-incrimination or Priscilla Giddings. “Then once you were an sessions that were known as “beat-downs,” travel in this journey,” said Weida, the acad- ostracism.) upperclassman, you had all this freedom.” which involved prodigious amounts of sit- emy commandant. Thirty incidents of sexual assault and ha- And that freedom was in turn used to ups and push-ups and long “rifle runs.” In the academy’s most recent annual rassment have been reported since April intimidate the new four-degrees, whose Instead, four-degrees have “personal excel- survey of cadets, conducted in August, 54 2003, but it is unclear whether that is good lowly status was reinforced by their other, lence time” to work out on their own. percent of respondents said that sexually news or bad. Even though it is counterintu- informally used names: “doulies,” derived Even basic training has been modified explicit comments are made occasionally to itive, “You know you’re successful if your from the Greek word doulos, or slave, and to reflect the new emphasis on profession- frequently. That number is down from 86 reporting goes up,” Gray said. “If the re- “SMACKs,” an acronym for “Soldiers, alism; there are now limits on the physical percent a year ago, but still too high, accord- porting goes to zero, we know we have a Minus Aptitude, Character and Know- feats the upper-class trainers can demand, ing to USAFA officials. In addition, fewer problem.” ledge.” and a lot less yelling. Gone are the days of cadets—19 percent as compared to 31 per- In the meantime, as part of its “A to Z Upperclassmen often imposed physical 2,005 push-ups, something Priscilla Gid- cent a year ago—reported witnessing sex- scrub,” as Weida described it, leadership is punishments for the smallest infractions. As dings and her squadron once had to per- ual harassment. But underage drinking re- reviewing proposals that would change a four-degree, Priscilla once had to do 50 form. mains a problem: 43 to 58 percent of under- how the honor code is taught and imple- push-ups because she had used an And a “four-class” system that empha- age cadets in the upper three classes re- mented. acronym, which is forbidden. sizes different aspects of leadership training ported drinking in the past year. And USAFA officials are developing an The threat of such “spot corrections” throughout a cadet’s career has replaced And while more than 85 percent of the ongoing assessment to track academy grad- caused her and her classmates to hide from the “fourth-class” system that was almost classes of 2007 and 2008 said they sup- uates who are serving in the Air Force, so the upperclassmen. “Fourth-classmen exclusively focused on getting the four-de- ported efforts to change the culture at the that the academy can see what kind of offi- would be scared to walk into the hallway. grees to toe the line. In addition, the acad- academy, less than 80 percent of the classes cers it is producing.There have been indica- They would be scared to go to the bath- emy significantly stepped up the number of of 2005 and 2006 did. tions that USAFA graduates in the Air room,” said Priscilla. cadet briefings it holds to address sexual as- “A lot of upperclassmen will tell you we Force misbehave more than their counter- “They would be doing push-ups morn- sault and harassment, race, alcohol, and have gone soft,” said Major Rickman. Simi- parts, said Superintendent Rosa. ing, noon and night,” recalled Major James character development. And each of the 36 lar concerns have been expressed by acad- “Are the taxpayers getting their money’s Rickman, chief of standardization, evalua- squadron leaders, known as Air Officers emy graduates.To counter some of the criti- worth from the Air Force Academy? I tion and policy, and a former squadron Commanding, or AOCs, must have a mas- cism, the academy hosted 200-plus alumni don’t think you can answer that question leader. The idea, he said, was “to put as ter’s degree in counseling. at a leadership conference in August de- with facts right now,” said Weida. “Sys- much stress as they could on fourth-class- “Initially, everyone’s impression was signed to educate them about the changes. tematically, we ought to do a better job of men.” that it was a touchy-feely thing,” said AOC The academy has also come under fire answering that question.” Major Joseph Richardson, who already had from victim advocates for the way it is han- Finally, USAFA officials are trying to a master’s degree in aeronautical science dling sexual assault allegations. The new figure out how to prevent trouble before it before he volunteered for his academy as- policies require that every allegation be re- starts, by more careful screening of appli- signment. But he has come to appreciate ported through the chain of command and cants. “If we bring in an 18-year-old who the value of his newly earned graduate de- investigated by law enforcement. doesn’t have a moral compass, you’re gree in counseling and leadership. “The Victim advocates say the threat of losing fooled into thinking you can give them more tools you have in your tool bag, the anonymity could deter victims from seek- one,” said Weida. more equipped you will be to inspire, moti- ing help. But the Air Force can not afford to One thing Weida promises will not hap- vate and lead,” he said. focus exclusively on the victim at the ex- pen at the United States Air Force Aca- Cadets say that the new emphasis on ci- pense of the institution, said Colonel Gray, demy: “We won’t change our standards. If vility and professionalism has already im- who oversees sexual assault allegations. we change our standards, lower our stan- proved both behavior and morale. Even Nearly 85 percent of sexual assaults are dards, then you might as well close the though the sexual assault and harassment committed by non-strangers, and the Air place.” ◆ briefings mostly cover common-sense Force Academy cannot allow a sexual pre- items, “You definitely watch the jokes you dator to remain in its midst and go on to the Kathy Witkowsky is a freelance reporter in tell now,” said Eli Supper, 24, of Santa operational Air Force, she said. “We cannot Missoula, Montana, and a frequent contrib- Barbara, California, now in his third year at have those kind of people in our military.” utor to National Public Radio. the academy. “You’re more self-conscious But she acknowledged that hers is a dif- now.” ficult task. “The odds we’re up against are Under the old academy rules, cadet Fourth-classmen “will always be fourth- astronomical,” she said, since most sexual Priscilla Giddings once had to do 50 classmen,” but “I respect their right to live assault victims are unwilling to come for- push-ups for using a forbidden acronym. now,” said cadet Justin Hinrichs, 23, of ward. (According to the cadet survey,