-+''/~ J c' : MSU A~HIV s MSU Clip Sh,eet A sample of recent articles of interest ta Morehead State University Sept. 1, 1999 UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS MOREHEAD STATE UNIVERSITY UPO BOX 1100 MOREHEAD. KY 40351-16S9 (6061 783-2030 Lexington HerElld•leader Wednesday, September 1, 199£l 10-year SAT average up despite recent_dip The scores for Kentucky high­ by professionals and a forum for By Wllllam=itf',,__ len CHICAGO TRIBUCI ,,.~}, • school students who took the SAT answering questions right after an in 1998 remained above the na­ exam. WAS - · - Average tional average. Scholastic "s · 11rut Test scores "The emphasis ... is not on According to the College some kind of 'quick fix,' " said are up;,oyer .~'::• decade de­ Board, 12 percent of Kentucky's spite a shght de/:line in scores over Gretchen Rigo!, the College high-school seniors took the SAT. Board's vice president of special the last year, according to test re­ scoring 547 on each part. The na­ sults of this fall's oollege freshman programs. "We are going to help tional average was 511 on math students develop their verbal and class released yesterday. and 505 on the verbal. Officials at the College Board, mathematical reasoning skills, In 1997, about 13 percent oi their thinking skills." the organization that administers the state's seniors took the test. the SAT; called the nine-point The board said the Web site is scoring 550 on the math portion intended to help minorities and math score increase to 511 and end 547 on the verbal. one-point verbal.score increase to other students who usuallv do not The SAT scores are not repre­ seek test preparation guidance. 505 over the past 10 years a sentative of all Kentuckv students "decade of promise," while cau­ Over the past year, math aver­ tioning that the gains do not make because only the students going ages for all minority groups up for 30 years of slippage. The to Eastern or Midwestern colleges dropped. But in the past decade. take it, Robert Sexton, executive maximum SAT·eoore is 800. average verbal and math scores The members of the class of director of the Prichard Commit­ rose ior all but Mexican-Ameri­ 1999 scored six points lower in tee ior Academic Excellence. has cans and Hispanics. math and 35 points lower in ver­ said in past years. Rigo! said the drop in those bal than their parents' generation Kentucky colleges and univer­ scores could be attributed to the graduating in 1969, which didn't sities require the American College growing number of test takers have personal computers and the Tes ting Program assessment, and who do not speak English as a Internet because of that, the majority of the tirst language. "That's not good news:· said state's seniors take that test. The College Board also report­ Gaston Caperton, president of the The state's average ACT ed that its popular advanced place­ College Board and a former gover­ scores have remained fairly stag­ ment program. which offers col­ nor of West Viqpnia. "(We must) do nant for the past four years and lege-level classes to high school stu­ more to support public school sys­ fall below the national average. dents. has been increasing rapidly. tems so those sans will get better." Over the last year, the average Over the past decade, the num­ -·-·- ::.::- - math score dropped one point and ber of students taking such cours­ Iowa and North Dakota tied the average verbal score remained es. which end in a test that is often for the top average verbal scores unchanged for the fourth straight counted for college course credit. at 594, although both had only 5 year as 1.2 million graduates. or has increased by 390,000. A total percent of students take the SAT. 43 percent of the nation's high of 704,000 students took advanced North Dakota also had the highest sc!1ool seniors. took the test. placement tests this year, 30 per­ average math score at 604. T1, help improve scores. the cent of whom were minorities. Hawaii recorded the lowest board next month will begin offer­ average verbal score at 482 and The number oi schools offer­ ing a Web site that will share test­ mg the courses jumped by 4,0011 South Carolina had the lowest m·­ taking tips, discussion groups led in the last ten years to 12,886. erage math score at 475. THlf ~L~~UNTY T111ei FRIDAY; AUGUST 27, 1999 Education pays; t,vo:~~Kerlt:u·e~n: switching career tracks · FRANKFORT - Riding 1hc their 1ra1111nr. at thl' Cmcmnari State hefore rn mv life:· !he mother of wuh full benefits that pays " rails working on a• train brings up Technical a;,d Commum1y College three teen-aie hoys said. She said "It's made a 100 percent imrro images of the old west and jobs through 1hc Cahmet for Workforce her house is about 50 feel from the ment rn my life. I wish I had don trom a bygone era. but two laid off Development. railroad. "ll cracks them up," she IO years ago, .. she said. Kentuckians found they had futures Mr.:Cuhhins 111quired at her local said ol her sons· reaction to her job. McCubbins encourages lll :1'- train conductors. Employment Services office about Mt.:Cuhbins said rhat her hus• dislocated workers to get cduca1 In a matter of weeks. Cythiana returning lO schlllll alter she was hand. \\ IHI repairs train cars for and training even if they have h1 Mi.:Cuhhins of Louisville and laid ofl lwm a l:mdscaprn~ compa• CSX. d1dn'1 re-ally 1h111k she was out of school for a while. She s Lowell Blevms of Ashland com­ ny. --1 havl' hcen lmam:iallv emhar• ~orng 111 ~o through with the 1ra111- she quit school in 12th grade ; plt!1cd 1heir education and training rasscd all of Ill\." hie and 1hought 1l ing, but she surprised him. later earned a GED when she , w;,, 11111c 1t1 d;an!!t'." McCuhhins. t\1 hccome train conduc1ors for ¥ As :1 condU1.:tor. she connects 28 "They can do u. All you !!O CSX Railroad. ''. ,;11d and sw1t1.:hcs the tram cars and docs do•~ put your mind lo it." .shes: rhrowz.h their local Deparlmcnt l.111k did :-.he .,_mnv 1hat 1114u1r~ all the paperwork. McCubbins 1s happ) lnr Empioymcnt Scrvicc.s o!Ticl' \\ ould k:ul her 111 a railroad job. Of (JU{.l employees at CSX, 1wo changed c:irecr:,; "Ir's dcfinucl 1lu.. ·v tound out about the Jt,1, ti.k( 'ubhms has hcen a condur.:10r cn~mcl'rs and -:,;n conductors arc ~reat 1nh. I It •n.· 11." she said ir:;mmJ.? Partnership Ar.:t\ UTP:\ 1 (lll a 1rc1eh1 tr:1111 IDr nwrt· lhan :: WlllllCll d1,l<1ca1cd wort..ers prngrnni JT!' \. n·.1r arid ~n1rb on the l.ou1svillc 111 !\kCubbm, ,.lid education pav, ~d11d1 1\ now called the Workh ~. ·· N.1,h\·11Jc lrnt· tt,r lier t,l-..:.m:-.t· ,ht· h:t\ a l!rl"al p1b llc.:vclopmenl Ar.:t (\VIA). paid ll 1; · 1 !: ul llt'\t'I J,n·n on ,I 11am rtl hl'COtlll' ;1 cont..lui.:tor. itiaJm,!! doL'k for 20 vears. the com­ 1 le said his favorite part about \kCubbins wcnl lll schoul lt 1r live pany merged with another compa­ w11: king on a train is seeing the ·seeks and was hired 1h:: sixth nv and thl' workers lost their jobs. country and wildlife. He works on 1 week. She then -:umpletctl si., \\ hile he was with the loading thl' Huntrnglon division and travels weeks of on-1hc-iob m:nmng. Jock. he also worked as a deckhand al11·1g the New River in West Blevins worked as a conduchH and barge handler. Blevins was oul \.IT:..!!Oia. lor CSX for a year-and-a-half and llf work lor a year-anJ-a-half 13 levins said without a college 1hen continued his education lll oefore enrolling in the JTPA rw­ <lc!!-rce, a trai'ning program was the become an engineer. He has been gram. He wanted to stay in the he,1 way for him to get a good pay­ •.v11h CSX for two years. As an Ashland area, hu1 several ma.1t1r ing 10b with a future. "I had been ene:ineer, he operates the train. ~ompanies had downsized. out of schoolc for a while. The ~To become an ene:inecr he went "lf it wasn't for this opportun11y trarning was ·rough. but it was to school for six w~eks and then dTPAl I do11·1 know whal I would wo11h it," Blevins said. "It's unbe­ i.:ompleted a 21-week on-the-joh ha\ t· done in this area," Blevins liC\ able what they teach you in six training program. sm~L weeks." Blevins was the first person to He said he became interested in I le was among 25 Kentuckians have the training approved and the training because the pay was ·to receive a Job Training funded by JTPA- He said he saw an compatible with what he was mak­ Pannership Act award from the advertisement for training and went in!! as a riverboat pilot. The job also Kentucky Cabinet for Workforce to the Ashland Depanment for r14ued his interest. "Anything Dc,·elopment. Employment Services office and mo1orized I've always been faSci­ talked to Pat Elam aboul 1he tr:un­ nat:=d with." he said. mg. It was approved and others IHcvlns said he recommends the like McCubbins have followed in tra11110g program to other people the program.