The Michigan Daily-Friday, June 15, 1979-Page 3
Coaching courses claim to boost scores
By SARA ANSPACH
Tuition fees range from $200 to more than $500, the
course work can be grueling, and the benefits are, at
best, uncertain. But each year 300,000 students enroll in
private "coaching schools" - profitable enterprises
that claim the ability to boost their pupils' scores on
standardized admissions tests.
Coaching courses are offered by many agencies
across the country for nearly every standardized test.
The Stanley H. Kaplan Center, the largest coaching
school with 80 centers throughout the United States, of-
fers preparation courses for a great number of testing
acronyms including the SAT, LSAT, MCAT, GMAT,
PSAT/NMSOT. GRE. MAT. DAT. OCAT. VAT, and the
PCAT.
THE RELATIVE SUCCESS of "coaching" for a test
designed to measure a-student's aptitude rather than
achievement in certain subject areas, has been con-
tinually subject to controversy. The Educational
Testing Service (ETS), parent of many tests, claims
significant point gains cannot be obtained by attending
a 'cram' course.
ETS's stance, however, is disputed by numerous par-
ties, including many of the students who take these
courses every year. Kaplan advertisements boast that
70 per cent of their new enrollees act upon the recom-
mendations of former students, and other preparation
services make similar claims.
Most coaching schools keep records of how well
students do on tests after they 'graduate' from a cour-
se. Kaplan ads claim there is an average increase of 50
to 100 points for test repeaters. University LSAT
Preparation Service, a school based in Livonia,
Michigan, says the median score for the school's
students on the LSAT (Law School Admissions Test) is
652, and those repeating- the test after taking their
course, gain an average of 72 points. John Sexton's
LSAT Preparation Center claims "many" of their
pupils' scores have jumped more than 250 points.
THESE STARK DIFFERENCES between the
school's advertising claims and the ETS's traditional
position prompted the Federal Trade Commission
See PRIVATE, Page 14
Newcomers
find out how
to cope with
the big 'U'
By TIM YAGLE
The short period between high school
graduation and most students' first day
on a college campus leaves little time to
adjust to the competitive University
environment.
In an annual program that began last
Sunday and continues until Aug. 10,
University Orientation Director Dr.
Donald Perigo and his staff are trying
to make that rough psychological tran-
sition a little easier to-handle for some
4,800 freshpersons and transfer studen-
ts.
PERIGO SAYS the goal of the Sum-
mer Orientation program is "to allow
them (new students) an opportunity to
experience campus life and to meet
other new students with common con-
cerns. We know what their concerns are
and we're trying to address them."
According to Perigo, the groups of
students who come to campus in three-
day intervals (transfer students stay
only two because they don't take any
tests) have a set itinerary for attending
seminars on college life, and how to
study and budget one's time. They meet
with faculty advisors from each of the
17 University colleges. Academic coun-
selors help to map out the students'
curriculum and inform them of degree
requirements. Students view films and
slide shows on the myriad of student
organizations they may want to join.
Freshpersons also face a barrage of
writing and foreign language tests for
placement in and out of courses.
See FRESHPERSONS, Page 12
Daily Photo By HJiMKR Z
SOPHOMORE CRAIG PERNICK (left) explains the academic maze at the University to two friends, Sheryl Baum (seated)
and Gary Epstein (right), who will attend the University next Fall as freshpersons. Baum and Epstein are among the
some 4,800 freshpersons who will sample University life during orientation this summer.
Court considers
By BETH PERSKY equally in sc
The "Black English" case, the first of barrier.
ACCORDIIS
its type in the country, completed its torney, Gabe
initial week of deliberations in a U.S. are either "e
District Court in Detroit yesterday. anger
The suit, filed against the Ann'Arbor danger of b
Board of Education in 1977, alleges that stigmatizedt
11 children from the Green Housing talk."
Project near North Campus who attend t Kamowitz
the city's Martin Luther King, Jr. the children i
Elementary School, are not treated case as race,
dling the cas(
today
Uppers and Adolph Hitler
A Minnesota psychiatrist has concluded that
Adolph Hitler was hooked on uppers during World
War II. Dr, Leonard Heston said he began resear-
ching Hitler's behavior in 1972 after he became
fascinated with a book's description of Hitler. The
book, written by Hitler's personal architect and
minister Albert Speer, noted that Hitler's left hand
began to shake shortly after the start of World War
II. The tremor spread to his left leg, right hand, and
right leg. Then the Fuehrer began to chew on his
fingers. 'Heston said microfilm copies of Hitler's
medical records indicate that the German leader
suffered from stomach cramps, and that his doctor
prescribed amphetamines, which were new on the
market. Heston said Hitler liked the speed because
he believed the pills kept him at his mental peak.
Tip-toeing over the yellow brick
road
Whengmost Michiganians think of the city of
'Black English' case
hool because of a language everything out except the language
barrier."
NG TO the plaintiffs' at- . Wednesday the 11 young plaintiffs
Kamowitz, the children and one other child from the housing
unctionally illiterate or in project, testified before the court, and
ecoming so - they are attracted a great deal of media atten
because of the way they tion.
"I'M UNAWARE of any educational
said the poverty-level of trial that has generated as much media
s as critical a factor in the interest," said defense attorney John
, but that the judge han- Weaver.
e, Charles Joiner, "threw
See BLACK, Page 14
Holland, they envision the cascades of multi-colored
tulips for which the western Michigan town is
famous. But for 1,000 members of the International
Wizard of Oz Club, Holland is paved with yellow
brick roads. The Oz fans are expected to gather in
Holland beginning today for their 10th annual
meeting, organizers said yesterday. There also is a
rumour circulating that actress Margaret
Hamilton, who immortalized the Wicked Witch of
the West in the 1939 version of The Wizard of Oz, will
greet the Oz fans. Hamilton has spent the last
several years pushing Maxwell House coffee on TV
commericals. The death of Tin Man Jack Haley,
however, may dampen the spirit of the gathering.
Happenings
... are laid-back today as the last full week of
classes for Spring Term ends. International folk
dancers will invade the Liberty Plaza at 7:30 p.m.
... the Canterbury Loft presents Michael Garcia,
"Night Writings: Prose and Poetry Reading," at
332 S. State St., 8 p.m.... FILMS: Ann Arbor
Public Library-The Spy Who Came In From the
Cold, 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., at the library's Meeting
Room ... Ann Arbor Film Co-op-Origin of the
Species: Punk and ProtoPunk, 7 p.m. and 10:20
p.m.; Island of Lost Souls, 8:40 p.m., both in Aud. 4,
MLB.. Cinema II-Conrack, 7:30 p.m. and 9:30
p.m., Aud. A, Angell Hall... Cinema
Guild-Cooley High, 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., Old A
& D Aud.
On the outside. .
Well, it'll be warmer again today. Actually, you
could say it'll be hot. If you lived in Death Valley,
though, you might consider it- a cold snap. On the
other hand, if you lived inside the Arctic Circle,
these temperatures would be unheard of. But in Ann
Arbor, the high temperature will be near 80'. Well,
it'll be more like the mid-80s. It will be sunny, too.
Expect the low to be a mild 60'.
J