It doesn't add up

On-line Forty-Niner

April 1,1998

 

A recent story in The Los Angeles Times revealed that many Cal State Long Beach students may need some help reading this article. More than two-thirds of incoming freshmen at Cal State University are lacking in the areas of English and math.

 

CSULB shows 54 percent of new freshmen needing remedial English and 59 percent needing remedial math.

This is a good thing if CSULB is compared to Cal State Dominguez Hills, where 81 percent of the freshmen need remedial English,and remedial math is needed for 87 percent of the freshmen.

 

CSULB does not look so good when compared to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, though, where the remedial needs for freshmen are17 percent for English and 19 percent for math.

 

One must wonder what high schools are teaching students. Why must a university such as CSULB need to take the time to teach students the basics they should have already learned?

 

The institute for higher learning was established to make people into critical thinkers, not teach them how to add and subtract.

 

Time at college should be spent fine-tuning a person's basic knowledge, and then giving information in courses which broadens one's perspectives on the world.

 

Allowing a student to enter the California State University system without the basic skills to survive in the world of academia does not benefit the student. He or she is quickly relegated to mediocre grades, and will ultimately hit the proverbial brick wall during the learning process.

 

We hope the CSU's new chancellor, Dr. Charles Reed, will be instrumental in turning this sorry state of remedial affairs around. One solution is to have students take remedial courses in the summer before they attend college, but learning these skills and applying them to one's life should begin as early as possible.

 

The best solution is to have students get up to speed long before they receive their diploma and drive off to Cal State Anywhere.

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