The celebration of mediocrity is on full bloom at Cuesta
Community 67. ______ College in San
Luis Obispo, Calif. Cuesta has instituted a lottery system for admission to
it’s nursing program. This semester, 38 names were pulled
68. ______ at randomly from 156 "qualified applicants"
—those with at least C averages 69. ______ in core
courses. According to the chancellor of California’s community colleges,
grade point averages are an "artificial barrier" to professional school
admission. "We can’t discriminate in favor of students who get A’s over
students those who may be getting B’s," says Amy Grant, dean of
70. ______ nursing instruction at Cuesta.
Prior this year, nursing school admissions at 71.
______ Cuesta were determined by grade point average, recommendations,
medical experience, and an interview. College officials deny that they are
attempting to circumvent California’ s Proposition 209. which bans
affirmative action in state hiring and admissions. There is a
substantial anti-elitism in American life. Job applicants are
72. ______ ejected for being "overeducated" or "over-qualified". David
Halberstam 73. ______ wrote
scornfully of "the best and the brightest" and the "whiz kid" who got
74. ______ us into Vietnam. The intellectual inclined arc
dismissed as "eggheads." 75. ______ Many
college students wear Homer Simpson T-shirts: "Underachiever and proud of
it." NBA players who threaten to kill their coaches earn more in two weeks
than many educators earn in a decade. And Dan Quayle or Ronald Reagan
certainly didn’t win admission in Phi Beta Kappa. The Cuesta
76. ______ lottery admissions program is
consistent with the ration’s revolt against academic standards.