Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, January 9, 1995 TAG: 9501100041
SECTION: NATL/ITNL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: The Washington Post
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
The annual survey, which is regarded as a good barometer of the outlooks and aspirations of college students, is based on responses from about 238,000 freshmen across the country this fall. It draws a portrait of growing political apathy, rising anxiety over the cost of attending college and sharply divergent views on social issues.
Never in the history of the survey have more students expressed support for capital punishment, for example, but never have more shown support for gun control or gay rights.
Organizers of the survey say that it suggests this year's college freshmen are more indifferent to politics than any class previously surveyed. Only 16 percent of them said that they frequently discuss politics, and only 32 percent called ``keeping up with political affairs'' important. Both figures, which have been declining since the late 1960s, are all-time lows.
``I think the negative campaigning that has come to dominate many elections, and the growing hostility you hear toward government and public service, is certainly being picked up by a lot of young people,'' said Alexander W. Astin, director of the UCLA Higher Education Research Institute, which conducted the survey.
The trends reported in the survey are not necessarily long-term harbingers of college attitudes. Only three years ago, for example, the survey reported a growing number of students who described themselves as politically liberal, but since then those figures have declined slightly. Still, some college officials say that the latest figures clearly reflect the prevailing student mood on their campuses.
``There seems to be a growing sense of, `Well, there's nothing you can really do about changing politics, so why bother?''' said John Muffo, director of academic assessment at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg.
To illustrate his point, Muffo cited the U.S. Senate race in Virginia last fall, an extraordinary political clash between Democrat Charles Robb and Republican Oliver North. ``That was one of the best-known and most closely watched elections in the country,'' he said, ``but on campus you didn't hear much about it at all. It was very low-key.''
The survey also reported steadily increasing fears among college freshmen that the rising cost of tuition may keep them from graduating. The proportion of freshmen expressing doubt about being able to pay for college hit an all-time high of 19 percent.
In 1968, that figure was 8 percent.
``The response to that question had been steady for many years,'' Astin said. ``Suddenly, we've really seen it start to move up.''
Nearly 40 percent of the freshmen questioned said they believed they would need a job to help cover their expenses in college, and almost 6 percent said they would have to work full time.
Other findings in the survey, sponsored by the American Council on Education:
Only 20 percent of freshmen supported abolishing capital punishment, the lowest figure in three decades. Nearly 75 percent said there is ``too much concern shown for criminals.''
Eighty percent said the federal government ``should do more to control handguns.'' Only 34 percent said they supported laws prohibiting homosexual relations.
by CNB