ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Wednesday, October 16, 1996            TAG: 9610160037
SECTION: VIRGINIA                 PAGE: C-1  EDITION: METRO 
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: Associated Press

POLL: VMI SHOULDN'T GO EASY VOTERS: TREAT MEN AND WOMEN ALIKE

Female cadets at Virginia Military Institute should get the same rugged treatment as men when they are admitted for the first time next year, respondents to a statewide poll released Tuesday said.

Eighty percent of those surveyed in the Richmond Times-Dispatch-WWBT (Channel 12) Richmond poll said they supported VMI's plan to require the same demanding regimen for both sexes when the 157-year-old school goes coed next fall.

VMI battled in court for six years to exclude women until the Supreme Court ruled in June that the state-supported college had to admit them. Last month, VMI's Board of Visitors voted to accept women rather than try to buy the school from the state and make it private, as many alumni wanted.

Some women's groups have objected to plans to put women through the same grueling training as male cadets. But more women than men in the poll agreed with that decision.

Eighty-four percent of the women surveyed said VMI should keep its training as it is, compared with 80 percent of the men. Sixteen percent of women and 20 percent of men said it should be modified.

``I'm surprised and pleased,'' said William W. Berry, chairman of the VMI board.

VMI expects to enroll at least 30 women next year. Last week, VMI announced it had hired a woman whose primary duty as assistant admissions director will be to recruit women.

The telephone survey of 488 registered voters from Oct.3 through Oct.10 also showed that Gov. George Allen's approval rating had increased slightly from a year ago. Sixty-six percent of the respondents approved or strongly approved of Allen's performance compared with 62 percent in an October 1995 survey. Twenty-three percent disapproved in the latest survey.

And in an early glimpse of a likely matchup for next fall's gubernatorial race, Lt. Gov. Don Beyer, a Democrat, was the choice of 32 percent while 22 percent favored his likely GOP opponent, Attorney General Jim Gilmore. Thirty-seven percent were undecided.

The survey had a margin of error of 4.5 percentage points.

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