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How nosy political reporters measure up
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April 17, 2000 | It started in November, after Yale University students acquired and threatened to publish alumnus George W. Bush's SAT scores. Employing what now seems like quaint discretion, they chickened out. So the New Yorker printed them in Talk of the Town (Bush's verbal: 566; Bush's math: 640 ). A few months later, Slate revealed Bill Bradley's verbal SAT score (485). Then, just last month, two Washington Post reporters released loads of academic information about Al Gore, concluding that the vice president "was often an underachiever" (verbal: 625; math: 730). When asked what he thought of all this, the New Yorker's political correspondent, Joe Klein, said he adamantly opposes publishing the scores. "I'm against these types of things coming out," he raged. "I think it's an invasion of privacy, I think it's none of our business, and I think these scores are a leading indicator of zip. Zero. I would much rather have a president who screwed around, did serious drugs and learned a lot from it than someone who had 800 boards."
He sighed. "First it was drugs, then sex, now it's grades," he continued. "What's next? Cholesterol levels? The Puritanism of the press in the '90s just amazes me.[Publishing these scores] is a new low for American journalism." Well, then, we've gone even lower. But if turnabout is fair play, why not call the reporters who originally wrote these stories and ask what their scores were? After all, we reasoned, shouldn't we know who's disseminating news in this, the Information Age? Who's to say Maureen Dowd or Robert D. McFadden are academically qualified to feed us the ideas we ingest every day? We commenced. Geoff Kabaservice, Slate
"I did well on the SAT, as I suspect most people did who write about these things," he responded cryptically. "But the thing that is funny about this is that there is no benefit in communicating my SAT scores." Right, right. So ... what did he get? He laughed. "If you have to know, I got a perfect score on the GRE and did almost as well on the SAT." Jane Mayer, the New Yorker Speaking of that, what were her scores? "I don't remember the exact numbers," said the Yale graduate (1977 Phi Beta Kappa). "My English score was in the 700s and my math in the 600s. I did well on them. But I went to school in England so the SATs weren't such a big deal for me. I wasn't surrounded by SAT mania. I was the only person going to an American college. I just went up to London for the day to take the test." Alexandra Robbins, the New Yorker
But isn't that what she did when she published Bush's academic transcript? "Well, yes, I think we started that whole monster," she laughed. "But I think that George W.'s educational experience is relevant for two reasons. First: He himself has pushed education as one of his most important campaign issues but if he didn't care about his own education, as his transcript suggests, then what does that say about the sincerity of his platform?" "Two," she continued, "the fact that George W. went to Yale has been used endlessly to defend him when people charge that he's a witless, empty suit. But if he didn't get into Yale on merit and was indifferent once he got there, then using the defense that he was an Ivy Leaguer is essentially baseless." Well, I cooed to Robbins, trying again, you're obviously an intelligent woman. Certainly you scored well on your SATs, so you have nothing to be ashamed of. Wouldn't you please give me your scores? Please? Pretty please? She laughed but wouldn't budge.
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