University decisions not job of lawmakers

Proposed legislation designed to force state universities to grant college credit to students who attain a "3" or higher on an AP exam is not "ridiculously reasonable" as asserted by Representative Mark Battinick; it is merely ridiculous.

It is foolhardy hubris for state legislators to dictate standards of academic competence to university officials. Already the state university system is flailing due to the legislature's irresponsible fiscal mismanagement and shortsighted budget cutting. Strong students do not want to apply for admission to universities that appear to have low standards, are on a weak fiscal footing, or whose faculty has been gutted due to early retirements and the departure of academics who have taken their grant money and left for schools with more promise.

Our flagship university in Champaign Urbana last year did not fill its freshman class. Nearby states are actively - and successfully - recruiting top Illinois high school graduates for college.

I urge citizens to contact state legislators and tell them to stop meddling in universities' academic decisions, decisions which legislators are quite unqualified to make; and to invest in our state universities rather than allow them to continue to decline.

Kim Freitag

Elgin