Christina Domenico | Passing the important tests

"What was the source of the following phrase: 'government of the people, for the people, by the people?'"

Your choices are: the "I Have a Dream" speech, the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution or the Gettysburg Address.

If you don't know the answer, don't fret - I missed it too (It was the Gettysburg Address). We're definitely not alone, either. Only 21 percent of Americans knew the correct response to that question in a study conducted by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute. The ISI sought to uncover how a college education impacts a citizen's civic literacy. Seventy-one percent of the 2,508 subjects failed the 33-question Civics Quiz, which covers America's "founding principles, political history, international relations and market economy."

Thirty-two percent of college graduates incorrectly answered that the president has the power to declare war (Congress), and only 33 percent knew the Bill of Rights expressly prohibits establishing an official religion for the United States (the First).

Startling? I thought so too, especially after I took the quiz and correctly answered 30 questions for a passing 91 percent. Apparently my high-school A.P. Government lessons have staying power.

As college students and citizens, this widespread failure should alarm us. It's our job to take the reins and guide America in the right direction. But how can we go forward if we don't even know where we started?

One of the study's major findings illustrated a potential solution to this disappointing reality - adding civic studies classes to undergraduate curricula across the country. Unlike virtually every other argument plaguing the nation this year, conservatives and liberals actually agreed on this proposition.

Since college students will one day ascend to become the nation's next civic leaders, they should have a working knowledge of the American government and economy. Right now, the vast majority can't pass a short quiz on their own country.

An additional finding of the ISI's study was that the average score of elected officials was 44 percent -- five percentage points lower than those who have not held elected office. Some did score along with the top test-takers, but the few who performed well didn't outweigh those who performed poorly.

Elected officials should know the history of the country they represent. No wonder we're in such a mess right now. Elected or not, as American citizens, all college students should graduate with a basic familiarity with civics. Yes, it takes a while to fulfill all the requirements of your major, but in the long run, knowing our inalienable rights is probably worth the time.

Currently, Penn's requirements across all four schools don't mandate any study of American civics. The College of Arts and Sciences' curriculum requires a course that fulfills the "Cultural Diversity in the U.S." bubble on the worksheet for all students in the class of 2012 and beyond. But culture is not civics. FOLK 157, "Accordions in the New World," probably doesn't cover how a progressive tax works.

Obviously, there are courses within this foundational approach that deal with American civic history - though even I wish I'd taken "Jazz: History and Style" instead of "History of American Law."

And students do have the flexibility within the General Requirements and with their electives from all four schools to take a course that deals with the framework of our society.

I only knew the answers to questions regarding macroeconomics and the Federal Reserve because I took ECON 002. To spread this trend throughout the student body, Penn could require that students take one class that covers some area of civics. It could even double count with another requirement, but there's no reason for us to graduate civically ignorant.

The Penn undergraduate student body probably isn't in too much trouble as a whole, but the findings of the ISI study were fairly consistent across demographics. Over half of the subjects with undergraduate degrees failed the quiz as well. If there are any test scores we need to boost, it's these.

Because at the rate we're going, we'll have a president one day who won't know his or her own powers.

Christina Domenico is a College senior from North Wildwood, N.J. Her e-mail is domenico@dailypennsylvanian.com. The Undersized Undergrad appears on Wednesdays.

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