This project assesses whether people can make valid judgments of another's personality and attitudes on the basis of limited information. The following essay was written for an education examination a few years ago by a Carleton junior, Allison Mackie.

The question, which the instructor assigned, was the following:

"Please construct a strong argument against proposals to replace the current practice of direct funding of public schools with a voucher system for potential use in public and private schools."

"School vouchers will destroy the school systems of America. Vouchers will not increase school choice because the only people who will be able to choose are those with the means to place their children in a school that might not be right around the corner. Vouchers will decrease the quality of public schools by drawing money away from poor inner city schools and giving it to either rich suburban schools or private schools.

Vouchers would reduce or eliminate the ability of communities to have the kind of school they want by reducing their ability to pay into their local school through their property taxes. In this fashion, the sense of the "community school" will become a thing of the past.

Vouchers would reduce integration and diversity rather than increase it by polarizing schools. It would increase pressures on students to pick the "right" school and increase recruiting of athletes."

-Allison Mackie