You are a high school senior in Alaska waiting for an acceptanceletter from SMU and other universities you applied to.

For two-thirds of the disabled students in Alaska, any letterfrom a university may only add salt to wounds received from notgraduating.

Starting in June, students in Alaska will be required to take anexit exam in order to graduate. From a quick glance, the idea seemsacceptable.

The examinations in Alaska will test the students in threedistinct areas — reading, writing and mathematics. However,the issue of fairness comes into question in regards to how thestate’s disabled students get treated.

According to federal law, students with disabilities have theright to receive assistance on school tests to a certain extent.For example students with learning disabilities are allowed to usea calculator or spell-check on tests. Blind children have questionsread out to them.

Unfortunately, the students are denied the same accommodationsusually afforded them during standard class examinations, accordingto a recently filed lawsuit against the Alaska Board ofEducation.

The suit charges that it is discriminatory to not providedisabled students with equal assistance when they take the exitexams. According to state regulations, if students receiveassistance on their exams, they would be deemed invalid.

The exit exam may be different in that it is for overallcomprehension, but these students’ disadvantages are nodifferent.

Disabled students have the same challenges as before and must beaccommodated until they overcome them. Yes, not all disabledstudents will overcome their challenges, but they can lessen theseverity of these in their life. Many universities continue to helpdisabled students.

SMU’s disabled students, who are closer on the educationladder to the real world, also receive the necessaryassistance.

Most syllabi distributed to SMU students at the beginning ofeach semester include contact information for Rebecca Marin, thecoordinator of services for students with disabilities. How can theAlaska school board, and any other state that chooses to followsuit, set their students up to fail?

If disabled children were discriminated against like this in thepast, we would not have the theory of relativity, the light bulb orthe telephone.

The Child Development Institute reports that Albert Einstein,Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell all had learningdisabilities. They are not alone. The list of learning disabledstudents include U.S. Presidents John F. Kennedy, Dwight D.Eisenhower and Woodrow Wilson.

Do academic institutions want to risk losing the next genius,inventor or president?