High school students may not break out in a cold sweat before taking the Scholastic Aptitude Test anymore. The college board has revised the test, and some say it may be easier than the original.

Calculators and 10 "bubbling" questions have been introduced to the math part. These questions, which are not multiple choice, must be answered using a numerical code. The antonym section of the SAT has also been eliminated and more critical reading has been added to the verbal section.

"It's basically the same test," said David English, director of continuing education at Shenango Campus. "There are only a few revisions."

The SAT has been updated in order to test current classroom knowledge. The changes in the new Scholastic Assessment Test I: The Reasoning Test (SAT I) will not affect University policy, said Geoffrey J. Harford, director of the division of admissions services and evaluation in the undergraduate admissions office.

After March 19, colleges will begin accepting scores from the new test, but the scores of the old tests will take about a year to be completely phased out, English said.

The SAT counts as one-third of the University's evaluation of applicants and this will not change, Harford said. Other criteria include final high school grades and advanced-placement credits. Although the University is not currently considering changing its evaluation, it is possible, he said, adding that the University reviews its standards annually.

Besides the current changes, Shannon Ewing, a junior at State College Area High School, has a few more suggestions for the college board.

"They need to give more 10-minute breaks," she said. "They should give more time in the reading sections of the test. I don't know if I like the addition of more reading sections."

The exam changes consider the rise in technology, including the use of calculators in high school. Because they have gradually been phased into the high school curriculum, the SAT I must reflect this change in education, said Lynne Sim, Bellefonte Area High School guidance counselor.

Although Bellefonte Area High School trains students to use calculators, Sim said students unskilled with a calculator will not be too disadvantaged. Calculators will enable students to make fewer errors and complete the sections more quickly. But students without calculators will still be able to complete the exam, she said.

But Christy Bottiglio (sophomore-secondary education) said the calculator concept promotes the wrong idea about testing. Students can prove their thinking patterns by using scrap paper, she said, adding, "it encourages people to use a machine instead of their minds."

The current changes have been reviewed by the college board for at least two years, English said. The SAT I was already given randomly to high school students last year, English added.