High Life / A WEEKLY FORUM FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS : Skipping School Can Cost You Driver’s License

Skip school, lose your driver’s license--that will be the penalty for some California truants under a bill recently signed by Gov. Pete Wilson.

The new law, which takes effect next January, would permit Juvenile Court judges to curb the driving privileges of 13- to 17-year-old wards of the court who ditch school at least three times a year.

Driver’s licenses could be suspended, restricted or delayed for one year each time a teen was found to be a habitual truant.

Judges would have to consider whether the youth needs to drive for job or medical reasons.

The bill is SB 558 by Sen. Cecil Green (D-Norwalk).

For the country’s most talented high school students, getting into medical school is easier than ever.

At the University of Rochester, for example, the top incoming freshmen who want to be doctors are admitted to the undergraduate college and the medical school at the same time. They don’t have to face entrance exams or the medical school application process later.

“By giving excellent students the freedom not to worry, we let them follow their intellectual passions,” says Prof. Theodore Brown, a director of Rochester’s program. “By the time they’re ready for medical school, they’ve led interesting lives.”

Rochester is one of about two dozen schools--Brown and Rice universities among them--with “early assurance” plans.

Three out of four doctors recommend another doctor.”--Graffito