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According to a recent poll, 75 percent of Ivy League students do not know Abraham Lincoln defined democracy as "a government of the people, by the people and for the people." And historical perspective isn't the only thing lacking among Ivy Leaguers. This poll of the Ivy League, written and conducted by a group of 12 University seniors, reveals many other little known facts about the Ivy League students. The poll, which will appear in the issue of U.S. News and World Report that hits stands today, consisted of 3,119 face-to-face interviews with undergraduates of all eight Ivy League schools. "[The poll] is the largest ever done of the Ivy League population," said Adjunct Assistant American Civilization Professor Frank Luntz, who supervised the poll. "This is truly groundbreaking. U.S. News had nothing to compare it to." Topics in the 200-question poll ranged from religious beliefs and political preferences to sexual promiscuity and current affairs. Results of the poll may surprise those who have fostered moralistic beliefs about the Ivies, as well as those who thought Ivy League students are well informed about current events. According to the poll, hard work may be a part of an Ivy Leaguer's education, but so are sex, drugs and alcohol. While 60 percent of 17-year-old Ivy League freshmen say they are virgins, only 12 percent of 22-year-old seniors say they have not had sex. "People tend to make certain generalizations about the Ivy League," said College senior Lisa Nass, a member of the surveying group. "It's interesting to see if those generalizations pan out. Sex, drugs and alcohol turn out to be an integral part of their education." Despite the increasing numbers of sexual experimentation among upperclass Ivy League students, only 56 percent of those polled say they always use birth control. In addition to sex, the frequency of drinking also increases with age, according to the poll. While only 39 percent of freshmen drink alcohol on a weekly basis, 61 percent of seniors do. "The longer students are at school, the more likely they are to experiment," Nass said. Another finding of the survey indicates that white students drink more alcohol and smoke more majiuana than any other race. In terms of religious beliefs, the poll shows that Jewish students make up 26.8 percent of the Ivy League, while 25.2 percent are Protestant and 24 percent are Catholic. College senior Josh Joseph said he worked on the survey questions concerning religion. "In terms of what I covered, I was getting at the root of religion [in the Ivy League]," he said. "I wanted to know what they think and believe." Joseph added that half of those polled said they do pray privately, while about 48 percent of Ivy League students say they are not religious. According to the poll, 28 percent have never attended a religious service and 72 percent would not skip class to attend one. Not surprisingly, the poll also found that the Ivy League is overwhelmingly liberal and pro-choice. Most Ivy League students do not base their beliefs or their votes simply on the basis of a certain political party's platform, however. "They're not blind," said College senior Jeff Lichtman, a member of the polling group. "Their political philosophies are a hybrid of liberal and conservative. They realize that big government is not always good government, such as in cases of the death penalty." While 83.6 percent say they support abortion rights, about half of those polled said they support the death penalty. Lichtman added that the majority of Ivy League students say they are angry with the current government, but half have never attended a political rally and most do not plan to ever run for any political office. "They're angry, they don't trust the government, but on the flip side they don't ask for change," he said. "There's apathy, but at the same time idealism and cyncism. [They say,] 'if I went to a [political] rally, what good will that do?' " College senior Ed Miller, another amateur pollster, said he dealt with the questions which tested Ivy Leaguers' knowledge of current affairs. "The results were startling, shocking and depressing," he said. "People just don't know what's happening." Miller added that while only 50 percent of Ivy League students could name the two senators from their state, 20 percent could not name two senators in the entire Senate. According to the poll, only about 40 percent polled could name four Supreme Court Justices. "There's concern for issues such as abortion, but they don't even know who's making the decisions," Miller said. While the Ivy League is still predominantly white, there are growing numbers of minorities, who make up a little less than 30 percent of the Ivies. About 73 percent of all Ivy Leaguers say there is a race relations problem on their campuses. While white students predicted race relations would be better in the future, black students said they would be worse. The Ivy League poll, which was not funded by the University, was conducted over several months, with the student surveying group putting in long hours, entering poll data by hand. Luntz said the group applied for the Nassau research fund, but was turned down because a Nassau representative said the project "was not doable." Student researchers involved with the poll say they are not sure at this point exactly what all the statistics say about the Ivy League as a whole, but added that the survey will certainly give insight into the students of the Ivies. "Ivy League graduates tend to be tomorrow's leaders," Nass said. "When you look at things in that light, the results [of the poll] take on a whole new meaning."

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