Rector plays down pressure

DENPASAR, Bali: The Rector of Udayana University, Nyoman Sutawan, is feeling the pressure of a flood of memos from parents wanting their children admitted to the state college.

Sutawan, who said he was bearing up well, clarified that the parents, some in powerful positions, are wasting their time because the admission test results are managed with computers which cannot lie.

"The machines are not able to read the memos," he told Antara.

He said senders of the letters range from his close friends to influential government officials.

Minister of Education and Culture Wardiman Djojonegoro recently asked university rectors to ignore such pressure and admit only qualified students.

Admission tests for state universities will be conducted nationwide next week. (rms)