While reading rates have decreased in recent years and children are spending more time on the Internet and playing video games, Steven Greene, associate professor of political science, said it does not mean Americans are becoming less intelligent.

In a recent column about Americans’ lack of intelligence in the Washington Post, Susan Jacoby cited a report from the National Endowment for the Arts that said reading rates are declining, but Greene said her arguments were off base.

“All she can really show with any certainty is that we read newspapers and books less,” Greene said. “As an avid reader of both, I think that’s a shame, but does it really mean we’re dumber? For one, reading a newspaper online ends up coded as ‘time spent on the internet’ not ‘time spent reading a newspaper.'”

According to Greene, there is not enough evidence to support that the U.S. is getting less intelligent. “The simple truth is there are way more options for people to spend their time now… and this surely takes time away from reading — even for me,” he said. “But it is quite a stretch to conclude that Americans are therefore dumber.”

Cameron Jones, a sophomore in engineering, said even though people are using their time differently, it does not affect their intelligence. “I can’t imagine that we as Americans are getting less intelligent,” Jones said. “There are more college graduates in the United States now then there were 50 years ago, and I think this is a good reflection of a nation’s intelligence.”

But David Coley, a sophomore in business management, said the issue is not whether people are less intelligent, but divisions being made by the education system.

“The gap between educated or professional individuals and the working class is definitely widening,” Coley said. “I think this is because our high school system is antiquated. We need to have trade schools open for individuals who know they aren’t going to college.” Trey Kirby, a sophomore in business management, said students’ results have shown that they are getting more intelligent.

“I learned in a psychology class that IQ tests have to be revised every year because people are slowly getting smarter,” Kirby said. “Education reform may be necessary, but overall I think we as a country aren’t doing too bad.”