policy analyst in the new america foundations education policy program, and from eugene oregon jim rollins, director of admissions of the university of oregon, and jim, let me return to you, one thing that has changed about applying is that we have moved from the old three or four colleges to students commonly applying to 12 and 15 and even more because of the ease of appliances with the common application and applying by computer. has that paradoxically kept the s.a.t. and the a.c.t. in the game because you have to assess so many more applications? i think it has, but i think they are are all subtleties. i wouldn't say nationally it is 12 to 15, certainly among a certain segment of schools that happens. but the bottom line, is even -- might have a little and having watched my own daughter go through that process last year, i can guarantee you those schools requiring a common app are not so easy. but either way, i think your point is a great one, for whatever reasons and whatever motivations the fact that students are applying in greater numbers there are many students in the first place,

. >> jim rollins, you're the end user arguably, what use is the act to a college admissions department? >> the act, or set each serve a role with us as one of the several pieces that let's us see something about the trajectory, we wouldn't every want a test to tell us the same thing that the curriculum and the gpa already tell us, because then it would be redundant. either way, many of the things professionals have valued about tests in general, is that they do give us some small insight into a way to measure students readiness in certain ways. mass not depend on variances of grading and grading culture at the high school. it does give us one small thing that is nonno maturer the student is. >> from what you know so far, about the changes that are contemplated in the test, do you think the results are going to be more useful to you now? >> i don't think anything about the announcement answered that question for us. it simply lets us know what to be on the look out for, and the next go years as the s.a.t. finishes and as the college board hopefully -- and i take them at their word when

joining me now is jay rollins, retired american airlines captain and a former u.s. navy pilot and jimh, an nbc law enforcement analyst. thank you both for coming on the show tonight. >> thanks, reverend. >> you bet. >> jay, let me start with you again. we haven't confirmed this news report, but if it is true, it certainly lends the impression that everything was pretty much normal right up until the transponder shuts off. what's your reaction? >> i read over the transcript that they put out and i don't see anything that odd in it, reverend. all i saw was pretty much normal communications with regard to the repeating the flight level the second time. sometimes a pilot will do that. they may have forgot than they just did it with the previous call in and they just wanted to make sure. that doesn't particularly bother me, either. the fact that they haven't found anything in that debris field -- >> well, before you go into the debris field because i want to talk about that. jim, what stands out to you about this latest report? >> reverend, just like jay said, it seems like normal. i read

jim cavanaugh is an nbc law enforcement analyst and back with us is jay rollins, retired american airlines to all of you for being here. >> thank you. >> now, to breaking news today could narrow this investigation. we, again, don't know if these imagines are debris from the missing jet. but if it is confirmed, the question remains, were the pilots involved? let's go around starting with tom. in light of the news, what's your take on the pilot? >> well, we never heard a mayday and the first thing a pilot would do besides handling the situation would be to notify air traffic control that there was a problem. we never heard that. the plane either executed a divert flight plan or the heading select was moved to a course that would take it to the west of its way point position or it's course to china. beyond that, the debris or the focus now which seems to be very narrow and very intense is based on a satellite imagine of debris that is probably in line -- it is in line with the fuel -- the limit of the plane to fuel exhaustion, to the point of fuel exhaustion. but this is like flying from new