Admission Requirements

BERNIECE Davis took life at full tilt. She worked. Spent time with her husband and two kids. Enjoyed volunteering at church. Even when she was exhausted or busy, she admits, she had trouble saying no to anyone who wanted her time. "I tried to be all things to all people," says the 45-year-old Los Angeles woman. Then the pain started. Last October, Davis began feeling discomfort in her abdomen. "In early January," she recalls with a grimace, "it got worse.

USC, which opens practice Friday in preparation for its season opener Sept. 6 against Florida State, has lost recruit Michael Pollard, a linebacker from Long Beach Poly, because he did not meet academic requirements. Pollard could still enroll at USC in the spring if he meets NCAA eligibility and USC admission requirements before then.

One of France's most prestigious colleges announced that it will ease admission requirements for some students, stirring an impassioned debate about how to diversify the nation's top schools. The Institut d'Etudes Politiques is considered a training ground for France's political, media and bureaucratic elite. The administrative board voted to waive the school's exam for some underprivileged candidates, requiring them to submit a portfolio and undergo an interview.

Your editorial, advocating lower passing scores for the California bar examination, is typical of your liberal drive for mediocrity in our society. It would make more sense to raise the score necessary to pass the examination, thereby freeing many people for more useful pursuits than the practice of law. Let us insist that admission requirements for all professions in California remain high. PETER MILHAM Woodland Hills

Saddleback College will host a mini-fair for students interested in transferring to four-year universities and colleges Thursday in the student quad. Students are welcome to attend the free event to learn more about transfer and admission requirements for more than 25 institutions from across the nation.

UC Irvine announced that basketball players Todd Whitehead and Raheem Muhammad will not play this season because of academic reasons. Whitehead, a 6-foot-4 swingman from Los Angeles Fremont High was ruled academically ineligible. Whitehead would have been a junior this season after averaging 7.5 points in 26 games last season. Muhammad, a 5-7 guard who signed a letter of intent with Irvine last spring, did not meet admission requirements. He played at L.A.

David Miles, who played basketball last season at Orange Coast College, did not meet admission requirements at Arizona State and will not be eligible this season, Coach Steve Patterson said Thursday. Miles, a 6-foot-6-inch forward, needed to earn an associate's degree to transfer, but did not get the necessary grades during summer school, Patterson said.

George McQuarn, Cal State Fullerton coach, has used the word nothing to describe the impact of the Titans' inside game this season. And now he will have to get along with less. Carl Pitts, the team's No. 4 scorer (7.4 points per game) and fourth-leading rebounder (5 a game), quit the team Tuesday and dropped out of school.