Is University of Chicago Becoming Too `Normal'?

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Students, faculty and alumni are decrying what they call the `dumbing down' of a renowned institution to attract more students, make more money and become more `normal.'

The University of Chicago long has been revered as a place for serious scholarship, attracting academic whiz kids and research wunderkinds from around the globe. More students and professors from the university --70, to be exact--have received Nobel prizes than from any other school in the world.

But academic changes are under way that some fear may undermine the intellectual heart of the school's identity and its unprecedented record of success. The university, where President Clinton will speak at the June 12 commencement, is cutting its highly touted and rigorous undergraduate core curriculum. Critics call the decision …