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I think that while a writing portion of the SAT could be helpful, the way it is currently implemented clearly is not.
Grading writing sections of standardized tests is a tricky thing, and often penalizes the better writers who have managed to get beyond the 5-paragraph essay format (which is NEVER used anywhere except in high school, by the way). I know that Wisconsin students used to have to take standardized tests periodically (tests that did include writing sections), and the better writers in the class often scored lower than the mediocre writers because everything was graded on a one-size-fits-all standard that was aimed at functional but uninteresting writing.
I think it's good for colleges to have a writing sample that they can verify is written by the student and not overzealous parents, a helpful older sibling, or a private tutor. (Do schools even get the SAT writing samples, or do they just see the scores?) However, if the primary factor that's being graded is length -- and accuracy of facts isn't even brought into the picture, that's something that needs to be addressed.
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