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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 24, 1948)
Student Graders on Way Out; Liberal Arts College Takes Lead \ _ One of the systems of college academic life, apparently a necessary accompaniment of grades, tests, and professors, re ceived a blow last Monday which may be its death warrant. Department heads in the college of liberal arts, headed by Dean Eldon Johnson, met and discussed, generally, graders, and specifically, undergraduate student graders. Graders are those persons who mark and evaluate students papers. They are not professors, but are hired by the Uni versity to assist professors in their grading tasks. Graders receive their work from the professors to whom they are as signed, and mark the papers on their own time. For the most part, we assume, graders are conscientious persons inclined to fairness who received above average grades for their work in the courses for which they grade. However, there is no guarantee of such qualifications, no genuine satisfaction to the owner of a student-graded paper that the grader is as good as the professor. 1 he situation is evil in itself, for it undermines the quality of the work. A student who is writing a term paper or an examination for the professor is influenced perceptibly if he realizes the prof essor will never see that paper, but that a student—maybe someone he knows—will be the judge of its qualities. There’s an aura of unfairness about the whole thing, for the student realizes that the man who has had the benefit of years of learning to enable him to teach the course will not be the judge of how much the student has learned. Instead a student of, at best, limited ability and experience will grade the paper. Often, indeed, a student who has not had the course himself for two or three years, and who has not bene fittecl from any more broadening mastery of the field than just the course itself will he its sole, judge. Often, also, a student will grade for a professor from whom he didn t take the course. A bad policy is established, ill feeling among students is built up, and the educational benefits of tests are eliminated entirely. Furthermore, a student grader may often be influenced by the name on the paper, and be more kindly disposed to a fellow house dweller than to a stranger. Even if we assume that the grader is picked for his integrity and fairmindedness, the feeling that personal prejudice may influence a student grader is still there. The policy can be insidious when it is used in matters of personal judgment by undergraduates. Not that we discourage all student grading. It seems reasonable that purely objective tests—true-false, multiple choice, matching—could be student graded, from a master answer sheet. Little variation from the professor s own grade could be observed. Nor are all graders other than the pro fessor necessarily to be eliminated. A graduate assistant or a graduate student may be highly qualified to grade for his major subject, at the discretion of the head of his department. His graduate status would guarantee his serious intent in his field, and his goal of a higher degree would probably attest to his conscientiousness. But undergraduate student graders where matters of judgment are concerned should be elimin ated. Finals in all courses should be graded by the professor who has taught the course, with the obvious exception of the master answer sheet type. All papers for all upper division courses should be graded by the professor at all times, and mid-terms should follow the same general rules, we believe. It is hoped that the resulting situation would not be more objective tests for, say, upper division English papers, but rather more help on the professorial staff. The department heads at their recent meeting discussed the existing situation, the remedies of which they have long been contemplating. Heads of departments are not pleased with the existing necessity of undergraduate graders, and they don’t defend their existence. The trend has been for their removal, and we're in favor of the scheme. Immediate elimination is not feasible, we’re told, but resolutions were voted on and adopted stating that the present practices would end as soon as possible, and that the departments in the liberal arts college would abandon the practice after this year. We're glad that the push is on—its growth in the liberal arts college will doubtless lead the movement toward more satisfactory grading. France Lost a Louis 100 Years Ago; Central Europe Didn't Do So Well The day will doubtless be little noted, nor will it be long remembered as a day. Nonetheless today is an anniversary of the First Order. One hundred years ago last night there were riots in Paris, and 100 years ago today old Louis Philippe, the “citizen king,” gave up his bourgeois crown. The day lfleani more than the mere deposing of a French king, for that had happened three times in 60 years. The impact of the mob that stormed the district of the Tuileries in Paris 100 years ago last night, was felt within the year in Vienna, Berlin, Milan, and even in far-off Budapest. A “chain reaction” of revolutionary uprisings, based on the French example, swept over Europe. Old Prince Metternich, whose name is synonomous with “reaction” and “status quo” fled in disguise to London, the home of the has-beens in that century as in this. The way was paved for one Louis Napoleon, who called himself Nap oleon III. to attempt to revive the empire his uncle had once established. There mav well be celebrations in France today, because February 1848 is an important date in the glorious revo lutionary tradition of that country. But there should be little to celebrate in Central Europe. For these the revolutions were largely abortive. The Austrians got rid of an autocratic and oppressive gov ernment .Metternich was gone, but life was no better. Prince Schwarzenberg who replaced him was just as bad, and in a few months he had undone much of the good of 1848. Hung ary, of course, got some autonomy under the “dual empire” and Louis Kossuth became a national hero. In Germany 1848 represents only crushed hopes and smothered liberalism. In America 184S is remembered as the year gold was dis covered in California, General Zachary Taylor was elected president, and the first women’s rights convention met in Sen ed Falls, X. Y. A big year, 1848, but America was little con- ] cerned at the time with the momentous events across the ocean. It was only in the following decade when thousands of Europe’s best minds, refugees from the reaction to 1848, came to the new land, that America felt the effect of the Paris riots. The century has seen some changes. Xo longer must Am erica wait weeks to hear the shots which were fired in Euro pean streets. Sound now travels with the speed of light. This morning's revolution is this evening’s headline, and vester day’s Metro strike is today’s Red scare. America, like it or not, is in the brawling family of European nations. Palestine Jews Will Be Seeking Outside Help Editor's note: Herb Weiss, a Viennese by birth, has lived in the Middle East, and has watched the Palestine situation closely. His family now lives in New York.) The situation in Palestine is now more complex than it ever was. It sums up to something like this: The UN has voted for the partition with a "Yes" from both Russia and the United States. Why did Russia do it ? Because it knew that the Arabs would not accept, and an international po lice force would have to be sent to Palestine. This means Russian troops in Palestine—the oil out let of the Middle East. Suppose the UN does not send a force to Palestine, because the the US does not like the idea of Russian troops there, and also because that would bring dis favor from the Arab oil owners to the United States. What then? Well, the Arabs will be having a gay time killing all the Jews and the UN decision to partition Pal estine would be literally a “Death Warrent" for the 700,000 Jews there. However, the Palestinian Jews are not going to watch all this without doing anything about it. By October 1948 they (Pales tinian Jews) will be recognized by the UN as an independent state, whether they are that or not. They will be looking, as an inde pendent nation, for some outside help to assist them in their fight against the Arabs. The United States has already said “No,” to a certain extent, by adopting an armaments embargo on arms to the Middle East a few months af ter selling the Arabs a few mil lion dollars worth of war sur plus materials. To whom will the Palestinian Jews turn? That’s the big ques tion. They will probably try the United States again, but if there is no help from here; shall we say that Russia is the likely next? By HERB WEISS Will Russia be stingy about send ing an army to Palestine to “help the Jews'' (who had to ask for their help) and, shall we say, keeping it there “just to see that things turn out okay?’’ So it seems that things are rather dark in that part of the world, but there must be some thing one can hope for. If the se curity council agrees to make up an international police force (which must include both US and USSR troops) and the situation is calmed it will mean not only a settlement for Palestine but will also strengthen the UN to a very great extent—and that’s what I am hoping for—. Herbert Weiss. Side Patter By SAIXlfci iju»lMENS The sum total of all comments on this past weekend amounted to, “Wow!” The social eddy continues to sweep the thrilled ones in and the disillusioned out. New ro mances flared up, and old ones died the natural death so many of them do. To say that it was a full week end is putting it mildly . . . The Alfafies threw themselves a “Bunyan B u n - i o n” complete with western mu sic that neved did slow down to a halt. Claire Sernng had Phi Belt Bill Hanna in tow, and Marcy Jaekson had her hands full with Beta Johnny Miller. Frosh Jam's Hughes was with Sigma Chi Jerry , Peterson, and the ancient combo of Patsy Maloney and “Wild Bill” Stratton dropped in between par ties. Anita Jaekson looked fetching in bonnet and dress of 1800 vintage, and seen hovering about the cor ners with flash bulb in hand was the Junior Bazaar photographer to get a view of Oregon wild life. The Sigma Noo’s, in true pirate style, gave out with a house dance that had Don Shaefers running around with a black mop on his head, and ChiO Maggie Bolton. Carmelite ChiO Alecia Orcutt was shipwrecked with Joe Mathews, and no one recognized the black haired girl with Don Malarkey as blonde Gamma Phi Irene Moor. John “Dad” Kaufman, Hal Wer ner, and Bill Whitelock liked their pirate costumes so well they were still wearing them Sunday after noon at Robbiburr Courtney's house. Hear that Hank Steers de veloped an affinity for the fire place at the Alfa Chi house. The Pi Phi house featured gold hands on the wall and a very swish setting for their “Vagabond Fire” theme. Joan Bush was with x-OSC Beta A1 Lobe, and Helen Hicks was with Sally Mueller’s brother, a Beta from OSC, Lou Mueller. Marilyn Turner was looking mighty purty with ATO Tom Gurney, and Bar bara Byers was with Fiji Vince Dulcieh who is planning on sitting in Kennell-Ellis’ v/indow with a sign, “This picture is a masterpiece of understatement.” Roberta Van Cleave was with Fiji boy Jim i Snow. Delta Zeta Kathleen Malarkey is 1 now sporting a sparkler from Phi Kappa Sigma Denny Norton, and Pi Phi Jane Dagggett is looking ' happy over her new Sigma Chi pin from Bob Sanders. Out come the < stocks again! Sigma Kappa Au drew Larsen is now wearing Chuck Poindexter’s SAE pin. One of the brothers, namely “Hal” Stassen dropped in for a chat with the SAEs at their Saturday „ night house dance. Sharing the limelight were Joe Miller down from Posieville with Theta Mary Jean “Reefer” Reeves, Alpha Chi cutie Marilyn Anderson with Merl Aiden, and Alfra Gam Rally-squad er Donna Stageburg with <Please turn to page three) ” *