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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (March 2, 1950)
Junking the GPA System We note with interest the new grading system which has been initiated at Whitman College. There is no perfect grad ing system. Probably there never will be. But the Whitman plan seems to bypass many of the pitfalls of other systems. They previously had our familiar five-grade scheme using the letters A, B, C, D. and F. But the faculty voted to replace this with a somewhat different letter-grade system. The most flagrant defects they found were: “(1) the fallacies and abuses of the D grade; “(2) the misleading and unintelligible character of grade point average; “(3) the impossibility of equitable and rational admin istration of rules of probation and dismissal and of gradu ation requirements based on the old plan of letter grades and p-rade noint averages.” They found that the D grade was the chief focal point of trouble, a “purgatory” grade. For although the student re ceives credit hours for his grade, he has to offset those hours with an equivalent number of hours at grade B or better. Large numbers of students were carried on current probation lists whose scholastic difficulties are not at all current. Furthermore, it was discovered that many students on pro bation because of a 1.8 or 1.9 GPA were actually, course for course, doing better work than others who were “coasting along” with a 2.1 or 2.2. A grade of A in a one-hour course was frequently the sole explanation of the difference in GPA. The Whitman faculty began to realize that a grade point average is mostly a mathematical fiction—not an accurate and reliable measure of educational achievement. So they junked the D grade and the intricacies of the GPA system. Now when a faculty member evaluates the student’s work he must decide whether performance has been good enough to count toward graduation. If not, a grade of F is awarded. And the failure can only be made up by repeating the course. 11 the work measures up ro grauumiun auxuuoiu, &*>' one of the three passing grades: P, signifying pass; H, signi fying Honors, or HH, signifying highest honors. There is no grade point evaluation of these grades, no computation of GPA, and no grade point requirements set for good standing or graduation. But a student must earn passing grades in three-fourths of the hours in which he is currently registered. If not, he may go on probation for a semester. He is dropped if he does not main tain his standing for two successive semesters. The Whitman faculty, according to President Chester C. Maxey, is coming to feel that the new grading system pos sesses the merit of truthfulness to a far greater degree than their former system— which was identical to our own. Now a Whitman grade of F simply means that the student did not do the work of graduation quality. A grade of P means that his work was up to graduation standard. There are now twice as many Fs. And only half as many HHs. But an HH is definitely a higher earning than the former A. Their system is both easier to administer and less costly in time and money. There are no longer any borderline cases. The student passes or fails. But he can’t fail by a hair-breadth computed to hundredths of a grade point. Of course all grades represent fallible human judgments. But the Whitman faculty seems to have taken a long step in the direction of common sense.—H.S. 12:01 p. m. is Too Late Now is the time for all good students to come to the aid of their parents, governnment, wife, husband, self, or whoever it is that foots the bills. In other words, finish registration through step five by noon Saturday or the University will be very unhappy and assess you a $5 fine. Oregon Daily EMERALD JWTAtJ The OREGON DAILY EMERALD, published daily during the college year except Saturdays, Sundays, holidays and final examination periods by the Associated Students, University of Oregon. Subscription rates: $2.00 a term, $4.00 for two terms and $5.00 a year. Entered as second class matter at the postoffice Eugene, Oregon. Opinions expressed in editorials are those of the writer, and do not claim to represent the opinions of the ASUO or of th.e University. Initialed editorials are written by associate editors. Unsigned editorials are written by the editor. Opinions expressed in an editorial page by-lined column are those of the columnist, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editor or his associates. Don A. Smith, Editor Joan Mimnaugh, Business Manager Barbara Hkywood, Helen Sherman, Associate Editors. Glenn Gillespie, Managing Editor Don Thompson, Advertising Manager News Editors: Anne Goodman, Ken Metiler. Assitant News Editor: Eorna liaison. Assistant Managing Editors: Norman Ander son, Hal Coleman, l.orna Larson, Bill Stan field. Emerald Photographer: Gene Rose. Office Manager: Karla Van Loan. Assistant Business Manager: Cork Mobley. National Advertising Manager: Bonnie Birko* meir. Sports Editors: John Barton, Sam Fidiuan. Chief Night Editor: Mary Hall. Copy Editor: Marjory Bush. Desk Editors: Marjory Bush, Bill Frye, Gretchen Grozulahl, Larry Meiser, Jackie Pritzen. Zone Managers: Sue Bachelder, Shirley Hil lard, Barbara Williams, Virginia Kellogg, Barbara Stevenson, Jeanne Hodman. Sojzho-MOSie' After Four Years, This is What You Get Lit Bob tyunh Something we have been looking forward to for a long time is at last in the process of happening: senior rides. It isn’t as though we dislike the seniors, or that the two years we have lived with them in brotherhood haven’t been practical ly deliriously happy — b u t, well, stout fel lows though they are, we rvill not regret / making up for I the time we \ have been rep rimanded for wrong songs at the table and talking on second floor after 11 p.m. A senior ride I A L E X • pi tact consists of pouncing on the victim, tying him hand and foot, locking him in the trunk of someone’s car, and dumping him rather un ceremoniously in the vicinity of the Mexican border. Seniors do not approve of this pro cedure. Their little minds cannot grasp the obvious humor of the situation. At times, in fact, they tend to act like a bunch of stuffed shirts. Nyaaah ! Well, anyway, with the coming ob spring weather, the poor belabored freshman and the long-suffering sophomore begin to get out their travel folders and pick unlikely spots to dump someone rather unceremoniously at. A dusty road is best—you get one last look at the senior , peering through a dust cloud, coughing his lungs out. 'I his satisfies any strain of sadism you have in you. Senior rides are a lot of work for everyone but the senior. You have to make sure the victim is not peeking out from under his blindfold, that you you have enough gas to get back to town, and that your guest of hon or is not going to die of fright and leave a nasty lawsuit in your lap. It is most disheartening to arrive back at your starting point only to find that the sen iors have been back for an hour, having, caught the subway, and are sitting around the fire telling war stories. Recently that group of seniors which is my own particular pride and joy railroaded a no senior-ride rule through at house meeting. The fine for violation is twenty-five dollars. However, it is to be expected that if any sen ior whilst of voluntary nature jaunts deep in the hinterland late at night, happens to get out of the car for a bird walk and doesn't have enough sense to get back in, no fine will be levied. Ain't we got fun. Gmidietif Old Vet Will the Little Graph Get up to 60? Lu Steve. Jlaa Wednesday morning’s Emerald shows on ly 30 per cent of the campns Red Cross quota total has been collected. I’ll be surprised when and if the little graph gets up to 60. Just a guess. Editor Smith tells me that may be the Red Cross has really done a lot of good within the country. I think I’ll go along with that. They are a good agency for handling disaster work and probably the Willamette Valley gets more than a proportionate share of what they contribute because of the floods here. Still, it will be a long time before some of the old soldiers forget paying a dime for a Time that was a year old. I hope the powers that be are bearing in mind the sentiment of the veterans in making their decision about whether to change the calling of the vet's dorms. Those of us who feel strongly on the subject are prepared to constitute a very vocal portion of the dormi tory population. It would be great to see someone write some good lyrics for "Rag Mop” to use for an Ore gon fight song. Love that tune ! On the Hist Are You Listening, Politicians? Ly Malty 'Weitju&'l How many people are really interested in University radio? As soon as a projected poll is completed (sometime in March or April, maybe) we will know officially what we al ready surmise is true. It seems no one, from the FCC on down to the youngest freshman con nected w i t h the “KDUK that laved an egg,” is show ing any initia tive to revive the c a m p u s station. A r e you listening campus politi cians? Some of the people who are trying to plug our radio pro 4 ; * * /* / t * c e a a \ ^ come up with the idea of getting a variety show which would be taped and given to one or several of the local stations. Variety is what they want, and variety is the one thing that KOAC does not want. Such a program, run once a week from the University Theater, would attract a lot of local attention and un cover a lot of hitherto hidden University tal ent. We were looking for an excuse to cover the bits of comment that we occasionally come up with concerning matters politic. We think we’ve found it in the Portland Oregonian, where A illiam Moves in his column, "Be hind the Mike" tears into local politics. As long as we've got an excuse for it, we would like to pass an insignificant bouquet along to several of our instructors. It has been said that we at Oregon are politically uncon scious. That may be true, but is not the fault of several professors. In keeping students abreast of the world situation, they have shown no hesitance in telling us that heavy, heavy, is the sword that hangs over our heads. It has gotten so, that every night when we go to bed, we turn toward the Kremlin and pray that someone over there made a miscalcula tion on the formula for converting hydrogen into a destructive force. *