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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (April 1, 1976)
Senate recommends GPA evaluation I By WALLY BENSON Of the Emerald The D grade proposal under went another change at Wednesday's University Senate meeting, when the group narrowly agreed to rescind an earlier amendment. The amendment to education prof. William Lamon's original mo tion was approved by the General Faculty near the end of their March 10 meeting. Sponsored by George Struble, computer sci ence associate professor, the amendment took issue with paragraph five of Lamon's motion, which stipulated "the 85 percen tile rule for graduation be abolished and replaced by a GPA system in which the minimum standard be a 2 00 on a scale of A=4, B=3, C=2, D= 1, and F=0 for all pass-differentiated course work completed. The 85-percentile rule requires that 85 Der cent of all work graded A, B, C, D, P, F and N completed at the University must be passed satisfactorily. Struble’s amendment substi tuted the following language for paragraph five: "That credit for which the D grade is earned be excluded from the computation required by the 85 percentile rule." The faculty approved the amendment by a vote of 64-45. The motion to rescind Struble's amendment was sponsored by senate chairer Jim Tattersall and senate secretary Shirley Wilson. Speaking Wednesday, Wilson said there were several reasons for her motion. "After the March faculty meet ing, Jim Tattersall and I met with several faculty members, and it was apparent they hadn’t under stood what they were voting on. We want to get it back to the fa culty so they can understand the issues they are voting on. "Also, it we leave the amend ment, it removes the opportunity for the general faculty to make a clear choice between the GPA and the 85 percentile rule.” Wilson further said the 85-percentile rule is difficult to ex plain to students, and is exces sively punitive and non redemptive. Struble contradicted these statements with a few of his own. "There have been objections that the 85-percentile rule is too punitive,” he said. “Is it too puni tive to allow a student 31 hours of N-graded work, or about 10 clas ses, of his 186 hours needed for graduation?” He also said he failed to see the complexity of the 85-percentile rule, which he said is a fairly simple calculation. “We can’t expect the insertion of the D grade or the return of the 2.0 GPA to change the grading practices of faculty members,” Struble continued. “D's them selves will have a pretty minimal effect on how we assign grades. I haven't heard any faculty member say ‘I will give lower grades if the D is available.' Therefore, we must UO official to run for mayor Neil Murray, University director of orientation, announced his in tention to run for mayor of Eugene Wednesday Murray, who presently serves on the Eugene City Council, made his announcement at a press con ference at the Eugene Hotel He holds the council position for Ward Seven which roughly includes the area between Washington and McKinley Streets and between 24th Avenue and the Willamette River He has held the position since 1972 and has also served as president of the council. Outlining the major issues of his campaign, Murray said, We face many difficult problems and I re gard that as a challenge. We must be steadfast in our opposition to costly and destruc tive urban sprawl We must con sider the prospect of growth to as sure maintenance of both our en vironmental and economic well being Murray served as chairer of the Joint Parks Committee and dratted an initiative for a "Study of Growth and Its Costs" for the con cil. Murray also favors the preser vation and restoration of older neighborhoods Budgetary problems also con cern Murray. “We must recognize real budgetary restraints and reassess our traditional willing ness to pick up the tab for Lane County and Springfield under the guise of regional cooperation. He said Eugene would have to exercise "more reservation in tak ing care of others.” Murray feels that state money should be used to ease the budget strains of some Oregon cities Ac cording to Murray, the state oper ates at about a $90 million surplus while the cities often operate at a deficit. Recognizing the need for alter native methods of transportation, Murray supports mass transit and bicycle facilities. "We must reduce our excessive reliance on the pri vate automobile,” he said. Murray has long been an advo cate of neighborhood organiza tions aimed at fostering more citi zen participation in city affairs. "They are the fresh breeze of local government that effectively in volves the public in its own busi ness," he said. “In the urgency of these con cerns," Murray continued, "we must be realistic. We can't will away the future. This requires leadership that is willing to deal with complex issues. "In my service on the city coun cil I've gained experience equal to that assignment, Murray said. I believe I can offer the leadership that Eugene s future requires. Murray said that if he is elected, the position would not interfere with his University position, nor would the University position inter fere with his duties as mayor. “I do my homework and I put in my time," he said. “This is not a dif ferent position in terms of energy, only in terms of direction " expect standards will not change.” Journalism Prof. Charles Dun can disagreed, saying the current ABCP system has not been a suc cess. Duncan supports a return to ;he GPA system. "I would like Mr. Struble to know that here is one faculty member who would award grades differ ently if we had the D,” said Dun can. “Right now, I’m giving more A s and B’s and fewer C's than when we had the D grade.” The matter will receive even further discussion at the General Faculty meeting next Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. in 150 Science. (- > Grad student to get grant for study A University graduate stu dent has been selected to re ceive a 1976-77 Fulbright Hays grant for foreign study. Charles Smythe Jr., graduate student in anthropol ogy from Haverford, Pa., will use the grant to study aborigi nal anthropology during the 1976-77 academic year at the University of Australia in Syd ney. V_-/ 1976-77 CULTURAL fORUm POSITIOnS Applications now being accepted for the areas of: ★ comempoRARH issues^ S Aims ATTD LITERATURES ★ POPULAR COnCERTSS S PEREORminG ARTISTSS ★ eolk musics Interested applicants should obtain application forms from Suite 2 of the EMU. Application deadline is 5 p.m. Thursday, April 22. WED. & THURS. 6:30 - 8:30 EVENINGS o o K S T O R 13th & Kincaid Phone 686-4331
