Brehznev dies ‘suddenly’
MOSCOW (AP) - Leonid
Brezhnev, head of the
Communist Party and president
of the Soviet Union, has died,
the Tass news agency reported
today.
The official agency said the
75-year-old leader died a
"sudden death" at 8:30 a m.
(12:30 a m EST) Wednesday. It
said the announcement was
made by the Central Committee
of the party
Brezhnev had led the Soviet
Union for 18 years, taking over
from the ousted Nikita
Khrushchev in October, 1954
There was no immediate
announcement of a successor.
Politburo officials Yuri
Andropov and Konstantin
Chernenko are widely regarded
as the chief contenders for the
post
Brezhnev was last seen in
public Sunday presiding over
the massive Red Square parade
marking the 65th anniversary of
the Bolshevik Revolution
"The name of Leonid Ilyich
Brezhnev, a true continuer of
Lenin's great cause and an
ardent champion of peace and
Communism, will live forever in
the hearts of the Soviet people
and the entire progressive
mankind," Tass said
Brezhnev kept a firm grip on
power by insistng that col
leagues join in decision-making
and share the blame for ideas
that went wrong
He was the most conservative
of the Kremlin leaders who
preceded him, author of the so
called Brezhnev doctrine" — a
tough policy of brooking no op
position from dissidents as
evidenced in the invasion of
Czechoslovakia in 1968 and the
Soviet support of the Polish
martial law regime
After the fiery V I Lenin,
ruthless Josef Stalin and vi
sionary Khrushchev, he often
looked to be a faceless bur
eaucrat. stiffly reading his
speeches and laboriously con
sulting colleagues on major
decisions
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Eugene, Oregon
Volume 84, Number 50
But he also did more than any
of his predecessors to con
solidate the Soviet Union as a
major world power and bring it
to nuclear parity with the United
States
He chose modest, controlled
economic growth for the
country instead of Kru
schev's wildly ambitious
schemes; preferred coex
istence and detente to Lenin's
revolutionary fervor, and
replaced Stalin's aggressive
expansionism with a careful
probing for international gains
Brezhnev was said to have
considered his major accom
plishments the signing with
President Jimmy Carter in June,
1979, of the SALT II strategic
arms agreement; the adoption
of a new "Brezhnev" constitu
tion for the Soviet Union in 1977,
and his moves toward interna
tional detente
However, detente suffered a
sharp setback in late 1979 when
Continued on Page 4
University, Bowerman close to agreement
By Debbie Howlett
Of the Emerald
It was not University Pres Paul Olum
who had the biggest news at his monthly
press conference but Curt Simic, vice
president for public relations Simic told
a few reporters, just before Olum made
his remarks, that an agreement with Bill
Bowerman about a controversial track
facility is near.
"We should have something on paper
by today or tomorrow." Simic said at the
Wednesday morning conference "We
really feel very optimistic we ll have to
wait and see what we get back in
writing.
Bowerman had earlier promised to
donate $350,000 to build a facility to
f
house the track team at Hayward Field
But in October. Bowerman withdrew his
pledge, citing a conflict with University
and athletic administrators about control
and use of the facility.
"There are a number of road blocks
that will eventually be surmounted,"
Bowerman said when contacted
Wednesday afternoon But, he added. "I
think we re down to the final steps — I
hope we are '
During a late-night news broadcast
Tuesday, Bowerman was reported to
have agreed to go ahead with the
project
The broadcast reported Bowerman
was prepared to fund the full amount if
no other donor came forth But
Wednesday afternoon, the former track
coach said he'd not spoken with any
media representatives since last week
We re trying very hard now to come to
an agreement,'’ Olum said during his
press conference. "There's a good
chance we're going to make it.”
Olum said any agreement between
Bowerman and the University would be
"one that will keep the University's in
tegrity
He also announced enrollment has
been set at 15,405 students, a 7.5
percent decrease from last year's count
The fourth-week figures Olum cited are
considered to be '‘final” numbers
"That's worrisome,” he said.
Olum attributed the decline to a
number of reasons: a poor economy,
fewer students graduating from high
schools and an increase in admissions
requirements.
Olum said he is especially concerned
with freshman enrollment figures, which
dropped off 14.8 percent. The junior
class enrollment "held even," University
Registrar Wanda Johnson said.
Olum also announced plans for a joint
marine studies program between the
University and Northeastern University.
The program is "interesting in part,
because of its magnitude," Olum said.
The program intially will involve a
student exchange but eventually will
expand into a cross-disciplinary effort,
Rudy said. The OIMB is located near
Coos Bay, and the Northeastern marine
lab is located near the entrance to Bos
ton Bay.
An A is an A is an A — or is it?
By Leslie Knight
Of the Emerald
This is the first half of a two-part look at grade
inflation, why it is decreasing and how it has prompted
changes in grading systems
A student has a 3 5 grade point average — does this
indicate academic excellence or is it merely ' grade
inflation?”
It's probably both, according to University sources
While grade inflation, commonly defined as more
A s and B's than C's and D’s, increased from 1968 to
1975 throughout the nation, a University trend in
dicates grade inflation decreased from 1977 to the
present
One accepted cause of the acceleration of higher
grades in the late 1960s is related to the Vietnam war
Male students were likely to be drafted if they lost their
student deferments
Theodore Palmer, head of the University
mathematics department, says some professors felt
pressure to protect students and lowered their
grading standards
Students also worked harder to stay in school
during this period, says William Davie, philosophy
professor
When the Vietnam crisis ended, the resulting
relaxed attitude helped keep grading standards down
Political science professor John Orbell says internal
conditions, rather than external forces, contribute to
grade inflation In the past, professors have been
under pressure to inflate grades because more
students would sign up for their classes, he says.
"There has been in the past a clear inference that a
good teacher is one who attracts a lot of students.
One way to attract a lot of students is to offer a lot of
A s — offer a lot of mickeys,” Orbell says
Orbell says this system left many professors cynical
and students disillusioned But the problem is no
longer a major one at the University, he adds.
For example, the mathematics department reached
a high of 36.8 percent A's in 1977 but dropped to 16
percent in 1981. The literature department dropped
from 41.7 percent to 18 8 percent A s for the same
years
The number of A's given in history, political science
and physics and other departments also dropped
significantly during these years. Undergraduate totals
for all letter grades have remained consistent for the
past 10 years.
But statistics aside, some professors say grade
inflation still exists.
Stanley Greenfield, English professor, is concerned
that grading standards are declining.
Greenfield says a C is no longer considered an
average grade, which partially accounts for higher
percentages in the A-B range. "Students feel cheated
if given a C plus,” he says.
Professors may assign higher grades than students
deserve for various reasons, says Greenfield They
may be overly sympathetic, or they may want to
receive good grades on student evaluations at the
term’s end, he says.
Orbell says although A s have become more honest
reflections of a student's work, it’s still hard to flunk
out of school.
“Giving a student an F, even if deserved, can be a
hassle,” he says.
One reason for fewer F’s in classes is the natural
screening process achieved when students withdraw,
says Davie.
"If they were locked in after the first two weeks there
would be more D's and F’s, but I can't say that’s more
desirable,” he says.
Grade inflation can be the result of a professor or a
Graduate Teaching Fellow not feeling comfortable
with their teaching, Palmer says.
"A competent teacher has much less of a
temptation to give grades higher than generally
accepted than one who is uncomfortable with their
teaching,” he says.
He says some GTFs
may realize they have
done a poor teaching
job and try to compen
sate for it by assigning
higher grades.
Professors accept
certain types of grade
inflation that are justi
fiable when looked at
more closely.
Palmer says though his
mathematics department is
very good, many of the
faculty members have
come from places that
are even better. These
professors are used
to students
Grade
Inflation
Part 1
who do significantly better,
and they have to adjust
for lower standards. In
this case, the professors are
giving A s for work they used
to grade lower.
Alan Kimball, director of the
Honors College, allows a lar
ger percentage of high
grades than is considered
standard In honors col
lege classes, he says, a
majority of students have ne
ver achieved lower than a 3.2
GPA
‘‘Does it make sense to say '50
percent of you will have to receive
a C or below?’ ”
Graphic by Shawn Bird
Tomorrow: How grade Inflation affects grading
standards.