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Friday, May 6, 2005
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■ In my opinion
A complicated, expensive, rubric-ridden
farce
Every once in a while, a govern
ment body realizes it has done some
thing stupid and reverses course. We
may be seeing the beginnings of such
a reversal in the Oregon House of Rep
resentatives, which is considering five
bills that would kill the Certificate of
Initial Mastery, the Emerald reported
Wednesday.
Oregon awards the CIM to high
school students who meet certain stan
dards in math, writing, science and
speech. This useless education-stan
dards regime was enacted by the Leg
islature in 1991 and has been ignored
by everyone except professional educa
tors ever since.
The CIM began with good inten
tions. Legislators sought to raise the
quality of high school education and
ensure that students who graduated
from an Oregon high school would
arrive at college prepared for what
awaits them. In practice, however,
teachers placed little emphasis on
the CIM, which partially explains
why fewer than one in three high
school students earned a CIM this
year. Instead, most teachers decided
to spend their time teaching.
At my alma mater in Corvallis,
teachers took the CIM somewhat seri
ously, meaning they’d occasionally
dedicate one class period to meeting
some CIM-related deadline. This typi
cally resulted in students fabricating
bullshit explanations for why a certain
paper met a CIM requirement while the
teacher pulled her hair out in the paper
strewn classroom in which 30 students
tried to share one stapler.
The CIM wouldn’t be so much of a
joke if anyone actually used it, but no
one really does. The University’s Office
CHUCK SLOTHOWER
TAKING ISSUE
of Admissions considers CIM scores as
part of alternative admissions stan
dards for students who did not com
plete 16 college-preparatory credits
with a GPA of at least 3.25. But the CIM
is only one of many factors admissions
officers consider, and it doesn’t seem to
carry much weight — University Direc
tor of Admissions Martha Pitts told the
Emerald the CIM’s “main role is really
in high school as a counseling tool.”
While the Office of Admissions may
use the CIM in some cases, employers
don’t use it all. Of all the jobs and in
ternships for which I have applied and
interviewed, not one potential employ
er has asked whether I earned a CIM (I
did, dear reader, lest you suspect I have
an ax to grind).
The CIM is a solution in search of a
problem. Long ago, teachers invented
these things called “grades. ” They rated
students based on their performance in
class, and if students passed they grad
uated to the next grade level.
After 12 of these grade levels,.stu
dents who did well enough earned a
“diploma,” which meant they had
completed their basic education.
Students who sought to further their
learning then applied to colleges,
which determined based on their
own criteria whether these students
were ready for their institutions.
What a brilliant concept!
I suspect grade inflation played a role
in the CIM’s creation. Educators and
legislators may have believed grades no
longer provided an accurate picture of
student achievement and that some
thing additional was necessary. Hence
the CIM, which at least has the advan
tage of showing whether students can
write intelligibly and do basic math.
However, grades should matter and
can matter if people care enough. The
University’s Charles H. Lundquist Col
lege of Business, for instance, institut
ed grade distribution guidelines in 2002
that sought to curb grade inflation.
More drastically, Princeton University
this year decided to cap the proportion
of students who can earn A grades at
35 percent in each department, The As
sociated Press reported.
While those initiatives were under
taken at the university level, there’s no
reason high schools couldn’t take simi
lar measures. An even simpler way to
deal with grade inflation would be to
grade tougher and to make assign
ments more difficult. A complicated,
expensive, rubric-ridden farce wasn’t a
good solution in 1991, and it isn’t now.
Evaluating student performance is
one of the most important and tricky
aspects of a high school teacher’s job.
The Oregon House would only help the
education system if it passed a bill elim
inating the CIM, a move that would
also save the state millions of dollars
each year. And Democrats, who control
the Senate and the governor’s office,
should recognize a good idea when
they see one — even if it comes from a
Republican-controlled chamber.
chuckslothower@ daily emerald, com
■ Guest commentary
Editorial reaming pope misleading
To the five members of the Emerald
editorial board: Your opinion piece on
the politics of Pope Benedict XVI
(“Pope’s life doesn’t fit his ‘special
greeting,”’ ODE, April 27) was shame
ful, disgraceful and pathetic. Attempt
ing to pass off your ideas as enlight
ened, flawless truth is a disgrace to all
writers. Your piece was extremely
misleading, ignorant and unethical.
Before I correct your uninformed
thought processes, I would like to just
remind you about something the
American media seem to forget: The
issues discussed in your article and
those surrounding your disdain for
the new pope (abortion, gay mar
riage, the sex abuse scandal and sal
vation) are not open to change sim
ply because the laity doesn’t like
them. The Church is not run the
same way Hollywood is, in that
whatever is popular and feels good is
in. You non-Catholics should check
yourselves before attempting to in
form we, the faithful, on what our
pope should be teaching.
You stated that the Pope’s attempt
at reaching out to Muslims was sad
because he “barely” mentioned them
in a special greeting to other faiths. I
recall a New York Times article in
which the opening paragraph records
Benedict XVI as being “grateful” for a
Muslim presence at his investiture cer
emony and hoped for a “growth of di
alogue between Muslims and Chris
tians” at local and international levels.
Later in your piece you claim the
pope “denied the reality of ongoing
sexual-abuse issues, calling the scan
dal a U.S. plot to degrade the Catholic
faith.” Again you are wholeheartedly
incorrect in your assertion. Pope
Benedict publicly decried the sex
abuse by priests when he was quoted
as saying, “How much filth there is in
the church, and even among those
who, in the priesthood, ought to be
long entirely to (Christ).” He then
scolded the media for focusing solely
on the 1 percent of “filth” in the
Church and never giving credit to the
countless number of righteous deeds
done in the Church. I find it funny
that the media seem to forget who is
the world’s largest provider of private
health care and education.
I will save readers time by skipping
over the other factual errors that hit
on Benedict’s history with the Hitler
Youth movement. Anyone with a
working knowledge of history under
stands that virtually all male German
youths were in some way or another
forced to join. With this in mind, you
wrote, “It certainly seems anachronis
tic that Pope Benedict XVI should be
working on such (interfaith) relation
ships considering his former position
as a member of a hate organization.”
This is not only trivial, it is asi
nine. Where is the logic in that state
ment? Are you actually suggesting
that the leader of a 1.1 billion-person
religious institution not work toward
interfaith dialogue?
As my frustration continues to grow
over the complete lack of respect on
the part of five ignorant writers, I must
remind myself of where you get your
information: from the same ignorant
American news media that report on
issues unknown to themselves. I am
sorry you do not have enough faith in
your readers to allow them to decide
issues for themselves.
Michael S. Tarascio
is a University senior
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■ Out loud
“It’s not the main theme of Cinco de Mayo,
but it’s a fun party.” — Victor Bostida, JR’s
Taqueria Street Faire vendor, discussing on
Wednesday the American tradition of celebrat
ing Cinco de Mayo with parties.
“I’m the luckiest man on Earth that I sur
vived.” — Holocaust survivor Les Aigner,
speaking "Riesday night at a Holocaust Aware
ness Week event.
“It’s a type of meth, speed pretty much. ...
You want your good grades at any cost, and my
grades have improved a lot since taking Adder
all.” — A University freshman on using the
prescription drug Adderall.
“I actually need mine. ... I need it to get
normal grades.” — Freshman Elizabeth Wal
lace, explaining her position as a legal user of
Adderall.
“Is it just because the squeaky wheel gets the
grease? It is like one person votes ‘no’ and it all
goes to shit.” — ASUO Vice President Mena
Ravassipour on Wednesday questioning why
Senator Mike Sherman, who threatened to vote
against the overall Senate rules changes be
cause he said they were flawed, had the power
to cause them to fail.
“The whole thing is still very surprising. I’m
just kind of speechless.” — Designated Driver
Shuttle Co-Director Katy Lang on Monday dis
cussing the two DDS dispatchers caught drink
ing on the job.
“A black student was telling a story, and the
professor said, ‘That’s not the perspective we’re
looking for right now. It doesn’t have any bear
ing to what we’re talking about.’” — A College
of Education graduate student, who asked not
to be identified, during a rally Wednesday to
shed light on allegations of discrimination with
in the COE.
“I think everybody knows this system doesn’t
function as it was intended to.” — House Rep
resentative Linda Flores in a press release
concerning a bill to abolish the Certificate of
Initial Mastery.
“Novelty is having an Elvis Presley ID in your
wallet. These Web sites make it easy for stu
dents to get sucked into committing a felony
without realizing it.” — Eugene Police Depart
ment officer Randy Ellis discussing the avail
ability of fake IDs on the Internet.
“The Club team is a self-help organization.
These runners compete because they really en
joy the sport. ... Club athletes are passionate
about their sport on a different level than an in
tercollegiate athlete. It is the pure reason Club
sports flourish.” — Oregon Club running team
coach Tom Heinonen.
“The next time someone makes a racist com
ment and you don’t say anything, you aren’t
part of the problem, you are the problem.” —
“TJ” Leyden, a former neo-Nazi who spoke in
the EMU Ballroom on Wednesday.
“In the end, calling something different is a
separate but equal solution. If we are equal un
der the law, then why use a different word?” —
Tim Smith, a plaintiff in a Basic Rights Oregon
lawsuit that challenges the constitutionality of
Measure 36.
— From Daily Emerald news reports
EDITORIAL BOARD
Jennifer Sudick
Editor in Chief
Ailee Slater
Commentary Editor
Steven R. Neuman
Managing Editor
Shadra Beesley
Copy Chief
Adrienne Nelson
Online Editor