Show tr &r Page 4 November 7 Charles Corry UTAH STATE L 'liferal? is cm B No loyal American doubts that President don’t care enough to become involved Anti-wa- r Richard Nixon is doing everything he thinks demonstrators are continually condemned as the "mVietnam end traitors Nor do discontents possible to radicals his and dedication to the number” war of favorite ending hippies they question any denunciations as quickly as possible by the majority” But it was evident by his speech to the in America But those same condeming silent nation Monday night that his thinking on the ones are usually so busy condeming that they war hasn’t changed during his term of office fail to lend any support to their own beliefs Americans undoubtedly view Nixon in his speech indicated that the war is being fought on three fronts: Vietnam Pairs ” the speech as the most disappointing in history Built as an extremely important and America Anti-wa- r demonstrators have continually speech it turned out to be a restatement of the been accused of aiding the Communists- traditional Nixon doctrine on the war In actuality the speech must be viewed as The reasoning is that because of all the a wise political move on Nixon’s part Ap- - coverage given to anti-wa- r demonstrators the "silent for Communists the of are to pealing majority” being given added encourage-hi- s support face in of hold extended the ment to out That is undoubtedly true policies especially anti-wa- r demonstrations schedule next week is But the vast majority of them demonstrate a move designed to take some of the pressure not in favor of the Communists but against long-haire- d "arm-chair-sile- Anti-Vietna- nt m "re-run- k I a off an And it is about time that the "silent ma- jority” if indeed they are the majority stood up for what they profess to believe The right of dissent has been actively anti-wa- r demonstra- practiced and defended by tors for some time now But the right of assent is a right relegated to people who traditionally stay home from the polls when their man isn’t up for election let the minority make all the noise until they feel threatened arid ingeneral practices The people to condemn are not those who demonstrate against but those who fail to demonstrate in support They are the ones who give the Communists added hope by letting them think that opponents of the war are in the majority Most anti-wa- r demonstrators are dedicated Americans actively engaged in the American process too bad such can not be said for the “silent majority” v Al Klagge o ° The “How to” problem of grades has always been one of the foremost stints to formal education I for one am weary of being qualified by another per son’s interpretation of quality Quality-towarwhat end or with n what purpose in mind? The of purpose poses two questions: Are we self govern ing and can judgments be made on nonmajor courses in the same manner as our major courses? is to be To be capable of making decisions in a rational manner and in doing so there must always be some end d intro-ductio- self-governin- g toward which we move In this respect most students are qualified otherwise we wouldn’t be here (note: there are possible exceptions far those avoiding the draft and"'1 or ’parental cri-ticism- Self-governorsh- ip is not reserve that s) om-nisceince- for philosophers and theologians who stray from their interpretive functions and since we are not omnisceint we need facts and wisdom from those who went before us This puts the “Board” advisors in their respective places as advisors and educa-tor- s and and not as “first causes” lastlc averages nor inordinant pressures to detract from the time consuming quality by a major de Still though there needs to be some criteria for the “Great” ty fo Crning anfthe TbUity This argument can be replied - to apply to nonmajor courses especial if a student ly For instance is majoring in forestry where lies the justification for grad in philosophy? It Ing his WOl-has no relation to his major and usually he would simply be filling a requirement k These nonmajor grades are aften quite detrimental to many classifications' of students In all justification they should be put on a “passfail” basis as UAifVTotc!eS n al?uady ere would be no of scho down-gradin- g As the military at least has been aware cf for several centuries there is a tremendous physcological impact in traditions So it is with the name Aggies at USU The whole idea of a name change came up last year when a committee began casting about for some means of improving the school image The name change was only one of many ideas put forth In the face of opposition from the sports fans I would like to put forth the suggestion that this university’s image might be better served by improving the academic atmosphere rather than changing the name etc and worse I have some suggestions First we need class evaluation and the plan initiated last winter was an excellent beginning However it seems queer that a student senate that could finance at the students expense and an administration that could organize a trip from Logan to Washington D C for the entire Odd Squad can’t organize and finance a little thing like class evaluation cards on time from the computer center or money to print the results Committee upon faculty state or wJxatfiaveyou committee is of little worth in evaluating undergraduate education without the opinions of the students included and class evaluation is the single best way to obtain student opinion Next the fiasco at fall registration or should I say Chinese fire drill should be eliminated by instituting total preregistration for all quarters including summer Cards and class schedules to be mailed to incoming freshman and transfer students The few who somehow miss the preregistration boat go over and hae a private talk with the computer Not much to accomplish but oh the confusion that it would eliminate The present pass-faor F grade system is a farce A pass-is absolutely no improvement on a letter grade for the average student The institution of such a system reeks of administrative hypocrisy and is to be condemmed and ridiculed The grade for a pass-fai- l class should be just that ABCD pass F fail less no more no Thepass-fai- l system at the University of Utah while unnecessarily complex cojild well serve as a model for should involve only a this university Registration for pass-fai- l check on the registration card rather than the involved rain dance now required Credits obtained by examination should not receive the arbitrary lettergrade they do at present nor should it count against the student’s grade point to fail such an" examination as it presently does Such credit by examination should be recorded 'only as a pass if the student is succesful If he fails no mark snould appear in his record This system is in essentially de d facto existence now the administration should make it the ly accepted form There is much to be said in favor of mandatory open book exams Much of the material students are required now to memorize is of absolutely no real value and even less will be of lue rlA Education should °dayS teach the student how to acquire and utilize information rather tban memory-gues- s game it presently plays Open book exams-beiwould be a desirable step towards the above objective You’ll notice that the professors most against opea book exams are likely the ones who have you as students memorizing the most il D ' open-mande- “ learning to specific situations At least for the time those hasty judgments called grades will have to re- main in the system until a bet- ter method can replace them trivia Hardly a desirable state of affairs However the least we should ask The present grading system is patently upfair and arbitrary 11 tLtoll1 analys°isbof humafpo rePresents allthe worst 25Pects of rule by men over law rather aws over men our heritage and instincts teach rue tential if it were possible to tian y out all’ human potential into such us is desirable I would suggest some limits on the grades a fessor may give I would recommend that a minimum of 10 categorized and measur ed symbols as “A” and “F” receive A B and that a minimum of 85 receive a grade of C the world would indeed “little or better A maximum of 5 or one student whichever is great- remember” what Iong is er F A allowed an Tte:n0r professor may give higher grades-te-largas een accomplished thus far percentages in this system but not lower TheJabove system in all of recorded history really only reinforces in the students favor the present curvegrading system which is arbitrarily used at present You may well graduate with a higher or lower grade point because you transferred into the university Grade point for graduation is computed only on credits earned in residence This is to some extent desirable but some equalization for four year students is needed It is suggested that the best solution would be a pass-fagrade only be given for all lower division classes Since it is obviously necessary to judge freshman and to’ some extent sophomores on college ability a compromise is desirable' One such compromise would be to assign lower classmen letter grades for evaluation On attainment of upper class rank a permanent record is made which show's only pass-fai- l for lower division classes There are of course aq almost infinite number of other improvements to be made The ones I put forth here seem to have a reasonable expectation for implementation since to some extent they are already in use Implementation of suggestions such as the ones I put forth or others equally valid would well serve to take USU out of the academic backwater it now' floats in and push it into the mainstream of American academics The improvement in the academic atmosphere might then create an image wherein even Aggies need not bow their heads -- pro-easil- er il I Ohio Post — CPS (fAW 969 New image needed but not name only 0 n 1 Published tri weekly during the school year except during official uni- verity hoUdays and final exam week by the Associated Students of Utah Editorial offices University Union 315 Business offices Union 317 Correspondence and change of address should be addressed to PO Box 1262 University Station Logan Utah 8432J Subscription price $2 per J6 per year Entered fo second class postage at the Post Office in quarter Logan! keep tell in' ya man the end of the war Utah Represented for national advertising by Lexington Ave: New York NY 10017 " is just around the corner 99 National Advertising Service 360 ng -- |