MAKING THE GRADE - 1
Grading plan: spur or snag?
Editor's Note: The following is the first of a series of articles to appear about students "Making the Grade" at the University of Kansas. Articles in the future will deal with such topics as pud courses, flunk out courses, cheating, the importance of grades and variations in grading systems.
By Cheryl Hentsch
One hotly debated six-letter word profoundly affects the decisions and guides the actions of every American college student.
These six letters can make the difference between getting a successful job after graduation or becoming another statistic on a drop-out list. Four consonants and two vowels cause consternation among parents, worries for students, and headaches for educators.
IN A WORD, the word is "grades."
The most important question
concerning grades which everyone asks is—are they really important, do they serve a purpose in the college academic setting?
School administrators say some basis for ranking students is advisable under the present collegiate systems of record keeping, transferring students from one institution to another and rewarding achievements. A system of grading at the college level provides a quantitative method for students, school administrators and employers to assess a student's abilities.
ALTHOUGH PRESENT grading systems serve a clerical purpose, they are not totally effective and they introduce many problems of qualitative grading.
Quantitative
First, one mark does not fully describe a student's work. What does a "B" in English really mean? Did the student have problems with grammar or meaning? Or did
he perform to his highest capacity, show improvement, or decline in achievement?
Thus one mark could, if the instructor were questioned, represent a variety of differing descriptions of the student, none of which appear within the confines of the letter "B."
any other criteria arbitrarily decided upon.
Many instructors also do not thoroughly consider the grading system they use, or on what basis they give grades. They depend upon various methods to award their grades—status, progress, or
SOME INSTRUCTORS are inconsistent and change grading systems to suit their estimate of a student's personality or other equally arbitrary criteria. A grade of "A" from one instructor does not necessarily mean the same thing from another teacher.
Similarly, as the exact meaning of a grade varies within a department, grades vary between departments of a college.
Many departments intentionally or unintentionally gain a reputation for the type of grades they consistently issue. In some schools, departments of physics or engineering may be noted for giving few "As" or "Bs" while other departments may give many high grades in proportion to "Cs" and "Ds."
Grades present other problems within the accelerated study pro-
See GRADING SYSTEM QUESTIONED, page 10.
76th Year, No.126
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY kansan Serving KU for 76 of its 100 Years LAWRENCE, KANSAS Monday, May 2, 1966
Institute explores ecumenical thesis
A three-day exploration of ecumenism began yesterday with the opening of the Ecumenical Institute sponsored by KU and the Kansas School of Religion.
The Institute is especially considering those recent developments in the ecumenical movement associated with Vatican Council II. It is being directed by three of the chief participants in the ecumenical dialogue in America, all of whom attended the Vatican Council. They are the Rev. Dr. Joseph Sittler, University of Chicago; the Rev. Daniel J. O'Hanlon, Alma College; and Rabbi Marc H. Tanenbaum, director of Interreligious Affairs Department of the American Jewish Committee.
DR. SITTLER and Father O'Hanlon last night examined the historical and theological reasons behind the Protestant-Catholic schism, and the recent move toward ecumenism.
Dr. Sittler subdivided his topic into the causes of separation, the occasions of inter-faith intersections, and the promise of inter-penetration.
HE CITED theological,political cultural,and emotional factors, and suggested a historical sense of humor as a necessary tool in attempting to study and resolve these differences.
"If we don't have this historical sense of humor, we will be quite unable to make the clear decisions that this institute demands," he said.
About the promise of interpenetration of the faiths he said, "The promise resides in a fresh arousal of good will, charity, a suspension of suspicion, and a sensitive understanding between the communities. We must learn to rise above personal abrasions and official idiosyncracies."
FATHER O'HANLON discussed the reasons for the Roman Catholic aloofness to the ecumenical movement that persisted until very lately. He spoke of church-state conflict and the theological desert created by the dissolution of centers of learning following the French Revolution which resulted in a sort of counter-reformation ecclesiology.
tion, and ecclesiology and the nature of the Church. Father O'Hanlorr also mentioned the recent discovery of unsuspected areas of theological agreement between Roman Catholics and Protestants.
He attributed the present bend toward ecumenism to new approaches to the catechetics, the liturgy, and biblical studies, as well as to current trends in studies on Luther and the Reforma-
There will be an informal luncheon tomorrow noon in the Sunflower room, which will be open to interested student. Questions may be addressed to the speakers, Dr. Sittler, Father O'Hanlon, and Rabbi Tanenbaum.
George faces voters in disquise of wife
mary, Mrs. Wallace is expected to encounter stiff opposition from Congressman James D. Martin, one of the most powerful Republicans to campaign in Alabama in almost a century.
See SHIFTS IN THOUGHT,
page 9.
The Wallaces have made no bones that a vote for Lurleen is a vote for George, who by law cannot succeed himself for another four year term in the $25,-000 a year job.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — (UPI)—A record turnout of voters, including thousands of Negroes voting for the first time, is expected to cast ballots Tuesday in the Democratic party primary in which Gov. George C. Wallace seeks to replace himself with his wife, Lurleen.
THE SHIFT IN historical perspective "is reflected in a statement that Henry Adams made in the early 1900's, Dr. Sittler said. "Adams said that one learns from history only that nothing can be learned from history."
"Nature is attenuating and artificialized and man is the operator on the world of nature," he commented. "Man can do what he wills to do with the world of nature."
The Rev. Daniel J. O'Hanlon,
Dr. Sittler described changing views on world and nature as a triumph of man over nature.
Sees three new trends
Many political observers believe the Wallace grip on Alabama is so strong that Mrs. Wallace, a 39-year-old former dime store
"MAN KNOWS HIMSELF to be a self among selves. Everything is understood today by this relationship," Dr. Sittler said. "There is also a difference in how one describes things. A thing is what it does today, its wheness and wheness can no longer be specified." he explained.
The ecumenical movement was described yesterday as "the huge stirring of a religious community aware of three major shifts in Western man's thought and its challenges."
Speaking at the opening convoitation of the Ecumenical Institute, Rev. Dr. Joseph Sittler of the University of Chicago, described the shifts in thought, which he feels characterized man's modernity.
clerk, will be swept headlong into the November general election without a runoff despite opposition from nine men including two former governors, and the negative vote of the Negroes.
He explained these shifts as man's understanding of himself, his changing perspective on the world and nature, and current historical perspective.
IN THE PAST the Democratic primary has been tantamount to election in Alabama and Mrs. Wallace could become the third woman in U.S. history to become governor.
However, if she wins the priority schedule set up by the Athletic Seating Board of the All Student Council.
Fall football tickets to be sold this week
The four-day sale of student season football tickets began this morning at Allen Field House with the purchasing of tickets by students who will be seniors next fall.
Tickets are purchased in the eas lobby of the field house today through Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 12 noon, and from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Next year's graduate students will be able to buy tickets tomorrow; next year's juniors Wednesday, and next year's sophomores Thursday, according to the priority schedule set up by the Athletic Seating Board of the All Student Council.
Students who fail to apply for tickets according to this schedule will have the same priority as new students in the ticket sales next fall. This week is the only time tickets may be pre-ordered.
In a letter which has been mailed to all KU students, the Athletic Seating Board outlined exact procedures and regulations concerning the purchase and use of season football tickets for next fall.
POLITICAL prognosticators around the state have predicted that as many as 800,000 will go to the polls Tuesday. Included in this number will be some 235,000 Negroes, about half of whom were registered under the 1965 voting rights act and will be voting for their first time.
SOME OBSERVERS say that if Mrs. Wallace is forced into a runoff it will be a blow to the Wallace prestige and a boon to the Republicans who are considering making a serious bid for the governor's chair in the November general election.
Dr. Martin Luther King, in a speech Saturday in Birmingham, urged a bloc vote against Mrs. Wallace.
"There will be a new Alabama when we wake up Wednesday," King said.
Orchestral works mark annual music symposium
Evaluation of musical trends in orchestral works is the goal of visiting American composers participating in the eighth annual KU Symposium of Contemporary American Music.
The three-day symposium forum began today; however, most
WEATHER
Weather will be mostly fair with a slow warming trend tonight and Tuesday, the U.S. Weather Bureau forecasts. Light southerly winds tonight with a low in the low 40's.
of the participants arrived in time for the final performance last night of "Carry Nation."
The emphasis this year on orchestral works is due to the performance on campus of the Kansas City Philharmonic Orchestra.
Conducting the Kansas City Philharmonic Orchestra during
DOUGLAS MOORE, RETIRED chairman of the Columbia University Music Department and MacDowell Professor of Music, will be guest composer during the symposium. Prof. Moore, composer of "Carry Nation," is the Rose Morgan visiting professor of music.
the symposium, will be Robert Baustian, professor of orchestra at KU. The Philharmonic was brought to campus as orchestra-in-residence for the symposium through KU's first award of $21.495 from the Rockefeller Foundation.
The Kansas City Philharmonic Orchestra will rehearse at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday in University Theatre. It will give its first performance at 8 p.m. Tuesday in University Theatre.
See ORCHESTRAL WORK page 12.