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pinon Editorial . Grades The USC Faculty Senate has scheduled a special meeting Wednesday to discuss the University's grad' system and a proposal that changes be made in it. Hoefully, the senate will see fit to make changes in the present system. Under the "NC" system now in use, grade point averages sometimes do not reflect the overall achievement of students. Although a noble idea, the NC approach to grading often is more of an 200 wins for McGuire When Frank McGuire began his coaching career at USC, in 1965 he took over a team that was 10-14 the previous year. In his first year McGuire won only six games, and lost 17. The next year was not much better; the team was 11-13. But, beginning with the 1966 67 season McGuire began turning out a consistent win ner, and he has never had a team lose 10 games in any one season since his second year at Carolina. Saturday night in the first game of a crucial road trip in Ohio for this year's team, McGuire won his 200th game as USC's coach, this one over Dayton. It is highly unlikely that McGuire will win a second 200 games at Carolina since he does not figure to be coaching that much longer. But with the first 200 wins in the bag, it is a good time to recognize McGuire as probably the most popular and successful sports coach at USC in recent history. His record the past six years, in which his teams won at least 20 games in each, is a sign of his coaching ability. It is also a witness as tohow far he has taken Carolina's basketball program, which never had a 20-game winner before McGuire, in such a short time. TH E GAl~ Managing Edt JIM H STEVE PARKER The Gamececk welcomes letters from re subject and a maximum Of 300 words. T name. Pseudonyms or other aliases willI withheld if circumstances warrant. To at please include your mailing address anc reached. We reserve the right to edit all 101 limItations. Address: Campus Opinion. Di at USC injustice to students than a justice. Originally the present system was adopted to en courage students to take dif ficult courses, or courses they normally would not take, without the fear of harming their grade average by getting a "D" grade. This is the major advantage of the NC system. However, it is evident that the NC system can be abused so that students use it to better their grade point average without the educational achievement that should accompany a high GPR Rather than study hard and earn a "C" grade, students often are content to accept an NC in the course so it will not lower their overall average. This is an inequity to students who fight to get a C in the course since they are punished for getting a C in stead of an NC. By taking NCs rather than Cs or Bs, it is possible for a student to take five courses and get a passing grade in only one, yet end up with a 4.0 by getting an A in the remaining course. There are a number of alternatives available to better the grading system. An ac ceptable alternative would be to have an "A, B, C, D, F" scale for grades, much the same as was used before the NC system. However, a "pass-fail" option should be retained to encourage students to take difficult courses they would not if they had an almost certain C or D hanging over them. Students should be able to take as many as 20 or 25 hours outside of their major field on a pass-fail basis. By combining the "A to F" system and a pass-fail option, students would be assured of having a representative grade pint average, as well as hving the chance to take courses out of their major field without being punished with a lower than normal grade. [ECOCK ERSH vetsmMaae ART FRANK aders. Letters should be IImiled to a single ey must be signed with the writer's true tot be used, but the writer's name will be sit us in verifying the identity of writers, a telephone number where you can be ters, not for content, but to meet our space awer A,.SC oub ina 292na Student electi A futile exerc B It's that time of the year again folks. Yes, it's time for the annual Student Govern ment Association's spring follies, also known as elections, and the candidates, .the flowerly statements and eloquent campaign promises will soon be flowing your way. Yet before it becomes time to analyze the candidates, their statements and promises, it might be appropriate to ask: is it -all really worth it? SGA elections are notorious for the lack of voter participation. In fact, about 3,000 students voted in last year's presidential contest and student senate seats have been known to be won with a whopping total of six votes. With such limited input by the student body in general, can SGA call itself representative of student views and opinions? The reasons for student apathy toward SGA elections are numerous. The belief that SGA is run by a small, close-knit clique, only looking after their own self interests is prevalent on campus. While this belief has some basis, the majority of SGA officials have a basic concern for what they believe to be the problems facing USC students. Many students have little faith in the way the process works anyway. The stories of ballot boxes being stuffed, elections officials being bought off and the like begin to circulate to about this time and continue until election is over. But the overriding reason why students do not participate in SGA elections is the view that SGA's actions never produce any tangible results. SGA has no real power to deal with the bureaucratic run arounds of this University. The Gamecock's Where is humanity goin TO THE EDITOR: Sure, it may b Where is humanity going? doors open for It appears that many of us, oc- female, 4 casionally, find ourselves playing a "good-looking" little game of power control. well be more i Which is not all too unusual, being your little show i "human!" But the amount of but a minute e exertion and where it is directed, and drastic effe and to whom it is directed, is of ditioning. major importance. I ask, then, "Is the I fail to und4 manifestation, in regards .to an must continue u image, of the so-called 'concerned' facades. Perhi of today's 'man' towards members "Plan," perhap of the opposite sex evoked by social maybe it's beci conditioning or by feelings which kick out of punm are human?" our ego. Obviously the initial feeling Is Whycan't pe somewhat primitive, but how ignore acting adept we are at changing a natural pressures of emotion Into something that can be essentially in "accepted" by our peers. natural warmt This state of affairs Is familiar to composed? WI almost everyone, whether or not barriers beti they are active participants or broken? If two simply observers. It Is a situation, each other, why however, which Is not entirely self- me" routine p< contained, because It affects all can ever be owr aspects of life as well. -aren't born witI The "man" Image Is evident In our bodies. everyday actions of the male Have we beco species. For instance, when was the social updr the last time you opened the door that It isn't the for a male (pre-supposing that you us, but that are male)? In contrast, how many create society? times do you open the door for a female? ons: ,ise y Bill Grant Each time it deals with an issue of any con sequence, its measures have to be passed along to the Faculty Senate, the administration and finally to the Board of Trustees. Rarely does any bill emerge from that bureaucratic maze in the same form as it was originally proposed. As a result, the only issues that the Student Senate has juristiction over are those so relatively minor that their impact is only felt by a small number of students. In the same vein, the SGA president's powers are so limited that he has been reduced to nothing more than a figurehead representing a vague idea of where the students stand. What has to be done to make student govern ment a viable force in the planning of the policies of this University? The University must first open up its decision making process to more than just a handful of top administrators and the trustees, a group, for the most part, that only visits the campus three or four times a year. Students must be given a voice in this process if USC is to ever grow into the institution it can be, rather than rest in the depths of mediocrity forever. The University governance proposal, at this moment mired somewhere within the faculty senate, offers a plan whereby the decision making power would be divided among the students, faculty and administration. Students, hopefully elected at large, would then have a far larger role in shaping the policies that effect their environment at USC. Until the time when a governance proposal is instituted at USC, however, student elections will remain just another exercise in futility. mail The Gamecock's e your habit to hold ignorant critics anyone, but for a .specially a, TO THE EDITOR: one, you may very For almost two years now I have nclined to add to tolerated your erratic film >f kindness. This is reviews. I base my opinion not on cample of the vast personal bias but on critical ac sets of social con- claim. As an avid film viewer and ad rstand why "life" dict I have resented your capsule nder such towering reviews of movies unseen, feeble aps It was In the attempts at great articulate e It's inevitable or analysis, half-heartedness and tuse we get such a general cinematic ignorance. ping the hell out of I begin my counterattack with this token aimed at Sam L. Irvin aple be people and Jr.'s column on terror movies out the social ("Terror movies win enthusiastic being a zombie, support," Feb. 13 edition). For his tune to the basic, information, "Serpico" was not a of which life is Sidney Lumet's ticket to fame. His en will the social initiation to recognition goes back veen people be more than 10 years to such classics eople love or favor as "Failsafe" (1964) and "The should the "follow- Pawnbroker" (1965). rsist? No person ed by another. We Also, to Chuck Cromer, your deeds attached to capsule review of Bagdanavich's "Targets" ("Classic movies of fered," Feb. 13 edition) is lifted me so enmeshed in verbatim from Steven H. Schener's aft that we forget Movies On TV. I hope you are not society that makes taking credit for It. 'We, the people" Now let's be careful in there. I'll KEVIN ENMANbe keeping an eye on you. KYLE WHITLOCK W. A. MESE, JR.