Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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TheGAMECOCK VOL. LXV NO. 41 The University of South Carolina, Columbia, S.C. THURSDAY, FEB 20, 1975 Patterson, 1 Fac UY GEORGE MORRIS Of The Gamecock staff A bill completely revam ping the present grading system was passed Wed nesday by the Faculty Senate. The bill will take effect upon the signature of President William Patterson, and the approval of the USC Board of Trustees. However, the Department of Computer Services will begin to im plement the new system immediately. The grading system will consist of the following symbols: A, B, C, D, F, in complete (I), withdrawal (W), from a course before free drop date, withdrawal REACTION--USC student Karen Smoak Is one of several who offered opinions on the controversy surrounding campus radio station WUSC. Page 6. Studen BY MICKEY TRIMARCIlIl Of The Gamecock staff Student informers are used by local police to provide leads on drug users in USC dormitories, according to city police officials and several USC resident assistants. "We're sure there are in formners iin the dorms," one resident assistant said. ''They're pretty well spread out with at least two or three in every dor (Capt. Jiohn D)ennis, of the Columbia poli1ce narcotics division, said students who become' annoyedl with the amount of marijuana being smoked in the dorms will call the police. According to ~Jack (Cassidy, Assistant D)ean for Campus Relations, the informers are in no way cnnecterd with or supnnlied rustees approi ulty Se (WF), from a course after the free drop date, no record (NR), to be used in case an instructor doesn't turn in a grade on proper time. It is a temporary mark and must be replaced with one of the above marks. Satisfactory (S), unsatisfactory (U), will *be used in courses taken on a pass-fail basis, and AUD. audit. Under the new system, grade points will be: A, four points, B, three points, C, two points, D, one point, and F, no points. A 2.0 grade point ratio (GPR) is still required for graduation. Grade point ratios of students now or formerly enrolled under the No Credit (NC) system will remain the -On the insidc A4, MOVIES--The most succeshful movies financially of 1974 and all time are provided by Variety magazine. Page 9. ts infoi by the University. "It's appalling that there are undercover agents on campus," Cassidy said. "I'm opposed to the whole way it operates. "I don't think we're ac complishing very much by busting a guy for smoking a joint in his room. We should be more creative with the different problems on campus," Cassidy said. 'One of our major p)roblems as an educational in stitution is the lonely people on ('am pus. At the'other universities I' been to," Cassidy said, ''there have been undercover agents. I think that here at USC there is a mnutuLal paranoia about the agents." UJSC administration makes it c'lear that members of the Universit y 'omnmunit y are not exempt from drug laws. TIhe University D)rug Policy says "It Pal needed late ou, same. The GPR will bi calculated under the nev system after the bill is signed Two options of the nev system were defeated. Thi symbol FA, given for failurn due to excessive absenceq was not considered by th< senate. Grades of B+, C+ and D+ were proposed bui were defeated. J.M. Herr Jr., Facult3 Senate chairman, said th( change in systems was ar improvement. "Personally, I coulc operate under either system. I think this one is better because it is comparable tc those used at most univer sities. There are very few universities that use the NC system. I am sorry the op - MARQUETTE-Tom Boswel will be a major factor in Saturdal afternoon's game witi Marquette at the Coliseum. Page 10. MOn C must be clear that local, stat( and federal laws apply equally or campus as well as off-campus.' Under South Carolina', Dangerous Drugs Act (1971) possession of marijuana (les than one ounce) carries a penalt y of up to three months in jail 0r $100 or both for the first offense. T1he second offense carries up tc six months in jail or $200 or both. Possession of more than one ounce constitutes an intent to seli and is punishable by up to six months in jail or $1,000 or both tor the initial offense and up to $1,000 or one year in jail or both for the Sec(ond offense. Sale of an ounce or more of marijuana carries a penalty of up to 5 years in jail or $5,000 or both for a first offense and up to 10 years in jail or $10,000 or both for a second offense. D)ennis said sometimes courts sts NC s tions didn't pass, though," Herr said. The requirements for graduation with honors was changed in an amendment by Edward Lerner of the Physics Department. The Law studt trial systei BY MARION ELLIOTT Of The Gamecock staff Changes in the University Law School's procedure of trying accused violators of its honor code are goals of a student petition signed by 180 first-year law students. The petition lists three changes the students believe are needed: a change to a' system under which the accused violator of the honor code has the assumption of innocence until proven guilty; a provision saying more than one witness is required in order for the accused to be tried; the limiting of the school's Honor Council to only major violations of the code. Leeds Barroll, the petition's author, said under the present system an accused violator has to prove his innocence. "The burden of should be on the ac cuser to prove the violation oc curred instead of the accused having to prove he's innocent," Barroll said. Under the present system any student accused of violating the school's honor code .goes before the Honor Council, which consists irug viol will lighten the offender's sen tence providing he works as an informer. However, he said this is up to the discretion of the judge. "The drug problem has denied people an education," continued Dennis. "There was no major problem when marijuana. first came to Columbia in 1966. But since then it has done more to get kids kicked out of school and contributed to more broken families than before.'' D)ennis said students call his office' and say "'they can'tstd bec'aus Us omeoneonth hall is smoking marijuana. Of course we have to verify the report but many times this is the case. "I'd really like to see the drug problem cleaned up. Somebody has to dO it before it gets a foot on you," said Dennis. "The people who lose are those who get caught with just a jint. In my opinin, ystem new requirements for honor graduation are: for Summa Cum Laude, 3.90 to 4.00 GPR, Magna Cum Laude, 3.65 to 3.89 GPR, and for Cum Continued on Page 6 mnts seek n change of nine law students elected each year by students. A preliminary hearing is held before three council members to determine if a trial is necessary before the full council. If convicted of a code violation, a note is put in a student's file about the action. "This can hurt a student's bid for his law degree," Barroll said. Before graduating, law students must go before a Committee of Character ind Fitness. "If a student's records show a violation of the Vonor code he might not pass the committee," Barroll saic. Joe Anderson. president of the Honor Council, denied that an accused violator has to prove his innocence before the council. "This is not the case at all. Throughout law school we have been taught the accused is in nocent until proven guilty. That rules also in cases before the Honor Council," Anderson said. The conviction rate of cases decided by the council is about 15 per cent he said. Anderson said one possible reason for the confusion about the Continued on Page 6 Lators it's not worth it." Although hall advisors and resident assistants are duty bound to warn students not to smoke in the residence halls, the University discourages them from making personal in vestigations. However, if a student persists in smoking pot despite warnings, the residence life staff member files an in cident report with the assistant Dean for Campus Relations. One particular incident in a men's dorm which led people to believe informers are around occured last semester. A student had some marijuana in his room and was about to make a deal. Another student came in and threatened him with a knife and got away with about 12 pounds of pot. Later that af Continued on Page 4