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GPR's s count p By Marion Clark Last spring the Faculty Sen return to the A-B-C-D-F grading failed to pass an option clause, w further improved the grading This clause included the additior What half-grades involve is c plus marks on letter grades. Sue u-i-, ana JD+. It is employed by school. I cannot say why these ii system, but I can $ee three adva First, in regards to the student would serve as an incentive fo work. The grade spread, as it r worK to tiuctuate within a ten poi the indolent but a frustration t takes comfort because he can range ; the latter becomes frustr not quite high enough to pull up student related to me that she qu course because her average wa achieve nor lose a different gra< The half-grade system would s points, thus allowing a student i higher grade for his work ; possibility of losing a grade for 1< Second, half-grades would exacting in their grading proced see more clearly how well the records a B for a student's paj that student than his work lies sc a near A. Under the proposed sy: student that his work lies closer I Third, most important, the the student than one without s student who averages an 89 or credit than one who averages an whose course averages differ o still differ by letter grades wl GPRs. Losing a point in one's G are only four points in the sea) T i.1^ ! 1- i.1 -1 in auiiuiiury 1 ininit me aavani - are convincing. Students receivi their work; they understand mi doing;.and their work receives praisal. I am aware of three possible < is that students' GPEs will ris< _i ? ii ? * cnange in me nonor standards. I how much of an objection this h respectability would benefit with a greater significance would be; the objection means to imply tha or grading system would caus validity of such an argument foi education standards. Does a t< more consideration than the ret grades? . The second objection is likewi cannot bean A+. The point may is narrowed for other letter gra A; therefore an inequality still r< a concern to a professor then let A. The reason why many studen they have earned one but becau an A than to a B. A teacher will pro/^if fnv* R nmnlr ^ivvui> ivi mj vruin ucvauoc ill whereas a B+ would more formance. The third objection, and one u situation, is that it is too difficul so closely between half-grades raised this objection meant dist B+. Since a B- is irrelevant tc thoughts to two half-grades. If th that the objector would agree th? grade lie in essay and oral work have rarely received over a thi did not include a plus or minus This covers work for such cours and religion. Perhaps this ob f ,1i 4 I uu iiul wcint iu i grading. At the next meeting of the Fa< decide whether or not to include that this issue will be well thoug is one which will affect the stude :hoi ilrl >iuses ate passed a bill providing a ; system. However, the Senate iuui in uijf upimuii wouiu nave standard and made it fairer, i of a half-grade system. juite simple: the inclusion of h a system would include B+, other universities and the law istitutions have gone to such a ntages to using it here. ts' work the half-grade system r better and more consistent iow stands, allows a student's int spread. This is a comfort to o the conscientious. The first keen his j?rade within ? wiH#? ated because he finds his work to a better grade. Recently a w f lit studying near the end of one is such that she could neither ie regardless of further work, ilice the point spread to five a better chance of receiving a ind likpwisf* inrroncintr fho ww ??IV* VMUAll^ UIV itting up on his work. force teachers to be more lures and allow the students to ?y are doing. A teacher who >er indicates nothing more to >mewhere between a near C to stem a B would indicate to the to a C. half-grade system is fairer to uch a standard. Presently a 1 A r*01 lrQP rtvouroc nrv m nrn . ? W ?. V/V.V1 T VU I1V XI1U1 t i 80. Accordingly, two students nly by a point may find they lich have the only effect on PR counts heavily when there le. cages oi me naif-grade system e greater incentive to keep up ore clearly how well they are a more accurate and fair apobjections to half-grades. One i as a whole and will force a am afraid I do not understand s supposed 10 oe. rne school's \ increased standards and also added to a student's degree. If t changing the honor standard e a hassle, I hardly see the rpflisincr thp imnrnvomonf nf . v?*v V TVllAV/lIt UJl smporary inconvenience take lording of a student's lifetime se unclear. It states that there be that while the grade range des it cannot be narrnwpd fnr smains. My reply is that if it is him raise his standard for an ts are given A's is not because ise their work comes closer to i many times give a student A e student has worked hard, accurately assess the per rtiich perhaps reveals the real t for a professor to distinguish The particular person who inguishing between B-, B, and > the issue, I shall direct my ?is is the case, I would imagine at the hardest performances to However, I find it odd that I ree-year period a grade which i sign for either type of work. ;es as English, history, speech jection simply indicates that take the effort needed for such cuity senate, tne senators will : the half-grade system. I hope ht out before they vote since it ni-o pLiiuaiiciuiCLUi us. i Gamecock o jl r I N I O 1 1J I !la nn/iliti# La H B ^ V^UUI I I y important By Dr. John Carpenter Dr. John Carpenter is an associate professor in the Department of Geology. A transformation is taking place in our society and culture. It is a complex process consisting of many elements, but one of the most predominant elements in the transformation is a greater confpm hv inriivirlnnlc onH nrAime , UIIM 5?UUpO, for the quality of the human condition. This is not to be confused with the phrase "standard of living" as it is generally used. In fact, many elements of "quality of life" are dramatically opposed to elements of "standard of living" Q For example when many people talk about improving their "quality of life" they are talking about returning to a simpler, slower way of life,restructuring of individual value systems, a demand for privacy and leisure and renewed concern for others. Included in the transformation and an important element of "quality of life" is a concern for the quality of the environment in urKinU urn ? wiiiv.li yyc live, jliic imiure ui uie concern includes a greater awareness of spaceship earth and all its inhabitants-its beauties and its scars, it's potential and its limitations-and an awareness that uctuuiiui privies, national arrogances and national greeds all must be rethought, no they must be changed, if spaceship earth and its inhabitants are to survive. No longer does any group of people hnuo (ka lllwliril n# U T V HIV 1UAU1 y \J 1 |IUllIllg "national needs" above global limitations. Americans are certainly not the only national group guilty of wanton greed. Yet the statistics on consumption of pnprffv fnnri nnrl nnturnl rocnnwoo ? " ?" ? > vovui */?/>> surely don't have to be repeated. I don't have to point out that Americans, who comprise 6 per ceni 01 me gioDai population, consumed 35 per cent of all energy produced in 1974, or any of the other statistics. We all know them already. And certainly in order to save spaceship earth and its :^i uia * ~ i - * iiuiciuiiuiiis, peopie irom an nations and even national governments are going to have to change from a past ethic of "survival of the fittest" and "more equals better" to a new global ethic that recognizes that the earth has limited resources, limited space VAT? ME WORRY? \ and limited ability to feed adequately the exploding world population. rne scope of the problems is enormous. What can a concerned individual or small group of individuals do? What we can not do is to throw up our hands in frustration. Nor can we "wait it out" until somebody else takes action. What we must do is to act, and in many instances action must be preceded by awareness. But we can not simply become more aware, that is necessary but not sufficient. Responsible action by individuals is absolutely necessary. Unfortunately, environmentalecological concerns too often take the form of values conflicts between adversaries who take highly emotional, often strongly polarized viewpoints concerning a given issue and who do much talking and very little listening. How often can you recall an environmental conflict where the "environmentalists" waged an almost niirpl V pmntiAnol ? " ?: ? I ~ viuuiiuimi cam against an industrial concern which in turn waged a partially factual, sometimes highly pragmatic campaign, yet frequently making a strong emotional appeal as well. Such conflicts rarely results in practical solutions to problems and commonly serve to generate only destructive frustration among participants and blind animosity towards opposing points of view. I feel a strong need to get away from this adversary approach to environmental issues and move towards a more holistic approach in trying to understand and solve problems. Almost any stand an individual takes on a controversial issue is based on both factual and emotional elements. Traditional courses in environmental science emphasize factual aspects of problems but commonly ignore or uciuue emotional concerns. I believe that both elements must be Frank DeLoache * Kerry Northrup Lvnn Bumaardner (George Morrlf"" Tommy Fowler. Johnny Drumming* Chuck Cromer Kip Blevin Susan Paquet peter LaMatte> , Cecile Holmes Billy Baker Mickey Trlmarchl Mark Bolton \ dealt with simultaneously if objective and practical solutions to controversial problems are to result. In order to aid people in their awareness and integration of both these elements in their aecision-maxing process, a small group of graduate students and I have developed a course that recognizes and deals with a person's "total environment". We include in this concept the interaction between three inseparable components that constitute a person's world: 1. The material environment all those "things" around us and how we interact with them. 2. The social environment - all of the people around us and how we interact with them. 3. The internal environment - all of what goes on inside us, our feelings, values, prejudices, etc., and how we respond to them. Our philosophy in this course reflects many of the tenets advocated by George Brown in his concept of "confluent education". Brown, in his book entitled Human Teaching for Human Learning defines confluent education as the merging of the cognitive (intellectual) and affective (emotional) domains of the person. This approach to teaching and learning results in a holistic educational experience that is greater than the sum of any of its component parts experienced separately. Student comments and evaluations indicate that we have been successful in applying this philosophy to meet threo cnnls u/p set for the course: (1) to increase an individual's awareness of the quality of his environment; (2) to increase awareness of the existence of environmental problems; and (3) to stimulate people to involve themselves actively in both bringing about solutions to existing Droblems and preventing future problems from materializing. Editor News Editor ? Managing Editor Sports Editor Editorial Page Editor Photography Editor Entertainment Editor Graduate Assistant Production Manager Advertising Manager I Asst. News Editor Asst. Sports Editor | Production Supervisor I Cartoonist |