The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, March 25, 1976, Page Page 10, Image 10
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
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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.
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