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USG, faculty react to grade inflation

USG, faculty react to grade inflation

In the week since a faculty committee issued a report both documenting and criticizing a meteoric rise in grade inflation over the last two dozen years, reactions have run the gamut.With the USG lining up on one side as stalwart defenders of a trend towards higher grades, and the report's authors ? the Faculty Committee on Examinations and Standing ? lining up on the other as critics of grading standards gone awry, the lines have been drawn for a wide-ranging discussion about what the importance of grades.And everyone has an opinion.The USG's responded to the committee's findings in a memo issued yesterday."Apart from the desire to differentiate artificially between Princeton students, the report offers no compelling reason to explain why grades need to be re-centered," wrote USG president David Ascher '99 and academics chair Todd Rich '00.

NEWS | 02/17/1998

USG introduces online calendar

No longer do students have to shuffle through numerous flyers, emails and voice mail messages to remember their activity schedules.

NEWS | 02/17/1998

Augustine '57 envisions new policy dependent on military technology

America must strike a foreign policy balance between isolationism and activism by using its technological prowess, Norman Augustine '57 GS '59 told students and faculty last night at Dodds Auditorium."We need to find out how to avoid becoming '911 America,' and also not standing by while friends suffer," said Augustine, the former CEO of Lockheed-Martin.Augustine suggested that America must continue its investment in technological military innovations, but not ignore the importance of its troops."The technological contribution is significant, but only one ingredient," said Augustine, who is currently a professor in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department. Longterm developmentThroughout his speech, Augustine continued to stress the need for America to invest in the longterm development of new technologies.

NEWS | 02/17/1998

Triangle returns to original schedule to facilitate touring

New and improved kick-lines have been a spring staple for more than a quarter of a century, but next year Triangle Club will only produce one original show each academic year.

NEWS | 02/17/1998

University endowment increases, ranks fourth largest in country

The results for fiscal 1997 are in, and the University's endowment ranks fourth among U.S. colleges and universities.

NEWS | 02/17/1998

Jewish studies program appoints Schafer first full-time professor

The Program in Jewish Studies has appointed an internationally renowned scholar in hopes of molding the three-year-old program into one of the University's more accessible and diverse undergraduate curricula.Peter Sch

NEWS | 02/16/1998

Voice-mail system crashes; network experiences delays

It has been a rough week for electronic communication on campus.Most recently, the University voice-mail system crashed for a total of 75 minutes on Sunday.

NEWS | 02/16/1998

Regulations hinder new hoagie agency

It is common knowledge that starting your own business can be a difficult task. It can be even harder if the organization you are starting is another campus food delivery service.The Hoagie Haven Delivery Agency, created by Tom Johnson '00 and Josh Greenhill '00, has run into more than a few problems with the University's regulations regarding student-operated businesses and it only began business last night."The Student Agencies office hasn't been very helpful," said Dan Lips '00, an employee of the organization.

NEWS | 02/16/1998

Public Safety, police to renovate trailer for use as command station

The trailer next to the fence in Lot 23 has been parked there for more than a month without a permit.

NEWS | 02/16/1998

Burglar threatens study abroad student in South Africa

A University student studying abroad in South Africa was robbed and threatened Friday after a man broke into her house.Alison Bartlett '99 was alone in her Mowbray home when an unidentified man in his early twenties broke into the house searching for money, she said.To gain entry, the suspect kicked in a rear door ? the only means of egress without steel bars ? after jumping a locked fence that surrounds the property."I heard something in the back of the house.

NEWS | 02/15/1998

Class of '43 creates award for best neuroscience thesis

In the spirit of its ongoing "Excellence in Neuroscience at Princeton" initiative, the Class of 1943 has established an award to be given to a senior demonstrating exceptional work in that field.The Class of 1943 Senior Thesis Prize in Neuroscience will go to the senior whose thesis is judged by the Department of Psychology to be the best in that area of study, according to Barry Jacobs, psychology professor and director of the interdepartmental program in neuroscience.Fifty-fifth Reunion co-chair Ted Rockwell '43 said that his class is interested in helping Princeton's neuroscience program grow, noting that the University has no separate department devoted to the subject."Ending the 'Decade of the Brain,' Princeton ought to be leading the field," Rockwell said.The award will be given at commencement ceremonies each year.

NEWS | 02/15/1998

Firestone exhibits Latin American artifacts

Pre-Columbian coins, 500-year-old letters from Christopher Columbus and 17th century maps of Latin American expansion are currently on display in the main gallery of Firestone Library.The exhibition, "The Search for Latin America: Sources at Princeton," compiles the University's resources on Latin America with a journey through a thousand years of Latin American history.

NEWS | 02/15/1998

A Cappella groups celebrate Modica's life in a joint concert

This Friday, almost a year after the death of Tigertone Rick Modica '99, Princeton's a cappella groups will convene to celebrate his life.All eight of the arch-rotation singing groups will participate in the memorial concert.

NEWS | 02/15/1998

Men's basketball team gains national media recognition

Princeton's spectacular rise this season to No. 8 on the ESPN/USA TODAY coaches' poll has made the Tigers' Cinderella story a popular topic of conversation for anyone with even passing interest in NCAA men's basketball.Newspapers, radio stations and television networks from a number of cities, including Seattle, Milwaukee, St.

NEWS | 02/15/1998

Ethnic groups appeal for funding, increased recognition from USG

Controversy continues to surround the Projects Board, as the senate haggled over grants to student groups last night.

NEWS | 02/15/1998

Nobel winner Chu discusses 'optical molasses' research

Humility was the buzz word in the Wilson School yesterday as 1997 Physics Nobel Laureate Stephen Chu delivered the fifth annual Albert Einstein Memorial Lecture entitled "Laser Cooling and Trapping of Atoms and Biomolecules.""Many Nobel Laureates' greatest strength is humility," said Jack O'Leary, Chairman of the Management Services Council.

NEWS | 02/12/1998

McCosh doles out Tylenol, advice to treat spread of Influenza A virus

Bed-rest, fluids, Tylenol and cough syrup. That is the treatment regime McCosh Health Center is prescribing to many students arriving at its door this week, said Pamela Bowen, director of Health Services at McCosh."We have seen an increase in the number of students admitted with a flu-like illness," Bowen said.

NEWS | 02/12/1998

Students voice mixed views on pilot advising programs

Surveys administered to the freshman and sophomore classes show a mixed bag of opinion on the pilot academic advising system.

NEWS | 02/12/1998

Former professor to create course aimed at retraining elderly drivers

Professor emeritus Seymour Bogdonoff will tell you, "I drive a fast car," and he continues to enjoy putting it to use.Currently a senior research scholar, Bogdonoff is an expert in high-speed aerodynamics.

NEWS | 02/12/1998

Varsity athletes sell orange T-shirts to inspire student basketball fans

Cameron Crazies, eat your heart out. Here comes the Jadwin Jungle.A new plan by the Varsity Student Athlete Advisory Committee hopes to clothe everyone in the student section at men's basketball home games in orange ? something akin to the rabid blue-clad student section at Duke University basketball games.Starting at tonight's game against Brown at Jadwin Gym, members of the VSAAC will be selling bright orange T-shirts to students.

NEWS | 02/12/1998

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