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USG considers response to grade inflation

USG considers response to grade inflation

Representatives of the USG Senate managed to contain their objections to the University's proposals to combat grade inflation during their meeting Monday night long enough to endorse a proposal to expand student involvement in administrative committees and include more USG input when planning social events.In what USG President Matt Margolin '05 called one of the most important meetings of the year, representatives expressed frustration with the University's failure to seek student input during its review of grading policies and criticized the proposals.The group discussed ways to make sure all students' opinions are heard in the two weeks leading up to the April 26 meeting ? the earliest the faculty could vote on the proposals.If passed, each department could hand out A-range grades to only 35 percent of undergraduates in its classes."One of our goals is to find a way to empower the student voice," Margolin said.

NEWS | 04/13/2004

Watch your back: Death Ball strikes campus

One minute, Nick Levy '07 was casually walking back from class. The next, a tennis ball was flying in his direction, and Jesse Palermo '07's careful ambush ended successfully with the unsuspecting Levy hit in the back.Surprise attacks like this, however, were just part of the game in Death Ball, an activity created and played amongst a group of freshman in the weeks following Spring Break.Death Ball is a unique game that combines tag and hide-and-seek with the throwing of tennis balls, appropriately called Death Balls.Jayk Dorler '07 and a couple of friends in Forbes College created the game to foster greater student interaction."I started it as a way to bring a lot of my friends that didn't know each other particularly well together," Dorler said.While most of the players in the game's first installment lived in Forbes College, there were some as far away as Rockefeller and Mathey Colleges.As the game progressed, people got to know each other through emails, stories and even attempts at elimination. RulesThe rules for Death Ball are complicated.

NEWS | 04/13/2004

English department fired manager

Two English department officials confirmed the existence of further spending irregularities in their department on Monday and said that the department's manager for nearly 20 years was dismissed in October for the inappropriate use of department funds.On Thursday, the University confirmed that former department chair and current Butler College Master Lee Mitchell was suspended as a member of the faculty for inappropriate use of University funds.Multiple attempts to reach the former department manager, Beth Harrison, by telephone and email, failed Monday.

NEWS | 04/12/2004

Candidates discuss service, controversy during college years

Princetonian Senior Writer Melisa Gao sits down with Young Alumni Trustee candidates Eli Goldsmith, Rishi Jaitly, and Corey Sanders. Eli Goldsmith As president of the Class of 2004 since his freshman year, Eli Goldsmith had no trouble finding his niche at the University.He hopes to continue his service to his class as its Young Alumni Trustee.He pointed to the weekly meetings of the Honor Committee, which he chaired, as the most intellectually and ethically challenging aspect of his time at the University."Picture the most heated precept you've been in, with a subject about which you're extremely passionate," he said.

NEWS | 04/12/2004

Baehr '05 seeks seat on Borough Council

Evan Baehr '05, president of the College Republicans and former editor-in-chief of the Princeton Tory, will run for a seat on the Princeton Borough Council this fall, the Borough Republican Committee announced Monday."I saw a unique opportunity for somebody who has their hands in several different communities in the Borough to bring a fresh new perspective to the table," Baehr said of his motivation for running, citing his familiarity with the University administration, student status and longterm relationships with some Borough residents.If elected, Baehr, a Wilson School concentrator, would be the first Republican candidate to win a seat on the six-person council since 1991.In the past, "we've always run people who have been in town, who are property owners, citizens who have lived here a while," said Pat Strazza, chair of the Princeton Borough Republican Committee.Strazza said the Borough Republicans were ready to experiment with Baehr, who he described as young and dynamic.According to Mayor Joe O'Neill, Baehr picked the right year to put himself in the running.

NEWS | 04/12/2004

On campus, Lichty '04 raises her son

Heather Lichty '04 steps out of 1F Magie ? one of Princeton's brown brick and cinderblock apartments squatting on the edge of Lake Carnegie ? with a slight look of panic on her pale face.

NEWS | 04/11/2004

Symposium examines China's potential

Chinese Ambassador to the United Nations Wang Guangya stressed China's desire for peace in foreign affairs at the Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies' inaugural China Symposium Friday."The peaceful rise of China with its 1.3 billion people will be neither a threat nor a hindrance" to other nations, Guangya said.

NEWS | 04/11/2004

Konoe scholarships aid Japanese students

Though Prince Fumitaka Konoe '38 was the son of Japan's prime minister, his peers at the University nicknamed him 'Butch.' Admitted to Princeton in 1934, Konoe led an unassuming life as an undergraduate.Robert Root, dean of the faculty at the time, described Konoe as "less than an earnest student but a likeable boy."Though Konoe never graduated, he left an indelible impression on many of his peers. Konoe Scholarship rootsBenjamin Coates '39, was one of those peers impacted by the Japanese prince's presence on campus.

NEWS | 04/11/2004

University reviews partisan registration

As the College Democrats and Republicans gear up for November's presidential election, one activity will be conspicuously absent from their efforts, at least if current University regulations stand.

NEWS | 04/11/2004

Students obey hunger late at night

In the wee hours of a Sunday morning ? or late Saturday night, as it's usually considered ? the average Princetonian is stranded halfway between dinner and brunch.

NEWS | 04/08/2004

False fire alarms cause inconvenience, but no fines

When a high-pitched whine pierces the normal hum of campus, most students take little notice as a few unlucky residents wander out to the quad, resigned to several minutes of another fire alarm.

NEWS | 04/08/2004

Princeton Future focuses on Witherspoon St. redevelopment

Princeton Future, a citizen group concerned with the prosperity and development of Princeton Township and Borough, has announced its immediate building goals for the upcoming year.

NEWS | 04/08/2004

McDonald's taps Slaughter for board post

Anne-Marie Slaughter '80, dean of the Wilson School, has been nominated to the Board of Directors of the McDonald's Corporation, the multinational fast food chain.Shareholders will vote to confirm Slaughter's nomination on May 20 at their annual meeting.Joining the board "gives me the chance to see the workings of a major corporation," and the different sorts of management challenges that scenario presents, Slaughter said."I've been very impressed with their commitment to social responsibility," she added.McDonald's is looking to add significantly to its board and is looking to find a young and diverse group of people as it does so.

NEWS | 04/08/2004

Tilghman leads ethical discussion

As part of the University's "Do the Right Thing" panel discussion series, President Tilghman served as a "guest ethicist" Thursday night.Fielding questions from the crowd that gathered in the Mathey college common room, she explained her ethical perspective on a variety of issues.Tilghman offered an ethical defense in response to a student's question concerning Dean Malkiel's new grading standard proposal.She explained how Dean Malkiel was motivated by ethical issues to reevaluate grading policy to correct perceived inflation."There is a fundamental problem with the way grades are being distributed," Tilghman said.

NEWS | 04/08/2004

Four juniors win Goldwater award

Four juniors, the maximum number possible from any one university, won the 2004-2005 Goldwater Scholarship, a prestigious award given to students in the fields of mathematics, the natural sciences and engineering.The award, given by the Barry M.

NEWS | 04/08/2004

Chancellor Green offers new study space

One of the University's most versatile buildings, Chancellor Green, has recently reopened with two more functions ? to serve as a study space for students and a center for lectures.The High Victorian Gothic-style building, located directly beside East Pyne on the northern side of campus, was originally built in 1872.

NEWS | 04/07/2004

Proposal to curb grade inflation

Following a review of grading practices in spring 2003, the University released a set of proposals Wednesday to reduce grade inflation in undergraduate courses and departments.The proposals, distributed to department chairs by Dean of the College Nancy Weiss Malkiel on behalf of the Faculty Committee on Examinations and Standing, could be voted on as early as the April 26 faculty meeting.If approved, the proposals would limit the number of A-range grades to 35 percent of the grades in undergraduate courses, and 55 percent of the grades for independent work."In recent years at Princeton and at our peer institutions grades have been given within a very compressed frame so it's been hard for students to know work is really superb," Malkiel said at a meeting with undergraduates yesterday."The new policy would take us back to the way we were grading at Princeton in the early nineties and would push students to grow as scholars."Grade inflation has been a contentious issue at universities around the country. Set apartIf approved, the University's proposals would set Princeton apart from other higher education institutions and perhaps put some pressure upon them to follow its lead."The last half dozen years has seen serious discussion among our peer institutions about this issue and our actions have seem to have impressed them," she said."If we succeed in this endeavor it would make it harder for others to throw up their hands and say they can't do it."The policy would be implemented by individual departments, though they would be able to adopt different models tailored to their unique sizes and other factors, Malkiel said.The proposal would not set a limit on the number of As given in individual classes, but would set a ceiling on the number of As departments could award.

NEWS | 04/07/2004

Mitchell suspended, resigns as Butler College master

Lee Mitchell, a University English professor for over 20 years, has resigned from his position as master of Butler College after being suspended as a member of the faculty, University Vice President and Secretary Bob Durkee '69 confirmed Wednesday night."Professor Mitchell has submitted a letter resigning as master at the end of this academic year," Durkee said in an interview, adding that Dean of the College Nancy Malkiel has already begun a search for Mitchell's replacement.Mitchell's resignation, which comes during his first year as master of the college, was the result of a one-year suspension by Dean of the Faculty David Dobkin over the improper use of funds in an English department account meant to support the professor's research, Durkee said.Though Durkee declined to share specific details concerning how the research funds were "inappropriately spent," one senior University official said the "ballpark" figure was approximately $20,000 over a period of eight or nine years.

NEWS | 04/07/2004

Seven receive awards for engineering teaching

Four professors and three teaching assistants were recognized and honored for their teaching abilities during the Semiannual Engineering Council Teaching Awards for Excellence in Undergraduate Education held Wednesday.This year's recipients included graduate students Anne Staples for MAE 335, Bryan Patel for CHE 345 and Hafize Ekran for ORF 309.The other awards went to computer science lecturer Robert Dondero, electrical engineering professor Ed Zschau, electrical engineering professor Sanjeev Kulkarni and geoscience professor Gregory van der Vink.The award, first given in 1988 to recognize quality teaching, is the only undergraduate-initiated award on campus, Teaching Award co-chair Sarah Moore '06 said."It's a way for students to tell teachers 'you inspire us ? thank you,'" Maria Klawe, dean of the engineering school, said.

NEWS | 04/07/2004

Concert will feature The Wailers

Reggae music will liven up the site of thea annual fifth reunion party behind Little Hall when Bob Marley's The Wailers play for the USG spring concert on April 17.The concert, which is free, will be held from 2 to 5 p.m.

NEWS | 04/06/2004

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