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University committee reports grade inflation on the increase

University committee reports grade inflation on the increase

"Who could ever have imagined that we would reach a point where a student with a straight B average would rank 923 out of a graduating class of 1079 ? or where a student with a C average would rank 1078?"This question appears in bold text on the first page of a report sent to faculty members in late February after a University committee analyzed trends in grades given to undergraduates in the last three decades.The report, a copy of which was obtained by the 'Prince', warns that both grade inflation and grade compression ? narrowing of the range of grades given ? are ongoing trends that are not being reversed despite recent administration efforts to combat them."We could leave it alone, [but] is it responsible to let the trend line go up?" said Nancy Weiss Malkiel, dean of the college and member of the Faculty Committee on Examinations and Standing, which authored the report.

NEWS | 07/13/2003

University to cut frosh parking beginning with incoming class

Beginning this fall with the Class of 2007, freshmen will no longer be granted campus parking permits because of space restraints."With consultation from the members of the Undergraduate Life Committee, it was decided that, effective this September, freshmen will not be permitted to bring cars on campus," said Laurel Harvey, director of the Office of Risk Management."Students with special needs, supported by medical documentation, may submit parking waiver requests to Maria Flores-Mills in the Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Students," Harvey said.Freshmen who bring cars to campus will have to follow general guidelines for visitor parking.

NEWS | 07/13/2003

Campus Club to switch to Bicker in 2003–2004 year

Campus Club president Jonathan Chou '04 announced May 11 that the club will abandon this year's semi-selective sign-in process in favor of Bicker.

NEWS | 07/13/2003

New genomics institute features state-of-the-art research

Approaching the Carl C. Icahn Laboratory from Washington Road, one is met with a long, uniform facade of pale concrete.

NEWS | 07/13/2003

Certificate programs provide a unique opportunity to specialize

Each April, when sophomores declare their majors and choose certificates ? like minors at other universities ? the smaller certificate programs seem to come out of the woodwork.Certificate programs draw students from many different areas of academia.

NEWS | 07/13/2003

Affirmative action cases spark campus dialogue

What began as an isolated reaction against the University of Michigan's race-based admissions policy has resulted in a flurry of debate and policy change at academic institutions throughout the country, and at Princeton.White applicants rejected from Michigan brought a suit against the university last year claiming they were denied equal protection rights.

NEWS | 07/13/2003

For A.B.'s, requirements force a mixture of studies

If you thought you came to college to learn something practical, forget it. Princeton is one of the last bastions of the high-minded, esoteric and abstruse ? the liberal arts education.Come September, when you arrive at this small liberal arts university in central New Jersey, it will be time to begin your new life as an A.B., a candidate for Princeton's Bachelor of Arts degree.Ignore your calculator-toting roommates when they casually mention their courseload of "Electromagnetic Field Theory and Optics" or "Mechanics of Solids and Fluids," ad nauseam.

NEWS | 07/13/2003

Theses are the blinding light at the end of the tunnel

There was a run on Diet Coke and Starbucks Double Shots in April as members of the Class of 2003 churned out pages and put the final touches on the pi

NEWS | 07/13/2003

OIT opens Solutions Center

In an effort to consolidate technical support on campus, the Office of Information Technology opened the OIT Solutions Center on Wednesday.The service, located on the 100 level of Frist Campus Center, combines four areas of support that used to be spread out across campus.At one location, students, faculty and staff can now bring in malfunctioning laptops for repair, purchase hardware and software and sign up for phone services and Tiger TV.

NEWS | 07/13/2003

Borough goes undercover to crack down on 'Street' alcohol, strikes deal with clubs

Efforts by Princeton Borough officials to curb underage drinking on the 'Street' escalated this year with police conducting undercover operations in the eating clubs and charging several club officers with alcohol-related offenses.Undercover investigations in November led to charges in February against the presidents of the Colonial and Quadrangle clubs as well as two Colonial officers.The Colonial and Quad presidents were each charged with three counts of making alcoholic beverages available to minors and one count of maintaining a nuisance, while the two Colonial officers were charged with serving alcohol to minors.The undercover investigations were prompted by a perceived tolerance for underage drinking at the eating clubs, several Borough officials said.Chief of Princeton Borough Police Charles Davall said that during meetings earlier in the fall, club officers had assured him that their security measures, including the use of wristbands, would prevent underage drinking at the clubs.

NEWS | 07/13/2003

Question & Answer

Astrophysics professor J. Richard Gott is continuing in Albert Einstein's route of research in general relativity.

NEWS | 07/13/2003

RIAA sues over file-sharing site, but quickly settles

The national debate over file-sharing and online music theft hit the University personally this past term when the Recording Industry Association of America ? a trade group representing major record labels ? sued Daniel Peng '05 for what could have been billions of dollars.Peng had been operating a website on the campus network known as "Wake," which let users search for shared files.

NEWS | 07/13/2003

Ivies pass athletic moratorium, but changes planned this year

In preparation for the June Ivy League presidents' meeting that could lead to league-wide reform of the seven-week athletic moratorium, athletics officials have come to a loose consensus on the changes they will propose later this academic year.Gary Walters '67, the University's athletic director, said that officials have reached a broad framework for compromise that, as its centerpiece, would restrict practice to four days a week between the traditional and nontraditional seasons.

NEWS | 07/13/2003

Alcohol, money remain top issues for town/gown friction

Though the relationship between the Borough and the University is in some areas harmonious, two issues ? student alcohol abuse and the University's financial commitment to the Borough ? draw attention to the difficulties of having a wealthy, elite institution in a quiet town known for its affluent neighborhoods.Disagreement over how to curb some students' risky drinking habits has led to police investigations on the Street and the proposal of an alcohol enforcement ordinance.These high-profile events reflect a struggle over whether it is the University or the Borough that will interpret students' rights and protect them when they endanger themselves."The goal is to create a safe environment, where no one is served so much alcohol that they can die," said Charles Davall, Borough police chief.

NEWS | 07/13/2003

American embassy denies visa to Chinese member of Class of '07

A Chinese student who gained international recognition as the first female winner of the Singapore Mathematical Olympiad and who was slated to start freshman year at Princeton cannot enter the United States to study because her student visa application was rejected four times this summer by American officials in Beijing.University administrators said Wu Jie's visa applications were denied because consular officials in China believed Wu, who comes from a working-class family, would illegally stay in the U.S.

NEWS | 07/13/2003

Tower, Colonial most selective eating clubs

MONDAY, February 10 ? The eating clubs welcomed their new members this weekend as Bicker and second-round sign-ins drew to a close.Tower Club, with 161 hopefuls, had the largest Bicker class.

NEWS | 07/13/2003

RIAA sues over file-sharing site, but settles suit

This past semester, the nationwide debate over file-sharing and online music theft hit the University in a personal way as the Recording Industry Association of America ? a trade group representing the interests of the major record labels ? sued sophomore Daniel Peng for what could have been billions of dollars.Peng had been operating a website known as "Wake" ? accessible at wake.princeton.edu ? which let campus network users search for shared files.

NEWS | 05/28/2003

Tilghman makes Lowrie House her personal home

The house at 83 Stockton St. is set back about 150 feet from the busy Rt. 206 thoroughfare. That's the way its primary resident, University President Tilghman, likes it.Since Tilghman assumed the University's highest post nearly two years ago and moved into the school's most prestigious off-campus address, she has worked hard to make it less of "another institutional building" and more of a home for her and her two children.The yellow sandstone house, the official residence of the president since 1968, was given to the University by Barbara Armour Lowrie in 1960 in memory of her husband, Walter Lowrie, Class of 1890.

NEWS | 05/28/2003

Updated: Empty bomb threat stirs empty campus

A woman from Long Branch, N.J., was arrested last Saturday, June 7, hours after she called in a bomb threat from the University campus and two days after calling in a similar threat against Monmouth University, police said.The woman, Geraldine M.

NEWS | 05/28/2003

Borough goes undercover to crack down on 'Street' alcohol, strikes deal with clubs

Efforts by Princeton Borough officials to curb underage drinking on the 'Street' escalated this year with police conducting undercover operations in the eating clubs and charging several club officers with alcohol-related offenses.The undercover investigations, which occured in November, resulted in charges in February against the presidents of the Colonial and Quadrangle clubs as well as two Colonial officers.The Colonial and Quad presidents were each charged with three counts of making alcoholic beverages available to minors and one count of maintaining a nuisance, while the two Colonial officers were charged with serving alcohol to minors.The undercover investigations were prompted by a perceived tolerance for underage drinking at the eating clubs, some Borough officials said.Chief of Police Charles Davall said that during meetings earlier in the fall, club officers had assured him that their security measures, including the use of wristbands, would prevent underage drinking at the clubs.

NEWS | 05/28/2003

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