As a child, I used to be a faithful believer in religious holidays and observed them with a kind of fervor and dedication that is seldom seen today.
Dean Malkiel's email to the student body touched off a firestorm last week.You had to admire the reasoned tone and explanation of the dean's proposal, as if students could read the plan to limit the percentages of A grades granted by each department dispassionately, ignoring the fact that it was their own academic records in question.Students react to proposals to systematically lower grades in the same way they would to plans to raise the drinking age or assign more reading in every class: badly.
Regarding 'The taming of the A' (Editorial, April 12):If the university community is to embark on this grand experiment, we should take special care to evaluate how it affects the lives of undergraduates.
The late activist and writer Audre Lorde once said, "I have come to believe over and over again that what is most important to me must be spoken, made verbal and shared, even at the risk of having it bruised or misunderstood."While Princeton has a good reputation for being a safe campus, sexual violence occurs at this university just as at all others.
There's nothing like trying meddle with two guarded foundations of the Princeton community to "awaken the sleeping giant." In the past weeks, two of the most sacrosanct institutions of student life, the street and grades, have come under some undesired scrutiny and have roused condemnation from a normally apathetic student body.
I want to be straightforward about grade inflation. I was scared two weeks ago when it came out publicly that I was not thrilled with the town hall meeting featuring President Tilghman.
Writing my thesis, I discovered that one of the most important things I needed to be productive was isolation.
Regarding 'Hargadon legacy is one of weakened alumni input' (Letter, April 8):More Princeton alumni are involved in the undergraduate admissions process than ever before.
Regarding 'The Taming of the A' (Editorial, April 12):I am both amused and dismayed at the proposed changes in grading standards.
Many complaints have been voiced in the past few years about the nonintellectual climate on the Princeton campus.
Dean of the College Nancy Weiss Malkiel's grading proposals, released last Wednesday, have made news across the nation.
In a corner of my private library I have a small shelf of "Princeton books" ? some of them devoted to Princeton history, others written by some of my more eminent predecessors in Princeton literary study.
Regarding 'Proposal to curb grade inflation' (April 8):Since starting as an analyst at a bulge-bracket investment bank, I've become involved in the undergraduate recruiting process for summer interns and full-time hires.
All right, Class of '08, feel free to throw out the Penn memorabilia you were keeping around just in case Princeton rejected you.
The work going into next week's "Take Back the Night" event proves that many Princeton students and staff members are anything but passive when it comes to confronting the issue of sexual assault on campus.But the University's continued failure to guarantee that student victims of sexual assault have ready access to a "rape kit" ? the specialized equipment and health services necessary for collecting physical evidence after an assault ? shows a lesser degree of resolve.We do not take lightly the cost of maintaining a rape kit capacity, which requires $30,000 of equipment and 24-hour availability of trained personnel.
Few issues get readers riled up like the Street and alcohol. Cullen Newton's column two weeks ago and a graduate student's letter set off a letters and columnist war that has only just now died down.I wasn't surpised that an argument over the Street produced such strong responses.
With two Yalies and a Princetonian duking it out for the White House this year, the nature of an Ivy-League education could arguably be considered a matter of national importance and security with significant geopolitical implications.
Regarding 'Contentious Hargadon deanship colors admissions' past and future' (April 5):This lengthy article does not raise the question of the importance of Alumni School Committee nonacademic evaluation.
Dick Seaberg, according to The Wall Street Journal, is a 70 year-old antiabortion Republican who lives near Los Angeles in one of California's most conservative districts.
