Wednesday, October 10, 1979
llncoln, nebraska vol. 103 no, 32
Days of grade inflation ended at UNL officials
By Kathryn Haugstatter
0
Administration officials at UNL agree that the days of
grade inflation and the "easy A" are ended, mainly be
cause of increased faculty awareness.
Mary Cunningham, assistant director of Admissions
and Advising, said the all-university grade point average
for the '78-'79 school year was 3.016, the same as the
'75-'76 school year.
She said grading policies that were instituted in the late
60's and early 70's helped a student raise his cumulative
grade point average.
The pass-fail and bankruptcy policies help the student
who has a bad semester or who wants to try a course that
he has no background in, but they also contributed to
grade inflation , she said .
But, Cunningham added that since these policies have
been in operation for more than one college generation,
their effect on grade inflation has leveled off.
'The College of Business Administration has seen an
overall downward trend in GPA's since 1975," Associate
Dean Arthur Kraft said. "We don't have grade inflation
here."
KRAFT SAID the grades for each course in all depart
ments are charted every semester and the average in 1975
was 2.93 within the college. He said the figure is present
ly2.8l. "It still seems high to me but it's down compared to
what it used to be," Kraft said.
He said some of the faculty have become more rigorous
in their grading policies and many courses now test
writing skills in addition to the knowledge of the course
material.
The faculty of the College of Arts and Science also is
kept informed of the state of grades in the college. Donal
Bums, associate dean, said a list of the average grades for
the college, for each department and for every class with
70 students is distributed every spring.
"Its purpose is to inform everyone of the existence of
certain grades and to publicize the idea that grades may be
more inflated than they should be," Burns said.
Burns added that the lists have been effective in reduc
ing the CPA one tenth of a grade point.
"SOME PEOPLE say grade inflation is no problem,"
Bums said. "I don't agree. If the university fails to pick
out the good from the average student, someone else will
have to, perhaps, by nationwide exams. The university
will lose its ability to recommend students to employers."
I.E. Hartung, assistant dean of the College of Agri
culture, said employers are aware and concerned with the
problem of grade inflation .
"But the measure that our prospective employers are
using is based on performance rather than GPA's," he
said.
Hartung added that the data the college has compiled
indicates a rise in GPA's from 1971 to 1975. He said an
awareness on the part of the faculty has resulted in a
decline to what he calls "a reasonable level."
According to Hartung, the 50th percentile CPA for
freshmen in the College of Agriculture is 2.476, for sopho
mores it's 2.760, for juniors it's 2.896, and for seniors it is
2.974.
Cunningham said other factors contribute to high
grades at UNL. She said every year 50 percent of the
freshman class at UNL pomes from the top fourth of its
high school graduating class and the ACT scores for in
coming freshmen are above the national average.
This is a reason why the average CPA for first-time
freshmen in the second semester is 2.774, which is higher
than most schools, she said.
"By senior year, the average GPA is 3.1 13 because only
the really good students stay, Cunningham said. The ones
that don't do well, don't stay."
' Speaker's visit spurs petition
By Barb Richardson
A petition for an injunction against
ASUN, President Bud Cuca, Treasurer Kent
Whitacre, and Student Court Justice Bob
Gleason was presented to the Student
Court Tuesday night by ASUN Sen. Todd
Adams.
Adams asked the court to stop the
Senate from paying the United States
Student Association Director Frank
Jackalone $25 for traveling expenses to
UNL.
On Oct 3, the Senate passed appropria
tions bill No. 10 which allocated $25 for
Jackalone's traveling expenses to UNL
today.
Adams said the Senate was acting
against the Regents bylaws which say that
"political or ideological nature (speakers)
may not be supported from mandatory'
student fees (UPFFs) but may be support
ed from funds collected on a voluntary
basis."
The appropriations bill the Senate pas
sed did not specify that student fee money
would be used, but Bob Gleason in an
earlier interview said that it is customary
for the Senate to use student fee money
for appropriations unless the bill approving
the allocation specified otherwise.
m 4-. -
Because of the nature of the petition,
and the timeliness, Chief Justice Mike
Brogan said that the other justices of the
court would be called for their decision. He
explained that except for himself. Bob
Gleason, who asked not to hear the case
because of conflict of interest and Dave
Hartmann, all the other justices had prior
commitments.
In the Court's decision that will be
handed down today before noon, Brogan
said they will decide if the court has juris
diction to hear Adams case and also will
determine if an injunction will be placed
on ASUNs action.
Adams explained to the Court that he
had jurisdiction because of Organic Act 3 ,
passed last spring. The Act gave all regular
ly enrolled students standing in Student
Court.
"I'm a student of ASUN. I have stand
ing to challenge the actions of ASUN by
the virtue of Organic Act 3, which gave all
students that right. I'm challenging ASUN
action ; therefore, the Court has jurisdiction
to hear my case," Adam said.
Adams said he wanted a restraining
order to protect Whitacre from violating
the Regents bylaws, to protect ASUN from
looking bad and to give people time
enough to voluntarily collect money to pay
for Jackalone's visit.
Bob Gleason told the court that ASUN
had three accounts. One for book exchange
money, another for student fee money and
the third for non-student fee money.
Gleason said the third account came about
when ASUN sold a van.
Adams told the Court that ASUN could
not use money in accounts that were not
from student fees because the money used
for political speakers must be voluntarily
collected. He added that the money from
the van and the book exchange were not
voluntarily collected for political speakers
and therefore, should not be used for
speakers.
The ASUN Constitution does not give
the Senate the power to allocate non
mandatory student fees, Adams said.
In an earlier interview, Bud Cuca said
that he agrees with Adams action because
the Senate should use prudence while
allocating their money.
Cuca also said he thought the court had
jurisdiction to hear Adams case because
Organic Act No. 3 gave all students the
right to be heard by Student Court.
Jackalone will be on campus today and
according to Kent Whitacre ASUN will
have to pay him today or send him a
check, depending on what the Court
decides.
I
J- : .
I V. 'ill
V iv t ft, 4
Photo by Mark Biilingsley
Undaunted by Tuesday's cool temperatures and brisk wind, Paul VanLith, a
UNL art student, took refuge in the sunken gardens where he found a few
quiet moments to munch on an apple and contemplate life.
Police: rape9 rumors unsubstantiated
Judicial review: UNL sorority appears
before the Panhellenic Judicial Beard on
disciplinary charges . . Page 2
Kiss mildly satisfying: Reviewer discusses
Kiss concert . . Rgge8
Hard work pays off: BUI Bamett, deeasre
tackle, tells how his playing and the
.team changed over the years , . tje 10
By Kevin Field
Rumors around campus that there have
been an unusually high number of sexual
assaults appear to be unsubstantiated. The
UNL Police Department has not received,
' any reports of sexual assault on campus
this fall.
The Rape Crisis Center has not received
any reports of women being assaulted on
campus since school started, but there have
been 3 or A reports of students being4
sexually assaulted off campus, according to
Joanne Dunn, director of the center.
The number of attacks rumored to have
occurred ranged from 17 to more than SO.
Jacki Tobin, residence director of Sandoz
Hall, said she is aware of the rumors and
had heard that 47 attacks had occurred this
fall. She said she failed to find any backing
to the rumors titer checking with the UNL
Police and her superiors. 4"
She added, however, that the student
assistants have met with their floor to dis
cuss methods of avoiding attack and what
to do in case of an attack. There also is a
possibility of creating an escort service for z
women who must go somewhere at
and do not want to go alone, she said.
Captain Robert Edmunds of the UNL
Police Department said,! am not aware of
a rumor concerning a specific instance of
crime spreading like thiy one.'
Dunn said such rumors tend to build-up
the truth to. a point where things are way
out of proportion. rrTt .z
Karen KuczmarskiresMence director of
Pound Hall, said that she also is aware of
the rumors and that, ""nothing has been
substantiated anywhere." There have been
incidents unrelated sexual assault, how.
.ever, she said;. rriHir . .
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