Faculty ideas differ
on 40-point system
By Kara G. Morrison
Senior Reporter_
UNL professors had mixed reac
tions Sunday to a proposed 40-point
grading system.
The Academic Senate will vote
next month on the proposal to change
the university’s nine-pointi grading
system to a 40-point scale.
Jim Ford, associate professor of
English, said he was in favor of the
change.
Ford said he originally proposed to
the Academic Senate a 13-point grad
ing system, which would add minuses
to the university’s pluses-only grad
ing scale.
“I think I would prefer to have the
traditional 13-point system, but the
current (40-point) proposal is accept
able,” Ford said. “It would increase
the grading options of professors.”
Ford said he originally proposed
the 13-point scale because UNL was
among only 5 percent of all schools to
use a nine-point system. He said the
13-point system was considered a stan
dard grading system and was used at
about 45 percent of all colleges.
News-editorial assistant professor
John Bender said he had mixed opin
ions about the 40-point plan.
“On one hand, I think it might help
in terms of grading that more accu
rately reflects what the student has
done,” Bender said.
Bender said choosing from 40 grad
ing options might make grading diffi
cult for professors who assign only
letter grades to course work, howev
er.
The change would require profes
sors to rethink their grading systems,
Bender said, but would not be diffi
cult to adjust to.
News-editorial professor George
Tuck disagreed.
“Forty points is too many,” said
Tuck, who called the 40-point system
a “giant quagmire.”
Tuck said more points would in
crease, not decrease grade inflation,
and would make grading a hassle for
professors.
“I t ’ s a lot more evaluat ion we would
have to do, to the point, where we
would be splitting hairs.” Tuck said.
Ford, on the other hand, said the
system would not have to be compli
cated because professors would not
have to use all 40 grading options.
“Teachers only need to use as many
of the options as they want to use,”
Ford said.
Biochemistry professor Fred
Wagner said he didn’t think many
changes would result from a 40-point
system.
“Statistically, there’s nodiflerence
in any grading system,” Wagner said.
A university’s average grade point
doesn’t change when its grading sys
tem changes, he said.
“All it does is say faculty will have
the power to assign grade points in
stead of a letter grade,” Wagner said.
“It would transfer the authority to
assign grade points to faculty instead
of the registrar.”
Wagner said professors now turn
letter grades into the registrar’s of
fice, which then translates the letter
grade into a grade point. He said he
did not have a strong opinion on the
grading change.
Tuck said he favored keeping the
university’s current nine-point grad
ing system.
“I think, based on the information
I have received, the narrower scale
actually works better,” Tuck said.
Ford, however, said he thought
many professors were ready for a
change.
“I know many professors who are
in support of (the 40-point system),”
Ford said. “A vast majority of the
professors at this institution want a
change in the present system.”
Grades
Continued from Page 1
67 sophomores and 202 freshmen.
Wolfstonc also said worries that a
decimal system would burden the reg
istrar’s offce with its complexity were
unfounded.
Hawkey said UNL’s office proba
bly wouldn’tbe burdened if the change
was made. Hawkey, who worked at
the University of Washington under
the decimal system, said both systems
worked well.
The university is installing a new
student information system in the fall
of 1995, he said. As long as course
Fraternity
Continued from Page 1
munity wants to crack down on cam
pus alcohol consumption.
Griesen said UNL administrators
also would be stepping up their efforts
to control alcohol consumption in fra
ternities.
“This is a good sign that following
the Jeff Knoll incident, students seem
to be more aware of the things that
could happen,” Griesen said.
Knoll fell from a third-story win
dow at the Phi Gamma Delta Fraterni
ty house last November. The Univer
sity Judicial Board found hazing and
excessive alcohol consumption to be
involved in the fall and sanctioned the
fraternity.
Griesen said the Fiji incident raised
Students
Continued from Page 1
ricd about their own families in the
Middle East.
• “The war wasn't fair and
shouldn't have happened," Zeidan
said.
• “I’m sure you’ve heard about the
shelter (that was bombed). I've never
been there, but I’m told you can still
smell burning human flesh,"
Tarawneh said.
•“Thell.S. is supposed to fisht for
freedom and for human rights. I think
grade system changes coincide with
that date, the office shouldn’t have
problems, he said.
The proposed system might mean
a longer grade roster, which profes
sors use to indicate student’s grades,
he said.
With 40 categories, the grade ros
ter would have to be expanded to
include the extra 31 grade possibili
ties, he said.
But Hawkey said the registration
office would cope with the changes
no matter what course grading system
was adopted.
“I just want to make it work,” he
said.
his awareness of what could happen
when alcohol was consumed.
“I really got concerned when I
heard the sel f-enforcemen t we ’d been
relying on for many years was break
ing down," he said.
“We’re not going to sit back and
allow this to happen,” he said. “It is a
mission of mine to establish a proper
climate in the grcck system.”
Gricsen said he would continue to
follow up on all tips about parties on
campus.
The fraternities will have hearings
before the Greek Judic ial Board, which
is composed of students and faculty
members. The fraternities can admit
guilt or protest the charges.
Griesen said the sanctions levied
against the fraternities could include
chapter probation, alcohol education
classes and community service work.
we totally contradicted ourselves
there," Ismail said.
Tarawneh no longer calls himself
an American because of the treatment
he has received in this country.
Zcidan puts the memories behind
him.
“No one talks about it anymore,”
Zeidan said. “I go to school normally.
I have American friends. I haven’t
had a problem since the war ended.”
And while Ismail doesn’t denounce
his American heritage, his most pain
ful memory was of a war between his
two worlds.
“My country was going to war
against my people.”
Neltta&kan
Editor Jeremy Fitzpatrick
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merit Editor
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Melissa Dunne
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