Plus-minus grading under way
The 1983 fall semester begins
with the initiation of the plus
minus grading system. Instead
of students receiving a straight
letter grade, there is now the
possibility of receiving a plus or
minus sign with each grade.
This policy was passed by the
academic senate last April.
The new grading system is as
follows: A 4.0; A- 3.7; Bf-3.3;
В
3.0;
В-
2.7;
С
2.0;
С- 1.7;
D
1.3;
D-
1.0;
F
0.0.
The scale adheres
to the grading scale of the
United States office of educa¬
tion.
Dr. Mathew Baasten, assis¬
tant professor of theology, and
Dr. James Covert, professor of
history, favor the plus/ minus
system. They were involved in
researching the policy to see if it
would work at U of P. Both
Baasten and Covert have been
using the system on their own
for years.
"Now, the only difference is
that I will be sharing it with my
students," said Covert.
The professors agree that the
new system will be more fair to
the "achievers" and to "those
students who truly deserve
higher grades."
Baasten said that the im¬
mediate result will be lower
grades, however, it will give the
students the incentive to try
harder because their efforts will
be shown sooner.
Nursing students may benefit
the most from the plus/minus
grading. Upper division nursing
students receive one letter
grade for twelve credit hours
and as a result, may increase
their chances of a higher GPA
with the new system.
"Given how compeditive nur¬
sing classes are, the plus/minus
system will be great, said one
nursing- student. "Twelve
credits is a lot. It could, of
course go either way, but I still
think that it will help us in the
long run," she added.
According to an article in last
year's Beacon, most students
who are opposed to the system
cited such reasons as the
negative effects it could have on
grade point averages.
Other students are also wor¬
ried that their grades will be
lower.
"It bothers me that I have the
possiblity of not doing as well as
I did last year. I am not in favor
of the sysem," said one stu¬
dent.
The University has taken this
problem into consideration.
But, according to Baasten, the
University feels the accuracy of
the system is more important.
Some students are still
undecided in the matter. One
student said, "Ask me again
when grades come out."
Although it is not required
that teachers use the new
system it is strongly encourag¬
ed. "We cannot ask the pro¬
fessors to change their grading
style, just as we cannot ask
writers to change their styles,"
said Baasten.
"We do not want the
students to believe that we have
just passed it, and we are going
to forget about it."
Students should take the
grading scale seriously, said
Baasten.
"We do not want them (the
students) to believe that we
have just passed it, and we are
going to forget about it."
rnuiu uy OCOH rrangos
Warm weather and the beginning of school make
it hard for students to find a cool place to study.
Accidents initiate bill
Legislature stops hazing
by Patrick Bentz
Staff Writer
Hazing new fraternity pledges
has always been a traditional
part of college life. However,
there is now a new state law
that restricts hazing and could
force organizations to change
their initiation procedures.
House Bill 2551, passed by
the Oregon Legislative
Assembly on June 21, 1983,
creates the offense of hazing,
and goes on to define the term
"hazing": "to subject a person
to bodily danger or physical
harm... or to require, en¬
courage, authorize, or permit
that the person be subjected to
any of the following:
"Calisthenics."
"Total or substantial
nudity. . ."
"Compelled ingestion of any
substance. . ."
"Wearing or carrying of any
obscene or physically burden¬
some article. . ."
"Physical assaults. . ."
"Participation ... in boxing
matches. . ."
"Transportation and aban¬
donment. . ."
"Confinement. . ."
"Assignment of pranks. . ."
"Compelled personal ser¬
vitude. . ."
The bill applies to fraternities,
sororities, and other student
organizations, but does not ap¬
ply to curricular activities or to
athletic teams. It subjects
organizations to a fine of up to
$1,000, and individuals to a fine
of up to $250.
"The bill was introduced as a
favor to Delta Tau Delta frater¬
nity at Willamette University (in
Salem, Oregon)," said Tom
Mason, head of the House
Judiciary Committee, and one
of the co-sponsors of the bill.
"It took a lot of work to get it
passed," he said. "It was
especially hard to write a defini¬
tion for hazing, since one did
not previously exist."
According to an article in the
June 23 issue of the Orego¬
nian, Todd Goergen, pledge of¬
ficer of the Delta Tau Delta
chapter at Willamette Univ.,
said that the bill was proposed
"mainly to create statewide
awareness" of the need for
restrictions on hazing.
"The national Delta Tau Delta
fraternity had taken a strong
stand against hazing," he said,
"and the law was designed to
alleviate a problem before it
happens. Fraternities are about
love and brotherhood," he
praised the law as "a large step
forward."
The bill was written for col¬
leges and universities.
"The reason why the bill was
written was because of the ac¬
cidents— people dying, and
physical abuse," said Joe Shan¬
non, president of the
Associated Students of U of P.
Though there has not been a
major problem at U of P in the
past few years. Dean of
Students Guy Seivert agrees
with the bill. "It's unfortunate
that they (the universities) need
a law like this. These sort of
things should be covered under
other codes.
"This law needs special at¬
tention. One problem is that it
does not deal with the mental
anguish that goes with initia¬
tions and hazing," said Seivert.
"The peer pressure can be
almost unbearable."
Seivert said that organiza¬
tions that rely on hazing ac¬
tivities to prove member wor¬
thiness are not worth belonging
to. "People will do almost
anything to join an organiza¬
tion. But is it worth it? Any
organization that feels it is
necessary to dehumanize or
degrade its pledges must be
looked at," he said.
"Personally, I feel each
organization should say, 'if we
want these members, do we
treat them as people?' Hazing is
unacceptable," he added.
"We support this bill, and
plan to enforce if fully," said
Seivert.
John Garner, chief of security
at U of P, echoes Dean
Seivert's words. "We will en¬
force this law. Most of the law
is contained within university
regulations. We (security) will
meet with student services, and
will work out an enforcement
policy; and interpetation of the
law."
"The law is real specific as to
what we can or can't do," said
Jim Kane, assistant dean of
students. "We need to get
together with the represen¬
tatives of the different organiza¬
tions and discuss the implica¬
tions of the law."
Kane said that there was not
a lot of room for interpetation,
and that possible interpetations
would have to be worked out.
Also to be discussed is how the
law will affect present pledge
programs, since "we have not
reviewed the present pledge
system," said Kane.
U of P Fraternity presidents,
Chris Galati of Sigma Tau
Omega and Paul Penzoil of Up-
silon Omega Pi, were not
available for comment on the
hazing ruling.
The law will go into effect on
October 13, 1983.
