tl20031016-000 "light, in ieback should 1-6 over TOL er: ?d ers 3 year's corning I great >s with ;e turn of let's id our-here. of the tadium. ed was mthony 1 leader he half, ball at aead of running Gordy ise that ictable"" id in a A drive, [is pass-d off by )r wide :38. He lzi said. at. We day. So Melzi !rs and rad to ailback open- :ed his pn only accom-mted. 3 guar-mg the ceived Don Combs game, count- It was vn the ) very mpkin imble, Brian covery e road home, )atriot ccer Tower Baltimore's #1 College Paper - Published Twice-Weekly - www.thetowerlight.com Thursday, 10/16/03 Housing options come at a price 5 Dowell promotes emergency pill . ram B. {Let ow , is Km 6 .L.0. m aroa�,� yam dz,,,- , A. Obi 411$4.1 Ntr Ft I P. Ill .,, P.,/,.. ,11.1211N ahre .0,11101.0d .1 C(24711.10..., &came row- 1.10.s. of or .........,, Wh, � %OMR Villa. wow, O t MOW vale, ' 'Mystic River' an emotional ride 13 History professor publishes work 14 Departments Opinion 2 News 5 Nation 8 Police blotter 8 Campus briefs 9 Arts 13 He Says She Says 15 Cuisine 16 Sports 20 In this corner 20 Punt, Pass & Pick 18 Classifieds 17 Grading policy still inconsistent Five years after start of plus/minus system departments leaving decision to professors Tracy J. Silwick The Towerlight As students wrap up midterms this week, professors must decide whether or not to curve a test, or apply a plus/minus grade. Five years after the creation a plus/minus grad-ing system, policies for judging stu-dent performance remain largely undefined. Most departments vary in their opinion of what is considered a pass-ing grade, explained Bill Reuling, assistant to the provost for academic affairs. Some departments require a C+ to pass, while others only require a C. However, a C- in a major requirement is considered failing and students receiving the grade are obligated to retake the course. ""[C] has always been a problemat-ic grade,"" Reuling said. George Georgiou, chairperson for the department of economics, said the administration leaves the deci-sion to curve grades and use the plus/minus system entirely up to individual professors. ""There's no official policy on grad-ing in the sense of curves in the eco-nomics department,"" Georgiou said. ""We want to make sure that we main-tain high standards. We often review faculty performance and grading is a part of that. We also look at grade distributions in the class and make sure they are fairly disbursed. Of course, curving when the grades are low is in the student's benefit but it really depends on the test."" Reuling said he is unsure how the University would enforce a grading policy for all of the departments to follow. ""This is not a University issue,"" he said. ""It is the instructor's decision. It depends on the students' perform-ance. There is no way we can begin to have a grading policy."" While the administration has no current policy regarding a grading policy, they do require the professor to tell in their course syllabus how they will be grading. Saul Stoaganka/The Towerhght DeAnna Harris, a sophomore secondary education major, takes a lab exam for an intro to geology course Tuesday afternoon. ""It's been a stressful week,"" she said. Midterms often make up a large part of final grades. Towson introduced the plus/minus grading system in 1998 as a way to show student's perform-ance more effectively. The plus/minus system has not impacted the University's overall average GPA, Reuling said. ""GPAs have remained about the same,"" he said. ""If it [has] gone up, it hasn't gone up significantly enough."" According to Reuling, sections of the same course taught by different instructors could have an entirely dif-ferent grading system. ""Some faculty refuse to use the [plus or minus system],"" he said. ""However, more are using it. It is a much more accurate grading scheme."" Since its introduction, the system has garnered attention among stu-dents hoping to implement changes; in 2001, the Renaissance party plat-form included a promise to do away with the unpopular C- grade. At this point, however, there have been no major policy changes regard-ing the system's use. Likewise, the University offers no policy regarding the use of grade curving. As students prepare to receive midterm grades in the coming weeks, professor and student opinions vary on what constitutes a fair policy. See GRADING, page 7 Today High 66 Low 47 Friday High 60 Low 47 Saturday High 54 Low 42 Sunday High 59 Low 48 Monday High 63 Low 50 "
