ditorial Page
Jan Travers/Editor
Grades do Matter to the Students
We have a new grading system. It's one that was supposedly initated
by students three years ago at University Park. It seems that the University
Senate, consisting of representatives from the faculties and students at all the
Commonwealth Campuses and University Park, felt compelled to allow a "finer
distinction" within the grading system. However, in essence, what it will do is
lower the grade-point average of many of our students.
There are a lot of serious students at Penn State Harrisburg. And by
being serious students, we use the grading system as the measure of our success.
There are a lot of A students at Penn State. (This is not an official proclamation
but one based on self observation). An A is to signify excellence or except, onal
achievement. But many of us get As by perseverance rather than exceptional
intelligence. We may not be the smartest but we sure work hard.
Now with the new grading system, anyone who scores in the low
nineties will no longer receive a 4.0 designation on the grade transcripts. He or
she will receive an A- or a 3.67. This could have a substantial effect on grade point
average.
The administration's reaction to this is that "grades aren't that impor
tant." If this is true, then why do they waste so much time giving us grades? Why
not make all courses Pass/Fail, omit dean's list and academic scholarships.
Maybe 10 years from now it won't matter if we graduated from Penn
State with a 3.0, 3.5 or 4.0. But for now, as we spend hours, losing sleep, studying
for that next test or writing that next term paper, it has a demoralizing effect.
If you too are angry about the new grading system, fill in the form below
and I will be happy to forward them to Bryce Jordan, president of Penn State.
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Penn State Harrisburg
I Name:
I Major:
I Expected Date of Graduation:
I strongly oppose the new grading policy because
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Late
Would I Be Tolerant
of Another with AIDS?
By Michele Hart
A few weeks ago I was watching NBC Nightly News when a story came
on about three boys from Arcadia, Florida who had been infected with the AIDS
virus. I couldn't believe my eyes as the pictures rolled showing the burnt-out
home the boys had lived in with their mother and father; a home that had been
destroyed by arsonists. It was inconceivable to me that people could be
intolerant and ignorant enough to destroy a family's home and all of their
belongings because of AIDS.
As the piece continued I was encouraged by the fact that another
community had allowed the boys to enroll in school and try to gain some
semblance of order and security to their lives. But, once again I was upset
because of the comments of a young mother whose son was going to be a
classmate of one of the three boys. She said she'd keep her boy at home and teach
him herself if she had to because she didn't want her son exposed to the virus.
The reporter asked her what kind of risk she thought was involved if she let her
son stay in school. She replied that one of the infected boys could bite her son
or vomit on him, thereby exposing him to the deadly virus.
From what I understand, and I'm not claiming to know more than the
average person, the only way you can get AIDS is from sexual contact with a
carrier, or sharing a needle with a carrier. The virus can be in saliva, but not
enough to infect another person through casual contact, and it cannot be
transmitted from person to person by touch, like the common cold. Now unless
this lady's son is a drug user who shoots up at the agtt of seven or eight, or is
sexually active already, I couldn't see any reason for her to pull him out of
school. At least that was my first reaction.
That story struck me strongly enough to make me sit down and think
about it. What if it were my child that was going to be in the same class as an
AIDS carrier? Could I be tolerant, or would I react as that woman had? Just how
would I react to AIDS on a personal level? How does anyone react for that
matter?
AIDS is not something we can ignore or assume that it will never affect
us. Doctors are saying that in the near future it could affect most of us in some
way or another. That's a scary proposition, and I don't think society is ready to
handle it; not when houses in Florida are being torched and politicians, clergy,
and lay people are calling for massive roundups and isolation of those infected
with the AIDS virus.
When society stops passing judgments on those who have the virus,
calling it a punishment from God or the devil's disease, and gets off of its
morality soap box, only then can we begin to think in terms of dealing with the
disease. Too many people think that those "horrible queers and faggots" (as
someone said to me the other morning), are the only ones who have to deal with
AIDS. Surprise, they're not the only ones who should be concerned. But, the
word is concerned, not paranoid, not abu
sive, not judgmental, not violent, not
intolerant, concerned, The same people
who claim to be open minded and accept
ing of anyone no matter what their race,
color, or creed, are sometimes the first
ones brandishing the verbal and moral
judgments.
If this problem is ever going to be
solved society has to stop pointing fingers
and start holding hands. We cannot allow
a few scared people dictate the way an
entire population is going to react to the
biggest health problem since the Black
Death. The only cure for AIDS right now
is education and prevention. We should be
worried, not about how we're going to
keep AIDS away from our own families,
but how we can keep it from all fathilies.
By learning as much as possible about the
disease and its transmission we may be
able to slow its progression. We cannot,
however, stop the disease with violence
and name calling, or by judging and dictat
ing the lifestyles of others.
Oct. 18, 1987