PAGE FOUR
Published Theaday through
italarday mornings during
the University year, the
Daily Collegian is a student
operated sowspoper.
F:ntered as second-elasa matter Jul, 5, 1934 ■t the State College, Pa. Post Office ■nder the ■ct of March 3, 1879
MIKE FEINSILBER, Editor
MIKE MILLER, Associate Editor
STAFF THIS ISSUE: Night Editor, Judy Harkison; Copy Editors, Rog Alexander, Ron Leik; As
sistant:, Dick Fisher, Bob Franklin, Pauline Metza, Li] Junas, Ginny Phillips.
When Tests Count Too Much: Cheating
A practice which encourages dishonesty ought
to be discouraged. About this everyone can
It might be worth considering, then, a pro
po,al that would discourage the practice.
The proposal: That no test, term paper, re
port, or any single unit of work done for a
course, may determine greater than one-third
of the grade a student receives in any course,
excluding those courses exempted from this
regulation by the dean of the college in which
the course is offered.
We are convinced that such a regulation
would have the effect of cutting cheating. It
is a safe assumption that a study would show
that cheating is proportional to the pressure
on the student. The greater the pressure, the
more likely cheating will be employed as an
escape from it.
Pressure on the student results from over
weighted examinations. When one single blue
book or final can affect a student's final course
grade excessively, many students take the easy
way out: they cheat.
A final which counts 50 per cent of a stu
dent's course grade is an example of such an
overloaded test. But it is not a rare example.
There are many courses in which the professor
adopts, as standard operating procedure, a sys
tem of two tests and a final. In these cAses, the
final determines at least 40 per cent of the
final course grade.
As the Senate Subcommittee on Academic
Honesty at Penn State put it in its excellent
report adopted last spring: ". . , Incentive to
cheat must be reduced ... Here again the fac
ulty can help greatly. Cheating occurs largely
where students feel that only thus can they
get a grade they feel they must have. The
faculty should avoid making any individual
grade more important to the student than is
absolutely necessary."
Who determines what "absolutely necessary"
means? Any professor can read this report and
nod his head confident that his tests which
weight 50 per cent of the final mark are "ab
solutely necessary."
But we can think of few courses which
would be greatly altered by giving more than
three tests, cutting down on the importance of
each.
Double Jeopardy: The Reasons Why
The disciplinary policy of the University as it
affects students who have already been subject
to civil punishment has been the occasion of
much student resentment.
Many students contend that for the Univer
sity to discipline a student after he has already
received civil punishment places the student in
"double jeopardy" and is thus unjust. One
punishment for one infraction i 3 sufficient, they
contend.
We believe that much of the resentment
directed to the administration has resulted from
a misinterpretation of the University's policy
in regard to such matters.
The policy of the University is essentially
this: It does not deny that a student who is
punished by both civil and University author
ities is placed in double jeopardy. It contends,
however, that such double jeopardy is neither
unjust nor peCuliar to the University. The ad
ministration feels that many civil infractions
of students reflect to such a degree on the in
stitution that 'they demand attention by Uni
versity authorities.
Wilmer E. Kenworthy, director of student
affairs, puts the administration policy this way:
"It is a simple fact that a student who 'gets
in trouble' is in double jeopardy. This is not a
situation peculiar to Penn State or to colleges
and universities. Every individual is responsible
not only to the laws of the. borough, state, and
nation, but to his family, his friends, his em
ployer, and such organizations as his church
and clubs.
"It is well known that when a man is guilty
of misconduct he pays his penalty before the
law, and then faces the fact that it may cost
And They Wilt
Fraternity men proved themselves wise men
Monday night. Their Interfraternity Council
representatives voted to discourage corsages
at the IFC-Panhel dance.
A corsage represents a beautiful gift and is
a nice gesture, that cannot be denied. But it
also all to• often represents a financial burden
to the giver.
When a man pays $5.00 to take his date to a
dance in addition to the sundry expenses of a
big weekend at Penn State. corsage giving be
comes impractical to the great majority whose
financial means are limited.
Many schools have long banned corsages
from their dances to alleviate such financial
strain and to encourage more people to attend
the dance. This is sensible and it is proper for
the IFC to adopt this policy.
We hope the sponsors of other University
dances follow 'this sensible step.
—Mike Miller
alle Daily Colltgian
Sueeesaer to THE FREE LANCE, est. 1881
.I<fatla I
THE DAILY COLLEGIAN. STATE COLLEGE PENNSYLVANIA
ROGER VOGELSINGER, Business Manager
Besides cutting cheating, the regulation would
lead to more tests which would result in stu
dents reviewing their work more often and
assumedly learning it more thoroughly. Educa
tors agree that cramming doesn't educate.
Over-weighted exams encourage cramming: ex
ams given more often and carrying less em
phasis encourage studying.
Despite these arguments, this proposal, were
it introduced before University Senate, the
faculty body which rule on such matters, would
probably meet with strong opposition.
Faculty members would feel their academic
freedom and their right to teach as they see fit
is being tampered with.
This is not necessarily so. The Senate, in the
interests of the well-being of all, has been
known to pass legislation which might like
wise be interpreted as limiting the instructor's
rights. Such a regulation is rule 1-9 of the Sen
ate Regulations for Undergraduate Students
which lists five conditions which must be met
before an instructor may schedule evening ex
aminations. Few faculty members oppose this
rule.
Regulations about what the instructor may
or may not do in his classroom are not bad,
per se. The proposal stated here would alter
the professor's routines only slightly.
We are convinced the regulation would cut
cheating, thus easing the burden on the pro
fessor to police his classes. Such a development
would be welcomed by all faculty members.
This regulation, then, would cut student
cheating in tests, by removing the pressure
which is partially responsible for cheating. It
would increase the amount the student learns
by forcing him to review more often instead
of cramming. It would, it is true, increase the
amount of effort the professor would have to
exert in drawing up tests and decrease some
what the amount of time he would have for
teaching. But it would not decrease the amount
of effort the instructor must spend in policing
his classes.
This proposal is in the best interest of the
student and of the professor, since both are
concerned with the student getting an educa
tion. It is worthy of the consideration of the
University Senate.
him his job. His employer has to decide wheth
er or not what he has done reduces or removes
his worth to the organization, or reflects on the
organization in such a way that he must be
separated.
"What the University does is, taking cog
nizance of what civil authorities decide as to
the guilt or innocence of a student in relation
to civil or criminal law, to decide about his
future as a student. In some cases the decision
is that what he has done indicates 'that he is
not a desirable citizen of the University com
munity: sometimes that he needs to be denied
the privilege of attendance for a short period
of time; and sometimes that he needs to be put
on probation.
"These decisions are based on three factors._
what- the student needs to make him under
stand what he -has done and learn from the in
cident; what penalty he must be given to in
dicate to other students how the University
feels about his actions; and what needs to be
done to indicate .to the public that we disap
prove of such actions on the part of our
students."
The administration has placed much of its
disciplinary authority in the hands of the
students themselves in order that the infrac
tions may be dealt with in the most under
standing manner possible.
We honestly believe that the University
attempts to administer its policy in a fair and
just manner. The cause of much of the re
sentment may be that the reasoning behind
policy has heretofore not been adequately ex
plained.
Gazette
Today
ACCOUNTING CLUB, 7 p.m., Phi Kappa Tau
DAILY COLLEGIAN sophomore board circulation staff,
6:30 p.m., Collegian office
HORT CLUB. 7 p.m.. 108 Plant Industries
MARKETING CLUB, 7:30 p.m., Phi Mu Delta
MINERAL INDUSTRIES STUDENT COUNCIL, 7 p.m.,
209 Hetzel Union
NEWMAN CLUB CHOIR PRACTICE, 7 p.m., Catholic
Church
PENN STATE BARBELL CLUB. 7 p.m., 102 Willard
PENN STATE CHESS CLUB, 7:10 p.m., 7 Sparks
INSTITUTE OF RADIO ENGINEERS AND THE AMERI
CAN INSTITUTE OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS,
7:30 p.m., 220 Electrical Engineering
PHILOSOPHY CLUB. 7:30 p.m., 209 Hetzel Union
University Hospital
Donald Catlin. John Earhart, Barbara-Lee Edwards,
Murl Hockenberry, William Hoke, Joseph Humphreys,
George MacCubbin, Phyllis Payloff, Raymond Pottios. John
Rusnak, Karl Schwenateler, Joakob Stekel, Pam Talky,
William Thomas. and Elizabeth Tolan.
STUDENT EMPLOYMENT
The toilowing camps will conduct interviews at • the
Student Employment Agency, 112 Old Main. Interested
students may sign up for interviews there.
CAMP WISE. Ohio. Feb,- 23.
CAMP HIRAM HOUSE. Ohio. Feb. 24 and 24.
Editorials represent the
viewpoint► at the writers.
not nett/tarn, the Polk/
of the paper. the student
body, or the University.
—The Editor
—Mike Miller
Tomorrow
Little Man on Cam
"Our sorority has only ONE entrance requirement, Elsie Mae."
Quips and Quotes
In a dramatic session last week, the House rejected the adminis-
tration's latest attempt for a new tax law. Meanwhile, the State's
scholastic institutions continue to operate on borrowed time.
We can't say whether the University is hard pressed, but re
cently we've been seeing soiled shovels and maps of buried treasures
i❑ the comptroller's office
• • •
We understand that faculty
members have made so many
loans that the local banks could
go into the real estate business.
If things don't get better soon.
Campus Chest may have an
other cause next year.
Some say we're going to send
several professors to the $64,000
Question.
The curtains in second-floor
Sirgm e ns started burning last
week and a volunteer fire com
pany was called in.
It took the firemen only 10
minutes to put out the fire. It
took the coeds 30 minutes to put
out the firemen.
One professor has noted the ar
rival of a new genre of humans
called HUB-worts.
These are students who can be
removed from the HUB only by a
surgical operation.
An anonymous contributor sends
along this thought:
qt would seem that those
students scheduling three or
more courses by television this
semester may find it advisable
to purchase a TV Guide along
with their textbooks."
'Did you hear about the optome
trist who buys old light bulbs to
put in the lamps in his waiting
room?
The Dean of Men issued this
statement last week:
"Any behavior calculated to in
cite or contribute to mob action
will be treated with the utmost
severity."
This may • bar some coeds'
from wearing tight sweaters in
the HUB.
The advertising men of today
must believe that the shortest,way
to the pocketbook is through the
funny bone.
Maybe they think that if they
make you laugh hard enough,
they'll shake some money out of
your pocket.
1::3
Anyway, a current advertise
ment by a motor car company
shows a 1956 station wagon packed
to the roof with people and lug
gage,
The caption calls the car: "Tops
on the `tote-ern' poll."
And a shirt manufacturer
asks the girl friend to buy her
beau an Arrow.
The people who live in the
State College area are fortunate
WEDNESDAY. FEBRUARY 15, 1956
By RON LEIK
in being able to' see a selection of
foreign films, some of which are
of as high a quality as many
Hollywood movies.
But we question whether some•
times something isn't lost in trans•
Wirth, especially in a scene, for
example, where the hero delivers
a three-minute monologue to the
heroine and the screen then reads:
"May I walk you home."
We are privilged to report that
foreigners have the same problem
with American films.
In a Western, which was shown
in France, a cowhand comes up
to the bar and says, "Gimme a
shot of redeye" and the subtitle
read; "Un aperitif, s'il ♦ous plait."
One sunny Sunday last fall, a
student was focusing a camera on
a young thing, obviously not a
coed, who was posing in front of a
foliage-covered wall of Old Main.
"Look out," he said. "That's poi
son."
"Darn," she replied, "why don't
they cover these buildings with
that pretty ivy you see at other
colleges?"
Keep sending in those cards
and letters, friends.
That address is The Daily
Collegian, Carnegie Hall.
Library Exhibits
'Book- Processes'
The Pattee Library is now fea
turing 'an exhibit on processes
used to reduce the cost and bulk
of books. These processes have
made it possible to acquire re
productions of rare volumes.
The exhibit, which includes
newspapers and manuscripts on
microfilm; thesises and old Eng
lish plates on microcards; and
three major projects including
one for reproducing all Ameri
can books before 1820 in micro
print, will continue until Febru
ar3 29. -
Collegian Circulation Staff
The Daily. Collegian sophomore
board circulation staff will meet
at 6:30 tonight in the Daily Col
legian_ office. ,
Tonight , on WDFM
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