PERSPECTIVES
The Michigan D aily Friday, May 16, 1986
Grading refined Waserman

Page 7

By Carl Cohen
Evaluations of student work in
English prose are much superior
to the letter grades (A, B-, C+,
etc.) in common use because:
1. the system using evaluations
is more refined, making it
possible to formulate judgments
more subtlety and more precision;
2. the system using evaluations
is more just, making it possible to
respond to many, varied aspects
of a student's work;
3. the system using evaluations
is more informative, making it
possible to express what single
categories in a linear series can-
not.
There are, however, several im-
portant limitations upon the use of
evaluations in the place of letter
grades. In the Residential College
it is not, was not intended to be,
and must not be expected to serve
as a complete replacement for the
conventional grading system.
Three points should be borne in
mind:
1) Evaluations, long and short,
can be given fairly and produc-
tively only where the instructor
has sufficient information upon
which to base them-and that is
likely to be the case only where
classes are reasonably small.
When classes are large, in or out of
the Residential College, the
writing of evaluations is likely to
be mechanical or superficial, and
to oblige it then would be most un-
wise; in such circumstances stan-
dard letter grades are equally
useful and more honest. There are
classes in the Residential College
(and I teach some of them) in
which letter grading is the
evaluative method of choice.
2) The burden upon faculty who
are required to write lengthy
evaluations for each student in a
course is very substantial. Words
and phrases must be chosen with
great delicacy; for the student
every recorded word of praise or
criticism will and should be
taken very seriously. Some in-
structors, it must be admitted
candidly, are unwilling to invest
the time-and energy required; and
the effort to impose any grading
system upon faculty members
against their will is bound to cause
friction and resentment. Where
evaluations can be used effec-
tively and are wanted by students
and faculty both, they are splen-
did. But in teaching, as in lear-
ning, we are all more productive
when we encourage rather than
compel.
3) Grade-point averages have a
place in the world, within and
without the university. Happily,
this presents no obstacle to the use
Cohen is a professor of
philosophy in the Residential
College and the Medical
School.

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of RC evaluations, since our
students normally accumulate
about half of their University
credits in other LS&A courses, or
courses in other Schools, which do
yield letter grades. No Residential
Students suffer because of the ab-
sence of grades in their transcrip-
ts.
The contrary has proved to be
the case, in fact. Early on we
feared that the admissions officers
of professional schools, or
graduates programs, would not be
able, or willing, to read and inter-
pret the many paragraphs of writ-
ten material about RC graduates
appearing in their records. Those
fears have proved to be wholly
unwarranted. We have learned,
over the course of nearly two
decades of experience, that ad-
missions officers-not univer-
sally, but very generally-are en-
tirely happy with the records RC
students present. [It is worth
noting that, in winning admission
to graduate schools, medical
schools, and law schools, Residen-
tial College students have been
perceptibly more successful than
their LS&A peers. One cannot at-
tribute this statistical performan-
ce to the system of undergraduate
evaluations used in the RC, but it
is reasonable to conclude that that
system has not hindered post-
graduate success.]
The point is that, if the student
transcript is viewed as in-
strument-for the student himself,
or for some appropriately concer-
ned third party-that instrument
is better suited to its purposes
when it contains a mixture of in-
formation of differing kinds. A gr-
ade-point average showing con-
sistent intellectual work at a high
level is not to be sneered at. A set
of prose evaluations exhibiting
admiration and appreciation for a
student's insights, efforts, fair-
mindedness, writing skills, or
analytical powers can also serve,
very nicely, to advance the in-
terests of all.
But, in the end, we faculty
members have the obligation to
evaluate the work of our students
chiefly in order to support their
learning, here in the University,
and throughout life. Learning; in
every sphere, is more successful
and more satisfying when one can
determine where and in what
respects one has done well, or
poorly, and why. To give that sup-
port honestly and fully no system
of categories using letters or num-
bers can compare to the power
and richness of an extended ac-
count in a natural language. That
is all that student evaluations on
the Residential College model are.
Where it is practical to employ
then we are all fortunate if gven
the opportunity to do so.

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Public answer to terrorism

By Peter Ephross

When the Daily's Editorial Board discussed the
American public's response to the increase in inter-
national terrorism, many of us were reluctant to
take a stand. Who are we, some argued, to label
people's reactions as paranoid or irrational.
Besides, with all of the recent terrorist attacks on
Americans, aren't people's fears legitimate?
Eventually, the Editorial Board decided that it
wasn't our place to tell people to continue with their
travel plans. A recent phone conversation with my
father, however, convinced me of the irrationality
of the American public's response, and forced me to
take a stand.
"Your brother is in Toronto," my dad said.
Not being so in touch with my family, I innocently
asked, "What's he doing there?"
"Well, his high school band's concert trip to
Tokyo was cancelled because of terrorism. So they
went to Toronto instead."
I was disappointed. Toronto's a nice city, but it's
not as exotic as Tokyo.
That was not all. My dad continued, "They can-
celled all the school field trips to Washington for the
same reason. They're afraid of terrorist attacks."
Terrorist attacks? Washington, D.C.? Since my
high school is less than an hour away from the

nation's capital, field trips to experience
Washington are numerous. Art classes go to the
Corcoran, the Hirshorn, or the National Gallery of
Art, history classes go to the Smithsonian, Foreign
Language classes go to the fine French and Spanish
restaurants and then browse in Georgetown's
foreign language bookstores. All of these wonderful
educational experiences have been thrown out the
window, at least for this school year.
When I heard the news the day after our conver-
sation, I realized that hysteria had reached
epidemic proportions. National Public Radio urged
Americans to put an un-American sounding name
on their luggage when they travelled; for instance,
Antonelli if they were going to Italy. Sylvester
Stallone, whose "Rambo" isn't afraid of anything,
was too frightened by terrorism to show up at the
Cannes Film Festival. Closer to home, the Univer-
sity orchestra cancelled ten concert performances
abroad.
The effects of this "travel boycott" can only
foster anti-American sentiment in Europe and in
Mediterranean countries. The same European
governments that the Reagan adminstration is
looking to for diplomatic cooperation, and in some
cases military assistance against terrorism, will be
badly damaged economically by the estimated
twenty-five to fifty percent decrease in the
American tourist dollar this summer.
The Reagan administration hoped to demonstrate
national strength by taking military action against
Libya. Let's show some real courage, some per-
sonal strength, and not let ourselves be carried
awaly barterroristhfysileria. ---

This is the second part of a Ephross is co-editor of the Daily's Opinion
tw o-part series.Page.
Page.