The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 54, No. 6, Ed. 1 Thursday, October 20, 1966 Page: 3 of 12
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Threshing-it-out
For you and your Yum-Yum
Phillips qiotes Goodman on grades Good weekend for sex & football
To the editor:
Your editorial of October 6
("Pass-Fail: Unobtrusive Grad-
ing") has been provocative en-
ough to urge a short comment
of an additive nature.
Somewhere in my under-
graduate readings (non-requir-
ed) there was a passage from
Paul Goodman's tract "The
Community of Scholars" which
went something like: a conver-
sation with professors ended in
general agreement to the man
that grades per se were bur-
densome to true academic
learning.
Yet when Goodman took this
argument to its logical conclu-
sion (i.e., elimination of grades
altogether) the professors stop-
ped short with the comment
that if grades were eliminated
students would lose their moti-
vation to study, etc.
If you haven't already, you
might find that portion of Good-
man's book of some interest.
DAVID C. PHILLIPS
University of the
Pacific '61
Goodman examines this
problem of motivation sans
grades in chapter 10 of his
book "Compulsory Mis-Edu-
cation." Here he issues a
"modest proposal" that some
of the country's prestigious
universities abolish grading, '
using testing only for ped-
agogic purposes as teachers
see fit. Here are some selec-
tions from that chapter:
"Perhaps the chief objec-
tors to abolishing grading
would be the students and
their parents. The parents
should be simply disregarded;
their anxiety has done enough
damage already.
"For the students, it seems
to me that a primary duty of
the university is to deprive
them of their props, their de-
pendence on extrinsic valua-
tion and motivation, and to
force them to confront the
difficult enterprise itself and
finally lose themselves in it.
". . . If the aim is to dis-
cover weakness, what is the
point of down-grading and
punishing it, and thereby in-
viting the student to conceal
his weakness by faking and
bulling, if not cheating? The
natural conclusion of syn-
thesis is the insight itself,
not a grade for having had
it ... .
"If the"1 student dares to
accept himself as he is, a
teacher's grade is a crude in-
strument compared with the
student's self-awareness."
Of course, the editorial
does not advocate an overall
abolishing of grades at Rice.
A pass-fail plan involves only
one ungraded course per se-
mester, and that in an elec-
tive.
The plan is based on the
notion that intellectural curi-
osity will motivate where the
grade cannot. The burden of
motivating students will then
rest on how well a professor
presents his course material
rather than his goading the
students with the grade.
—PAG
The greener grass|
By ROGER GLADE
Thresher Fine Arts Editor
Don't go anywhere this week-end. It just isn't
worth your time or mine. Stay home and make
out.
Or better yet, steal a blanket tax for your
U of H yum-yum and take her to the Texas
game.
And make out there, under a blanket.
Otherwise, there's nothing but new openings
this week, and nothing which looks, in advance,
like it's worth seeing.
STEW: FOR SHAME, ALLEY THEATRE!
There you sit, a real top-notch professional
troupe, blistering with money and plans, scream-
ing like a Tasmanian Devil with progress and
what do you produce? "The World of Sholom
Alichem?" We realize it's folksy and warm, but
surely there are more exciting things to do!
AND AS FOR YOU, HOUSTON MUSIC
THEATRE: O.K., you produce "Medea"—great!
But somehow, don't you feel it's a slight come
down to bring on "Mary Mary?" Well, idealizing
that anything would be a come-down after Dame
Judith, we forgive you.
BEEF STROGANOFF: Yes, then there's the
movies. Well. Let's see, they've taken "Morgan"
away. They're having the absolute nerve to
finish off "Fantastic Voyage." Hum.
Well, there is a show about called "Seconds."
It is relatively unknown and fantastic. Check your
local papers. For you Dean Martin fans (and
your name is legion) he'll be here next Wednes-
day. (The Majestic).
Otherwise, go see "Patch of Blue" if you can
(Village). It's nice. As is "Lili" (RMC' on Sun-
day.
CAULIFLOWER SURPRISE: Buy your tickets
now for "An Evening with Bob Hope and Fred
Waring"—chortle.
APRICOTS FLAMBEAUX: Theatre Inc., that
little theatre with a big heart (which burned
frightfully a couple of weeks back) deserves sup-
port. It opens Tomorrow at St. John's Hoodwink
Theatre (No, we don't know where it is either)
with a revue called "Off With The Mask." It
might be fun, and not too expensive.
A PRATING TASTE: Friday: Sex. Saturday:
The Texas Game. Sunday: "Lili." Best bet.
Total Cost: 50 cents (sex not included).
Auckland uncovers campus spies
By LARRY CRAM
and CHUCK YOUNGER
Thresher Reporters
Auckland University, New
Zealand—A formal inquiry set
up to investigate the presence
of a New Zealand government
spy at Auckland University has
cleared the New Zealand se-
curity service of improper con-
duct charges.
The spy, Derek Godfrey, was
exposed by the campus news-
paper, Outspoke, when he tried
to obtain student help in his
investigations of foreign stu-
dents on the campus. After God-
frey's status was revealed, stu-
dents demonstrated outside the
building where he was attend-
ing classes. Police had to be
called in to remove the pickettrs
when they entered a classroom
where the spy was.
The government commission
said in its report that the spy
had acted with complete propri-
ety and that there was no dan-
ger to academic freedom on the
campus. It recommended, how-
ever, that in the future univeri-
ity authorities be notified before
agents are enrolled in classes.
MIRROR, MIRROR?
Cal Tech—A recent letter to
the editor of the California
Tech proclaims that the student
houses (somewhat akin to
Rice's colleges) breed "boors."
It goes on to say that these
student residences foster a state
Rosenthal, Worth praise forensics
To the editor:
A first-order approximation
of the Woodward Plan is pres-
ently in operation at Rice. The
volunteer group, known as the
Rice Forensic Society, embodies
most of the key elements of the
late plan which has been in com-
mittee for about six months.
Support from above is pro-
vided by about a dozen faculty
members and graduate stu-
dents, especially by Dr. John
J. W. Rogers who has provided
vital elements of organization
SCEP positions open
Students interested in serv-
ing on the steering commit-
tee on Educational Policy
should contact Peter Iiollings,
SCEP chairman, at JA 9-0916
before Friday, or leave a
message at the Wiess College
office.
and continuity. But the success
of the group lies in the spon-
taneous interest of the\ under-
graduates.
This year's field of attention
is American foreign policy.
Progress, which is sporadic,
comes by the pooling of re-
search, the interchange of ideas
and challenge, and the non-
numerical, discursive evalu-
ations of each member's per-
formance. The result is a learn-
ing experience which is per-
sonally rewarding as well as
substantial in content.
Certainly an important ele-
ment of the rigor is missing.
However, an educational system
which does not utilize the learn-
ing potential of spontaneous
interest is indulging in a grave
waste of talent.
(Matt. 25; 14-30).
MIKE ROSENTHAL
ALLAN WORTH
Baker '61
of paranoaic apathy toward ac-
tivities outside the classroom,
resulting in a class of social
mutants in which the upper-
classmen are indistinguishable
from the freshmen.
Furthermore the houses fail
to relieve academic pressures in
more worthwhile activities than
water fights, card games, etc.
As a high-gear technological
school, Cal Tech is especially
prone to this type of social
stagnation.
FROSH APPROACH
Stanford—Freshman English,
once rated on a par with the
rack, iron maiden and other
medieval joys, is now under-
going a renaissance.
Professional writers will
teach a creative program for
freshmen in a three-year experi-
ment. The writers, brought to
Stanford from universities
across the country, will devote
their entire teaching time to
seminars consisting of only 20
freshmen.
Professor John Hawkes, nove-
list and member of the Brown
University English Department,
is director of the project. His
latest novel, "Second Skin,"
was nominated for the National
Book Award.
SNIPERVILLE
U. of Texas—Ever conscious
of what lurks in the hearts of
men, the UT karate club is
now offering a girl's course in
the art of self-defense. (Rice
coeds may stop reading here.)
The picture accompanying
the particulars shows a coed
gleefully performing a lobotomy
on her male "companion" with
her elbow. With the balance
of terror shifting to the female
population, is there no hope
for the foul of prey?
j ONE'S A MEAL !
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Degree Otgndidates in:
Engineering-, Chemisty
Physics, Accounting ...
Meet the Man
from Monsanto
OCT. 27 and 28
Sign up for an interview at yoilr placement office.
This year Monsanto will have many openings
for graduates at all degree levels. Fine positions
are open all over the country with America's
3rd largest chemical company. And we're still
growing. Sales have quadrupled in the last 10
years ... in everything from plasticizers to
farm chemicals; from nuclear sources and
chemical fibers to electronic instruments. Meet
the Man from Monsanto — he has the facts
about a fine future.
An Equal Opportunity Employer
CARL MANN, President
The ideal Association.
You and university
Carl Mann, life-long supporter of Rice athletics, in-
vites you to open an account at University Savings.
Conveniently located near the Rice campus in The
Village, University Savings stands ready to help
you set up a systematic savings program tailored to
fit your budget and future requirements.
UNIVERSITY SAVINGS
2500 Dunstan in The Village (home office)
5225 Bellaire Blvd. (branch office)
THE RICE THRESHER, OCTOBER 2 0, 196 6—P A G E 3
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Coyner, Sandy. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 54, No. 6, Ed. 1 Thursday, October 20, 1966, newspaper, October 20, 1966; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth244981/m1/3/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.