The Megaphone (Georgetown, Tex.), Vol. 98, No. 02, Ed. 1 Thursday, September 22, 2005 Page: 4 of 8
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OPINIONS AND EDITORIALS
The Megaphone, September 22, 2005 _____
A+ is for anal: Students tense up over grades
Are Southwestern’s traditional educational values detrimental to its students?
By BRITTANY SNODGRASS
Megaphone Staff Writei
There exist about as many
types of study habits at South-
western as there are people. The
classic stereotypes include the
procrastinators, the workahol-
ics, those that “study-hard-to-
partv-hard,” the slackers, and
everything in between.
Besides those that fail to
concern themselves with school
work at all, and thereby quickly
fail to be a Pirate, most students
at Southwestern care about
their grades for one reason or
another.
But not everyone cares
about knowledge, and therein
lies a massive dilemma, one
which calls into question the
quality of a Southwestern edu-
cation.
The Southwestern website
broadly describes itself as “one
of the nation's more traditional
liberal arts ami sciences pro-
grams. with selected contem-
porary components designed to
prepare students for the modern
world.”
Sure, the administration
cares about learning on-paper
but does learning equate with
knowledge?
It appears that Southwest-
ern students have confused
understanding with grades and
by doing so, earved-out an aca-
demic environment that stresses
goal-oriented achievement over
the pursuit of knowledge and
identity.
As a self-proclaimed lib-
eral arts college, Southwestern
provides the opportunity for
students to shop around before
deciding^-on. a major, .a .good.
lauta Bishop j MfyaphutK)
First-year Kim Conti focuses on tier chemistry homework Like many students at Southwestern, she spends
several houts buried in her studies to achieve the widely sought-after (and sometimes elusive) A
thing loi the disgruntled, upper-
and middle-class students that
dot the campus.
W ith their focus on instant
gratification and superficial
entertainment (think: I lie ().( .).
students are less concerned with
long-term education and instead,
are choosing to exchange qual-
ity for quantity .
A curriculum that devotes
one-fourth of its total hours to
general education requirements
prolongs this apathetic attitude
towards learning and allows a
student to easily .spend tLieir first
year breezing through lower-
level electives without gaining
any sense of direction.
The product of such an atti-
tude manifests itself in the form
of a game, whereby professors
set the rules and students learn
to play by them.
"Rather than measuring a
student's ability to comprehend
and process a given subject,
grades indicate one’s ability to
complete those tasks detailed in
a professor’s syllabus.
By enrolling in a class, a
student acknowledges their
ability to complete the demands
of that class and submits to a
professor's system of grading.
The result is that grades
become personal.
By marking down a stu-
dent, a professor is criticizing
a student's ability to follow
directions, a skill which most
students learned in kindergar-
ten and come to equate with the
most basic lorin of knowledge.
When a student attaches
their identity to the grades that
they receive, grades are placed
in the unreasonable position of
judging an individual's worth.
Worth then becomes extra-
neous to the individual, and stu-
dents are constantly working to
achieve high grades in order to
prove to themselves and others
that they are of high quality.
Officially, grades have noth-
ing rcvitn w itlr wuntnnrd"Tn^rcact
should measure a student’s abil-
ity to comprehend and process
ideas.
They unfortunately remain a
necessary component of higher
education, used when applying
to graduate school or other pro-
grams. I hat’s just a fact.
Yet when it comes to know l-
edge, grades mean very little,
and in some cases, they’re detri-
mental to the learning process.
It is quite possible to do
away with them.
Other liberal arts universi-
ties, many of which are ranked
higher than Southwestern, use
methods besides grades to eval-
uate a student’s grasp of subject
matter.
Sarah Lawrence College in
Bronxville, New York, utilizes
alternative methods in order
to help “place responsibility
for students' work upon them-
selves.”
When students are self-
motivated to learn for the pur-
pose of gaining knowledge,
source of motivation.
Southwestern has barred
itsell from becoming an insti-
tution of so-called progressive
education by describing itself as
a “traditional liberal arts” col-
lege.
Such a label perpetuates the
need for grades and limits the
potential for students to gain
true knowledge without con-
stantly being weighed down by
the need to rank achievement
through extraneous merits.
Students can change the
mentality of placing grades
before knowledge by shifting
their focus to life-long learning
and demanding nothing less.
Until then, knowledge will
remain on the backburner at
Southwestern.
n. /
rtethmg
you’ve seen in the Megaphone or on
campus? Write a letter to the editor:
,V:
§1
■m
mm
/■ryTC
thwestem.edu r
" ! ...I V ■
- - - • • T.~' ...... ~ • •
*mA
UPCIUAU
Tuesday September 27th
5:30 -7:30 pm
Polynesian themed food and
live music feat. Coconut
Dave on the steel drums
?3
)?
vVMj? \ ' i>.CLa
Megaphone Staff Writer
At our local Wolf Ranch,
many students witlt a spiritual
hunger have seen the Promised
1 and and eaten their fill.
September 8 was the grand
openingofChick-fil-A, and they
celebrated the creation with fun
activities and the Eucharist -
um, I mean, free food.
The all-night sacrament
started the day before at 4 part,
and had more than 100 pilgrims
in attendance by seven.
The order in vv liicii they had
come to the light was recorded.
Attendees were not allowed to
come back if they left, and roll
was taken periodically to see
who had strayed from the righ-
teous path (and by righteous
up on the list, replacing the lost
souls and getting one step closer
to the promised bounty of free
chicken for a y ear,
Activities for the holy night
included a giant game of Hot
Potato except played with a
C’hick-fil-A cow; another game
that consisted of catching the
plushie cows as they were
launched out of a slingshot, a
street dance, organized walks
and jogs around Wolf Ranch,
nun ies from a projector, and a
talk from their spiritual leader.
Dan Cathy______________ ..._____—
According to his Pressroom
bio on the Chick-lil-A website.
“| Dan Cathy's| personal pas-
sion is to see the fulfillment of
the Chick-fil-A Corporate Pur-
pose: ‘To glorify (joifby being
‘If;* .«B|
| *>'i h
• pi ’ *’ ' : ‘ ; f '
* *
gMPPSffi&t'r'.-
k -vs
a.
ii i IT
\ >T
Vickie Vai/ide? ! MfHjnphon
Students were treated to a dose of religion with their free chicken while
waiting for the grand opening of Chick-fil A on September 8
path I mean parking lot)
I hose who stayed moved
a faithful steward of all that is
entrusted lo us. lo have a posi-
tive influence on all who come
in contact with Chick-fil-A.’”
This rang true in his sermon
to his people, as he discussed
his experience with serious 1st
and 2nd degree burns and how
he uses his business to spread
the faith.
Some of the followers shied
away from the teachings.
“Everyone likes fried
chicken, sure, but not so much
having pseudo-religious corpo-
rate agendas shoved down your
throat...the question posed that
-niglvCTbr all of us was. ‘What
Would Jesus Eat?' as we starved
on cold concrete and then
marched, single file, like Soviet
prisoners to receive our ration
of gruel,” said one attendee
from Mabee that prefers lo be
known only by El Bandito.
Others were not bothered
by the public display of faith,
bait hv spiritual exhaustion
afterwards.
“It was lots ol fun, but I was
very tired afterwards. All three
of us |that attended together!
missed ours first classes the next
day." said Michael Morgan.
Still others had no com-
plaints at all. „
"It was the most comfort-
able parking lot I’ve ever slept
in,” said Ryan Ramp.
While yours truly does not
approve of the images sold by
Chick-fil-A and similar corpo-
rations, I cannot pass judge-
ment on the event itself since 1
was not there to experience the
enIightcnnient firsthand.
However, 1 would daresay
that the event must have been
an eye-opener, maybe in more
ways than one.
Regardless of the mixed
feelings, every body came away
from the event with a higher
sense of meaning and a warmed
heart...except for those who
didn’t w in any free chicken.
What would Jesus eat? Defining the sepa
By VICKIE VALADEZ no on the list, renlacinu the lost live influence on all who come I
CJutrthartd
By CHRISTIANA LITTLE .majority, and since America speech, or of tl
Matthew, Chapter 6: (But) say prayers whenever we want, government for a ret
gke care not to perfonn righ- even inpublicsclmols.” _ grievances.
teous deeds in order that people
may see them; otherwise, you
Did not Jesus say, “That
which you do to the least of
In layman’s terms
government can’t give money
will have no recompense from my brother, that you do unto to anything that promotes a
lmo *. me7 religion, or ,h*
“When you give alms, do Just because there are lots tenceofGod.
not blow a trumpet before you, of rhristi™* in some r»art* «f * TWN wf
asthe hypocrites do in the syn-
ofChri|&m umme jj-arts of Ths& sdiy^we.doi^
America doesn’t make it okay an official” USA Church”
agogues and in the streets to (nof to even SAY Conslitu- or something, like Britain’s
win the praise of others. tional) to impose religion upon Church of England.
“Amen, I say to you, they other8. | The first amendment pro.
have received their reward. And, to say that the tects the rights of Americans
“But when you give alms, United States was founded on by assuring that we can wor-
do not let your left hand know “Christian values” seems a bit ship freely, whoever and how-
what your right is doing, so narrow-sighted the values of ever we choose,
that your almsgiving may be iife and liberty are shared by The first amendment
secret- manv religions world-wide,. NOT a ban on prayer in public
yowrFaiHerwRosees specially Christianity, Juda- pla<res or in government-run
in secret will repay vou.
-ism and-islam.
places— aUit says is that the
government can’t give money
“When you pray, do not be p To say ortiy “Christian” is
like the hypocrites, who love terribly limiting, and insulting to organizations that promote
to stand and pray in the syna. to other religions whose values religion, including a. q ' “
goguexandon-stfeeLcorners so sy^ems are remarkably similar school' that has schdbl
that others may see them. to Christianity’s. ? nized prayer.
“Amen, I say to you, they i think that many people in This also means that things
have received their reward. America don’t understand the like student-led prayers are
“But when you pray, go dlvjsibn of Church and State, perfectly acceptable, since the
to your inner room, close the on BOTH sides of the argu- students aren’t receiving anv
door, and pray to your Father mem, money from the government.•
in secret. One teacher didn’t allow a With this in mind* wi
“And your Father who sees boy to bring the Bible to school pre-football game pra
in secret wilt repay you.” on “silare your favorite book “valid” if it’s said overt$6lfg
day.” speaker?
This was a misinterpreta- At my high school, people
tion on the teacher’s part.
I feel that prayer is some-
thing very private.
A prayer said silently will
be heard by God just as well
as a prayer said over a loud-
speaker, and a private prayer
does not offend anyone.
Also, it allows each indi-
vidual to pray exactly as they
wish, and further develop their
personal relationship with
God.
I have heard the argument
that “since Christians are the
would gather in
groups before games to pray,
and by doing this, freely exer-
cised their first amendment
rights. ......
I think God likes those
prayers just as much as any
others, if not more, according
to Matthew 6.
, I am Christian and ! ant
American.
To say that “a handful of
lawyers arc going to take away
your right t$ pray” is ALSO a
misinterpretation. : -4— *
THE FIRST AMEND-
MENT: Congress shall make
no law respecting an establish-
ment of religion, or prohibit-
ing the free exercise thereof;
or abridging the freedom of
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The Megaphone (Georgetown, Tex.), Vol. 98, No. 02, Ed. 1 Thursday, September 22, 2005, newspaper, September 22, 2005; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth634123/m1/4/?q=%22%22~1: accessed July 15, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Southwestern University.