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PaKe 6
The Red and Black. Thursday. May 4. IM7H
Sailing over city streets, country roads,
anywhere that's fun. That's Pappasallo's latest
canvas & rope on-the-go casual making a fashion splash!
Bueno. $25.95
red canvas, kelly canvas, navy canvas,
beige canvas
131 East Clayton Street,
Downtown Athens
Athens iak&mt swot stoke across the street from C&S J
i ,1 , n , - - mi nai
Lamar Lewis Co.
Regents’ exam
Wondering what it’s for and why you take it?
Become a professor's pen pal and earn college credit.
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For a bulletin with more Independent
Study program information, listings of
"pen pal" professors and the some 200
I.S. courses offered, call, visit, or write:
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Independent Study
Georgia Center for Continuing Education
University of Georgia
Athens, Ga. 30602
Telephone: 542-3243
Bv SI SAN KKC
Editor's note: This is the first
of a two-part series on the
histor) and purpose of the
Itegent's Rising Junior Exam.
Both yudents who have
already faced the challenge of
the Regents' Exam and those
who still anticipate it may
wonder why they have to take
it and what happens after the
tests are scored
The test was first imposed on
Georgia’s University System
by the Board of Regents in 1972
to make sure the state's
college graduates had achieved
a certain level of competency
in reading and writing, accord
ing to Dr. Leroy Ervin,
assistant vice president for
A adetnic Affairs. Ervin is the
University’s campus coordina
tor for the Regents’ Testing
Program.
The Regents’ Exam, or
Rising Junior Exam, became
mandatory beginning fall quar
ter of 1973 and has been a
requirement for graduation
since 1976. Ervin said About
IKK) University students take
the test each year.
TO TAKE the test a student
must get a ticket at the
beginning of the quarter from
the Counseling and Testing
Office in the Academic Build
ing On the appointed day the
student goes to the testing site
and takes the test which is
divided into two parts, Dr.
Robert Rentz of the Regents’
Testing Program explained.
The first part of the Regents’
Exam is a multiple choice
section which measures read
ing competency and the second
part is an essay section, Rentz
said. The student must write
an organized essay on one of
the two topics offered.
The Counseling and Testing
Office, which administers the
exam, sends them to the
Regents’ Testing Program
office in Atlanta. There the
reading portion of the exam is
graded by computer The
essay exams from all of the 33
institutions in the University
System are scrambled, pack
aged and sent to six Essay
Scoring Centers across the
state. Rants said Ona of these
centers is at the University.
EACH institution sends re
presentatives to the scoring
centers to grade the essays.
The number of graders from a
school is proportionate to its
sophomore enrollment, Rentz
said. "This way a small school
might only send one or two
people and a large school
might sent 11 or 12,” he added.
The English department
head at each institution choo
ses his school’s representatives
who are then recommended by
UGA SOPHOMORES
SCHOLARSHIPS!
SCHOLARSHIPS!
SCHOLARSHIPS!
Army ROTC has a way for a college sophomore to win
a 2-year scholarship for your junior and senior years in
college. This scholarship will pay for books, tuition,
fees and $100 a month spending money. To compete for
this scholarship you must attend a six-week Basic Camp,
with pay. Even if you do not win a scholarship you can
still enter the Advanced Army ROTC Program which
pays you $100 a month your junior and senior years
and lead to a commission as a second lieutenant in the
U.S. Army.
For more information call: Captain Ted Poucher
542-2612 or
come by the Military Building
located at the corner
of Sanford and Baldwin
Lerov Ervin
the president These people
are normally English depart
ment members, but we have
had one president and a few
deans to grade the essays. Any
competent faculty member can
grade them,” Rentz said.
Each quarter's essays are
graded on two Saturdays
during the quarter. The
representatives receive an
honorarium of $40 plus expen
ses for their day's work, he
added
SINCE TIIE essays are
scrambled, *no person grading
them knows which institution
the exams he reads comes
from. Each essay is read and
scored by three different
representatives independently,
Rentz said. “They make no
marks on the paper, so no
person knows what score
another gives an essay.”
Only if two of the three
graders give an essay a failing
score of one on a one-to-four
point scale will the essay fail,
he explained.
After the exams are graded
the Regents’ Testing Office
computerizes the results and
develops a quarterly report for
each school listing all students
who took the exam and
whether they passed or failed.
Ervin said
THE University’s reports go
through the president’s office
and arc then dispersed to the
deans, department heads and
faculty advisors.
"The scores are available to
the individual students usually
about four or five weeks after
the testing date,” Ervin said.
Each student is responsible for
calling his advisor or depart
ment to find out whether he
passed, but some departments
do mail notification to their
students who pass, he added
The individual students'
scores are confidential, Rentz
said, but the summary reports
from each school telling how
many students passed and
comparing this number with
those from other schools are
not confidential.
THESE TEST results are not
used in any national studies or
statistics because the Regents’
Exam is only a state wide
policy, although other states
may have comparable tests,
Rentz said.
What does a student do if he
fails the Rising Junior Exam?
Since is it a requirement for
graduation, anyone failing the
test must take it again, Ervin
said Students may seek
assistance from the Regents’
Remediation Program. Some
schools have- a mandatony
remediation program for those
who failed the test.
The University's remediation
program office is located in
Clark Howell Hall. The actual
essays are available there and
an instructor, Margery Pinet,
will go over the students’
mistakes with him. She pre
pares students for another
attempt at the test through
small group classes or indivi
dual conferences.
A STUDENT can take the
Regents’ Exam an indefinite
nuniber of times, but "a poor
student who has failed the test
foui* or five times is probably
having trouble in many clas
ses, too, and may flunk out,"
Rentz said.
Ervin acknowledged that a
limited number of students
have had to delay graduation
until they passed the Rising
Junior Exam “These students
have waited too late to take
it,” he explained.
‘‘We definitely encourage
students to take the test before
their junior year, immediately
after they complete their
English core requirements,”
ElVIII Mid A student can lose
his composition skills over
time il he it In a degree
program which does not
require much writing.”
STUDENTS who wait until
their last few quarters to take
the Regents’ Exam often
become anxious, and fear of
failure can actually contribute
to failure, he said
"Don’t be afraid of the
exam. It’s something you've
got to do, so have a positive
attitude," he added
There are two special cases
in which a student can be
exempt from the Rising Junior
Exam. A foreign students with
at least three letters of
recommendation from faculty
members does not have to take
the exam
ALSO, a handicapped stu
dent is exempt if his handicap
prevents him from taking the
test. "Some handicapped stu
dents don’t want special treat
ment, though, so we make
alternate arrangements for
them.” Ervin said. The exam
can be administered in Braille
or orally, for example
Ervin said he has not seen
any particular difficulty in the
Special Studies students' abili
ty to pass the Rising Junior
Exam. "This program is only
two years old, so it may be too
early to tell, but by the time
these students finish English
101 and 102 they're doing as
well as any others," he said.
Actually, the competency
level necessary to pass the
reading part of the Regents'
Exam is lower than that which
Special Studies students must
reach to get out of the Special
Studies Program, Ervin said.
"WE ANTICIPATE a change
in that one will have to score
higher on the reading portion
of the Regents' Exam than has
been required in the past,
though," he added
Another change Ervin for
sees is that the time allowed
for the essay portion will
increase from its present 45
minutes to one full hour.
The exams themselves are
revised on a regular schedule,
Rentz said "We are constantly
changing essay topics,” he
added.
IN FALL quarter, 1976, his
office solicited a fresh batch of
essay topics through the
presidents of all 33 schools in
the University System. "We
received input from the
faculty, many of whom had
discussed possible topics with
their students.” Rentz said
The testing program received
over 7ut) topic suggestions.
The system’s Atademic
Committee on Education, com
posed of a representative from
each school (usually the
English department head),
reviewed the topics. A subcom
mittee on testing threw out the
inappropriate topics and sub
mitted their final group of 50
or 60 topics to the full
committee. Rentz said.
The remaining topics make
up the pool from which topics
are chosen each quarter. This
process of topic revision takes
place about every two years.
Rentz said, so every school
frequently has the chance to
add or delete essay topics. Old
topics are often used again.
The reading test is also
changed frequently-two new
forms are used each year
"This precaution is for test
security reasons." Rentz ex
plained
Board
From p. 1
be handled by one person who
«s spending 15 hours a week in
the classroom. On top of that
this person usually has a
maximum of one year experi
ence,” Stamper said.
Approval or disapproval of
the budget was not discussed
at the board meeting. Rather,
the board sent the recommen
dation to the allocations
committee in order to raise the
issue of The Red and Black's
standing, according to Dr.
William R Mendenhall, a
member of the board and
associate dean of students
The board's recommendation
will be heard today by the
student allocations committee
set up by the Office of Student
Affairs. The committee will
hear discussion by members of
The Red and Black and then
decide whether to approve or
disapprove the recommen
dation
In other business, the board
recommended the approval of
a $39,000 budget for WUOG, the
University radio station Last
year’s budget request was
$44.000
A portion of the proposed
budget will be used for the
financing of the programming
guide, according to John
Auskelis, general manager of
WUOG
Currently the programming
guide is supported by "non
commercial acknow
ledgments" which appear on
the back of the guide WUOG
has asked that the program
ming guide be supported
entirely by its own funding
Auskelis called the guide
"vital" and added, "it is an
important and effective link
with our listeners "
Athenian charged
in woman’s death
An Athens man has been
charged with murder Tuesday
in the death of a woman he
shared a home with, police
say.
Claude Williams, 59, was
held without bond in the Clarke
County jail after being arrest
ed Tuesday afternoon.
The victim, Lizzie Ruth
Barrow, about 40. was found at
9:59 a m at her home at 957
Hobson Ave Tuesday. She had
apparently been beaten to
death with an unknown object,
police said.
SPARKY'S
2nd Anniversary Celebration
We’ve made it two years
and you’ve helped us!
This is our birthday present
to you!
• Complimentary Cakes
Wednesday
through Sunday
• Shrimperoo Lunch
Wednesday, May 3 through,
Sunday, May 7
V5 lb. boiled shrimp $2.9 C
an ear of corn
a mu& of suds
• Draft Budweiser
Thursday Ni&ht, May 4th
© a muj, during your dinner.
• Jazz
Friday and Saturday, May 5th and 6th
Steve Ifencz Trio in Sparky’s Oyster Bar]
Corner of Thomas and Hancock in the Athens Flea Market • 549-3534