Newspaper Page Text
THE
WEST GEORGIAN
VOLUME 42 —No. 18
SGA Elections Set For Wednesday
Burbage, Pugh Qualify
For Top Student Posts
Jesse Burbage and George
Pugh, both junior political
science majors and college
debators, announced their
candidacies for Student
Government Association offices
last week, bringing the total
number of candidates for
Wednesday’s election to five.
While making his announce
ment, presidential candidate
Burbage said he was prompted
to run because he felt the
students needed “some type of
alternative,” especially since
the other candidates were not
saying anything new.
“I feel like I am qualified,”
said Burbage. “I don’t believe
that prior experience, par
ticularly in light of past SGA ad
ministrations, is an ad
vantage.”
“I have debated at West
Georgia for two years,” he said.
“And, that in itself requires a
great deal of analysis, being
able to express your opinion
well, being very convincing,
and being able to present a
proposal in its proper form.”
Burbage attacked the present
SGA with charges of
irresponsibility. “They have
lost all our power to control the
Grade Inflation ?
Profs Split On Causes Of Higher Scores
BY BOBBY SMITH
Are students at West Georgia
College and other schools in the
nation smarter than their
counter parts of 10 years ago or
do professors give better grades
to less deserving students?
This is the major question
that has surfaced recently in the
face of reports charging that
college students are making
better grades than they may
deserve. And professors and ad
ministrators here are split
almost evenly on the issue.
According to recently
published reports, colleges and
universities across the nation
are suffering from what
educators call “grade in
flation.” Basically, this means
students are making more A’s
and B’s than students did
several years ago. But, while
the problem has been identified,
no one seems to be able to
pinpoint a cause behind the
matter.
Dr. Lem Norrell, professor of
English, said, “Professors
might be giving the same
number of A’s and B’s as we
West Georgia College, Carrollton, Ga. 30117
budget and are now working as
an advisory board.” “Also,
there is no effort being made to
learn how the students feel
about given issues. There is a
complete lack of information
flowing to the students before
the SGA meetings.”
Burbage also pointed to other
areas where he feels im
provements should be made.
“The SGA needs to be ab
solutely involved in the decision
making process. There needs to
be better coordination between
factions within the SGA and be
tween the SGA and the ad
ministration.” However, he
said he feels the only way to
achieve any sort of recognition
from the administration is to
have some sort of mass support
of students
To solicit that support Bur
bage proposed that an agenda
be prepared and published
before each meeting to inform
the students of what is going to
be discussed. “I would like to
see the establishment of some
sort of representative board
which would relate back to the
various campus organizations,”
he said. “I will make it my
Continued On Page 7
did, but we might be giving
them to less deserving
students.” Norrell said there
may be several causes behind
this.
“A college education is not
worth as much as it used to be,”
says Norrell. “There is a sur
plus of college graduates today,
and there is no distinction in
society between the graduate
and the non-graduate, unlike
the situation prevalent a decade
ago.”
Asa result of this, Norrell
feels, both professors and
students may be more slack in
their work today than they were
a decade ago.
But, while many professors
feel that students aren’t
working as hard today as they
have in the past, others feel that
perhaps today’s college student
is more intelligent than those of
the past.
Dr. Gordon Finnie, assistant
dean of the graduate school,
says that he has seen a definite
increase in the scores on the
graduate admission tests
during the past few years.
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 1976
M i
S'
W 4, i ■
JESSE BURBAGE
GEORGE PUGH
Finnie, who has been with the
graduate school for five years,
said, “During my time with the
graduate school at West
Georgia, there has been no
decline in the scores on the
admission tests. In fact, ad
mission test scores have been
increasing rather remarkably
over the past few years.”
At the same time though,
admission tests scores for
students entering college for the
first time are on the decline. In
an article published by the
ATLANTA JOURNAL-CON
STITUTION, directors of the
American College Testing
program were quoted as saying
that students are leaving high
school more poorly prepared for
college than their counterparts
of five years ago. Yet the grades
they earn in college are con
sistently higher than those
earned in the past.
Dr. Richard Dangle, dean of
the school of arts and sciences,
offers no explanation for this
change but he does admit there
is a problem.
“I do believe that the grades
Candidates Interviewed
During Ne ws Con fere nee
Bonny Askew, Student
Government finance committee
member, declared during
Wednesday night’s WWGC news
conference that he is not a
candidate for any SGA office.
The announcement was made
at the beginning of the program
by Askew. He read a prepared
statement explaining his
reasons for not entering the
race. The statement read in
part: “It has... been noted by
myself that certain candidates
are ones who until this time
have had very little interest in
the students... since this is so
with people who may be elected,
1 feel that my services may be
better utilized in other places.”
The announcement, said
Askew, was to end speculation
that he would seek one of the
SGA posts.
The format of the show in
cluded all candidates for SGA
offices, beginning with Bobby
Gellerstadt and George Pugh,
who are seeking the judiciary
post. In response to a question
referring to his qualifications,
Gellerstadt said his experience
with the present judiciary
committee is helpful in the
campaign “I was on the
summer judiciary and am now
the assistant head of the
given students today are higher
than those given in the mid
’6o’s,” says Dangle. The dean
traced the increase in grades to
the late 1960’5, a period of great
upheaval and change on the
college campuses in the nation.
But Dangle also adds that he
thinks grades have remained
the same since that time.
In offering a solution to the
problem, Dangle calls for a
“stricter evaluation of the
student’s work,” adding that
this will create a more struc
tured learning environment.
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judiciary committee,” he said.
Pugh, a transfer student in his
second quarter at West
Georgia, answered the same
question by saying “lack of
participation in the past does
not preclude my running.”
Concerning the reasons he
chose to run, Pugh said the poor
record of achievement of the
past administration was the
primary one, particularly the
fact that the judiciary com
mittee has not handled a single
case all year.
In discussing what they
specifically plan to do if elected,
Gellerstadt said that he would
work toward strengthening the
judiciary and make it man
datory that the committee meet
at least once a month, even if
there are no cases to consider.
“When no cases are on the
agenda, then the committee
should review its procedures
and policies,” he said.
Pugh called for an in
vestigation into the manpower
needs of the department of
public safety and the present
manpower allocation.
Pugh also raised the question
about what he termed Jody
Hicks’, director of public
Continued On Page 7
While most professors agree
with the need for a stricter
evaluation process, there is
some thought also along the
lines that grade inflation may
be a trend, destined to run its
course. The beginnings of this
can be seen in in the new
stricter graduation re
quirements, such as the exit
exam, said Norrell.
He said, “I feel that this is a
trend, and like all patterns, it
will run its cycle. Sooner or
later, there will be a turning
point; there has to be.”