The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Opinion page 6 Grading by Pam Coddington The first change in the grading system since the institution was established may be the cause of increased apprehension of students. "The faculty felt that the old grading system (consisting of straight letter grades of A,B,C,D, and E) did not indicate what kind of work the students were doing.” said Assistant Dean of Students, Max Lindsay. Proposal for the change was made by faculty member Richard Matteson. "I think it's great!" said Matteson. "It provides the instructor with an opportunity to give the System: student a much more realistic grade. A straight letter grade is deceiving to the student who is doing B+ work and getting the same grade as the student who is doing B- Matteson worked on a survey of several universities that have institutionalized the plus/minus system. Western, Michigan State, Central, Northern, Eastern, Alma, U of M, and Lake Superior State are some of the colleges and universities most ACC students transfer to. Out of all surveyed, Lake Superior State is the only one that is not using the plus/minus system. "After quite a bit of work, the recommendation went to New & Improved? the president of the college and he agreed to it." commented Lindsay. The grading system now stands as: A (4.0), A- (3.7), B+ (3.3), B (3.0), B- (2.7), C+ (2.3), € (2.0), C- (1.7), D+ (1.3), D- (@.0), D- (0.7), and an E (0.0). Matteson and Lindsay both agreed that compatibility with other institutions was the main reason for the change. There are very few faculty members who are not in favor of the change. "T'm in favor of it. When it came down to the final line, some students were under an A but above a B. I don't feel it is a disadvantage to the students. There is a definite difference in levels of accomplishment."commented faculty member, Wes Law. "It's unknown at the moment, We'll find out how much GPA's are going to drop. I feel it's far more accurate than last year. The problem is that we've institutionalized this process at the same time universities are raising their GPA requirements." said faculty member, James Miesen. Students seem to vary on their opinions. "T really think it's for the best because it's a more accurate measure of what grade the student earned. As for me, I don't like it.Now, instead of getting an A I'll get an A- which will definitely hurt my GPA." said current Janet Collard. Lindsay referred to the grading system as a big change for the institution, but not as much for most of the students. "The plus/minus is used in high school and the majority of our students come straight out of high school." said Lindsay. student, "Tt's unknown at the moment, but it's far more accurate than last year."-- Jim Miesen "It is not a disadvantage to the student."--- Wes Law Student Submissions Dear Editors: This is not your average letter. It is about an age-old problem we have here at A.C.C., student apathy. I am president of the Student Activity Board, and despite the best efforts of my organization this year and in past years , students refuse to become involved. Very few students actually give suggestions for activities, or bring up complaints to the student senate or activity board. Yet, I still hear students complain about activities when they will not come forward to suggest what would be, to them, a ‘good’ activity. The help of a select few students, for the most part in student senate, is all that can be counted on to determine what will be done to aid and service the students. I only hope that before students completely lose the ability to deal with problems through student senate, by it's loss from inactivity and non-use, the student body here at A.C.C. comes to it's senses and gives the senate a reason to organize those activities, and to fight for the tights of students who rarely seem to care. Robert Michael Rhea, S.A.B. President "I think the new grading system is good because it is 4 more exact way of grading." ---Kyle Dell ATTENTION WRITERS: The Lumberjack encourages your thoughts and comments. Students wishing to submit their views on campus happenings or rebuttals, are encouraged to do so. Submissions to the Lumberjack should be mailed or dropped off to the Lumberjack office in BTC. "I think it's great!" ---Richard Matteson Poetry Contest December 31 is the deadline for entering the American Poetry Association contest Entry is free and everyone is welcome to enter. The Grand Prize is $1,000 and the first prize is lines, name address on each page, to American Poetry Association, Dept. CT-90, 250-A Potrero St., P.O. Box 1803, Santa Cruz, CA 95061. Entries should be mailed by December 31. A new contest starts January 1. $500. In total, 152 poets Each poem is also will win cash and publicati idered for publication in prizes worth $11,000. the American r "Every student who Anthology, a leading writes poetry should enter collection of today's poems. this contest. Our latest $1,000 winner is a student. Students also won 24 of the other prizes," said Robert Nelson, publisher for the association. "December break should give students the chance to enter before the deadline." Poets may enter the contest by sending up to six poems, each no more than:2 During eight years of sponsorship the American Poetry Association has run 34 contests and awarded $165,000 in prizes to 3,100 winning poets. courtesy of the American Poetry