The Ithacan, 2002-01-31
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Ithaca College Digital Commons @ IC The thI acan, 2001-02 The thI acan: 2000/01 to 2009/2010 1-31-2002 The thI acan, 2002-01-31 Ithaca College Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.ithaca.edu/ithacan_2001-02 Recommended Citation Ithaca College, "The thI acan, 2002-01-31" (2002). The Ithacan, 2001-02. 17. http://digitalcommons.ithaca.edu/ithacan_2001-02/17 This Newspaper is brought to you for free and open access by the The thI acan: 2000/01 to 2009/2010 at Digital Commons @ IC. It has been accepted for inclusion in The thI acan, 2001-02 by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ IC. Vol. 69, No. 16 THURSDAY ITHACA, N.Y. JANUARY 31, 2002 28 PAGES, FREE www. ithaca. ed u/ithacan The N(!~vspaper for the Ithaca College Community Seeing a new Olympic view Faculty : :· . ~ -:to consider Sophomore ending A+ helps broadcast BY KELLI B. GRANT Assistant News Editor Winter Games Valued at 4.3 on the grade point average scale, an A+ can boost even the most lack BY ELLEN R. STAPLETON luster GPA. News Editor -But at the Tuesday Faculty Council meet ing, members will discuss, and possibly vote Sophomore Sean Colahan has always on, a recommendation to eliminate the A+ all watched the Olympics on television from together. If Faculty Council approves the mea his home. sure, it will move on to the college's Acade But as the 2002 Winter Games get un mic Policies Committee for consideration. derway in Salt Lake City on Feb. 8, Cola Eliminating the A+ is the first of four rec han will be there to witness the ommendations made by the Faculty Council figure-skating and short-track speed-skat Committee on Grading Policies in December ing action. 2000 in an effort to reduce grade inflation. And he'll be helping to deliver the im Associate Professor Lee Bailey, philos ages he sees as a commentary-control op ophy and religion, chairman of the grading erator in the Salt Lake Ice Center to billions policies committee, said the college would of viewers worldwide. not be the first to reduce grade inflation by ''I'll see them firsthand, not through a eliminating the A+. Syracuse University no microphone or camera," said Colahan, a longer awards an A+, and Princeton Uni television-radio major who has taken a versity is looking to do the same, he said. leave of absence for the spring semester to The number of A grades given at the col work in Salt Lake City. ''I' II be there to take lege has been steadily rising over the years, m the whole Olympic experience." Bailey said. Currently, 42 percent of the International Sports Broadcasting, the grades given are A's, he said. host broadcaster of the Olympics, hired Co In a faculty survey on grade inflation, 76 lahan · in the fall after a weeklong inter percent believed the high percentage of A's viewing and training process. He is one of awarded devalues the grade, he said. 350 college stu ·.'" _..-,. .,."\Ve.are pleased that the.students are do ·dents in the ing well," Bailey said. "But the meaning of excellence [in an A grade] has been lost. I'd ~ ~;:,.~!as~ ni:.,i~ really like to reward students who do their ing program. work with an A that really means something." • As a commen- Assistant Professor Timothy Nord, mu SAiLT lAlllE Dl>Z" tary-control op sic, said he does not think the A+ should be erator, Colahan GARRETT M:SMITWTHE ITHACAN eliminated. Nord said he has only given an will perform the SOPHOMORE SEAN COLAHAN has left .the broadcast ~tudio of the Roy H. Park A+ two times in his 10 years of college teach School of Communications for the semester to work as a commentary-contr.ol oper ing but emphasized the importance of rec See COVERAGE, Page 4 ator in the Salt Lake Ice Center at the 2002 Winter Olympics. ognizing students who go "head and heels above" in their work. "It's an apt indication of the quality of their work," he said. Associate Professor Catherine Gordon Article sparks reader backlash and Assistant Professor Carole Dennis, chair women of the Department of Occupational Therapy, said they prefer lowermg the grade BY JOE GERAGHTY Quarterly, published at the end of 2001, me, but I don't think many of the people who point equivalent of an A+ to 4.0 from 4.3. Assistant News Editor reached more than 48,000 readers, accord took issue with me actually respect my right Dcnrns said she thinks a B grade ing to the Office of College Relations. to say what I want." demonstrates competence, an A grade is ex The college'~ quarterly magazine has re Stephens said she wanted to provide a fo ceptional and an A+ should only be given to ceived a record number of letters in response rum for other people's voice~ in the issue students who have gone above and beyond to a piece about America's reaction to the . M~~ I Ba:rat~:;~~!~~.that mstead of of the Quarterly. what is expected of them. Sept. 11 attacks wntten by Associate Pro asking "Why do President Peggy R. Williams said ~he re Both Dennis and Gordon said they don't fessor Asma Barias, chairwoman of the De I they hate us?" ceived copies of the letters because give out many A+ grades. partment of Politics. Americans should ask "Why do we hate and Stephens wanted to bring "the backlash" to "In my case, ~omeone who ha~ done tru Maura Stephens, editor of "Ithaca Col oppress them?" It was part of a larger pack her attention. She also said she received a ly out~tandmg \\ llrh. ... dese1 ve~ an A+." lege Quarterly," said she has been sent more age which included seven other guest arti critical e-mail sent directly to ner addres~. Gordon said. than 20 letters with both positive and neg cles and information about four alumni who to which she sent a reply. Junior Brenna Corbett, Student Govern ative comments about the article titled "Why died at the World Trade Center. College Relations Director Marina ment Assm:1at1011 \ ice president ot acade Do They Hate Us?" That issue of the Stephens said the magazine has never re Todd said one of the letter writers threatened mics, said SGA has yt:t to take a position on ceived so many letters in response to one to stop making donations to the college. the issue. However, SGA 1s askin!.! Facult\ .111-W(~~' \ article. The magazine's policy is to print all Williams said she could not tell Council to listen to ~tudent opinio71~ befor~ ~'::~,:::;::~ ._ lett~rs that a:e not libelous. whether threats were serious. taking a vote on the recommendation. .,~::;-,.:-;;;:::~~,.....,_,,. .. .... -·, 'Some of the letters are very, very sup- "People who are upset are upset, and to ''This h;1s been a bombshel I for everyone," --:-::_:;:~:;::_":: -~-='°i;;:/:.i~~ ·:. portive," she said. "People are thankful that me that is one way they choose to express it," Corbett said. "No one knows what to thmk yet." l.::;:,:;:3.,::.-.:-:;c··: ·;:-c. ·,;, we aired voices that wouldn't otherwise have she said. "Obviously we would hope that they Faculty Council may also be cons1de1mg ·-7~;. ~ ~:~j\ been heard. But there are some that are very wouldn't do that." the three other recommendat10ns of the grad 1~~ff%~ angry. Som: are q~ite attac~ing." . Williams said she may address the con ing policies committee during the semester. troversy in the next issue of the Quarterly. The other recommendations arc: usmg stu "I feel disappointed that some people be dent evaluations as a tool to improve teach lieve that I should have told people not to ing and not as a salary incentive, changing b!~~~Ef,~~~~~g:~E.~f write these things," she said. "I can't agree the pass/fail system and adding information ·ti~au/\RiEP.L'{ come irrational enough to accuse me of with that. Different people have different about class size and median grade to acad rn-1/\C/\COLLEGE co\\ege being sympathetic to bin Ladin and the ideas about what [the causes of Sept. 11] are. emic transcripts for grade clarification. 8 · ·-· \..E \N the "\th8~\to"ersY- Al Qat:da network," she said. "I can't It seems to me if there is anyplace in the Faculty Council will meet on Tuesday at 11'\IS" AR'T~~has spurred con help feeling that it's because I'm a Mus- world where we should be enc;ou_raging a 7 p.m. in Clark Lounge, Campus Center. The ouarter\Y_ lim:I respect pepple's right to disagree with f~ee exchange of ideas, it's the academy.:' meeting is open to the public. INSIDE -ACCENT' ••• 13 -·CLASSIFIED .~. ·21 COMICS ••• 20 OPINION_ ••• 10 SPORTS ••• 28 l!illlt!lll! ... ..... .. I I ii I I ' . I • I I I I ; . I I •• ' I , I • f I f ' I • 2 THE ITHACAN NEWS THURSD~Y, JANUARY 31, 2002 National and International ews Administration and military officials are scheduled to EAST MEETS WEST meet Monday at the White House to discuss the status of 158 detainees captured in the war on terrorism. Secretary of State Colin Powell has urged President Bush to declare the Guantanamo captives as subject to the pro tections of thel949 Geneva Convention, even if they are not classified as POWs. Rumsfeld said that as terrorists and fighters for an il legitimate Taliban regime, the captives are "unlawful com batants" who did not qualify for Geneva Convention sta tus, even though their treatment meets the conditions of the international treaty.