December 1, 2011 | Vol. 110 no. 10 | middleburycampus.com SGA passes resolution for Pass/D/Fail grading By Ben Anderson (NESCAC) that does not have such On Nov. 20, the Student Gov- a system in place. ernment Association (SGA) passed the Pass/Fail Resolution proposed has been studied as a form of ex- by Senator Michael Polebaum ’12, perimental education. Studies on the topic, however, have not been Educational Affairs Committee conclusive. (EAC) the adoption of a Pass/Fail Much of the resistance to ap- The SGA passed the resolution comes from professors who fear unanimously, without any major that such a system undermines a student’s quality of education. Now that it has passed the SGA, it will be voted on by the Student Educational Affairs Committee will be in it 100 percent,” said Charles A. Dana Professor of Po- litical Science Murray Dry. “The Adam Schaffer plans to discuss the contents of presence of one or two students - who are not fully prepared can af- fect the atmosphere of the class in both students and professors. harmful ways.” Dry was a major opponent to by the EAC, the whole faculty the Pass/Fail option the last time body will vote on the issue. After it was considered. At that point, MIL poised to remake education - in an email. Until then, the com- be instated, professors should be By Adam Schaffer leadership position,” President - - by the initial $10 million invest- The resolution outlines the im- ment, $4 million of which was plementation of a “Pass/D/Fail” As the resolution currently expands, questions remain as system where students may elect to the effect the new company in this country is in a critical — Middlebury Interactive Lan- state,” he added, and MIL can THE MIDDLEBURY the Pass/Fail option, and the pro- INTERACTIVE APPROACH - the country. MIL was formed in students across the country. - in the 60s or fail for below 60. April 2010 in partnership with The Pass/Fail option is popular Fail. more expensive MiddleBury - Associate Professor of Physics education, however, also played Currently, Middlebury is only one Noah Graham, who is also a mem- - a role in the decision to develop ber of the EAC, sees possible is- immersion method. SEE PROFESSORS, 2 From the outset, Old Chapel “The pressure on the endow- The content, which is devel- ment (to earn more) and on oped By MiddleBury professors, includes hundreds of hours of to share MiddleBury’s renowned private education requires us to video shot on-site at locations Admissions sees fewer - across four continents and a vir- students and maintain its lead- enue to support a very expensive tual world where students can - - EDI applications MIL is expected to Become suBject to independently-scored By Allison Forrest He discussed how the Admis- and allow others to claim the An estimated 640 hopeful Vice President for Finance and students have suBmitted their - to admit. SEE PARTNERSHIP, 2 early decision applications to Class of 2016, a 6.6 percent de- PANTHERS STAND WITH UC DAVIS crease from last year’s total of 685 early decision applicants. and what types of classes they’re “With the increase in applica- dip in Early Decision I (EDI) tions and selectivity, we’ve seen applicants to the return of the Early Action option at Harvard, - Princeton and UVA and to fewer - campus visits as a result of Hur- portantly, our overall academic ricane Irene’s late-summer ter- ror. overall academic performance into account, have continued to improve.” - CorBollo said the Admissions Director of Admissions and teacher recommendations and Coordinator of Multicultural Recruitment Manuel CarBollo “Sometimes the essays are is also very impressed with the funny, sometimes they’re very quality of the EDI applicants this year. courtesy: Kristina Johansson a little Better. That’s where the said. SEE ADMISSIONS, 3 LOCAL STUDENTS STAND BRETT DENNEN CRAFTSMEN MAKE UP FOR ENDOWMENT HEADLINES MCAB ART FROM WOOD TRANSPARENCY FALL CONCERT PAGE 5 PAGES 12-13 PAGE 19 inside 2NEWS | december 1, 2011 BEYOND Partnership worries faculty CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 then I have a problem with it.” age-appropriate. THE outlined by the American Council on the MIL developers maintain that the goal Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) of the program is not to replace teachers, houses which produce textbooks for [pre- to maintain quality. but rather to expand education to stu- college students] will make selections BUBBLE John Villasenor, a professor at Uni- dents who otherwise would not have ac- that will screen out certain sensitive top- BY BRONWYN OATLEY versity of California at Los Angeles and cess to classes. ics because parents of teenagers in many a nonresident Brookings Institution fel- “Our goal isn’t to displace parts of the United States low with experience in online education, any high-quality [classes],” “Suddenly would object strongly to this said Jane Swift, who has been the door has kind of modeling,” he wrote in in the online model. While the comput- Though no formal announcement has yet been opened an email. “When questions of been made, many European newspapers are ers may be good at providing vocabulary MIL since August. “Our goal sensitive content were brought predicting the imminent implementation of and grammar drills — and even faster is to expand the number of to thinking up they were openly discussed than teachers — the real challenge lies in high quality world language in terms of among the team of Middlebury economic integration, in the hopes of calm- speaking and writing. courses in the education sys- writers.” ing turbulent international markets. “There’s really no substitute for talk- tem … at a time when [school] market appeal Professor of Geography budgets are shrinking and In an attempt to avoid the arduous pro- ing to a real person with expertise in the Tamar Mayer echoed concerns cess of ratifying a new E.U. treaty, the pro- language, and having that person imme- posed plan would permit governments to diately identify and correct mistakes, sug- teachers.” potential” “The danger is that it has create bilateral agreements between individ- gest better word and phrasing choices,” Online education like MIL, the potential to change the he wrote in an email. “The key is to get she added, can be a more ef- Tamar mayer ual states, which would then be cobbled to- Professor of Geography basic character of the institu- gether to create a more comprehensive plan. interactive feedback from a real person” These new directives would permit a swift - language education to stu- change in the governance of the union, al- ing too many online students. dents across the country. “Suddenly the door has been opened to Swift was previously acting governor lowing select European authorities to more While reticent to comment on MIL thinking in terms of market appeal and of Massachussetts, and has long been an tightly control the budgetary limitations of - the possibility — if not the practicality — advocate of public school reform. She also eurozone nations. come a criterion for all our decision-mak- - helped develop John McCain’s education While many experts have praised this ing, rather than what is the right thing to cation. platform in his 2008 bid for president. plan for its potential to calm the turbulent do.” markets in Europe and around the world, “Done properly, I think online lan- guage instruction has the potential to be CONCERNS OVER THE PROFIT MOTIVE others have called for a reduction in the in- MIL AND K12 INC. effective,” he added. “Whether it will be Several members of the faculty are tegration of European economies. They ar- The College has been careful to main- done properly — and whether it is even concerned that by allowing the company gue that the E.U.’s failure to curb spending tain its independence from K12, which economically feasible to do it properly — - is not only a sign of limitations of the union’s has received some criticism in the nation- is another issue altogether.” ward pleasing consumers over providing economic model, but also serves to highlight al media in recent weeks for its students’ a well-rounded education. One language - low test results and its conservative po- tive action model of the union’s size. DISPLACING OR REMAKING PUBLIC professor at the College, who requested litical ties. K12 has donated over half a In most democratic countries, higher- SCHOOLS? anonymity as she was not authorized million dollars to Republican candidates earners are required to contribute more to Unlike other products by K12 which to speak on the topic, cited an example since 2004, The Washington Post report- the state through higher tax payments, mak- are geared toward homeschooled stu- where content was altered, potentially an ed Sunday, as school choice has long been ing up for the lower earnings of the greater dents, MIL is designed to be what educa- example of censorship. a platform of conservative advocates of portion of the population. With the super- tion experts term “blended “At one point [the French “Done properly, education reform. sized democratic model of the E.U. how- education.” In this model, language program develop- “[B]y virtue of the long list of operat- ever, there is no such required balancing. students take the major- I think online ers] were asked to … delete ing agreements that formed the new com- ity of their classes in tra- a scene of people drinking language pany,” Liebowitz told the Campus in April ditional brick-and-mortar champagne,” she said. “That schools, then take select instruction has to me is not just a detail, it 2010, “Middlebury controls the content of what the new company produces, and Since the creation of the eurozone in courses online, often facili- the potential to be has to do with culture.