Page A2
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
The Pilot
News
Grading-scale change has plusses, minuses
By Lauren Taylor
Pilot staff writer
Students and faculty alike may face
new challenges if the faculty approves
a proposed grading-scale change to the
chromatic system now in use. Under
the new system, GPAs would become
more specific, breaking down each let
ter grade with a plus/minus system.
This would take more work for fac
ulty as a spreadsheet of five categories
turned into 13, potentially slowing down
the grading process.
Of the 35 private North Carolina
schools, 19 are on the chromatic scale
including Duke, Elon, and Wake Forest
Universities.
The new system could prove more
rewarding for some students. For ex
ample, a high B would be reflected as
a 3.3 instead of a flat 3.0. Conversely, a
B- would be a 2.7.
On the other hand, a student with
straight A’s has no room to expand
beyond a 4.0. The introduction of the
A-, or a 3.7, could be a GPA-dropper,
which is a concern to at least one GWU
senior.
Despite that issue, he said, the more
specific a GPA can get, the more accu
rately the student’s work is portrayed,
which is always a positive.
“The scale could afford to get even
more specific, right down to a 3.1 or
3.9,” says Sabrina, a graduate student,
“It shows what you did in the class.”
The Educational Policies and Stan
dards Committee, headed by Dr. Ta
mara Cox, proposed the grading system
change at the Jan. 22 faculty meeting.
The consensus among various de
partments is that, with the new scale,
the GPA distribution would be more
honest, rewarding students at the higher
end of the scale. Despite the added work
of calculation, most faculty members
believe it’s worth it to reward students’
efforts.
The faculty will vote on the proposal
at its meeting later this month.
Here are the breakdowns of the
proposed new grading scales:
Undergraduate scale: Graduate Scale:
A
4.0
A
4.0
A-
3.7'
A-
3.7
B-i-
3.3
B-t-
3.3
B
3.0
B
3.0
B-
2.7
B-
2.7
C-^
2.3
C-i-
2.3
c
2.0
c
2.0
c-
1.7
F
0.0
D-i-
L3
D
1.0
D-
0.7
F
0.0
Professor plays free concert with unusual instrument
Collins and dulcimer at Blanton Auditorium Thursday
By Rebecca Clark
Pilot editor
Years ago. Dr Joe Col
lins picked up a dulcimer and
he hasn’t been able to put it
down since.
Collins is a professor of
religion by day, but passion
ately pursues his music the
rest of the time.
The Gardner-Webb and
Boiling Springs communi
ties will benefit from that
time tomorrow at 8 p.m. in
Blanton Auditorium, when
the award-winning Collins
performs in concert.
Mike McGee, a friend of
Collins, will accompany him
on the guitar.
“It’s going to be a fun
concert,” Collins said. “We’ll
be doing some funny stuff.”
They intend to play folk
music, traditional as well as
popular, and original songs.
“It will be a good mixture
of different kinds of music,”
he said.
In his four years at Gard-
ner-Webb University, this
is the first time he has been
asked to perform here.
“I won the national title
last September, so I guess
that was enough to make me
a distinguished artist,” he
said with a laugh, comment
ing on his part in the Dis
tinguished Artist series pre
sented by GWU’s Fine Arts
department.
In September 2007, Col
lins won first place in a na
tional competition held in
Kansas.
Not only does Collins
play the four-stringed instru
ment, but he creates them as
well.
“I’ve been building them
since 1986,” he said. “I do it
for therapy more than any
thing else.”
He also attends work
shops and festivals.
“Along the way I’ve re
ceived a lot of help learning
to play,” he said.
Animal ads are the real Super Bowl winners for 2008
By Patrice Blackmon
Pilot staff writer
Some people watched the
Super Bowl Sunday not for
the battle between the New
York Giants and the New
England Patriots, but for
something much more en
grossing: the commercials.
Advertisers pay tremen
dous sums for TV airtime
during this ultimate football
contest, so they try to come
up with commercials that
stand out in the viewers’
minds.
The Giants were victori
ous, and an unscientific poll
of Gardner-Webb Univer
sity students revealed which
ads were most popular with
them.
Rachel McNelis, a se
nior psychology major, is
one of those who doesn’t
watch the Super Bowl for
the football.
“I loved the commercials
but hate football,” she said.
“I really 'enjoyed the sign
language commercial called
Bob’s house.
“I like it because it used
sign language. Most com
mercials are not geared to
ward deaf people.”
Jessica Leigh Dillian isn’t
a football fan, either.
“The only reason I watch
the Super Bowl is for the
halftime shows and commer
cials,” the freshman elemen
tary education major said.
“The Doritos commercial
was fijn to watch because the
mouse beat up the man for
the whole bag of Doritos.
“Some commercials were
funny and some were lame.
The Budweiser commercial
was fimny.”
It seems that ads featuring
animals were quite popular.
“I like the commer
cial where all these little
animals were coming at the
people and everyone in the
car was screaming,” said
Robin Tench, also a fresh
man elementary education
major. “But the women were
screaming also, until the
animals rode past, and every
body stopped screaming.”
Tench’s enjoyment of an
imal ads didn’t stop there.
“Then there was the
squirrel that ate the acom,”
she said. “I really enjoyed
this commercial because it
was fun to watch.”
Lizards caught Devondia
Holms’ attention. The sopho
more ASL major couldn’t de
cide which commercial was
her favorite, though.
“It is between the Pepsie
and Sobe commercial, where
the lizards were dancing
like Michael Jackson to the
‘Thriller’ song.”
A survey of Pilot staff
ers revealed one vote for
the squirrel commercial,
and two for the ad in which
Richard Simmons was al
most run over.
One Year Later:
Students, staff happy
with cafe renovations
By: Kory McNair
Pilot staff writer
It’s been a little over a
year since the cafeteria in the
Dover Campus Center was
renovated during Christmas
break.
Some of the changes
included a new salad bar,
names for food stations such
as Max Pizza, smaller chairs
and tables, and flat-screen
TVs both upstairs and down
stairs.
These renovations were
followed by the birth of The
Kennel, which replaced the
meal exchange in the down
stairs level of the DCC. The
Kennel opened up during the
fall of 2007.
According to Associate
Vice President for Opera
tions Wayne Johnson, who
was in charge of the renova
tions, the feedback has been
positive so far
Looking back on the ren
ovations, Johnson remains
satisfied with the job done by
members of the GWU staff.
He was quick to add,
however, that they are con
stantly looking for ways to
improvement the cafeteria.
“We’re trying to get tile
7 love it.
I definitely think
it was necessary. ’
Cole Harden
floors in,” said Johnson.
“We’re just trying to find a
time to do it.”
Student reaction remains
positive, overall, a year after
the changes.
Cole Harden, a junior,
said that he welcomed the
renovations.
“I love it. I definitely
think it was necessary,” said
Harden.
Tristan Divine, a sopho
more, said that he also had a
positive reaction.
“Overall good food vari
ety, but I think the flat-screen
TVs are a little excessive,”
said Divine. “I think the lay
out is nice, though.”
He added that he feels
there are more healthy food
choices at The fennel than
in the cafe .
Any suggestions would
be welcomed by Johnson.
You can contact him via e-
mail at: wjohnson@gardner-
webb.edu.
, J
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