EXTRA EXTRA EXTRA
WELCOME
freshmen
Volumn ^LH
Sunday, September 8, 1968
GLAD
YOU'RE HERE
Number 7
Orientation Group To Welcome
New Students With Full Days
Freshmen To See Salem,
To Qraduate In 200th Year
. . . and now you are a Freshman.
You are a stander-in-line; a signer
of last name, first name, middle
initial; a wearer of a name tag; a
receiver of chair, desk, bed, and
dream; a member of the class of
1972—a Freshman.
Being a freshman is a little
frightening; being a freshman is
lots of fun . . . best of all, it is
exciting, it is unique—it is begin
ning.
College is hard work, homework,
slow work, no work. It is lis
tening, talking, thinking, walking,
seeing, being . . . This is college,
this and more—college, perhaps is
many doors.
To be sure, the doors around
Salem are all standing wide open
while new faces stream in and out
them. These doors signify the wide
and open welcome to Salem which
swings backwards and forwards,
upwards and downwards—even
“sidewards!”
Through all the years—yes, even
through all the two hundred and
sixteen years from 1772 until 1968—
the welcome could never have been
more sincere than it is today.
Forty-seven orienters are on hand
to introduce you to our way of
life at Salem. What is life around
the Square ? It would take about
nine months to even begin to give
you a fair estimation, and that
would only be scratching the sur
face. From now through Founder’s
Day, through the day when the
leaves drop off the ginkgo tree
in God’s Acre, through Senior
Follies, through the Christmas Tea
and tree lighting, through Russell’s
kitchen party, through IRS week
end, through May Day, through
Parent’s Day and through your
final exams next May, . you will
discover just what makes Salem
unique. You are now a part of
Salem—a part of the sisterhood
right here.
It’s a red-letter year! Hopes for
a happy and beneficial year, not
only academically but also socially
have never been higher. Plans
are brewing all over the campus.
Clubs and organizations are reach
ing out for you. Thus, the year’s
success will depend in a large mea
sure upon you and your interest.
You are the ones who can make
the dreams of the campus leaders
come true. Surely, the ivy will con
tinue to climb and the bells will
chime off, on, and around the hour,
but Salem needs more than ivy,
bricks, and bells—Salem needs all
150—-more of you to become a
vigorous part of her spirit.
We, who are a part of the Salem
Spirit now, welcome you to our way
of life and raise cheers and toasts
to you. College, perhaps, is many
doors, and you are standing at these
portals which open up new avenues
on a new adventure. It is exciting;
it is unique; it is beginning.
Sara Hunt
Chairman, Orientation
0rades Hard To Change
|To the Class of 1972,
As the official spokseman for
I the Orientation Committee, I, the
[pied Piper of Salem Square, want
I to be among the first of many to
[welcome you to Salem. All the up-
Iper classmen and I hope that you
I will love Salem as much as we do.
You, the Class of 1972, mark the .two
I hundredth birthday of Salem Col-
I lege. Thru her two hundreds years
J Salem has established many
[ traditions which you will become
I very familiar with during your first
[year at Salem. My first duty as
[your Pied Piper of Salem Square
twill be to tell you about the won-
I derful Salem traditions; so come
I follow me I
Salem’s first tradition is the as
sembly marking the formal opening
I of the academic year. At this as
sembly, you will see the other three
j classes and the entire factulty; it
I is all quite impressive.
Salem’s second tradition is a ser
vice for the entire student body at
I the Home Moravian Church on the
I first Sunday of the school year. This
I will give you a chance to meet Dr.
: Hughes who is pastor of the Home
Church and an opportunity to learn
a little more about the Moravian
faith.
On a warm afternoon in early
October, all classes are suspended,
and everone rushes down to the
hockey field to celebrate as wildly
and as loudly as possible the found
ing of Salem. This is Founders’
Day! The celebration ends with the
announcement of the class that has
won the most points during the
day. Each class is judged for its
spirit, its skit, and the number of
events won in the afternoon com
petition. In a blaze of glory, the
winning class dashes out to the
Tavern or the Trophy Room to cel
ebrate its victory.
And suddenly it’s Christmas!
Around Salem Square, this is the
happiest and most beautiful time of
the year. The Christmas Banquet,
Christmas Candle Vespers, Christ
mas Putz in Old Salem, Senior
Christmas Carolling and the Ys
Orphanage Christmas Party are
completely guaranteed to keep you
in the Christmas spirit all through
the holiday. I promise to do my
part by blowing my magic horn
and decorating the Square with at
least three inches of pure white
snow!
Exams are a little less traumatic
with Dean Johnson’s Coffee and
Russell’s Kitchen Party. After ex
ams, you can look forward to Ivy
and Tree Planting by the seniors,
the Birthday Dinner for all stu
dents, and of course May Day with
the pageant and crowning of the
May Queen. While the juniors are
burning their hats in preparation
to inherit the caps and gowns of
the seniors, the seniors are busy
attending dinners and teas and pre
paring to graduate. The seniors
also sit together at meals during
the last three weeks of school.
And suddenly it’s summer, and
you are all sophomores and eagerly
await the chance to “look down on’’
a new freshmen, and as your Pied
Piper let me not only guide you
through the traditions of Salem but
also through every phase of life at
Salem.
Welcome again to the class of ’72.
Sincerely,
The Pied Piper of Salem Square
Ann Arbor, Mich. — (IP-) — H
you’re an “A” student, you find it
hard to change your study habits
to earn only a “C” grade — even
when that’s all that is necessary
and all you want to achieve.
This seems to be the result of
an experimental “pass-fail” option
adopted by the University of Mich
igan College of Literature, Science,
and the Arts.
Beginning last winter, seniors
were permitted to take one course
outside their major field of study
on a pass-fail basis, with the cre
dits to count toward graduation
but not toward their final grade-
point average. This year the fac
ulty has extended the privilege to
junior students as well. In general,
students have welcomed the inno
vation as giving them a chance for
academic exploration.
But compilation of grades achi
eved by 178 of the 203 students
who took advantage of the option
in its first year indicates that the
“good students” did their usual
level of work in the pass-fail
course. The pass-fail students were
in the same classes as students
taking the course under the tra
ditional grading and credit system.
The instructor gave all students
the traditional letter grades, but
for those enrolled on a pass-fail
basis, the registrar recorded only
“pass” for those making C or bet
ter, and “fail” for those getting D’s
or E’s.
Of the 178 students, 98.5 per cent
passed their courses. If grades had
been given, 19.5 per cent would
have received A’s, 58 per cent B’s,
21 per cent C’s, 1 per cent D’s, and
.5 per cent E’s.
The level of performance of the
pass-fail students in the courses
was similar to their general grade
point average for all work taken
in the University. In other words,
A students continued to make A’s.
Charles Pascal, a research asso
ciate who conducted the study for
the Center for Research and Learn
ing and Teaching, comments; “We
were surprised that students were
not more adept at playing this new
academic game.”
He said that even though the
students sought only to achieve a
C, or passing level, their previous
3'ears of “academic conditioning”
made it difficult if not impossible
to do so. The students themselves
were surprised, he says. One pass-
fail student expressed it this way;
“I’m trying hard not to work and
I still made a B-plus on the mid
term exam. I find myself trying to
do the minimum amount of work
tCK get a C. Otherwise I am frust
rated that I am wasting time in
the (pass-fail) course that I could
be spending on the other courses
in which grades are recorded).”
Pascal recommends pass-fail sec
tions in which all students are en
rolled on the pass-fail system. He
cites the example of “two lonely
mathematics majors” who enrolled
in a course in the history of art
on a pass-fail basis.
Since at least a third of the stu
dents in the class were “majors”
in history of art, the math students
not only were out of their depth,
but felt compelled to respond to
the competitive pressure for grade
achievement, he points out.