TAKE YOUR CHOICE

Professor Lake's experiment in allowing his students in English 35a to choose between two systems of grading is a step towards the millenium when the necessary evil of marking will be entirely done away with. At best marks are a mechanical method of recording knowledge, and at worst they are a false goal which hides the real purpose of education from careless eyes. For many undergraduates work for a C rather than for the opportunities which a course offers. Even among the men of highest distinction the mark seeker is in evidence.

But like all milleniums a system of education without grades is a thing to be approached and never attained. Ideals and ambitions differ; and certainly the follower of learning for learning's sake who hobbles along with four B's and a C, is in no position to criticise the scholar who finds satisfaction in being in Group I for the mere pleasure of leading. The trouble is that these two individuals with their differing points of view are subjected to the same mechanical system and to adapt themselves to this system they must abandon their individualism.

By a unique method which promises to become more than an experiment, Professor Lake has devised a system which in a measure is adaptable to the individual. For the student who wishes to read and to acquire a broader knowledge, he has promised to make the final examination mark the course mark. For the student who revels in exactitudes and dreams of A's and for the student who enters extra curriculum activities and hopes for C's, Professor Lake has promised to include all quizz marks and the hour examination grade in the final reckoning. The choice lies entirely with the individual, but the decision must, of course, be made at the beginning of the year. It will be interesting to see just how many take the opportunity of broadening their general knowledge--or, perhaps, of postponing their labors until after Christmas--and how many will hesitate on the brink just a bit too long.