Faculty Slates Senior Exams In Languages

Last-term Seniors who have not met their language requirement were advised yesterday by William Berrien, Chairman of the Department of Romance Languages and Literature, that his department would offer them a special Placement Test "as a convenience" on April 8.

Berrien's action was taken to alleviate "considerable unnecessary worry on the part of numerious undergraduates" who became alarmed when the Faculty voted, last week, to eliminate--effective immediately--the old two hour reading knowledge tests in French, German and Spanish.

By taking the Placement Test, last-term Seniors may now pass off their language requirement before the end of the year, he said.

Berrien also gave assurance that there was no tightening of the requirements contemplated by the modern language departments as a result of the Faculty ruling. He cited extreme administrative difficulties and insufficient objectivity as the main reasons for the dropping of the reading knowledge tests.

"The vote of the Faculty, rather than tightening the language requirement, has enabled students to have more frequent and considerably fairer opportunities to meet the requirement," Berrien stated. Placement Tests will be given twice each term--at the beginning and at the end--whereas the old tests were only offered once.