Bluebook Battle

Too often, a student has found it impossible to gain physical possession of one of his old exams. Formerly, he was told that there was a rule against giving back the bluebooks. Now that College officials have made it clear that there is no such ruling, he is often informed that the exam has been thrown out.

There are obvious reasons for giving exams back to their authors. Marks are often based entirely on a final exam. In order to improve, a student must know what he did wrong. A good exam also provides a summary of a course which is useful in studying for generals. Finally, a student is entitled to scholarly curiosity in learning which of his ideas about a course were right and which were wrong. There is no excuse for him to hear what one professor said this week: "Sorry, I keep the exams all summer and threw them out last week."

Since many instructors do throw away exams before students have had a chance to ask for them, either department heads or University Hall should require that all final exams he held for two months after the beginning of the next semester. Bluebooks can mean much more than a grade, if students get to see them.