A Cosmetic Change

GIVEN THE INEVITABILITY of an administrative response to the 300 per cent increase in sick outs over the last five years, the plan to place an asterisk after a grade received for a make-up exam is a reasonably good one.

The asterisk is not a punishment, but merely a record of a final taken under unusual circumstances. It will not hurt students who get only a few during their college careers, but it may serve to discourage students who routinely abuse the system in search of better grades.

Compared with the other proposals given serious consideration by administrators--quarantining students until they recovered enough to take the exam, scheduling make-ups over spring vacation, or requiring some physical proof of illness such as a high fever before granting a medical excuse--the asterisk proposal seems especially levelheaded.

However, ideas that administrators did not consider seriously may be the real solution. Changing the grading policies of the College so that final exams were less important would remove a lot of the pressure that cause sickouts. Suggestions for change that could be easily implememted as new core courses are developed include self-paced exams and more flexibility in grading.

AS A COSMETIC CHANGE, the asterisk is marginally worthwhile, and certainly better than the other changes proposed. Administrators and faculty should continue to think about the sickout problem though and the larger questions it poses about a Harvard education.