Students at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles suddenly got smarter. The law school has increased the grade point averages — retroactively — across the board to make graduates more attractive in a tough job market. Loyola is not alone in such grade revisionism.
Loyola students will receive an added 0.333 to every grade recorded in the last few years. According to the article below, at least 10 law schools are also engaging in such grade revisionism, including New York University, Georgetown, Golden Gate University, and Tulane University.
Stuart Rojstaczer, a former geophysics professor at Duke who now studies grade inflation, explained “[i]f somebody’s paying $150,000 for a law school degree, you don’t want to call them a loser at the end. So you artificially call every student a success.”
The problem is that these transparent marketing efforts undermine the credibility of all grades — robbing them of any determinant meaning. Ironically, it is analogous to the current view of the law in general, as noted in last week’s column.
Source: here.
Cultures differ! Sending an old mother away from home to a nursing ‘home’ at her age. In some cultures you give birth to have your child as ‘insurance’ against old age; to take care of you when all energy is gone. And it does happen that in these latter cultures, not the nursing home cultures, parents really get the attention of their children at old age and some times, if not most of the times, die in the hands of a child or other family member at home. Cultures differ indeed!! Interesting. Is n’t it?
About grading and ranking; we need to be realistic. It does not really and aways mean that individuals with the best grades or on top of the rank are necessarily the best practical job performers. Others are at the bottom there but better ready to deal with practical issues of life. We need be realistic and to give each individual the opportunity to prove their worth.
Cultures differ! Sending an old mother away from home to a nursing ‘home’ at her age. In some cultures you give birth to have your child as ‘insurance’ against old age; to take care of you when all energy is gone. And it does happen that in these latter cultures, not the nursing home cultures, parents really get the attention of their children at old age and some times, if not most of the times, die in the hands of a child or other family member at home. Cultures differ indeed!! Interesting. Is n’t it?
About grading and ranking; we need to be realistic. It does not really and aways mean that individuals with the best grades or on top of the rank are necessarily the best practical job performancers. Others are at the bottom there but better ready to deal with practical issues of life. We need be realistic and to give each individual the opportunity to prove their worth.
Elaine M.,
There was a time that I hoped that when I walked I did not fall on my face too…..
Jay S.
You might get a bump up for the right amount. I hear PhD stands for “pretty hefty donation.”
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Professor Turley,
I’ll probably post about the wedding on one of my blogs–and I’ll post pictures…if I look good in them!
I bought me some HIGH heels–which I never wear–for the wedding. I’m just hoping I’ll be able to walk down the aisle without falling on my face.
To get back to the original subject, I wonder if my alma mater would consider retroactively bumping my MS up to a PhD? Perhaps for a donation to the alumni fund …..
Buddha,
I don’t know if you read the “About” page at the restaurant’s Web site. Here’s the first sentence: “George Harrington established the original Lyceum Bar & Grill in 1989 in an historic former lecture hall made famous by the likes of Thoreau, Hawthorne, Emerson, and Alexander Graham Bell.”
More about the Lyceum:
The most significant event to take place in the Lyceum Hall was Alexander Graham Bell’s first public demonstration of the telephone on February 12, 1877.
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Swarthmore mom–
The wedding won’t be as small as we would have liked. The number of invitees adds up really fast. And we only invited closest friends and relatives. Still, we’re excited about celebrating my daughter’s wedding day with people who are near and dear to us, to our daughter, and to the groom.
Of course, Elaine M, the regulars on the blog will expect our invitations to at least the virtual wedding (I plan to give the couple a virtual toaster). Congrats!
Congratulations on the wedding Elaine. The restaurant in Salem looks wonderful. I have been to Salem but don’t remember where we ate. I hope my daughter has a small nice wedding if and when she marries. Neither my son or daughter are anywhere close to marrying.