Spectrum, 1957-02-08

              the spectrum complete ampus overage number 13 university of buffalo friday feb 8 1957 volume 7 students aroused over ph ysics test half fail on final exam dr phillips says ub standards high the usual rehash of grades fol lowing the mid-year finals is taking on an angry tone when physics grades are discussed in norton bull-sessions the consensus has been that too many students are failing examinations that are too difficult charges have been made that the required physics course has been used as a cut-off for professional schools to weed-out candidates drastically courses in physics are required subjects for pharmacy dental medical physical therapy and engineering schools the spectrum was unable to ob tain exact figures on course fail ures for the past two years but estimates by faculty members said a 50 failure of each class was about average a special committee to investi gate academic affairs was appoint ed by the board of managers tues day evening with specific direction to report on the high rate of fail ures in physics the committee will direct the board's attention to oth er student academic problems it was pointed out to the board by dean deeringer that the idea of some expression over academic problems instructors and curricu lum w;is brought up two years ago by a group headed by vice chan cellor ileindel the feeling then was that students should take a more active part in the evaluation of courses in an interview with dr lyle phillips chairman of the physics department the student criticisms were discussed he said the per centage of failures in this year's class was very close to the per centages of last year this class being slightly higher we don't flunk anybody he added the minimum standards are set for attaining a passing grade by the department the standards in the ub physics department are higher than those in comparable colleges according to dr phillips but he maintained there was no discrimination be tween pre-professional students and physics majors our job is to turn out students with a knowl edge of physics and that is what we aim to do he concluded by saying if stu dents would spend one fifth as much time studying physics as try ing to get a passing grade without learning it their problems would be solved physics students meanwhile re port that instructors have an nounced that criticism of courses should be taken up with the physics department not other branches of the university some students it is understood have complained to guidance coun selors new student government of 3 branches proposed judiciary court suggested the first section of a proposal for a three branch student govern ment was presented to the board of managers tuesday evening by sal corrallo chairman of the con stitution committee the constitu tion said mr corrallo has been three years in the making it is not a revision of the present board but an entirely new form of gov ernment the student senate would be the supreme power deriving its author ity from representation of the stu dent body thirty-four members from the various schools division and non-division and including two faculty members would be elected by the students all organi zations would be subordinate to this governing senate a union board of control some what like the present board of managers would control norton union activities or various social affairs concerning the university checks on both of these branches would be the judiciary court who could interpret the constitution like our supreme court cases of student action would also be tried meetings will be held every week for the next month for board mem bers so that discussion may be held on each of the sections if the final constitution is ratified by the board it will be presented to the student body for their acceptance in the march elections diagram of proposed new student senate copland coming to ub music dept dr aaron copland noted ameri can composer will come to the i'niversity next september as slee professor of music in 1945 dr copland was award ed the pulitzer prize and the new vork music critics award for the ballet score appalachian spring he received the motion picture academy award for the best dra matic film score the heiress besides lecturing for the past ten sears at the new school for social research he has written several books two of these are very well known what to listen for in music and our new music pan-hell plans rush tea feb 17 the senior pan-hellenic coun cil of ub will hold its second se mester rush tea and convocation on sunday feb 17 1957 from 1:30-8 pm in norton union all p'rls interested in sorority life are invited to attend informal rush parties will be held by the indi vidual sororities during the week following the tea 2 parking fee may provide funds for ramp a two dollar fee will be charged for campus parking if a recom mendation submitted by the board of managers to provide funds for a two-deck parking ramp on cam pus is approved by the university board of governors approving suggestions by the general grounds committee the students requested that the uni versity 1 — charge a fee of two dollars to all day students at the rate of one dollar per semester 2 — assess night school students 10 cents per evening for parking 3 — charge a nominal fee for parking on university lots during athletic events 4 — reserve these funds for con struction of two-deck parking ramp type and location of which are to be determined by appropriate authorities it was also recommended that the fee be charged upon receipt of parking stickers skating rink planned for winter carnival crystal ball saturday winter around the world is the theme of the annual winter carnival sponsored by the sitzmar kers the snow sculpturing con test will open the weekend of fun and frolic at 3:30 on thursday the judges will be faculty members and the entries will be judged on the basis of originality artisticness humor and construction after the snow sculpturing has been judged there will be a pre liminary judging of the queen candidates in norton union one of these girls will then be crowned as queen of winter carnival at the crystal ball on saturday evening each organization is allowed to sponsor a candidate activities on friday will begin at 12:00 in norton auditorium with the showing of sk movies after this there will be a ski clothes fash ion show the latest styles in ski clothes will be supplied by dick fischer and modeled by the mem bers of the sitzmarkers at 1 o clock the entries in the beard growing contest will be judged trophies will be awarded for the longest beard and the most original the annual outdoor eventß will begin at 3 o'clock on friday after noon these will include a three legged race a hare and hound race and an obstacle race the trophies to be awarded as prizes will be on display next week ln the book store in norton union if the weather permits a skat ing rink will be erected behind capen hall this would enable the students to enjoy skating dur ing the three evenings and after noons of winter carnival week end a flying saucer ride on the slopes in front of norton union has also been tentatively planned the highlight of winter carnival will be the crystal ball on satur day evening it will take place at the troop i post at 432 franklin street at 9:30 the dance is semi formal tickets will be sold at the sitzmarkers booth in norton un ion this coming week the chairman of winter carni val is skip aldrich the co-chair man is dave anderson annette logan is dance chraiman reading classes improvement of reading classes will begin feb 2(ith and 27th students interested can sign up at the office of the dean of students 19 hayes hall welcome home dr furnas all are invited to reception after too long an absence serving as assistant secretary for research and development chancellor clifford c furnas will be returning to our campus to resume his position per manently the hoard of managers will hold an open reception feb 20 from 3:30-5 pm in the millard fillmore lounge in honor of the chancellor's return it will be open to every student and faculty member and it is hoped that as many as possible will attend