Soc Sci 4 to Exempt Top Students From Requirement of Final Exams

Soc Sci 4 will become the first lower level general education course to exempt certain students from final examinations, administration sources revealed yesterday. Students on the Dean's list or with B or better in the course will have the option of writing a long paper.

It is expected that the Committee on Educational Policy will give final approval to the plan in time for it to take effect this year. The proposed topic is a critique of Camus' Rebel, utilizing all the material covered in the course.

The paper is designed to enable good students to learn more than they would from cramming for an examination, Clyde K. Kluckhohn, professor of Anthropology and head of the course, explained. He emphasized that the paper would definitely be an option--no one would be forced to take it.

"I would rather students wrote the paper," Kluckhohn said. "It would be a more demanding tasks, and would be judged by extremely high standards." He added that he has discussed the idea with all the section men in the course and received their enthusiastic approval.

Titled Ideal Man and Natural Man in Western Thought, Soc Sci 4 covers Greek culture, Japanese culture, doctrine of St. Augustine, and 20th century psychology and anthropology. Rebel was chosen as a topic, Kluckhom noted, because in the book Camus deals with many of the problems raised in the course.

Students must decide well in advance whether they will accept the option, Kluckhohn remarked. The time tentatively set for this decision is after return from spring vacation, and papers would be due upon the date of the final examination. Every If the plan is approved, Kluckhohn said the mid-year, exams will be given next year, as he feels students should have some experience with examinations.