Gov. Exam Thrown Out After Information Leak

The Government Department has invalidated the results of the midterm examination in Gov la because the content of an essay question was reportedly leaked to students by a section man. The question comprised 80 per cent of the exam.

The section man indiscriminately told his students to concentrate their study on the relationship of majority and minority powers in government. According to one student he used the key words "majority" and "minority".

An exam question was to discuss the "delicate balancing of the often conflicting claims of majority and minority... (which) takes place within the parties, in the Presidency, the Congress and the Courts."

Department officials became aware of the leak after the exam last Thursday at noon. Several students indicated at the end of their test booklets that the exam was "unfair" because the essay had been common knowledge to other students. In subsequent discussions section men discovered that there had been an unusual amount of questions directly pertaining to the essay in classes on Wednesday and Thursday. Knowledge of the original leak had apparently spread to students in other sections.

In the face of "sufficiently convincing" evidence of the leak's existence, the department decided that the only just solution would be to disregard completely grades achieved on the exam. Although marks will not count, the tests will be graded and critically discussed in section, Joheph Cooper, assistant professor of Government and head section man in the course, said yesterday.

According to Cooper and the course's head, Robert G. McCloskey, professor of Government, the department still did not know the exact source of the leak, but was not planning an investigation. "An investigation," said McCloskey, "would involve the type of detective work that doesn't belong in an academic setting".

The invalidation of the exam results will not mean a re-examination. Course marks will depend upon results of the final examination, quizzes, and an optional term paper.