Texas Tech University - La Ventana Yearbook (Lubbock, TX)

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Up go the lights Putting up the thousands of lights for the Carol of Lights ceremony began in October. Ablaze Holden Ha ll was lit up for the annual Carol of Lights sponsored by Residence Halls Association. Don Hamblin •% . , - • . •• « .. ' X ' ' . ' ' •■ ' ' • ' ig} W ' Wf ■• fclllppwr ' niftp W ■ .■ ' . - ' ,..,- . -

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I guess it (the Basic English Essentials Test) is a good test but three people in my class with good grades failed the whole course because of the BEET. It doesn ' t really seem fair. — Kent Williams, Tech freshman Back to the basics Since the fall of 1980, freshman English students at Tech have had to contend not only with essays, outlines and theme papers but also with a diagnostic test covering English essentials. The Basic English Essen- tials Test (BEET) has not been well received by students, but is not in itself a difficult test, Jeff Smitten, head of the freshman and sophomore English division, said. The test is designed only on a ninth grade level, Smit- ten said. All we ' re testing are things students should have learned before graduating from high school. Students in freshman English courses are required to pass the BEET to receive a passing grade, and this re- quirement has been a major source of controversy among Tech freshmen. Generally, we have found that a poor performance on the test is accompanied by a poor grade in the class, Smitten said. Still, there are exceptions, and we ' re trying to find some way to eliminate some of the problems we ' ve Beat the BEET Viewed by teachers as a step towards better educated students, the BEET was a source of frustration to students. had in that area. It ' s a prob- lem we ' d like to resolve. Tech initiated use of the BEET in the fall of 1980 as a response to a number of fac- tors that indicated a general deficiency among Tech students in basic English skills. Smitten said. The problem that we are forced to face is that students are unprepared for college work after graduating from high school, Smitten said. The problem is not just here at Tech, but nationwide. A test similar to the BEET has been made a requirement at several other universities. Smitten said, including Southern Methodist Universi- ty, where 60 percent of the freshman class failed the test the first time it was offered. English department statistics indicate approx- imately half of the freshmen who took the test in the fall semester of 1981 failed it the first time they took it. Our main intention with the BEET is to call students ' attention to the mechanics of English usage, Smitten said. We ' re not trying to weed students out. We ' re trying to make students aware of any shortcomings they may have, and to get them to direct their efforts to those specific prob- lem areas. The BEET is part of a growing conservative ap- proach to education in both high schools and colleges. Smitten said. High schools in the 1970s especially had moved toward an emphasis on elective-type courses while letting fundamental skills slide, he added. Now the pendulum is starting to swing back in the other direction, he said. The BEET covers only mechanical, grammatical and spelling errors and is a com- plement to the developmen- tal and conceptual material offered in the classroom. Smitten said. Doing well on the BEET is really a matter of memorizing how things are done. It isn ' t concerned at all with concep- tual matters, Smitten said. Freshman Mary Ann Selcer, who passed the BEET on her first attempt, said, I thought it was fairly easy. It was the basic things, but if you don ' t study and look at what you ' re supposed to, you could really miss a lot. Freshman DeLana Westmoreland agreed, say- ing, It ' s really easy, but the teachers make you think it ' s hard. The spelling is what made me fail. — Jeff Tin- nell. Kellie Bradshaw W e are told by corporate recruiters and business ntanagers — the employers of business school graduates — that one of the most serious deficien- cies in college graduates today is their inability to express themselves effectively — orally and in writing. — Dean Carl H. Stem, College of Business Administration