Some Changes at Temple University

by Gerry Wilkinson

As most of you know, my 19 year-old daughter, Maya, is an undergraduate student at Temple. I was graduated in 1969 with a Bachelors in R-T-F and my mother received her Bachelors in accounting two years earlier from Temple. (That's why I have access to the 1967 yearbook.) But there have been many changes at the univeristy since we were undergraduates.

One major change is in the grading. I remember when I was at Temple, our grades were one of five choices....A...B...C...D...F. Those were the choices. In my last year, upper classmen (I guess that now they would be called "upper classpeople") could select one subject for a simple PASS or FAIL grade. That subject did not become part of your cume GPA. But things are different now. Your grade can be A...A-...B+...B...B-...you get the idea. A is the highest grade. There is no A+.

Remember how slow the official transcripts took to be delivered by mail. The instructors would have you give them a postcard (with postage affixed). They would then drop it in the mail and you would know about two weeks ahead of the transcript how you did. Well, it's sort of like that now, except you can't give them a postcard. It must be a 3x5 card in a SASE. No postcards accepted. When we went there, no envelopes were accepted.

Class sign up is via the telephone with pin numbers and computer messages. Not like the old days of standing in line at Mitten Hall. The bookstore, now run by Barnes & Noble, is still the same. Long lines, but now they let the kids pay with their PARENTS credit card. (Watch Out!!)

Temple University has the third largest police department in the state of Pennsylvania. Things are pretty good on the actual campus, but run once you leave.

To use Paley Library, you must take and pass a library test that is hours long. My daughter has an IQ of 137 and for her three semesters at Temple (including the one just ended) has a GPA of 3.72. She is in the Honors program and has made the Dean's List every semester. However, she hasn't been able to pass the test. They won't even let her in the library door. There's now a "black market" at the university with people taking the library test for others for money. It shouldn't be that way.

To enter any university building, you must show your student ID. In my four years at TU, I don't remember anyone ever asking to see my ID. One time my daughter forgot her card, and I had to drive to Temple so she could attend her next class. However, back doors are usually left unlocked and unguarded so you (and anyone else) can gain access to the building.

There are more differences, but that's all my daughter and I can think of right now. I'll post additional information as we think of it.

This is the WRTI Web Site!