2008 Woodie Awards
Students argue extra credit during debate
Jason Morrow
Issue date: 4/4/08 Section: News
Jason Morrow
Staff writer
There was plenty of heat to go around from the Murray State Speech and Debate Union at the annual Provost Premiere March 27.
The government was represented by White College's Michael McLaurine, senior from Louisville, Ky., and Clark College's Traci Rose, sophomore from Murray, Ky. The opposition was represented by Regents College's April Payne, senior from Franklin, Tenn., and Hester College's Megan Parks, senior from Symsonia, Ky.
The topic for the debate was whether professors should be allowed to give extra credit to students freely. The government argued against professors being allowed to give students free points for going to an event.
The government argued free credit opportunities held no educational value.
"Extra credit, or these free-point opportunities, reward individuals for doing no work," McLaurine said. "You're not advancing your education. College is preparation for life, the real world. There is no extra credit in real life or even in graduate school."
McLaurine was quickly interrupted by Parks, of the opposition, with a question.
"You say there is no extra credit in the real world," Parks said. "How would you classify perhaps asking for a promotion or a bonus?"
McLaurine quickly dismissed the question as having nothing to do with extra credit but for being rewarded for work done well.
The government proposed students must do some sort of essay more than 500 words if they are to receive extra credit points.
"I know that may seem long, but 500 - 700 words is about a page or a page and a half," McLauren said. "You can crank that out in 10 minutes tops. It makes people work for their grade."
The opposition fired back.
"You could go to google.com and copy and paste an article about something and turn it in," Payne said.
The government asked if Payne implied most students of Murray State would actually cheat on their assignments and even asked if Payne was speaking from her own experiences.
Staff writer
There was plenty of heat to go around from the Murray State Speech and Debate Union at the annual Provost Premiere March 27.
The government was represented by White College's Michael McLaurine, senior from Louisville, Ky., and Clark College's Traci Rose, sophomore from Murray, Ky. The opposition was represented by Regents College's April Payne, senior from Franklin, Tenn., and Hester College's Megan Parks, senior from Symsonia, Ky.
The topic for the debate was whether professors should be allowed to give extra credit to students freely. The government argued against professors being allowed to give students free points for going to an event.
The government argued free credit opportunities held no educational value.
"Extra credit, or these free-point opportunities, reward individuals for doing no work," McLaurine said. "You're not advancing your education. College is preparation for life, the real world. There is no extra credit in real life or even in graduate school."
McLaurine was quickly interrupted by Parks, of the opposition, with a question.
"You say there is no extra credit in the real world," Parks said. "How would you classify perhaps asking for a promotion or a bonus?"
McLaurine quickly dismissed the question as having nothing to do with extra credit but for being rewarded for work done well.
The government proposed students must do some sort of essay more than 500 words if they are to receive extra credit points.
"I know that may seem long, but 500 - 700 words is about a page or a page and a half," McLauren said. "You can crank that out in 10 minutes tops. It makes people work for their grade."
The opposition fired back.
"You could go to google.com and copy and paste an article about something and turn it in," Payne said.
The government asked if Payne implied most students of Murray State would actually cheat on their assignments and even asked if Payne was speaking from her own experiences.
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