Campus clips

Yale Center for British Art/Richard Caspole

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The Times of London knows what it likes in art museums, and perhaps it’s no surprise that it likes British art. In May the newspaper published a list of “the world’s 50 greatest galleries,” and the Yale Center for British Art ranked 15th, right between the Musée d’Orsay and the Tate Modern.

Sixty-two percent of all grades awarded by Yale College in the spring of 2012 were As or A-minuses. Comparing that with 50 years ago, when only ten percent were in the A range, some faculty believe Yale has a grade-inflation problem. A faculty committee has proposed to address the problem by switching from letter grades to a 100-point scale and by establishing non-mandatory grade-distribution guidelines. The proposal was heard at the April faculty meeting, but action was postponed until the fall.

Jacqueline Nelson

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Yale bought portions of High and Wall Streets from the city of New Haven in June for $3 million. The purchase resolved questions over the renewal of a 20-year lease the university had taken in 1990 on the four blocks of street, which are surrounded by Yale property. Yale converted a block of High Street in front of Sterling Memorial Library into a pedestrian walkway, but it has left the other streets largely unchanged except to restrict parking.