Word Processors Worry Law School

Is the word processor a convenient tool for writers, or is it one more device to give panicky Law School students an edge on exams? This question plagues Law School administrators after two students were spotted typing out exam answers on Ozborne processors this fall.

Word processors gave John A. Downer '80 and Wayne Williams a "technological edge" over fellow takers of an open book Criminal Law and Contracts exams this fall. Mary Upton, assistant dean of the Law School, said yesterday.

And Upton plans to establish a subcommittee of the Law School Administrative Board to study the problem, Upton said, adding that recommendations will be released at the March 26 meeting of the board.

Upton is afraid that students will find "canned" answers in computer memory files besides being able to type faster. But Downer called these objections "ludicrous."

Typing speed, Downer said, "still depends on how fast my fingers hit the keys. I use the processor because my handwriting is sloppy and my typing is sloppy. If you really want to talk about an edge, how about the people in the class who can type 120 words a minute?"

Answers on file. Downer continued, would be "self-defeating, because it's impossible to predict what the exam questions will be."

But Upon contended that entire outlines may be recalled from memory cells at the touch of a button, helping students cheat on closed-book exams.