Aliya Sternstein: A question of fairness

I wouldn't call myself a fan of the Winter Olympics, since very few events grab my attention, but I do watch figure skating commentary -- or I did. Now, like many people, I change the channel when I hear any correspondent mention "pairs", "French judge" or even "Kwan" for that matter.

The pairs skating story that's pitted Canada against the International Olympic Committee against the American media should never have been a story of constant CNN magnitude, but since it is, let's see what the fuss is really over.

The gold medal meddling is not about two fresh-faced Canadians or two confused Russians -- it's more about the American ideal of fair competition and its corollary -- capitalism.

Undeniably, economic opportunity motivates all tiers of American society -- Olympians, students who bicker over grade point averages and professionals who scale the corporate ladder.

Instant fame and endorsements for gold medal winners, graduate degrees for straight-A students and Chief Operating fill-in-the-blank positions all breed competition. But with the media's emphasis on ice skating scandalizing Utah, grade inflation drawing fury in faculty lounges and dueling media moguls sparring for world domination, "fair competition" sounds like an oxymoron these days.

We, as Americans, are more than conniving competitors. The unity in the aftermath of Sept. 11 embodies our potential and our progress. There are also dedication and sacrifice at play. And the following three scenarios unearth a fairer side of competition than the American media would have us believe:

First, even the Olympic athletes who sparked the question of fair competition know it exists. The burned Canadians and Russians performed gracefully on and off the ice, understanding that the system, not necessarily individuals, goofed. Canadian pairs figure skater and newly minted gold medalist David Pelletier told The New York Times, "We're happy that justice was done. That doesn't take anything away from Yelena and Anton [Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze, the Russian gold medalists]. This was not something against them; it was something against the system. We hope the inquiries won't stop here." Certainly sounds fair.

Second, there is the ugly corporate rivalry within the Viacom media company, which owns CBS, MTV and Paramount Pictures. Seventy-eight-year-old Chairman Sumner Redstone will not give up the throne to his second-in-command, 58-year-old President Mel Karmazin. Redstone, though almost too old to reign, wants his logical successor out of the Paramount picture.

And since the competition in the media business is far more public than in the sports arena -- the only fair fight between these two must take place behind closed doors. Thus, Viacom's board told the two boys to quiet it down or risk hurting the company financially. And wouldn't ya know? They agreed to take the catfight elsewhere -- at least ostensibly -- and settle their differences without the media's help. Fair enough.

Finally, there is the close-to-home subject of grade inflation. Right now, Penn professors hear this from students after midterms, "But I understood the material. Look at this answer. Isn't it close enough? Why did I miss three points?"

Penn undergraduates spend almost as much time changing their grades as they do studying. And many times, professors give in.

The Daily Pennsylvanian recently cited a report by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, noting that grade inflation -- "an upward shift in the grade point average of students over an extended period of time, without a corresponding increase in student achievement" -- has ballooned the average GPAs of students across all institutional types, an increase of approximately 15 to 20 percent between the mid-1960s and mid-1990s.

That's not fair. But, there are academics watching the scoreboard. Penn Provost Robert Barchi told a group of students during his "fireside chat" last week, "Some of the very best doctors I know are not the ones who got an A+ in organic chemistry," while maintaining that professors must inform pupils of the nitty gritty details behind grade scales. And Harvard's President Larry Summers told Business Week, "What grades and honors represent is [that an honors student] is the best relative to a peer group at a point in time. People run much faster than they used to but we still give only one gold medal." He wants to stiffen grading.

Notwithstanding his second sentence, Summers shows some respect for fair competition. Fair marks all around.

Now, if Mr. Canadian heartthrob, a couple of television tycoons and faculty can grasp fair competition, why can't the American media?

Oh, right. The networks and newspapers are out fighting their own battles.

Aliya Sternstein is a senior Psychology major from Potomac, Md.

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