For most of the last three semesters, the Committee on Undergraduate Education (CUE) has kicked around a proposal intended to curb grade inflation by adding the median grade and size of the class to the transcript.

Theoretically, this proposal would help with grade inflation by encouraging a renormalization of the grade curve and the general return of the B and B- grades (the average grade at Harvard right now is a B+). It might also help students in the sciences, where grades are generally lower than in the humanities.

When Harvard students hear of this and other proposals to curb grade inflation, most ask nervously about the timetable, hoping no changes will affect them.

If history is any indication, there is no need to worry.

While paging through some old Crimsons, I came across an article in October of 1976. The headline: "CUE Hears Plan to Curb Grade Hike."

I read on to learn that a month before I was born, the very same Committee on Undergraduate Education (CUE) took up the identical proposal (transcript reform) that I spent a good part of the last two semesters hearing about.

In 1976, neither students or faculty members of the committee liked the proposal. With the exception of the names of the committee members, nothing is different today.

One professor worried that the proposal would increase competition among students, the same worry expressed by CUE members today.

A student of the time said that the proposal gives no understanding of the amount of work that goes into the grade. You guessed it: the same argument is being offered today.

One of the most persuasive arguments, then and now, was that the proposal would penalize Harvard undergraduates applying to graduate and professional schools.

According to this line of thought, schools could misunderstand the data, and view a high median in small courses (like tutorials) as inflated, when in fact it reflects a high level of effort and expertise on the part of the students.

Furthermore, Harvard students might be penalized because our grade inflation would be exposed, but that of other institutions would not be.

Good arguments though these may be, the end result is this: the average grade at Harvard is a B+ and no one will do anything about it.

How can we cure Harvard of its paralysis? Basically, in order get Harvard to act effectively, we need to get the entire Ivy League and similar institutions moving in the same direction.

Harvard is not alone in its worry about dealing with grade inflation. The College does not stand out as having especially high grades because most comparable schools have equally inflated transcripts.