Nonetheless, the corrective action against grade inflation suggested by Rosovsky in November may soon be forthcoming.

Mansfield suggests that action should come in the form of an enforced "grade quota, or semi-curve," similar to the one he and Michael Walzer, professor of Government, have used in "promoting some uniformity between sections" in Government 10.

Whitla, however, says that "nobody wants to legislate grade distributions, really," and instead sees the effective countering of grade inflation as coming "through voluntary faculty adherence to some general established standards of grading."

He adds that recent moves by the Faculty to stiffen honors requirements here represent the most tangible offshoot of the growing sentiment against the grade-inflationary trend.

Many schools, including Harvard, have undertaken extensive investigations of grade inflation, but reversing the grade spiral may ultimately cause more damage than has been incurred during nearly five years of the inflation. Many have argued that selective implementation of grade-deflationary policies at certain schools will only serve to hurt students at those schools, while others reap even greater benefits of inflated grades elsewhere.

However, until a coherent, nationwide policy aimed at grade deflation can be implemented, or until students decide that they've had it with intensive pre-professionalism, higher-than-usual grades probably will persist. As one student puts it. "It's as though the administration were throwing us a bone in the form of high grades. As long as we stay in the classrooms and out of their offices, it'll keep getting bigger."