Tom Morris brought friends with him to Fresno Pacific University's 2008 Business Forum October 22: Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Seneca, Cicero, Marcus Aurelius, Zeno, a high school buddy and a kid who loves baseball.

Grades--parents and schools offer cash, prizes and threats to encourage or scare students into achievement. Children are trained early that As guarantee a successful life. School systems are judged successes or failures based on test scores. But are good grades really the holy grail of education? In this week's Scholars Speak Scott Key, education professor at Fresno Pacific University, points out that some famous names never appeared on an honor roll, and that the emphasis we put on grades determines the kind of citizens we get.