Stanford Law drops letter grades...

I just don't get this. How are these labels all that different from old-fashioned grades? It reminds me of a conversation I've had again and again with a friend who criticizes my use of number grades on papers (that are eventually translated into letter grades at the end of the semester). She prefers letter grades all along as they seem less scientific and absolute. In the end, though, you still end up having to make that final evaluation, which is based on numbers and will be interpreted on a scale. I love this response from a commenter:

"Hey, I have an idea for Stanford Law, Yale Law and the like. To simplify their evaluation system, assign letters to each level of achievement:

High honors = A Honors = B Pass = C Low Pass = D No Credit = F"