I am writing in response to your policy concerning the neatness of the homework problem sets.

I find it an extremely discriminatory practice that rewards one type of physics student over another. Based on my experience, there are two main types of physics students. One type finds it easier to solve a problem by meticulously writing down each equation, showing every step of the work, and explaining this on paper. This is not for the purpose of impressing a grader, but just helps them keep eveything straight in their minds.

The other type has is dealing with a problem of a mind and a pen that move at different speeds. He must write quckly, messily, and haphazardly in order to reach his answer, of else the solution will be lost.

For each type of student, the other method is puts them at an extreme disadvantege. Your grading policy effectively makes a value judgement, calling the quality on the neat students' work 'better', even if both students show all their work and arrive at the same answer.

This is the most disturbing part: "This is hard to follow" = -2.

This is a rediculous statement that has riddles all my homework. All work was shown, made complete sense in my mind, and led to the correct answer. I lost points just because my flow of thoughts differed from that of the grader's. There needs to be a distinction between grading policies for homework and tests. On an exam, the work must be clear because the grader must make sure that the student had complete understanding. On a test, a student is trying to prove to a grader that he knows what he knows. On homework, he is just trying to learn. One should have nothing to prove, just much to learn. Your policy puts aesthetics above learning, forcing students to either study in a way that is less effective for them or face points off every week.