THE BATTALION
Wednesday, April 27, 1966
College Station, Texas
Page 3
What’s Wrong With Profs, Students?
CADET SLOUCH
How Professors View Their Students
by Jim Earle
By JAMES SIZEMORE
Battalion Staff Writer
“If the wool is pulled over anyone’s
eyes, I will be the puller and you will
be the pullee.”
Thus, one prof, who is also an Aggie
ex, lets his students know that he under
stands them.
Given a few years of experience, nearly
all professors can understand students at
A&M or, at least, form some views and
opinions of students here. An assortment
of profs with varying experience and back
grounds were questioned concerning stu
dents’ attitudes, values, habits, etc. . in
hope for better understanding between profs
and students.
Concerning attitude, D. H. Banker of the
Department of Mathematics said: “I feel
the amount of preparation a student has
can affect his attitude, and students at
A&M have good attitudes as a whole.
“Students are more prepared than ever
before — not brighter — just better pre
pared,” he added.
Banker mentioned a small minority of
students who show little or no interest
in their education. These are students who
cut class, get behind in homework and
are generally bad students. He explained
that they are exceptions to the general rule
and are here either because their parents
want them here or because they followed
the crowd to school. These students have
no real goal in life.
“Until a student decides on his occupa
tion, he is just not interested,” Banker said.
“When he decides, he will not cut class,
get behind in homework or generally show
no interest.”
Dr. J. P. Abbott of the Department of
English also pointed out that these bad stu
dents are in a very small minority. Abbott
said such students are exceptions and found
most anywhere.
“I find most students quite reasonable,”
he said. “I certainly find individual stu
dents who are quite intelligent.”
Some students who make bad grades may
try to make excuses to cover up their inade
quacy, but Abbott feels the attitude here
may be improving.
“I find fewer excuses in the last seven
or eight years than before,” he said.
A chemistry prof with more than 18
years of experience at A&M feels students’
performance depends a great deal on the
instructor. He said the enthusiasm with
which a prof teaches a course is contagious
and will cause students to respond better.
“A prof can only expect response to his
own enthusiasm,” he said. “If he makes it
clear what he expects of his students, then
95 per cent will honestly do their best.”
In regard to students’ values the prof
said students here have a surprising de
gree of ethics. He said the honor system
used at A&M speaks well of the Corps and
the atmosphere which the Corps sets for
the school.
“We are getting better students as re
flected by seriousness of purpose. The
entrance requirements give a better screen
ing of students now.”
He explained that the entrance require
ments do more than they indicate. Not only
are the unqualified students left out, but
an atmosphere is established where better
students are less likely to be led astray
by less serious students.
Dr. Lloyd C. Taylor of the Department
of History also feels A&M has plenty of
good quality students, but the better stu
dents are being “gypped” because they are
not challenged enough.
“I feel that the courses are geared to
the mediocre students,” he said. “When
given the chance to do original work, stu
dents do very well, but they are put
academically in a strait jacket.”
Taylor said there should be more person-
to-person communication with students be
cause there is much that can be learned from
students.
“Student papers, when well done, give
new insights and new views for the prof,”
he noted.
He also pointed out that students can
be quite original when allowed the chance
As an example, he mentioned a paper be
ing done on “Alive in Wonderland” as a
study of Victorian morals. This would not
seem like a typical Aggie paper to many,
but it perhaps shows that a student is
reaching for an original way to express
himself.
All in all, professors seem to have a
fairly high opinion of students at A&M,
but would like to see some things improved.
One of the major improvements would be
a decrease in conspicuous class absences on
Friday afternoons. Aggies seem to sacri
fice class time for traveling to insure that
free time can be used to the fullest.
Some profs also wish to see students
visit instructors for more conferences. They
feel this is a great opportunity for individual
instruction, but others argue conferences
are unnecessary most of the time.
How Students View Their Professors
By JOHN HOTARD
Battalion Special Writer
“Those who can, do; those who can’t,
teach.”
That’s what one student wrote when ask
ed recently what he thought of A&M pro
fessors.
Is this the prevailing attitude students
have of their professors? What is wrong,
or right, with A&M profs ? Are they bor
ing? Do they show an interest in students?
Do they show favoritism ?
A questionnaire with these questions and
others was given to 100 students around
campus. As a whole, their opinions were
similar.
To begin with, are profs boring? Why?
“I find some of my profs boring. Lec
tures that are read verbatim from notes
are always boring, as well as day after
day of totally unprepared lectures,” one sen
ior English major wrote.
“Most of the boring profs I’ve had have
been teaching for quite a while and seem
to have lost interest in their subject. They’ve
been saying the same thing for so long
that they can’t help but be boring,” said a
senior accounting student.
Some students said profs were boring
because they spoke in a monotone. Others
thought lectures could be improved if pre
sented more in the students’ perspective.
“Keep it (the lecture) pertinent to course
intentions. Have a prepared lecture to avoid
mistakes and fumbling for material,” a
mathematics senior remarked.
Do the students feel the prof is qualified
to teach the course ?
“Most of my profs are qualified, at
least in an academic sense. Many of those
who are not are simply poor conveyors
of the knowledge they possess,” a junior
electrical engineering student answered.
“Qualified to teach, yes; qualified to
handle students, not always. Many profes
sors seem to find the students ‘distasteful’
and are even antagonistic toward them,” an
other English student said.
All students agreed that being a Ph.D.
or having a long list of impressive publica
tions does not qualify a man to teach.
These are often the worst profs, they
agreed.
A majority of those polled believe several
profesors think they are doing the stu
dents a favor by teaching them. Along this
same line, they resent some professors con
tinually cutting down A&M students.
“Some profs really get a big thrill out
of cutting down the students and school af
fairs which make them greatly disliked by
students,” a sophomore pre-law student
wrote.
“The constant downgrading of the stu
dents is, as far as I’m concerned, the big
gest problem at A&M,” one student replied.
“It creates bad attitudes among the stu
dents. The prevailing attitude among pro
fessors at A&M is that they are doing us an
enormous favor by condescending to put up
with us in the classroom. Very few ever
seem to consider the fact that it is we who
are paying them and not the reverse.”
Opinions vary on the question of whe
ther or not professors show favoritism.
Some feel girls are shown favor. As to
favoritism to a student majoring in the
subject which the prof teaches, opinions
are split.
"Perhaps English majors, because it is
their field, excell and honestly deserve more
credit in a subject like English,” wrote one
junior English major. Opposing opinions to
this question were unprintable. Others saw
no favoritism at all among profs.
Graduate students who teach also present
a problem, the students think.
“Many graduate students are bad teach
ers, and I think it is a great mistake to
require a graduate student to teach in order
to get his assistantship pay when he does
n’t aspire to teach in the first place. One
like this doesn’t really care whether the
students grasp the material or not,” a
senior mathematics student wrote.
Quizzes are also a problem. Do stu
dents have to blow off the feathers be
fore taking the quiz ? Are essay quizzes
graded fairly ?
Once again, the students split their
views.
“Most profs give good quizzes; however,
some are chicken when they require you
to memorize insignificant details,” a senior
accounting student answered.
“Most do give fair quizzes. But some
give quizzes that are too long or cover
material not covered at all in class. The
prof should let the student know what ma
terial he considers the most important,” a
marketing major said.
“Some ask opinion questions — then
count off if your opinion differs from
theirs,” wrote a junior English student.
“Some teach in a specific manner, giv
ing attention to details and then quiz you
on general material. Some are just the
opposite,” another marketing student added.
Students were also asked to name inter
esting profs and why they were interest
ing.
Dr. William Luker in the School of Busi
ness Administration was one example.
“A very good lecturer — would explain
material over and over until students un
derstood it. He had conferences with each
individual student concerning his quizzes —
he’s very fair — gave the student the bene
fit of the doubt,” wrote one student.
“A very dynamic prof,” another wrote.
Dr. Henry Rakoff in the Department of
Chemistry was another.
“He’s a good speaker. He varies his
vocal tone. He adds something extra to
his lectures by demonstrations,” said one
senior.
“He’s hard, but interesting,” wrote an
other.
“He gives heavy reading assignments,
and if you don’t read them, you’re in the
dark during class. That’s why his Chem
istry 228 class is known as ‘Rakoff’s Mys
tery Hour.’ ” one of his present students
wrote.
Dr. Robert Skrabaney in the Department
of Sociology was also mentioned.
“A good lecturer. He gives interesting
and useful information. He not only knows
facts, but also how they may be related
to the student as an individual.”
“He has a sense of humor and vast
knowledge,” another said.
Injections of humor is one thing which
the students feel greatly adds color to a
lecture.
Others mentioned include Dr. Haskell
Monroe, Dr. H. H. Lang and Dr. Allan Ash
craft in the Department of History and
Government; Dr. John Q. Anderson, Dr.
Fred Ekfelt, H. L. Kidd, Jr., J. N. Shepperd
and the late Dr. S. S. Morgan in the De
partment of English; J. M. Glasgow and
Dr. John Treacy in the Department of Eco
nomics; Dr. W. J. Dobson, Dr. L. S. Dillon,
Dr. John Sperry and Fred Conte in the
Department of Biology; and J. H. Dozier
and N. A. “The Judge” Stewart in the
School of Business Administration.
Criticisms have been given on what stu
dents think is wrong with some professors
on this campus. Praise has been given by
students to those they feel are good profs.
It might help if all other profs look at
their lectures and methods of teaching to
see if they fall in any of the above men
tion catagories.
To sum it up, what is wrong, or right,
with A&M professors?
One senior management student sums
it up thusly:
“One the whole, profs here at A&M
are good. But those who are too demand
ing, boring, or cannot communicate need
to be talked to and shown where they have
gone wrong. Those profs who have set
themselves upon an altar and feel that
they are doing the student a big favor for
having the student in his class are hurt
ing the good profs who want to teach and
help the student. Many profs need to
reevaluate themselves and their purposes
at this university.”
cAu,£- awl
“I could have turned in my report today—It’s in my room
finished—But it’s more of a challenge to talk him out of an
extension!
A&M Grad Dean
Edits Jeff Davis
History Volumes
By MIKE BERRY
Battalion Staff Writer
The thin, inscrutable, intelli
gent features of Jefferson Davis
have masked his life as effective
ly as the myths, legends and
prejudices that have surrounded
the Confederate statesman.
A step — a slow, laborious,
but significant step — has been
taken to unravel the silence of
history.
Dr. Haskell M. Monroe, assist
ant dean of the Graduate College
and assistant professor of his
tory, is editor of the awesome
venture of documenting, object
ively and in detail, the man’s
life.
“It is for someone else to draw
the conclusions” Monroe says.
“My job is to locate and edit
the papers that contribute to an
understanding of the man.
Davis, an important figure in
a period of American history,
has intrigued historians seeking
the key to his personality and
national importance.
First formal discussion of the
project occurred before a meet
ing of the U. S. Civil War Cen
tennial Commission. Groundwork
was laid at a conference of the
American Historical Association
in New York.
An Outsider Looks Inside
Rehabilitation: Key Word In Prison System
By GLENN DROMGOOLE
Rehabilitation has surpassed punishment as the
dominant theme in the Texas Department of Cor
rections, but people aren't falling all over them
selves to enroll in the program. For, despite more
professional guidance and better living conditions,
prison is still prison.
I took an outsider’s look at the inside of five
prison units recently along with A&M sociology
professor W. Dee Kutach and about 60 other stu
dents from his criminology and social psychology
classes.
We got some idea of prison life, enough to
reaffirm our desires to avoid it. We saw inmates
at work, study, play and rest, but our impressions
can only be taken at face value. There were at
least four differences between our observations
and actual prison life: The officials knew in ad
vance we were coming; we felt no personal guilt
for being there; we were treated as transient
guests, not temporary residents, and we could walk
out when our tour ended.
Nevertheless, the tour gave us perhaps a little
more insight into some of the problems, programs
and practices of prison life. It was educational and
informative, to say the least.
We saw men and women prisoners, young and
old, short and tall, weak and strong, sick and
healthy, educated and illiterate, white and black.
Any thoughts we may have had about a “criminal
type” vanished, because we saw all types. They
looked like you or me or the next fellow.
We observed silent, efficient mass production
by solemn, almost expressionless, workers. It all
fit into our self-conception of communism: a self-
sufficient communal of forced labor.
Rehabilitation through academic and vocational
education, recreational programs, medical atten
tion, counseling sessions and physical labor was
emphasized. We heard illiterate women answer
ing, “How much is four time 10?”; saw teenagers
acquiring skills in air-conditioning, television and
automobile repair; observed distressing mental pati
ents undergoing treatment; watched physical weakl
ings working to condition their bodies; enjoyed a
rock’n'roll performance by an inmate combo, and
noticed rigid enforcement of procedure to teach dis
cipline and maintain order.
Our tour took us to the Goree Unit for women,
the Main Walls in downtown Huntsville, the Diagnos
tic Center for new arrivals, Wynne Farm for the
physically and mentally handicapped and the Fergu
son Unit for first offenders age 17-21.
The Goree Unit didn’t look much like a prison
from the outside. A small picket fence surrounded
the area, much like a ranch home, with a modern,
brick edifice housing the inmates. Most of the
units have new physical facilities, and several others
are under construction. Three of the five areas
we visited — Goree, Ferguson and the Diagnostic
Center — were adequately equipped with modern
furnishings, contributing to the rehabilitations at
mosphere.
Inside Goree, we saw moderately comfortable
surroundings — not plush, but at least conductive
to maintaining the inmates’ self-respect. The 400-
capacity unit contained 387 women then, and 12
more were expected later that day. Illiterate in
mates were engaged in basic education — number
of quarts in a gallon, minutes in hour, etc. — con
ducted by teachers of the “outside world.”- All pri
soners — male or female —who have not achieved
third-grade level education must take the basic
course. Inmates are allowed, and encouraged, to
achieve high school equivalency ratings. Since
the General Educational Development Program was
initiated in the TDC in 1956, more than 4,000 in
mates have earned certificates of high school equi
valency. The system’s Education Department claims
that recidivism is about 7 per cent among inmates
receiving G.E.D. diplomas.
Women inmates work at various jobs from sew
ing to yard work. Cell blocks compete for honors
in hootenanies and other activities, as is the case
at most of the units. Art classes, Alcoholics Anony
mous meetings, chapel, movies, civil defense train
ing and a library are also available at Goree.
Inmates are allowed two visits and $14 spend
ing money every two weeks, may have five persons
on their mailing and visiting list (which is closely
checked by unit supervisors).
At the Main Walls in Huntsville, we were en
tertained by The Frames, one of the inmate combos
featured in variety shows during the year. The nine-
member group presented a lively rock-n-roll session
which they aptly termed TDC A-Go-Go. Proceeds
from variety shows, the annual Prison Rodeo and
other entertainment activities go into the Educa
tion and Recreation Fund, which supports such in
mate programs as high school equivalency education,
intramural sports, Operation Teenager, chapels and
religious endeavors and The Echo — inmate news
paper.
A few words about The Echo. A monthly
tabloid of about 8-10 pages, the inmate publica
tion is written, edited and printed entirely by the
prisoners. News from each unit is collected by
correspondents and written as a column. Poems,
art selections and critiques, humor, editorials, letters,
law cases, music comments, movie reviews and sports
also fill The Echo pages. Even an outsider finds
it highly readable; to the insiders it presents in
formation, entertainment, encouragement and a
source of pride.
Industry plays an important role in the self-
sufficiency and training functions of the prison. At
Huntsville we saw plants producing license plates,
textiles, printed matter and maintaining automotive
equipment. The Wynne Unit produces garments and
mattresses, with brooms and mops a major industrial
concern at Ferguson. Prison agriculture provides
most of the inmate food, with beef cattle, swine,
dairy and poultry production and truck crops fur
nishing much of the farm work. Cotton production
is basic to the department's economy.
Wynne Farm is a combination factory, farm and
hospital. Primarily concerned with the physically
and mentally handicapped, the unit keeps up a slower,
more steady, pace. A new dorm now under construc
tion should help relieve overcrowded conditions in
the present dungeon-like facilities. The therapeuti
cal, or treatment, center cares, for all physically and
mentally handicapped male inmates in the system.
We walked through a cell block when mental patients
were undergoing treatment by tranquilizer, counsel
ing sessions and laboratory work. Most were serene,
but several stalked about their cells, raving about
first one thing or another. One inmate with thyroid
difficulties kept talking about having a baby; an
other tried to convince us to contact the FBI; a
third was rambling that barbarians are going to rule
the world.
The Diagnostic Center is a central receiving area
for all inmates. Medical, educational and mental
tests are conducted during a three-week period to
determine the unit for confinement. Prisoners are
given instruction in cleanliness, personal discipline
and respect for authority.
Ferguson was the most impressive unit we visited,
and yet was in a way the most depressing. Its
facilities were the nicest and cleanest and an ex
cellent attitude seemed to prevail among the super
visory staff. But it was rather depressing to see so
many youths — 872 at that time — gathered under
the same roof because they had gone astride the
law. Still, it was encouraging to observe the train
ing and discipline outlook that has resulted in an
exceedingly low recidivism rate.
We left Ferguson, the iron bars were closed and
we were on the outside looking in again.
Dr. Frank E. Vandiver, a pro
fessor of history at Rice, was ap
pointed chief advisory editor and
president of the Jefferson Davis
Association, a non-profit corpo
ration supporting the project.
An advisory board of eminent
historians was formed to lend
their influence and advice. Board
members are Charlotte Capers,
Bruce Catton, Philip Detweiler,
Thomas R. Hay, Albert B. Moore,
Allan Nevins, Rembert Patrick,
James I. Robertson Jr., Hudson
Strode, Bell I. Wiley and T. Har-
i’y Williams.
Monroe, speaking before the
Civil War Centennial Commission
at Springfield, Illinois, defined
the Association’s objectives.
“Neither the chief advisory
editor nor the editor possesses
any preconception about the
purpose of the series except as
a service to scholarship and a
contribution to the better under
standing of a long segment of
American history ... no desire
... to make Davis a hero or
villain . . . the purpose of an
editor is to set the record
straight.”
The first phase of acquiring,
compiling and editing the papers
began with a survey of manu
script holdings across the nation.
A questionnaire was sent to
1,000 libraries, 173 bookdealers,
228 newspapers, 147 broadcast
ing stations and 123 scholarly
journals.
The search yielded about 25,-
000 items. Processing, copying
and indexing the numerous let
ters, speeches, reminiscences and
other material collected is being
done by Monroe and Mrs. Walter
Riddle, his secretary, at the Fon-
dren Library at Rice. The edi
tor commutes from College Sta
tion to Houston several times a
week.
Material streamed in from such
diverse sources as the State His
torical Society of Wisconsin, the
Library of Congress, the Na
tional Archives, Harvard Uni
versity, the Huntington Library,
Miami University of Ohio, the
Historical Society of Pennsyl
vania, the Pierpont Morgan Li
brary, the State University of
New York at Buffalo, the Na
tional Life Insurance Company
and the Speed Art Museum of
Louisville.
After evaluating the project,
the National Historical Publi
cations Commission gave its ap
proval calling it “a well-con
ceived documentary publication
undertaking of special value to
American history.”
Editing the paper will be done
in four major segments — the
period before 1853 (Davis’ ap
pointment as Secretary of War),
his congressional career, the war
period and postwar years. The
work is expected to encompass
15-20 volumes, averaging 600-700
pages. The first volume is ex
pected by 1969.
The Louisiana State Universi
ty Press will publish the volumes.