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THE BATTALION
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 30, 1976
Declaration of Independence
needs more consideration
When in the course of human
events, it becomes necessary for one
people to dissolve the political bands
which have connected them with
another, and to assume among the
powers of the earth the separate
and equal station to which the Laws
of Nature and of Nature’s God enti
tle them, a decent respect to the
opinions of mankind requires that
they should declare the causes
which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-
evident, that all men are created
equal, that they are endowed by
their Creator with certain unalien
able rights, that among these are
life, liberty, and the pursuit of hap
piness. That to secure these rights,
governments are instituted among
men, deriving their just powers
from the consent of the governed.
That whenever any form of gov
ernment becomes destructive of
these ends, it is the right of the
people to alter or to abolish it, and to
institute new government, laying its
foundation on such principles and
organizing its powers in such form,
as to them shall seem most likely to
effect their safety and happiness.
Prudence, indeed, will dictate that
governments long established
should not be changed for light and
transient causes; and accordingly all
experience hath shown, that man
kind are more disposed to suffer.
Readers’
Forum
Guest viewpoints, in addition
to Listen Up letters, are wel
come. All pieces submitted to
Aggie Forum should be:
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• Limited to 60 characters
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• Limited to 100 lines
Submit articles to Reed
McDonald 217, College Sta
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phone number must accom
pany all submissions.
while evils are sufferable, than to
right themselves by abolishing the
forms to which they are accus
tomed. But when a long train of
abuses and usurpations, pursuing
invariably the same object evinces a
design to reduce them under abso
lute despotism, it is their right, it is
their duty, to throw off such gov
ernment, and to provide new
guards for their future security.
The Declaration establishes that
humans have rights to life, liberty
and the pursuit of happiness, among
others.
Inherent in every right is a corre
sponding responsibility. Rights tend
to disintegrate if they are not exer
cised or protected.
If a majority of Americans as indi
viduals will not accept the respon
sibilities attendant to those rights,
those responsibilities will be exer
cised by a minority.
The political disillusionment of
many young people today leads one
to believe that there may be a crisis
involving fundamental human rights
in the United States in the near fu
ture.
Individuals must continue to par^
ticipate in the democratic process or
else be willing to submit themselves
to the laws of a governing elite.
Eventually, when the rights estab
lished at the founding are forgotten,
and the people feel they are not
being represented, the only way
open to the people is the exercise of
the last right clearly established in
the Declaxation — the right to re
volt.
Every American at this time in our
history should ask himself if he has
fulfilled his responsibilities and truly
deserves the rights granted him.
— Jerry Needham
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Cbe Battalion
Opinions expressed in The Battalion are those of the editor or
of the writer of the article and are not necessarily those of the
university administration or the Board of Regents. The Battal
ion is a non-profit, self supporting enterprise operated by stu
dents as a tiniversity and community newspaper. Editorial
policy is determined by the editor.
LETTERS POLICY
Tetters to the editor should not exceed 300 words and are
subject to being cut to that length or less if longer. The editorial
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tee to publish any letter. Each letter must be signed, show the
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Address correspondence to Listen Up, The Battalion, Room
217, Services Building, College Station, Texas 77843.
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Mail subscriptions are $16.75 per semester; $33.25 per school year;
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ing rates furnished on request. Address: The Battalion, Room 217,
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Rights of reproduction of all matter herein are reserved.
Second-Class postage paid at College Station, Texas.
Editor Jerry Needham
Managing Editor Richard Chamberlain
Sports Editor Paul McGrath
Campus Editor Lisa Junod
Photographer Steve Goble
Layout LeAnn Roby, Susan Brown
Reporter Sandy Russo
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PE grading unfair
Texas A&M’s present system of
averaging required Physical Educa
tion grades into a student’s GPR is
extremely unfair since it results in
discrimination against non-athletes.
Academically capable students,
while they should remain physically
fit, should not be penalized for a lack
of physical prowess. The present PE
grading system does just that — it
punishes the student who is not ath
letically inclined; it lowers his GPR,
thereby influencing his chances for
admittance into professional or
graduate school or his chances for
employment.
Required physical education cer
tainly has an admirable purpose.
Students should maintain physical as
well as mental health; the two are
virtually inseparable. But should a
student be graded on the level of
proficiency be achieves in a sport?
Should he be graded not on the
progress he makes in a sport as an
individual, but as compared to the
rest of his class, a class which might
contain former professional athletes
or Olympic hopefuls?
Although many PE instructors are
generous with their grade points and
attempt to grade students on their
progressive mastery of a sport, a
great many of them grade on a fixed
scale of achievement: you must run
so fast for an A, so fast for a B, etc.
Never mind that you have just been
released from the hospital and are
recovering from an advanced case of
hepatitus. Still other instructors are
more equitable in their grading,
grading students on a comparative
basis and giving a certain percentage
of A s and B’s. Never mind that half
the swimming team is in your Be
ginning Swimming class, or the high
school state 4-A champ is in your
tennis class.
Granted, other courses on campus
are graded on a competitive basis
rather than upon individual
achievement, but one of the most
important functions of a university is
to educate a student: to expand and
challenge his mental powers, to ad
vance his mind. Required PE
courses, while they serve an impor
tant purpose, require little in the
way of thinking; they merely require
physical ability. A reasonably alert
horse could earn the highest grade in
an aerobics class, while a muscular
Labrador Retriever could outlast
half the students in a conditioning
swimming course.
Why then, since physical educa
tion courses bear so little relation to
the mind, should grades in these
courses be entered into a student’s
academic GPR?
Certainly it is dangerous for a stu
dent to become so absorbed in ob
taining high grades that he agonizes
over a C or a D on his transcript. No
student should value grades so much
that a low grade in a one hour course
could disturb him. After all, we are
constantly reminded that the in
flated importance of grades is one of
the major faults of modern educa
tion.
Perhaps increased emphasis upon
grades as indicators of student worth
encouraged the establishment of the
present system of PE grading, or
perhaps it arose as an attempt by
Texas A&M to more closely align its
grading system with those of other
Southwest Conference schools.
Whatever its cause for existence, the
system is unfair to a great many stu
dents and merits more thoughtful
consideration. — Lisa Junod
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SPECIAL NOTICE
OPTIONAL BOARD PLAN
Summer students may dine on the board plan during the second
session of summer school at Texas A&M University. Each board
student may dine three meals each day except Sunday evenings,ii
the seven day plan is elected, and three meals each day, ~~
through Friday, if the five day plan is preferred. Each meal is served
in the Commons.
Fees for each session are payable to the Controller of Accounts, Fiscal
Office, Coke Building.
i
Board fees for each plan are as follows:
PLANS
SECOND SESSION
Seven Day — $139.00
Five Day — $124.00
July 8 through August 1
Day students, including graduate students may purchase either]
of the board plans.