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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 21, 1981)
Local / Features THE BATTALION TUESDAY, APRIL 21, 1981 Page 3 Astronomy prof expects students to work for ‘A’ By TIM FOARDE Battalion Reporter Easy A’s in a three-hour stargaz- ing course come with hard work in this part of the galaxy. I Dr. John P. Lestrade, who [teaches Physics 306 (Basic Astro- ftomy), is committed to making Con® )f Illinois'; idflesj > confert. ate sp i to its c ^1 to 1® lator fo; a libera!: Demi “They don’t under stand the value of being educated just for the urpose of knowing |things. They just want to get the grade and get out ” only dj' IOC •e was oannif he class interesting, informative nd even entertaining, but stu- lents who expect to do well in the rourse must go a step beyond star gazing. impair j iWoman boasts 90 granddaughters that n. Her# n of II ■at, I see :dly left 1C inter,; : could. ■eou )ols andt js be lei Supernovas, black holes, the birth and death of stars and the planets are covered in the course, as well as thorough coverage of basic astronomy. Lestrade believes there is value in truly learning the material in any college course just for the sake of being educated. He uses this philosophy in the way he teaches his astronomy class. “If a student wants to get out of this course with an A, B, or C, he will learn the material,” Lestrade said. He said there is a basic prob lem with ‘the way students approach many of their courses.’ “They don’t understand the value of being educated just for the purpose of knowing things,” Lestrade said. “They just want to get the grade and get out. That’s not the purpose of a university,” he said. Lestrade, who traces his admir ation of self-improvement to his experiences at a difficult high school in Ireland, spends extra time in his office to help students having problems in the course. His office walls are decorated with posters of Saturn, Jupiter, and Irish proverbs, but he has many other areas of interest. “As a student I hated literature and his tory, now they fascinate me,” Les trade said. He encourages students to broaden their interests and learn the material in all their courses. Lestrade pointed out two advantages of learning astro nomy, even though it may not seem relevant to one’s goals or interests. “When you study physics you learn to think logically, ” Lestrade said. “It really does straighten out your mind as far as the quantita tive process of working out prob lems.” Lestrade applied this principle to everyday life. “Getting the milkman to deliver the right amount of milk can be a problem that requires logic,” Lestrade said. Lestrade said it is unfortunate that students lack the motivation “When you study phy sics you learn to think logically. It really does straighten out your mind as far as the quan titative process of working out prob lems. ” to learn, but he said the blame must be shared by teachers. “Stu dents don’t care to learn to the degree they should and professors don’t care to teach to the degree they should,” Lestrade said. Lestrade said many teachers in the science department at Texas A&M care more about their re search than teaching students. “On the one hand they will criti cize the athletic department and say, ‘There is no place on this cam pus for football, this is a universi ty, it’s for teaching.’ And on the other hand they will say, T don’t have time for office hours, I have to go do my research.’” Lestrade said university in structors should do both teaching and research, but the tendency is drifting away from teaching. “It’s getting to the point where we only have people who do research and they cannot teach,” Lestrade said. He said the reason many in structors cannot teach is that they don’t want to teach. “If their job depended on it, they would be come very good teachers,” Les trade said. Lestrade said he likes doing research, but his first priority is being a good teacher. He said stu dents have two different concepts of good teachers. “There is the kind where people say, ‘He’s good. He doesn’t know much, but you can get an A from him. ”’ Lestrade said another kind of teacher is his idea of a good teacher. “... then there is the kind where they say, ‘Wow, that guy really knows his stuff and makes you work for it. ’ That’s the kind of good I want to be.” By SHELLEY EMSHOFF Battalion Rep Battalion Keportcr Hie residents of the Brazos Val- ey Geriatric Center sit hunched n their wheelchairs, slowly nod- ling their heads and mumbling to hemselves. The tile floor and yl furniture add no warmth to he depressing scene. Walking lown the hall, the pungent odor is ict masked by the smell of anti- leptic. The atmosphere changes enter ing Eva Ashcraft’s room. The walls are lined with brightly colored paintings and pictures of her fami ly. It looks as if a portion of her previous home has been estab lished in the little room. “I have plenty to be happy ab out,” said Ashcraft. “I have a love ly family and 90 granddaughters. ” Ashcraft, a nicely dressed 70- year-old woman with a radiant face, is the grandmother for Delta Zeta Sorority. She was chosen by the center’s recreational director. Pointing to pictures of each of the girls in the sorority, she said, “1 always thought sorority girls were a bunch of high hats, but these girls are the nicest group I’ve ever met.” Ashcraft said that the recep tionist told her that she had been chosen to be Delta Zeta s grand mother and that she had company coming to see her. Her soft green eyes became ;er as she said, “I thought one or two people were coming, but 1 looked down the hall and, my lord, there were at least 25 girls coming to my room, singing ‘Get ting to Know You’.” She said that at least two girls come to visit her each week. “They know my favorite color is yellow, so they usually bring me a yellow rose or something real cute,” she said. Ashcraft and her husband are able to share a room, which makes her feel more at home. “Daddy loves those girls who come to visit,” she said as little wrinkles came across her smiling face. “They love him too and want to adopt him as their grandpa,” she added. Ashcraft pointed to pictures of her son and daughter. “Jack and Judy didn’t want us to live out here, but I had a stroke and Daddy broke his hip, and we just couldn’t manage alone,” she said. “I always said I would never live with my children and interfere with their lives, and I mean just that,” she added. Ashcraft said that her children decorated the room to be just like home. “One year the children came here for Christmas and we had it right here in this room,” she smiled and said. “We had a ball just being together.” Looking at a picture of her son in uniform, Ashcraft said he was an Aggie. “I love the Aggies,” she said. “They’re the best bunch of kids around.” She said, “When my little Mag gie granddaughters aren’t here, there is always a group of Aggies here singing and visiting. Ashcraft said, “I love to meet people and that’s one of my favo rite reasons for being a grand mother for Delta Zeta. ” Ashcraft explained that there are many activities to be involved with at the center. She said she loves to go to the parties and diffe rent functions. Church services are held twice a week. “My granddaughters were proud of me when I became the Valentine Queen for this year,” she said. She said that recently they had a beer bust and a belly dancer per formed. She slapped her hand on her knee and said, “There’s no thing slow about us here. “We’ve always got something going on, but it’s best when the Aggies and the granddaughters come to visit.” Looking back at the picture of the sorority, Ashcraft said, “I just hope that when this young genera tion gets as old as I am, they will be treated as nice as I am by this lovely group of granddaughters.” TIGHT Ml? MAKE IT WITH JUAREZ TEQUILA GOLD OR SILVER IMPORTED & BOTTLED BY TEQUILA JALISCO S.A ST. LOUIS. MO.. 80 PROOF Sun.-Wed. 11 a.m.-ll p.m. Thurs., Fri., Sat. 11 a.m.-2 a.m. 1800 S. Texas Ave. 693-9515 Hamburgers iSoo S. Texas Avc. (.ollcge Station 693-9515 P ENNY S U PECIAL • ;..•*« . ' 14* ,V\ U — i i /1 * Y v - « I » .-♦» '» ,il ;• ~*» W.i t > )ViKi HI* Buy any Deluxe burger and drink, and get an order of homemade fries for l<f (good only Mon.- Thurs.) 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