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
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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.”
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