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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 26, 1981)
Viewpoint The Battalion October 26,1 Slouch By Jim Earle “It s the ultimate personalized check. It includes my account number, dorm address, home address, box number, laundry mark, forwarding address, driver’s license number, age, weight, GPR and my waist size!” Setting it straight on editorial policy I got a call the other day, wanting to know why I run such “garbage” on the edi torial page. The caller referred to several recent let ters that voiced “unpopular” opinions and wanted to know if I hated Texas A&M or was merely trying to degrade The Batta lion. It occurred to me that I should clarify the editorial policy for page two. I publish what people send in. I don’t solicit or necessarily agree with the opinions expressed. I merely publish them. The editorial page is an open forum for readers to express their views on issues that affect their lives at Texas A&M. The poli cies that have been set to govern what is run on that page include limits due to space constraints and limits of good taste. Good taste is not restricted to only those sentiments complimentary to the Universi ty or those held by a majority or vocal minority of students at Texas A&M. Letters must be signed and include the writer’s phone number and address. It is Angelique Copeland customary to include your class. When the letter is printed, some extra form of identifi cation will be published along with the name, either class or address, to aid in iden tification. On a campus of more than 35,000 students, duplicate names are not un common. Letters are never restricted to those that voice “popular” opinions. I invited the cal ler to submit his own “garbage for publica tion. The editorial page is, in large part, what you the reader make of it. The Battalion USPS 045 360 MEMBER Texas Press Association The Battalion also serves as a laboratory newspaper for Editor Aneelinue Conoland students in reporting, editing and photography classes ,, c-j.. ® T. L within the Department of Communications. 1 ° r cir< ^ rP^ Ce Questions or comments concerning any editorial matter City Editor Jane G. Brust should bc directed to the editor _ Asst. City Editor Kathy O Connell Photo Editor Dave Einsel Sports Editor Ritchie Priddy LETTERS POLICY Focus Editor Cathy Saathoff Asst. Focus Editor Debbie Nelson Letters to the Editor should not exceed 300 words in News Editors Phyllis Henderson length, and are subject to being cut if they are longer. The Bernie Fette, Belinda McCoy editorial staff reserves the right to edit letters for style and Diana Sultenfuss length, but will make every effort to maintain the author’s StaffWriters Gary Barker intent. Each letter must also be signed, show the address Frank L. Christlieb, Randy Clements and phone number of the writer. Gaye Denley, Nancy Floeck, Colette Hutchings Columns and guest editorials are also welcome, and are Denise Richter, Mary Jo Rummel, Rick Stolle not s ubj ect to the same length constraints as letters. XI l, , r> i • ir i Address all inquiries and correspondence to: Editor, The Nancy Weatherley, Barbie Woelfel Battalion, 216 Reed McDonald, Texas A&M University, Cartoonist Scott McCullar Co i le g e station, TX 77843. Graphic Artist Richard DeLeon Jr. Photographers Brian Fate The Battalion is published daily during Texas A&M’s fall Colin Valentine and spring semesters, except for holiday and examination periods. Mail subscriptions are $16.75 per semester, $33.25 EDITORIAL POLICY per school year and $35 per full year. Advertising rates furnished on request. The Battalion is a non-profit, self-supporting newspaper ® ur address: The Battalion, 216 Reed McDonald Build- operated as a community service to Texas A&\f University ' n 8> Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843. and Bryan-College Station. Opinions expressed in The Bat talion are those of the editor or the author, and do not United Press International is entitled exclusively to the necessarily represent the opinions of Texas A&XI Universi- ■ use ^ or reproduction oi all news dispatches credited to it. ty administrators or faculty members, or of the Board of Ri 8 ht; > of reproduction of all other matter herein reserved. Regents Second class postage paid at College Station, TX 77843. Warped On teaching mathematics Mathematics is viewed as a difficult sub ject by most students and a threat by some. Why is this? Part of the answer lies in the nature of the subject, its classical and ancient roots, its dynamic growth, and the claims for its pervasive applicability in mod ern society. Another part of the answer lies in the pressures created by large enroll ments, tight time schedules, and highly structured courses and sylabii. Yet another part of the answer lies with the instructor and whether good or bad pedogogy is used. Last, but not least, a part of the answer lies in the attitudes that students develop dur ing their formative years about mathmetics, its nature, and content. Mathematics, as taught in the usual cur riculum, is presented as a highly logical and deductive science. Unfortunately, it can lead to the (justifiable) belief by students that there is just one way to obtain a result. The “this is how you solve it” approach prevails. When viewed in this way, mathe matics seems dull and dead instead of the exciting alive subject that it is. Why is mathematics important? The answer simply is that it pervades and im pacts on our everyday lives, not just in the classroom. It has also become the language of science, engineeering, business, and other disciplines and is, perhaps, the world’s most important labor saving device. Ideally, the teacher of mathematics should strive to get the students to approach mathematics as fun. A key to suc cessful study of mathematics is to recognize that it can be played as a game with definite and specified rules. Students should be taught to solve problems with a view of understanding the principles involved as well as developing their skills. Turning to the actual role of the mathe matics department of Texas A&M, we find that the overview of the teaching function can be expressed as a mathematical prob lem . Around 38 percent of the student body Reader’s Forum (i.e. over 13,000 students) is currently en rolled in mathematics courses. The re sources of the department to handle this load are: 82 faculty members, 65 teaching assistants, and 35 graders. Moreover, the majority of the students are enrolled in either the engineering mathmematics or the business mathematics sequences. How do you solve the problem of offering and assigning these classes within the con straints of classroom size and availability, time patterns, and workload formulas? While the problem probably has several solutions, the one with the least amount of undesirable aspects is that these first and second year courses must come in two sizes: large and larger. It is also not trivial to solve the problem of staffing of both faculty and teaching assis tants. There is an official shortage, accord ing to the American Mathematical Society, of Ph. D. mathematicians in the academic market place. The graduate student pool at Texas A&M in mathematics provides less that half of our overall need of teaching assistants. Thus we must compete with other departments for the services of their graduate students to fulfill our needs. The mathematics department hires a number of foreign faculty. Most of these are very distinguished mathematicians and some are pre-eminent in their field. Moreover, the large majority have had con siderable experience in major American universities. Sometimes there are initial problems perceived by the students with a foreign faculty member. These pi usually center around accent, lanj style. With effort on both parties find that these problems either disap] become less significant after a few Our facidty also travel to other p] teach, lecture, or to do research, most visit other institutions intheU.S, do have some who travel to place! France, Germany, England, Israel, and other places. Mathemi form an international community lars. They meet in international ences (some on the campus ofTexasAI publish in international journals, change both long and short term each others institutions. A word about mathematical rese: order. Both pure and applied n carried on by various members of ouri ty. Of the five current faculty whohai teaching awards at Texas A&M, a! strong in research. Mathematicians see any dichotomy between reseaid teaching. They complement eachol Research is vital in a university sin! Texas A&M to keep the curriculum! h® 56 healthy, alive and relevant. From time to time students may problems in their mathematics couia there are problems with understands^^ content, they should see their instnd teaching assistant. For the lower courses, the departmental adminst stands ready to listen and help solve* the problem is bad study habits, skills, or poor motivaton, the sttii should recognize it as such and seekM ’f^ ts these areas. In anything that we can students with in the study of mathein we stand ready to serve. n ciety n, thi H.E.l Editor’s note: Lacey is head ofthede] ment of mathematics at Texas A&M It s your turn Traditions create special atmosphei Editor: A special feeling does exist on this cam pus. The simplicity of the traditions and friendships allows people from the city, and the farm to come together forming a unique place to be. There really is something spe cial about a large group of people standing, silently, individually in the dark, creating a union, a whole greater than the parts, a spirit of hope and giving rather than fight ing among themselves. In the nasty real world where competition is the violent way of life, it sure is a welcome feeling to have even a single moment of peace. Being an Aggie is something special, it can not be explained to anyone who has not experi enced it. It is as powerful an experience as any Theist could hope for; I am sorry Mr. Gross (among others) has not felt the Aggie Spirit. The most important point Mr. Gross failed to mention was that some people did think about the choice of Texas A&M as a place to grow and learn. In fact I was given this choice, and I picked this institution over any other spot on the earth. Texas A&M may not be the best school for you, but to me it is the only place to be. I’ve got the spirit. Do you?? ity, brotherhood, and friendliness. My father, Class of 1954, always said that at Texas A&M an individual left all of his dif ferences and airs outside of campus and came into a student body that was like one happy family. Diversity and individualism are fine when they don’t separate the stu dent body into social castes, and I fear that the admission of Greeks as on-campus orga nizations would only facilitate such divi- By King; it stu Ana' is no j exai ancie I the The uAan inple The nge i don’t care who you s\eep with, , \ * reminding us? ' 1 Lauren Wallingford ‘Statistics’ alarming By Texas A&M’s fine traditions must be kept paramount above the selfish wants of so- called “more fortunate” people and organi zations. Exclusive niches would be de trimental to the reputation of our school. In regard to Otto Boneta’s letter of October 7, in which the Corps is referred to as a so- called niche, need we remind anybody that the Corps is more than 80 years older than the non-reg student body? I would like to see this school continue on a path of fellow ship without inviting the preppie-like “bet ter than thou” attitudes of the Greeks. Editor: I am extremely surprised by thestai ment made by the Gay Student Sent Organization in The Battalion thatoneii Texas A&M students are gay. I thank« for enlightening me with your statistics I will be more careful in the comimii shower from this point on. oal. Tex: M staf cut of * m Steven A. James Block, ‘84 Christopher Douglas Finch Fred Pinkleton A word about traditi Editor: Donn Friedman University Oaks Bicyclist replies Greeks not needed Editor: Editor: I am writing in support of Brett Pea body’s letter of October 21. He has cap tured precisely the feelings I have concern ing the recognition of Greeks by the Uni versity. Having grown up near another S WC school and having many friends enrol led there, I have seen the snobbery and exclusive unfriendliness that go hand-in- hand with Greek kinship, and I must say that this type of attitude would not look good at Texas A&M at all. One of things that I have always admired about Texas A&M is its tradition of equal- I realize that bikers sometimes go too fast through crowds of people which is very dangerous. But, if people would just keep walking and not try to dodge bikers, life would sure be a lot easier for us bicyclists. If I am planning to ride around a pedestrian and he stops or moves just because I am near, my route has to be changed. By the way, if I happen to ride by some one and they tell me to slow down and then kick my front wheel out from under me, I would definitely get up and casually break their neck. So, just keep on walkin’ and let the biker do the anticipating. And, we’ll all be hap- Aggie traditions. I can think ofnootl | topic on campus that is characterized! | such extremism in opinions. To theexW | ists, I would like to suggest that Aggietr* tion, like all traditions, should beabe|| to help guide our future, rather (hat monument from the past to which allfutt direction must conform. f;hf Wribi Scant Jeff M | 502 Southwest Park'' , Don’t steal posters Editor: By Scott McCullar pier. AH, GOOD OL‘ HALF-T/^Ej IN THE FANTASTIC FIGHTItf TE..-.A5 AGGIE f - ^, THE. LARGEST BANP IN THE. COUAITR Y . UP AA/D DOWN THE FIELD, FIRING UP THE SPIRIT THE 12 T H MAN TO A Scott Satterwhite 2707 Evergreen Response to GSSO Editor: Why is it you gays insist on being recog nized solely on the basis of your sexual pre ferences and then turn around and com plain that people treat you differently be cause you’re gay? I know the bumper stick er reads “Steers and Queers, No Place but Austin,” but I don’t even wish you “guys” on t.u. Why don’t you just go back into the closet where you belong? The rest of us This letter is directed to all of you steal the posters that the various MSC- ! dent Committees make. The posters put up with an intention in mind. Ift wanted you to have them, they would? them away in the first place. At a recent meeting, Town Hall diso sed this problem. There are still 5,000tii ets left for the Charlie Pride concert nobody will know about it if the posters: all stolen. To put an alarm on or to guard el poster would be ridiculous, and oi rageous. The committees only hope is depend on the integrety of Aggies, 1 posters are there as means of advertisnii* and are essential to your knowing going on. Remember, Good Ags don’t std Holly Wright Town 4!