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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 4, 1987)
Page 2/The Battalion/Friday, September 4, 1987 Opinion Computer access There’s a new fee in town — its name is “computer access.” Unannounced and completely unexpected, it sneaked onto our fee slips this semester. It seemed to be quietly and strategically stuffed between the student center complex fee and the student I.D. card fee. Now, along with the ever- unpopular student service fees and building use fees, we will pay $3 per semester hour for access to computers that we may or may not use. Sondra Pickard Few — if any — outside the Texas A&M administration are welcoming computer access with open arms. In fact, I have yet to Find one student who’s remotely positive about it, or even neutral. Most are outraged. Everyone’s confused. “Why should I have to pay for something I won’t ever use?” they ask. “How can they do this to us? It’s just not fair.” The confusion and outrage are understandable and probably were expected by the administration. But when fees are created or raised, temporary student chaos is bound to result. To help ease the pain, a brief explanation for the computer access lee accompanied our fee slips. It doesn't say much, and it doesn’t come close to easing the pain. But now that we’re stuck with the fee, it’s time to stop crying and start giving a little thought to what the administration is up to and just what we’ll be getting for our precious computer access dollars. It did appear on our fee slips as if out of nowhere, but the possibility and feasibility of such a fee was considered for more than two years before it actually went into effect. There is a definite need for more and better computer facilities on this campus. Figures compiled by the University clearly indicate that student computer use on this campus has skyrocketed since 1980. But it takes money to maintain and expand what we already have, and that money is never easy to come by. The state’s not in the habit of giving handouts whenever A&M is in need, so another source of income is needed. The idea of charging every student for computer access is new, but A&M is certainly not alone in its experiment. Groups of A&M administrators and professors from each college researched the issue and found that at least 50 public colleges and universities nationwide had some kind of computer access fee ranging from $1 per semester hour to $ 150 per semester. It seems to be the best method of ensuring that students have total access to computers whenever they need it. And A&M’s $3 per semester hour rate is especially easonable when compared to those at some other schools. Scotland, like Europe, should discover joys of shower bathing IRVINE, Scotland — This is a wonderful country. The scenery is breathtaking. The tiny villages are charming, and the Scottish people are open and giving, have marvelous senses of humor, and many of them look like they just walked out of a Bobby Burns poem. But I discovered something about Scotland I have discovered in many other parts of Europe. These people have not figured out the rather simple theory of the shower bath despite the fact they have had centuries upon centuries to do it. To be completely comfortable, I absolutely must have a shower, one that stays hot for more than 45 seconds and offers more in the way of water pressure than a slow sprinkle. During the first days of my trip here to play the storied golf courses of this country, I stayed at Rufflet’s Inn in historic St. Andrews. Nice place, nice people, good food and good drink. But the shower in my room was pitiful. It couldn’t have wetted down a cat, much less a fully grown person like me. And, predictably, 45 seconds into my shower, which was just enough to wet my feet and under one arm and get shampoo in my hair, the water turned cold. Desperate, I got out of the shower and heated some water in the coffee pot and poured it over my head and got shampoo in my eyes. Blinded, I wandered into the hallway trying to find a towel when the door to my room locked behind me. Realizing I was outside my room with no clothes on, I hid in a maintenance closet wiping the shampoo out of my eyes with a mop. I remained hidden until the maid came and unlocked the door to clean the room. I walked in holding the mop in a strategic position. The maid screamed and ran out of my room and told the desk clerk there was some pervert upstairs doing something strange with a mop. Luckily, the authorities didn’t press charges as long as I agreed to leave town as soon as possible. So I traveled to Montgreenan Mansion, a small, delightful hotel near Irvine. They didn’t have any showers there, and I was forced to take my first tub bath since my rubber ducky had a blowout. I hate bathing in a tub. It takes forever to fill a tub, and you have to be a contortionist to get in and out of one, and I don’t like washing my face in water I’ve been sitting in. We really could help the Europeans improve their standard of living if we could show them what a shower is and how it should work. In the spirit of Lend-Lease and the Peace Corps, perhaps we could send over a team of plumbers to enlighten our friends abroad on the latest in bathing techniques. Also, I’d like to say a few words about European toilets, and as soon as I figure out how to flush one, I will. Copyright 1987, Cowles Syndicate Lewis Grizzard The Battalion (USPS 045 360) Member of Texas Press Association Southwest Journalism Conference The Battalion Editorial Board Sondra Pickard, Editor John Jarvis, Managing Editor Sue Krenek, Opinion Page Editor Rodney Rather, City Editor Robbyn Lister, News Editor Loyd Brumfield, Sports Editor Tracy Staton, Photo Editor Editorial Policy The Battalion is a non-profit, self-supporting newspaper oper ated as a community service to Texas A&M and Bryan-College Station. Opinions expressed in The Battalion are those of the editorial board or the author, and do not necessarily represent the opinions of Texas A&M administrators, faculty or the Board of Regents. The Battalion also serves as a laboratory newspaper for stu dents in reporting, editing and photography classes within the De partment of Journalism. The Battalion is published Monday through Friday during Texas A&M regular semesters, except for holiday and examina tion periods. Mail subscriptions are $17.44 per semester, $34.62 per school year and $36.44 per full year. Advertising rates furnished on re quest. Our address: The Battalion, 216 Reed McDonald, Texas A&M Universitv, College Station, TX 77843-4111. Secona class postage paid at College Station, TX 77843. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Battalion, 216 Reed McDonald, Texas A&M University, College Station TX 77843-4111. fee a good move for A&M C< For example, the University of Michigan, which is on the quarter system instead of our semester system, charges every student $50 per quarter for computer access. Engineering and business majors pay $ 100 per quarter. And some universities make it mandatory to buy a computer upon entering school. idea is under consideration and that there is a trend toward such fees in Texas and nationwide. Warlick says it simply is not possible to charge students for exactly how much they use computers and that equal access is the best idea. Although it doesn’t charge a computer access fee at this time, The University of Texas will probably do so within the next year. Dr. Charles Warlick, the director of the Computation Center at UT, says the A&M’s fee is chicken scratch for what we’re getting. We shouldn’t complain about fees when the state tuition we pay is among the lowest in the nation. If it didn’t come in the form of an itemized fee, it would have eventually come in the form of higher tuition, which would have caused more of a ruckus. The computer access f ee will be to support and expand student computing use only — not facultu administrative computer use. Thw who never use computers on camp, and say they never will, probably should. A time may come when the wish for access to a computer, whe: to do a research paper or workana problem. When it does, instead of wishing they had paid for compuir at the beginning of the semester,t!" can use any of the facilities on catr: with no hassle. or Sondra Pickard is a seniorjoum. major and editor ofThe Battalion A Wfr-^TEXA^ MAftSUUES ©tf37 FP5T — IB| ^ .S. Re his coneeri and explai the Medic tion Act in morning Courthous i‘1 am n Mail Call cause it is ; kills peop ,standing-n “It has I homosexu; Kyle Field belongs to students EDITOR: “Come and see us practice” says Jackie Sherrill. “Come early, we will be glad to have you.” Right. If you’re so glad to have us watch the football team practice, why did you turn Kyle Field into Huntsville maximum security prison? When you first came to Texas A&M you started the 12th man kick-off team, which was a fine contribution to this school. Five years and two Cotton Bowls later, you have sent a message to the 12th man that we can’t even be trusted on our own Kyle Field. The addition of chain-link gates on all of the port-holes and the policy of locking the outside fence to the field not only angers us, it makes us wonder —what is the point of the 12th man? This is not a personal attack on Jackie Sherrill but on all of those involved with the closing of Kyle Field in the evenings. I enjoyed jogging on the track at night. Being allowed in the stadium at night gave me a sense of belonging to the University and its football team. I don’t think it is right for a school to grow at the expense of its students or for a field to be resurfaced at the expense of its joggers. I thought what made this school special and different was that the school belonged to the students. The closing of Kyle Field is very disappointing and it really makes me think that A&M probably is just becoming “one of the other universi ties.” nous drug “A year ago, A&M was a hot commodity, a legitim spreading national contender that was heralded from the Atlant ulauon; 3' the Pacific. LSU, in the season opener, burst A&M’s from it aln bubble 35-17, a victory aided in no small measure by llifr) ler ^ are # » ' uTi, V-....... Aggies’ pregame braggadocio. “ ‘They were so arrogant,’ Tiger guard Ralph Norwood said, ‘that it was hard to ignore. Coach (E who have people wb get it you’t ^Tiarton t Arnsparger just kept telling us to let them do the talkitiij^® Jason Oakley ’90 Bill Hampton ’88 Aggie pride is justifiable EDITOR: As a resident of the state of Louisiana, an avid football fan and a proud Aggie mom, I have been looking forward to Saturday, when A&M hosts LSU at Kyle Field. After reding an article by Marty Mule in the August 31 New Orleans Times-Picayune, I felt compelled to write this letter. Mr. Mule’s article was titled “Aggies aren’t bragging this year.” He said, in part: before the game. We’ll do the talking after the game, drome Hi “It worked out just that way. But the Aggies arequifP 60 !^ 6 wl in College Station now.” ah( Maybe the Aggies aren’t bragging this year, but this Aggie mom is. Last year was my first venture to Tiger / / _ f Stadium, legendary for the awesome spirit of LSU f jI students and fans. But instead of being awed by their spirit, I came away with a different impression and one wash I that gives me reason to brag. delegation I can brag about the 17 Aggies I entertained inm' ^ )e pai home last year for the A&M-LSU weekend. They were center ir/lJ fun, well-mannered, helpful and gracious. The new I can brag about the remarkable good-sportsmansl^JT ln Ho displayed by all of them when they did not responding a&jvi'^'T like manner to the insults and harassment (t hat "aweso^jj^^ al H LSU spirit) hurled at them by LSU students and fans form a cem before, during and after the game. Iif rc h I can brag about an Aggie in our group who Lloyd Ben exemplified Aggie sportsmanship. After the game, in pay half of response to an insult from an LSU fan, he told thepers f The lett that he had every right to be proud of LSU for winning^chard e. game, but that we were just as proud of our team andt r r - John his insults were unwarranted. The LSU fan, embarasstf and unable to reply, cowered away with his “awesome spirit somewhat diminished. I can brag that when LSU visits Kyle Field Saturda' they will find a spirit there quite unlike their own. Agg 11 are not arrogant; they are justifiably proud. Beat the hell out of LSU, Aggies! Carol Schmidt Letters to the editor should not exceed 300 words in length. The editorials^ serves the right to edit letters for style and length, but will make ever] $ maintain the author's intent. Each letter must be signed and must includtlli sification, address and telephone number of the writer. BLOOM COUNTY by BerKe Bread I'M SORRY I CAN’T CONTtNUe. m T1RCP OF Be INC dCZN 60LBLY A5 AN O&JCCT OF LUOT. ms. Neweeer... if ONLY YOU COULP THINK OF MON A 5 OOMewm OTHFK WAN 6FX 5LA&5 of FAceceoo cove FLedH. \ I'M CLAP m you co. on m m mm