Page 2/The Battalion/Tuesday, October 20, 1987
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 Sta
tion.
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 students
in reporting, editing and photography classes within the Depart
ment of Journalism.
The Battalion is published Monday through Friday during
Texas A&M regular semesters, except for holiday and examination
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
University, College Station, TX 77843-4 111.
Second class postage paid at College Station, TX 77843.
POSTMASTtR: Send address changes to The Battalion, 216
Reed McDonald, Texas A&M University, College Station TX
77843-4111.
Stock shock
Comparisons to the Great Crash of 1929 are inevitable fol
lowing the worst day in stock market history, but the free-fall
isn’t cause for panic.
Monday’s statistics are morbidly fascinating: The Dow Jones
industrial average plummeted by 508.32 points, or 22.4 percent.
By midday, panic selling had smashed the volume trading re
cord set Friday. The “CBS Evening News” reported investors
lost an estimated $500 billion, and markets in Europe and Asia
posted record losses.
But don’t be too quick to declare this another Great Depres
sion. Other factors make it unlikely the drop will trigger an epic
economic downturn. The economy is stronger now than it was
in 1929, and regulations now prevent many of the speculative
practices that gave the 1929 crash its devastating impact. Most
bankers and economists are declaring the drop a needed adjust
ment in a market where prices were artificially inflated.
The Great Depression permanently scarred our nation,
making it unlikely that we will ever view a market plunge with
anything other than trepidation. It’s tempting to draw parallels
between 1987 and 1929, but it’s more important to realize that
sometimes history really doesn’t repeat itself.
Vietnam redux?
President Reagan’s decision to bomb Iranian sea platforms
in the Persian Gulf further escalates tensions in the already-vola-
tile area. More important, it points out the folly of entering a re
gion without a clear-cut policy.
Administration officials have said they underestimated Ira
nian resistance when making the decision to reflag Kuwaiti tank
ers in the gulf. Because of ineptitude in planning, the nation is
in a no-win situation. If we stay, we risk escalation into a Viet-
nam-style war. If we leave, we appear to have caved in to the ter
roristic threats of a third-rate nation.
The dilemma could have been avoided had there been a
coherent policy for gulf intervention, but President Reagan in
stead has used a “make it up as you go along” strategy that now
is endangering American lives, perhaps needlessly. It’s time for
the uncertainty to end and the War Powers Act to take effect.
The act would force the United States either to make a firm
commitment — backed by Congress — in the region or to get
out. The decision will not be easy, but at least if the War Powers
Act goes into effect there will be a decision — and that is some
thing the American people deserve when there’s so much at
stake.
Mail Call
Liberal bias? Couldn't be
EDITOR:
Once again I’ve read an article in your rag newspaper about why Pat
Robertson is unqualified to be president. Your columnist points to the
following reasons:
a) He is a preacher, and no preacher is qualified.
b) He has no previous experience in government.
c) He has an illegitimate child, an obvious morality problem.
The strange thing is that Jesse Jackson’s characteristics are as follows:
a) He is a preacher, and no preacher is qualified.
b) He has no previous experience in government.
c) He has an illegitimate child, an obvious morality problem.
Could this possibly be an example of liberal bias in The Battalion} Naaa,
couldn’t be.
Kevin Albright
grad student
Right to free sleep?
EDITOR:
Now that we are in college and have freedom to establish the lifestyles
best suited for us, how many people get up at 6 a.m.? Most try to sleep later
whenever possible, except for two groups of students: the unfortunate 8 a.m.
class attenders and the Corps of Cadets. The students in 8 a.m. classes often
are forced there by scheduling problems, but the cadets are there by choice.
Since the rest of the student body is not in the Corps, why should the
Corps or its outfits dictate the times at which non-Regs wake up?
I am referring to the Corps’ early-morning “sing and run.” Hart Hall,
one of the oldest dorms on campus, seems to be the best route for this
event. In the past month, residents have been awakened by singing 12 times,
always between 6 a.m. and 6:45 a.m. The culmination occurred at 6:20 a.m.
Oct. 13, when an outfit leader yelled, “All right, let’s wake these non-reg m—
-f—-sup!” 5
Repeated efforts by. Hart’s staff through the Area Office and the Corps of
Cadets leader has not improved the situation. I know Highway 6 runs both
ways, but can’t the Corps run elsewhere?
Rusty Rowe ’90
accompanied by 63 signatures
Althougi
and s
icmbershi
[>f the almo
I’t offu
J Diversity.
Panhelle
|>ody for ti
s, has m
bgnition at
bear futur
President N
“Panhell
\ view on r<
enior com
“We war
he sororit
fanhellenic
Elaine h
liser, saic
Icial recog
lause most
through ru
Ignized.
There is
bsearchinj
Ifficial re<
Student apathy apalling
but you get used to it m
Four years ago,
I entered Texas
A&M to study
engineering. I
expected to be
challenged by
professors who
would demand
my best. I
expected to be
surrounded by
dedicated
students who
Brian
Frederick
would stimulate me to greater
achievement. I thought college would
develop my mind.
Two semesters in college was enough
to deliver me from this delusion.
how to plug those numbers into the
proper sequence of formulas in order to
arrive at the correct answer. For those
who can’t handle this, there is always a
handy solutions’ manual to lean on.
Besides, the professor often
subsidizes the incompetence by curving
the wretched test scores up to
respectability.
I thought that engineers too often
displayed a disdain for the correct use
of the English language. Again and
again I heard them abuse it and then
excuse themselves saying, “I’m an
engineer; I’m not supposed to use good
English.”
At first, the apathy of students
toward acquiring knowledge appalled
me. The Latin root for “student” means
to be zealous for something, in this case
for knowledge. Many Aggies were
zealous only for partying and football
games, and I hadn’t realized that these
things were worthy of such diligent
study. I wondered why it was necessary
to come to college to study them.
This is the result of training that
leaves them almost wholly ignorant of
any subject other than engineering.
Why should they learn English if they
won’t need it on the job? I initially failed
to appreciate such important
considerations.
. , , —p M1DLAI
would try to take the toughest | ^ tesle( j
professors who would truly chalkij on Monday
him. But again and again, IsawsiuiSgery, it ha
drop a course in droves if theyhadrj P l| Hed Iron
misfortune of getting a professoniB^ J < ^ OI j t
expo led them to leai n somethi:.;j. neJsTonle
order to pass the course. Those.'..: “] think, we
knew that there was more toeduci® Tl' e
than book learning, while mycor.;: the well Fri
education was apparently hopelesslf ^ * lours > v
outmoded. afu ;' M,,n
said
In all fairness, 1 must confesstkB Jessica’s
desire to learn does remainintlic anc ^
classroom. Students still want tola Bg cu * at ' on
the answers to the importantquc9:H
of life: “What is on the test?Dow®
to know this for the test? Isthefini|
comprehensive?”
I ntellectual curiousity isdearlT
and well at Texas A&M.
In addition to disdainingli
many students hate and envy
excel. 1 know several peoplewhott
I discovered it was necessary to come
to get an education. Actually, the
education itself doesn’t matter as long
as students acquire a piece of paper that
says they have an education. This is
what magically opens the door to what
they really want: a job.
These attitudes and the narrow
curriculum encouraged me to change to
liberal arts after my sophomore year. As
much as engineering interested me, I
could not bear the thought of being a
number-cruncher tied for the rest of my
life to an HP calculator.
Besides, history had always been my
first love, and I still hoped to find the
education I had first come for.
Even though most jobs don’t really
require a college education, everyone
still expects you to have that little piece
of paper that says you have an
education. If you don’t, they won’t hire
you.
I was not so enlightened when I
began my study of the mysteries of
engineering. I thought I would have to
work hard. But I soon found that
engineering hardly merits its
reputation for academic rigor. The
curriculum includes basic math and
science courses whose theoretical
content is greatly diluted.
I discovered the same kind of
students in liberal arts. There they seek
the professor with the shortest reading
list and the multiple-choice exams. God
forbid that they should have to read
more than two books, take essay tests, or
(horror of horrors) write a paper. As a
matter of course, they generally avoid
real math and science courses too.
Because engineering is supposed to
be practical, studying theory is
discouraged. Heaven help the
professor who dares require that his
students derive a formula or
understand the theory behind it.
All that is truly necessary is to learn
Engineers are not alone in desiring
curved tests. In my second-semester
Latin class, we had a graduate instructor
from Belgium who expected us to learn
Latin and whose tests reflected that
expectation.
The class did poorly on the first exam
and asked her if she would curve the
grades. With bewilderment on her face,
she asked what a curve was. My
classmates were shocked and have
maligned her ever since. Poor woman!
She mistakenly thought she should
teach us something.
I had thought that a good student
classmates have hissed at them b B|
their superlative grades wrecWi* | ?
class curve. Have mercy! Wedidi* 1 1
know it was a sin to do ourbestits t i
you can take comfort in the fact til S
would put us to shame in Pamiri g
Ref using to take responsibility K
their failures, these same stude® 1 |i
hate excellence always haveancssH
for their own poor performance^ I-
have I heard a student confesstil 1 1:
earned the “D” on his testbeautej
failed to study; it was always some’H
else’s fault. Perhaps a general lad* *
study explains the universal Wit’ll'
luck” before a test. Subconscious? I
students know they willneedit f
Though oases still exist in the I
educational desert at Texas APB
those who want them, Icametotf k
1 had been wrong to expectcofe
develop my mind. It’s not even |
important that one may fmdeif || ;
who respect the Englishlangua? |-
what if they can read their dipt i
The important thing is to geld I
little paper that says you’reedu^ |
and entitles you to ajob.
I must confess. After 1 saw it'll
cheated. I could not complete, j
my ideals, so I studied a lit:
own. I hope nobody minds.
Brian Frederick is a senior fiisij
Russian major and a column^'
Battalion.
BLOOM COUNTY
by Berke Breai
Yfi'W'YA' W
■ /\
THIS !5 (T'.-rme
WALKOUT/
no OFFeNse.
NONe
TAK6N.
/
Letters to the editor should not exceed 300 words in length. The editorial staff reserves the right to edit letters
for style and length, but will make every effort to maintain the author’s intent. Each letter must be signed and
must include the classification, address and telephone number of the writer.