The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, April 07, 1988, Image 19

The Battalion., April 07, 1988, Image 19

Image provided by: Texas A&M University

About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 7, 1988)

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Newspaper Page TextDear Readers: Day after day. you sit in your classes and listen to your professors rattle off facts, derive mathematical equations and lecture about the best way to do something. But have you ever thought about the people behind the roles? Are you being taught by the best in the field? What qualifications do your professors have? This week, At Ease looked into the situation of faculty rating. People often say that AScM is one of the top-notched schools in the nation. But have you ever wondered if the faculty has anything to do with that? Our main story reveals lots of numbers and statistics on the qualifications of the A&M faculty members. According to the Gourman Report, which ranks the undergraduate programs of American universities, A&M is among the better. And many of deans and department heads feel that the faculty has a lot to do with this. Secondly, we wanted to know how the quality of the teachers can be commented on by the students themselves. After all. students can sometimes provide the best guidelines of quality for administrators to look at when recommending the faculty for tenure or promotion. Hence the end-of-the-semesier evaluation. This story looks into what happens to these questionaires after they are filled out With an issue devoted to the faculty at A&M, we had to look hard fora student to profile. But we found one who is just as important to the faculty as he is to the students. He serves as a liaison between the faculty and students senates, and has his hands full cooperating with both bodies. Finally, our Aggienizing Answers section also looks into the teacher evaluations, but this time from a student angle. We asked students whether they thought their opinions on these evaiuations actually mattered, and most said no. At Ease Staff Editor Assistant editor Senior staff writer Staff writers Movie Reviewer Music Reviewer Photographers Lydia Berzsenyi Lee Schexnaider Staci Finch Leslie Guy Lawson Reilly Matthew Stewart Shane Hall Fred Joe Eric Roalson How good are our profs? 8 How do professors and departments at Texas A&M compare with others throughout the country? This week we looked at what people outside the University thought about A&M. We also talked to professors and administrators on this campus to see how our school sizes up against others in the country. Teacher evaluations 10 It’s the end of the semester and a teacher evaluation form is plopped on your desk. You have definite things to say about your professor, but will he see the form, much less take into account what it says? At Ease found out what happens to these forms after they leave your hands. Liason Profile 7 This week we interviewed a student representative to the Faculty Senate to see who lets the faculty know what the students feel. Aggienizing Answers 7 What do students think about the teacher evaluations they receive at the end of the semester? Are they worth the ten minutes it takes to fill them out? See inside to find out what other students think about them. Live Music 4 Shane says that even though the attendance was low, Rusty Wier put on a good show with original songs and good stage humor. Album Review 4 Shane says the album “Birth, School, Work, Death” by Godfathers shows how good European music can be. It is not a pop-disco album, but it represents a less than optimistic view of life. Movie Reviews 5 Matt looks at “Biloxi Blues” and says it’s a good comedy, and the new Robert Redford movie, “The Milagro Beanfield War,” seems to be a little overdone. Cover photo by Fred Joe Thursday, April 7,1988/At Ease/Page 3