Dear 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