The Battalion
OPINION
Monday, August 27,1990
Opinion Page Editor Ellen Hobbs 845^1
ie Bat
londa
Students’ protests
may be effective
Last spring, construction began on a
new wing of the Memorial Student
Center. Twenty-six trees were cut down
or moved to make space for this
addition.
There were a lot of students who
were pretty upset about this. A lot of
moaning and groaning was going on
around campus. But in the end only a
handful of people made strong appeals
on behalf of the trees.
Why didn’t the majority of the people
who wanted the trees to stay speak up?
Because most people believe that
speaking up just doesn’t do any good,
especially in a case like this, when you’re
a lowly peon talking to the rich and
powerful people. Even if there are other
lowly peons who feel the same way.
Well, let me tell you a little story:
This May, Warren Hellmen, trustee
chairman at Mills College in Oakland,
Calif., announced the small, 138-year-
old women’s college would begin
admitting male students in the fall to
increase enrollment and improve Mills’
financial situation.
The Mills College student body was
less than thrilled with this plan. Most of
the women of Mills are there because
they prefer to be taught in a university
created for women. If they had wanted
to be coeds, they would have gone to a
coeducational facility.
The women of Mills protested the
decision. They went on strike. They tied
yellow ribbons around trees. They made
banners and posters and T-shirts. They
even got together with faculty, staff and
alumni and worked up a new plan for
financial support and enrollment
increases to present to the trustees.
Two weeks after the strike and
protests began, Hellmen appeared
before the students wearing the yellow
garb that was a sign of support for the
students’ cause and said, “All of you had
a lot of banners for us. Here’s one for
you.” Then he unfurled a banner that
read, “MILLS. For Women. Again.”
Ellen
Hobbs
Opinion Page Editor
You see, it’s not always so futile.
We need to realize the importance
and the effectiveness of protest. Not
rioting, not imposing on the rights of
others, not censorship or violence or
beligerence, but peaceful, positive
protest.
Some people seem to think that
protest is bad, somethingjust liberal
commies or religious zealots use to get
their own way. But our right to protest
gives us a lever to help us protect our
other rights.
Think about it. If you were billed too
much by the electric company and
called them up to ask them about it, and
they said, “So?” you wouldn’t just let
them get away with it. You’d go to their
offices. You’d write a letter. You’d
throw a little fit right there on the
phone.
But many people seem to feel there
are a lot of things that people or
companies or groups do to us, and even
though we don’t like it, there’s nothing
we can do about it, just because we’re us
and they’re them.
And maybe we can’t always win. But
sometimes we can. And we just can’t
know until we try.
If you feel like something needs to be
said about an injustice, or construction,
or gun control, or fireworks laws, or
whatever, stand up and say something.
Write a letter to a newspaper. Speak at a
meeting. Make a banner. Pass out fliers.
Join an organization. Try to convince
people that you’re right. Help find a
better way to do it. Protest!
Mail Call
Grading policy below ‘average’
EDITOR:
What is the point of retaking a class at Texas A&M if
you don’t end up with the grade you deserve?
It is odd that other universities will give a student a
grade for a class that is based upon the student’s under
standing of the subject whether they have taken the class
for a second time or not. But here at A&M, if a student
takes a class more than once, their grades for the class are
averaged. So if a student fails algebra once and gets an A
the second time, their grade is a C.
This policy is ridiculous and unfair to the students. It
punishes students for having the drive to try to improve
their grade-point ratio and their understanding of the sub
ject because even the highest grade in the class will warrent
a mediocre GPR.
The grading policy should be changed. Rather than av
eraging the grades of retaken classes, the new grade should
replace the old one and credit should only be given fortJ
ing one class. 1
James Saxon, graduate student
Savannah Gorrell ’91
EDITOR’S NOTE: The 1989-90 Texas A&M Undergrad
uate Catalog says: “Credit for a course failed may 1* J
tained only by registering and repeating the course ij
class. The original grade will remain on the student’s pe r .
manent record, and both grades will be used in compm,
ing the GPR. An F or U previously made is not removed
once the course is passed.”
Have an opinion ? Express it!
Letters to the editor should not exceed 300 words in length. The editorial staff ri .
serves the right to edit letters for style and length, but will make every effort tom,,
tain the author’s intent. There is no guarantee that letters submitted a,jDjJ
printed. Each letter must be signed and must include the classification, addnssai:
telephone number of the writer.
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The Battalion Editorial Board
Cindy McMillian,
Editor
Timm Doolen, Managing Editor
Ellen Hobbs, Opinion Page Editor
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Kristin North,
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Adventures In Cartooning
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2, are boxed and shaded, and
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Well, that’s it —Page 2 in a
nutshell. Keep forming f
opinions, and happy reading
Ellen Hobbs is a senior
journalism major. 0t ,
by Don Atkinson Jr
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