ties of li[ t 'ill have; ' deal wif 1 be sonij !an on ea c h other *t each ii e for Glert lt ^ ist Churcf coach Jofc etic direct 1 attend!.! Y at 10 a,r ’Chool aui: team wij e backoff the season. ces conductir trongly sit allergies:: e amount: 'as receive ‘d the pro'; re of the h ie proble; df," he said will hand: jilding, an: will try; througho: d. ranentsoli truct the ai: , which is t, he said, ors and K le for cot ses erms a 1 : council I that the in- immediate- o "a joint® and maten- of the Uft harged wit weapons stimated 24 hours It ments, lat not alii needed fo ertain wfie; actually h ★★★ i to tAS of •nber. Opinion Friday, September 27, 1991 The Battalion Page 11 EDITORIAL Editorials expressed in The Battalion are those of the editorial board and do not necessarily represent the opinions of Texas A&M administrators, faculty or the Board of Regents. r Red means stop! Traffic on Texas Avenue and University Drive is dangerous enough dur ing our community's "rush minutes" without having to worry about cars running stoplights. Motorists seem to be participating in a new and serious trend: ignoring the red light for four or five seconds after it changes and just plowing through. We've seen this happen at most intersections in Bryan-College Station. The problem is perpetuated by the fact that when three or four cars go through a red light, they take time away from other people's green light. These people in turn disregard a few seconds of their red light to make up lost time. Besides being risky, running red lights is against the law. A quick lesson in the rules of the road: green means go and red means stop. Now if every one woujd kindly remember this, we'd all be a little safer and less stressed behind the wheel. The Battalion Editorial Board Respect decision of alleged assault victim Large percentage of cadets still do not respect women After reading Carrie Cavalier's column, I can't allow the opinions of a few ignorant individuals to set the rest of the public's standards. Also let's get some facts straight. First of all, the movie Cavalier re ferred to is The Lords of Dis cipline by Pat Conroy. The group was "the 10." While similar incidents occur in the Corps of Cadets, this book is far from estab lishing a parallel. I suggest that before Cavalier makes anymore uneducated as sumptions she join the Corps . i. and get an education. Next, I would like to address the alleged victim. I stand behind you 194 percent! As a former member of the Corps, I sympathize with you be cause 1 myself was in your position a year ago. I was physically abused by other cadets which resulted in injuries as well as extreme mental duress. 1 suf fered three broken ribs and various lacerations and bruises. My anxieties got the better of me and I left the Corps as well as a scholarship and a career opportunity. My mistake was not saying anything. 1 now realize 1 should have come forward. However, I did not wish to become the object of public scrutiny due to previous conditions within my outfit prior to this incident. I have requested my name be withheld to ensure the integrity of my former outfit. This cadet has made a brave deci sion. The public should respect her request for privacy. A public expose' could do tre mendous damage to this cadet's sta tus within certain circles, as it no doubt already has. By no means should this incident go unpunished, but let's not punish the victim. There's already enough of that. Reader's Opinion The author's name was withheld by the editor. In response to the letter to the edi tor regarding groups acting recklessly, the author does have a point. How ever, being an individual in the Corps is a very difficult task. The cadets are taught unity. The Corps believes in strength through unity, per unitatum vis. To Hans Hansen, there are more dedicated cadets than you know. Not only is the Corps an extra-curricular ac tivity, there are many other organizations, such as Recon Company, Rudder's Ranger^ nir-.and Fish Drill Team, which ^e-r quire even more physical training, rm and these are all voluntary! When Recon Company was out at 4 a.m. last Saturday, 1 bet you were just getting home from a beer guz zling marathon! When women were allowed into the Corps, many cadets would not ac cept them. There still are those who do not accept them. It has been my experience that these people, unfortunately, make up a large percentage of the Corps. However, there are those who are willing to accept integration of the Corps but who have a tendency to re main in the background. It is for their own protection. Finally, in regard to Parsons' Mounted Cavalry, this is by no means an all male organization. I am sure the cadets on Parsons' Mounted Cav alry are very offended by this miscon ception. Female cadets are an integral part of the Corps. The next time you see a female cadet, practice a little anti-discrimina tion and common courtesy and do not stare! She just wants to be a part of the only fraternity on campus and the oldest tradition at Texas A&M — the Fightin' Texas Aggie Corps of Cadets. OK- uMATs Vou^ 1-johAETCcukl, MA'tx' £(9PAT ujv-\at Voov^l £oALS? Vo ug l MV£.MT\\J& anonthdtu/Box w e ALWAYS VTOZU I 'n" c>\/- / y I 1=? I? -ZI T? P- -‘S'PPVT STOOL- OLVAAPICS, TEND Bp TO BE A AT AN EATING ESTAB>klSH/vsENT L-lTTLEr G R.D>£>3> AT we O^TEN DID NOTUSE Tiyv\ES ^ w E R R B^TECTFUU TD CM ICVCS WAL-^INO OUTSIDE OOR PdRW ^ “ iini)/;jjl)))||| I] H'SPe.c.iALL.'r I IFTHE-Y HAOj G YA Z©N GAS} Bush set unrealistic goals for educational reform R ecently I ran across an article about the educa tional goals of our nation set by President Bush, the nation's governors and the U.S. Department of Education at the education summit in 1989. The arti cle, published in October 1990, stated the six national goals (which are somewhat ridiculous, as you will soon see) and the steps that must be taken for theses goals to be reached (which are even more ridiculous). This article reminded me of the statement Bush made during his 1988 campaign about wanting to be the "education president." Well, seeing it is three years later and test scores have dropped at a steady rate. I'd like to say he is do ing a poor job at being a president who is sup posed to be concerned about education. The un obtainable goals set by him and his political coworkers probably are the reason nothing has yet been accomplished in improving education. As taken from the article mentioned above, here are the national goals: • "All children will start school ready to learn." One of the steps listed for this goal to be reached was, "Children will receive the nutrition and health care needed to arrive at school with healthy minds and bodies..." Though it sounds quite nice, this goal is impossible with the current state of our nation. Many children are from disadvantaged homes with abusive or drug using parents who fail to feed these children properly, much less take them to get proper health care! -- - ' Another step listed for this goal to be reached was, "...all disadvantaged and disabled children will have ac cess to high quality and developmentally appropriate preschool programs to help them prepare for school." This is also another good idea, but someone should have informed our state government that more of these pro grams should be implemented instead of taken away; our lawmakers should find some other way to remedy state budget woes. • "The high school graduation rate will increase to at least 90 percent." Tm not sure if the president and other political leaders are living in a dream world or what, but we're going to deal in reality. One of the steps suggested for this was, "The gap in high school graduation rates between students from mi nority backgrounds and their non-minority counterparts will be eliminated." Obviously our political system fails to realize that the things plaguing our minority commu nities are drugs and gangs, and until we remedy those situations, there will he little hope for closing a gap in graduation rates. We must find a solution to end drugs and stop gangs so that those participating in such will want to finish school and go on to better things. ♦ "Students will leave grades four, eight and 12 hav ing demonstrated competency in challenging subject matter including English, mathematics, science, history and geography; every school will ensure that all students learn to use their minds will so they may be prepared for responsible citizenship, further learning and productive employment." To obtain this goal, practically the entire education system would need to be revamped. Teachers and administrators must take their jobs Tanya Williams Williams is a sophomore journalism major. more seriously and find more ways to spark interest in students. It will be necessary to have better qualified, better prepared teachers who take an interest in truly teaching the student. One of the suggested strategies for reaching this goal included involving students in activi ties that "promote and demonstrate good citi zenship." It is important to realize there are a number of students who don't even know where the United States is located in relation to the rest of the world. How will students develop "good citizenship" for a country they don't know the location of? Another strategy suggested was to educate students on "the diverse cultural heritage of this nation." Though this again is a good idea, it will call for a complete change in the teaching of history. Where many cultures are skimmed or completely skipped over by teachers and text books, they will have to be included. ♦ "U.S. students will be first in the world in science and mathematics." This goal will be the simplest of all to effectively incorporate into the present education system. Competent math and science educators must be found and math and science must be taught so that the negative stigma of those subjects are removed. • "Every adult will be literate and possess the knowledge and skills necessary to compete in a global economy and exercise the rights and responsibilities of citizenship." This goal sounds great, but again it truly will be difficult to accomplish. The number of those dropping out of high school is growing, not shrinking. It will be difficult to get adults to go back to school, not to mention the difficulty for those wanting to return to find money to send themselves back to school. • "Every school will be free of drugs and violence and will offer a disciplined environment conducive to learning." This one, by far, will be the most difficult to achieve. As our drug problem grows more out of hand, this hope of having schools "free of drugs and violence" gets further out of reach. Since the end of August when school started for students in Houston, there have been two fatal shootings at Houston area high schools. Now that we know what Bush has had in store for the education system for three years, I ask you, have you seen any steps taken to try to reach these goals? I appreciate the fact that the president cared enough to seem as if he wanted to reform the ills of the educa tional system. But if nothing is going to be done to try to reach these goals, there is no sense in suggesting them. Also, before suggesting goals be reached by any date, in this case the year 2000, it is important to make them fea sible. 1 respect Bush for his part in the Persian Gulf crisis and for other good decisions he has made for our nation al safety, but it seems he has forgotten who he is protect ing. it is wonderful to protect our great country as a land mass. But if the people on this land mass continue to deteriorate, there is no sense in protecting the country itself. I plead with the president to please consider the goals he has introduced and do something about them ... he can start by revising them. Mail Call Corps of Cadets promotes unity A few points from Brian Boney's letter and Hans Hansen's letter need to be cleared up as well as any other misconceptions about the al leged beating of the female Corps member. As a member of last year's Corps staff, I speak from experience. This incident is not rep resentative of the Corps. The individuals who al legedly committed this senseless act are the "bad apples" found in every group. They are not tolerated and those found guilty wijl be brought to justice by the Corps and the University. That I am sure of. The Corps does not try to hide acts such as these. The reason Commandant Sher man and Tim Piper say "no com ment" is not out of cowardice, but out of prudence. An act such as the alleged beat ing will be handled by the Com mandant's Office and the Universi ty, not by Corps members, because of its severity. Hove on opinion? Express iti The Battalion is interested in hearing from its readers. All letters to the editor are welcome. Written letters must be signed and include classification, address and daytime phone pumber for verification purposes. Anonymous letters will not be published. The Battalion reserves the right to edit all letters for length, style and accuracy. There is no guarantee letters will appear. Letters may be brought to 013 Reed McDonald, sent to Campus Mai I Stop 1111 or can be faxed to 845- 5408. Sherman and Piper know little of the actual incident. If they would have known about it, they would have prevented it. They do not want to speculate or leave anything open for specula tion. Hansen, the Corps does not en courage these types of acts. The Corps attempts to shape its members into leaders with integri ty, concern for others and the ability to work toward a common goal. This is done by building camaraderie and discipline (i.e. running at 6 a.m., drill. Corps trips). As earlier stated, there are some who do not follow these ideals and are the ex ception, not the norm. I hope this letter clarifies the situation some. Robert Redding '91