6,1993
in
Opinion
Tuesday, July 6,1993
The Battalion
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urth and
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i only
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1
ident
A dollar a dip? What
do our fees pay for?
Look at all these children on campus.
Isn't it great that they have the opportu
nity to come to this outstanding Univer
sity and attend a camp? Man, how
many camps are here this summer?
Well, let's see; there are drill team
;amps, tennis, basketball, volleyball,
cfootball and many more. These fortu
nate individuals have access to almost
illof A&M's facilities free of charge.
Don't get me wrong; I love children,
hit when I have to compete with non-
students who aren't faculty or staff to
use the facilities I thought I paid for in
my fees, I tend to get a little bitter.
After reading Roy Clay's article
ibout the demolition of Deware and
Downs, I decided to visit and perhaps
wn take advantage of these remark-
ible buildings. Clay described downs
Satatorium as having, "extensive mo-
saics (that) cover the walls, deck and
lie entire tank."
Growing up in the Bryan-College
Station area but never having visited
tee places, 1 decided this was an ex-
tellent time for me to visit this part of
;ampus.
1 enjoy swimming, especially in
doors, and wanted to know how I could
j’oabout swimming a few laps while
idmiring a wonderful display of art. So
called Downs Natatorium only to be
old, to my dislike, that it has been re
eved for a camp visiting our campus.
This upset me, but I figured it wasn't
lie end of the world. It was time for
PlanB. If I couldn't swim inside I sup
pose I could make an exception this
lime and visit Cain Pool, which is also
scheduled to be demolished in 1996.
This time I called to see if any snot-
nosed brats had reserved this pool.
Amazingly enough, and to my surprise,
jioonehad reserved the pool. Pleased
trith her reply, I asked the nice individ
ual whether I had to scan my I.D. or
Mash it at a particular lifeguard, as is
usually the process one must go
teugh to attend a sporting event or to
inter certain facilities on campus.
She responded by telling me that I
must pay $1.00 to get in. I thought that
lisfee was included in the extraordi
nary sum charged to my account. Sure
‘tisonly a dollar, but that's not the
point. 1 paid twelve fees along with my
foition, hoping that one of these mini
mal fees would cover the costs of using
he indoor and outdoor pools. Just
do these fees account for?
Jamie Michael Treinen
Class of'96
Regulate pesticides
io protect public
For the past 30 or more years, we
nave heard Cesar Chavez speak about
he dangers of pesticides. We have seen
ind heard reports of migrant workers
itid their children suffering from ir-
:{ parable health problems, such as can-
high infant mortality rates and of
hose who survived, severe mental and
■hysical handicaps.
Vet, the spraying and introducing of
he harmful chemicals to our environ
ment and to these people continue. A
® to regulate the spraying and the
hatment of migrant workers was shot
Wn by Congress. This would have
Wn some control to what and who
te being sprayed, not to mention the
^ount of spraying.
Chavez wasn't asking for much, just
5 irness to migrant workers and a
We for them to work in a safe envi-
:|) nment. Unfortunately, it took the
Wth of all our children to realize this
hnger. Spraying is not just the prob
lem of the invisible migrant worker, it
is everyone's problem. It is a shame
that it took 30 or more years to open up
America's ears. But, what is a bigger
shame is that Chavez isn't here to wit
ness his partial triumph.
In a country which pays farmers not
to produce, it is difficult to believe that
the farmers who do produce must use
such harmful chemicals to grow a profit
maximizing amount. This without re
gard to the public.
Let's get regulation going, get those
who are trying to produce too much to
cut down. This should give the smaller
farmer more of a competitive edge.
Rogelio Rodriguez
Class of'94
Bicyclists not the only
ones who break rules
As a bicycle commuter, I was a little
alarmed to read your June 21 story on
the increase in automobile-bicycle acci
dents in the area. The people inter
viewed in the article seem to suggest
that the main remedy for this problem
is to encourage cyclists, who display
"arrogance" and "have their own set of
rules" to better follow traffic laws.
Bicyclists are not the only ones ignor
ing rules, though. A major safety con
cern of mine is the total disregard of on-
campus vehicles for the bicycle lanes. It
is rare that I am able to fully use the
bike lanes on Bizzell Street (between the
Commons and the golf course) because
cars are always parked there.
This happens all over campus, and I
have never seen the University Police
ticket these cars or ask them to move,
although there are frequently officers
nearby, sometimes just 50 feet away, di
recting traffic. Because these drivers
obey their own set of rules, cyclists
have to ride around parked cars and
out into fast-moving automobile traffic.
I agree cyclists need to do their share
of responsible driving. I think we'll feel
a lot safer, though, when all the autos
get out of our lanes.
Cindy M. Newberry
Graduate student
Bike lanes not meant
for right turns in cars
I have something important to say to
the girl in the Jeep from last Sunday
and anyone else who may have done
what she did.
The bike lane on George Bush is
NOT a right-turn lane for automobiles.
If an accident had occurred that day,
the fault would be entirely hers. I had
my signal on, I was in the proper lane
and I had the right-of-way since the
bike lane has a stop sign and must yield
to turning traffic.
Please, do not use the bicycle lane for
turns because someday someone's go
ing to have an unnecessary accident for
the petty reason that someone else got
impatient.
Nerisa Kershaw
Class of '94
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A page from someone else's diary
Taste what the world has to offer from here at A&M
A nne Frank was a little girl who
hoped for a better world.
Though she lived only until
the age of 12, Anne changed the lives
of many people in her few years by
keeping a simple little diary. In her
diary, Anne recorded the events of
her short life. The events were few,
as Anne and her her family were
forced to live in two small rooms
where they hid for their lives.
Anne was a Jewish girl. And in
Anne's lifetime, being Jewish meant
being separated from her family, be
ing imprisoned in a concentration
camp and, ultimately, being killed.
Because she was Jewish.
The name "Anne Frank" rang familiar to me, but I didn't
know why until my friend Monique explained that the
name belonged to the young girl who wrote "The Diary of
Anne Frank." I had never read the book. Neither had
Monique. Instead, she visited Anne's house in Amsterdam.
With a family of tourists, Monique walked through the
rooms where Anne hid for all those years. She read the
plaques on the walls which detailed the hopes Anne har
bored and the fear she fought to ignore. With thousands of
Jews being slaughtered each day, the fear and the tragedy
were all too real. As Monique toured the rooms, she sensed
the fear. She felt the tragedy. And she heard the crying.
The family of tourists in the house with Monique was
Jewish. And, though the exact ties to the little girl who
sought safety in this home were unclear, their mourning of
her loss so many years ago was painfully apparent.
Watching the family weep quietly, Monique wondered
what Anne must have wondered a thousand times each
day. Why? Why was all the killing necessary? Who
deemed it so? And when would it stop? When could it —
please — stop? Monique, whose family has no ties to this
little Anne, began to cry, too.
Touring the home and travelling abroad, Monique said,
was like touring a whole new world. It changed her life.
"Things are so different in America, than in so many other
countries." she said. "In Italy, I met families who barely
knew me and were already inviting me to eat in their
homes with them. I come back to America and see people
on street corners with signs asking for food."
In Italy, Monique met a man named "Dougy." At first
Dougy seemed like a typical armed forces man. A soldier
who served in Croatia, Dougy had the war stories to tell.
But his stories boasted no glory, no bravado.
He talked of the friends he made while at war, and how
he saw them die, their heads blown off, casualties of war.
He saw his friends become a part of the numbers that
would flash across the TV screen in millions of homes
across America between local news and "Wheel of For
tune."
Monique returned to America, and Dougy to Croatia.
She wrote to him, to tell him what meeting with him meant
to her, to encourage him, and to let him know that there are
those in the States who do hope for the their return. Their
safe return. But she doesn't know that he'll ever receive
her letter. She only hopes.
Monique wants to let people know what meeting new
people can do. Here in America — and particularly in
Texas, she said — so many people act as if there were no
other world outside of their own. As if they were afraid to
open up and give a little of themselves, people lose out on
so much more that the world has to offer. Travelling
abroad, she said, has been one of the best investments she
ever made. And she plans to do it again. But, until she
saves enough money, Monique said she will explore the
worlds of experience that are available on this campus.
"There are so many people from different parts of the
world who come to Texas A&M," she said. "This is a great
place for people to learn about other cultures without ever
leaving the country. It seems a shame that people don't
take advantage of it more often."
I've always heard the talk about diversity on campus. It
often seems to be a headline more than a personal issue.
There are thousands of people at Texas A&M who could
teach others a thing or two, simply because they are differ
ent. People like Anne. People like Dougy. And people like
Monique.
Vasquez is a senior journalism major
An open letter to tenure candidates
GUEST
COLUMN
LEONARDO
AUERNHEIMER
Dear candidate:
Y ou have de
cided to join
a large re
search university
which is trying to
become a better in
stitution. As in
most other institu
tions, there are
three categories in
which you will be
evaluated after five
years: research,
teaching and ser
vice.
Weights given
to these categories
differ widely among institutions. At
A&M, although outstanding activities
in one category can tilt a decision, there
is a required minimum in all three. Re
search weights heavily, but not because
teaching is less important. Service is at
the bottom, with the minimum being
that the candidate be able and willing to
be reasonably civil.
Although differences of opinion arise
and the system is imperfect, most disci
plines have developed criteria for the
evaluation of research output. In par
ticular, your research published in well
established refereed journals, where it is
subjected to peer scrutiny, will be a big
plus. Of course, not all of what is pub
lished there is good, and not all good
stuff is published there. But over a peri
od of five or eight years, this gives a
good approximation. Publications of a
non-scholarly nature or in non-refereed
journals carry little weight.
Teaching is very important. In a re
search institution it is believed that
your role in the classroom is not so
much to transmit information, but to
teach students how to think, within the
framework of your discipline. A neces
sary condition for effective teaching is
therefore an active, curious and rigor
ous mind, and research does marvels at
keeping the mind active, curious and
rigorous. This is, of course, true for
both undergraduate and graduate
teaching, the ultimate teaching being
the guidance of dissertations.
Since you can influence other peo
ple's minds, you are also required to in
clude moral values, human awareness
and tolerance. But you will do that by
example. If you intend to do it by lec
turing on these things you will neither
do the job you are supposed to do or
the one you are trying to do. You will
ultimately be cheating on your students
and on your social role.
You nave been hired to perform a job
with rather clear terms of reference. It
is a lot of work that will take most of
your time and in which you need to
give up instant gratification. Research
is lonely work, and in the classroom
you will often need to be transitorily
unpopular.
All of this does not mean extracurric
ular activities are prohibited to you. It
only means that they don't count. If
they don't leave you time to do your
job, you should give them up. For some
gifted individuals this is not necessary.
Larry Hickman, our widely respected
philosophy professor whom I admire
(and whom I occasionally advise on
South American wines) engages in ac
tive extracurricular endeavors and this
has not detracted from his stature as a
scholar.
To be named Texas Feminist Activist
of the Year presumably requires some
activity. If this precludes you from do
ing your job, then you should perhaps
decide to change your line of work or
join an institution at which the evalua
tion criteria are different. Trying other
wise is cheating on your employer and
on your current social role.
Tenure decisions are often tough and
there are valid differences of opinion.
But if your peers decide 12 to zero
against your tenure, give it a minute of
serious objective thought. Do not think
that $15,000 a year more at another in
stitution necessarily means that A&M
did not evaluate you correctly; similar
raises are common in such cases. In
particular, do not indulge yourself in
thinking that this happens because of
your gender or your political views.
Rest assured that the same would apply
if someone in your position used his
limited time to become the Texas Young
Republican Man of the Year. The prob
lem is not what you do, but what you
don't do.
Leonardo Auernheimer is an economics
professor at Texas A&M