Aggie Ring
Oi-clei**
CLAYTON W. WILLIAMS, JR. ALUMNI CENTER
DEADLINE: NOVEMBER 10, 1993
Undergraduate Slndent Requirements:
1. You must be a degree seeking student and have 95 credii hours completed at
the end of the Fall '93 semester (co-cnrolled hours cannot be counted). When
calculat ing your hours, please remember that repeating a course cannot count
as additional credit hours.
(Transfer Hours completed in the Summer of '93 or before that are needed to
meet the 95 hour requirement, must be posted to your A&M transcript by the
deadline.)
2. 22 of the 95 credit hours must be completed in residence at A&M (Summer '93
or before, if you were a t ransfer student).
3. You must have a 2.00 cumulative GPR currently reflected on your A&M
transcript (after your last final grades).
4. You must be in good standing with the University, including no registration or
transcript blocks for past due fees, loans, parking tickets, returned checks, etc.
Graduate Slndent Requirements:
1. You must receive your graduate degree from Texas A&M University to qualify for
a ring. If you will graduate in December 1993. your order will be accepted (until
November 12) contingent upon your December '93 degree being conferred and
posted on SIMS no later than January 21. 1994.
2. You must be in good standing with t he University, including no registration or
transcript blocks for past due fees, loans, parking tickets, returned checks, etc.
Procedure For Undergraduate and Graduate students to
rd<
order a ring:
1. If you meet the above requirements, you must come to the Ring Office
no later than Wednesday, November 10, 1993 to complete the
application for eligibility verification, which is a one-two day process.
2. If your application is approved and you wish to receive your ring in
March 1994, you must come back and pay in full (cash/check only) no
later than November 12, 1993.
MEN’S RINGS
WOMEN'S RINGS
10KY - $298.00
10KY - $170.00
14KY - $405.00
14KY - $197.00
*Add ^8.00 for Class of'92 or before. White gold is available for an
extra charge of $10.83.
The approximate date of the ring delivery is March 9, 1994
Page 10
The Battalion
Friday, November 5,1993
center and do respect the tradition of not walk
ing on the MSC grass, I also do not appreciate
being told I am violating tradition when I am
not. Fm not the only person who has been in
this type of scenario. Being yelled and
screamed at to "get off the f—
grass! or
Religion in classrooms
Changes in the Aggie
Ring Requirements
The Aggie Ring is the most personal and visible symbol of Aggie pride. For many years. The
Association of Former Students has had the responsibility of protecting the spirit and integrity of
the Aggie Ring. The challenge of this great honor and responsibility has led The Board of
Directors of The Association of Former Students to approve the following policy changes
regarding requirements for eligibility for the Aggie Ring, effective January 1. 1994.
Contingency Orders Will No Longer Be Taken - Ring orders will be accepted only after all
requirements have been completed and are reflected on SIMS.
Requirement for Residence Hours Raised - The undergraduate residence requirement is
raised from 30 credit hours to 60 (If an undergraduate student receives his/her degree with
less than 60 hours, the degree being posted to the transcript will waive the 60 hour
requirement.)
Undergraduate Student Requirements:
The following requirements are effective January 1, 1994, except for all candidates eligible
as of December 31, 1993, who must order their ring by the February 11, 1994 deadline:
Must be a degree seeking student with 9§. credit hours completed and reflected on SIMS
(a passed course, which is repeated, cannot count as additional hours);
60 of your 95 credit hours must be in residence at Texas A&M University (will be waived if
your degree is posted on SIMS);
3. Must have a 23) cumulative GPR reflected on SIMS;
4.
Must be in good standing with the University, including no registration or transcript blocks
for past due fees, loans, parking tickets, returned checks, etc.
• I am writing is response to your recent
front page article entitled, "Faculty criticized
for preaching religion," specifically with re
gard to the comments attributed to Professors
Noe and Bomstein.
I believe these two incidents should not be
equated, and wish to make this clear. As aptly
pointed out in the article, this nation was
founded on the principle of separation of
church and state. Although various writings of
the time indicate the prevalence of deep and
abiding religious beliefs among our nation's
founders; division of the public and religious
domains was then, and now remains the law
of the land. Any assertion to the contrary is ab
ject revisionism.
In my mind Prof. Noe's admitted behavior
is inconsistent with the intent and spirit of our
Constitution, as well as the mission of this
great University. "Testifying" in an engineer
ing class amounts to proselytization. It is
holding your religious beliefs out to the world
as exemplary. Accordingly, when placed in
the context of a classroom in a state-supported
university , it is potentially a violation of stu
dents' civil rights; the perpetration of which
should entail sanctions, including (but not lim
ited to) the review of his tenure. I would sug
gest that any student who finds these exhorta
tions objectionable pursue all available admin
istrative and legal remedies.
Prof. Bernstein's critical comments were
made within the context of a class on Western
Civilization. I do not know the substance of
these remarks, but they seem quite different
from the espousal of a particular religious
view. One of the purposes of academia in a
democracy is to provide a forum for open and
critical dialogue. Such is the rationale for acad
emic freedom, and why some form of criticism
constitute protected speech under the Consti
tution. However, protected speech is no ex
cuse for insensitivity. Perhaps Prof. Bomstein
should give greater consideration to the
deeply ingrained and profound religious her
itage of the South.
often breached of etiquette and therefore civili
ty is one dealing with religious customs.
Your article implied that religion should
not be taught in the classroom because some
one might be offended. How do you plan to
teach the cultures of the world without ad
dressing the cultures' basic foundation — their
religion? Even here in America, geographical
areas have a culture based on a primary reli
gion, and a failure to understand that religion
can affect your ability to be accepted by that
society.
I think the real purpose of your article was
to apply political pressure to censor those who
would espouse their Christian beliefs. The ar
gument of "separation of church and state"
does not apply to colleges and universities,
and the Supreme Court has ruled a number of
times. The professors have a right to free
speech, and your article is the beginning of a
PC movement to intimidate and silence them.
I had Dr. Phillip Noe for EE 248. He and I
have diverse religious views. His stating his
views allowed me to gain an appreciation for
another religion and help me to understand
him as a person. On the other hand, when I
took English 104, my lecturer, Joy Castro, took
every available opportunity to bring up homo
sexuality and many of our readings dealt with
the subject. I am offended by homosexuality,
and it has no relevancy to freshman English.
Should not the same "offense" standards be
used here to silence her on the subject?
So, here we see why many students, profes
sors and administrators oppose multicultural-
ism. It seeks to teach you what to think, not
how to think, and not to give even treatment
to both sides of the isle — liberal and conserv
ative views.
being pushed onto the grass and then have
curse words associated with the "sacred
memorial grass" and yourself are just a few
I've heard of. I do not consider these good ex
amples of "upholding the tradition" for which
the Corps members are responsible. If harass
ment is part of this responsibility, there is cer
tainly a problem to be dealt with here.
I don't have anything against the Corps as a
whole. My brother was a commanding officer,
Class of '90. I have a tremendous amount of
respect for the Corps and their drive to uphold
traditions; however, the types of occurrences I
have described seem to be unnecessary and
unjust, and I see that what I did was in no way
a purposeful defamation of the memories of
General Rudder and all the Aggies who gave
their lives.
Mario Mrak
Class of'94
Aggie Spirit more than
Bonfire, yell practice
Kevin Davis
Class of '94
Rudder lawn isn't the
same as the MSC grass
Wayne Grossman
Graduate Student
Graduate Student Requirements:
You must receive your graduate degree from Texas A&M University to qualify to order a
ring. If you do not graduate in December 1993, you must complete the following requirements,
effective January 1, 1994. to be eligible to order a Ring:
Must present an original ‘Letter of Completion” from the Office of Graduate Studies, which
may not be obtained until you have completed all of your degree requirements (requires five
(5) working days from the date of your request);
2. Wait until after your degree is conferfed and posted to your transcript;
Must be in good standing with the University, including no registration or transcript blocks
for past due fees, loans, parking tickets, returned checks, etc.
If you have any questions regarding the Aggie Ring or its eligibility requirements, please
contact the Aggie Ring Office at The Association of Former Students.
• The article appearing on the first page of
The Battalion brought grave concern to my
mind about the dual issues of censorship and
brainwashing on college campuses. The cuticle
dealt with professors expressing their religious
views in classrooms, but addressed a larger is
sue — multiculturalism.
According to multicultural proponents, the
reason for their proposed curriculum is to edu
cate the student body about the similarities
and differences that exist between another cul
ture and the cultural environment that stu
dents grew up in, so that the student may be
successful in an even smaller world.
In all major cultures, religion is one of the
most defining standards of behavior. The most
I would like to respond to Chris Helms' let
ter from the Friday, Oct. 15, issue of The Bat
talion concerning staying off the MSC grass.
That was me, the cocky/snarling one.
The grass in question here was located on
the corner of Throckmorton and Joe Routt
streets, or in other words. Rudder Tower —
not the MSC. Had Mr. Chris Corpsman been
paying attention to where he was, he wouldn't
have made that blatant mistake in his letter.
The specific area of Rudder Tower is not
only flooded when it rains, but also on occa
sion when it doesn't. In the type of situation
Mr. Helms described, your choices are: step on
the grass, walk in the street and get hit by a
shuttle bus, or walk through the four-inch
deep swamp-like puddle on the sidewalk. In
this situation, call me crazy, but I prefer choice
number one.
While I do not consider myself a two-per-
What is the precise definition of Aggie Spir
it? I don't think it's just building Bonfire or go
ing to the yell practices. They are really cool
and I have been to cut a few times last year,
but I understand them to be just the symbols
of the spirit. It kind of scares me that some
people would criticize and be critical about
others just because they don't contribute to
building Bonfire or just because they belong to
a fraternity/sorority. Those arguments sound
kind of dumb. Aggie Spirit is something that
can "ne'er be tola as the song "The Spirit of
Aggieland" goes. It is something you feel deep
inside, and you can't really show it simply by
building Bonfire and definitely not by criticiz
ing other Aggies.
Anyway, something truly revealing hap
pened to me when I lost my wallet. I had
everything from my student ID, driver's li
cense, and MasterCard to scuba license in it. It
sent a chill down my spine. Then about two
weeks later, I lost my keys when I was study
ing with my ENGR 201 team in the library. I
got really scared because they were the only
keys I had for my car, bicycle and the apart
ment. I checked at the lost and found counter
in the library between classes. The fourth time
I checked, somebody had turned in my keys.
Two weeks later, I lost my calculator. Some
how, I was less scared this time, and two days
later my professor gave it back to me because
some honest person had turned it in. And here
comes the climax. My roommate told me one
of our friends saw my ID at the MSC. When I
got my old wallet that had been missing for
more than a month, everything was in it.
It was red ass! I now have a feeling that I
might have glimpsed what Aggie Spirit really
is all about thanks to those honest Aggies. And
I wish those people who love to criticize and
feel bitter would reevaluate their attitudes.
Toshi Makiya
Class of‘96
SHOP DILLARD’S MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY 10:00 - 9:00; SUNDAY 12:00 - 6:00; DILLARD'S AND ALL MAJOR CREDIT CARDS WELCOME
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