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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 7, 1994)
Friday • October 7, 1994 The Battalion Yes, we’re still here taking classes Underclassmen should remember fifth-year seniors' sensitivities ~ **£>*;• Skyz- Student Senate strives to improve University The Texas A&M Student Senate was created in 1947. The Senate’s main purpose was to improve the quality of student life. Forty-seven years later, the Senate strives to ob tain that same purpose. While we might not always obtain what we would like, we try to use our influence to obtain the proposal that we pass on the Student Senate floor. Josef Elchanan’s Oct. 4 column stat ed many facts to support his argument that the Student Senate lacks the pow er to really lead and influence the ad ministrators of Texas A&M University. However, he failed to mention several accomplishments of the Student Sen ate. Elchanan is correct when saying that many of the bills we pass are only recommendations to the administra tion, but his premise that the Student Senate has no influence on the admin istration for implementation of the bills is absolutely incorrect. In 1992, the Student Senate, with the backing of the student body, passed a bill calling for the construction of a Special Events Center. The Board of Regents was skeptical of the proposal, so they didn’t pass it at first. Student leaders in the Student Senate and Stu dent Government explained to the Board of Regents that this was a facili ty that the student body truly wanted and that Texas A&M could benefit from it. These student leaders used their in fluence with the Board of Regents to ob tain what the students wanted. The Special Events Center is scheduled to be completed in 1998. In the 1992-93, the Student Senate worked extremely hard to obtain extra reading days on the academic calendar so that students would have more time to study for finals. The Student Sen ate came up short on that endeavor that year. The Student Senate picked up that same issue the following school year and again worked feverish ly to obtain that goal. The Texas A&M Faculty Senate last month passed an academic calendar with an extra read ing day for finals and two extra days for finals themselves. The proposal is still pending the president’s approval, but without the persistence of the Stu dent Senate to use its influence and not give up, the Faculty Senate would never have approved the academic cal endar. I encourage all students to write to Dr. Bowen, the president of Texas A&M, to ensure that this acade mic calendar is implemented. Elchanan also stated that, in 1992, the Student Senate debated the privati zation of Food Services issue. He stated that this was a good idea and the Stu dent Senate fell short of implementing the idea. Elchanan is correct when he said that we debated the idea. Howev er, he is incorrect when he stated that the Student Senate fell short of imple menting the idea. Instead, the Student Senate pressured the administration to relinquish its pursuit of privatizing Food Services. The Student Senate, with the backing of the student body, realized that if we could do well our selves, why should we hire an outsider to do the same work. Privatization nev er occurred in Food Services because of the Student Senate’s influence. Fur thermore, because of the Student Sen ate’s influence, a Food Court is being built under Sbisa. The Food Court will have such establishments as Chick Filet, Whataburger, Alonti’s Deli, Taco Bueno and Columbo Yogurt. Again be cause of the Student Senate’s influence, the Food Court will be managed by Food Services and not a private company. The Texas A&M Student Senate has a vision and realizes that most of their work will not see immediate re sults and may not even affect them while they are at Texas A&M. In stead, most of the work that the Stu dent Senate does will benefit future Aggies. The Student Senate is cur rently considering a bill that would re vamp preregistration for student workers. This bill would make it easi er for graduating seniors and juniors to get the classes they need for their curriculum. It would, however, delay registration for freshman and sopho more student workers. I encourage all students to call student senators at 845-3051, and give their opinions on this issue and the many other issues on this campus that affect them. We are here to serve. We will do every thing we can to use our influence to improve the quality of student life and make Texas A&M a better place. Toby Boenig Speaker of the Student Senate Class of ’95 Thf> Battalion encour ages letters to the editor and wifi print as many as space allows. Letters must be 300 words or less and include the au thor's name, class, and phone number. We re serve the right to edit let ters for length, style, and accuracy. Address letters to: The Battalion - Mail Call 013 Reed McDonald Texas A&M University College Station, TX 77843-1111 Fax: (409) 845-2647 E-mail: Batt@tamvm! .lamu.edu MELISSA MEGLIOLA Columnist I can’t count how often this hap pens to me. I’m standing in line at the Zachry Snackery and someone I haven’t seen in a while — and probably really don’t care to talk to - approaches with some exclamation like “Oh my gosh, Melissa! I didn’t know you were still here. I thought for sure you had graduated by now.” No. Wrong. Obviously, I have not. If I had, my picture would not appear in The Bat talion every Friday. What possess underclass students to say such things? It’s not pathetic, weird or even unusual to stay on this campus for more than eight semesters. Last spring, a professor asked the 200 people in my civil engineering class how many of us would graduate on time. One lonely hand came up. One person. And she admitted to going to summer school each year. As fifth-year seniors, we get ridiculed constantly. “I already had a job and had paid off a new car by the time I was your age,” my dad loves to remind me. LaMonica Whitaker, a fifth year student involved with the National Society of Black Engineers, left their last meeting humiliated. The guest speaker kept saying things like “LaMonica remembers when ...” and “Back when LaMonica started ...” The fresh man sitting next to her leaned over asked “How long have you been here, 10 years?”’ She was so upset she just got up and walked out. As fifth-year students, we have already partici pated in every Aggie tradition. Bootline was last year, our rings are over a year old and we’ve been able to reload forever. There is nothing “new” to learn about college or A&M. There is no fifth year wildcat. “My girlfriend’s mother asked if I was excited about Elephant Walk,” said Jason Kennedy, a fifth- year senior who transferred from the University of California at Santa Barbara. “I felt stupid telling her I walked last year.” Fifth year students are no longer involved in the same activities that once took up most of our time. Most noticeably, Corps members are no longer ac tive. They wear civilian clothing rather than senior boots, often live off campus and schedule their own time. Fifth-year senior Aggie Band members partici pated in last month’s reunion as Old Ags. “When I was in the Corps, I lived for a bag in. Now, everyday is a bag in,” says Patrick Fitzgerald, a kinesiology major graduating in May. Girls who spent their first four years in a sorori ty are now alumni. They don’t know the new pledges who wear their letters, aren’t told the house door code and must pay to attend social functions. “Whenever I wear a Tri-delt T-shirt, I feel like the younger girls are looking at me and thinking ‘Who are you?”’ says Leslie Jacobs, a fifth-year elemen tary education major. Dating and going out changes too. While the guys used to look forward to each year’s entering crop of freshman girls, now those girls are totally off limits. Expectations of huge diamonds provide a new dating obstacle. At local bars, fifth-year seniors who tell the doorman that they forgot to bring an I.D. really did forget. Once we get in, we no longer know anyone .We are tempted to "My girlfriend's mother asked if I was excited about Elephant Walk. I felt stu pid telling her I walked last year." — Jason Kennedy, fifth-year senior stop drinking only because it is too expensive. After four years at A&M, most second-time se niors have lived in a variety of places with many dif ferent people. Few remember the names of more than a couple of dorms. Most don’t recall their last phone number. When cleaning his kitchen. Brad Jenkins, a fifth-year industrial engineering student, counted 17 different va>C: - rieties of forks left behind by his past roommates. In our last year at A&M we spend much of our “ time at the placement center. The girls buy suits that actually almost reach the knee, while the guys hunt for conservative ties. At career fairs, we get to hang out with our good friends, except now they are recruiters. We under stand what is meant by a 401K, constantly write foT- low-up letters and live for the free food provided at£ information sessions. >♦; During our last yearitt A&M, stress about the fix ture replaces academic;*^ anxiety. But, eventually^- we don’t worry about ansg thing. “Friday I got back a test score that, as a fres^g man, would have made B|e cry. I just laughed,” said Vida Pleppys, a fifth-year chemical engineering student who has already ac cepted a job offer. r •- Fifth-year seniors are different. We’re not as wild and crazy as we used to be. While trying to transi tion into the real world, we spend much less time participating in campus events. But really, we’re harmless. , . Just please don’t ask us why we’re here. Melissa Megliola is a fifth-year senior industrial engineering major Bock-less life ferments yuppie-hood Without good beer you shall become that which you detest STACY FEDUCIA Guest Columnist W hen I bought the 1994 deep forest green Ford Explorer, I said to my self, “I can quit anytime.” Others raised eyebrows when I purchased the new carbon fiber mountain bike right af ter buying the imported road bike. It was only a short while before the Explorer need ed a bicycle rack. Still, I was blind. I had to have the supple Italian leather satchel to carry my tape recorder and notebooks to and from work. If the house I would rent happened to have hardwood floors, at least I wouldn’t have to buy a vacuum cleaner. I knew I had hit rock bottom when a friend offered to buy me a beer at a bar where people wear ties instead of T-shirts. And, glancing at my Seiko watch - which read 11:30 p.m. - I said, “No, I can’t. It’s getting late, and I’ve got to get up at 5:30 a.m. and go running.” I’ve traded my bandanna for a briefcase, my sandals for suede shoes, my buttcrack for a business suit. My name is Stacy Feducia, and I’m a yuppie scum. Oh, how the mighty have fallen - even as my stock as a prospect for the Junior League has risen. Were I to go through rush right now, I guarantee I’d be elected president by the same Delta Omega Gammas who so fer vently sent me hate mail only three short years ago. I grow old ... I grow old ... I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers cuffed so that they will better accentuate my Ital ian leather shoes! It’s something I have denied for more than a year, but through a 12-step program and hours of watching “The Montel Williams Show,” I am on the road to recovery. I have discovered the cause of this pox upon my good name and am here to share it, in hopes that I can spare others this shame. It’s called Shiner Bock Undernourishment-Depri vation Syndrome (SUDS). Removal of this bubbly, brown fruit of the gods from my life has turned me into the pitiful Explorer-driving, wood- floor dust-mopping, low-fat-diet-eating, martini-drinking mess that I am today. Here are the warning signs: 1) Regular, robust bowel movements - When I was in college, I used the gentle relief of Bock as my daily fiber supplement and enjoyed multiple colon and buttcrack traumas that were well documented in the pages of this newspaper’s opinion page. Moving to Louisiana — where Shiner Bock cannot be pur chased even for medicinal reasons - I started eating a high- fiber diet which included whole grains, kale and legumes be cause I didn’t know who would assume my truck payments in the event of my death. I have not had any problems with my colon since. Coinci dence? I don’t think so. 2) Regular, invigorating nightly sleep - When I was in college and used Bock as my nightly sleep aid, I stayed up un til 3 o’clock in the morning imbibing that German goodness only to awaken and throw up at 3 p.m. Moving to Louisiana where Shiner Bock cannot be pur chased — not even in fashionable bars where people wear ties instead of T-shirts — I started going to sleep each night around 10:30 in my prairie-style bed, only to get up at the butt-crack of dawn to go running so that I can be healthy and not die an early death leaving copious quantities of unfin ished wood furniture unfinished. You mock me now, as I sit here trying to determine which Alpha Hydroxy cream is right for me and surfing the channels in search of “Thirtysomething’’ reruns. Just you wait: One day, you, too, will know what it means to drink a martini “up.” Nevertheless, I have made substantial gains since admitting I had a problem. In fact some friends of mine are planning an “intervention” party for me in the coming weeks in an attempt to keep me on the Bock wagon and save me from my yuppie self. They plan to read old columns of mine from “Genera tion X Speaks” (available right here on campus in the Texas A&M Bookstore). And we are all going to drink copious quantities of Shiner Bock in an attempt to purge my flesh of this yuppie plague. I would invite you, but I’m afraid that many people might mar the finish on my hardwood floors. My name is Stacy Feducia, and I’m a yuppie scum. You heard it here first. ill The Battalion Editorial Board Belinda Blancarte, Editor in chief Mark Evans, Managing editor Jay Robbins, Opinion editor Jenny Magee, Asst, opinion editor Editorials appearing in The Battalion reflect the views of the editorial board. They, do not necessarily reflect the opinions oh other Battalion staff members, the Texas A&M student body, regents, administration, faculty or staff. Columns, guest columns, cartoons arid letters express the opinions of the authors, Contact the opinion editor for information on submitting guest columns. Stacy Feducia graduated from Texas A&M in 1993 and is now a sports writer for The Times in Shreveport, La. Bad Bull Traditions should rise above any differences Last week’s Yell Practice featured a joking grode story about President Bill Clinton, rather than Rock and Rockelle. Even if it was the funniest political joke ever told, Yell is not the place for that kind of humor. Aggie traditions should stand above and beyond everything that divides the student body. The Twelfth Man jit- cludes students of almost any politic be liefs, race, religion or other groups angt they all should be able to enjoy tM - “good bull.” 4* ' Yell practice is held to encourage the* students and the football team to victo ry, not to voice political opinions - that’s what ballots and bumper stickers are for. Jokes like the one told last week split the student body opinion and are inappropriate, lire Aggies who view the president with respect, regardless of their beliefs, and lose out on the op portunity to wildcat for Aggie spirit. Rock and Rockelle should continue showing up the other team and setting up a good-natured laugh at themselves, uniting every Aggie to spur the team on to victory. Stories about how A&M is going to “beat the hell outta” the Red Raiders, the Cougars or that little school in Austin are much more appro priate to the purpose of Yell Practice. ^ Aggies also treat the fans of oppqsv I ing teams with the same basic respdaF ; they feel for each other. They probably; -. do not know what “uncover” mean5£ - when you are scream it from several rows back in the stands. Stories in Mali Call about Aggies who were poor hosts to visitors embarrass everyone here. ; Besides, they paid the price of a tick et to see the game and should not be ek-* pected to support Aggie traditions as ah extra charge. There probably will be few Aggies who throw tortillas in Lub bock next year. Aggies visiting the Astrodome this weekend, be respectful as well as spirit ed. They are representing Texas A&M University and the impression they make on the unlucky non-Ags who will be there will define what people think of all Aggies. Cheer on the football team and let it harass the opponent school on the field: Whether at Yell Practice or yelling dm 4 '-, ing the game, remember we’re there for otily one thing: to beat the hell dhtfa the other guys, not each other.
