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The Battalion • Page 1 ^
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Todays universities forget the importance of‘learning 5
JOSEF
ELCHANAN
Columnist
W hen I was a kid, I used to
read for fun. On days
when my teachers didn’t
give me too much homework, I
would grab a book from the library
and read it. Maybe if I did not
have much time, I would watch
some television.
While it was not always educa
tional, many times I could be caught watching
“Nova” or some other show that would be as re
warding. In other words, I enjoyed learning. I
never did it just for the grade, but for itself.
It did not take me long to realize that many
people were not passionate about learning or
teaching. High schools never were filled with the
kind of teachers I had hoped would be waiting
for me. Most, but not all, were bitter and unhelp
ful. They were more preoccupied with grading
tests and going home then educating. I simply
did my time in school so I could go to college.
So, one would think that college would be the
place to discover the great mysteries of the
world, right? Not really.
Texas A&M is a big game. For four years I have
played it over and over again. Taking my calcula
tor and punching in the numbers time after time.
trying to figure-out the weak
points in the enemy’s strategy.
Some try to call the game by lofty
names and explain its impor
tance, but it really continues to be
just a game. It is academics.
Every year our leaders at this
institution and the others like it
around the country tell us that it
is dishonorable for students to cheat. They tell
us that we must understand the material, not
just prepare for tests. They want to give us their
knowledge for the betterment of humankind.
In reality, undergraduates have become the
cash cows of academics. Very few of the professors
in this university sincerely care about the needs or
desires of the student body. They justify this posi
tion by saying that they know what is good for us
and must maintain the reputation of excellence of
this institution. While it certainly is true that
many professors look to their students as the fu
ture of humanity and treat them as such.
Many of them also look at students as a dis
traction that must be accepted while they con
duct research and write papers.
Why this is true, I cannot understand. In the
business world, where we all are preparing to go.
the customer pays for a particular service and re
ceives that service a large majority of the time.
Not time at the academic institution. Here, I pay
money every semester to take classes from pro
fessors who deliberately attempt to fail students.
There are classes on this campus that have fail
ure or Q-drop rate in the range of 15 percent or
higher! Would anyone buy a product that had a
failure rate of 15 percent and costs thousands of
dollars? Probably not. Yet it seems that all uni
versities run on the same principle.
This all probably happened from some person
’s mistaken idea that going to college means that
Undergraduates have become the cash
cows of academics. Very few of the profes
sors in this university sincerely care about
the needs or desires of the student body.
a person is educated. College has become an in
stitution that supplies the business world with
human resources. This never should have hap
pened. College was supposed to be a place where
people with intellectual curiosity and a willing
ness to explore came to “learn,” a word that is
hardly used anymore. Instead, it has become a
place to hide for people with doctorates who do C
not wish to actually do anything but satisfy
themselves. What a joke. ■!
Just because you have a degree does not mearC
that you’re all that bright. What it really means '
is that you have the ability to plug away at
something until you finish your courseload and .*
then can leave. It has nothing to do with intellect
tual curiosity or genius.
I feel sorry for the students and the few profes- •
sors who continue to work so hard against the tide ■
„ of uncaring bureaucrats that dominate ■
this institution. It is not their fault.
Who is to blame is ultimately the Board !
of Regents and the University F*resi-
dent, who should be answering to us.
Maybe one day someone will make
the decision that our University needs '
something more than “yes” men and
needs caring people who will turn Texas ;
A&M into a place where young people go to learn,
not just a place that sponsors research.
Josef Elchanan is a graduating senior
business management major
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The Battalion
Editorial Board
Belinda Blancarte, Editor in chief
Mark Evans, Managing editor
Jay Robbins, Opinion editor
Jenny Magee, Asst, opinion editor
1
Editorials appearing in The Battalion reflect
the views of tne editorial board. They do not y*
necessarily reflect the opinions of other-'*
Battalion staff members, the Texas A&M |
student body, regents, administration, faculty '
or staff.
Columns, guest columns, cartoons and ’
letters express the opinions of the authors.
Contact the opinion editor for information
on submitting guest columns.
. A
Hairy Fiasco
Both sides of case sacrifice education
What price will beauty wreak?
One wonders about women willingly wearing Wonderbras
ERIN
HILL
Columnist
W hat’s up with the Won-
derbra? It’s every
where: billboards,
magazines, postcards, newspa
pers. Its arrival was more
highly touted than the Eagles
reunion.
The Wonderbra’s job — to
squeeze your poor ribcage and
push everything from your
navel and up skyward — is accomplished with several pads,
straps and lots of elastic. The advertising campaign tells us
that no matter how bad our hair looks, we will feel fine and
dandy if we bind ourselves in the Wonderbra. Oh really?
In an attempt to capture a piece of the market, following in
the Wonderbra wake, the bathing suit companies are now offer
ing spring swim wear equipped with Wonderbra-like inserts. I
guess this means we don’t have to wear life jackets anymore;
the bra acts as a flotation device in an emergency.
There’s even a pump-up swim suit on the market. Talk
about ridiculous. “You too can pump your way to a starring role
in ‘Beach Blanket Bingo IF!”
(And choke on your own cleavage or get tangled in the tub
ing.) No comment necessary.
Padded bras were bad enough — the fake it if you can’t make
it lingerie movement — but these horrific new undergarments
actually manipulate your body into something it isn’t. The
joke’s on us, sadly enough: women are paying lots of money for
the opportunity to be bound.
Manipulation. (Expensive manipulation, to boot.) It’s every
where, part of our daily routines.
It’s been this way for as long as I can remember. Women are
expected, encouraged and — at times — even delighted to be
something they aren’t. Willing or not, most women have partici
pated in the great Cover Up called fashion.
In my quest for glamour, I bought a set of TruGlu nails,
painted them bright red and applied them in the privacy of my
bathroom. Sure, it was annoying that I couldn’t dial the phone
or turn on the stereo. I also had trouble unscrewing the lid off
my toothpaste, turning on the water and unbuttoning my
clothes when it came time for bed, but I kept reminding myself
that “People with long nails have more fun.”
My dreams of perfectly polished, delicately manicured nails
were short lived; however, since half of them fell off during my
sleep. I woke up with red nails scattered on the floor and
TruGlu residue all over my fingertips.
You can’t escape the phenomenon. It is pushed on all of
us, beginning when we start wearing make-up and piercing
our ears. The seed is planted; girls are told that in order to
be pretty they must DO something to themselves. “Au natur
al” doesn’t cut it.
It starts with our face and hair, then moves on to our bodies.
We’re content for a time to experiment with colors and tex
tures. A little eyeliner here, a little glitter there. But that ends
in the eighth grade. Then it’s on to perms and curling irons
that crimp your hair like a waffle iron.
Next thing you know, you’re coloring your hair and wearing
shoulder pads. (Shoulder pads are almost as ridiculous as the
Wonderbra, but less painful.)
Nylons that flatten your stomach are next on the list. And
believe me, they do not flatten anything. They bunch around
your middle and cut off circulation from the waist down. When
that happens, a woman in search of a washboard stomach has
no choice but to shop for a girdle.
The grand poohbah of “Stupid Ways We Alter Our Appear
ances” is the high-heeled shoe. High heels pinch toes. They
tire your legs. They are bad for arches. They change the way
you breathe. They are hard to walk in. They make ankle
sprains a constant fear.
They hurt.
“High heels make women sexy.”
To date, the only thing they’ve been proven to do is make
women taller.
“High heels make women look glamorous.”
High heels make women look klutzy.
It’s not that attempts to make ourselves look and feel better
are bad. I enjoy lipstick as much as the next person, and my
collection of earrings is important to me. Both men and women
can increase chances of success in the dating game by wearing
a fragrance, by shaving and by choosing clothes with care.
That’s a good thing.
Women shouldn’t feel that they must alter the way they look
in order to be beautiful though. The Wonderbra makes us feel
that we must look like Barbie. Its whole purpose is to alter.
Things like nails, hair dye and cosmetics (even the Wonderbra)
are OK to enhance one’s appearance. The problem occurs when
those extras become requirements for beauty.
Being concerned with fashion isn’t a sin. Being obsessed,
however, is. And letting society dictate what you must do to
look good is silly, just like my fake nails.
Erin Hill is a senior English major
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; ■ .
Zachariah Toungate, a 12-year-old
student in the Bastrop Independent
School District, recently attained a fa
vorable court ruling in his attempt to
wear a ponytail to school. School offi
cials argued that removal of the hair-
length would encourage gang activity.
However, Judge Norman Lanford
said the school district failed to
prove how eliminating the rule
would foster disruption in the
schools or interfere with the educa
tion process. But the judge did not
revoke the rule, claiming that legal
precedent allows trustees to retain
authority in managing schools.
A situation this petty should not
prevent a child from his right to an
education. It is not clear how male
students could be disrupting classes
by wearing the same kind of earrings
or ponytails as their female counter
parts. The courts obviously think
such cases are a waste of time, yet are
cautious in overruling the right of
trustees. “Schoolboy hair length dis
putes do not rise to the level of consti
tutional protection which requires
court intervention,” Lanford said.
It is understandable that students
who are scantily clothed or wearing
shirts with obscene gestures and pro
fanity can disrupt classes. However,
it is not clear how male students
wearing earrings or ponytails detract t
from the education process. Such
styles on males are no longer shock- :
ing, and by many are considered ac-‘
ceptable. It is the school district’s at-;
tempt to grasp hold of and keep “tra
ditional values” with which they grew
up with.
Above all, today’s parents should ,
remain responsible for their child’s
grooming standards, and not the
school districts.
Schools should not be responsible
for dictating a student’s clothing.
Furthermore, school districts and
parents both should be focusing on
their students’ quality of education,
instead of battling a grooming stan
dards case. Lack of funding, high
teacher-to-student ratios and provid
ing other resources, seem more vital
to a child’s education. Until school
districts improve the quality of their
education through these means, they
should not worry about the length of
students’ hair. And if hair length
rules are all a child’s parents have to
worry about in the schools, then per
haps the courts can afford the time
and money to worry about them.
If a student’s hair is neat and clean
it should be permissible. The only dis
ruption created has been provided by
these ridiculous complaints.
Mail
Call
A&M, Batt show all life's aspects
I am responding to Jason McKemie’s letter on
Nov. 18.
I was disappointed to read his recent letter.
I have taken pride in the young people of to
day being more educated, more informed, less
homophobic and possessing more insight.
I applaud Texas A&M University and The
Battalion for presenting all aspects of “Life at
A&M.”
One of my best memories as an Aggie Mom is
participating an a panel at a Division of Student
Services meeting, fielding questions from some of
the 250 faculty and staff members present, in a
hope of furthering awareness about gay issues at
A&M and help dispel myths and stereotypes.
Homosexuality is not a standard for morality.
In the majority of world cultures, homosexual
ity is considered “normal.”
Gays have been a part of society since the
dawn of history.
For example: Socrates, Alexander the Great,
Julius Caesar, James I, Hans Christian Ander
son, Leonardo de Vinci, Dag Hammarskjold ...
the list goes on and on.
Gays do not “become or choose” — they simply
“are created” by the same Divine Creator who cre
ated you and me.
So, get real, get educated and get on with your
life! — always with Aggie Pride.
Sandra Martin
An Aggie Mom
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