Tuesday • April 4, 1995
The Battalion • Page 11
No Pass, No
T he state of ed
ucation in
Texas is once
again under attack
by the Texas Legis
lature. This time
they are proposing
changes to the 10-
year-old No Pass,
No Play rule.
If some lawmakers get their way, the ineligibili
ty requirement for those students who fail a class
would be lowered from six weeks to three weeks.
The two proposals in the legislature would allow
students to return to their extracurricular activi
ties if their grades are at passing levels after three
weeks. The students would also continue to prac
tice in their extracurricular activities during the
period of ineligibility.
The No Pass, No Play rule, passed in 1984, re
stricts students who fail one or more classes from
participating in any extracurricular activities for
six weeks. If, after sitting out a six weeks, they are
passing, the students are allowed to continue their
extracurricular activities. Before 1984, a student
could fail as many classes as they wanted and
could still continue to participate in extracurricu
lar activities.
The whole purpose of the original No Pass, No
Play
keep emphasis on academics
Play layv was not to punish students for failing
classes, but to take the primary emphasis in
schools away from athletics and put it back on
academics. Students are barred from practicing
during this ineligibility period because the prac
tices take up so much of the students’ time on a
daily basis.
It would be pointless to bar students from par
ticipating in extracurricular activities but still al
low them the ability to practice.
However, many state legislators seem less inter
ested in improving educational standards and more
interested in giving another break to athletics.
Senator Greg Luna of San Antonio put best
when he said that, “we should not go on and dilute
the very best thing that we have done for school
reform — all in the name of athletics.”
Allowing students to return to extracurricular
activities after only three weeks does not effective
ly discourage failing a class.
I remember that in most of the classes I took
throughout high school, we took very few grades
in the first three weeks.
If this is not the case in most classes or if teachers
choose to “fudge the numbers,” then students may
not be improving as much as it would seem.
Furthermore the ineligibility period in most
school districts is five weeks anyway. A student’s
ineligibility begins when reports cards are sent
home — a week after the end of six weeks — and
ends at the end of the next six weeks. Many
teachers will tell a student involved in an extra
curricular activity if they have passed at this
time.
They are then able to return to the extra-curric
ular activity without having to wait for their report
card to come out.
Critics of the law point to increasing gang activ
ity and higher drop-out rates as effects of the No
Pass, No Play law.
They contend that students who are required to
sit out an entire six-week period for failing a class
become involved in gangs or, in some cases, quit
school because their extracurricular activity was
all they cared about.
However, no statistics support these arguments.
To suggest that No Pass, No Play is the cause of
higher juvenile crime in Texas is ludicrous.
Over the past 10 years, the No Pass, No Play
law has served as a reminder to students that they
had better pass their classes if they want to partic
ipate in extracurricular activities.
Students know the consequences of failing to
complete assignments, skipping class or not
studying. If outside activities mean that much to
a student, they should make sure they pass all of
their classes.
It’s usually the students who do not give a damn
about school in the first place
who end up failing out of ex
tracurricular activities. So why
should we change the rules to
help these students who don’t
help themselves?
For those of you up in Austin
diligently working to pass the revi
sion to the No Pass, No Play law,
pay no attention to the fact that
most parents and teachers support the current law.
No, go ahead and make your changes in the
name of fairness, in the name of athletics and in
the name of the ever-decreasing standards of
academics.
To Hell with education.
Zach Hall is a sophomore
mechanical engineering major
It's usually the students who do not give a damn
about school in the first place who end up failing
out of extracurricular activities. So why should
we change the rules to help these students?
Reelect
congressman
shmjdllyj
for the
14th time!
&>m5 TUB RBCOftp
NBVJ JBgzeY
Innocent mockery of other people
definitely not a laughing matter
I ’m stuck on myself. I’d
like to try to deny it, but
it’s true.
You might be saying,
“Yeah, Kyle thinks he’s a big
shot because he writes a de
cent column every now and
then.” But that’s not it at all.
I am reminded of my self-
centered attitude almost
everyday on the most basic of
that no one knows how stuck-up I am.
So what is my crime, you ask.
I laugh at people.
Seems harmless enough, but if you delve deeper, you will
find the monster to which I am referring.
Now, I am not talking about laughing at people who are
disabled, retarded or anything else along these lines.
I don’t find anything funny about people having dis
abilities.
In fact, the people I laugh at, would probably not seem
humorous to anyone else.
Sometimes it is what people are wearing that makes me
laugh.
Other times it could be just the way they look.
I guess you could consider me a people watcher. When I
go out to eat, my best friends will play a game where we
will find a person who looks like someone else.
For instance, the other night I saw Tony Barone at a
restaurant in Houston. It wasn’t really him, but that’s the
joke.
Another game my friends and I play is a little bit more
disturbing.
When one of us sees someone who is funny-looking, we
will turn to another and say, “Hey, there’s your twin.” Or
another hybrid of the game, shouting your friend’s name at
the person who you think is funny. The game can go on
with each of us trying to out-do one another — or until we
realize that we have been making asses out of ourselves.
If this does not sound funny, then maybe it’s too foreign
to relate our brand of humor. But I can attest that some of
us have laughed so hard from games like these, that it felt
like we had endured an abdominal workout.
Creativity is valued, and sometimes you just have to ad
mit that your friend really got you, and there’s no use in
trying to one-up him.
Maybe these are games that all people play in one form
or another. I wouldn’t be surprised in the least if I had un
knowingly been the target of someone else’s game.
When I break the games down, I find that I must think
that I possess a quality to which I compare other people.
If they don’t match up to this quality that I think I have,
then I laugh. Laughing for me is similar to looking down on
people.
I never realized how much outward appearance affects
me until I caught myself laughing at this guy jogging on
Kyle
Littlefield
Columnist
evels. And the funny thing is
campus. As I was laughing, I found myself wondering why I
thought this guy was so funny.
I don’t know this person.
He didn’t tell me a joke.
He was not even aware that I was looking at him.
Yet, with one glance, I had already judged this person.
In less than a second, my brain processed the image of
this person, compared it with the qualities I think I possess
and generated the impulse to laugh.
And then I stopped laughing.
It was no longer funny.
It was sad.
I was disappointed with myself. Now there was a quality
that I thought I possessed that I really did not.
Who do I think I am to be laughing at this person or any
other for such superficial reasons? Have I proved myself in
some way that makes me ineligible to be on the other end of
such scrutiny?
Of course not.
And it doesn’t just stop at laughing.
The other night I was in the Kettle Restaurant and was
I am reminded of my self-centered attitude
almost everyday on the most basic of levels.
And the funny thing is that no one knows
how stuck-up I am ... well, until now.
thinking about how I was fortunate enough not to work
there.
I had caught myself again.
It was a very value-laden thought. Did this mean I auto
matically thought that the wait staff was “below” me in the
hierarchy of life?
I don’t think I feel that way consciously, but subcon
sciously, maybe.
It sparked the same kind of self-reprimanding as the
first incident. “Who do I think I am to judge others? Why
am I so stuck on myself?”
In a way, my problem remains unresolved.
But I did have a revelation on the matter: I feel guilty
about thinking about others in this way, but maybe there
are others that think this way, who are not even aware that
they are doing it.
This doesn’t lessen my guilt, but like they say, the first
step is to recognize you have a problem.
I realize that there is nothing wrong with a good laugh,
but sometimes we must ask ourselves, “What’s so funny?”
Now if I laugh for the same reasons, it prompts a whole
new array of thoughts that sober me before I can become
drunk on myself.
Kyle Littlefield is a senior journalism major
The Battalion
Mark Smith
Editor in chief
Established in 1893
Editorials appearing in The Battalion reflect the views of
the editorial board. They do not 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.
Jay Robbins Heather Winch
Senior Managing Managing editor
editor for Business
Sterling Hayman
Opinion editor
Erin Hill
Asst, opinion editor
EDITORIAL
Exemplary Example
A&M's should be applauded for its diverse
base of awarded contracts.
In fiscal year 1994, Texas A&M
hired more women and minority con
tractors than any other agency in the
state. This not only contributes to
A&M’s goal of achieving diversity,
but it also sets a good example for
the rest of the state to follow and
helps to overcome a history of real
and apparent discrimination at
Texas A&M.
Texas A&M has made increasing
diversity within the System one of its
goals. This goal can be achieved by
not only increasing minority recruit
ment and hiring minority employees,
but should also involve awarding con
tracts to businesses headed by mem
bers of both genders and all races.
This practice helps to create a
well-rounded system for all Universi
ty processes.
The fact that A&M has the highest
percentage of hiring women and mi
nority contractors should be an ex
ample for the rest of the state to fol
low. The University has reported a
26.5 percentage of such contractors,
which is almost twice as high as the
state agency ranked second.
Other states should look at A&M
and realize the importance of award
ing contracts to women- and minori
ty-owned businesses. However, it is
vital that A&M continue its nondis-
criminatory contracting process to re
main a role model in the state.
Furthermore, this report should
help dissolve some of the myths and
stereotypes that are associated with
Texas A&M. Since its founding, A&M
has been known as a predominantly
white, male-dominated University.
By doing business with minorities
and women, perhaps some of these
myths will be dispelled. Last year’s
figures demonstrate that A&M is
making a real effort to achieve diver
sity and recognize cultural differ
ences.
Increasing multiculturalism has
been a sensitive issue for Texas A&M
in recent years. There have been sev
eral incidents that have reflected the
need for more diversity within the
System. By working with all races
and genders, A&M not only is taking
the needed steps to increase multi
cultural awareness but also is seek
ing to improve the reputation of
Texas A&M as a whole.
Mail
Criticism lacks proof
of Corps' injustice
I am writing in response to Hope
Siegele’s’ letter in the March 31 Bat
talion.
First, I have a question for Siegele.
On what information does she base her
attack on the “leaders” of the Corps of
Cadets? What proof does she have that
the “leaders” of the Corps of Cadets —
or any member of the Corps of Cadets
— vandalized property? If she has such
proof then she is at fault for breaking
the Aggie Code of Honor by not report
ing it. And if she didn’t witness this act,
she has no right to attack anyone with
out such proof. Anyone could have done
it, cadets or non-regs.
Secondly, since she wrote so highly of
family and unity among Aggies, what
does she think she’s doing by attacking
the Corps of Cadets? If we are all Ag
gies, is she not turning on “many of
your own?” To repeat her words back to
her, “In this situation this ‘family con
cept’ had not shown through.”
I am not “personally” attacking
Siegel. But when such accusations are
made about anyone, proof must be pre
sent. It is blind accusations such as
these that “do not hold true the real
meaning of a Aggie.”
Tanya Woodington
Class of ’95
Mike Tyson should not
be considered heroic
What kind of jacked-up values sys
tem does Robert Rodriguez have? To
say Mike Tyson is a hero because of his
“rags to riches” story and that he
shouldn’t have been in prison in the
first place is quite possibly the most lu
dicrous thing I have ever heard. The
man is a convicted rapist. He should get
a new hero, and get his head checked
while he is at it.
Jeff Wilkinson
• Class of’96
Affirmative action
insults weak groups
Regarding Amy Uptmor’s column on
affirmative action, does diversity mean
equality? If not, then Uptmor is way off
in saying that affirmative action helps
our country. The diversity of America is
one of our strongest point. Rejoice in one
another’s strength and weaknesses in
stead of criticizing the strong and insult
ing the weak.
Michael W. Newman, Jr.
Class of ’96
The Battalion encourages letters to the editor and will
print as many as space allows. Letters must be 300
words or less and include the author's name, class and
phone number. We reserve the right to edit letters for
length, style, clarity and accuracy. Letters may be sub
mitted in person at 013 Reeo McDonald. A valid
student I.D. is required. Letters may also be mailed to:
The Battalion - Mail Call Fax: (409) 845-2647
013 Reed McDonald E-mail:
Texas A&M University Batt@tamvm1.tamu.edu
College Station, TX 77843-1111