Wednesday* April 19, 1995
Opinion
The Battalion • Page 13
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End of semester takes
toll on all students,
stops procrastination
T he end of the semester
is quickly creeping
upon us. With only two
weeks of classes remaining,
the light at the end of tun
nel is within view.
However, if any of you
find yourselves in similar
shoes as myself, the sick re
ality that you must cram
about six weeks of work into the remaining two is starting
to settle in.
In my case, papers, tests, quizzes and projects are
strategically scattered between myself and the end of the
tunnel like a series of potentially fatal land mines.
Then again, what land mines are not fatal? And come
to think of it, what papers, tests, quizzes and projects are
not fatal either?
It’s kind of sick that I should associate potentially fatal
land mines with papers, tests, quizzes and the like. The
cold, hard reality is that I speak an eerie truth — one that
we all find ourselves facing, no matter how academically
endowed we are.
This semester is my sixth at good ol’ A&M. As the end of
the previous five approached, I always found myself in this
identical situation. Despite taking a variety of precautions
and despite employing a variety of work ethics and atti
tudes to help avoid this problem, I always ended up sweat
ing the last two weeks of the semester out.
I’ve always found it strange how students react, in
terms of physical appearance, to the final two weeks of the
semester and the subsequent week of finals. We grow
beards. We wear the same clothes days on end. We stink.
We don’t brush our teeth.
Why is that?
Hmm, maybe I should retract the last couple of state
ments because it is quite possible that they only pertain to
my physical state.
Anyway ...
In my old age, I have come to accept certain things as
unavoidably truthful. First is that Aggie Bucks represent
real money, and if you do not treat them as such, you will
see your supply dwindle from $500 on the first day of the
semester to $0.51 with two weeks of classes to spare.
Second is that G. Rollie White Coliseum will never fill to
capacity for a sporting event, even if the N.I.T. Champion
Lady Aggies are playing. What a shame.
And finally, the end of the semester will always sneak
up behind me like a professional wrestler and apply the
claw of reality to my brain, thereby forcing me into sub
mission.
The submissive state is grueling. All the fun and games
of college life are dramatically banned from my existence.
The library replaces the bar as my hang-out. Consumption
of knowledge replaces consumption of beer.
1 enter a world of reading and concentration, leaving be
hind a world of drinking and procrastination.
The metamorphosis is amazing. I begin to achieve things
I never thought possible.
While my tolerance for alcohol decreases, my tolerance
for studying increases.
To this day, I do not know why I cannot maintain a hap
py balance of scholar and bar-hopper throughout the se
mester. Why I must wait until the end of the semester to
flex my academic muscles is an enigma that I have given
up trying to understand.
It’s April 19, and the roller-coaster ride is nearing its
finish. The finish can be turbulent if you refuse to submit
to the forces of academic survival, yet it can be somewhat
smoother if you do indeed submit.
Remember when you’re sitting up late at night, coffee in
hand, snacking on goodies that came that day in a care
package from home, slaving over the Principles of Perpetu
al Failure, I’ll be there with you.
By the way, I take two lumps of sugar and generous
helping of cream.
When you wake up to take that first exam on two hours
of sleep and you can’t find the scantron you bought last
night, I’ll be there with you. May I suggest taking some
one’s scantron at the test site when they’re not looking.
When you’re computer crashes at 4 a.m., five hours be
fore your 25-page paper on Advanced Procrastination is
due, I’ll be there with you. Calm down and leave all the
cussing up to me because I know the right cuss words for
the every situation.
And when you’re at your favorite watering hole on the
night of May 10, drowning the completed semester in the
beverage of your choice. I’ll be there with you. And I might
even be buying ...
Drew Diener is a junior English major
TUB RBayfZD
NEW JEP4EY
The Battalion
Established in 1893
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.
Mark Smith
Editor in chief
Jay Robbins
Senior Managing
editor
Heather Winch
Managing editor
for i
Sterling Hayman
Opinion editor
Erin Hill
Asst, opinion editor
Awkward Acquisition
The attempt to merge TAMIL) into the
University of Texas System smacks of politics.
State Sen. Judith Zaffirini’s attempt
to give Texas A&M International Uni
versity to the University of Texas Sys
tem has become a greater threat than it
was originally.
Although the Texas House of Rep
resentatives defeated the initial at
tempt, she has made it into a rider.
Zaffirini tacked the measure onto the
Texas Senate bill that will allow the
merger of the Baylor School of Den
tistry and East Texas State Universi
ty with the Texas A&M System. Un
fortunately, only a few options are
available to defeat this measure.
If the Texas House passes this bill,
then it will be given to a committee
made up of Representatives and Sena
tors. This committee will work out the
details of the measure. Zaffirini’s rider
could be defeated in this committee.
If the rider survives the commit
tee, the only chance to save TAMIU
is if Gov. George W. Bush vetoes the
measure.
There are several reasons that Zaf
firini’s measure should be defeated. The
Texas A&M System has invested mil
lions of dollars in improving and reno
vating TAMIU. Since its inclusion in
the A&M System, TAMIU has seen its
enrollment increase by 68 percent and
its budget increase by 252 percent.
If this measure is successful, all the
money invested by the A&M System
will be for nothing.
In 1989, when TAMIU — then
Laredo State University — was given
the chance to join a system, the Uni
versity of Texas System showed no
interest in acquiring it. After the ren
ovations, improvements and invest
ments made by the A&M System,
TAMIU seems to be a much more at
tractive addition.
To put it another way, the University
of Texas System is suddenly deciding to
take TAMIU now that all of the work
has been done.
Finally, given the fact that the mea
sure’s major supporters are graduates of
the University of Texas, it is difficult to
view this measure as anything other
than a political game.
As a Houston Post editorial put it,
this move “smacks of politics and flies in
the face of common sense, governmental
economy and good public policy.”
MAIL
call
Campus-wide cable system
took hard work, initiative
This letter is in response to the editorial in
the Monday April 17 Battalion about the resi
dence hall cable system. The Residence Hall
Association and the administration have been
working on a campus-wide cable system for
more than three years now, with much of the
time expended on surveys and polls to ensure
that all views of the on-campus residents were
expressed and considered.
This past semester, the RHA and adminis
tration sent out surveys to every on-campus
student to try to get feedback on the desirabili
ty of such a system.
Although Monday’s editorial reported that
“14.4 percent of the on-campus students did not
wish to pay for the cable fee,” it failed to men
tion the fact that 81.3 percent of the 1,079 re
spondents were in favor of the cable proposal
and the $27 fee.
While it is true that we are concerned about
those who do not want this service, the re
sponse was so overwhelmingly in favor of it
that we decided not to postpone the decision
any longer and vote in a way that we felt would
most represent our constituents.
It is very unfortunate that some students
will be paying for a service that they will not be
able to use.
However, after looking into the fee option al
ternative, it was discovered that it would not be
feasible for residents to choose yearly whether
or not they wanted to take advantage of the
system.
Considering that most students who have
cable now pay an average of $25 per moth plus
a $60 hook-up fee, the $27 per semester fee
that RHA is supporting is a little better than
“relatively inexpensive.”
The reason we are able to offer the residents
such an inexpensive service is due to the fact
that this would not be an option.
This system opens opportunities in the fu
ture for such services, which will benefit all on-
campus students.
We realize that not everyone sees the posi
tive aspects of this system. However, the vast
majority of residents are in favor of this sys
tem, and we feel that, given time, the rest will
come to see how this service will benefit them.
Trevor Dunham
Class of ’97
RHA Vice-President for Operations
Suzanne Lyons
Class of ’96
RHA President-Elect
• Editor’s note —
The Battalion editorial board does not
discourage establishing a campus-wide ca
ble system. However, students should not
be mandated to subscribe to the service.
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 submit
ted in person at 013 Reed McDonald. A valid student I.D. is re
quired. 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 77843-1 111
Juvenile delinquents are
damaging school property
Has anyone else noticed the acts of vandalism
by the juvenile delinquents running around on
their skateboards? The benches and sidewalks
around the Engineering Physics Building and
the MSC are being defaced by young punks who
should still be in their high school or junior high
school classes, instead of riding around on cam
pus where they are unwanted and an annoyance
to everyone else. The tuition and fees I pay,
which already are too high in my opinion, are be
ing used to keep A&M clean, which those brats
are messing up. Can’t the police arrest or fine
these little hoodlums for loitering, trespassing or
vandalism? So help me, one of these days I’m
tempted to swing my 80 kg. bag full of engineer
ing books at one of those dirtwashed, snotheads
and give them a concussion. The parking cops
should write tickets to these young offenders.
Once their neglectful parents see the bill, they’ll
keep these hoodlums off the campus.
Tin Nguyen
Accompanied by 90 signatures
Old memories help to
fill in gaps of the presen
P eople like the idea of
time-travel. From
“Back to the Future” to
“Quantum Leap,” the idea of
transcending time has capti
vated us. There is a certain
glorification of the past that
is innate in memory.
It is easy to think of the
past as pristine and uncor
rupted because it is fundamentally in the past — it is a
memory, not reality any more. Which automatically makes
it a lot better than the present, which seems so full of prob
lems and worries.
This explains why older people sometimes scoff at
younger generations. It is not a new phenomenon. Back in
ancient times, Cicero coined the phrase, “O tempera, O
mores,” which translates as “Oh the times, oh the cus
toms.” To give a modern example, it is like an old Ag say
ing, “OF army is goin’ to hell in a handbasket.”
But there is something disheartening about the thought
that a place where we have lived, worked, learned, partied
and matured is going on without us. For one, it makes us
feel old, and maybe it makes us feel a little insignificant. It
reaffirms the fact that we are only one in a line of many,
pictures in a year book and not the faces that fill the class
room seats anymore.
I feel that way about my high school now. Every time I
go home for a holiday, I travel back in time to a world that
revolves around high school experiences. The essence of
high school lingers more than childhood because that is
where I left off.
My room still bears the props. My closet contains boxes
of old notes, homecoming pictures and those stupid mums,
champagne glasses from the prom and countless other sou
venirs from the past journey.
Home is also the place of high school friends. Those loy
al souls with whom we can sit for hours and tell endless * *
stories that all begin with, “Do you remember when ...”
It is funny how different this home-world seems from
the college world.
There are certain transient people, but for the most part
each world has its own cast of characters.
But the fact remains that even while we are at college,
the home characters are still a part of who we are or vice
versa. Which means the average college student has a vast
body of knowledge about what I call the “faceless friend of
a friend.”
These are the people who we know intimate details
about, but have never actually met because they are the
characters that live in our friends’ other worlds.
And in order to answer the ever present question, “So,
what did you do over the holidays?” these people demand
description.
Yes, it is rather confusing. It is one of the reasons why
the end of a holiday or the beginning of summer are both
sad and exciting, because both worlds are important to us.
Each world has its own characteristic appeal.
Growing up is difficult because most people don’t
abruptly abandon one world for another; it is usually a
gradual pulling away. The typical scenario usually goes
something like this ...
Freshman year is defined by faithful letters, weekly
phone calls and big holiday reunions with high school
friends. Then sophomore year changes to occasional phone
calls and a loss of touch with high school acquaintances.
By junior year, your best friends from high school have
pretty much signed up for the long haul, so it doesn’t seem
like such a big deal if three months pass in-between visits
or phone calls.
Maybe there is no real way to travel back to ancient
Egypt or Colonial America, but we can travel back in time
in our own lives.
It feels so refreshing to spend an afternoon reminiscing
with an old friend. Not because those past days were so
much better than our present lives, but because that time
frame is where the friendship lives.
When we abandoned our high school worlds and came to
A&M, many important friends went to other colleges or re
mained at home.
We try to nurture these friendships by filling in the
missing time with detailed accounts of our separate lives.
But the basis of the friendship doesn’t live in these hurried
“catch you ups,” but in the past time of regular contact.
It is nice to visit that world together again.
Jenny Magee is a junior English
and jou rnalism major