Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 28, 1995)
The Battalion Opinion 12 Monday iv August 28,1W 4 U , The Battalion Established in 1893 Editorials appearing in The Battalion reflect the views of the editorials 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. Editorials Board Rob Clark Editor in Chief Sterling Hayman Managing Editor Kyle Littlefield Opinion Editor Elizabeth Preston Assistant Opinion Editor Editorial Bucks branch out A&M should be commended for installing new Aggie Buck system. In a rare reminder that it does keep the students’ interests in mind, the University administration has re sponded rapidly to the recently passed Texas law requiring the use of public university debit cards to be allowed off campus. Consequently, Texas A&M stu dents are buying their textbooks this fall in off-campus bookstores with Ag gie Bucks. The University, which did not have to comply with the law until August 1996, has already implemented a process by which private businesses can gain access to the Aggie Bucks system. By doing so, it has provided stu dents a greater selection in purchas ing textbooks and supplies this fall with Aggie Bucks. The expansion will end the Barnes & Noble near-monopoly on textbooks and will allow many students to avoid the crowd at the Texas A&M Book store. Also, the expansion of Aggie Bucks off campus will offer other benefits for students. Primarily, they will be able to carry ‘•less cash on them. This convenience will mean fewer crowded ATMs around town, and less hassle by utiliz ing the debit system rather than cash. Another benefit is the increased safety and peace of mind by students not having to carry as much cash on their person. Parents should also take satisfac tion that Aggie Bucks cannot be used to purchase alcohol or tobacco. Hopefully, the system will continue to expand to other businesses around the community, such as restaurants and grocery stores. The more the availability increases, the more the students will benefit. If the current progress of the ex pansion is any indication, Aggie Bucks will soon be honored in other off-cam- pus locations. The University administration, in particular the Division of Finance and Administration, deserves much com mendation for its quick response to the law and dedication to making this asset an even greater one for Texas A&M students. Sink or Swim The University should act swiftly to re-establish scuba classes. Texas A&M System’s Internal Au dit Department investigation of the Department of Health and Kinesiolo gy’s scuba program has led to the can cellation of scuba diving classes until the Fall of 1996. Although the University acted re sponsibly by quickly dismissing the faculty members involved, the stu dents will continue to pay the price for the faculty’s misconduct. The cancella tion of scuba class es has taken away the opportunity for many students to participate in one of the most highly demanded kinesiology courses at A&M. While the kinesiology department is currently examining other college scuba diving programs to see how they avoid the conflict of scuba in structors owning scuba shops, it is unsure how long such an examination will take. Dr. Robert Armstrong, head of the Department of Health and Kinesiolo gy, said that if a scuba diving pro gram could be created without a con flict of interest existing, the depart ment may offer scuba classes as soon as Fall 1996. In the interim, the department has decided to replace the 12 fall sec tions of scuba with alternate aquatic classes. However, it is doubtful that all stu dents will be satisfied with the substi tution of these other aquatic classes in place of their orig inal choice of taking scu ba diving classes. Therefore, the department should take swift action to remedy the situation. Surely many of the problems that resulted in the past could be solved by em ploying instructors who don’t own area scuba businesses. Texas A&M has a responsibility to its students to provide a diverse and quality education to the students that it serves. The University should make every effort to eliminate the conflict and re-establish the popular scuba classes. Overstuffed A new system for assigning dorm rooms is desperately needed. For the second year in a row, the De partment of Residence Life and Hous ing has grossly miscalcu lated the number of stu dents to whom it grants on-campus housing. Consequently, many students are be ginning the semester in uncomfortable, cramped living condi tions. Obviously, the system NO VACANCIES the department uses to allocate rooms is flawed, as is evidenced by the 300 empty rooms at the beginning of last year and the 700 overassigments this year. Now, many people are being packed into study carrels or television lounges, and many other students face the un pleasant reality of being squeezed into a small dorm room with two other stu dents. Even the Corps of Cadets has been affected, with seniors being forced to room with lowerclassmen. The resident counseling programs the University is offering is the bare minimum to compensate these stu dents. However, the programs will proba bly offer little consola tion to those who bare ly have enough space to move around in their rooms. In the future, the De' partment of Residence Life and Hous ing should re-evaluate the process it uses to make room assignments. Per haps it should begin earher and deter mine how many students will be return ing before it makes offers to other stu dents. No matter what changes it decides to make, it could hardly make the system more inept. The guessing game the Uni versity is playing now is unacceptable, and it is easy to imagine that there are at least 700 students who would agree. The voices of Texas A&M ... Guest columns and Mail Call perfect for expressing ideas T he opportunity is yours. A medium exists for you to voice your opinions, reve lations or anything you feel strongly about to much of the student body at A&M. This fall more than 25,000 readers a day will pick up a Battalion. If you write in to the The Kyle Littlefield Opinion Editor Regretfully, not all mail call letters can be run because of space constraints. Battalion, you can make an impression on these people. Think about it: that’s almost equivalent to the entire stu dent side of Kyle Field reading your words. There are two ways for readers to participate: Mail Call and guest columns. Mail Call is one of the most popular sections of the paper, and letters to the Editor are always appreciated. Maybe you think some columnists have gone off their rockers, or you have “Good Bull” or an interesting story to share, write a mail call letter. If what you have to say will take more space than a let ters, write a guest column. Every Monday and Friday, a space is left vacant on the Opinion page specifically for guest columns. This is your chance. Perhaps in the past you saw an im portant issue that you believed merited coverage go unmen tioned in the news. It happens. The media does not see everything. Be a third eye for the media — expose issues that might otherwise go untouched. Or if an issue has been reported on, but you hold a unique point of view, share your thoughts on the Opinion page Guest Columns: •You get an idea you think would make a great column, so you give the newsroom a call at 845-3313 and ask for the Opinion editor or Assistant opinion editor. It is always a good idea to discuss your idea with theedi tors before actually writing to make sure your column topic is timely and newsworthy. • After you have talked with the editors, drop by the news room and request a copy of the Fall ’95 Guide to Writing Guest Columns. • Now you are ready to compose your column, which should be approximately 550 words long. •The editors will edit your column for style, clarity and word length. Make sure the editors have your phone number in case there is a question about your column. It is the Battalion’s practice to include the columnist’s classification and major at the end of a column, so you should include this information on the printout of your col umn. And finally, the best part. You are sitting in class aaayor two later, and you see something that looks familiar to you: It is your name by your column. In between classes, a friend may tell you he or she agreed with your point. Or maybe you have upset a lot of people: Mail Call: •A column infuriates, pleases, shocks or appalls you, so ... you write a letter to the Editor. • Letters to the editor must be kept under 300 words. •Drop the finished product off at The Battalion, 013 Reed McDonald, and include your classification and phone num ber. The clerk will check your id to make sure the letter is authentic. But no matter what, you still have made many people tbiw You can be satisfied knowing you have affected this cam pus in some small way. The ball is in your hands now. Come by the newsroom, pick up the Guide to Writing Guest Columns and let your views be known to the many Battalion readers. Or write aid submit a mail call letter. This fall, take advantage of the opportunities availabletc you. After all, The Battalion is your student newspaper, secor Kyle Littlefield is a senior journalism i poini look So BUY, Equality remains an elusive ideal W ithout a doubt, our coun try has come a consider able way concerning social issues of race and gender; howev er, these social conditions are far from equal. With so many people, it is diffi cult to comprehend the lack of equal opportunity. Unfortunately, our society has the tendency of im prisoning individuals behind steel Juan Hernandez Columnist Many times these were at the expense of women and minorities. Women and minorities were often forced to do bars of difference, such as skin color and gender. Using discrimination and prejudice as icons that belong to a different world is a gross error. The negative effects of discrimina tion and prejudice become obvious when the relatively small number of ethnic minorities is compared to the overall student population, or by ob serving the percentage of women pro fessors employed by the Texas A&M system. Nevertheless, many individuals feel equality has reached its zenith in our social and political environment. Some believe that a need no longer exists to press social agendas, such as affirmative action, further. Unfortunately, this “equality” is one which remains largely unequal and false. Affirmative action programs are continuously accused of promoting re verse discrimination. Affirmative action is an attempt to provide opportunities for women and ethnic minorities in order to over come past patterns of discrimination. Its ultimate design is to create an atmosphere in which women and eth nic minorities will be better able to compete with white-male-dominated America. They have an advantage provided by past acts of discrimination and prejudice. without basic human dignity. Regardless of past injustices, as well as current, many voices speak out and accuse affirmative action of being reverse discrimination. While discrimination of any type is not justifiable, it seems that many political candidates are using affir mative action simply as a means of being heard. These politicians draw affirmative action so that the public believes whatever is heard without actually taking the time to investigate the ac cusations. For example, a minority student is often seen as an unqualified person simply filling a quota. This assump tion is almost always false. However, affirmative action is tru ly engineered to create a population in which the level of opportunity is equal across races and genders, not to fill quotas. Regardless of the many assaults affirmative action has sustained, it remains a positive step toward ad dressing a situation needing our im mediate attention. It is clear that affirmative action as a social agenda has not failed us. We as human beings have failed each other. We must now take the time to ana lyze the ultimate goals of affirmative action and then attempt to restruc ture its overall procedures to improve it as a tool to achieve these means. Therefore, we must promote an ex change of ideas in order to advance our society to a higher state of equal: ty - Creating a society in which equal: ty is a strong supporting pillar is, by all means, a difficult task. However, all feats can be accomplished as long as we desire them strongly enough. The equality sought by social agea das, such as affirmative action, is ob tained through tolerance and reci procity, which do not mandate the ideology of loving each other. Rather, the idea is to be open- minded to difference, whatever that difference may be. A cam We; and sure slog lear Unfortunately, our society has the tendency of impris oning individuals behind steel bars of difference. This is an equality which is all too often associated with only a Utopian society: However, it is very possible to create an equality for all in our great country. It begins by conserving and modi fying current programs like affirma tive action. No one should ever be discriminat ed against or made to feel inferior to another — that is the issue which should be attacked by our political candidates, as well as by the citizens of our America. Killing a social program such as affirmative action would jeopardize losing the equality we currently pos sess to a tidal wave of negative back lash. won V deni geog som wro B sine wor] T If S Ur the un Juan Hernandez is a senif ! psychology majLl V fi st thai betv the C spa: libr som 1 rouj siol