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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (July 1, 1996)
The Battalion MONDAY )uly 1, 1996 OPINION Page 5 ive said, -orney said iibling a de- 'ill include r John H. believes case can be nandez will ’aturday on >0 be asked Irvin’s or cases. As a 1 in Irvin’s o a gag or- r from dis- the case, definitely, and I just etting the t people to hnnie and ryone just iind. Well d as a po- ist Thurs- ineth, 30, Police De- ’ after his urday he the shock rother led I’ll stick the offi- ■ back on ■ady for a lid. or ovation :ited by his wife ’tha, as light in us land- dropped d across somer- s stage nd into ry Lee me en action vas an- e side- ation. r-inch ht leg, 1 break trials, er left thy by ;ompe- n -k i the th a andy d Is- sec- and 2an- th a ight He and ixth off l on on •me an. j of ea- I'V- -le rad •fct bli Should schools educate boys and girls separately? Same-sex classes might work Segregation will O ver the past few years, public schools have been ex perimenting with single sex class rooms. They hope to pro mote a higher level of acade mic achieve ment, but for many, it seems to be nothing more than a return to the old days of boys in wood shop and girls in home economics. Students of all generations have found activities such as athletics or dances more inter esting than academics. Once stu dents hit adolescence, they are more concerned with what their peers — mainly members of the opposite sex — think of them. A study done by John Good- lad in 1984 asked a sample of high school students, “What is the one best thing about this school?” Only 7 percent respond ed that their classes were the best thing, while 35 percent of the students said that friends were the most important. It is apparent that social con cerns take a priority over academ ic concerns when students are placed in a mixed-sex learning en vironment, but what happens when they are separated? Newsweek recently highlighted Marstellar Middle School in Man assas, Va., in an article about sin gle-sex classes within public schools. Marstellar recently divid ed some of its students into sepa rate boys’ and girls’ classes for subjects like math and language arts. By the end of the term, the boys’ collective average in the lan guage arts rose by one grade point and the girls’ science average rose by four-tenths of a grade point. The main criticism of single sex classrooms is that they will not prepare students to work to gether in a coed world. However, most students learn much of then- social skills by interacting with the opposite sex outside of the classroom, as it should be. Classes should be reserved for learning the skills and knowledge one needs to function in society. If coed learning environments Eire necessary for preparation for the “real world,” then graduates of single-sex institutions such as Catholic private schools and women’s colleges would be in se rious trouble. Yet these schools have been known to produce suc cessful individuals. Cornelius Riordan, author of the 1990 book Girls and Boys in School: Together or Separate? found graduates of women’s col leges are likely to hold a more prestigious job than their coun terparts from mixed-sex colleges. In a comparison between Catholic mixed- and single-sex schools, girls attending the sin gle-sex institutions went on to achieve a higher level of educa tion than those attending mixed- sex high schools. Attending same-sex classes will not leave children unpre pared for a coed world. Instead, the classes allow them to focus on learning the skills and knowledge they will need to compete success fully in that world. Riordan asked, “Is it not promising to explore single-sex public schools on some experi mental basis?” Seeing the suc cesses of private all-girls and all- boys schools and the current ex periments in public schools, the answer to this question should be a resounding “yes.” Improving education for chil dren is a goal everyone shares, and if single-sex classes move us one step toward this goal, then they deserve a place in our pub lic schools. Jenni Howard is a Class of ’96 economics and international studies major F our years ago, the American As sociation of University Women (AAWU) is sued a report saying girls were not doing as well as boys in public- school math and science classes. Several states, including Texas, have attempted a new form of segregation to combat this problem. Some schools have created single-sex classes to improve girls’ performance iiq math and science. Proponents of single-sex edu cation claim adolescent hor mones interfere with teenagers’ ability to succeed in school. By eliminating the distraction of the opposite sex, these educa tors hope to increase girls’ con fidence in themselves and their scholastic abilities. Single-sex education sup porters also claim that differ ences in the sexes justify this segregation. Girls are suppos edly cooperative and boys are competitive. As a result, girls are intimidated by the competi tion and fall behind. Although there is some evi dence that graduates of these all-girls programs are more likely to pursue higher educa tion in science and engineer ing, single-sex education is not the solution to the existing problem. People must learn how to work in a coed environment. By separating the girls, educators are simply running away from the problem rather than con fronting it. Even the AAWU agrees. Its report on gender equity was in tended to help improve coedu cation, not dismantle it. Valerie Lee, a University of Michigan researcher, argues in Newsweek, “These classes are a bogus answer to a complex problem.” If girls learn how to work to gether to solve math problems while neglecting the competitive only hurt aspect of school, how will they respond when thrown into the real world? Boys who have honed their competitive instincts throughout school will have an unfair advantage. Women will fall further behind when both sexes are reintegrated. Separating girls and boys in school also poses the threat of creating two different levels of difficulty in math. In an attempt to meet the “special needs” of girls, educators may inadver tently create a course that is perceived as less difficult. This situation would defeat the entire purpose of single-sex education and harm the cause of gender equality more than it would help. I would support single-sex classes if I were convinced that they were not second-rate. If the classes instill girls with the confidence to succeed, that’s great. But there is too much danger they would wind up sep arate and unequal. Girls with talent in math and science would want to take the most rigorous classes of fered. Unfortunately, those classes would be for boys only. We should find ways to help girls excel at math within the coeducational system. We must not return to the old days when boys learned to be scientists and engineers and girls learned to be math teach ers. Segregating classes in pub lic schools has the potential to do just that. Jim Pawlikowski is a Class of ’96 chemical engineering major JENNI HOWARD Columnist JIM PAWLIKOWSKI Columnist Moderates should stand up to extremists in Republican Party H eavenly Fa ther, we come before you to day to ask Your for giveness and to seek Your direction and guidance ...” “In the name of choice, we have killed our unborn ...” My mom was given a copy of the above prayer at the Repub lican State Conven tion of two weeks ago, and she and I view it as a symbol of all that is wrong with the GOP today. Summarizing the convention, Hous ton Chronicle columnist Jane Ely said, “Overwhelmingly, the delegates here cared far more about their religious beliefs, about promoting a philosophy, an encompassing way of life, than they did about raw politics.” “Family values,” the infamous term coined by former Vice President Dan Quayle, is still the hot topic with an alarming number of delegates in the party. What are these “Family values?” It’s hard to nail down all of them, but they include issues such as time for prayer in public schools and govern ment monitoring of violent program ming on television. However, there is only one issue that is pervading GOP politics to an unparalleled degree — abortion. Certainly, legalized abortion is not a new topic, but it’s still the hot topic. The reason for its current divisiveness is the “religious right,” described above by Ely. Why has one small faction of a po litical party become such a driving force in that political party? The an swer is very simple, and only three let ters long — God. These folks feel it is the Good Lord in Heaven who has commissioned them to walk around the convention floor and distribute documents with ti tles such as “The Texas Right to Life News” and “Concerning Kay ... It is Time to Draw the Line.” The latter title is representative of perhaps the tackiest cause celebre of the convention. The religious conserv atives attempted to block Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison from serving as a delegate at the upcoming national con vention in San Diego. So how do GOP leaders like Hutchi son, Phil Gramm and Bob Dole feel about this? A casual browsing of last week’s papers shows them on the record with token remarks about toler ance, such as Gramm’s statement: “No matter how strong you feel about something, being immoderate, being extreme, is never productive.” While Gramm should be commend ed for attempting to stand up for his fellow senator, he should be con demned for not denouncing party ex tremism in a stronger manner. Why wasn’t Gramm a little more forceful? Because there are a lot of votes out there he doesn’t want to lose. Despite denouncements from Gramm and others, don’t expect these religious crusaders to go away. When people feel God is directing them to support a cause, it really is hard to keep them from pursuing it. So what can moderate Republican vot ers do to quiet these ultraconservatives? The best thing to do is beat them at their own game. The religious right is only a faction of a major political party. In order to keep its members in check, voters should simply abandon the party until the far right is alienated by mainstream Republican leadership. In simple terms, moderate Republi cans need to stage a protest vote. What better time to cast this vote than in the biggest election possible, the presidential election? This suggestion comes with all due respect to Dole, who is perhaps an innocent victim of the sideshow going on in his party. If enough reasonable, moderate Re publicans abandon the party Oust for one day in November), the message could be driven home loud and clear: Get the “religious” conservatives put in place. Keep the GOP from looking like a bunch of far-right, intolerant Nazis. Until the Republicans take some such action to cater to moderates, it’s time to vote Democratic. Maybe I’ll start by voting for Clinton in November. David Recht is a Class of ’97 civil engineering major DAVID RECHT Columnist 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 Stacy Stanton Editor in Chief Dave Winder Managing Editor Jason Brown Opinion Editor David Taylor City Editor EXCUSES, EXCUSES Proposed changes to the health center excuse policy should not be implemented. In Joseph Heller’s novel Catch-22, Air Force servicemen must be unfit for duty to be excused from service. But if they are mentally sound enough to request the excuse, they are classified as “fit” and forced to re turn to the field. The ironic technicality of Heller’s novel was meant to be a satire of bu reaucratic military regulations. But soon, ailing Texas A&M students may be in the same predicament as Heller’s characters. A proposal is on Texas A&M President Ray Bowen’s desk that would make it much more difficult for students to obtain class excuses from A.P. Beutel Health Center. The proposal, already approved by the Student and Faculty Senates, is an attempt to curtail abuse of the excuses the health center provides that allow sick students to miss class because of their illnesses. Admittedly, a problem does exist. Students who are unprepared for tests or classes can often run to Beu tel, pick up an excuse and successful ly sidestep their responsibilities. But the excuses do provide a valuable service to the students who really are ill, giving them the opportunity they need to rest and recuperate. Dr. Don Freeman, a Beutel physi cian, indicated that students who feel well enough to go to Beutel should also feel well enough to attend class. But walking to the health center and standing in line for an excuse don’t require much brainpower. Stu dents able to go to Beutel for an ex cuse may be unable to properly take a test or perform their best in class. If a student is legitimately ill, he or she has the right to obtain an excuse from class. Students should not be forced to attend class in poor health because of the abuses of others. The proposal admirably confronts the problem, but it is too strong for practical application. In an attempt to toughen up the health center regu lations, sick students could be placed in a never-ending Catch-22, forced to go to class whether or not they are fit to do so. i l l l l l 1 l \ \ I
