The Battalion
MONDAY
)uly 1, 1996
OPINION
Page 5
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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
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Established in 1893
Editorials appearing in The Battalion reflect the views of the editorials
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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.
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