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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (July 16, 1996)
The Battalion UESDAY Jbly 16, 1996 PINION Page 5 tributed sta ally nationwii urds. am is brillii inveying all tl| music. In m of the song' first time the ed it. ation inside says, “We ws: to be as vih erile as whe: ‘ left all of out ions and so pe you can fit re, too.” of The Maps: istrumentab nies,” “Willy y’s El Cani; 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 Tenure Tracks Including student evaluations will improve the system of tenure. grky.” are a thrill i of the effecj usic. Thel se the auditj themselves..! ) can enjoy because ito i covers of si is the classic 1 a.” ms received: coverage v on the roa: in Houston ing the Soutl vcase. as displayed t and poteni nal Ouertc> definitely offi Many professors are wary of a new bill in the state legis lature that would allow Uni versity administrators to use student evaluation forms to evaluate professors for tenure. But, like a child who feels he needs a security blanket to re main safe, many of their fears are unfounded. According to the bill, if pro fessors receive poor evaluations for two consecutive years, their tenure status is reconsidered. Many professors maintain tenure protects their jobs from vengeful students who earn bad grades in their classes. But the bill only threatens the tenure of professors whose tenure should be re-evaluated in the first place. Students have been using evaluation results to determine whether they want to take a professor’s class. The new pro posal only allows administra tors to use the evaluations as well. Under the bill, the results would be used in conjunction with other methods, ensuring that poor student evaluations don’t carry excessive weight. The bill also doesn’t unrea sonably infringe on academic freedom, as some have claimed. Academic freedom is impor tant, but so is competence. The language in the bill should be specific; administra tors and professors should know exactly what constitutes a poor evaluation. The effects of this proposal should only be positive. Stu dents will be properly included in the evaluating process. And professors who need to improve their teaching will be gently nudged to do so. Meanwhile, competent teachers don’t need to worry — they can keep their security blanket of tenure and let the quality of their teaching speak for itself. 11 be playing ixie Theatre Mail t/th care i c a rea der for cessary h both Joseph patient . The nt and ission msive, srship is. If ollege Tamil .edu lano offers good- natured humor I would like to take a second o commend Stephen Llano on lis ability to add some life to the latt. His July 9 column in par- icular has to be the funniest Ve ever read in the Batt. In two ears, his column is the first I’ve ead on a regular basis; I actual- y look forward to getting a lewspaper on Tuesdays. I also admire his ability to liscuss issues that concern our ommunity. He is able to tie the Jniversity (President Bowen, 'ave South, the naked girl) and he community (Lollapalooza, he local radio stations) into his vork in a harmless, but humor- ms fashion. I believe that Llano s having a little fun with his olumn, not bashing everyone he nentions. I have heard that some people disagree with some if Llano’s columns and even find hem offensive. You have every 'ight to feel that way, don’t get ae wrong. However, for those of you who may have taken offense to some of his columns (KTSR?), I ask you to take a second to look it the humor in them. Llano is Hot another Chris Stivdent in he making, bashing every as- >ect of Aggieland he could find, ’m pretty sure about that. It is toy opinion that he is having some “good bull” fun by includ ing certain individuals and poups into some of his columns, mean, come on, the Aggie-ized Version of Independence Day Was pretty darn funny! Thanks for making us laugh, Stephen. Mike Moeller Class of ’98 egislature is moving o change tenure I read with interest yester day’s article on the use of stu dent ratings in post-tenure re view of faculty at Texas A&M University. When I chatted with the reporter, my comments were directed to the bill proposed by Sen. Ratliffs committee on high er education. That bill calls for Possible removal of tenure if a faculty member receives two consecutive years of negative annual reviews, based on peer view and student evaluations. The Battalion encourages letters to the editor and will print as many as space al lows. 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, and accuracy. Letters may be submitted in person at 013 Reed McDon ald. A valid student ID is required. Letters may also be mailed to: The Battalion - Mail Call 013 Reed McDonald Texas A&M University College Station, TX 77843-1111 Fax: (409) 845-2647 E-mail: Batt@tamvmt .tamu.edu Singing Cadet-less PETA gets The men's choir should change its name unethical I n 1940 The Battalion held a singing contest that was pub licized throughout Texas A&M University. A small group of , men calling themselves the Singing Cadets entered and won. The name stuck and is still used today to represent the most renowned and respected men’s choir at A&M. When I was in grade school, my father, being the fanatical oT Ag he is, would take my fam ily to see the Singing Cadets perform every time they were within a 30-mile radius. Even though I didn’t always want to go, I always left the concert with a good feeling. After I came to A&M, got to know a few of the members and learned more about how the or ganization works and what they do, my respect and admi ration for this organization have only increased. I have but one problem with the Singing Cadets: the name “Cadets.” The Singing Cadets began at a time when A&M was an all male military institution. Since all Aggies at the time were cadets, the name was a natural choice for its original members. But since then, times have changed. Bob Boon, the Singing Cadets’ highly respected direc tor from 1964 to 1995, said. “Nonregs were first admitted into the organization when they were admitted into the school in 1964, and since then the per centage of nonregs in the Singing Cadets has risen with the student body population.” That’s certainly how it should be. An organization such as the Singing Cadets that represents a school with a population of 42,000 — only 2,000 of which are members of the Corps of Cadets — should naturally have a small percentage of cadets. In the past year there have been fewer than 10 cadets in the 60- member choir. But continuing to call themselves cadets when most of them are not is disre spectful and unfair to the thou sands of Corps members who have gone through the torment of earning the right to be called what they are — cadets. Boon said somewhere along the way a name change was considered. “We were becoming well known and decided a name change would hurt the publicity of the organization.” That is certainly understandable. But if its name no longer represents the organization, the name needs to be changed. One wouldn’t refer to this summer’s mostly nonreg population living on the Quad as the Corps of Cadets just because they live there temporarily. Matt Ward, Singing Cadets vice president and a member for four semesters, said, “The school and the organization are based on traditions, and changing the name would break that.” Yes, this fine school is based on tradi tion — a tradition of an all-male military school — but we do not refer to nonregs as cadets. We are all referred to as Aggies. Every year approximately 600 men and women show up at Corps Freshman Orientation Week, and over the course of four hard years they are molded into leaders for the state and nation. The title of cadet is earned over the course of the grueling nine- month fish year. Only at a few selected institutions, such as West Point and The Citadel, can members call themselves cadets. My rank in the Corps is not cap tain, but cadet captain. Referring to myself as a captain in the mili tary would be extremely disre spectful to all the men and women in the U.S. military who have earned that rank, just as it is disrespectful for the mostly nonreg Singing Cadets to refer to themselves as such. The Singing Cadets’ own Matt Ward said, “The name makes us work harder to up hold a higher standard because we are representing A&M, the state and sometimes the na tion.” I have no doubt, after everything I have seen and heard about this organization, that this is true. As a whole, the Singing Cadets are as a whole a fine group of gentle men. But the fact remains that the vast majority of them have not earned the right to be called cadets. Certainly an or ganization as renowned as this can survive a name change. David Boldt is a Class of ’97 marketing major treatment com From what I read. Bill Perry and Larry Crumbley’s com ments were also directed to the bill. The article makes it ap pear, however, that our admin istration, rather than Ratliff, is making the proposal. What has happened is that Texas A&M University’s proposed post tenure review document was confused by the reporter with the state legislature bill. Texas A&M University has no inten tion whatever of using student ratings to the degree that Ratliffs bill calls for. Steve Oberhelman Faculty Senate Speaker Taylor adds nothing to political debate David Taylor, with his sharp wit and acute perception of matters political, has come to represent everything that’s wrong with American politics today. His insubstantial rhetoric strongly echoes that of most American politicians, who seem bent on blaming anyone and everyone else for the na tion’s woes rather than work ing together toward productive remedies for them. Taylor, in his columns, offers nothing in the way of solutions or even original thought, but rather carries on with the mindless and unproductive partisan bickering that has consumed Capitol Hill. This is one taxpayer who longs for the day when the two parties can find a way to per form the tasks for which we pay them, and the likes of Taylor are no longer wasting space in our newspapers. Ben Cain Graduate student Landmark does not belong to a state STEPHEN LLANO Columnist I n the fu ture, Texas, Cal ifornia, New Mexico and Arizona might argue over who owns the Rio Grande. That is, if his torical prece dence has anything to do with it. Immigrants of immeasurable numbers and backgrounds at tempt to cross this physical landmark daily in the search for a better life. Currently, all American eyes are focused on the supposedly huge influx of immigrants into this country. And those eyes are not friendly. Many have for gotten the great waves of mi gration from Europe near the beginning of the century. They didn’t have the Rio Grande or Border Patrol; they had Ellis Island. Many believed the waves of immigrants would poi son the country. At the time, no one would consider arguing over which state laid claim to it. Sound familiar? But today, New York and New Jersey are about to go to battle over the island. New Jersey has provided util ities to the island because of its proximity. But New York claims a historic right to ownership, laced with a little common sense. Of course, common sense is a very, very relative term. In the 1800s, New York state, expanded its claims to territory all the way up to the Jersey shore, according to the Associat ed Press. New Jersey allowed New York to sign an agreement giving them ownership of the 2.75-acre island, as long as New Jersey maintained ownership of all land underwater. So it seems New York is win ning. But the Empire State fails to bring up the fact that in the 1890s, 25 acres were added to the island. This land was not shipped in, it was raised. That’s right, it was New Jersey’s land down under. But New York also claims that one in three of the 16 mil lion immigrants to the United States settled in New York be tween the years 1892 and 1924. From 1908 to 1909, people who lived on Ellis Island voted in New York. New Jersey retorts with its own statistics: Ellis Island is a mere 1,300 feet from the Jersey City shoreline, while Manhattan lies two miles away. If this arguing between the two states seems childish and stupid, that’s because it is. The words from a colonial history expert testifying for New York sum up the maturity level of this debate. “New Jersey’s always been in the shadow of New York, and that’s a big shadow,” said Dr. Leo Hershkowitz. “New Jersey wants a little bit of that limelight.” Shame on New Jersey — try ing to steal New York’s toys. At the beginning of the centu ry, Ellis Island served as a gate way for most of the backbone of immigrants to this country. A monument as historically signifi cant as this shouldn’t be left in the hands of jealous states who just want to attract tourists or print “Home of Ellis Island” on their glossy brochures. Let’s make the island part of the Unit ed States of America, not part of a state’s platter qf amusement parks. Immigrants did help to build the economy and the social fabric of New York as well as New Jersey. And Cormecticut. And Maine. And Florida, Alaba ma and Wisconsin. The list can go up to 50 entries. We all should have some say in what happens to the historic gateway to America. The federal court is expected to hear this issue in about three weeks. But that ruling will not be permanent; it can be re viewed by a higher court and re versed. Hopefully, the court will conclude on the side of America: that this landmark is too impor tant to be claimed by one state. It should be a U.S. landmark. But if one side ends up pre vailing, Texas better research the winning strategy. Who knows what the Southwest will think of the Rio Grande a hun dred years from now? Stephen Llano is a Class of’97 history major P jETA has a bad rep. Over the years. Peo ple for the Ethical Treat ment of Ani mals has been in the spot light for at tacking alleged injustices to animals across the globe. The most noteworthy cause is the opposition to animal ex perimentation by large multi national corporations, such as Gillette. PETA has held demon strations and discouraged the purchase of goods by organiza tions in violation of its stan dards, much of which has been covered by the media. In turn, the average American falsely views PETA as a conglomerate of militant activists. This does not mean PETA has never espoused values and actions that are slightly out of the bounds of mainstream thinking. Following are some of the major activities of PETA over the past several months that have been brought to popu lar attention by the press: • PETA encouraged members to write to the president of Acu- ra in response to a great corpo rate injustice. The company ran advertisements for the Acura automobile that included the Oscar Meyer Wienermobile. PETA’s notification to members described it as a “hot dog shaped car that is used to travel across America to persuade children to eat the flesh of pigs.” • PETA attacked Manhat tan’s prestigious Metropolitan Museum of Art for the use of traps and poison in the muse um’s attempts to exterminate rodents on its grounds. • The organization appealed to the local government of Mon treal, Quebec, to ban horse- drawn carriages in the down town district. The notice ex plained the horses were exposed to “extreme conditions” such as heat and humidity. It is these type of stories that comprise almost all the media coverage of PETA. However, there is a more mainstream side. Not all of the organization is as alternative as the media’s portrayal. Further study of PETA’s activities lead to less controversial causes: • Leading up to the big Fourth of July holiday, it pub lished information relating to the safety and protection of pets in relation to fireworks, heat and solitude. • PETA discouraged the giv ing of pets as Christmas gifts, because children frequently ne glect them. • PETA brought to light a case in East Bernard, Texas, in which four teens brutally tor tured and killed a cat, including hitting it with a baseball bat and running over it with a truck. Nothing wrong there. Every one wants domestic animals to be safe and well cared for, and the reckless torture of animals is unacceptable in all facets of society. It is the first three ac tions where disagreement is likely. If man has an inherent dominance over animals, why can he not eat them for nourish ment, separate himself from those that carry disease, and use them for transportation? Some think that one should, and PETA thinks that one shouldn’t. Although one doesn’t have to agree with everything PETA says, there is an important les son here. Sometimes the media don’t give the whole story. Peo ple want to read about fiery demonstrations and spirited confrontations, which results in neglect of everyday humani tarian efforts. As a result, mainstream America has a sphere of interest that overlaps that of PETA. Even though one may not value animal rights to the same degree as PETA, there is a common desire to see the reduction of needless ani mal cruelty and neglect. Whether one wears fur or en joys beef, he or she can stand together with PETA in meeting these goals. David Recht is a Class of ’97 civil engineering major