The Battalion
UESDAY
Jbly 16, 1996
PINION
Page 5
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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.
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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.
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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