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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 24, 1996)
^ • October 24 and responded The Battalion Page 13 Thursday • October 24, 1996 d *gs and sevenS a, Jnintelligible professors shouldn’t lecture hit efficiea . , . „ . cary warriors weekend, the gled to Huskers, md followedmd la ge against thes as quite a drop. H hitting percem ie weekend. Y the longn )ntributingfacio| r this weekend, will travel forsi maining matches Columnist ained at No. 10 ii AVCA po second bi raska in and No. 23Kai >ity are tied in tin ds of 6-2. "Hear, concise speech and fluency in Eng lish: I often doubt if this is a factor in select ing our teaching faculty at A&M. If it were, we wouldn’t have a problem with misunderstanding our professors — an all too familiar scene at A&M. Stories abound around campus of the classes where no one understands the pro fessor. This shouldn’t be a problem at a world class university. Searching through the schedule books, one shouldn’t have to wor ry about weeding out own a 8-0 marl,: > enior accounting ith a pop /an Klesko drop: allowing anothei i the ; history-4 — ensured Newi a 1. ;day night ast game everati n County )hn Smoltz wilit York’s Andv" n McAlister nd finance major hard-to-pronounce names of some lessors. Students pay good money for education, and every course should DldVC}! agood one. These foreign professors may be out- nding researchers. They may also have [standing knowledge of the curriculum, problem is that they can’t communicate o their students. Communication plays a role in learning, we all should know that, rthose who don’t, they should try taking v , . ilrfavorite subject and teaching it to their to Yankee» !nc j s us j n g s jg n language. Those fluent in ning won’t have a problem, but for the ijority, not an ounce of knowledge would ssfrom teacher to student. A&M’s faculty has a responsibility to chthe student body the curriculum of chosen major. That, at times, can be f:ky since some classes are inherently diffi- Trying to teach a young college student gineering, chemistry or accounting can be allenging, even for the most talented of lessors. Throw in the hindrance of speak- the English language and the difficulty of task multiplies. Some may say the faculty should be represen- iveof the student body. But however culturally iresentative of the A&M population they are, more important that the professors have the Decision’s ramifications go beyond right & wrong ability to clearly articulate our national language. After all, the English language is the foundation for ail communication in the United States. The factors from which teaching faculty are selected surely involve education, ac complishments and experience, just like any other job. But prospective professors should have to teach a mock class and be evaluated as a communicator. The directors in charge of selection must be aware of impediments in speech and communication and not let these important qualities slip by. Let these otherwise qualified faculty members do research and create curricu lum; no one argues their value in that area. But leave the teaching to those who commu nicate clearly, and establish a separation be tween research and lecture. In the meantime, students still have to worry whether or not they will be able to understand their professors. Nothing will change and students will continue to struggle through lectures min gled with strange accents and mispro nounced words. And students will continue to complain about “the teacher who could n’t speak English.” The time has come to stop torturing stu dents. Professors, please learn to communi cate well or don’t lecture at all. T he line between life and death has been redrawn, and in the wrong place. The question of whether or not a fetus is a human has been hotly contested for years. Thursday, a court in Corpus Christi has an swered this question by conviction Frank Cuel lar for the death of Krys tal Zuniga. Zuniga’s mother, Jeannie Coronado, was seven-and-one-half months preg nant when an intoxicated Cuellar rammed into her car. An emergency Caesarean sec tion was performed, but massive head injuries caused the death of Zuniga 43 hours later. The jury decided, after only an hour, that Cuellar was guilty of manslaughter because Zuniga was considered to be a human being at the time of the accident. The dilemma is that this deci sion conflicts with the Texas Penal Code, which defines a person as “a human being who has been born and is alive.” The fetus did not have legal status, yet the jury ignored the state’s definition of a human, and wrongly convicted Cuellar for killing a person. Although Cuellar deserves harsh punishment for drunken driving, he should not be punished for manslaughter because, according to Texas law, he did not kill a person. But the ramifications of a glo rified drunken-driving case go far and above a small Corpus Christi courtroom. Opinion Editor Heather Pace Sophomore English major The line between an infant, which the court considered Zuniga to be, and a fetus must be drawn distinctly. Such lines are set for driving, voting and drinking. Yet, for the most important line of all, the one separat ing a living being to a dependent entity, nothing exists. Moreover, it is ridiculous that Cuellar was con victed of manslaughter when women commit the same acts in the form of abortion. However, the ramifications of the Cuellar case could lead to an infringement upon a woman’s right to have an abor tion because the case considers a fetus to be alive. This is the case because pro lifers will most certainly use this case to their advantage and argue that if a fetus is considered a legal entity, then abortion is murder. Pro-choice critics, though, would argue that the woman did not make the choice to lose her in fant, but that it was made for her by Cuellar’s action. But Cuellar’s actions, although awful, were in correctly labeled as manslaughter. It took the jury an hour to find Cuellar guilty. It remains a mystery how a jury could make a decision of this magnitude so quickly. The consequence is that a man has been wrongfully convicted of a crime he did not commit. Drunken driving — yes. Manslaughter — no. It is time America draws the line once and for all. What’S SAD is that iieithe** Clinton or Dole is the central issue of the cTnnpai^fn... Ci MAR&uim @\Wb me twww&f Ym/-ben)en.ccm/m*ryutiei Mail touchers further education woes \ merica’s public education system \ sucks. In an attempt to make it suck llless, some states are considering us- education vouchers to subsidize private looling for low-income students. They may mean well, but advocates of ication vouchers ignore the fact that a icher system does not help school chil li as a whole. In addition, the system al- 's private schools to discriminate against dents and it subsidizes religion. Proponents of school vouchers argue it education — like any other good or vice — is subject to competition. Fur- rmore, students keep public school personnel em- yed, so proponents argue that giving low-income dents access to private schools will force public idols to clean house to keep their students. Since bile schools would have to offer a safer environ- mt and a comparable level of education to private tools, every student will benefit. Applying this “trickle-down” economic theory to ed ition would be beneficial if it provided a timetable of plementation. However, while the effects of compe- on are trickling down to the have-nots, many public lool students become pregnant, ip out or are killed on school tods. Clearly, government must fe a more proactive response to ed ition’s problems. For those fortunate students who receive vouchers, the future is rela- ily brighter. Compared with public look, private schools have lower •pout, teen-age pregnancy and vio- ce rates, and send a liigher propor- l of students to college. Voucher dents would get the education they id and deserve to prosper in today’s world. However, whenever choice is involved, discrimina- n becomes a factor. For example, if someone goes o a grocery store and buys toothpaste, the buyer 1 use his or her preferences to buy one brand of bthpaste over another. Columnist H.L. Baxter Senior geography major The overall quality of education offered is not increased when a select group of stu dents has access to better schools. In the case of education vouchers, the stu dent is the toothpaste and the private school the buyer. Schools will select those students they feel worthy of receiving their services. They will, inadvertently or advertently, dis criminate against other students, even though those students have vouchers. The school may use anything to discriminate: sex, nationality, test-taking ability, prior grades, physical ability, race, etc. There is no guaran tee that a student will attend a private school simply because he or she has a voucher. Of course, not all schools discriminate. Schools affiliated with a church, for example, are not apt to discriminate because of race or nationali ty. However, sending young pupils to schools affiliated with Catholic or Protestant churches presents another major problem with the voucher system. Seventy percent of private school students are en rolled in Catholic schools; the Catholic church is the pri mary provider of private schooling. In addition to learn ing math and English, there is a good chance voucher students will be subjected to theology and religion courses. In other words, the government would be sub sidizing religion — a violation of the separation of church and state. Even if some parents are in favor of letting the school expose their chil dren to religion, government should not finance the conversion of stu dents to any religion. Giving steaks to a select group and leaving others to starve is not the best way to end a famine. In essence, this is what an educa tion voucher system does. The prob lems of public education stem from a lack of financial incentive for teachers and mismanagement of funds earmarked for education. The quick fix of education vouchers is not a useful tool to repair education’s problems.The overall quality of education is not increased when a select group of stu dents has access to better schools and state govern ments say “to hell with the rest.” A.P. Beutel simply follows regulations Regarding Anthony Semien’s Oct. 17 Mail Call, “Beutel focuses on blocking, not aiding”: First, I would like to stress that the A.E Beutel Health Center does not deny evaluation and treatment of any student who is currently en rolled at Texas A&M University. Second, it is a requirement of the University that all students must have a completed Medical History form and an immunization record on file at the Health Center. The immunization requirements are stated in the University Admis sions packet each student receives prior to enrollment. It is the responsibility of the stu dent to turn in this information. Stu dents who are not in compliance will be blocked from registration for the next semester. As employees of the University, the nurses are responsible for en forcing these requirements. The immunization and med ical history requirements are en forced to protect the health and well-being of both the individual and total student population. Please take some responsibility and help us to help you. Joan Davis, R.N, Staff Nurse A.R Beutel Health Center Class of’87 Homosexuality has no place in world Regarding Ken Burchett’s Oct. 21 Mail Call, “Choice not related to sexual preference”: Homosexuality is the result of insecurity or an inferiority com plex derived from a broken home or some other “messed- up” environment. Although ho mosexuals are people, they rep resent a perversion that should not be tolerated. If we give homosexuals equal rights, we would be condoning this perverted lifestyle. Homo sexuality has no business or use fulness in our society. Homosex uals cannot reproduce with one another, which is the entire sec ular purpose of man. I’m not saying I’m perfect by any means. Charlie Johanson Class of’00 Apgar’s views on media appear ironic Regarding Jon Apgar’s Oct. 15 column,"Media stereotyping shows irresponsibility”: The same Apgar who believes one in eight children suffers a severe birth defect from animal testing is now trying to con vince Aggieland that the media are not liberal. Given Apgar’s reputation for ei ther not researching his topics, or trying to pass off someone else’s opinions as statistics, one should n’t be surprised his usual lack of consistency with truth. Apgar also stressed the impor tance of “research” while dis cussing liberal bias. Would he care to then explain why his arguments were all opinion, no research? Since Apgar again failed to do his homework, I have kindly pro vided him the Media Crib Sheet. Poll after poll shows 60-75 percent of Washington re porters refer to themselves as liberal, which certainly isn’t “split” as Apgar guessed. A Roper poll released early 1996 reveals 83 percent ofWashington reporters voted for Clinton. The media report 5.4 percent school lunch funding increases as “cuts”, and 50 percent student loan increases as “draconian cuts”, despite OMB, CBO and infi nite other studies proving multi billion dollar increases. Sam Donaldson and Kokie Roberts informed Newt Gingrich on This Week that the media have “no obligation” to give balanced reporting. For every 11 stories ran on Gingrich’s ethics probe, which proved nothing, only one story runs on Filegate, which may re sult in prosecutions and jail time. A September Gallup poll shows 67 percent of Americans notice a “liberal slant in the media.” I suggest Apgar stop using back issues of Pravda for “ a little re search” and face the truth. There is an obvious and un- apologetic liberal bias in the media. Donny Ferguson Class of ’99 Everyone deserves equal opportunity Regarding Aja Henderson’s Oct. 17 column, “Lack of scholarships keep minorities away”: Why is it that only minorities and athletes can receive scholar ships and not a hard-working white male? Henderson complains be cause her fellow minorities can’t get a free ride to Texas A&M. I’m not naive enough to be lieve all minorities live in the slums and require incentives to attend college. Most of my minority friends can afford to attend college, but then, they don’t have to — they all received minority scholarships.. The sad thing is that all of my white friends are paying for college, and not all of them can afford it. However, none of my white friends could obtain a scholar ships. This is not because they had too much money or their per formance in high school was not good enough, but because they are white. They don’t offer a scholarship for white Protestant males. I believe in measuring a per son based on who they are and not their race. I am also a firm believer in giving scholarships to those in need and to those who truly de serve them, no matter what col or they are. Jennifer McKee Class of’99 The Battalion encourages letters to the editor. Letters must be 300 words or fewer and include the author's name, class, and phone number. The opinion editor reserves the right to edit letters for length, style, and accuracy. Letters may be submitted in person at 013 Reed McDonald with a valid student ID. Let ters may also be mailed to: The Battalion - Mail Call 013 Reed McDonald Texas A&M University College Station, TX 77843-1131 Campus Mail: 13-11 Fax: (409) 845-2647 E-mail: Batt@tamvml.tamu.edu For more details on letter policy, please call 845-3313 and direct your question to the opinion editor.