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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 5, 1996)
I /• Decembefi* The Battalion I ^ I u JN iformation cai| 3. 'miners: There run from thefij a.m. Also,a] Jin at G. Roll t 4:00 p.m, I jnners are wsi formation, call Page 11 Thursday • December 5, 1996 Sink or Swim xas A&M’s post-faculty tenure review should be re-evaluated Indents Assotr n April of 1912 the Titanic set sail Student’s Guilin jts maiden voyage from England Mary’s StudeBo New York City. The creators of the i, for dinner Vessel claimed that this fine luxury lin- taurant. For f was unsinkable. contact Bobs I at 822-5248.:! Columnist osse Club:P' from 4-6 p.m, ds. Everyone no experiencf I Todd Hendi ir information. ius Ministry: Stephen Llano jdy at 5:30 P r Bn/or history major terian Church.: After ignoring warnings regard ing icebergs in the area, the vessel struck one and went down as any other ship would. This disaster could have been avoided if the ship’s com mander had heed ed the warnings and changed course instead of rusting reputation. Likewise, Texas t 846-1221. an academic reputation that ■onsidered unsinkable. But recent There will Wtoric regarding post tenure review of 6 p.m. to JiBuity ma y b e the iceberg that sinks Rooms. Meir jj e University. red. For inforBEarlier in the semester, the Board of t 845-1515. Rents decided there was a significant Riber of tenured faculty who, after ndation (Meiichieving a permanent position in a iter): There»prestigious university, decided to sit /vith a guest i.jiund and do nothing. m at the w^he regents, secure in their infinite 201 Tauber wga-corporate wis- For more ^ oin ’ decided the best 5-4701 Bution would be to in- ttitute a faculty review program that elimi- Battalioii!| ates incompetent fac- n-profit stuc: |j|y at t hi s i a te stage of nts and actliK g ai -ne. d be submit#xhe regents’ decision ree days in a:| a good business d run date. Arfaove. The key word is es and noticcijiisiness. In case they nd will not be liaven’t read the full If you hauttame of the institution, ease call theit reads Texas A&M Uni- 3313. versity. The regents think they are still in the corporate office or managing Recent rhetoric regarding post tenure review of faculty may be the iceberg that sinks the University. the ranch. Running a university is not the same. Tenure is usually defined as a con tract between the university and a pro fessor that prevents the professor from being terminated. Some believe profes sors slack off after gaining tenure and enjoy the permanent income flowing in from doing nothing. But to professors, tenure is a part of their income. In a society where edu cators are not compensated adequate ly for the time and effort spent teach ing, many look at tenure as part of their expected salary. Tenure grants professors the ultimate intellectual tool: academic freedom to pursue knowledge wherever it may exist. Hav ing to worry about potential perfor mance reviews would seriously affect the quality of a professor’s work. And tenure is not just handed to every new Ph.D. who receives his or her diploma. According to the tenure re view proposal the Faculty Senate ap proved in October, new faculty mem bers already undergo a seven-year period in which their work is scruti nized by peers and other academics. At the end of this period the Provost and the University President may recom mend to the Regents that tenure be granted. After the intense work and study taken to reach this point, faculty members have to love their field. What could possibly make professors slack off when new doors are opened to them? The argument just doesn’t make sense. Tenure review policy in this proposed form is unique to Texas A&M. The other institutions we com pete with for new faculty offer tenure with no strings attached. Which university will have the toughest time attracting the best faculty? Sure, our reputation is well known, but changing this one little policy is just like that one little iceberg. It can be said that the Faculty Senate has rolled over to the regents’ desire to treat the University as a corporation — hiring and firing to maximize profit po tential instead of intellectual potential. But perhaps the Faculty Senate is trying to burn the village in order to save it. Why would they do such a thing? Considered to be disgruntled employ ees by the regents, their complaints are not regarded as very significant. If they didn’t propose a review poli cy, the regents would have created one. The well-justified outcry by the faculty was unceremoniously ignored by the Board. The people that the regents would probably listen to — the students — are not speaking up. Unfortunately, the Re gents translate this apathy into support for what they’re doing — “If they don’t like it, they’ll let us know” mentality. The students should take a vested in terest in what happens regarding the intel lectual climate for faculty members. Whatever restriction is placed on their academic freedom is a blow against the world-class education we’re supposed to be receiving. ?6& uversity Dnvs ANIC& Flf# ' -130 Kerw;| 'S 218 'cSi ? PM 9-11 (*| ?AC pm AL 1 finmJ iAC pm AL 2 FIMt'l ED "TfiDf] D 11 jBClf slAL FINA-j V A I PRM ?T 3 FINAj PRACj 3 finaj fell leaders embarrass Texas A&M pRAC plNAL iTTA^ oN potting the bumper sticker “Steers and Queers: lily at t.u.” always pro- ces a good laugh fpm me. It amazes me ]at our world-class iversity readily ad- ts students with five- lar-old intellects. The ultimate insult fours when these im- ciles are elected to idership positions. At last Thursday’s Midnight Yell actice in Austin, three yell lead- s mouthed incredibly insulting ithets toward gays and les- ans. In their desire to “beat the ill outta t.u.,” these yell leaders anaged to work in the words ags" and “queers.” Since the student body is deal- gwith five-year-olds, I’ve decid- 11 to “kindergartenize” my column explain why the yell leaders’ re marks are inexcusable. Going back to kindergarten, ire are some good rules to follow: Rule 1: Treat people the way you Tntto be treated. Some people ^ this the Golden Rule. It’s not a tod idea to insult people for no 'ason, especially if the words at- ^ something no one can change, suits that make fun of someone’s !$e, walk, speech, race or sexual Station are offensive because ^se are things the individual has Columnist H.L. Baxter Senior geography major to live with. You wouldn’t like it if someone poked fun at your insecurities, so don’t do it to others. This is Rule 1. Rule 2: If you can’t say anything nice about a person, don’t say any thing at all. This rule fol lows from Rule 1 and is often called respect. Everyone has different opinions about homo sexuals and homosexual ity, just as everyone has different opinions about blacks, Jews or women. Some people harbor derogatory sentiments about het erosexuality (heterosexuality adds to the world’s population problem, continues the cycle of poverty, etc.), but only fools say it out loud. It just seems better to keep your negative comments to yourself. This is Rule 2. Rule 3: Don’t pretend to be something you are not; it is com monly called hypocrisy. It’s not nice when someone befriends a person and then speaks negatively about the new friend to someone else. If one wants to be a friend, be a friend. If one doesn’t be a friend, Rules 1 and 2 still apply. The occur rence of one of our pupils actively soliciting the gay vote while cam paigning is a good example of hypocrisy. This is Rule 3. Rule 4: Help those less fortunate than you. This is called compas sion. Compassion was shown to ward black Americans by Jewish Americans. With the help of Jews, blacks acquired equal rights dur ing the civil rights movement. Jews were jailed for protesting Jim Crow Laws and ostracized by those friends and family who did not be lieve blacks deserved equality. In some cases, Jewish Americans died so that blacks could have equal protection under the law. Gays and lesbians face a similar peril. Parents sometimes ostracize or abandon their gay children. Some gays and lesbians even die because others don’t believe they deserve equal rights. Marching in a gay and lesbian parade may not be a comfortable way of helping their plight (even most homosexuals have problems with marching in parades), but help would be a nice gesture, if only to provide safety or to remain a friend instead of turn ing into an enemy. This is Rule 4. The Golden Rule, respect, virtue and compassion are elementary concepts and fundamental for good relations. Real leaders should master these concepts. Whether one leads a political party, student government or a yell, these four basic concepts can never wane. The ignorant, insensitive remarks of three yell leaders tarnish not only the image of this university, but humanity. Mail Call A&M’s club sports deserve recognition Regarding the Nov. 26 sports brief concerning club soccer: First, let me say I am pleased to see a comment regarding one of the many sport clubs at Texas A&M in The Battalion. However, the comment about the women’s team bowing down to Colorado St. does not give these women the respect they de serve. The Women finished sec ond after being scored upon with three minutes left in sudden death overtime. Prior to the finals, they scored 14 goals while allow ing only one. This is only an indicator of the strong soccer that exists at Texas A&M. Both the women and men’s club soccer teams have excelled at the local and national level. During regular season play, the women lost only one game and the men were undefeated and posted two ties. After regional competition, pre-tournament rankings had the women ranked No. 1 and the men, 16. The men’s club team only allowed one goal in the tournament, led by goal keeper Greg Axelson and a strong defensive package. However, the men were elimi nated in the quarterfinal, after one of the finest games played in the tournament. The men lost in penal ty kicks after a 1 -1 score in regula tion and a scoreless overtime. This marks the seventh year the men have completed the season with a top five national ranking. So, let’s say congratulations to these two fine teams, and to all the players involved. And, to all those students involved in sport clubs, we are proud to represent Texas A&M (even if we do it with out the knowledge of the student body or staff members). Congratulations to both teams and thank you for the years of great play. Michael T. Lee Class of’97 New solutions could improve parking I am writing to offer a suggestion " that might help solve the parking problem. I live in north Bryan, nowhere near a bus route, and have no choice but to drive to campus. Although I purchased a park ing permit, I seldom park on campus. Instead I park along the streets of the empty lots located on the north side of the Albert son’s shopping center. On my long hike to campus, I notice many other Texas A&M parking tags hanging in the nu merous other cars that line these streets. I also notice all the signs that say that the empty lots are Texas A&M property. Is there a reason why this land couldn’t been turned into parking lots? An on-campus shuttle bus stop could be added, and students could park and ride to class. Tamie Glass Class of’98 Easy target found by pointing fingers The purpose of this letter is not to discuss George Bush’s in volvement in cocaine importing. I do not know all the facts, so I won’t comment on it. However, I do take objection to one point that Donavan Wheatfall makes. He claims that “this scan dal” is directly responsible for drug use in African-American communities. To say that drug use is so rampant simply because the government may have helped provide cocaine is a cop-out. No one holds a gun to any body’s head and forces them to start using drugs. It’s like an alco holic blaming Budweiser for their problems. It’s like a cigarette smoker blaming Marlboro for their addiction. Grow up, people. We can’t blame others for problems we de velop. True, drugs may not have found their way into these com munities without the govern ment. But just because some thing is there does not mean you have to reach out and grab it. Wheatfall wonders if “every one has a fair chance in Ameri ca.” The answer is yes. Everyone has a fair chance to say yes, but everyone also has a fair chance to say no. Mike Stancel Class of’99 Aggie Band robbed of Bonfire tradition The redpots have attacked the meaning of “Aggies.” We’ve read, and seen, how the tradition of the outhouse for Bonfire being sup plied by the Aggie Band was end ed, and that Parson’s Mounted Cavalry, who builds an outhouse anyway, took over the tradition. I was in the Cavalry — it has never built an outhouse. Supposedly this action was re taliation for the band cutting up the redpot log. However, the fol lowing facts were omitted. The red- pots intentionally scheduled band cuts when the BQs were unable to participate. They tried to keep BQs from participating in centerpole wrap. They burglarized first floor BQ rooms after shattering the win dows. I even heard the redpots led E-Walk across the Drill Field. The nation saw that the redpots would n’t allow the whole band to march around stack Tuesday night. Bad bull, Aggies are supposed to be as true to each other as Aggies can be. James E. Hudson, III Class of’93 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 77843-3111 Campus Mail: 1111 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.