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Page 9
Wednesday • January 22, 1997
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JT student leadership eating sour grapes
SI;
and later 'Uege
left hand
with the
ot since junior high have I
seen a group of people so
concerned with what oth
ers think of them.
Last week, University of Texas of-
ials expressed support for a move-
ent on campus to stop sending
itistical information to U.S. News
id World Report
rthe maga-
le’s annual
Executive Editor
nkings.
udent
Michael Landauer
Senior
Journalism major
ie 20. He
a career
age in ISfovem-
ent Presi-
whenhe int Jeff Tsai
st season lid the Daily
ie season |xan, UT’s stu
nt newspaper,
atUT System Chan-
llor William Cun-
gham would
ck the student
ivernment ini-
[ative, in a pub-
letter, if
ked to do
U.S. News rankings came under
scrutiny last fall when students at
Stanford, Yale and Harvard started the
movement. But those discussions
didn’t start as a result of falling out of
the top tier of the rankings.
Maybe as a top-50 school, A&M
should try to help UT from looking like
cry babies by joining the effort. But
this probably isn’t going to happen,
not just because A&M is happy with its
rankings, but also because A&M offi
cials seem to have the right attitude
about them.
Texas A&M President Dr. Ray Bowen
remains modest when discussing
e 7
acade-
ttle bit
! wasn’t
d to be
e really
focus-
of stu-
m and
more,"
eraca-
riyself,
A&M,
es as a
aid he
borne,
want-
mam 1
s said.
olOIK
thret
and
it ion |
ones
short
that
, he’s
ie’s a
busi-
When the
ngs
fame out last
pring, UT of-
cials touted
eir accom
plishments.
UT’s grad
uate schools
pid espe
cially well,
vith 23
schools,
fhepart-
feents
and pro
-ams
includ
ed in
the
maga-
(zine.'s
top-25
\ lists.
Paul
ewman,
epart-
entofAc-
ounting
hair, told the
'ally Texan
hat he was hap-
ds of I >ywith the rank-
who higs.
ness.’ 1 I “Were thrilled,” he
|aid. "This kind of ranking
'rings employers, but it also
'rings great students. We need
fiemboth.”
So why the movement to boycott?
gain, the Daily Texan provides a
[limpse into the minds of UT officials:
jU.S. News dropped the University into the
nranked tier in last year’s survey, provoking
any students and administrators to react
[ritically to the report.”
And one more thing — Texas A&M passed UT
|y leaping from the unranked masses into the
p 50. Surely this doesn’t bother our friends in
ustin, but it doesn’t look good either. UT is em-
arrassing itself by supporting this movement
th such bad timing.
rank.
He said
such studies
reflect things that happened at the University
about 10 years ago, well before Bowen returned
to his alma mater to become president. He isn’t
ve got
ing all
it.”
bsence policies lacking good sense
Professors put personal convenience ahead of students' concerns
Columnist
t’s the same thing
every semester.The
first day of class,
the professor
ands out and goes
|>ver the usual syllabi
tontaining the usual
items. “My office hours
are there will be
hree tests and a final...
’ Blah, blah, blah.
iWhatever.
We stare at the wall,
he Ph.D. moves on to
hapter one and the syllabi are put
way never to be seen again.
Students at Texas A&M, howev-
r, should pay closer attention to
yiese policies, specifically the ex-
used absence policies; policies
hat, more often than not, could
lurt their chances for a good grade.
A well-known, wide-spread
'ractice among professors is to
tave extra assignments, quizzes,
J tc. of which the lowest grades are
hopped. On the surface this ap-
I 'ears to be helpful to students who
[nay have had a rough week, and it
usually is appreciated.
[ The problem arises, however,
vhen an absence must be taken.
[ Not “my alarm didn’t go off,” but
David Boldt
Senior
marketing major
a bona fide University ex
cuse such as a death in
the family.
Professors usually say
the missed quiz or as
signment will be the one
dropped. Convenient for
the professor. Unfair to
the student.
Professors are in ef
fect saying, although
you receive a zero on
that quiz, how lucky you
are because we drop the
lowest grade.
The real atrocity begins when a
test is missed. Make up tests are of
ten considerably more difficult that
the original, often entirely essay
questions and covering informa
tion found only in the deepest pit
of Evans Library.
Some professors have will
count the next exam twice when a
test is missed for a valid reason.
Convenient for the professor, un
fair for the student.
Every semester students en
trust administrators to look out
for our interests in matters such
as these. Manager of Faculty Pro
grams and Services Ann Pittman,
an assistant to the Dean of Facul
ties, displaces the issue. “It’s up to
the individual instructor, as long as
it is stated up front,” Pittman said.
Well, at least we’re told ahead of
time before being treated unfairly.
Part 1,
“It’s up to the individual in
structor, as long as it is stated
up front.”
Ann Pittman,
Assistant to the Dean of Faculty
Section 7.5
of the
1996/1997
issue of Stu
dent Rules
states “if the
absence
was ex
cused, the
instructor
must either
provide the
student with an opportunity to
make up the exam or other work
missed or provide a satisfactory al
ternative.” The problem lies in
who considers what a “satisfacto
ry alternative.” Having one test
counting 100% of your semester
grade might be a satisfactory al
ternative to some professors, but
not to students.
When asked if she thought these
policies put legitimate students at a
disadvantage, Pittman said “I don’t
feel comfortable commenting on
that from this end.”
I can’t imagine why.
The issue remains. Students
who must miss school for rea
sons such as a funeral or severe
illness are being put at an acade
mic disad
vantage to
those who
were more
fortunate.
Dr.
Souther
land, Vice
President
for Student
Affairs, said,
“The intent
is to have an
equal opportunity to make up
the work at the same level as was
missed.”
Although most professors
mean well and don’t intend to
maliciously hurt student’s
grades, it seems that some have
lost sight of their duty as a pro
fessor.
For most professors, hard
work has allowed them to
achieve their status, however,
their laziness has hindered hard
working students from achieving
the same.
Figurehead Senate
The Student Senate lacking
effectiveness and decisiveness
unhappy with the rankings — he just prefers to
focus on the future, working on ways to maintain
A&M’s good reputation.
With such a rational outlook on the rankings,
perhaps Bowen should counsel UT officials on
the issue. I visualize the scene looking like
something out of Leave It To Beaver. Ward
Cleaver, played by Bowen, might tell the heave,
played by UT officials to buck up: “What others
think of you is not nearly as important as what
you think of yourself. You just keep working
hard and recognition will come.”
“But, Gee whiz, Dad,” UT officials might an
swer, “I just hate being beaten by the Aggies.” In
reality, however, neither A&M nor Texas has a
right to use such
rankings as rea
son to be con
descending to
each other.
Both schools are
excellent, leading
the nation in
many different ar
eas.
Texas schools
should cooperate to
ensure that higher edu
cation in the state gets the re
spect it deserves. By working to
gether and sharing ideas, the
schools can get a lot accom
plished. This year, several uni
versities in Texas, including A&M
and Texas, are lobbying together
for increased funding from the
legislature. With unity like this,
higher education will continue
to improve, with or without the
recognition from U.S. News.
And isn’t this
the most
impor
tant
thing?
Or are
we so
wor
ried
about
image we
pout when
our rank
ings slightly
drop one
year?
UT
offi
cials
will
be an
swer
ing this
ques
tion soon,
and hopeful
ly they will decide to stay
in the game.
The last thing this year’s
rankings should do for UT is
make them withdraw and
regress. By refusing to jump on
the wounded-ego bandwagon,
UT officials could act like the
leaders in higher educa
tion they should, rather
than acting like the insecure
junior-high kids the student gov
ernment wants them to be.
M ost stu
dents
have
heard
about the Student
Senate, a student
group with obscure
powers and a vague
agenda which meets
twice a month to dis
cuss the fate of Texas
A&M students. De
spite their suits and
$96,000 annual budget,
the Senate is merely a figurehead.
The Student Senate presents
itself as a representative body.
The claim sounds nice, but it’s ac
tually misleading.
Student Senators are elected
by thousands of students, but by
the end of the senate session last
spring, fifty percent of the sena
tors had been replaced by ap
pointed students.
Occasionally a student senator
will discuss the mandate they re
ceived when elected, but most
senators do not campaign on
their views or policies. Senate
campaign fliers only list the stu
dent’s name, ballot position and
maybe a nice graphic.
In the last election, Dave
Brown drew the top ballot spot in
the campaign for Northside Sen
ate. Brown posted one flier and
was swept into office. Elections
where policy has such little influ
ence do not make Student Senate
a representative body.
The group can only be consid
ered representative if each sena
tor rigorously sought the views of
their constituents and acted
upon the information. Unfortu
nately, senators rarely seek stu
dent opinion, and when they do
know student viewpoints, they
often ignore them.
Most of us are familiar with the
Yell Leader Run-Off debate which
plagued the Senate last semester.
Even though an overwhelming
number of students supported
holding Yell Leader Run-Off elec
tions, many Student Senators
boldly proclaimed their con
stituents’ opinions invalid.
Senators do hold a “Constituen
cy Day” once a semester when
they ask students at the MSC
breezeway to fill out opinion sur-
Columnist
David Johnston
Junior Math major
veys, but this event is
more symbolism than
substance.
Even if they were
truly concerned with
student views, the Stu
dent Senate can effect
no real change. They
rarely do anything of
importance (except en
dorse fee increases).
The University’s consti-
tution gives the senate
no power over the ad
ministration. The group can only
propose or endorse policies.
Last fall, the Student Senate
entertained a non-controversial,
well-researched bill, and still fell
well short of their goal.
The Winter Spirit of Aggieland
bill was presented at the Nov. 6,
senate meeting and called for the
Corps, Physical Plant, Student
Government and several other
organizations to develop a policy
which would bring “festive lights”
to the A&M campus.
Once the bill was passed and
the full force of the Student Sen
ate was behind the project, cor
porate funding and donations
were secured and the University
purchased lights and decorations
to place around campus.
Senators assure the ornamen
tation was present, but even they
admit it was less than spectacular.
A large Christmas tree was do
nated for placement at the main
entrance of A&M. Student Gov
ernment was expected to trans
port the tree from Orange, Texas
to campus and oversee its deco
ration. This project completely
fell apart, and somewhere there
must be a tree filling a dump in
Orange right now.
Even when the Student Sen
ate tries to do something useful,
they are terribly inadequate.
Despite several attempts to in
crease efficiency, it evidently
takes over a year to accomplish
anything through Student Gov
ernment. The group has failed
to serve the students who put
them in office. Student Govern
ment’s budget comes from our
Student Service Fee, maybe
some accountability is in order.
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Mail
Hooked on Eboincs time? The answer is, we should not.
In regard to General Franklin’s
column in the January 17th Battal
ion:
When one observes the man
ner in which well-respected lead
ers in the African-American com
munity communicate, such as
Jesse Jackson, Colin Powell and
others, the use of Ebonics is un
necessary. As Franklin said, “Ebon
ics became associated with slavery
and servitude, thereby encourag
ing free or runaway slaves to mas
ter standard English.” If this is frue,
which I believe it to be, this serves
as all the more reason to stray from
this erroneous methodology. The
use of this dialect is still associated
with individuals of lower-class,
and it will further alienate and op
press those who are taught it is an
acceptable form of communica
tion. For example, how will one ap
pear in an interview for a high lev
el job if he or she cannot use the
correct, conjugated form of the
word “be”?Would anyone hire this
individual?
Communication, as we have
all been taught from an early age,
is the most important part of any
relationship, especially between
ethnic groups of our nation.
Therefore, it is not only unwise,
but irresponsible to form barriers
with the African-American por
tion of our national community,
further hindering communica
tion between the races. In the
Bible, God used the Tower of Ba
bel to punish the wicked, forcing
an end to their labors. Why must
we punish ourselves and hinder
the labor of uniting races in our
Nathan Boucher
Class of ’98
Wayull, I jest got through reading
this here Battalion column talkin’
‘bout Ebonics bein’ the best way t’
start teachin’ the black folks so’s the
suspension rates won’t be s’high.
Wayull, I have a really hard time
unnerstandin’ what all them Yankees
r’saying, talkin’ all that proper English
stuff. I been thankin’, ‘n I thank that
Ebonics is a real good idea, cuz I know
what it’s like t’not be able to unner-
stan when people’s ain’t talkin’ in my
“dialect.” They should start teachin’
“Texonics” to us here Texas folk who
cain’t unnerstan proper English. I
hope they give it some thought cuz it’d
really help up rednecks so’s when we
say stuff like “jeet yet?” ‘n “naw, joo?”
people’d know what we’re sayin’ with
out havin’ t’ watch th’ Jeff Foxworthy
show. Texonics’d be a real big step in
making us dumb Texans more equal,
‘n I’d be mighty pleased if they’s start
havin’ it in schools here in Texas.
Shannon Johnson
Class of‘99
\n
m
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rA
The Battalion encourages letters to the ed
itor. 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 Mc
Donald with a valid student ID. Letters may also
be mailed to:
The Battalion - Mail Call
013 Reed McDonald
Texas A&M University
College Station, TX
77843-1111
Campus Mail: 1111
Fax: (409) 845-2647
E-mail: Batt@tamvml.tamu.edu
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