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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 24, 1997)
The Battalion xecutive education irst daughter makes college admissions look easy jest Columnist s sad as it is, the best way to get ahead in this world is to become fa mous. Brains are not necessary anymore, just some important factor that sets one aside from the common, everyday fool, he world is astonished with politics these days and when the serious is- s are ignored, the media shoots for scapegoats. )ne of those scapegoats lives in the White House. No, not Hilary or Socks Cat. Chelsea Clinton. And yes, my friends, she is leaving the White House that wonderful place where a lot of high school graduates go - college. Chelsea attended a private school and did not take an SAT or even gradu- with the required courses. Why? Be cause she is the presi dent’s daughter. The president’s daughter was just ac cepted to Harvard, Yale, Wellesley (Hilary’s alma mater), Brown, North western, Stanford and Princeton colleges. The funny, really fun ny thing about this is the media made a notion that Chelsea’s higher , education would hurt the president in Texas A&M’s admission application requires the student to fill out informa tion such as one’s high school rank, grade-point average, extracurricular ac tivities and future goals. It makes one wonder what Chelsea’s application says, assuming there is an application, and how it would be treated if her name and address were left out. Many students know how tough it is to get through school when there aren’t big bucks carving out the road in front of them. Some work through school; others rely on financial aid to get through school. And there are those who have help by mom and dad. But getting into college should be up to the student. As my dad always says, learning is a reward within itself. And for Chelsea’s sake, whatever college she chooses, let’s hope she gets some Republican professor who will treat her like one of us. ley Schlueter Sophomore loan nil ism major pocketbook. Ifeah, Harvard costs $30,000 a year to tend, and the other colleges Chelsea accepted to range from $25,000 to ,000 a year. NN Headline News quoted Clin- on saying, “It’s pretty expensive,” when the Clintons reportedly have aved $100,000 in a college fund (ft Chelsea. Money magazine’s ihalysis said the Clintons in- ested in savings bonds and tnoney market accounts for ler education. ut the fact that she Id go to just about any illege she wanted to says a at deal about the |ight she carries for ngthe first daughter, helsea isn’t alone, owever. Others carry same weight - like letes who are famous I stealing America’s fool- heart. erri Strug, an lympic gymnast |ro,” did not n apply to half the colleges that Me red her admis- |n immediately :r that famous It she so bravely ided with a bro- 'On ankle. Strug, ^iowas excepted at I LA put off college | a year after the Olympics, for an [ard with higher ue than a free edu- [ion — endorse- nts. |The real question s unanswered, ugh. Why does erica weigh fame d fortune on a differ- ttscale than intellect i truth? e- ■< m n li HARVAR OR BUST! idt,, o bin son sacrificed for freedom. Woods serves himself tis hard to mention Jackie [Robinson without recognizing pis sports accomplishments Veil as his contributions to the [il Rights movement. However, pnpts to mold Tiger Woods ) the next African-American [olack authority because of {superficiality of the sports- [Irtainment industry and |ods’ reluctance to recognize 1 exhibit pride in his African- j'erican heritage. Robinson was a hero to [toy because of his determina- and perseverance to attain greatness baseball despite major obstacles of ism and inequality prevalent in base- 1 and society. Remarkably, Robinson was able to achieve atness in two ways. He motivated others ispire to play baseball with as much digni- ce and strength as he did during his ca- r. Robinson’s patience and tolerance also forced the passive resistance of the im ping Civil Rights movement as he with- od years of mental and physical torment at 1 bands of racist white players. Make no mistake that underneath the pa le exterior raged a ferocious tempest. He Winded this negative aggression into re- frkable skills on the diamond as he became quintessential competitor. r 1 addition to his personal attributes, mson bucked the trend of complacency lv dent among successful African-Ameri- Columnist General Franklin Sophomore English major cans by making overt objections to the inequality and discrimina tion of the ’50s and ’60s. When other influential African-Ameri cans remained silent, Robinson took a stand by crusading for civil rights before it was fashionable or popular. In fact, he demonstrated as much initiative and fortitude in these endeavors as he did when he first stepped in the batter’s box on a spring day in April 1947. Ever since Robinson’s triumph, many searched for an heir-appar ent who not only personified strength, agility and determination, but also great wisdom and intelligence. With the emergence ofTiger Woods as the premiere golfer on the PGA tour, many are heralding tliis 21 year old as the next Robin son. Gentleman’s Quarterly magazine says Woods will become the messiah of modem sports. In short, the legitimacy of such sweeping platitudes ring hollow because while Woods is a exemplary athlete, he does not possess the moral strength, character and self-awareness to deserve the title. Woods’ being considered a hero, mentor and inspiration is faulty because he is simply a deceptive manifestation of clever marketing by Nike. Indeed, Nike has made subtle and effective comparisons to an athlete of Robin son’s dimensions. Nike suggested that Woods’ presence in golf will inspire African-American youth with chants of unison, “I am Tiger Woods.” The involvement of Nike makes the aura of Tiger Woods seem artificial, contrived and suspect. The machinations of Nike may propel Woods to great wealth and fame, but it cannot catapult him to the height of adula tion and reverence that Robinson still enjoys — decades after his death. Specifically, Woods lacks the moral fiber and self-awareness to be someone other than a cardboard hero to African-Americans. Fur thermore, Woods has demonstrated this lack of character and self-awareness by denying his own African-American heritage. In sever al interviews, particu larly one with Ebony magazine, Woods made outright denials of his black identity by solely emphasizing his moth er’s Taiwanese ancestry. Such blatant repudia tion of African-Ameri can culture is an affront to all African-Ameri cans. It identifies both the stigma of black fame as well as Woods’ inability or unwilling ness to reconcile his identity with his percep tion or shame about African-Americans. How can black youth respect, admire or emulate a man so willing to shirk his heritage in face of his success? Furthermore, this de nial devalues African-American heritage with the implicit idea that race is an encumbrance to success and prosperity for African-Ameri cans. In a way, Woods’ statements reinforce the old racist ideology of inferiority by imply- How can black youth respect, admire or emulate a man so willing to shirk his heritage in face of his success? ing only blacks of mixed, particularly white, heritage can overcome the inferiority of their condition and succeed. In contrast, Robinson not only defied the stereotype of inferiority, but catalyzed greater racial pride through the advocacy of the Civil Rights movement. In fact, he tri umphed over these stereotypes by gaining the reluctant respect of colleagues even as he expressed discontent for a system and a society, which stripped away dignity from African-Americans. Only a man secure in his identity and immense ly proud of his heritage can withstand societal pressures to bolster his convictions and to do it with honor. Furthermore, Woods revealed low pride in his African-American her itage by presenting rather demeaning views about blacks in com ments he made during a Gentleman’s Quarterly interview. In spite of his virtues as an athlete, Woods cannot surmount the obstacles of his own ig norance, immaturity, confusion and superfi ciality to achieve the cultural significance of Jackie Robinson. Robinson’s greatest achieve ment was the preservation of dignity and grace in the pursuit to assert progress and change the stubborn institutions of baseball and American society. Page 13 Thursday • April 24, 1997 Summer school sizzles away time for work t’s springtime, the birds are singing, the flowers are bloom ing and the thoughts of college students everywhere turn to regis tration for summer school classes and next semester. Summer school, that wonderful time when students try to catch up to where their degree plans say they should be and work in pursuit of the rare achievement — to graduate in four years. In addition, they often have to work full time to make the mon ey they need to live during the school year; these students don’t have time to work while class is in ses sion. But once again, the University does not want to make it too easy on students. Classes are scheduled so that those who have to work full time in typical “8 to 5” jobs are unable to take their courses from A&M. The courses causing the most se vere problems are typically foreign languages and sciences. At least one course is required for a degree in lib eral arts curricula, and any other major for graduation with a BA de gree. This creates an enormous stu dent demand. But the University doesn’t do enough to ensure stu dents are able to get the classes they need. Instead, they seem to rely on junior colleges to take up the slack. Employees at the A&M modern and classical languages department say about 450 students take Span ish classes during summer school at A&M. Of these, about 200 are in Spanish 101 or 102, which requires labs. Because of the language de partment’s teaching philosophy and lack of room availability, these classes are scheduled with part of the class in the morning and part in the afternoon. This makes it practi cally impossible to take these class es and still work full time, unless working evenings is an option. There is the option of attending a different lab time, but the labs all take place in the afternoon. The problem is not limited to just foreign language courses. Chem istry, biology and speech communi cations are offered under the same circumstances. Granted, with the sciences, it is not vital to take labs at the same time as lectures, but much of the reason for taking them in the summer is to not have that awkward lab section messing up your sched ule during the regular semester. In addition, the labs are sched uled so it is not possible to take an other class in between the lecture and the lab, creating several hours of wasted time in the middle of the day. This situation is especially hard on those students who are married with a family to support, and those who are trying to pay their way through school. The summer is when money is made and saved. When students are unable to make enough money to survive the coming year, they are forced to choose between working full time or taking summer school and graduating to get out into the real job market. The coming of summer should not be dreaded because of these dif ficult decisions. Instead, it should be anticipated eagerly as an opportuni ty to relax, take a break catch or even get ahead. It wouldn’t take much effort to schedule courses in solid blocks, or at least to set them up so it would be easier for those who work full time. An acceptable solution could be to arrange for the classes to be either completely in the morning or in the afternoon. This would make it possi ble for students to work the other half of the day. Now that might mean classes would have to start earlier in the morning, but that is a sacrifice some students are willing to make. It seems A&M doesn’t care much about serving its students and meet ing their needs. After all, Blinn is right across town, and more than ea ger to take those A&M is unable or unwilling to accommodate. Once again, the University is putting its own priorities above the needs of the students. Columnist Robby Ray Junior speech communication major
