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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 25, 1997)
MWMijgMW SMBgM&smflM nj Battalion T I Page 9 Friday • April 25, 1997 I lec ■ inal analysis omprehensive exams offer lifesavers in sea of raging test rapids I espite the beautiful and bountiful air [ingtime brings, Ithefexus A&M students MB plagued by an jerhanging cloud of Mlnjpstice commonly ■erred to as finals. Ifhe mere idea of lllt Bse approaching Its imposes a less on the crani- similar to brain ze but ten times worse, ost professors have a Choice between two types of llures: the infamous com prehensive final or the slightly ,Mre bearable fourth test final. St may be difficult for un- lentSding students to accept, ■t comprehensive finals are |nr jiyfar the most beneficial. laccsBStudents who are pro- irth test (most of them), juallyfind themselves lomBjwning in an information pverload as the professor at- |npts to cram weeks worth ^information in two “rede led” class days. ■Obviously, professors see the lue in comprehensive finals. [Some professors figure, jthgood reason, compre- Jnsive finals are in students’ lest interest. These finals in- Ire total digestion of the se tter's material and then a imanded regurgitation of tained information. iiiUBDespite its undesirability, tile comprehensive final proves effective as a forced manipula- |n of the building blocks of Itainto a monument of high- lleaming. Bonnie Kalich, a pt/i 141 and 142 lecturer, Columnist Kate Shropshire Freshman biomedical science major agrees with putting the comprehensive fi nal to good use. “We are all required to give comprehensive finals,” she said. “We all need to cover the same [information].” Kalich said the ne cessity of compre hensive fi- 1 nals is the result of two major factors. “Comprehensive finals for all Math 141 and Math 142 classes are impor tant because we need to make sure [students] learn everything they need to in this course,” she said. “I’m for a compre hensive final be cause students need to study all the stuff together and I also think the final should count the same as a test,” Kalich said. “Yet a fourth test final would be easier, and if I were a stu dent I would proba bly hope for that.” In addition to the advantages posed to students, the appar ent value of a com prehensive final is influenced by the subject pursued. Keith Lea, a freshman English major, recognizes different kinds of courses call for different kinds of finals. “It really depends on the subject,” he said. “Math and science classes need a comprehensive final be cause everything builds on everything else. In English, each individual work that [a student reads] does not really have an effect on each other and that is what papers are for.” Lea also is aware of the fa cilitation of total under standing which can be found in comprehensive finals. “I’d like to have a fourth test final for everything, but I know it is better to have comprehensive ones so I will retain the materi al,” he said. There are those stu dents who believe finals would be more effective if applied in a much more creative way. Matt Smith, a freshman business major, promotes a unique solution to this final dilemma. “I think finals should be optional and not cumula tive,” Smith said. “If you already have an (A) then you shouldn’t have to take the final.” Even though compre hensive finals are prone to putting students on the rack, in the long run they manifest their worth. In the wake of the brain hemorrhages caused by fi nals, students should try to be patient in their pursuits as they repeat the dogma, “No pain, no gain.” linton health-care plan proves worthy, needs re-evaluation ealth-care reform. The words conjure up memories of the ailed Clinton health-care n that failed and the polit- fistfights that occurred. The real issue, however, is lost in media sensation- ism: 43 million Americans | not have health-care cov- Jage, and many more are |e pink slip or job switch ray from losing their ialth care. America has the finest medical tech- jology and facilities in the world, but me cost of insurance keeps skyrocketing ?or individuals and small businesses. Medical bills from a serious illness n bankrupt a family without coverage. |surance companies continue to cover ly the healthiest Americans, leaving Columnist Jon Apgar Junior journalism major others to fend for themselves. Everyone moans about how terrible Clinton’s Health Secu rity Act was and how it would have socialized health care. Once someone wades through all the propaganda and misinformation by conser vative interest groups and ac tually looks at his plan for re form, it’s not so bad. The solution to the health care problem is found in four areas: universal coverage, man aged competition, employer mandates and health alliances. Universal coverage would give every one coverage while spreading the risk among as many people as possible, mak ing insurance work more efficiently. Managed competition would force an employer to offer a choice of health care plans to employees so that the employee decides who will care for his or her fami ly and can shop around for lower premi ums. Moreover, employees under the Clinton health care plan would have had the option to stay with their own doctor if they chose. Employer mandates would require employ ers to pay a portion of their employees’ insur ance premiums. Small businesses, who pay more money for less coverage, would get the same deal as big busi nesses would. Finally, health al liances are needed where small businesses and individual consumers band together to negotiate for high-quality health care at lower prices. This way the small businesses and working citizens can have the same The solution to the health care problem is found in four areas: universal coverage, managed competition, employer mandates and health alliances. negotiating power of large corporations. These areas were outlined in Clinton’s health-care reform plan. However, con servative interest groups launched a campaign of misinformation, claiming that the health-care plan would be a giant socialist government takeover. The focus of the re form plan shifted from health care to politics. Politicians, and eventu ally the public, lost sight of the fact that under our present system, mil lions of people are with out coverage. Instead, the issue be came a grand political battleground that divided Republicans and Democ rats. As a result, very little was accom plished (except millions still did not have coverage). Congress needs to work on health - care reform again. This time, however, it needs to remain non-partisan. The peo ple without coverage should be the main concern. The health-care plan outlined by Clinton should be re-evaluated. It has many good points to it and would help many lower-class individuals get the coverage they desperately need. And the interest groups should butt out. They ruined health-care reform the first time by calling it socialistic and liberal. Well, it is a liberal reform plan. It would work to help those who are sick but cannot go to a doctor because they are not covered. Those darn soft-hearted liberals are at it again. Always worrying about help ing the-less fortunate instead of things like tax cuts for the rich and owning as sault weapons. Shame on them. r“T ] *4 OOOPS. I PUT EXttIBrX \H POCKET, THeH NNAsHED my pM^rrs... ■tf MM?i J " In Students must listen to opinions G ot a little story for ya Ags. Texas A&M could be a utopia if a few truths would be accepted by the student body. If everyone would accept and appre ciate how all ways of thought can peace fully coincide, much strife would be eliminated. Sure, not everyone will agree, but there is room for many paths on a campus this large. How dare students be egotistical enough to think there might be some things that can’t be reconciled, that some things are diametrically opposed. Should you disagree with someone, hide behind high-minded thinking and false cour tesy in your interactions with them. They are probably trying to do the same thing to you, any way, and you come out looking more stoic in the end. If possible, see if you can twist their words to mean something else, something you have a good argument against, even if that’s not really what they wanted to say. Bigots deserve to be treated like this anyway. Besides, if students are true to themselves, every thing will turn out OK. If we are committed to truth and justice, we all can achieve greatness. If you be lieve in yourself then your dreams never die and life can be glorious. In fact, life is what you make of it. You must create your own reality, your own glory. You can have it all. Never compromise anything, es pecially not your dreams. If students just take enough multicultural educa tion classes, our understanding of others would in crease and there would be less bigotry and misun derstanding. Even though you may have friends of Columnist Courtney Phillips Junior psychology major different ethnic and cultural backgrounds, you are probably just a redneck and don’t really know anything. Multiculturalism classes are not forcing beliefs on anyone — these things are of ut most importance and everyone should learn them. This is not a matter of choice. If everyone would just submit to this, then they’d understand and appreciate it. And whatever you do, don’t ever say anything is wrong — you might offend someone (un less of course they are one of the afore mentioned bigots, in which case you should go to town and have fun with it). At this world-class university, students must live up to the Aggie T-shirt that says, “What do you call an A&M graduate? — Boss.” To compete on a national level, we must stay on the cutting edge of science and technology. Every thing must be based on empirical knowledge. And should you happen to die in an empirical scientific experiment gone awry, don’t worry. Your spirit will live on forever in the hearts of Ag gies. They’ll answer “here” for you when you’re gone. Forget the fact they may have lied to you, cheated you or stolen from you while you were here. We’re all Aggies first. And should you be fortunate enough to live to graduate, cherish the bonds of friendship. The es prit de Corps of Cadets, your fraternity or sorority or organization will live on forever, uniting its members in mutual respect and love. Those days of drunken revelry and carefree college fun will comfort you in your old age. Gig ’em and God bless. If ignorance is bliss, blindness must be ecstasy.