ber 2,1997;
[uesday • September 2, 1997
300
O The Battalion
PINION
Stop-n-go at the drive-thru
Newly constructed toll booth causes more campus traffic problems
h
John
Burton
columnist
rsue the job,
t fared well in
Deputy Prime
mtsov is the
ilar politiciani
il recent
think he is plhe construction of the
enced. • I Evans Li hr ary Computing
der Gennady j_ and Study Complex is
1 by Yeltsin in good. The $30 million
t election in^iity will offer students des
an again. Bill era tely needed resources such
the Commuj. cor nputers and, yes, even a
in decline beL V p a rking garage. It also of-
of its support- ^sonie wasteful expendi-
it holds littlligsof mysterious origin.
j The adjacent brick hut at
1, a gruff-talk- r ( c i n g Lcn 35, for instance,
il, finished | )lin( j s ou t a t a cool $56,000.
first roundof lVon ’t even say how much
:ial balloting| ar g e bank-esqe “drive-thru” lanes in front
ed as Yeltsins [ t | ie Commons cost, because University offi-
hief last hlljais I attempted to speak with could not give
gled to m ainjL a dollar amount.
political party ^ a y5 e j missed the headline over the summer:
ired only Iim| tuc | ents demand construction of brick thing with
I ® »en and red beacons,” but was there really a need
rthis structure? And how many people were at
le“We want to pay more fees” rally?
| When I think of what could make this campus a
I T £^f\ itater place, constructionally speaking, items
L IX/Vliichas more parking areas, road repairs and refur-
hing existing structures top the list. Building a
ehemoth blockade is near the bottom, next to
ing more stuff after George Bush.
The main problem with this situation, however,
jthe difficulty in determining how much money is
took an eve# nt on an Y particular project. The average per-
statement by in d° es no1 have the time or patience to sort
lysis of drivef® 11 ^ 1 reams of contracts and bids crammed full
ie alcohol lev]
iking on con-1
.75 grams peril
imes France's
still
s will suspem
of legal jargon.
In the optimum world of prudent construction,
records of all campus improvements, including
costs, would be easily accessible to all students.
Texas A&M has a responsibility to give students
and Texas taxpayers the opportunity to see how
and where money is being spent. A link on the
A&M homepage is the perfect place to disseminate
just such (gasp) information. This would put the
public back into Public Records, and it would elim
inate any perceived sleight-of-hand skulduggery
associated with large contracts.
The power of information in the hands of students
could trigger other outcries. We could find out how
much money Coca-Cola collects from its lucrative
A&M contract, or how much fuel is wasted because
PTTS wants to drive Jeep Cherokees instead of more
efficient alternatives. As the iron curtain is pulled
back even further, the powers that be would hesitate
before imposing pet projects or increasing our newly-
renamed University Authorized Thition. A&M would
shine bright as a national model of student- centered
spending, and we would be true to our parking tag
creed: Ags, we would lead by example.
This week I encourage you to visit the drive-
thru monument. Take a sack lunch and a book if
you want to, or just quietly contemplate the trans
formation of your money into this marvel of traffic-
light engineering. After all, it is our newest land
mark, honoring A&M’s tradition of spending
money while keeping students in the dark.
John Burton is a junior bioenvironmental
science major.
BRAD GRAEBER/The Battalion
Student life stifled
Lend an Aggie a helping hand
iSjon impersonal
.5-gram limit
itent of about r y • • -
sjllniversity campus
nsaid the Mer
ck at 196 kilo- rpvxas
er the crash, a I a&M
>act. 1 has
i PC
to
ill-time
jp to
ro
m. or
V
Mandy
Cater
assistant
opinion editor
!
m
Mart
lada
itas
MU
r orth n
always
prided it-
selon be-
fflja large
campus,
ivith a
'small
iown at
mosphere.”
Sludents
arecon-
tantly re
minded of that down home,
rarm fuzzy "spirit of Ag-
peland.” As A&M continues to
paw, though, this feeling is be-
ng replaced with machine-like
solationism. The administra-
ion's focus has changed from
-jtudent-centered to money-
entered, and the University is
Jecoming a prep school for the
inpersonal "real world.”
A&M students are increas
ingly being cut off from any
personal interaction in their
adversity experiences. Begin
ning at orientation, students’
dentities become their social
ecurity number. When the stu
dent ID card is placed in their
hands, students take on their
Tndroid-like university alter
. The scanning of a magnet-
icstrip becomes the closest stu
dents get to a handshake.
Registration is perhaps the
most glaring example of this
impersonality. In the past, stu
dents were required to seek
counsel during registration.
Discussing possible schedules
involved meetings with advisers
and sometimes even professors.
According to today’s system,
students simply type in their
lumerical choices with a
'Ouch-Tone phone. Although
this system may be more time-
(cfficient, it basically leaves stu
dents alone to rummage
through schedule books. Thus,
an already frustrating endeavor
becomes even more of a hassle,
students often end up with
classes that are not well-suited
otheir degree plan.
As for advising, many stu
dents today do not even
now their adviser’s name,
dnd the student-to-adviser
atio basically ensures that
his situation is not likely to
hange any time soon. As
any colleges have only one
ftwo advisers for the entire
Copulation of their college,
mdents who do seek out ad-
sing face limited availabili-
I’of appointments.
Personnel problems such as
hese are not limited to advis-
bg staff; students face the
mie issues in classroom set
tings. The student-to-faculty
ratio seems to grow with each
passing semester. Students
move students from small
classroom atmospheres to
large lecture halls. Administra
tors pad University pocket-
books by corralling hundreds
of students into packed rooms.
Take for instance the infa
mous survey course. Classes
such as American Literature
were limited to rosters of be
low 50 students just a few se
mesters ago. Today, the same
course might have as many as
300 pupils. Classroom sizes
such as these basically ensure
that a student will remain an
anonymous specter in their
professor’s eyes. Unless indi
vidual professors make un
precedented efforts at out
reach, students are forced to
basically “sink or swim”
through semesters with little
or no faculty assistance.
Many professors today even
go so far as to encourage stu
dents to avoid visiting or phon
ing their offices if at all possible.
With the growing mainstream
access to e-mail, students are
urged to direct all questions or
problems to their professor’s e-
mail, upon which the student
will get an e-mailed response.
Once again, human interaction
is out the door, replaced by me
chanical alternatives.
Even classroom procedures
are moving away from tradi
tional methods. Interactive
lecture discussions including
the entire classroom popula
tion are basically impossible
in large classes. Even testing
seems to be turning toward a
mechanized style. Gone are
the days of essay tests or pa
pers which professors or
graders actually gave students
feedback. Today testing is con
ducted via scantrons. If trends
are to be trusted, testing will
inevitably become computer
ized, eliminating any interper
sonal communication. Per
haps even distance learning
via computer will be a reality,
and students will simply tune
into a monitor for courses.
The bottom line is, the uni
versity experience is becom
ing one in which students
could easily be lost in the
crowd. Anonymity is not a
possibility, but a reality. In the
end, it seems that increasing
fee payments are not neces
sarily indicative of better stu
dent life, but instead show
where the main focus of the
administration is centered.
Mandy Cater is a senior
psychology major.
E veryone has read
the stories in The
Battalion about the
Aggies stranded on High
way 6, watching as scores
of fellow Aggies drive by
without offering help.
Helping others is some
thing we all agree should
be done. Someone actu
ally crossing the line and
doing this, however, is a
rare occurrence.
A recent story out of
Orange County, California, should be a lesson
to us. A few selfless bird-lovers discovered a
dying eagle, frightened from its home by a
construction project. They nursed it back to
health and promptly returned it to the wild.
Not to support animals’ rights, but this
story is very refreshing. If only we treated
people more like this. Don’t misunderstand;
Americans are very “compassionate.” The
problem is, they are also lazy. Help the poor?
Sure. Get personally involved with them? I
don’t have the time. Besides, charity is the
government’s job.
And the government is all too happy to
take this burden, provided citizens don’t
mind footing the bill. The results have been
less than impressive. Attributing this failure
to lack of money rings hollow.
According to Charles Murray, Fellow at the
American Enterprise Institute, Americans
currently spend almost twice as much money
on social programs than they would if they
simply mailed large enough checks to every
family below the poverty line to lift them
above it. The additional expense is the stag
gering amount spent on bureaucrats’ salaries.
Even with so many social workers on Un
cle Sam’s payroll for the express purpose of
helping the poor, too often they are either un
willing or unable to offer the type of help the
poor really need. This is a result of fundamen
tally flawed ideas about the causes poverty
and about the very nature of human beings.
Poverty is not simply a matter of the condi
tion of one’s bank account. It is often, though
not always, a symptom of a deeper condition
of the soul.
Humans are spiritual beings with spiritu
al needs and motivations. Any charitable ef
fort which ignores this fact, treating hunger
and homelessness as self-contained prob
lems, will fail, regardless of how pure the
motives. Not only will it be less likely to in
still self-reliance in its subjects, but it will be
inflicting more harm than good. Making
someone comfortable in their destructive
lifestyle is a certain way to ensure they do
not change it.
Of course, not all poverty-stricken people
are there because of bad lifestyle choices.
Many are simply victims of circumstance. The
problem with government programs is that
they, by definition, fail to discriminate be
tween the two cases. As a result, so much is
spent giving self-defeating “help” to those
whose problems go well beyond their pocket-
books, that there is little left to give to those
who are in desperate need through no fault of
their own.
For these and other reasons, the welfare
state should be dismantled. However, rather
than wait for this to be accomplished, Ameri
cans should do for the poor what their duties
as fellow human beings are anyway. They
should invest not only their resources, but
also their time in helping the poor. In doing
so they should make the effort to get to the
bottom of the problems, and be willing to
challenge those with expensive, self-destruc
tive habits to change them.
It’s time for a little tough love. There is sim
ply no excuse for Americans to drive around
in their brand-new cars and to spend hours in
front of the television while lamenting the
pitiful condition of those around them.
Objections to proposals like this usually
claim not enough people will do it. This ar
gument amounts to nothing more than say
ing the ends justify the means. Wanting to
help the poor is a noble desire, but this
hardly justifies forcing others to contribute
their earnings in order to fund programs
they do not approve of, which is how things
are handled presently.
This is especially true when proponents of
such methods are not willing themselves to
sacrifice any of their comfort for the cause.
Besides this, even if only a small percentage
of the needy were helped by private efforts,
ending the welfare state would be worthwhile
simply to stop its negative effects.
The advantage that private, personal,
challenging charity has over other proposals
(which is nothing more than new angles on
the same old failures) is that it is not simply a
theory of what might work. According to
Marvin Olasky in his book The Tragedy of
American Compassion, this was the rule
rather than the exception in this country
from colonial times until the twentieth cen
tury. And it worked, something which cannot
be honestly said about anything from the
New Deal forward.
The welfare state has failed. Rather than
dispute this fact, the game has been for
years to argue for one’s favorite excuse for
this failure. Rather than labeling oppo
nents of expanding entitlements as cruel
and heartless, it’s time to discuss radically
different methods.
Jason Knott is a sophomore economics major.
Jason
Knott
columnist
Mail Call
Aggie spirit enhanced
by sorority sisterhood
In response to Mandy Cater’s Aug.
30 column on sororities:
As a sophomore, when I think
back on why I came to Texas
A&M, I do not have to think hard.
I know it is because Aggies are a
diverse, but unified student body.
I loved thinking that I could come
to A&M and do whichever activity
or organization I wanted and no
fellow Ag would think less of me.
But, I found an Aggie who does
not share my spirit.
Frankly it disgusts me that for
many new incoming freshman the
first display of Aggie spirit was an
article written by Cater criticizing,
belittling and mocking sororities. I
pledged a sorority last fall and nev
er once regretted it.
You know what? Sororities are
not about designer clothes, expen
sive perfume or flashing around
our checkbook balances.
It is easy to be envious of some
thing that you do not understand.
Sororities bring leadership and
growth through a loving sister
hood. They make girls into ladies.
There is a bond between each sis
ter that cannot be put into words
and that is not because I am some
ditzy sorority girl.
As a matter of fact, my chapter
has never had a grade point average
below 3.0. So much for being stupid.
I really feel it is very unbecom
ing of an Aggie to belittle another
Aggie organization. So before you
turn your (tan or untan) nose up
to criticize, perhaps you should
ask yourself “How much does be
ing an Aggie matter?”
And if I may borrow a phrase
from my chapter’s motto, “We are
Aggies, FIRST.”
Anne Reardon
Class of'00
Students must show
respect toward A&IM
In response to Michael Schaub’s
Sept. 1 column:
It is only the first day of classes
and already there is someone com
plaining about the traditions and
uniqueness of Texas A&M. I don’t
understand why people like Schaub
even bother to come to school here.
Our university is based upon
the ethics, morals and integrity
with which its founders possessed.
Any Aggie should be proud that
those of us who are not two per
centers have enough dignity and
pride to carry on these standards
that our university was built from.
Being an Aggie means doing
your part to uphold these quali
ties that we hold so dear. If you
don’t wish to become a true part
of Texas A&M and know what it
really means to be an Aggie, at
least don’t ruin it for the fish.
It makes me ill to know that
some day people like Schaub will
actually earn their Aggie ring, go
into the real world and be a repre
sentative of Texas A&M. I just hope
they have enough brains to make
up for their lack of character.
Lindsey Hilliard
Class of'00
Limited parking
demands etiquette
Howdy Ags! Contrary to popu
lar belief, there is such a thing as
“parking etiquette” on our friendly
campus. We all know that the
parking situation sucks anyway, so
a little kindness will go a long way.
When you enter a row, first look
to make sure there isn’t another car
waiting at the other end. If there is,
kindly allow the other car to park
in the first available space and then
proceed to alternate sides — a car
at one end of the row goes, then a
car at the other end, and so on.
If you think you got there at the
same times as the other car, yield
to them (consider it as your good
deed for the day).
Also, it is not considered cool
to follow your best friend to their
car in hopes of snagging their
space just because you know
them. Wait your turn.
If someone should steal “your”
space (oh, sad), it is not good bull to
leave a nasty note on their car—no
matter how much they deserve it.
Should you feel the need to
mention to them that Aggies do
not lie, cheat or steal (including
parking spaces) just do it in a
calm, friendly way.
These rules seem obvious to us.
However, our observations this
morning found that some off-cam-
pus Ags are still a little clueless.
Overall, it is important to re
member that only a fraction of your
day is spent in parking lots. Keep a
sense of humor, and don’t let park
ing lot clowns ruin your day.
Giddy up on the bus, Gig ’em
and keep on carpooling!
Lana Shinkle
Class of'98
Dana Fisher
Class of'99
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