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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 8, 1997)
,ks Bored of education WglProfessors must learn to skip tedious protocol of classroom rules, regulations Jn ince it is the be- r. : H safety among students; they will not pay at- or philosophical pondering. extraneous rpcnilatinne that u i in ted withoj snt, butweivi son.’ le of a type:j r job is to I spirit high: ay." ig setters poil ince it is the be ginning of the fall semester, udents are busy an- lyzing and assessing ie competence of leir new professors, trst impressions are inderway, and most us are quick to \ Hi dO CIA vl L 4 I IV IW e was read\!.ij ace our instructors eraU in their 0 two cate 8 ories: Helen Clancy editor in chief Is it too late to drop lis years tel* ? ss? l or " W *; at u ,„ othspeich af e se does 11118 P rof teach ? 1 But one thing professors tend to forget is is team to in I 131 stu dents have only one expectation: nark therein p e hope that the class is inspiring. So when he first days of class are consumed with ent, weneed | 10Uselcee P in g” matters, such as discussing ;ar and our : the syllabus, checking attendance and list- j Ig every bookstore in the known galaxy very activec: fiat sells the course’s textbook, eager stu- ances thisye idents are easily disappointed. ;ngth and coj Professors waste too much time hassling i a great spywith the details. They expect students to de- participatkielop an allegorical interpretation of Par- aid. wiise Lost in one weekend while devoting rogram herewiree class hours to an explanation of the a trip to JapAtendance policy. Might as well hire a FITS vas a greati:jlfg cer to teach the class, e and reallytl wiiile structure is indeed necessary for i team. SmK| orniriun i cal ] on a j ar g e auc ji ence) j t •th A ■ a 311 st 'he the creative energy needed in a ? r v^BHollcgc classroom. Students cannot grow • is a solid foi:l! tellectually d tlley are not challenged. Too cording toC# ten ’ slrict guidelines impart a sense of safety among students; they will not pay at tention if they always know what to expect. To put it simply: spontaneity breeds creativity. For once, I would like to see a syllabus that reads: “Course Requirements: Be re sponsible.” Instead, professors feel obligat ed to describe exactly what margins and fonts to use in a term paper, followed by a mathematical breakdown of points deduct ed and awarded. Somewhere along this line, the purpose of the class is buried and lost. Professors must be under the impres sion that students crave organization. And in some cases, this is true. There are stu dents who only aspire to fill their folders with neat, categorized notes. Someone needs to inspire them to greater things — free thinking, impromptu analysis and problem solving. Ultimately, it is the professor’s job to break the timid habits practiced by these students. Catch them off guard with a random dis cussion. Demand feedback. Tease them with knowledge they can’t find in a book. Students can read on their own time (well, they’re supposed to anyway). The class discussions that students val ue most are ones that focus on a marginal, quirky issue related to the text. Too many students have taken classes where the name of the professor is a mystery just one semester later, and not a single topic can be recalled. No college-level class should conclude without a passionate argument or philosophical pondering. This isn’t to imply that every class should be a melodramatic forum for “speaking your mind,” but students should have the opportunity to shine as individuals by shar ing their perspectives. It’s okay to break the rules sometimes and stray from the outline on the syllabus. A perfect balance can be achieved by re taining useful guidelines and ditching the extraneous regulations that foster apathy. For example, a reader would be confused if this column began with its conclusion, or was printed upside down. Likewise, the key to a productive classroom is to ob serve necessary rules without sacrificing the message. The “chapter police” won’t care if some portions of the text are not utilized. Usually, the discussions that cause pro- AHD 7oW fessors to neglect the book are much more engaging. Students and professors alike are guilty of ignoring the simplicity of knowledge. It isn’t about double-spacing or seating charts or title pages. It’s about that pure moment when an idea is defined and committed to memory Helen Clancy is a senior English major rienced.i ost of us ks r to fine- remember n and huraa: iff in is a serin trnalism majt Aggie unity brings student body into close-knit family “W: ? hr tests, : one plate rides, Proclke ur intro course, lents with ib sites with yr I Toll-free: flic i 1-800-45M11! *.pereg rine-pub.com Dave Johnston columnist ie ’ mM ® « I 1 one of the operations h over Iwide. The^ virtually a! is industry chemical griculture, te, financia e may have been outscored, but we’ve never been beat.” All good Ags shout some version of this mantra whenever the Men of Kyle “run out of time” before they can rack up more points than their op ponents. When students hear this sentiment today, they think the speaker is arro gantly refusing to admit defeat, but its original meaning was much different. Aggies have always maintained a sense of ca maraderie. Whenever football fans from another school came to campus, the contrast was stun ning. Because of their unity and loyalty to their school, Aggies were able to score a moral victory at every football game. T-sips were considered inferior fans. They yelled at their own players, threw trash and went home early — even when they were winning. On the other hand, Aggies demonstrated their dedication to the team and the school. Students stood throughout the game, supported the team and stayed to the end (and sang a song together) regardless of whether or not their team had more points on the scoreboard. Aggies have held a reputation for unity. Cur rent and former students gather to sing how they are “as true to each other as Aggies can be.” Un fortunately, some indicators hint that the stu dent body may be less unified now than it was in the past. Today our football fans are fickle. They leave the game early, because beating the traffic is more important than exhibiting a little Aggie Spirit. Students berate the fellow Ag who won’t “uncover” during the yells. When the team loses a few games, the fans complain about the coach, shout at the players from the stands and quit showing up altogether. Judging by the people in the stands, it looks as if the Aggies have been losing even the games the football team won. Those moral victories, those demonstrations of close-knit Aggie Spirit, are becoming more infrequent each season. There are several factors contributing to the decline in Aggie unity. The campus and the stu dent body are both much larger than they used to be. One political science professor jokingly wel comed his class to the “Bush School located on the California campus of Texas A&M.” With the sprawling campus, students do not even share a common environment. While many Aggies never venture on to West Campus, others never wan der East of the railroad tracks. It is difficult for students to share a feeling of community when they do not even share com mon landmarks or buildings. The University now has one of the largest un dergraduate populations in the nation. It is diffi cult to maintain a family atmosphere among 40,000 people. Professor Stadelmann, Director of Religious Studies, suggests that the death of the Aggie joke has detracted from the unity of the student body. When Aggie jokes were more popular, the Aggies were an alliance against the rest of the world. Now that the jokes are less frequent, there is no common enemy for the students to unite against. As the University continues to grow in vision, it attracts a more varied student body, which makes unity more difficult. People from different backgrounds can achieve unity by sharing goals, traditions and in terests, but the University officials prefer to con centrate on diversity. Instead of accentuating di versity, perhaps officials should focus on common ties the students share. If A&M will retain its unique reputation for a unified student body, students must purpose to regain their sense of camaraderie. Aggies should not determine their school’s value by football teams, or anything else they cannot control. Instead they should invest themselves in im proving their school by contributing to the stu dent body’s unity. Each student should focus on the similarities they have with their fellow Ag gies. Maybe this will be the first step toward be ing “as true to each other as Aggies can be.” Dave Johnston is a senior math major. RecK 10 BABYLOw TOUR 9t THE ROLUNlG STOHES rdck;^ ig ca potential ing world The Battalion encourages letters to the ed itor. Letters must be 300 words or less and In clude 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 - Mall Call 013 Reed McDonald Texas A&M University College Station, TX 77843-1111 Campus Mail: 1113 Fax: (409) 845-2647 E-mall: Batt@tamvml.tamu.edu For more details on letter policy, please call 845-3313 and direct your question to the opinion editor. ‘American code’ of ethics breaks norm Mail Call Inefficient transport provides better health With the first week of school behind us, I feel it is due time to give some credit to PTTS and the changes in the busing sys tem for which it is responsible. The true reason for these changes has escaped most Ag gies, so I will gladly clue every one in. It has recently been rumored among the elites of academia that the college ranking edition of next year’s U.S. News and World Reports would have one newly added criterion: the phys ical fitness of Campus X. Armed with this insider in formation, the powers that be on campus worked feverishly this summer to formulate a plan to gain the competitive edge in this area. Internationally renowned transportation specialists along with fitness experts Tony Little and Susan Powter were brought in to make a strategy and finalize a course of action. The results of these brain exchange sessions were simple ... transform the busing system into a model of inefficiency in order to encour age and/or force students to walk, bike, skate and run. Sure, it is true that inconve nience, frustration and confu sion may initially result from this campaign, but one must bear in mind that the adminis tration and their covert fitness committee calculated for this. They are simply doing their part to transform this school into a “world-class university,” at least in the eyes of the aforemen tioned publication. But who can deny their ef forts when you realize that a healthier Aggie populous is the direct result. Todd Friant Class of’99 W£ talk about the Aggie Code of Honor, and how Aggies too often do not follow it, one be gins to won der why. It could be that another, unspoken “Code," one American society in gener al follows, takes precedence. Despite prevalent attitudes to the contrary, Aggieland is not in a world of its own. It is part of a larger society and cannot help but be affected by the values and norms of this society. American’s live, with in creasing consistency, by their own code, and Aggies are no exception. “Life is a party don’t spoil it,” is their unspoken motto. With too few excep tions, all those who violate this rule, and only those who vio late it, are condemned. In keeping with this Code, Americans are expected to “tol erate” eyery kind of deviant be havior, as long as this behavior does not spoil the party for someone else. For example, few seem to care how often you drink until you can’t stand up. Get behind the wheel while drunk, however, and suddenly you’re condemned as a dangerous criminal. For obvious reasons, this at titude manifests itself most blatantly concerning sexual behavior. People can read all sorts of perverted stories, look at erotic pictures, even engage in un speakable acts with one anoth er, and the worst thing they can expect to happen is for some one to laugh at them. Only when they cross the line and try to fulfill their obses sive fantasies with an unwilling partner are most people even likely to speak out against them. And what of the brave mi nority who dare rain on the pa rade, those who take a stand against moral corruption, both public and private? They are called “right-wing religious fanatics,” “intolerant,” and “judgmental," all which practically personify evil in the minds of many Americans. Dare these dissenters of the Code object to having their hard-earned money spent by the government subsidizing the filth often passing as art, and the whole world cries “Censorship!” And if they object to having their children subjected to so- called “value-neutral” educa tion? Few acknowledge how it is, in fact, very hostile to the values they hold dear. Instead they are given patronizing speeches about the time-hon ored “separation of Church and State.” Hollywood has become the Code’s most willing advocate. Rarely in recent films does someone violate the Code and refer to behavior (which does n’t harm another individual) as deviant or even “sinful.” And when they do, they are self-righteous, blood-thirsty, hypocritical, racist, thought less bigots. This is especially true of those who appeal to the “ar chaic” idea of the authority of God. Note the recent shame lessly one-sided portrayals of Stand up for what you honestly believe to be right, and speak out against what you believe to be wrong. the Puritans, who, we are to be lieve, made Nazis look like kindergarten teachers. The strongest evidence for the general commitment to the Code is the reaction this col umn is likely to incite in many who read it. Some who dis agree with me will no doubt misinterpret my comments. They will think I support throwing those whose lifestyles I disapprove of into concentration camps or some other such nonsense. This is not the message of this column. However, what I am saying is that it is time for those who believe in a tran scendent morality to “come out of the closet,” so to speak, and stop being intimidated. Stand up for what you hon estly believe to be right, and speak out against what you be lieve to be wrong. Let those who blindly follow the Code call you names and ascribe all sorts of nasty things to those who think like you. I, for one, am tired of being told my moral convictions are just a product of my upbringing and that actions I think are wrong should be handled with “tolerance” and “sensitivity.” I have a feeling I am not alone. Jason Knott is a sophomore economics major.