6,1:
onday • February 16, 1998
The Battalion
IT M
m u I S^i
I
TUDENT LIFE
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i Col»
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Class:
.61
Dining on campus is not fun
ack of variety, mystery meats make University eateries unpleasant to frequent
s;
Mickey
S atom a
columnist
the mid-1980s, in response
d other fast-food chains
urgers, Wendy’s asked the
less question “Where’s the
?” However, in response to
juality of food provided at
university’s cafeterias,
iyAggies are asking the
o tion “Where’s the exit?”
j ^ ine of the greatest things we
at Texas A& M is the Aggie
e of Honor. One of the
its that it stresses is that Ag-
pj w don’t lie. Thus, this univer-
S 5food service should immediately change its slo-
5y “Dining on campus is fun.”
his slogan is the biggest lie ever to circulate on
■tinue: pus. Dining on campus can be described in many
liurtfe s, but fun certainly is not an appropriate one.
|les!(f do not mean to bash the managers and employ-
a scpiat work for Texas A&M Food Services. It’s not
r fault that the cafeterias are awful. I have no idea
to blame.
Desr tudents at Texas A&M are asked to shell out some
e tiir dus coin to eat on campus, yet the quality of the
should reflect the amount they pay. I just want
bnd §noney’s worth. That’s not too much to ask.
unfortunately, have the fifteen meal plan. Being
ondslember of the Corps requires me to purchase this
m
D7-se:
meal plan, and I can honestly say
that if it weren’t for the Corps, I
would not have a meal plan. If I
had a choice between Duncan
chow and starvation, well,
starvation would definitely
sound like an excellent option.
I left high school thinking
that the days of nasty, over
priced meals were over. Little
did I know the price and quality
of the food would not get any
better. In fact I can honestly
say it has gotten worse.
My first experience with
this university’s food services
came during breakfast of my first
day in the Corps during Fresh
man Orientation Week. I loved
all the different cereals, the
donuts and what looked like real
eggs, hash browns and sausage.
I am not saying the eggs are
not real — they just do not taste
like any other eggs I have ever
eaten. The hash browns weren’t
a terrible experience. The
sausage was pretty good.
My first taste of college food
appeared to be a pleasant experience for about
two hours.
Afterward, let’s just say the food got me
acquainted with the batihroom for a while.
Dinner on the same night also ap
peared to be pretty good. I never had both
pizza and hamburgers in the same si tting
of a meal.
But later, the food proved to be too
much for my digestive system, and I
was unable to reacquaint myself
with the bathroom for five days.
My Mom always taught me
when giving feedback, to remem
ber to always include something
positive. Well, I love the Lucky
Charms. What a great cereal.
I commend Food Services on
this tasty dish. They truly
have out done themselves.
I personally think the
food is not terribly bad,
however some of the menu
choices make the on-cam-
pus dining experience less
than a pleasurable one.
The biggest problem
Food Services has is variety.
I think it is about time we
retire the all-purpose breaded meat patty. That patty
is the most versatile thing known to man. Sometimes,
it is served with gravy and called either chicken-fried
steak or country-fried steak. Other times, they put a
slice of cheese and tomato sauce on it and throw it on
top of some noodles and called it Chicken Parmesan.
Last, I suspect that sometimes when this patty is ei
ther left-over or too freezer-burnt to serve as is, they
chop it up and use it as the beef in stroganoff.
It seems as if for four years, I have eaten the
same thing every week. Four years of smelly pop
corn shrimp, over-boiled broccoli and green Jell-O
with some whipped cream substitute on top have
made me a big fan of the Undergro und and the
vending machines.
I just want something that will safely settle in my
stomach that is not on food services’ rotation sched
ule. I want something new but not necessarily daring.
I am thinking along the lines of beanie-weenies.
I am not an extremist. I will not start a protest or
even a boycott.
All I want is variety in the menu and more
Lucky Charms.
Until that day, food services should change its slo
gan to “Dining on campus is fun if you aren’t hungry,”
or “Dining on campus is repetitive and nasty” or sim
ply, “Dining on campus sucks.”
Mickey Saloma is a senior journalism major.
AMPUS CONNECTION
BO r
Changes threaten Walton, Hart traditions
wee!
But
Itches.
;n
ID ver wonder where
i all those Aggie jokes
come from? The De-
tment of Residence
just answered that
itheir screw-’em-in-
pocketbook plan to
air conditioningiip
, a crj ftll where it is about as
jphd come as orange poly-
,us in ^ pants.
re se According to Residence
Donny
Ferguson
columnist
r s«
sing
g Walton Flail has a
blem with low reten-
i rates and parental complaints over the
ndji' cofair conditioning,
rdoei The proposed plan is to offer Hart Hall as a
AC option and install window units in Wal-
Hall in an effort to sell more rooms, with a
eam ndfather clause for current residents,
e catch is, Hart Hall is old, dilapidated
sitting on prime property (translation:
eking ball target) and Walton residents who
otwant die unit (the problem being, with
windows bolted shut, residents will have
choice but to buy the overpriced air condi-
ing— if you need further explanation , look
"highway robbery”).
nstead of a no-AC Hart and an optional-AC
ton, what Aggies will be stuck with is a pile
ubble near Rudder Tower and hundreds of
jidents forced to pay the University bun
ds of dollars for air conditioning they never
ited in the first place.
lUnder the proposed plan, $525 per semes-
[Walton rooms will be equipped with a
dow unit and the price jacked up to $925
semester.
Residence Life states it is good business
ictice to sell as many rooms as possible,
ich everyone agrees with) and the best
iness practice they can come up with is to
fall air conditioning in the non-AC style
[rm rooms and then charge a Balcony rate
ich even kids running a lemonade stand
Id tell you is bad business.)
What Residence Life should do instead is of-
air conditioning on an optional basis. Many
idents intentionally select non-air-condi-
t§
tioned dorms like Walton because AC would
only be used two to three months each school
year and the low price allows them to complete
an education they otherwise could not afford.
Allowing Walton residents to rent the units
on a semester basis is the best plan for all par
ties involved. All rooms will be wired for AC
anyway, and those students who do not want
or cannot afford it will not be forced to hand
over more money to the University. Anything
less would be tantamount to a stick-up.
If “good business practice” is the motive
behind the AC scheme, then it is already a
failure. Taco Bell can’t improve burrito sales
by slapping a cherry on it and charging
$19.99, and the University can’t sell more
rooms if they shove an AC in the window and
charge an additional $400.
Residence Life, if they choose not to offer AC
on an optional basis, should either lower the
price substantially or offer more amenities
such as carpeting, larger closets or larger beds.
If Residence Life thinks they have problems
selling low-priced rooms in a non-air condi
tioned dorm, then they should be prepared for
the financial disaster that would follow charg
ing over $1500 for what it a cramped, early
1900’s style room with a window unit bolted
into the wall.
Upperclassmen will flock off-campus and
incoming freshmen will leave at the end of the
fall semester, if not sooner.
What Residence Life also ignores is the
fact the absence of air conditioning is what
makes Walton so unique and valuable to the
University. Compared to other dorms on
campus, Walton is extremely close knit. In the
first few weeks of the fall semester, every door
in Walton is kept wide open to accommodate
air circulation.
The doors are kept open year-round, even
during colder months. Residents gather out
side on the benches to study and talk and
those who stay inside do so with an open door.
This close-knit community makes Walton
one of the University’s heavier contributors to
traditions and other functions. Countless yell
leaders, Student Senators and other campus
leaders have come from Walton’s close-knit tra
dition and the installation of dorm-wide air
conditioning would destroy that and do seri
ous harm to the University on a cultural, social
and traditions basis. As usual, the University
has come up with yet another bad idea.
Offering air conditioning on an optional
basis is the truest test of Residence Life’s in
tentions. If the plan is to sell rooms, optional
AC is a fantastic idea, giving students flexibili
ty and attracting residents. If the plan to
squeeze more money out of already cash-,
strapped students, expect the current propos
al to go through.
Installing air conditioners into eventually
every room in Walton will force students to
cough up exorbitant amounts of money. If
you’re familiar with University history (annu
al fee increases, selling more parking tags
than spaces and “The Zone,”) all signs point
to option B.
If Residence Life is correct in its claims, the
problem with Walton is parents and incoming
freshman upset over the lack of air condition
ing, the best plan is to advertise Walton’s low
cost and unique culture.
Walton is nothing like any other hall on
campus, and residents could not care less
about the lack of air conditioning when com
pared to the experience of Load, dinner at
Sbisa and other, more unique, Walton func
tions.
Walton Hall offers something no other hall
does, and by advertising it, Residence Life could
sell more rooms without having to spend hun
dreds of thousands of dollars on installation
and thousands more on maintenance.
So there you have it, yet another example
of the University offering tradition to the
highest bidder and shutting out the students
in the process.
Air conditioning may come to Walton, along
with higher costs, dying traditions and genera
tions of prospective Aggies who either cannot
afford to come to A&M, or will miss out on one
of its most legendary experiences —life in Wal
ton Hall.
Donny Ferguson is a junior
political science major.
MAIL CALL
Minimum wage attack
taws lack of research
I am writing in response to
nny “Rush” Fergusons’s lengthy
ce in the Feb. 12 issue of The
g —Mlion in which he attacks the
Wmum wage.
I could waste my time and me-
-^dically tear down his weak argu-
: nts the minimum wage has any
t correlation with higher prices
or decreased job opportunities.
I could also derive much plea
sure from countering some of his
more ludicrous statements, such
as his claim that busboys and
waitresses make as much as
$40,000 a year when tips are added
to their “high” minimum wages.
No, I won’t waste my time with
such attempts. I will limit my com
ments of Ferguson’s column to this:
if he is going to take the time to
write a lengthy, three-column
tirade against the minimum wage,
he should at least state correctly
what the minimum wage currendy
is. More than once, Ferguson writes
the minimum wage is $5.50 an
hour, when in reality it has only re
cently been raised to $5.15 an hour.
The fact he doesn’t even know
what the current minimum wage rate
is should make everyone who
read this column wonder about the
depth of his knowledge oh die sub
ject and question the truthfulness of
his statements.
Keith Volanto
Graduate Student
Prisons serve to keep
criminals off the street
In response to Mandy Cater’s Feb.
12 column:
Prison’s job is not to “rehabili
tate” people, it is to force them to
accept their actions have undesir
able consequences — foremost of
which is to deprive them of their
ability to participate in that society.
I think most states’ citizens
would rather spend whatever it
takes to punish criminals than to
spend one cent to elevate the crim
inal’s standard of living above any
thing higher than that criminal can
get on his or her own.
Criminals make choices to com
mit crimes that have consequences.
That decision is consciously made
to do right or wrong, and the char
acter of the person is the determi
nant. One taking drugs (or alcohol)
voluntarily enters a state where
deadly, injurious actions are possi
ble — as surely as if they had put a
gun to someone’s head. Prison
keeps them from the rest of society.
Those lacking the character to say
“no” are not going to develop it ex
cept through life-altering experi
ences, and certainly never will if
they are allowed to escape the con
sequences of their actions.
No, the harder the prisons are, the
fewer people will commit the actions
that get them placed in them. There
are too many honest, hard-working
people who get no state monies
spent on their “rehabilitation” to go
pandering after rehabilitation mon
ey for convicted criminals.
Mike Schoellman
Class of'00
STATE OF THE UNION
Formerly ‘reliable’
news sources
Beverly
Mireles
columnist
'had an alien’s baby,’cries 500 pound
midget.”
Ah, the good ole days, when tabloids were fun
and basically goofy.
Times are really changing.
Recently, the odds are more in favor of seeing
Monica Lewinsky on the cover of all the gossip
rags, rather than Liz Taylor. You know someone
is scandal material when they not only make the
cover of the Times, but they beat out Nos
tradamus’ predictions for the future. Infamy at
its best, I tell you.
Personally, if I was running a tabloid in this
day and age, I would be a little ticked off that all the “respectable”
journalists were scooping all my hot stories.
It is really more of a problem for the public than the tabloids,
though. Now we not only have to weed out the outrageously false
stories that circulate through our psyche, we get to sift through
half-truths spread by news institutions that were supposed to be
cemented in fact.
True, factual (and sometimes boring) news reporting versus scan
dalous rumor spreading. Guess which one gets better ratings.
It is pretty much our fault. That is the really infuriating part. Be
cause of our love for puff pieces on septuplets and “hard-hitting” ex
poses, the well-coiffed Stone Phillips makes it on to NBC’s schedule
two to three times a week. Oh, God bless America.
But a solution cometh, dear reader.
Why don’t we just join news reporting and the entertainment
industry forever? That way the “decent” journalists like Sam Don
aldson wouldn’t have to spread rumors about political scandals on
national television.
Besides, PBS’s ratings would triple if they started airing the McNeil-
Lehrer-Scary Spice hour.
A few suggestions on integrating news and entertainment:
First, prime time news gets a make over. Norm McDonald would
make a great anchor for the evening news. There just aren’t enough
stories about crack whores — we all know he is the man to rectify
that problem.
He could even make fun of the ridiculous stories that make it on
the evening news. Dan Rather couldn’t laugh when he had to re
port on the president’s “distinguishing mark,” but you know he had
to struggle to keep a straight face. Everyone else in the nation was
laughing.
Secondly, all comedians can be political analysts for the news. This
actually worked for Comedy Central during the ’96 presidential cam
paign. Chris Rock made the political system interesting (and funny) to
watch in action.
Truthfully, his reports on the GOP convention were more on the
mark than any correspondent’s from NBC, CBS or ABC.
Finally, “Politically Incorrect” could make the move to prime time.
Bill Maher was ahead of the times when he started grouping enter
tainment moguls and political figures for debates on current issues.
Talk about the best of both worlds.
On what other show could Marilyn Manson come on and elo
quently remark on topical stories? No other show that I am aware of,
that is for sure.
Now, I know that my “big solution” for news reporting would basi
cally rip the last shreds of decency from journalism, and replace
newsworthiness with humor. Maybe it would be for the best, though.
We need to laugh about our scandals, our political system and the
paradoxical nature of humanity.
Perhaps it is just another form of denial, but it is easier to laugh
about all the screwy things in the world, than to listen to them in all
their painful seriousness.
Beverly Mireles is a fresh man microbiology major.