dnesday • April 29, 1998
BtKi!
w/MT
Tm-'r;
\MPUS CONNECTION
lore Curriculum is an unnecessary evil
lexas
A&M
Jhas
Jbced
lersof
le siate
fnation
per
jears.
1'edu-
|n that
jjni-
Btvhas
Mickey
Saloma
columnist
fdeci
fall those years has ensured it
Id-class status,
lowever, the University’s
lolcurriculum is one of the
■Useless requirements that
pndergraduate must go
ugh in order to receive that
Ive diploma.
Iccording to the Undergrad-
rtrBCatalog, “The Core Cur-
Hum emphasizes compe-
je in the process of learning,
papacity to engage in rigor-
■and analytical inquiry, and
pbility to communicate
Irlyand effectively.”
iell, if this is the purpose of
firing this course load,
i maybe A&M isn’t a world-
|sinstitution after all. All in-
ing Texas A&M students
uld already be competent
iners, thinkers and strong
communicators.
Maybe the Core Curriculum
should further develop or fine
tune these skills instead of as
suming that all students lack
them.
The idea to have some sort of
a required course load is actually
outstanding. A&M should want
to produce graduates that are
cultured, social and intelligent
contributors to the work force.
However, prospective A&M
students should already be head
and shoulders above their peers
in other universities in that
realm. By the time most stu
dents reach college, they have a
firm grasp on what they know
and what their strengths and
weaknesses are.
Furthermore, most people
have a definite idea of the gener
al direction of where their life
will take them. For example,
somebody that excels in mathe
matics is most likely inclined to
study engineering than history.
The Core Curriculum fills stu
dents’ degree requirements with
many classes that lack any sort
of merit. Students gain very little
from these classes.
English Composition and
Rhetoric (English 104) is one of
the biggest scams that A&M has
to offer. This class will guarantee
one lucky person an A, another
lucky person a B, an unlucky
person a D, and an even unlucki-
er person an F. The rest of the
class will receive C’s.
This class has been called a
weed-out class, yet in reality it
weed all but two people out.
Are there only 100 above-aver
age writers from each class in
Aggieland?
English 104 is a class that was
created to give graduate students
teaching experience. The grad
ing is unfair and the skills
learned are non-existent. Most
people came to A&M as writers
or non-writers, this class does
nothing to develop students’
writing skills.
Another bogus requirement
is Political Science. The two in
troductory courses are a waste
of time.
This class teaches you how
the government works, how
laws are made and who is in
charge of different parts of the
government. The same lessons
taught in episodes of “School
House Rock.”
Politics play a huge part in
every citizens’ life, but teaching
somebody how the government
works in two basic courses will not
spark their interest in that subject.
I do not believe in politics,
and I spent two semesters taking
two political science classes in
which one professor taught his
extreme conservative politics
and in the other class, the pro
fessor whined for an entire se
mester about her loss in a state
election.
I think that any class required
which has nothing to do with your
future career choice is ridiculous.
I want to teach kindergarten and
write children’s books, thus I find
it ridiculous that I have to pass
any sort of science class.
Teaching about the anaphase
stage of meiosis will never be in
my lesson plan.
I have a general grasp in biol
ogy, enough to speak intelligent
ly about the subject. Thus, since
I have no use for it, I should not
have to take it.
High school teaches most stu
dents a good basic understand
ing of many subjects.
The Core Curriculum is an
attempt to produce cultured
students, however some re
quirements do nothing more
than prolong one’s graduation
with classes that are boring,
not stimulating and just down
right useless.
Mickey Saloma is a senior
journalism major.
LONE STAR LOWDOWN
text governor must focus on education
Donny
Ferguson
columnist
eorge W. Bush
ay have an
astronomical
proval rating and a
tnocratic opponent
puts the “goober”
“gubernatorial,” but
■the really be con
feree! one of Texas’
eat governors, or
en a top-notch pres-
ential contender?
ue, he delivered on
s promise of proper-
taxrelief, and with a Republican-controlled
■gjslature next January his second-term initia-
es will cruise through the Capitol. But if Bush
ants to be remembered as one of Texas’ great
■vernors, he needs to adopt a new agenda for
e new Texas century.
The time has come for the governor to
ckle school choice and vouchers as well as
oaden “enterprise zones.”
As blacks and Hispanics grow in numbers,
id Texas becomes more urbanized, educa-
on and jobs will be at the forefront of the pol-
vmaking agenda, and Texas’ next governor
■Quid carry these issues into the next century.
Only the most naive parent or the most
dical "teacher’s” union lobbyist would deny
■e fact Texas children need school choice and
hool vouchers. Since World War II, both the
tiding and control of local public schools has
ft the individual communities and has been
allowed up by massive state agencies,
amely the Texas Education Association.
It is no coincidence the quality of educa-
on in Texas has deteriorated while under
le stranglehold of the TEA. An avowed ene-
iy of intensive parental involvement and lo
cal control, the TEA has gobbled up billions
of tax dollars and produced inferior products
in less-educated children.
Texas deserves better. Bush already dropped
the ball on education when he shifted local
control from the popularly-elected State Board
of Education to the bureaucratic indifference of
the TEA. He can redeem himself by meeting the
“edu-crats” head on with a choice-and-voucher
program for parents and children.
He has the support of all Texans, namely
the poor, women and minorities, demograph
ic groups Republicans traditionally have not
fared well with.
According to a poll of voting-age Hispanics
by the Spanish-language network Univison, 84
percent of Hispanics support school vouchers
and 81 percent approve of Bush’s job perfor
mance. It’s about time he tied the two together.
As Ben Chavis puts it, “Choice (in educa
tion) empowers and empowerment elimi
nates discrimination.” The bulk of the 61 per
cent of Americans who support school choice
are female, poor and either black or Hispanic.
A Bush-sponsored choice-and-voucher edu
cation program would win the support of
Texas’ “new majority,” citizens of color who
will soon outnumber whites.
Though black, Hispanic and poor children
will now have the same access to quality edu
cation as richer white children, the neighbor
hoods they grow up in are not nearly as safe,
secure or promising as the outlying suburbs.
Urban decay and the economic exodus of
business out of inner city areas of Houston,
San Antonio, Dallas and other major cities
have left behind a financial and social waste
land. Once reelected, Bush should pressure
the Legislature to work with the Texas Depart
ment of Economic Development to expand
“enterprise zones.”
Enterprise zones, or low-tax commercial
areas in blighted neighborhoods, will attract
businesses to the streets they once left.
Cheaper taxes and the promise of lessened
regulation and other incentives will draw
business back into areas like Dallas’ South
Oak Cliff and Houston’s Fifth Ward, bringing
jobs, security and a renewed sense of pride to
the poorest Texans.
If the next governor does not resolve the
problem of inner-city blight by proposing
expansion of the enterprise zones, Texas
will pay the price in increased spending on
unemployment benefits, health care and
law enforcement.
As we head into the 21st century, our state
is transforming from the ranch-and-cattle
past into the sprawling urban future.
As Texas changes, so do Texans. It won’t be
long before whites are the minority and His
panics and blacks move into the majority.
Bush should harness the wide-spread sup
port for school choice and education vouchers
and fight for a better education for young Tex
ans. The future of our state rests not in oil rigs
and cowboys, but in local schools and minority
children. If Bush wants to be remembered as
one of our great governors, he needs to cham
pion education and urban renewal.
The future of Texas rests in the well-being
of black, Hispanic and poor Texans. Unless we
adopt a choice-and-voucher education pro
gram and expand enterprise zones, our state
is headed for a bleak future. As a new century
dawns, we need more than just a Governor of
Texas, we need a Governor for Texas.
Donny Ferguson is a junior political
science major.
GENDERSCOPE
Testosterone shown
to be contributing
factor of mental decay
oys,
you’re
all in
decline.
They’re
now saying
that a high
level of
testosterone
is the leading
cause of
mental decay.
So, let’s
just take a
look at some of the pastimes, pho
bias and ancestral longings of the
modern male to discern just how
the American man is declining.
For starters, there’s pornography
That men will resort to paying for
glossy spreads of plastic women
with cheap make-up and big hair
shows desperation and lack of taste.
The problem here is that men
have begun to see women as
things attached to breasts. Muted
bimbos who are ready for sex.
What, then, is their greatest
phobia, but a woman who speaks?
Men have developed irrational
fears of intelligent women.
Indeed, most experience para
lyzing intimidation when met with
a self-actualized woman. So, most
guys just grab a cold beer.
With an unswerving devotion to
beer, most heterosexual men prefer
a long-term relationship with a
longneck rather than a female.
Why? Because a beer doesn’t
want equality. A beer can’t talk
back. A beer never gains weight. A
beer never forces you to go shop
ping. And, a beer will watch Van
Damme movies with you.
Still further, we have professional
wrestling. That men will pay to have
this brainless garbage filtered into
their television sets is no surprise. On
their rapid digression back into the
encino age, men have found the per
fect pastime to make them appear
devoid of any civilized qualities.
Exhibiting blatant barbarism at
its best, pro wrestling is the modern
male’s connection to the swarthy
beast they once were. As they grunt
and yell back at the television set,
men are only fulfilling their re
pressed longings for a “manly”
soap opera.
So, what does all of this add up
to? A visually stimulated male pop
ulous with an almost non-existent
attention span and an intelligence
level that is mildly on par with an
ambidextrous monkey that can
operate a remote with one hand
and flip pages with the other.
All right, that’s enough bashing
for now. We all know that it’s politi
cally incorrect to be an Anglo-
American male these days — but a
little bashing is always nice; it’s a
good stress-reliever.
However, the sad part is that men
continue to buy into this mediated
self-image. Our advertising portrays
men as beer-guzzling, brainless
gigolos who run around on beaches
with perky young things in G-strings.
In reality, most men are just
normal beer-guzzling, lonely guys.
So stop it! Just stop it! Everyone
needs to stop buying into this im
age of pseudo-masculinity.
Men have extremely important
roles in society such as role-model,
brother, friend, lover, father and gen
erator of billions of dollars of revenue
for the sports industry complex.
In recent years, these roles have
been undervalued and belittled,
especially in America.
The absence of fathers in our
homes means greater risk of chil
dren living in poverty, of experi
encing emotional and behavioral
problems, of dropping out of
school and of lowered education
al achievements.
Our mass-media constantly por
trays men as sexual predators, wife-
beaters, rapists and child molesters.
Problematic is the image of men that
the media sends to our children: that
men are violent and that men cheat.
All the while, the media ignores
the violence that women commit.
The NSW reported that 53.2 percent
of all homicides involving victims
under 10 years old were committed
by women between 1968 and 1986.
Instead of feeding off of tired
and offensive stereotypes, it’s time
we started being realistic in our ap
proach to gender.
While we women see many
faults in men, perhaps they are ge
netic, stuck on the Y chromosome,
evolutionary relics that men will
never lose.
Yet, we need not think that
there is an irreconcilable gap be
tween men and women. After all,
our differences are socially con
structed for the most part.
Regardless, many women still ap
pear to be very fond of men. So, al
though men may be on the decline,
there’s still hope for redemption.
Otherwise, when all the quirks
of human cloning are worked
through and sperm is no longer
necessary, women are just going to
pack up and move to a lesbian
planet.
Until then, stop being such
men.
Michelle Voss is sophomore Eng
lish major.
Michelle
Voss
columnist
MAIL CALL
Capitalistic mindset
opposes opinion
In response to Chris Hujfines’April
27 column:
Apparently, Huffines’ opinion of
human decency is not very high at
all. His column on April 27 was a
protest against capitalism’s ploy to
use Princess Diana as a marketing
tool for dolls and other toys.
He is outraged that America
could sink to such low tactics for
profit by exploiting a world figure,
an advocate of the poor and those
treated unjustly.
The irony is that he tells readers
he’s a “good capitalist” and believes
in things such as child labor,
sweatshops and “in general ex
ploiting the lesser classes.”
He calls these things good bull,
but affirms that the Diana dolls
scheme is just going to low.
Huffines is trying to protect
the image of a woman who de
voted her life to philanthropic
causes and helping her fellow
man, and yet, simultaneously
boldly proclaiming that it is OK
to exploit millions of “lesser
classes” for profit.
He thinks this is OK, and so do
many others. That is what is
wrong with America.
That mindset is what’s causing
the deterioration of society. Too
many people think exactly like
Huffines, with little respect for
human dignity.
Somehow, I believe the
princess would rather see these
people’s rights protected than
her image.
Huffines is right about one
thing, though. America does need
to do some soul searching.
Rachel Tristan
Class of’98
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 - Mail Call
013 Reed McDonald
Texas A&M University
College Station, TX
77843-1111
Campus Mail: 1111
Fax: (409) 845-2647
E-mail: batt@unix.tamu.edu
For more details on letter policy, please call 845-3313
and direct your question to the opinion editor.