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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 26, 1998)
:ters floating tr, ter their par® ; e Battalion lesaid. hail ging above as a n upside.; k 'good ludfe pinion Page 15 • Wednesday, August 26, 1998 no good luck,' saw thatnigr® J and f along the cretv ,0 r Frank’s uut:: His house was w ater and tls t'other he ra, tlon’t know am asleep inti- raffic regs, bus route anges deserve attention f been a busy men Return- tudents will everal subtle s to the cam- ty have called tie for two, three >wn Plaza,a;:: li § h| y ears - ho neighbor P e biggest standing-i s wiU affect oundingthe - wav students DAVE JOHNSTON or destroyed. 'repair the toai] hty had been ated 90 perce WOO by te ots continued'; of water attkl ter to fill coni and cooking 0.000 gallons ped into Del ? state and bout campus. Although Is still little talk about selling [Iroad tracks for scrap and ipus-wide monorail seems way, both Parking, Traffic [ansportation Services and erations have new plans for semester. changes at PTTS demon- |the department’s focus on t service. Many students (alien victim to the long lines ents waiting to pick up ig passes. PTTS has worked e these lines shorter, and re students will notice the lev- ccess. TS administrators post- 1 mailing student permits revented almost 5,000 Ag- rom standing in line. The tment’s semester plans are tuated by several similar lications aimed at increas- ipport of the student body, e fall changes in campus g should give students more ig options and should de le the number of unused park- aces. Williams, director of PTTS, e would like to see parking come a non-issue. This semes- r’sKhanges seem to progress to- ard that goal. ■TS has increased campus ting spaces. The new Reed m lots will open up about new parking spaces to uter students. A new bus near the arena at the corner sen and Kimbrough Boule- will make these new lots a mvenient option for off-cam- ispidents. pe new Central Campus Park- !Garage is now open. The rage provides parking spaces Istly to faculty and staff. In the pngs, however, all but 50 of spaces will be open to students to need to visit campus, partic- |rly the library or computer is located nearby. In order to ep these spaces open to staff ring he day, however, there inot be any overnight parking |e Central Campus garage. ■his semester, resident and Imuter students will have We flexibility when parking in west campus lots, last semester, the slabs of lierete affectionately referred Is “Fish Lots” were divided to a commuter student lot and Resident student lot. Unfortu- |ely, one of the lots was never 11 and the other seemed to nev- jhave an empty spot. iTo address the problem, this mester PTTS has designated th of these lots as open to both and blue parking tags, giving Idents more parking options, p’he only potential problem th the new plan is the fact one [he lots is a 12th Man parking [Parking areas designated as th Man lots are not open to stu nts during home football games. This means resident students will need to move their cars the evenings before football games. Six times a year, students will be burdened to move their cars from the 12th Man lots by 6:30 p.m. on Friday night before the Ag gies take to Kyle Field. It may seem a nuisance now, but as alumni, the advantages will be apparent. Of course enforcement is always a significant part of the depart ment’s responsibilities. In order to encourage drivers to follow the parking regulations more closely and make parking easier for every one, the fine for parking in the wrong lot will increase from 10 dol lars to 25. The suggestion to in crease fines came from the PTTS student advisory board. By discouraging offenders, PTTS officials hope to make parking easi er and more convenient for all stu dents. Although parking safety offi cers may sometimes appear overly strict, on a campus the size of Texas A&M, strict enforcement is the only way to maintain any order. The changes in parking on cam pus have impacted Bus Operations as well. As the number of com muter parking spaces increases and commuting by car becomes more convenient, students buy fewer bus passes. This means fewer buses are required and managers can focus their energies on creating more effi cient routes designed to save mon ey and resources. Off-campus routes will be heavily altered, and on campus, the bus routes will see minor changes from the spring term. The “bus hump” next to Fish Pond will be closed, so busses will run differently. There will also be a focus on running more busses during class change times, when they are most needed. An express route servicing the Bush School will be added this se- mester, and the street connecting the Bush Library parking lot with Kimbrough Blvd. will be closed. Hopefully, this will continue to dis courage students from parking in the library’s parking lot to attend classes. A contract between the na tional archives and PTTS requires the University to provide parking to library visitors. The department expends considerable effort to maintain the agreement, but after hours the Bush School parking ar eas are open to all students with parking passes. New bus shelters are popping up. Now, students waiting for a bus will have some relief from the op pressive sun and fierce rainstorms. Aggies may run into other minor changes on campus. PTTS is testing new payment methods, including the Pay-N-Display machine at the Rec Center that officials described as a “high-tech parking meter.” Some modifications will be quickly embraced, and others may take some getting used to. Almost every Aggie will be affected, so stu dents need to make themselves aware of the changes before the first day of classes. They need to find a bus map or hang on to the parking map that came with their parking permit. It will take work to make parking a non-issue, but the campus seems well on its way. Dave Johnston is a senior, mathematics major New experiences, unexpected lessons await this year’s incoming freshman class University life has some pain, some joy and many opportunities D ear Class of 2002, Congratulations, you have finally done it. Af ter four years of high school, you are in college; you are out in the “real world.” And whether coming to A&M has been a life-long dream or a major fluke, you are ready to accept the challenges that col lege has to throw you. You are ready to experience all that the big, bad world has to offer you. Each of you has different ex pectations and different goals; some wish to be mem bers of the Corps of Cadets, while others want to be a part of the Greek system. For some, this is a brand new ex perience, being away from home. For others, it is nothing new. But all of you share one unifying characteristic: the de sire to learn. And you will. You will learn that eight o’ clock classes are usually the most boring and the hardest, which makes sleeping through them a catch-22 situation. You will learn that the ability to write a 10-page paper is directly pro portional to the number of hours until it is due. You will learn that PTTS does not, in fact, stand for Parking, Traffic, and Trans portation Service, but actu ally stands for Parking, Ticketing, and Towing Service. And you will learn why it earned that name. You will learn how to wildcat on the third deck of Kyle Field. You will learn how to pullout. And manisha PAREKH minutes later, you will learn how to do a class set. You will learn that it is not fun to do a class set while drunk. You will learn that, finally, you have the chance to be yourself without worrying about being branded a nerd, an airhead or a jock. And you will learn that the people who seemed so different in high school are really a lot like yourself, if you give them a chance. Many of you will learn that whites and colors should not be washed togeth er. Some of you will not care. You will learn that your real friends are not always the ones you party with, but they are always the ones who will help you clean up. Especially after you have gotten sick. During your years in college, you will learn that even though you can make more of your own rules, it gets harder to follow those rules that are really important. You will learn that common sense is not all that common. You will learn that you miss your mom nagging you about cleaning up your room - when you can not find the take-home test that is worth half of your grade. You will learn that love is not always for ever, but that friendship can be. And you will learn that friendship can often be the greatest love. You will learn that “goodbye” is not the end of the world, and many times, it can be the be ginning of something much more worthwhile. You will learn how strong you really are, and that you are not simply a sur vivor, you are a fighter. You will learn that your determina tion and in telligence can make a differ ence. The world is waiting for you. Go out and make it yours. And in the immortal words of Jerry Springer, “Take care of yourself, and each other.” Gig’ em. Manisha a junior psychology & journalism major Bright promises of college life dimmed by reality of new roles, responsibilities ANDREW BAILEY F or all of you veteran Aggies, if you have not seen them yet, those young, bright shining faces that are actually enjoying the first of their annual August moves, you will. The class of 2002, some 2003, and, okay, throw in some 2004 grads are here and they are happy about it. Why shouldn’t they be? The largest freshman class in the history of this university is about to experience the period of life known as col lege. As everyone knows, students anxiously look forward to college for many reasons. All upperclassmen once felt the same way to day’s freshmen do. They could not wait for high school to end so they could experience the freedoms of college. Freshmen see noth ing but limitless possibilities as they enter college and leave behind what they see as a constricting and worn out high school life. Commonly described as the “best years of our lives,” college years include the end of cur fews, countless new people to meet, a chance to begin life on one’s own, a no ID’s-needed clause, independence, and more. The positive list could go on, but why repeat what everyone always hears? What about the list that no one ever mentions before a freshman arrives on campus? In a nutshell, our predisposed idea of college is a four to six year, seven for Tommy Boy, time of fun that will lead to a job. But ideas change when theory meets reality. Someone must prepare the excited incoming crop for the down sides of college. Not to crash the party, but with freedom and independence comes a very vulgar word to 18-year olds: re sponsibility. Responsibility is the word that marks the head of the trail to adulthood, a path that must be traveled in order to grow up. In high school, for a majority of young people, there is no reason to act responsibly in the sense that an adult does. Mom wakes you up every morning to get ready for a day of school that mainly consti tutes of talking and taking naps rather than studying. At the end of the day, you go back to the home, food, utilities and bed that par ents paid for. College is when students start to appreciate the things that, for most peo ple, had been given to them in the past. Epiphany is a good word to describe the emotion of freshmen when their parents final ly leave them at their new home. They are fi nally on their own, as they had wished, but parts of their freedom are short lived. Suddenly they have to take care of things like waking up every morning, actually having to study, doing laundry, paying bills that hopefully get in on time, shopping for food and cooking it, dealing with numerous room mate conflicts and even cleaning a toilet for probably the first time is no fun. For many, it is shocking to realize that all of those old words of wisdom from parents are true. Welcome to the “best years of your lives” in the “real world.” Basically, the conundrum of college is the freedom and responsibility that paradoxically come together in a mixed message package. As the song says, take the good, freedom and the bad, responsibility and enjoy the facts of college. Take heart though. As the years progress, even upperclassmen still have problems co-exist- ing with the good and the bad. So it is not neces sarily a freshmen problem, it is one that we all must solve to be successful college students. Andrew Bailey is a junior political science major Mail Call New bus stops are nice improvement I often hear gripes and com plaints around campus. Rarely do I have or give complaints. Texas A&M has so much positive to offer that if we were to say thanks for it all, we would have no time left to complain. Be sides, I chose to attend A&M be cause of all it has to offer, as I am sure most students did. Today, I noticed something simple that I feel grateful for. The new covered bus stops and sidewalks at the Bush School. I have heard many complaints about the lack of bus stops and sidewalks and it bothered me that students routinely trampled the grass instead of walking down the drive. That is no longer a problem. Thanks to those of you responsible for that small detail that made my day. Beautiful work. Kim Walsh 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