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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 11, 1998)
MOTOR PERSO alion PI?!- inion Page 9 • Friday, September 11, 1998 Frank Lloyd Wrong itral Library Annex brings more bad architecture to campus JOHN LEMONS ■r a year’s worth conitruction is /er. The scaffold- wn. Men in ; are nowhere to And now that has fettled, &M University is rise — left with her ugly building. ly four weeks ■ much needed library annex and ing center opened to serve A&M s. The fruits of several million and thousands of man hours is a g that is, well, not exactly easy on result, A&M is stuck with a build- not even a mother could love, v, The Battalion may not be Archi- Digest, but one does not have to .k Lloyd Wright to see that the jrary [annex looks like somebody with an ugly stick, ourse, the bad looks may be in- rntional, as it is an annex for Sterling C. Evans Li- SERV# r brai T’. v which also is PECIALTYS TUTOF'PHICS by Robert Hynecek/Tiii IS\i iai ion known as the land of lime green carpet ing and vinyl couches. The annex has some innovative de sign elements. Foremost of these ele ments is the turret that graces the build ing’s northwest corner. That is correct — turret, as in castle. Indeed, looking at Castle Greyskull, err, the library annex, one wonders whether he should enter it or raid it. Moreover, several young men have been seen standing outside the building pining for Rapunzel to let her hair down. Walking the stairwell inside the turret is a medieval experience. One wonders if the stairs end in a dungeon filled with torture devices. Library officials, howev er, insist that the iron maidens, stretching racks and microfiche machines remain in Evans library. The building’s interior is about par for the course. The furniture is loud and looks suspiciously like a bad polyester tie one might find dad’s closet. The annex’s carpet is distracting, featuring large black squares on a gray background. To be fair, the building has its good points. There is the catwalk that spans the space between Sterling C. Evans Library and its new annex. If one can muster up the courage to cross it, it offers one of the best views available on campus. Furthermore, the building is new. Its halls billow with that new building smell — the one that is a cross between super glue fumes and leather. New things are nice. There is a bit of thrill knowing that one is the first one to place his pos terior on one of the annex’s ugly new couches. How long that newness lasts, though, is up for debate. For the library annex is going to age like a sorority girl that has spent one too many hours under a tan ning lamp. Indeed, the library annex should be looking dated sometime about next Tuesday afternoon. Future Aggies will walk into the li brary, look at the loud furniture, ugly car pet and turret and then say, “Yuck, this place is, like, so 1998.” And those stu dents will be right, because the library annex is a building that was not designed to have a lasting beauty, but to wow to day’s students. See, one of the problems with the buildings that seem to pop up at random on campus is they are not timeless. The ages of most of A&M’s buildings can be guessed with merely a glance. Moreover, this campus has no shortage of ugly buildings. Consider the bulkiness of the Zachry building, the rusty orange facade of the Reed McDonald Building and the schizo phrenic exterior of the Rec Center. If there is one consistent style to A&M’s architecture, it is butt-ugliness. Surprisingly, though, student reaction to the annex is positive. Stu dents seem to be taking Castle Greyskull’s unique looks in stride. Larissa Leuen, a freshman biology major said it is good for campus have a building that is different. “It’s nice and it is easy to find,” Leuen said. “As a freshman you have to have something different so you can identify it.” Well, Castle Greyskull is certainly something different. But, despite the fact that turrets have been out of style since the 1500s, it does serve an important purpose. Campus has needed more com puter labs for some time, and now is the time to use them, as the building’s heinous exterior seems to ensure that the labs stay empty. A&M has survived ugly buildings be fore and it will survive the library an nex, too. Let’s just hope the Society for Creative Anachronism does not decide to siege it. John Lemons is an electrical engineering graduate student. ffirmative action study lacks credibility MAIL CALL te proponents of affir- ^ative I ALL FOOTBAIU WEIGHUtf ew banner to wave, vill soon renew their at- >n the Hopwood deci- jlosed-minded conserva- nd anyone who rts equal reward for merit. DAVE Dallas Morning News s the release of a book ng affirmative action and declaring the —- jims a success. |- )00 i <) jpe shape of the River: Long- 'onsequences of Considering Race in CoT id University Admissions, is a propagan- ce — though a well-researched one. k Twain once said, “There’s a lie, a d lie and there’s a statistic.” The authors [■ Shape of the River seem to mold the sta- Con< i os . around their viewpoint and claim they Ski ^^ ounc f proof of affirmative action’s success. r ° L two authors, an economist and a politi- entist, admit they are supporters of affir- action, and they admit their study fails ressjsome key areas of concern, ir figures focus on the performance of . q students compared to their white y erparts, but the authors admit they 3 >t determine whether society is harmed for candidal displacement of one group of students > o, tone' or anot her. lege b a i . ^ appears benefactors of affirmative i programs are happy, healthy contribu- ) society. They have achieved well and nteraction with other cultures influ- them positively. , tf.cnr-t this is not news. Society has long ac- startat$6A- & ■ailable after S ,c partment at knowledged the advantages of a university ed ucation. A&M sees an increasing number of students seeking graduate degrees and a de creasing number of students merely seeking an MRS. The concern with affirmative action is the double standard. It is morally wrong to hold one set of individuals to one standard while holding another group to a different standard. This is the problem with affirmative action. The programs force participating institutions to treat people unequally. The authors of the book, however, do not believe this inequality is harmful. Their study not only examines the achievements of affirmative action benefactors, but also looks at the attitudes and experiences of those for mer students. The study focuses on students who entered college in 1976 and 1989, but race relations have been changing rapidly in the United States. Although the ’60s saw segregated water fountains, America has grown up since then. There are still pockets of racism — and one of them is Bryan-College Station — but racism does not have the same broad, oppressive hold it once had. Minorities are not prevented from achieve ment because of the closed-minded views of people in power. Sure, there are some people with prejudices, but everyone on the planet has to deal with that. It is time for the country to show its maturi ty and stop considering race a factor in admis sions, hiring, sports, entertainment or any oth er area. Race will continue to be an issue as long as Americans make it one. Every conversation. book and column discusses the poor state of race relations. This exploits the issue instead of remedying it. America has grown since the time of wide spread prejudice. Decades ago the issue was segregation, and society has reached a consensus that everyone benefits from interaction. Today, however, the issue is quotas. No one benefits from unfair ness and inequality, in fact everyone loses. Dinesh D’souza, author of The End of Racism, claims affirmative action programs unfairly turn people into failures. He argues by lowering standards, schools admit students with the risk of not being capable of complet ing their course of study. D’souza suggests these students could per form admirably at a less-elite college, but by admitting them to a university where they need a special allowance to enter, they face an excessive risk of failure. Despite the arguments, proponents of affir mative action programs claim they are neces sary to achieve a level playing field. Giving some an allowance to make up for a disadvan tage sounds nice, but comes at too high a price. It is easy to support affirmative action pro grams if you do not have to look into a stu dent’s eyes and tell them they would have been admitted/hired/recognized — if only they were another color. Even if the data show benefits of affirmative action programs, the ends never justify the means. Any race-preference initiative violates a moral principle by treating people differently. Dave Johnston is a senior mathematics major. Cultures deserve honor, respect In response to Sept. 10 mail call: 1 am willing to agree with the fact that political correctness and cultural sensitivity in today’s soci ety have reached the state of overkill. However, I do not agree with the notion that thematic uni forms at Elephant Wok are for “cultural enrichment.” The argument that Disney’s “cul tural showcasing” in their theme parks can justify such a dress code here is a poor example. The inaccuracy, candy coating and Mickey Mouse ears placed on the cultural themes at Disney World or Disneyland is laughable. Just because Disney makes their employees dress up in such garb does not make it right. It ultimate ly promotes ignorance and stereo type when placed in an amuse ment park setting. If anyone wants an accurate les son in Asian culture, they would not go to the Elephant Wok or Disney land. Taking the appropriate history course or following one of the many Asian student organizations on campus would suffice quite nicely. If Food Services management is simply trying to make campus life more interesting, why not ap ply this policy to all dining facili ties on campus? Have employees at Lil’ Bernie’s and Stone Willy’s wear “tradition al” Italian garb with those bushy fake mustaches. Or have the serv ing staff at any one of the dining halls wear different uniforms for different days that they serve in ternational food. Enchiladas tonight? Bring out the sombreros. Teriyaki chicken for lunch? Bring out the kimonos and kabuki makeup. The prospect of such a policy would be very funny and entertain ing but someone along the way will get offended for good reason as it displays an inaccurate carica ture of a culture. In the end, being “PC” and al ways tiptoeing around people’s sen- sitivism is ridiculous, but that does not mean all sensitivity is bad. David Lee Class of '01 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@tamvml.tamu.edu e. 201 s only riendly tradition must continue AUCTlOn Owners i; i, Texas '.M. IE d s Texas A&M wel comes one ? largest man classes Mt is a good c , to reflect a W;|e qualities ^have *ht the •us renown JOSH MASKOW ighout the country. ;gie< friendliness is one of ' stellar traits — including 1Aria( , (dons such as the Corps of Reveille Mus.e, Silver Finiai, Appx6 !al1 and Aggie football — that iiass curio c *University can claim as ^ ct^'-ie to Aggieland. ^es-RareWMe^ost, if not all, visitors to jirrei Beieek s#*; w iu notice the congenial at- 3 n & other a&M enjoys as a result Demise amiable and helpful stu- Iver Pieces erbets Deft Glass W 11 FlxW 'y- This special environment is n5-/h-Hats, e "' j!: i a ]iy obvious in contrast to iutifu! me"* R 9 ,~ campuses, both in the /fiilo Oriental ly k > cotton Basket- 0 '';,n area and elsewhere. chests, TaW^ iere is a tangible difference zh more character and spirit of i. This University is indeed :e any other. le neighborly environment is a source of great pride for Aggies worldwide. This comraderie sets aside A&M as a campus and as a student body. This atmosphere is not self-sustaining, however. Its existence requires the participa tion of all A&M students, whether they be incoming freshmen or fifth-year seniors. This participation is especially important for upperclassmen that must pass on the traditions of friendliness and encouragement to freshmen and visitors. In order to maintain and strengthen this atmosphere, upperclassmen are must be friendly and approach able — engaging in and encourag ing conversation. Upperclassmen should be care ful, however, to recognize the dif ference between talking at some one and talking with them. Aggie freshmen are — for the first time in their life — experiencing a rigid lecture environment in which professors talk at them for eight hours a day, and they can only absorb so much rhetoric. By contrast, if an upperclass man engages such a freshman in conversation to talk with them about their new Aggieland experi ence and concerns, a new friend ship and sense of fellowship will be forged. The Corps of Cadets is an ex cellent example of how this at mosphere of friendliness will be maintained. In a scene that will be repeated many times through out the school year, an under classman greets his superior offi cer and makes a brief acquaintance. Gradually, this mu tual communication helps to in still the strong sense of fellowship that binds the Corps. This interaction will not only im bue such values for the Corps and non-regs, but it also avoids unpro ductive conflict that flows out of isolation and miscommunication. A sincere bond of friendship is the beginning of passing on the tra ditions and experience of A&M onto another freshman class. With the beginning of another academic year at A&M, Aggies are called upon to maintain and strengthen the Aggie tradition of friendliness. Josh Maskow is a sophomore computer science major. 1ZS3+