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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 13, 1998)
epat )nal sted in. Battalion pinion Page 9 • Tuesday, October 13, 1998 id theDt] I Sports a oss Coiinin ring M\\ ' opportua ng a 5-tt ■ace at tursettiai II be mi lainlyoa paths at tii’ rse. nan invite ties toetf ■ race, els can® Hartmai work, no play makes busy Aggies there is a saying that college years are the best of Is life. For many col- [students around the Id, it may be more ppriate to say those are the busiest. For those students i are fortunate jell to have their col- ANDREW BALEY e. iners \ expenses covered by their parents, by scholarships or paid with hefty i 11 ? 10 1- : [s, college years may indeed be the they will ever have, lor those students, however, who is, cro«;;: ^ study and work, their reality is a lit- hth lessp:! ;. The rati tudenttki jateina;: ifferent. hr many Aggies, college is made al- it traumatic by the tremendous work- they must bear. In addition to 15 ‘ as 0 f classes every week, student work- sted shoi| abor away at jobs trying to balance ot Rect;*ng payments and making grades, tion, wteBius burden only adds to the stu- jiudent en t s desire to get a diploma and enter er, en; i e real job market. ome students may have a difficult understanding why a number of fellow Aggies begin eagerly antici- Ing their graduation sometime during |r sophomore year. It may not be that are not having fun or that they total- ate their present situation, but they |er think the grass is greener on the ?rside or they are looking forward to chance to relax. tor students holding down jobs, post- ; weekoiiBege life offers many advantages over gnizedK egedays. e team rj in increase in free time is the first c many Aggies look forward to. To jy students, a 9-to-5 job sounds like on earth. But, to others, it means the of continuous 12- to 14-hour days, is not uncommon for many college race is Week runners a uzaforih shirt freslr the men. :ond on tin in Den© ie from a? n a mint ahoma® ring prafl) nnedfisi jiagenfflii students, through their job and study commitments, to be active that many hours a day, every day. In addition to long hours, many stu dent workers have to forego their week ends. Monday through Friday, 9 to 5 is almost a vacation compared to some students’ schedules. Even though offices are filled with their unique brands of stress, they are very different from college life. Even interviews and approaching dead lines can hardly compare to group projects and midterm grades. Another perk of leaving the busi ness of college is more money. Unless you are unrealistically lucky, most col lege students, whatever their jobs, do not make didley compared to what they will make when they have that diploma in their hands. Some students do not have the luxury of not worrying about how their next bills will be paid. So, the next time one of your roommates yells at you for drinking his or her milk, it is not because that person is selfish or greedy. He or she just has to plan fi nances out in such detail that buying milk sooner than expected actually makes a difference. It is sad but true that while we are still so young we have to worry about real, adult issues. For those students who have to work, it should not be looked upon as a burden, but a way to gain an even stronger work ethic and an appreciation for what they have gained in life. For those students who do not have to work, they should appreciate the extra amount of free time they have to stop and smell the roses. Andrew Baley is a junior political science major. ROBERT HYNECEK/The Battauon MAIL CALL ;w A&M tradition iblished at Kyle I Aggies should know the ap- ation we have for the efforts jle Valentine, Kevin Weeks, leHanselka, Dana Devlin and ICIass Councils of ’99, ’00 ]’01 in developing and execut- |the Maroon Out concept even ond their imaginations. Vhen students have great and they are accepted by er students, you have what is Ilya tradition. Traditions hap- 1998 just like they did in J)8. No, I was not here then, (ugh I have seen a few new tra- ons over the years, and this lone of the best. J. Malon Southerland Vice President for Student Affairs Texas A&M University ■NTESfrHi’f ainst NeW Bible condemns have iltf plays, rjng hin kerj,” \ ;y can him.” imosexual acts response to Lisa Foox’s Oct. 12 umn: Lisa Foox’s column disappointed ,not only because of her view of jdman i'lming Out week, but because jacket an adamantly “liberal” side |s presented without the counter- “conservative” anti-homosexual ibaloK'fwofthe matter. Fbox says those who disdain ho- tou# isexuals due to religious beliefs on my ” t it# in s he stoi ? rest e in and jv, tltf e-man* 1 775.24s! e merely spouting ingrained he 's they have heard others voice.” Could these others be Jesus Iristand His apostles? Through- the Bible, homosexuality is iarly referred to and condemned. There are verses that refer to ng others without judgment, but it means loving the the person t loving their actions. God hates —the actions of sinful people. God loves all people. However, iful actions separate us from XL Fostering hatred is just as sin- as practicing homosexuality, dom and Gomorrah burned un- Tfireand brimstone. How long our society follows that corrupt to the same conclusion? Natalie S. Phelps Class of ’01 ired^Li to SW f> Id We*'j gentry P The Battalion encourages letters to the ed- Letters must be 300 words or less and in- the author’s name, class and phone if. The opinion editor reserves the right to edit ters for length, style, and accuracy. Letters 'be submitted in person at 013 Reed Mc- >ld with a valid student ID. Letters may also ! mailed to: The Battalion - Mail Call 013 Reed McDonald Texas A&M University College Station, TX 77843-1111 Campus Mail: 113.1 Rax: (409) 845-2647 E-mail: batt@tamvml.tamu.edu Student absence policy insults Aggies hile no one has ever done an official study, common sense says col lege students are not living in a particularly healthy environ ment. Students are, by-and-large, liv ing with other people, crammed cheek-and-jowl during lectures, sharing food, sharing water foun tains and just in general wallow ing in germs. Add to that the extreme hours, unhealthy food and the "occa sional” consumption of alcohol, and it is a wonder the entire stu dent body has not come down with the plague. There is a problem, though, be cause when students do get sick, they must then face the administra tion’s excused absence policy, which needs to be changed to clos er reflect the real world. There are three basic reasons the current policy does not work. The policy is not student- friendly, it is unrealistic and it devalues students. Most students will quickly agree the policy is not designed to maximize student convenience. Currently, if a student wakes up one morning feeling too sick to go to class, they have to face the prospect of finding an appoint ment time at either A.P. Beutel Health Center or one of the other doctor’s offices around Bryan-Col- lege Station. Then, because an ex cuse is granted only when the doctor believes the student’s ill ness is too severe or contagious for that student to attend class, there is a level of uncertainty. What one doctor believes is too severe another doctor may not. The system is completely subjective, relying on the opinion of the doctor. In all fairness. Student Health Services is making an effort to im prove on this aspect of the process. According to Dr. Lucille Isdale, director of Student Health Services, the organization is cur rently revising its policies, and making the process more student- friendly is a specific goal. It is especially working to stan dardize excuses in order to make it both quicker and easier for a student who is obviously sick to get an excuse. Second, the policy is unrealistic. In the real world, an employee is allowed to stay home from work whenever the employee feels too sick to come to the office. It is en tirely on the word of the employee, so long as they do not abuse the privilege. In the real world, the sys tem is subjective, but it relies on the opinion of the employee. The real world’s way of doing things has the additional advan tage of better attendance. For some odd reason, people come in despite illness when it is their own choice. Finally, the policy devalues stu dents. Requiring a student to offer a grown-up’s proof that they were justified in skipping class casts a rather snide shadow on the stu dent’s maturity. The current policy also implies students, the very same Aggies that do not lie, cheat or steal, can not be trusted to tell the truth. The solution is to make the policy the same as the business world. When students feel too sick, they should be able to stay home and tell the professor when they feel better. Many professors have recognized this by allowing students a few absences without any sort of penalty. In addition to freeing up local doctors, this would also give stu dents valuable experience similar to what they will experience the next several years of their lives. Admittedly, some students will abuse the privilege. Although the cliche, “You’re only hurting your self,” certainly applies, quite sim ply, the University should not care. They already have the stu dents’ money for the class, and if the student can survive the class despite absences, then no harm has been done. Realistically, the current ex cused absence policy does not work, and needs to be changed. The best thing to do is change the policy, and the best policy to change it to is one that matches the rest of America. Chris Huffines is a junior speech communication major. EDITORIAL Battalion Editorials appearing in The Battalion reflect the views of die editorials board members. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions of other Battalion staff members, the Texas A&M student body, regents, administration, faculty or staff. Columns, guest columns, cartoons and letters ex press the opinions of the authors. Editorials Board MANDY CATER GRABBER Editor in Chief AARON MEIER Managing Editor DAVE JOHNSTON Opinion Editor Traffic Jam Munson Avenue barricade offends local residents, insults traffic committee The years have been kind to Col lege Station. The growth of Texas A&M University and its student body has allowed the town to grow into the respectable city it is today. The College Station City Council, however, by voting to close Munson Avenue, has decided a small group of vocal citizens is more important than the resident students. For years, the A&M student population has attracted laige businesses, filled local rental property and paid about as much in city sales tax as in student fees. Now those Aggies are dubbed “second-class citizens” by some members of the city’s traffic com mittee and are ignored by the Col lege Station City Council. Acting against the requests of students and the recommendation of the city’s traffic committee, the city council voted Thursday to per manently close Munson Avenue. After examining the issue, 60 per cent of the traffic committee voted to remove the speed humps and barri cades that had been placed on the street and open it to traffic. The City Council, however, disregarded the committee’s recommendation. The committee members in vested countless hours of research looking into the Munson Avenue situation. That effort evidently pales in comparison to the shouts of the small band of outspoken Munson Avenue residents who petitioned the council to limit the amount of traffic on their street. If the council had no intention of following the traffic committee’s analysis, they should never have wasted the committee’s time. In stead, the council ignored the committee’s suggestion and guar anteed no resolution to the city’s traffic problems. No one denies the need for an other north-south passage in Col lege Station. Texas Avenue is con gested and Wellborn Road is too far to the west for most drivers. Mun son, however, is considered unac ceptable by the council because it lies in a residential area. Unfortu nately, there is no other alternative. The city’s layout and zoning pre vents any other non-residential north-south road from solving the traffic problems. The City Council acts as though it only represents a small subgroup of the city. The city is comprised of more than just the residents of Munson Avenue. The council members seek to reap the benefits of the University and its student body with none of the costs. A&M students not only con tribute to the city of College Sta tion, the city, in fact, grew up around the University. Students pay taxes, support businesses and vote in College Station. The coun cil members could at least pretend to respect them.
