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Battalion
pinion
Page 9 • Tuesday, October 13, 1998
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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
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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-
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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.