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Page 7 • Monday, October 19, 1998
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|lhe capital is hot with
accusations these days.
Many lawmakers insist
jpublican attempts at im-
:hment will cause a con-
tional crisis. Removing a
ident from office, they
tout, overturns the will
le American people,
t least the Constitution
Lvs for impeachment.
Jemocratic members of Congress
: proposed a new method for
national census. A method
(rourts have already la-
I unconstitutional.
[he proposal sug-
i counting some
ke American pop-
fon and using
stical theories
ktimate the re
nder.
[he proposed
Jiges in cen-
laking does
Bte the Con-
Ition. Even if
not, it
jild create too
ly problems to
[e it beneficial.
[here are several
Ions for recom-
Jding the new plan,
tnsus does not come
Ip. It takes a significant
Junt of manpower,
|age and tabulation to count
American populace. The process
Ing and expensive.
The census numbers are always subject
[itense controversy. Some segments of
aopulation are difficult to tally. The
heJess, for example, provide a unique
llenge to census takers. Under the pro-
Pd system, the homeless population
|dbe estimated.
put this opens a whole new can of worms.
New controversies will arise. Who figures
the estimates? How? Which areas will be
counted and which estimated? These are im
portant decisions when funding and political
representation hang in the balance.
Statistical estimates are widely accepted
in many fields. Political polls usually inter
view about 1,000 likely voters and extrapo-
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late the views of the general population. The
polls are generally accurate — usually plus
or minus 3 percent.
Of course, the problem is even 3 percent
could radically affect the boundaries of a
congressional district.
Population estimates use models to project
what the actual population most likely is. Un
fortunately, there are no existing accurate
models of the American population to use as a
basis to estimate census data. The proponents
of the new method point out the inaccuracies
of recent census numbers — inaccuracies that
would work to hinder estimation.
Census estimators must either replicate
these inaccuracies or take an educated guess
at how to correct the miscounts.
This educated guess is the unconstitu
tional part.
This guess would doubtlessly be
come a partisan tool. The party in
control of the census bureau
will estimate in their favor.
If any office in Washing
ton needs objectivity, it is
the census bureau.
By the same token,
the office needs to take
every possible mea
sure to guarantee ac
curacy in their final
report. Plus or minus
3 percent does not
qualify as accuracy.
The solution to the
problem is a meticu
lous, more accurate sur
vey of the entire Ameri
can population.
Since members of Con
gress on both sides of the
aisle agree there are only a few
segments of the population that
may be miscounted, the census bu
reau should devote more care and
even greater resources to those areas.
The Constitution calls for an enumeration
of the population every 10 years. Instead of
using estimates to get around the constitu
tional imperative, census takers should fol
low the requirements more closely — count
ing everyone.
Dave Johnston is a senior
mathematics major.
said. ■«: 1
lie of set®
d real wdl J
ot of I
ore curriculum offers Aggies little flexibility
texas
A&M’s un-
dergradu-
ressure, Catalog states
nd forCBthe Univer-
ot on ro
?r guys 1
Oil OU! i
le the pk
ANDREW
BALEY
Free At
•Act
•CallW
(core curncu-
is estab-
d to
vide for
dth of un-
tanding.”
he catalog goes on to say that
core curriculum acts to en-
and broaden the University’s
ition of providing thorough
oaration in each student’s aca-
lic major.”
his line of reasoning does not
te sense. Engineering majors
lot benefit from humanities
ses such as theater arts. Histo-
tajors do not benefit from sci-
|es courses such as chemistry,
ead of providing a thorough
paration, the core curriculum
soothing more than create
Isles for students and waste
ley and time.
he 48 hours of the core cur-
ilum — 59 if you missed foreign
iuage and computer classes in
i school — is too many. The
benefits of spending the first
two years of a college career in the
core curriculum is that there is
more time for a student to choose a
major and the few classes that do
pertain to one’s major help for fu
ture classes.
The hours students spend in
core curriculum classes only cause
grief and worry. Two years of col
lege adds up to cost a good deal of
money. If students had the choice,
many of them would skip the core
curriculum entirely and proceed
into their major classes. The prob
lem with this, and the reason it
does not exist, is that employers
probably would not want 20-year-
olds in the workforce.
Along with requiring too many
hours, the core curriculum is point
less in many aspects. Students who
are enrolled in mandatory classes
that do not pertain in any way to
their major or interests do so in ag
gravation. This aggravation is justi
fied when a semester is spent
studying for a course outside of a
students major and interest.
What good comes out of this?
This attitude is evidenced in
discussions of upcoming tests.
Whenever a professor admits a
certain section of material will not
be on the test, students immedi
ately discard it from their minds
and notes.
The only “breadth of under
standing” applicable to situations
like these is that administrators
should grasp and understand the
fact that many core classes only
help in developing short-term
memory capacities.
Unfortunately, many core
classes do not come close to
“broadening the preparation” of
one’s major. Will a philosopher
be a better philosopher because
he or she took a geology lab?
There is little doubt that per
son would be a better philosopher
if he or she had had more philos
ophy courses, instead of the geol
ogy lab that is irrelevant to the
students major course of study.
Many students have no interest
in the social sciences; other stu
dents could not care less about
mathematics or logical reasoning.
If this is the case, why should
they take them?
Students pay their own tuition,
and they should not be at the
mercy of the University.
Additionally, as long as students
cover the basic classes of their ma
jor, why should they be restricted
in their choice of electives?
There should be more flexibil
ity in the current core curricu
lum. Business calculus will not
help a journalism major, so a
journalism major should have
more freedom to choose those
classes that will enrich their ed
ucation and skill level.
A general, diverse education is
hard to achieve as a whole be
cause certain students will
demonstrate a lack of effort in
certain subjects.
Students attend college so
they can gain knowledge and
skills in order to obtain a job in
the future.
There are not many useful
jobs requiring workers to re
member pieces of information
and quickly discard them, never
to be used again.
It is said the purpose of college
is to instill in students the ability
to think. This is a noble goal, but
aggravation, apathy, and a lack of
choice breed discouragement, not
analytical thinking.
Andrew Baley is a junior
political science major.
SGA problems demand
campus political parties
“A!
CHRIS
HUFFINES
t this
mo-
.ment, I
am preternatural-
ly calm about all
this, having
passed beyond
anger earlier this
evening into a
kind of Zen state
of consciousness,
utterly unable to wrap my mind
around the absolute stupidity of
something like this for more than
two minutes at a time.
“By morning, this will have
worn off.
“I’m looking forward to it im
mensely. ”
There have been days when
students here at Texas A&M
have discovered something the
Student Government Association
has done, and have begun to
identify with this quotation by J.
Michael Straczynski.
The Student Government As
sociation, despite its multiple
beneficial roles within the Univer
sity, bewilders most Aggies with
its seeming reality handicap and
anti-student attitudes.
For most average students,
the Student Government Associ
ation is a near-powerless figure
head, and an ugly, unlucky one
at that.
There is, fortunately, an ele
gant, inexpensive and blissfully
administration-free solution to the
problem that is the Student Gov
ernment Association: the intro
duction of political parties into
student elections.
This will not only keep the
important aspects of the group,
like its role as the student’s voice
to the administration, but will
also make it better and much
more effective.
This action would have the ad
vantages of bringing competition
to the Student Government Asso
ciation, creating more account
ability for elected candidates, eas
ing the financial burden on
students who run, as well as cre
ating a coherent, long-term policy
within the organization.
Before discussion of the ad
vantages really gets rolling, it is
important to note political par
ties in this sense does not mean
the College Republicans or the
Aggie Democrats.
These two groups serve both
their national parent organiza
tions as well as the students. That
kind of divided loyalty is what
caused the current national parti
san mess in the first place, and it
would be foolish to advocate im
porting that same brand of chaos
to Aggieland.
First, political parties would
create some much-needed com
petition. As Charles Darwin
pointed out so many years ago,
increased competition weeds out
the worst and elevates the best.
In the arena of student gov
ernment, as parties came into
being, social Darwinism would
step in and the parties would be
forced to constantly work to put
out better programs. To do any
thing else would risk losing stu
dent support and hitting an evo
lutionary dead-end.
Political parties would also en
sure competition for student sen
ate positions.
The number of unfilled seats
in the Student Senate sometimes
runs into the double digits.
These seats could easily be filled
if there were parties to put for
ward candidates.
Second, the parties would
create more accountability. No
body in Aggieland knows who is
involved in the Student Govern
ment Association, which makes
accountability difficult. Today,
aside from the Student Body
President, the Aggie on the
street would find it easier to sing
the t.u. fight song at cut than
dredge up the names of their
student senators.
It is much easier for a student
to remember which party he or
she agrees with than to remember
the student government member
he or she likely did not even vote
for in the first place.
In addition, accountability
would be increased because par
ties would increase the absolutely
pathetic voter turnout A&M cur
rently wallows in.
The more students vote, the
more students will call or write
student government officials to
keep their action in line with stu
dent wishes.
Third, political parties could
very easily raise money from
students, local businesses, ad
vertising and other areas to
help lower the hit to the pocket-
book of those Aggies who do
run for Student Government As
sociation offices.
This would widen the elec
tion field to include the best can
didates, not just those good can
didates who can shell out
enough cash.
Finally, political parties would
help create a coherent, long-term
policy within student govern
ment. Currently, no student sena
tor holds office for more than a
few years.
Political parties could very
easily hope to accomplish goals
whose lifespan is longer than the
academic career of those stu
dents who are working to
achieve it.
The Student Senate could ad
vance policies similar to (and
hopefully better than) Vision
2020 and could examine student
issues over a longer period of
time than could any one student
government official.
Aggies have allowed them
selves to be shortchanged by this
organizational vacuum for long
enough. This problem can easily
be solved by the 2000 elections. It
is time to make a change for the
good of Aggies and Aggieland.
Chris Huffines is a junior
speech communication major.
Student leaders
support bloc seats
In response to Andrew Beley's Oct.
14 column:
We would like to thank the
Class Councils for creating and
marketing such a successful con
cept with the Maroon Out shirts.
We would also like to thank each
organization that sat in a “bloc” at
the football games and wore ma
roon, including chapters from the
three Greek councils, some resi
dence halls, business fraternities
and other non-Greek groups.
Bailey’s column is right on target
when congratulating Aggie fans on
their contributions to the A&M victo
ry over Nebraska. However, in the
column, he implied the Corps of
Cadets, Yell Leaders and Greek or
ganizations were the only groups to
stand as a group at the games.
The truth is there are several
other organizations already out
there sitting as a group outside of
the Corps of Cadets and the
Greek system.
Simply standing together does
not stop Aggies from yelling to
gether or wearing maroon.
In the Greek Bloc, virtually
every person was wearing ma
roon, and most were wearing the
official Maroon Out shirt. Chap
ters went out and bought the
MAIL CALL
shirts in bulk, and those who did
not make it in time wore the only
other maroon shirts they had,
even if they had letters on them.
Gig ’em!
Scott Lovejoy
Class of '97
Interfraternity Council President
Adrian Leday
Class of '98
PanHellenic President
Kristen Kirby
Class of '99
Panhellenic President
Tase Baily III
Class of '99
Corps of Cadets Commander
Laurie Nickel
Class of '98
Student Body President
Aggie appreciates
student honesty
Here is just another reason I’m
glad I attend A&M.
I am a freshman chemical engi
neer, and like most other fresh
men, I have tons of classes in
Heldenfels Hall.
Last Thursday, I lost my wallet
in room 100, the largest room
on the first floor. I did not just
lose my wallet, but my cash,
credit card, phone card, blank
checks, driver’s license, student
ID, Aggie Bucks, meal plan and
other things.
Within two hours of losing my
wallet, I received a phone call
from Professor Drosd because
one of her students had turned it
in to her. When I picked it up the
next day, not a thing was missing.
My experience just proves the
honesty, integrity and thoughtful
ness present in the average Ag
gie. As an Aggie myself, I hope I
can live up to this standard.
Thanks for the student who re
turned my life to me.
Anthony Garza
Class of '02
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