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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 8, 1999)
Page 11 • Monday, February 8, 1999 igesmtting a cap on learning tate legislature will end up hurting students i search of knowledge rather than slackers ROCKMAN ilion y will addrf; I eginning the Fall Semester >tinence tor | 0 ^ 1999, resident students "enrolled at state institutions d Abstirr education who have at| is and risks( < as d giftlroi education c r said somei ■nee even® ;aid. ated at least 170 credit hours be required to pay out-of- > tuition rates. or these students this means will now be paying $249 per ester credit hour instead of per semester credit hour. Zach HALL > only fool-pro ex u ally transr ju from some; 1 not," Wings his is due to the passage of Senate Bill 1907, AggiesSisi ;h Ivas intended to put more responsibility on cal science: ents to take care of their educational require- »ortant mes its ks soon as possible. Instead, it may end up ? everyone.' ishing students who are serious about getting an <e precaun :at|on. effective in: B ll907, often referred to as the “Slacker Bill”, i birth comr; passed in 1998 during the 75th Legislative Ses- . The legislature seems to have been influenced eports of an increasing number of “career stu- :s” who are racking up hours with no intent of uaiing any time soon. hereason many object to this “career education” realise state taxpayers, in essence, subsidize as h as 80 percent of a student’s education, and tax- ‘rspre having to foot the bill for students to take aedt d or excessive hours, appears, though, that legislators may not have OROLOGI- sufficient research when they voted in favor of 1907. (i from Pttge s the law stands, all resident students who have npted 170 credit hours prior to the Fall 1999, re- seminars) gi less of when they began undergraduate work, will ants] a chanc pay out-of-state tuition. peers are wort/hat this law means is all the hours a student has interest to the -opted, including Q-drops, withdrawals and trans- rd credit, will count toward his or her maximum aid a currenti cre( |jt hours. Exceptions are made for students rrnnar especu are enrolled in two or more baccalaureate degree oject that tni. • ramS) w h 0 are double majors or who are enrolled nem 's mvolie^ealth professional degree plan. oJever, it does apply to students whose degree 1 ..s,luch as architecture, require 153 hours. In other . Is if student changes his or her major even once, iins the risk of surpassing the 170 credit hour imum. aying $249 instead of $36 is a stiff punishment for 'dent who has changed majors ; for a student who , alien a variety of classes to explore what he cl LCS :s to do after graduation or a student whose de- M ^plan requires more than the usual 128 hours, phife the intentions of the legislators are to punish 1 :er students’ and those who are not serious about HCemeir ation ’ Should not punish those who see col lege as a pursuit of knowledge. To the credit of the legislators, they have responded to the criticism that has been generated since the pas sage of the bill. Currently, a bill is in the senate that addresses many of the problems of the original senate bill. Authored by Sen. Teal Bivins, who also authored S.B. 1907, Senate Bill 345 would “grandfather” the original bill. This means any student who was en rolled prior to the Fall 1999, whether he has taken 3 hours or 173 hours, will be exempt from the 170 hour maximum. Furthermore it takes into account the number of credit hours required for a student to graduate. The provision stipulates a student will be allowed 45 extra hours in addition to the minimum required for his de gree plan; after the additional 45 hours, a student is required to pay out-of-state tuition. However, the new bill does not make provisions for those who have withdrawn from school or have trans ferred hours from other state institutions that do not apply to their degree at the new institution. Therefore, if a student has transferred with 60 hours, but only 20 count toward his degree plan, he still has 40 hours that count toward his extra 45 hours. That leaves him with only 5 credit hours that he may Q-drop, fail or withdraw from. What the legislators do not seem to realize is that there are many more students who fall under this cat egory than those who are “mooching off the system.” It is unfortunate higher education is seen as a pro duction line of future money makers for the state and not as an institution for the pursuit and expansion of knowledge. If the state wants to try and save taxpayers’ money and hold career students accountable, then they need to mandate that each individual institution set its own policing system, instead of passing catch-all legislation that punishes the innocent. Individual state institutions would be given the task of keeping track of how student’s hours are accu mulated. It would not be too difficult to find the stu dents who have changed majors three or four times and hold them financially accountable. In addition, it would allow schools to make exceptions for students who have legitimate reasons for surpassing 170 credit hours. The state legislature will make a step in the right direction toward modifying the “Slacker Bill” by pass ing S.B. 345, particularly with its “grand-father” clause. However, it must be careful not to damage higher education by punishing the whole to get to a few. Zach Hall is a senior philosophy major RUBEN DELUNA/Thi; Battalion 1999 Commerce without morality leads to a ruthless American society t: amu. e your or t t | ie recen t k World Eco- Xmomic Forum pbavos, Switzer- United Nations . tetary-General ver t'W [ Aiman called for February N erger of money . morality. He m-Fri 11 international 'inesses to pro- Caleb MCDANIEL ✓:e human rights, environmental con- iusness and labor organization in countries where they invest. We have to choose between a global •Ret driven only by calculations of rt-term profit and one which has a nan face,” Annan said in a New York les article. This and other clarion calls to re in the humanitarian side of econom- |are needed precisely because they k neglected. Far from wearing a rubric human face, the face of the Iriness community is often one of ty indifference to the common good. Jnc le Sam especially has money on jmind and dollar signs in his eyes. and unfortunately, the kindred founda tions of capitalism and democracy have misled us to think the free market is al ways intrinsically worthwhile. However, the assumption that market forces will make companies to behave themselves is naive at best and nonsen sical at worst. In a world where the touch of a com puter key can move billions of dollars around the globe, eager investors can tromp through developing economies like a bull market in a china shop. The pur suit of profit can often devolve into greed. Consequently, the United States must be careful not to commit what Gandhi listed as a cardinal social sin — com merce without morality. Annan’s concern about the need for socially responsible businesses is echoed around the world. There is a ris ing awareness, especially in the emerg ing world, that something is wrong with a global economy capable of erasing years of development because of the whims of market sentiment. Cutthroat competition can cut the throats of Third World economies, and on the fast track to exorbitant economic growth, wealthy countries see more dol lar signs than yield signs. On this high way, roadkill is not rare. Ultimately, though, the problems of a global economy controlled by uncon trollable capital flows will only be solved when a greater sense of moral responsibility is born among interna tional businesses. Until then, corporations will often find they have a vested interest in not being interested in the moral dimen sions of commerce. They can take advantage of labor markets in countries where they do not have to pay a minimum wage or can legally hire children. They can exploit speculative stock trading to wreck markets while bringing home the bacon. They can reorganize themselves into gargantuan mergers and cut costs by cutting thousands of jobs. In short, until businesses realize that their bottom line is not the true bottom line, corporate boards will continue to cow-tow to clamorous investors. Therefore, one way ordinary people can make a change is through socially responsible investing. Whereas many economic advisors assume their only moral behavior is to maximize returns for shareholders, many investors are beginning to show they have complex goals and are not willing to sacrifice their personal values before a golden calf. By investing in companies concerned with environmental protection, labor rights and social well being, investors can build portfolios that will force com panies to a higher level of moral re sponsibility. Hazel Henderson, an advisor for Calvert Social Investment Funds, said “it is possible to go much farther, to change today’s global economic warfare into a win-win game in which most ethical countries and companies can succeed. “In the largest planetary context, all our individual self-interests are con verging toward the evolution of healthy human societies within nature’s ecolog ical capacity. With longer time horizons in view, earth ethics and human morali ty simply become pragmatic.” Although many American companies are leading the way to this economic or der with a human face, the United States still has a long way to go. Politicians still chant the mantra of economic growth as if limitless wealth is inherently desirable. Companies still lay off hundreds of employees with hardly a second thought. And meanwhile, a growing division between rags and riches in this country desperately needs attention. To combat these problems, com merce must be more stringently tem pered by morality. People must be prior itized above profits. Eugene V. Debs, a monumental fig ure in American labor history, once said, “Money constitutes no proper ba sis for civilization.” Truly, it as the apostle Paul wrote, “The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.” Caleb McDaniel is a sophomore history major. iV* 'eople should be aware of audience lest misunderstandings occur o man is an island unto him- .” Each action a son takes either ?ctly or indirectly lets other people, one in America a in a glass bub- Demond REID II 323 David Howard, the id of Washington D.C.’s mayor con- uent-service, should have taken this a into consideration before he used word “niggardly” in a speech. In ,.j > age of political correctness Howard leP'iuld have known better. 'Howard used the word, which means erly or stingy, to describe his depart- ntls funds. But surprise, surprise, surprise the rdlwas mistaken for the similar- inding racial slur. 1.5-0569 ;ifi£DS Before Howard could apologize, the train of public gossip was already in motion and the unintended offense rail roaded him straight into Resigna- tionville. After the press reported the incident, Howard was tagged the worst racist since Archie Bunker. However, Howard did not deserve to be forced into resignation. He deserved noogies and an atomic wedgie for being such an oblivious idiot not to recognize the sheer mayhem that one word could cause. Howard was stricken with a severe case of intelligent ignorance. It is great that he is smart enough to use “niggard ly” in its proper context, but it is sad that he was not smart enough to not use the word. Howard seemed unaware of the time and place he is living in. Washington D.C. has a dense black population. How could he not even consider the word might be misunderstood by the constituents? These are the same people who reelected Marion Barry after he was caught with a prostitute smoking crack. Communication is not only what is being said, but also how that informa tion is understood. Howard failed to take into account his audience. If any normal person had to make a speech in front of the National Organi zation of Women, it is doubtful that they would use the word cunniculous, even though that word is not misogy- nistic in meaning. Using those words would show an extensive knowledge of words but an intense ignorance of people. If a person had to make a speech in front of the League of United Latin American Citizens, no matter how damp their posterior region became. they would not dare to utter the phrase “wet back.” Why? Because the racial climate in this country has gotten more tense than a disgruntled postal worker going through nicotine withdrawal. Some may blame political correct ness, instead of Howard, for the situa tion. However, political correctness, much like the Internal Revenue Service, is a necessary evil this country needs to publicly protect some groups from un necessary ridicule. Without political correctness blacks would be portrayed as criminals in the media. Native Americans would be used as mascots for professional sport teams and Pat Robertson would be able to damn all homosexuals to hell. Howard is nothing more than a sacri ficial lamb to the great god of political correctness, but he has nobody to blame for his situation but himself. There were many other words he could have used. But for some uncom- prehensible reason he chose the one word that could offend a large portion of the city. He might have been able to get away with using “niggardly” in Minnesota, where the only black people there play for the Vikings, but not in Washington D.C. where a large portion of the popu lation would be offended. He had a position of influence but failed his responsibility to always con sider the people who has hired to repre sent. Howard should have taken the ad vice given by Jesus in the Bible when he said, “With great power comes great responsibility.” No wait that was not said by Jesus in the Bible, that was said by Peter Parker in Spiderman. Demand Reid is a sophomore marketing major.