'!
V,
Battalion
PINION
Page 11 • Monday, September 13, 1999
(lind your manners!
Common courtesy regularly overlooked in everyday life, on and off-campus
pare minute is
1 t~\ r~i +• /■'v C x x r
w—
jessic:a
c:rutc:her
not good or hi;
officials dur "lliere is a disturb-
aich Da vidian ;;j ing trend in Ag-
>med from fc. lieland which
ns, Danforth- be noted on cam-
led whereoiir in the manner of
relists whizzing
with Congn ?lessly through
' until thever wded sidewalks as
ningcomme 1 as the mad and
m hostile rush for
last week king spaces.
i-upandihf -towever, this lack of consideration
nost noticeable at public gathering
°! ’I'e Justia C es, like clubs and bars.
\ die news if he shattered beer bottles can be
over to Cong n on the dance floors of local night
“und die us h s jare a perfect example of thought-
ll1 ^ 1 there s behavior.
on has said fht* recent decision by the Corps of
l 1 " i ' in iets to instill table manners and
irtesy into their freshmen is a step in
■ right direction.
However, it would be a great deal
ire beneficial if the other 95 percent
the A&M student population would
gin practicing the same common
.irtesy. Many students do not realize
simply do not care that their man-
1 risms affect other people.
[Students should keep in mind that
?ir server, bartender, bouncer or
• 1 esclerk is not only human, but does
J^jQ^'ve feelings and is occasionally prone
mistakes.
fV A large number of students do not
[Ormi ve p job and therefore receive the
ijority of their monetary support
>m their parents.
This kind of lifestyle makes it easy
- r students to lose sight of the reality
. working and paying bills.
the specui
ver reached (
made public
age “raisesro
ee was intenii
■’estigation.'
HINGTON
itial con
an came clc
ay to sayir
? Republicar
■n for the Ret
Working at a low-paying customer
service job day-in and day-out can get
tiring and frustrating, just as juggling
work and school while trying to main
tain an acceptable GPR.
A bad day is usually not made any
better by irate customers screaming be
cause their cheeseburgers took two
minutes longer than normal to arrive.
The use of basic manners would
please many people.
The terms “please” and “thank you”
are a part of the English language for a
reason. “How are you?” is not a rhetor
ical question.
If people who deal with hundreds of
others daily in the course of their jobs
takes the trouble to inquire how a per
son’s day went, the least the other per
son can do is answer politely.
If someone said “howdy” on cam
pus, would one’s first reflex be to an
swer them or to stare blankly for a mo
ment and then ask, “What’d you say
the total was?”
Being courteous goes beyond dining
establishments, though. Observe the
behavior in any crowded club or bar.
It is no wonder bartenders get
grouchy when they are forced to spend
their Friday night serving drinks to
drunk people who are not even willing
to wait their turn in line.
Waitresses have to put up with the
same thing, except they get the added
perk of receiving obscene propositions
from intoxicated customers.
Bouncers also receive undeserved
abuse. They have the reputation of be
ing rude and boorish.
But few people would stay nice
when their every spare minute is
occupied in separating the two
men fighting over the drunk
woman stripping on the dance
floor at one in the morning.
A basic rule forced upon
nearly everyone in preschool is,
“Pick up after yourself.”
This does not mean people
should bus their own tables
when dining at expensive
restaurants.
However, it does mean con
sideration of others should al
ways be used. .
When eating at a fast food
restaurant, people should place
their trash in the proper recepta
cles upon leaving instead of
abandoning it on the table or
scattering it haphazardly in the
parking lot.
A better living environment is
easily attainable. Friendliness
and courtesy should not be re
served for the parents and
guests that arrive during football
games and freshman welcome
week.
Sometimes all it takes to turn
someone’s day around is a sim
ple “hello” or “how are you?” It
requires no money, relatively lit
tle energy, and even takes less
time to say than “Hey, I didn’t
want pickles on this!”.
Jessica Crutcher is a
sophomore journalism major.
REUBEN DELUNA/The BATTALION
Degree plans often misleading Middle East agreement,
parents and nize the time commitment of ordi- such as Math 142 and 151 or Eng-
ELIZABETH
KOHL
tioor really is
u! said. "We,
making that d
weeks. Mg
e.'>e Unru/a.^s^dents
(nt ’ / / ; ‘ ,/ ; ‘'‘ j 1: Ire often
^esiions F"- - mec j at j low
lomtnaieBucMg it takes to
apjete a col-
ii has said u education,
by Ross Perot m choosing a
rvative econo ret' plan to
lit Budianatinp^yingwith
tism on at uired odds
ies. I ends, university administration
complicated the process, mak-
it harder for students to settle
vn and get out in four years.
—This unreasonable extension of
lege careers is unfair and unnec-
ary Alternatively, parents of the
ent college population fin-
‘djtheir educations in a more
i.ely manner.
, qjik/rhiey did it majoring in two sub-
y tsCI taking 25 hours a semester
1 belonging to half the organiza-
is on campus. Expecting the
ne from their children, the ques-
i is often, “How hard could
t be? ”
Granted, finishing in four years
•ossible; some prodigiously do it
hree. It is all right there in the
dergraduate Catalog. Every de-
e offered through Texas A&M is
ed with a four-year projection on
v to achieve it.
But trying to follow one of these
;ree plans can often be a difficult
They are hardly user friendly,
ytJOl'H they often seem to be ignorant
■ :lass difficulty.
HTie I ^Recommending 16 to 19 hours a
nester, these plans do not recog-
aditioi
nize the time commitment of ordi
nary classes or labs.
For example, a biochemistry ma
jor, according to the Undergraduate
Catalog, will take two labs in the
first semester of their freshman year
and face as many as four in a single
semester as they approach upper
level. Such a prescription reveals
that a major glitch in the system is
the allotment of credit hours to
science labs.
Students really spend a mini
mum of three hours a week in
these labs and only receive one
credit hour. On the other hand, a
single three-credit course only lasts
two and a half hours a week. Labs
contain quizzes, tests and home
work just like other courses, and
the time commitment should be
recognized.
Another obstacle for some lies in
simply choosing a major. About
2,500 students are listed as general
studies majors for the fall semester.
Each one will eventually be re
quired to declare a more permanent
field of study. These students must
apply to the college that contains
their field and then transfer the
credits they have already earned,
hoping they do not lose too many
hours in the process.
Any student who has ever
changed majors is aware of the
problems it can cause. Due to slight
variance in the core curriculum of
degree plans, changing fields of
study becomes time consuming
and expensive. Students find them
selves repeating similar courses
such as Math 142 and 151 or Eng
lish 205 and 210 just to satisfy the
core requirements for their majors.
Composed of roughly 48 hours,
core curriculum is supposed to be a
method of creating well-rounded
students. But because of the lack of
uniformity in credit hours, these
courses can burden students’ hori
zons instead of broadening them.
Aside from causing those chang
ing majors to repeat classes, com
pleting the core curriculum is often
the reason many students find
themselves in summer school.
Sometimes they have only taken
one course in their major field of
study by their junior years.
Unless the administration real
izes that sometimes less is best, the
next generation may be too well-
rounded. College is becoming just
another requirement in the process
of getting a job.
As this trend grows, universities
move toward efficiency in educa
tion, causing students of every class
rank to find themselves lost in the
system. It does little good to be so
efficient with a system that is so
complicated it has negative effects
on students’ educations.
To make the four-year university
a reality instead of at myth, the ad
ministration must consider ways to
revise credit assignments, make
changing majors a smoother
process and review the efficiency of
core curriculum requirements.
Elizabeth Kohl is a junior
accounting major.
Barak promise lasting peace
MARK
PASSWATERS
MAIL CALL
fetimfeagan good
imoriiresident
In response to Beverly Mireles’
pt. 10 column.
I find it hard to believe that
j'\/P V0 meone w * 10 was wett hig diapers
1 v ! id eating off the floor when
mizatifrnaid Reagan was elected, knows
anything about his presidency. Bev-
C6 m I'ly Mireles proved me right! She
r inifeds to check out the facts before
'H b ‘id after. She needs to look at the
3 rbOOf )sitive trends he created that we
tjoy today. She needs to realize
—'"'^at because of Reagan, as an adult,
, jq^ie has never had to worry about
* ee e Iron Curtain, inflation, high in-
1 or call 11 rest rates, 70 percent tax rates and
itracts diMs, if you really understand our
ih so doid-onomy, “deficits.”
|Hbviously, the facts are not
>mething she is interested in. In-
'TT?#yP ea( l’ s * le s * arns one t * ie 8 rea test
: I J^finresidents of this century.
Kenneth M. Kimball
Staff Accountant, TAMU
its that teltsin om.
WHO WANTS TO BE
PRIME MINISTER THIS
w/eek
The Battalion encourages letters to the editor. Letters must be 300 words or less and
include the author’s name, class and phone number.
The opinion editor reserves the right to edit letters for length, style, and accuracy. Let
ters may be submitted in person at 013 Reed McDonald 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: battletters@hotmail.com
F or half a
century,
the possi
bility of a last
ing peace be
tween the
Palestinians
and the Israelis
has been slim.
For the last
few years, a running joke has put
those odds as even worse than
those of the Indianapolis Colts
and the Super Bowl being men
tioned in the same sentence.
There are things that are hap
pening in the world today that
may change that view, and it does
not have anything to do with Pey
ton Manning becoming a fine
NFL quarterback.
Last weekend, Palestine and Is
rael, two long-time adversaries
signed an agreement to continue
the process set out last year in the
Wye River Accords.
The resurrection of this agree
ment, which requires Israel to re
turn land to Palestinian control in
return for security guarantees,
has to be seen as an incredibly
positive step.
Why should an agreement to
do something that had already
been agreed upon be such a big
deal? Because the two sides
worked it out on their own.
There was no involvement
from the United States or any oth
er party. While Secretary of State
Madeleine Albright was at the
signing of the documents, the ne
gotiations had been completed
before her arrival.
As a result, the U.S. State De
partment — embarrassed by the
reactions of the Kosovar Albani
ans after NATO’s “victory” — is
still looking for a new diplomatic
coup. What may be deemed as
America’s minor loss is a great
victory for the Israeli Government
and the Palestinian Authority.
Such an unprecedented show
of cooperation and a mutual de
sire to get things done could be a
symbol that “The Peace of the
Brave” truly is attainable.
What has made this possible?
Nothing less than the desire of
the Israeli public to make peace,
which brought about the emer
gence of Ehud Barak, Israel’s cur
rent prime minister.
Since the end of the Gulf War
and the collapse of the Soviet
Union, it has been plainly clear to
Yasser Arafat and most of the
Palestinians that they cannot de
feat Israel in an armed conflict.
And while terrorists from
groups such as Hezbollah and
Hamas still show their opposition
to peace through violence, such
incidents have been on the de
cline in recent years.
Arafat knows that the only
way that he can succeed in his
goal of obtaining a Palestinian
homeland is to work with the Is
raelis, not against them.
Arafat’s position allows him to
make decisions with minimal out
side unput, unlike his Israeli
equivalent.
'For the first time, it
appears that both
the Israelis and the
Palestinians are
ready to go the
course."
After the Palestinian Intefadeh
(uprising) in the late ’80s, it be
came clear to some Israelis that
using force against the Palestini
ans to maintain control was not
going to work.
Therefore, when Yitzak Rabin
was elected prime minister in
1992, he promised to negotiate a
settlement with the Palestinians.
Rabin was true to his word, and
t|ie first steps toward peace were
taken in 1994.
At this point, however, the Is
raeli people were still sharply di
vided on this course of action,
and he was killed by an Orthodox
Israeli less than a year later.
The actions of the man elected
prime minister after Rabin’s death
have a great deal to do with the
possibilities of success increasing.
Benjamin Netanyahu was
elected prime minister on a plat
form of “Peace with security,”
and he promptly set about de
stroying any goodwill that had
been vested between the Israelis
and Palestinians.
Netanyahu’s claims that he
was working for peace became
about as believable as safety
claims from a used Ford Pinto
salesman.
Netanyahu would call off ne
gotiations, violate agreements
signed by Rabin and even try to
blackmail the United States for
concessions while “working for
peace.”
The final straw came after the
Wye Accords, when Netanyahu
suspended implementation less
than a month after signing it.
The Israeli people, embar
rassed by Netanyahu, were far
more willing to return.to Rabin’s
idea of “land for peace” than they
had been five years before.
Enter Ehud Barak. Barak, the
leader of the Labor Party and a
renowned war hero, promised to
pick up where Rabin left off and
work with the Palestinians.
In fact, it was the only real
plank in his campaign platform,
and he was elected in a landslide.
Barak has the respect of the Is
raeli people, and the nation is
now more willing to follow him
than they would have been a few
years before.
There is a new desire among
Israelis to attain peace at any
price, and Barak is a man capable
of doing it.
This new agreement is only a
first step. There is still the ques
tion of what should be done
about Jerusalem, and if the Pales
tinians will actually have a real
country.
Both sides recognize that this
debate cannot be settled with
guns, but at the negotiating table.
But the fact that the two sides
are now working directly with
one another, chances for a solu
tion are getting better and better.
With something as complicat
ed as Israeli-Palestinan relations,
there are many things that have
to be set in place for anything to
work.
With Barak and Arafat, there
are two strong leaders that either
command the respect of, or sim
ply command, their people.
There also has to be a great de
sire among everyone involved to
make the effort needed.
For the first time, it appears
that both the Israelis and the
Palestinians are ready to go the
course.
If these two old foes allow the
momentum from their newfound
ability to agree to snowball, they
may be on the verge of one of
the greatest victories in human
history.
Mark Passwaters is an electrical
engineering graduate student.
m /<
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