Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 12, 1999)
Battalion PINION Page 9 • Friday, November 12, 1999 \g 12 action this S i, Okla. when rsity of o m a Match 3t for 7 his is your " (Any "^ocm restrictions hold students iccountable for harmful habits I Aggies L-4 Big in a tie for place the of Texas and iversity. Nebraska irst place, ma holds an 8-1' and is in 10th pla l 12 Conference t )8, the Sooners )n at 10-22 and 16 conference )lk'ge consists vo teams squarpT^^^li^j ihere are too many college stu- ?ms who think his season, an; feated the Soonei 15-5, at G. : crazy, drug-in- ||ed visions in- ead of the cool wanic erup- , lt . Uns created in chemistry lab : i ie a 1 the teaching assistant is the booners, lc ic li n g the other way. However, il- 3ies will re in actic ,g a j c hemical substances are the l!e irgets of a new government initia- vl passed a few weeks ago. * 3 rn * i |i h e new nieasure bans federal lipon loans or other financial aid )r students convicted of drug of- .‘m;es. This rule, which goes into ffect next summer, is a hard-line tance that some say goes too far. feut since a 1995 University of 5ITION ed from Page ', ?stablish [our] ?n we free upon: 'hchigan study showed 34 per- hat will r play- ?t some )ks than did discov- spite its experi- could 11 with tars. tggies came bad: y struggles to take ne lead. That wot needed to finish f ree i ent of college students used ide al drugs, this step needed to be k aken to prevent drug abuse (rrjong people who should be the iture core of society. Drug problems | can affect the rest of a person's life. They must be fixed early. WAT! I the game A&M rd Bernard King I .College is a transitional time for himse/fas a play/;; man y teen-agers, who find them- VggiC' scori/g 1-1 /y se ! ves with more responsibility and ibing four boards, ^supervised free time, a sight to see pla 1 ! Some students take their new- uor guard Jen\d BioPnd liberty to extremes by abus e’s going to be a nj drugs and alcohol. These bad i the future of A&M a l’its can carry over to the rest of ler freshman guard arson’s life, so they must be cur- gies’ outside gaapd early. Gilchrist finished *bung people are prone to make s, seven rebounds^kes; with that in mind, this [ S ’ teasure is not absolute, reshmen came thn : On the first possession convic- and showed they IP’ a student will lose aid for only d on to perforn 116 y ear - A seconc l possession con- ie Aggies had five lCti011 W 1H remove aid for two n the floor ar ars - If students are convicted for a third possession, aid is removed ias scary, but 1 |tn a nently. ” Watkins saidabc: Thls tiered system of pumsh- n’s performance. tent ' s similar to the “three-strikes Mien that ‘freshm w (if convicted of three felonies, p. They showedr8 ardless of severity, a person will 1 tonight. For fresl out and give tisl ip out there, I _ ?d.” receive a life sentence) because of fenders are given enough chances to change themselves before an ab solute punishment is meted out. Students who stay away from harmful substances about as well as Robert Downey Jr. should be re educated in drug rehabilitation — not in college classrooms. And in some cases, students can restore aid earlier by entering rehabilitation programs. Habitual offenders must learn how to stay off drugs before they can learn anything else. Jamie Pueschel, legislative di rector of the U.S. Student Associa tion in Washington, D.C., claimed in a recent Associated Press article that the measure is backward be cause it deals with drug offenders by denying them education. Pueschel is right; abandoning these troubled students without means of education is like send ing a hungry fisherman out to sea sans bait. But the education here is rehab until students earn their federal-aid money back. Once they prove they are straight and sober, they may re enter college, complete their degrees and hopefully be come law-abiding, tax- paying citizens. But letting a third of college students sleepwalk for four years, possibly en tering the “real world” with nag ging drug habits, is a hindrance to say the least. Ask presiden tial hopeful George W. Bush how college drug use can affect fu ture scrutiny on the job. His alleged in discretion got him the lead spot in Jay Leno’s monologue every night and may have cost him a few votes along the way. The only problem with the law is the self-policing way in which the conviction history is obtained. Students are expected to report these drug con victions on federal financial-aid forms, including student loans and Pell grants. If a student is found to have lied on his or her appli cation, the student would have to repay all aid re ceived and could face feder al charges for lying to the government. These rules have a possi bility of being counterpro ductive, but the govern ment has to take a chance on what is best for the na tion’s future. This new regulation will reduce waste in the federal student-loan system by weeding out students who are abusing a government- funded education, which will be remembered as a four-year bad trip at their next reunion. Jeff Webb is a senior journalism major. loan on drugs. questions?) Refusing federal student aid to drug offenders bad policy U JESSICA CRUTCHER 'nder a law which goes into ef fect next summer, col lege students convicted of drug offenses will be barred 1 from receiving federal tu ition aid for at least one year from the date of conviction. A student convicted of sell ing drugs or of two posses sion convictions will lose aid for two years, while a second conviction for selling drugs or a third conviction for posses sion will result in a perma nent loss of federal aid. The program is meant to reduce “waste” in the stu dent-loan system, but pass- GUY ROGERS Tin Battalion JEFF SMITH The Battalion ing the law was a bad decision for two reasons. First, it denies badly needed financial aid to students who have no other means of paying for college. This drastic measure might be logical when applied to felons, but not when applied to the freshman who got caught once with half an ounce of marijuana. Secondly, the law sets a dou ble standard. It sends the message that do ing drugs is acceptable — as long as the drug user has le nient parents who will continue paying the bills after he or she gets caught. One’s criminal record does not determine whether one needs money to attend college. Financial aid is awarded based on need. Scholarships, on the other hand, are awarded based on over all academic merit, grades and ex tracurricular activities. That is the way it should stay. Denying federal tuition aid to poor students convicted of mi nor drug charges defeats the entire purpose of government aid — to keep underprivi leged young people from ending up in dead-end jobs by helping them get an education. Denying people an education is not going to solve the country’s drug problems. As an alternative, drug-education classes should be a requirement for first- or second-time drug offenders to continue receiving financial aid. Under the new law, some students will be able to keep their eligibility for fed eral financial aid by completing drug-rehabili tation programs. But rehabilitation is not what most of these students will need. Rehabilitation is meant for drug addicts who are extremely hooked, and the average college student caught with illegal drugs is probably not a drug addict. Treating these students for an addiction they do not have will only worsen the problem by causing students to think doing drugs is acceptable as long as they do not become addicted. Instead, students should be re quired to attend drug-education classes, in the same way speed ers attend defensive driving and minors convicted of Minor In Possession charges attend Alco hol Awareness classes. The double standard set by the new regulations also is a danger ous side effect. The rules only make provisions to punish those students receiving government aid. Although most colleges do have penalties for students caught with illegal drugs, in the end more underprivileged stu dents will end up being more se verely punished. Chances are a first-time drug offender will not be immediately expelled from a university, pro vided he or she is able to contin ue paying tuition. Denying loans because of minor mistakes hurts those who need help most. Underprivileged students rely ing on financial aid will obvious ly not be able to pay the high price of tuition. Immediately denying students financial aid for their first or second drug-related conviction is a poor decision. Although students should be forced to attend drug-education classes and in some cases reha bilitation, the denial of financial aid is too drastic a measure to be immediately applied. By denying students with no other means of paying their tu ition an education, the very pur pose of financial aid is destroyed. Denying badly needed money to someone who has made one small mistake is denying help to those who need it most. Jessica Cratcher is a sophomore journalism major. MAIL CALL ien’s tudents should honor, aspect Veterans Day tea fro,n Piigc ^'. || e p u ^|i C institutions across the Aggies for their Jtion closed yesterday in honor of edule. e men and women who fought teams are good;tfc a vely and proudly for freedom prepare for the H d fhe future, Texas A&M Univer- aid. -y passed it by. of the non-confe The reason is that several years he Aggies will !d° a vote was cast to consolidate University and F'H off into a longer, more conve- st University, i - r f Christmas break, thereby forc- re expected to student body into an “un- “espective confereoffat'ican” form of ignorance and Aggies will look ti= rat; ff ude - g players to slept Where is the tradition we hold After spending ml dear? The message I’m getting r learning new siThpt a few more days of self-pam- itegies under a iii :irin £ at Christmas is worth more hose returning caf^ lemembering the patriots of ne practicing and : 5 P ast - , a me plan IT 1 ' 5 mindset, wouldn’t it be ink we understand n f stent ( and less hypocritical) to iaes want a ijttle: ns °li date the name Memorial Stu nt Center to the Student Center? l| fT' Sean Murphy Class of ’99 er said. “Wek es of things ask from us. I r.” I BO & Cable TV Coffee & Local Calls ywjmmALBw&wm ROWAVES & RkFRIGF.RAI" Tuesday evening, I left the chaos my collegiate life to prepare for a celebration on Nov. 10. During the 90-mile trip to Elgin, thoughts took me back to my n-age years. I would come home m school with petty problems and es at the time, and my father and uld have heart-to-hearts. He would re- d me of the bottom line — I had thes on my back, food in my stomach, of over my head and no one was ooting at me. This is advice I’ve grown ppreciate. Wednesday morning we were up at 5 a.m. Over coffee, my anticipation grew. We gently laid the colors in the bed of the pick-up and drove into town to meet the others. One by one they came. They were old and young — the current, the for mer and the yet-to-be. Though some had never met, they had known each other for years, for they were cut of the same cloth. They were the United States Marine Corps. I jumped in the truck and head ed up to Main Street to select my seat for the parade. As I waited, I watched the morning traffic. Then, out of the fog, they emerged. First their voices, then their images — American, Texan and Marine Corps flags billowing. My body grew chills and my eyes filled with tears. They marched together as if they’d done so for years, proudly calling cadence. I stood to my feet and placed my ^ hand over my heart as they passed, taking a moment to pay my respect. When the parade concluded, m, ▼ they retired to share tales over a traditional breakfast and birthday cake. I had been told Marines in combat are fighting for the man on their left and the man on their right. Here were those men. This Veterans Day Weekend, I would like to remind you that our free dom has been paid for with the blood and lives of our servicemen. Happy 224th to the U.S. Marine Corps, and a special thank you to ali veterans who have granted me the privilege of being appreciative that each night when my head hits the pillow, for one more day, no one was shooting at me. Societies not meant for resume padding W Allison Reinbolt Class of ’97 •hen going through their college years, students repeatedly hear about the impor tance of a full and at tractive resume. By the time gradua tion nears and job hunting begins, stu dents’ resumes take on the status of the end-all, be-all represen tation of their time at the University. While one cannot underestimate the val ue of having a remarkable resume when looking for a job, many students over look honesty and take sneaky steps to bolster them. At Texas A&M, it is practically a tradi tion for students to sign up for extracur ricular activities that would look good on a resume without ever planning to really participate. Most clubs have minimum participation requirements to maintain membership. While this encourages many students who are using the club as a resume-filler to show up at least a couple times, there is nothing to stop those who do not ful fill the minimum requirements from putting the club on their resume nonetheless. Although signing up and then drop ping out of after-class programs is an easy way to add lines to that all-impor tant resume, the practice is dwarfed in dishonesty next to the existence of na tional honor societies such as Golden Key and the National Society of Colle giate Scholars. While having the grades to get admit ted to these organizations is an accom plishment, the operations themselves are little more than empty names to put on re sumes. They usually require no minimum participation, [other than the entrance fee, of course) and are hardly heard of among campus organizations. When was the last time anybody heard about the National Society of Col legiate Scholars putting on a guest- speaker forum or organizing a food drive for local shelters? The purpose of these honor societies is clear to all involved. Give them some money, and a student can officially add another meaningless accolade to his or her resume. However, there are several problems with students trying to fake their way through resumes. First, when students who never par ticipate in an organization can put that club on their resume just as easily as those who actually do participate, it di minishes the efforts and accomplish ments of the more deserving student. The majority of students do take their memberships seriously and go to meet ings, organize events and actively partic ipate. These are the students who de serve the notation on their resumes. Their resumes are cheapened by those who only care about paying their mem bership fees and putting the club’s name on their own resumes. Another drawback to this practice is its effect on a student’s perception of work and rewards in the academic environment. If a student can put a club or honor- society membership on his resume with out having to work for the group itself, what is to keep him or her from seeing this practice as “how things are done.” College is not supposed to be about finding loopholes and easy ways out. It is supposed to be a time of hard work learning to succeed. The rewards for those efforts are an impressive resume and a degree that ac tually means something. Joining clubs and honor societies without doing any real work for the group only teaches college students lazi ness and how to build a trophy shelf of awards and memberships without ever really trying. Finally, when students list member ships to clubs and honor societies they did not do anything for, they are being dishonest to themselves and to prospec tive employers. Graduating students’ resumes are the sums of their accomplishments, not thrown-together lists of loopholes found and empty promises made. It is incredibly simple to pay for mem berships to organizations and then to never participate. It is even easier to join meaningless honor societies that almost seem to exist only on paper. But students have to resist the urge to take these easy steps in resume building. There are a huge number of on- and off-campus activities, and practically all students can find one or more that they would want to actively participate in. This is the most honest and, in the long run, rewarding way to add achieve ments to a resume. If students do not want to put in the time and effort that goes along with these extracurricular activities, they should be honest to themselves and prospective employers by not joining them in the first place. A resume should be filled with hard- earned awards and justified member ships, not paid-for recognitions and emp ty promises. Eric Dickens is a junior English major.