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'he Battalion
Aggielife
Page 3 • Monday, November 29, 1999
Let the countdown
begin:
5
students seek motivation for class as semester ends
BY HEATHER BRONDY
The Battalion
!r. £o
erhaps the most tragic semester in
Aggie history is finally coming to a
close, and many students wearily
approach the end of school with bleary
;s and blurry heads. But the fact is,
re are still seven class days left in the
nester and another two weeks of read-
days and finals.
Kelly Harvey, a junior history major,
d the reasons to attend class these last
days are obvious.
“We’ve made it this far — we might
| well finish and use this last week to
i best advantage,” she said. “If you
n’t go, you may miss a review, or if
j’re borderline and the professor sees
t you’re not coming, then it could
an your grade. Besides, what’s one
re week?”
Dr. Douglas Brooks, an assistant pro-
sor of English at Texas A&M, saidget-
g students to attend class should be
rt of professors’ responsibilities.
“It is important to understand that
dents have by this point in the se
mester nearly exhausted their capacity
SHou‘5 MCI teftake in new information,” he said.
—\\«“As such, professors have an obliga-
~^v-tipn to build on what the students have
eady learned and to find ways to show
tljem how that knowledge can be ap-
)|ed to new material being taught late
the semester.
“It can be extremely exciting for stu
nts to see that all of the hard work
they’ve done had a kind of intellectual
payoff, and I think professors would
work especially hard during the last few
(weeks of class to generate that kind of
■excitement. If they do, students will want
to come to class. ”
Of course, generating excitement for
academia, no matter what the payoff,
can be a challenge.
Brent Vabis, a senior journalism ma
jor, said his professors seem to under
stand why many students may continue
to have trouble these next seven days de
spite their creative efforts to make class
more interesting.
“Normally, professors throw in spon
taneous reviews where you can catch up
on some of the ideas of what you should
know for finals,” he said.
“But this semester is different. People
are coping in different ways, and some
people may just not be ready to go back
[to class]. Professors seem to be very un
derstanding to this. My sociology pro
fessor actually brought in a counselor to
talk to us after the Bonfire tragedy.”
Many professors and counselors say
it is in the best interest of students to at
tend class because of the support indi
viduals are finding there.
Tim Novak, director of the Forsyth
Galleries and a history professor said stu
dents should use the remaining class
days, because of the support fellow Ag
gies give to each other.
“You know, it’s not a normal semes
ter,” he said, “and students can find more
support being at A&M — going to class
es, and being where there are people
who understand and can support them,
then they can find anywhere else.”
Brooks said it is on the shoulders of
A&M professors staff to encourage stu
dents to go about their normal activities,
class included.
“It is our responsibility to encourage
students to see that it is in their best in
terest to continue on with the routines of
classes and study, even if they don’t
think they can,” he said. “Such routine
gives our lives structure, and structure
can be a source of great comfort and
strength in times of crisis.”
Brooks said A&M should not ignore
the school’s duty to educate, especially
in light of a tragedy bound up in such Ag
gie Spirit.
“I taught class last Friday,” Brooks
said, “and told my students that in the
spirit of what Bonfire stood for, we had
an obligation to uphold this school’s
commitment to education, to do the best
we could to focus on why all of us were
here in the first place. ”
Novak said this semester has been a
learning experience.
“[Tragedies] like this, as horrible as
they are, teach us and remind us how to
be supportive to everyone around us,”
he said. “No matter who you are or what
organizations you’re affiliated with —
this is an opportunity for Corps members
and fraternities and athletes to unite and
lend each other support. Barriers are be
ing broken down, and people you’d nev
er normally talk to are suddenly becom
ing your friends.”
Brooks said simply going to class,
even to the boring ones which might not
affect an individual’s major, is an im
portant discipline to acquire.
“There will be a lot of boring and
seemingly irrelevant tasks you will
have to complete in both your person
al and professional lives,” he said. “And
getting through that class with a mod
icum of dignity will have been great
training for you.
“Moreover, if the Zen masters are
right, then it is precisely the most tedious
and mundane aspects of any endeavor
which, when completed, serve as the
foundation for mastery.”
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