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Opinion
Page 15 • Friday, December 10, 1999
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ey don’t pay enough. ”
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ations. No argument could
je him to think seriously
what else he might get from
Iperience.
st people who attend college
ith the hope of improving
arning potential, and there is
_ wrong with money,
lat is wrong is making
ythe motivating factor for
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v who have done serious
teerwork would agree it is
sible to receive while offer-
ervice to the community,
or world.
[anted, the term “volunteer”
one who works without
remuneration. But money is not
the only reward that exists, nor is it
the only reward worth having.
The Big Brother/Big Sister, a pro
gram that assigns children with vol
unteer adult mentors, has provided
thousands of kids with adult role
models to look up to.
The adults involved gain the sat
isfaction of knowing they have en
couraged a child in need. Even
though it is not a peer friendship,
both child and adult gain the benefit
of human contact.
Money is not
the only reward
that exists.
Literacy Volunteers of America
helps adults learn to read through
one-on-one tutoring. Volunteers
may find their horizons widened by
contact with the people they help or
may gain a new appreciation for
their advantages. Enrichment comes
in many forms.
My mother always used to tell
me, “You get out of life what you put
into it.” There does not seem to be
much evidence to the contrary.
The more energy one puts into an
endeavor, the higher the payoff. The
harder one studies, the better one’s
grades. The more carefully one per
forms an experiment, the more de
pendable the results. The more gen
erous one is with time and talent,
the richer one’s life.
The attitude of “I put in my four
years, where’s the cash?” is not jus
tified. There have been very few
who have gotten through those
four years without help from some
one. Mom and Dad paid tuition or
slipped them the occasional $20.
Those who received financial aid
owe a debt of gratitude to the gov
ernment or the organization which
supplied that assistance.
Even those who will graduate
with massive educational debts
must concede their lives were
made better by lenders’ willing
ness to gamble on their future
earning potentials.
Even students who have paid the
whole bill alone will admit a professor
took a minute to help them sometime
during the four years.
Anyone who thinks they earned
a bachelor’s degree without help is
sorely deceived.
Aggies in particular should rec
ognize their educations are subsi
dized by the state. Everybody gets
some help some time, and every
one can afford to give back.
Buildings at most universities
have names instead of numbers be
cause alumni who do well in life
give money to the school that pro
vided their training.
Few graduating seniors will
have an extra million to give to a
university, but all have time and
talent. It seems ungrateful to say,
“That doesn’t pay enough,” when
asked to help.
Ann Hart is a senior
English major.
MARK McPHERSON/The Batta»ioN
iditor in chief reflects on Fall y 99 semester
»»
,ii Aug. 25 I became the most hated
person on this campus. Many of you
have hated me this semester just be-
lof my title — editor in chief of The Bat-
i —but I am not the bleeding-heart lib-
nost would assume.
Ictually am quite conservative and pride
[If on being an Aggie,
glance at my resume would quickly re-
ny love for Texas A&M — how else could
i served as a class officer or been a Fish
i counselor for two years?
lis semester I have laughed with you and
|ned with you, and TUesday night I stood
[ly at Silver Taps and wept with you. My
for this University did not disappear
' became editor in chief,
jis semester I have tried to provide you
(news of this campus.,
jis news may not always have been
[you wanted to hear, but in the “real
i,” outside this bubble, you will learn
lews printed is not always the news you
| to hear.
lurnalists have the incredible responsibili-
fproviding readers (or viewers or listen-
vith the information they need to know,
[information is not always positive, but it
be told.
I Bonfire site, about 30 minutes after stack
(alien, I was assaulted by a group of stu-
; praying for those hurt in the accident,
^tood amidst the chaos, trying to under-
1 the reality of what my eyes were seeing,
[tory I wanted to tell was not the bodies
that lay on the ground but rather the reactions
of students. But this was not understood by
the students who beat me to the ground for
simply taking a photograph.
The A&M campus still has a lot of growing
up to do when it comes to dealing with the
news and journalists. The news of this year
has been more than this campus could handle.
y
GUY ROGERS/ I'm Battalion
Each of you still has the image in your head
of the Northside Parking Garage after a fresh
man leaped to his death. That image haunts us
all, but it opened our eyes to the problem of
MAIL CALL
suicide — something no one wants to talk about.
Looking beyond Aggieland, I see a world
that is quickly deteriorating.
School shootings, plane crashes and deadly
earthquakes have become weekly occur
rences. These stories are sensational before a
reporter ever steps on the scene.
The journalists (with the possible excep
tion of broadcast journalists) who step onto
the scene are not out to exploit, destroy or
hurt those they are reporting about.
They are simply trying to do their jobs to
provide you, the reader, with the informa
tion you need to know.
My challenge to you is to look beyond the
hatred and name-calling of journalists to focus
on the fact they are providing you with the
necessary truth.
This truth can be harsh and painful at
times, but in the long run, knowing the truth
only serves to make you stronger.
To those of you who still believe I am a
heartless journalist with nothing better to do
than destroy the lives of others, I beg you to
remember that before I took the position of
editor in chief I was the same as any other Ag
gie on this campus.
After today, I go back to being the life of
a college student — sitting in classes and
praying to God I actually will graduate
someday. But 1 will never forget the lessons
I learned while serving as the most hated
person on this campus.
Sallie Tamer is a senior journalism major.
rents appreciate
[ident response
e find it difficult to find the
s to express our apprecia-
forthe incredible amount of
and compassion that has
i shown to us as we grieve
oss of our son Jeremy, and
iggie brothers and sisters,
ixas A&M has been a spe-
rlace for us since our oldest
attended and graduated
here 10 years ago.
and our daughter-in-law
as Bonfire buddies. Jeremy
ed when he was 10 that
s A&M was where he want-
go to school. He loved it
, and we are so grateful for
our and one-half years he
here.
iach one of you has used
God-given talents and gifts
ipport us in such wonderful
creative ways.
'e have loved every word
en and spoken, every prayer
every call. The many expres-
s of love always come just
nwe need them the most.
Although we are not “Aggies”
by true definition , we feel that
we have been adopted into this
most incredible family. We love
all of you, and will be lifting you
up in our prayers and we will be
sustained by by the prayers you
offer up for us.
Family of Jeremy Frampton
Spring sports need
total Aggie support
Although some of us would
like to think otherwise, our Uni
versity is coming up short in
some respects when compared
to schools such as the University
of Kansas and Indiana University.
Is it the fact they have pre
miere men’s college basketball
teams? That is part of it, but
more importantly, they also have
a healthy atmosphere of rabid
basketball fans.
Anyone who has visited a Texas
A&M Men’s Basketball game in
the past decade would probably
agree that this same enthusiasm
is lacking in College Station.
Yes, there are loyal fans who
come to the games and support
the team on a regular basis. But
for a University with over 40,000
students, there is no reason
there should be empty seats at
Aggie basketball games.
A&M has a coach in Melvin
Watkins who had legitimate suc
cess at a school that had far
fewer resources than A&M.
According to numerous publica
tions, A&M signed a top-20 re
cruiting class last year and already
has signed who one publication
called the 18th-best prospect in
the nation for next year.
So why can’t we take a bit of
the enthusiasm that manifests
itself at Kyle Field each fall and
move it across the street into
Reed Arena?
To add a little motivation, I
should mention that we have a
deadline to meet — Jan. 17, to
be specific. On this date, A&M
will play in front of a national
television audience thanks to
ESPN’s “Big Monday” telecast.
ESPN has made it well known
that it has no intention of com
ing back if Reed Arena does not
sell out, so the pressure is on
us. Either we can get behind our
team in a big way and have
some fun, or we can have years
of a half-full arena with no na
tional exposure.
My challenge to you is to find
it inside yourself to catch some
basketball fever.
Stephen Metcalf
Director of ARMY
(Aggies Ready to Motivate You)
Class of ’OO
The Battalion encourages letters to the ed
itor. Letters must be 300 words or less and in
clude the author’s name, class and phone
number.
The opinion editor reserves the right to edit
letters for length, style, and accuracy. Letters
may be submitted in person at 013 Reed Mc
Donald 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
VIEW POINTS
NASA exhibits carelessness
A fter half a week of silence, NASA scientists once again
bowed their heads in shame as they acknowledged that the
Mars Polar Lander was gone for good. President Clinton
echoed the public’s opinion Wednesday by supporting the program,
saying the loss of NASA’s two most ambitious Mars projects is just
a minor setback which can be overcome.
How can the loss of a $165 million Mars Polar Lander, with its $29.5
miliion probes, and the $125 Mars Climate Orbiter be considered a mi
nor setback? These two failures are a clear and urgent indication NASA
needs to rethink its strategy to explore the “Red Planet.”
NASA administrator Dan Goldin’s space-exploration theory of
“faster, better, cheaper” falls flat on its face, because it does not
use common sense. The novelty of space travel has long wore off,
which has led to less attention to detail.
It seems scientists who work on multi-million dollar space pro
jects have come to see their work as rudimentary. There can be no
other explanation for the careless oversights, such as the mea
surement systems that led to the Climate Orbiter’s demise.
Clinton raised some sentiment for the program by comparing these
most recent failures to the 1976 launchpad fire that killed three
astronauts. The flaw in his comparison is that the fire was an acci
dent, while the loss of the Climate Orbiter and possibly the Polar
Lander was carelessness.
NASA needs to have more focused goals instead of juggling
Mars exploration, shuttle missions, space-station work and other
projects. The solution is not to scale back funding but to define pro
jects better and put more effort into checking details. If anything
comes out of the loss of the nation’s investments, NASA should use
it as a reminder that as they shoot for the stars they have to shoot
for perfection.
— Mariano Castillo
Erroneous evaluations
W ith the semester coming to a close, students are getting
a chance to voice their thoughts about classes through
course-evaluation forms. While University faculty rules
note the importance of student feedback in evaluating the effec
tiveness of teachers, these forms play virtually no role in decid
ing professors’ fates.
The emphasis for faculty members at Texas A&M is their re
search and publication. Professors pride themselves on, and the
University rewards them for their success at, getting their work
published and earning new research grants. With this bias toward
research, A&M has built a faculty widely recognized and respected
as well as one that brings funding to the University.
However, A&M also has stacked the deck against students.
Some professors’ skills at conducting a class and giving a lec
ture leave much to be desired.
Many students have had professors who stumble through their
class lectures, mixing up facts and confusing students.
Fortunately, there are some alternative avenues for course evalu
ation. Several student organizations post blank sheets of butcher
paper in residence halls and elsewhere on campus as places where
students can write their thoughts on professors for other students
to see. While the comments tend to be short and decidedly one
sided, they serve as effective means for students to warn other stu
dents of professors they will have classes with next semester.
Unlike the current Scantron evaluations, which are sealed be
fore other students can see their classmates’ or Dions, these in
formal message boards allow students to clear! see how their
peers feel about teachers. This student-to-student feedback is
even more valuable considering the University’s favoring of re
search over teaching skills.
— Eric Dickens