Tlvirsikiy, September 7, 20(X)
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Four-hour kinesiology requirement for graduation should not be reduced;
R emember the carefree
days of elementary
school when the biggest
concerns were when activity pe
riods were and the best class was
recess?
>-;Even junior high was a
breeze; after structured lessons,
everyone went to the gym for
p£. or athletics.
_ High school was a bit more challenging because
academics had to be balanced with athletic periods.
College, on the other hand, leaves very little time for
physical education because, obviously, more empha-
sii is placed on academics.
"for most college students, kinesiology classes are
the least of their worries and hitting the books is a top
pGority.
- What happened to the good old days where athlet
ic’s broke the monotony of academics? With demand
ing standards for graduation. Aggies are lucky if they
make it to graduation within four years.
According to Physical Education Activity Pro
gram Chairman Frank Thomas, the Faculty Senate
has passed a bill that will reduce the number of re
quired physical education hours for incoming fresh
man from four credits to two. With Texas A&M
President Dr. Ray M. Bowen's signature, more lec
ture time with less recess will become a reality. •
- Ever heard the expression, “All brains and no
bfawn?" That is exactly where the University is head
ed if these credit hours are reduced.
.Many students do not realize the importance of ki
nesiology. It is critical for the human body to be emo
tionally and physically fit. Kinesiology classes not
only teach students a beneficial sport, but also help
reduce stress and break up the monotony of demand
ing academics.
Four credit hours is not a lot of activity. The time
is justified in that it helps teach students how to es
tablish consistency and maintain sanity in what
would be an even more hectic life after graduation.
■ In light of all this, it is difficult for the Faculty
Senate to justify rhe reduced credits. They claim it
will allow more time for studies, allowing students to
graduate sooner. But really, how much harm can two
credit hours do?
Kinesiology teaches many habits that students re
tain for the rest of their lives. Physical attributes such
as coordination, skills and physical fitness are all
positive effects of kinesiology classes.
Contrary to popular belief, kinesiology is not ex
clusively meant for the physically fit. Classes offered
include golf, aerobics — even yoga.
Yoga focuses on stress relief and finding inner
peace. Aerobics classes are aimed at more ac
tive students and is an upbeat activity that
often reduces tension and stretches the
mind and body.
For those students who enjoy a thought provoking
sport, golf is the answer. It is a game that requires
four to six hours of continuous and intense concen
tration and muscle and body coordination.
The golf course is also an important business plat
form. Deals can be made, accounts won, and clients
can be recruited within the scope of a “friendly”
game of golf.
Furthermore, employers are not just looking for a
brain to do the job, if that were the case they would
hire robots only. In many cases, employers look for
outgoing people who can balance demanding intel
lectual tasks with physical fitness.
What the Faculty Senate and Bowen must realize -
is that four credit hours of a variety of kinesiology I
classes is not as bad as it is made out to be. They can
not lose sight of the fact that being active is neces
sary in almost every aspect of life.
Cayla Carr is a junior speech
communication major.
Two birds with one stone Feral-cats could minimize bird problem
A t one time or another,
most Aggies have won
dered how many stu
dents have ever parked under a
tree on campus.
' How many of them have
done that more than once?
Probably not many. Once is
mbre than enough for many
people.
Specifically, the birds that inhabit the trees are the
rcwt of the'problem. They swarm and chatter in an
eerie Hitchcock-like manner. Worst of all, they de
posit their feces over the expensive paint finishes on
student and visitor automobiles.
What would a person say if there were a solution
to this bird debacle? A solution that would be low-
cost, environmentally sound and would take an exist
ing environmental program and alter it slightly.
The Aggie Feral Cat Alliance of Texas (AFCAT) is
thq program. As stated in their promotional pamphlet
(W'ww.cvm.tamu.edu/AFCAT), AFCAT is “dedicated
to jhe welfare, study and management of the feral-cat
populations on the campus at Texas A&M University.”
A feral-cat is one usually born in the wild that is
too savage and uncivilized to be kept as a pet in the
home.
Feral-cats have been on the A&M campus for
more than 20 years and the AFCAT program has been
feeding and taking care of them for only two years.
This program has been very effective at A&M, de
spite many critics' hopes that it would fail. The pro
gram has kept the feral-cat population under control
and monitored.The alternative of trapping these cats
and killing them off would be an empty void filled
soonafter by more stray cats.
Theoretically, AFCAT could takes these wild cats
which are already on campus and use them to help
control the birds.
AFCAT also actively maintains the current popu
lation, keeping it free from disease.
The program could be expanded to aid in the Bird
Relocation Active Management Program (BRAM).
Instead of catching, spaying, neutering and monitor
ing the animals, cats could be released with monitor
ing collars to be breeding stock as bird-management
devices. This population could be carefully moni
tored and maintained using existing systems in order
to ensure the cat and bird population remained at an
ecological balance.
In addition, this proposed system is modeled after
the one at Stanford University.
As cited by the Physical Plant, feral-cat colonies
are located ne^r Kyle Field, Sbisa Dining Hall,
Northside and various campus dumpsters. According
ly, these cats could be relocated to more target rich
environments.’The parking surrounding the Student
Recreation Center and the resident area parking on
Northside and Southside would be prime candidates.
This seems to be a very simple and effective fix.
However, it seems a little too good to be true.
According to third-year veterinary student Dawn
Fradkin, the BRAM plan “might not be feasible.”
Most cats are not hunters at all. They are more
likely to eat bugs and dig through trash from dump
sters than to catch birds.
When a project was undertaken to use radio tags to
track and follow the feral-cats in order to learn more
about their lifestyle, they were never actually seen to
kill anything. So, for the BRAM plan to be effective,
cats would either have to be selectively bred as
hunters, or some form of “little kitty boot camp”
would have to be developed in order to train them.
According to Fradkin, “cats come out at night,
when the birds are roosting,” adding more roadblocks
to BRAM.
Another complication is the familiar cloud of
black birds — they are grackles, which are not native
to this area.
Pigeons — especially around Kyle Field — are
also a problem. The fecal matter builds up to where
every year before football season, the stadium under
goes undergoes a massive cleaning effort. Unfortu
nately, the bird population is so large here that cats
would make a negligable impact.
There are some other solutions that could possibly*
be used to solve the bird problem. A special feed
could be distributed that does not kill the birds, but
sterilizes them, preventing the population from ex- »
panding any further.
As the grackles die naturally the amount of birds *
on campus would gradually decrease. One major *
problem with this type of feed is that there is no way '
to know which birds are eating it. After all, there are *
native birds in this area that no one wants to harm.
Techniques also exist for scaring the birds away
from their current roosting areas — equivalents to
fireworks, for instance. However, these heavy-hand
ed methods have a history of incited outcry from the
student body.
The problem with the birds here on campus is def
initely very real: in terms of money spent on clean
up, as well as the inconvenience and wasted parking
spaces on a campus where parking is at a premium.
As with any other civic project, however, it is very
hard to devise a plan that satisfies everyone.
In the end it may become as Hitchcock portrayed .
it: man vs. the birds.
Andrew Stephenson is a sophomore
environmental design major.
Bull Board
Good Bull — Props are in
order for First Yell organizers lur
ing comedian Bill Cosby to cam
pus this weekend.
Undoubtedly, his perfor
mance will give.the entertain
ment-starved community a
shot in the arm.
It is no secret that big
tame, headliner shows
sre traditionally a diffi
cult find in Bryan-College
Station.
iWith recent visits
Torn World Champi
onship Wrestling and
Singling Brothers and
Barnum & Bailey Circus,
hope is building that one
day Reed Arena will be
come a regular stop on
most major entertainment
toprs.
— David Lee
Bad Bull — It is 150 de
grees outside, and people are
wearing the least amount of
clothing as possible. Gatorade
and Ozarka are making a killing.
Yet, as students enter class
rooms dripping with sweat, they en
counter an entirely new problem.
Whose idea was it to turn the ther
mostat down to 40 degrees?
Yes, it is hot. Beyond hot, even.
When people are wearing little more
than a cotton T-shirt and thin
shorts, sitting in a freezing class
room for an hour is unbearable.
RUBEN DELUNA/The Battalion
But have no fear: come January,
when everyone is wearing long
johns and sweaters, the heaters will
be on full blast.
People will be stripping down,
wishing for a little August air con
ditioning.
— Jennifer Ramby
Bad Bull — Nearly
everyone has watched a
car chase or hostage
negotiation on a major
television network.
For some reason,
viewing audiences
cannot seem to turn
their eyes away from
these horrible sights
and sounds.
Welcome to ABC’s “Po
litically Incorrect,” the late-
night show which attempts
to create an intelligent
conversation among a
panel of washed up actors
and fanatic activists.
In lieu of relevant discus
sion about topics along the
lines of abortion and the en
vironment, the show digress
es to arguing irrelevant topics
between a collection of extrem
ists and idiots.
One cannot help but slow
down and rubber-neck at the train
wreck that should more appropri
ately be called “Politically incom
petent.”
— Marcus White
Late bar closing
argument flawed
In response to Shannon Green
wood’s Sept. 6 column.
Have you ever had an idea that
sounded good in your head — but
when said aloud, sounded absolute
ly idiotic and ridiculous?
Well, congratulations are in order
for Shannon Gfeenwood.
Allow me to review some of the
more laughable idiotic arguments
put forth by Greenwood for an extra
serving hour at the bar.
“[Texas A&M is] famous for gal
lons of beer consumed every year...”
I think I can speak for scores of
other Aggies when I say that this
fact was the sole reason I chose to
come here. Not academics, not tra
ditions, not athletics—nope, just gal
lons and gallons of frothy beer.
Oh yeah — getting to drink a
pitcher of beer in 102 seconds, that
was the other reason I decided upon
Texas A&M.
Not to be outdone by the insight
ful argument that with the extra hour
of drinking, Greenwood states the
“bars [would be] more liable for peo
ples’ irresponsibility.”
“With all the money [the bar
would receive from the increased
hour of serving] at stake, the bars
would serve ... despite this extra lia
bility.”
So the argument here is that in
creased irresponsibility and beer
consumption are justified by in
Mail Call
creased bar profits. Superb.
But my favorite part of the entire
story was Shannon’s call to action.
“So the next time a bar kicks
someone out at 1 a.m., he or she
should not futilely gripe ... he or she
should register to vote locally ... stu
dents have the numbers to elect
their own representatives...”
Amen. Let’s not be contented to
drink only until 1 a.m. — let us rock
the vote and elect some people that
will let us get sloshed for another
solid hour.
Who is this oppressive Big Broth
er who’s ripping the bottle from our
hands at such an early hour?
Screw the presidential election.
Gubernatorial and congressional
votes? No thanks, I’ll pass. I don’t
want to elect no stinking school ■
board member.
As for me, I’m backing the pro
beer ticket. Who’s with me?
Mark Korzenewski
Class of ‘02
Greenwood loses credibility due
to inaccuracies in his column.
He states that Austin, Dallas,
Houston and Lubbock bars stay
open later as a result of people in
those cities voting for the bars to
stay open until 2 a.m.
This is untrue. Chapter 105 of
the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code
defines the hours of sale and con
sumption. For any county with a
population of 500,000, the extend
ed hours are applicable.
This would be the case in the
Houston, Dallas, and Austin exam
ples. For any counties under
500,000, it takes the City to enact
an ordinance extending the hours of
consumption.
At no point is this law voted on by
the population.
Thus, it would have been nice if
Greenwood did some fact checking
and actually looked up some voter’s
registration numbers before he
states that “ more than half of the
voting population of College Station”
is in college.
John Denholm
Civil engineering graduate student
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