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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 20, 2000)
* ^r A_ Page 5B > 195 THE BATTALION 000 7 percent, up I ad the highest anal rate. Hereisa Premature Technology Useless without educated, competent teachers W.Va. Texas N.C. Fla. Del. NY. Ariz. Miss. N.M. Ala. Maine Vt. 50°^ D.C. -60“ traditionally, schools have been managed by indi- ^ilual state and local >chool boards. Wash ington politicians are trying desperately to in tervene in the states’ right to decide what type of spending is needed for their public school systems. Using federal money as an incentive, some politicians are creating programs that do not always allow local schools to spend rtipney where they need it the most. 1 [Federal money is needed to supplement stlte and local funding of school districts, bui federal programs designed for publici- tyland political gain are not necessary. ■ A perfect example of a program de signed for political gain is presidential hopeful A1 Gore’s plan to provide every classroom with computers and Internet access. Gore is promoting the idea that the Internet is absolutely vital for education in die 21 st century. ■ Warning of an oncoming “digital di- yipe” for children who do not embrace technology at an early age, Gore is at- teinpting to lure voters with the idea thjat Internet-based classrooms are an issue that should supersede state con trol and be implemented by the federal government. E While these types of high-profile pro grams give politicians something specific to talk about in speeches and debates, Consider the prudence of designating fed- Ifal money for specific programs as op- -M k , at ion dePopecP 086 ^ to forwarding the money to school ani/a11on. Fr:Ani}stricts and letting them decide on their want to useiklabel, P wn h° w to budget it based on their indi- monitor;he '\RS\«in|dual needs. To fund the “Internet in schools” pro- 1e ||v c >s of farm u -i ect ’ Gore proposed and helped pass an e DouWas, execP a,men ^ ment to l * ie Telecommunications es onTuesdav ^ cl °* l ' lat ' m P oses a 5-percent tax i k the manner v on the total cost of monthly local and htc is. prixiuceni 'ofedistance phone service, s ill be helped ” ‘ 118 controve rsial legislation taxes ills vs ill be i\ ill ^ Ver y phone user from large corporations iu! upscale sunenr:* 0 ph 6 P oorest citizen on welfare, ipprovedforther T,ie $2.5 billion per year revenue from 1 * uisin gj.Qyp' the “Universal Service Tax” is specifically ml e producersthi ^marked for the promotion of technolo gy in schools. ler McDonald’s^ • ^ not w ' se t0 place these types of re- s to improve the! s trictions on federal school grants. There Hawaii S.C. Alaska welfar i are many cases where the school districts could make better use of the federal fund ing than spending on technology. As an example, there is currently a massive shortage of teachers in public schools nationwide. According to the Texas State Board of Educator Certifica tion, there is an estimated shortage of 44,000 teachers in Texas alone. When school districts need to hire new teachers and retain current teachers with a well-deserved pay raise, choosing to spend money on high-tech classrooms is not a good idea. The Internet is undoubtedly a vital tool for university students and is even benefi cial for some high school classes, but Inter- net-based education is not very useful for kindergarten through eighth-grade students. The Corporation for Public Broadcast ing (PBS) compiled the opinions of sever al education experts in a study on this very issue. Andrew Blau, who is a researcher and policy expert on educational technology, warns, “Our research suggests that wiring a classroom in and of itself doesn’t do that much for the educational performance of the kids. What matters — the really sig nificant variable — is whether or nofthe teacher has that training to put that tech nology to good use...Computers are not a silver bullet for whatever may be ailing public education today.” Dr. Jane M. Healy has more than 35 years of experience as a professional edu cator and elementary school educational psychologist. “What I saw was kids mindlessly pushing buttons,” she said. “I saw them operating at a very superficial level of knowledge. I personally do not believe that kids should even be on a computer until they are at least 7...It amazes me that educators and parents have bought into the industry message, ‘Your kids need this as soon as possible or they are going to be way behind the curve.’ This is such non sense.” Primary schools should give students gradual introduction into computers and the Internet as they make their way through primary school, but the imple mentation of Internet technology in every classroom should be approached with caution. % Internet technology is being portrayed by some as a cure-all for the ills of public i and implement If' seal will bear the| :an Humane Assftg Bull Board Good Bull — During last weekend’s opening ceremonies of the 2000 Sum mer Olympic Games, South and North Korea reinforced their push for reconcili ation with a bang. gies nt ei man’s appearance would have been like if O’Brien had retained his usual no- holds-barred personality. Interpretive dance by the Masturbat ing Bear and Pimpbot during the song would have made Lieberman's appear ance comedy gold. Better yet, an appearance by Triumph the Insult Comic Dog would have made headlines — “Joseph Leiberman would make a wonderful vice presi dent ... for me to poop on!” — David Lee Ruben Deluna/T i n er and take and more, tation. E3S^ Instead of having the athletes march nto the stadium in two separate contin gents, the International Olympic Com- nittee allowed the nations to form one 'roup. They marched in under the nameplate Korea” with a unified flag — a blue •utline of the Korean Peninsula on a sol- J white background. Although the nations will compete eparately, this sign of cooperation odes well for their future. Bad Bull — Say it ain’t so, Conan. On Thursday night’s episode of “Late light with Conan O’Brien,” vice presi- ential hopeful Sen. Joseph Lieberman as spared O’Brien’s usual fierce dicule. Instead, O’Brien and his guest had a ainfully tame conversation. He 6ven let siberman close out the segment with a nooze-inducing rendition of Frank Sina- a’s song “My Way.” A viewer can only wonder what Lieber- Bad Bull — The term “Aggies” is defined as a word “used to describe the entire student body of Texas A&M.” However, certain peo ple on campus seem to have missed this point, as demonstrated by bumper stickers with phrases such as “Real Aggies. . . (insert phrase here).” The bumper sticker most recently seen said, “Real Aggies choose life.” This proclamation is one of the most blatantly inconsiderate, close-minded verdicts ever hidden under the guise of being a good Aggie. Students should not use their own personal morals as a way of determining whether another person deserves to be an Aggie. All students on this campus earned the right to be here, and the title of “Ag gie,” when they were accepted to the University. A&M has become the world class university it is because of the stu dent body’s diversity. Whether the statement is “Real Ag gies choose life,” “Real Aggies vote Gore” or “Real Aggies marry their pet donkey,” personal judgments under the name of Aggie spirit are out of line and detrimental to the unity that originally created Aggie fellowship. — Jessica Crutcher education. It is rarely questioned whether the rapid implementation of an Internet- based curriculum is a good idea. The Internet did not exist in its current form five years ago. Internet technology is still developing. . The business world is rapidly imple menting Internet technology. Universities had a head start as the initial users of the Internet and are producing teachers trained and proficient in the new technol ogy- New teachers are gradually bringing new knowledge, training and teaching methods into our public schools. What is the rush? Schools have not had time to establish a proven Internet-based curriculum or enough trained teachers to implement it. It would be better to slow down the process and let schools catch up with technology at their own pace rather than force-feed a new Internet-driven educa tional system with unproven results. Otherwise, the school systems could get caught up in the “high-tech is better” hype and spawn a generation of young students with poor reading skills without identifying any real flaws in the system. Steven Gilbert is a senior speech communication major. Unsung Hero Former legislator Gaines should be recognized, honored I ’ve got a little story for you, Ags. Repub lican repre sentatives, both black and white, in the Texas Legislature of the early 1870s were the pri mary proponents of the Morrill Land Grant College Act. As a result of their hard work, the federal act eventually was implemented, and public higher education came to Texas. The first two of these schools were the A&M College of Texas and Prairie View A&M. Matthew Gaines, a black leg islator in the 12th session of the Texas Senate, was a prime sup porter of the act. Gaines was a consistent sup porter of public education in general and, when the possibility of higher education for blacks as well as whites (at Prairie View) arose, he was vigorously in sup port of the project. History has supported Gaines’ involvement in the founding of Texas A&M and his advocacy of the project from the beginning. A&M has an obligation, based on history, to recognize Gaines’ contribution, especially when considering the opposition he faced. A&M’s tradition of never giving up goes back to those who supported the very idea of the institution, those who refused to ignore the opportunity to educate all citizens. This fact should be a source of pride for A&M, and Gaines’ effort deserves commemoration. It is reasonable that Gaines would be immortalized by a stat ue on campus. However, when support for a statue of Gaines began to grow several years ago, the idea was not given full recognition and support from the University. Since the Gaines statue was proposed by the Aggie Republi cans, it has received the support of the Black Former Student As sociation, Aggie Democrats, the Faculty Senate, The Battalion, other on-campus groups and even groups independent of A&M. Despite this support and his torical justification, the project has not been given the means to raise the funds necessary to start construction. After the project was ap proved by the President’s Advi sory Committee on Arts Policy as an acceptable project, the groups began to coalesce into a movement to see the statue erected. The Gaines statue was on its way to reality when, in the face of imminent criticism based on his race, the University’s support refocused on the tamer idea of a “diversity monument.” This shrine to the diversity on the A&M campus will re place the statue of Gaines and appease those who want to see more recognition of minority contributions to A&M. This idea to replace the plan for a Gaines statue with a less- controversial monument to di versity is unfair to students. The diversity monument project re placed the idea of honoring Gaines after the Matthew Gaines Memorial Committee (MGMC) failed to be recognized as an of ficial A&M fundraising body. Building some cheapened and faceless monument to “diversity” as an ideal will fail to honor true multiculturalism at A&M. If anyone is a perfect repre sentation of racial cooperation, surely it is Gaines. An ex-slave, Gaines rose to the position of state senator for his district after being freed. His desire and willingness to work with white colleagues for mutually beneficial government makes him a character worth honoring at A&M. Revering a historical figure in volved with the founding of this school is a process that should not tolerate a weakened, diluted compromise. If the school will not openly empower efforts to raise money for the project, then the issue should die there. Building an empty memorial to diversity is a slap in the face of the student body the school should be looking to educate. Students have the power to revive the effort to establish a true memorial to multicultural ism on campus. A monument to the vagary of diversity is spine less and worthless. It is a travesty, given the fact that Aggies have the opportunity to memorialize a real person* with a tangible contribution to history. A&M as an institution has to stand for something worthy. Otherwise, it will surely fall into the mush of timidity that prede cessors labored to avoid. The student body must not stand for history to be ignored and base racism to be permitted. Aggies have a worthy history to honor that should not be tar nished by fear. Matt Loftis is a sophomore journalism and french major. This idea to replace the plan for a Gaines statue with a less-controver sial monument to diversity is unfair to students...Building an empty memorial to diversity is a slap in the face of the student body.