The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, September 20, 2000, Image 13

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> 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.