THE BATTALION
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A job well done?
Professors should spend less time on research
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exas A&M
students,
consider
yourselves
warned: You are
being taken ad
vantage of and
manipulated by
your employees.
“Employees?” One might say, “1
[have no employees.” And that my
fellow Aggies, is why you are be
ing manipulated.
For some reason, students are
I operating in college with the same
I grade-school mentality of sub-
^^^servience to the teacher. Professors
°r | work for the students, plain and
simple. Our employees do things
every day, such as taking atten-
ear campus
it), $28$ mo
ZJ
apartment, sw .
■ dance and grading papers, that
■ typify their position at the bottom
Jof the totem pole. The new philos
ophy of en loco parentis (in lieu of
apartment ®parents) is totally misplaced.
Students are not forced to attend
JA&M. They do so that they may
room in praise their marketability to the
^■work force and get good jobs after
■A^^Bschool. In the form of tuition (not
if to mention to huge costs incurred
for room and board), students pay
good money for trained experts to
ark Trawl P re P are them for their future.
Professors have one
job: attempt to get
the information
across to their stu
dents to the best of
their ability.
jrm/2bth, net
>95-9569
iry paid. Peftf
mo. 68CHXK
1 5bth, wilt
arlmenl, SS
But often, many students do not
eel they are receiving instruction
hat will significantly help them in
he future. It seems an alarming
number of professors are here at
A&M not to teach, but to conduct
research and achieve personal ac
claim. A business would not last
ong if its employees were more
:oncerned with personal prestige
md achievement than facilitating
s-oMun,uid' he company’s primary goal. Pro
mt. M-rir ’essors at A&M should make
SeZSJeaching their primary goal.
Professors have one job: at-
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/nest pnce*'
346-6117.
empt to get the information
across to their students to the
best of their ability. It is up to
the students to make the most of
it. Professors should note that
poor attendance is usually the
result of an uninspiring lecturer
and take it as constructive criti
cism. Some professors assume
that every student in their class
es shares their zeal for the sub
ject. If the professor is truly pas
sionate about the material, the
students will soon share in that
enthusiasm. Professors should
realize that not everyone in the
class is enrolled because they
are interested, but because they
are required to take the class.
There is a flip side to this ar
gument, however. Students want
to attend a prestigious and re
spected university because it aids
the job process upon graduation.
Universities gain prestige and re
spect primarily through publica
tion of their professors and re
search. In order to obtain this
respect and prestige, A&M must
devote resources to these pur
suits. The need to have profes
sors teach and pursue indepen
dent research at the same time
creates somewhat of a catch-22.
But fear not! To solve this
problem, the University has im
plemented a fool-proof method
of carefully and painstakingly
weeding out all substandard
professors: student evaluations.
These confidential evaluations
are so effective that nary a pro
fessor at A&M is beyond their
reach — excluding, of course,
the large number of professors
who have tenure.
In that situation, the student
evaluations have about as little
effect as contesting a campus
parking ticket. These professors
enjoy a career not unlike that of a
federal Supreme Court justice.
There is no way for students
to do anything about a poor pro
fessor short of venting their frus
trations on Pick-a-prof.com,
and that only succeeds in
shrinking the class size of an in
adequate professor — not ex
actly punishment. Perhaps stu
dent evaluations should be set
up on a merit system as opposed
to a demerit system. That way,
professors, regardless of their
standing with the University,
would receive positive rein
forcement for doing their job.
JOE PEDEN/'liih Battalion
Students should not sympa
thize with professors for having to
teach two classes a semester. This
is not exactly a heavy load when
compared to that of most students.
Remember, those same professors
signed a contract before they
started working at A&M. They
know much more about what they
are getting into at this University
than their students do.
It all boils down to two sim
ple facts. First, professors and
administrators work for the stu
dents. Second, students should
be left to decide what is best for
them.
The next time a professor
calls your name out for sleep
ing, politely ask him if you
were snoring. If he replies that
you were, apologize to him and
the rest of the class. If he replies
that you were not, put your head
back down on your desk, and
politely ask him not to disturb
you again unless you begin to
snore. As the boss, you should
be the one calling the shots.
Mark Mitchell is a junior
journalism major.
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1estaurants. [!
rTemptins the boundaries of bad taste
'Temptation Island’yet another ploy to get ratings, money
and Fiords 1
condos. M]
2026.
THE MOST
’RING BRE*',
ON PROEM'
he newest sensation in
television, “Temptation
Island”, begs the ques-
|ion: When will reality shows
et real?
Can couples gauge the
trength of their love by
eparately subjecting them-
elves to an island of seduc-
rs? Four couples made the decision to test
^Tnutnt^Bneir love on Fox’s new reality show
“Temptation Island.” The unmarried cou-
Wples were whisked away to the Caribbean,
here a harem of bikini-clad babes and
iTcity/f^ chiseled hunks will put their relationship to
ft/ffiffiJhe ultimate test: non-stop karaoke to Bette
^uenn^ Midler’s greatest hits.
lUWCgM Despite its label as a reality show,
se.Cflj/“Temptation Island” is not reality. It is
Mothing more than a deplorable stab by Fox
7iritT«J}.to make more money. L. Brent Bozell,
hairman of the Parents Television Council,
laid, “Not even a relationship is considered
to be honorable anymore.” Bozell went on
say, “It tells me that the people partici-
S&fbating are pathetic. The network and the
jj lc , producers putting this together are shame-
mvtffljp 88 , an d the public that would sit down and
tone\yatch this ought to be embarrassed.”
II nil It really is a great idea, though. There is
H'MV 4° better way to explore relationship dy-
,0*232 2jlamics than by willingly allowing each
chciuj^ other to be pursued by an island full of hard
^bodies. Clearly, any trace of uncertainty,
^■wry or doubt about the relationship will
’AT T(t be res °l ve d for the two lovebirds once they
JiLw get a chance to parade about an exotic is-
.jSlind with other possible mates. Just look at
eQ bow many people solved their problems by
discussing them civilly on “The Jerry
Springer Show.”
I Sandy Grushow, head of Fox Entertain
ment Television, said in a Jan. 1 1 article
in The New York Times that the intention
■f the show is “to explore the dynamics
ol people in serious relationships.” This
k, of course, the reason all members of
the cast were certified by Fox as free of
;ing
r
He
xe
=n
•69
sexually transmitted
diseases. It was clear
ly an effort to protect
the jellyfish from
amorous contestants
in heat.
Disease-ridden jel
lyfish were not
enough to scare away
the 16 million viewers
who watched the pre
miere episode of
“Temptation Island.”
The show was an es
pecially big hit with
viewers between the
ages of 18 and 49,
most of whom are
male. This demo
graphic is the No. 1
audience targeted by
advertisers. Hypno
tized by models frol
icking on the beach like a slow-motion
scene from “Baywatch,” viewers will be
powerless to the subliminal messages in the
commercials. It is the perfect marketing
scheme.
After the blunder of “\\(ho Wants to
Marry a Multi-Millionaire,” Fox execu
tives promised to never again commission
victimizing, crass programming. But the
enormous success of reality shows such as
“Survivor” and “The Real World” appar
ently made Fox unable to resist the tempta
tion to broadcast yet another provocative,
alluring show.
Grushow attempted to excuse his broken
promise by saying that he would have been
“negligent” if he had not attempted to capi
talize on the growing market for reality
shows. “Every network is out there trying
to figure out how to pursue this trend,”
Grushow said. “No network, like it or not,
can afford to sit on the sidelines.”
Network programmers turn to reality
shows for a number of reasons. The young
audiences attracted by the shows are the
JOE PEDEN/The Battalion
market advertisers want to reach the most.
Reality shows are also much less expensive
than scripted entertainment shows such as
sitcoms, which usually require elaborate and
costly sets.
Paying the actors is not a problem be
cause the cast consists of contestants
picked off the streets. Jerry Springer has
already proven that there is not a shortage
of people willing to expose their personal
lives (or skin) on national television.
Shows like “Temptation Island” are
among the cheapest on television, both in
terms of production cost and content
quality.
“Temptation Island” is not reality. It de
humanizes people by making them guinea
pigs and putting them on public display.
The only real thing about the show is that
far too many people would sacrifice a
beautiful thing for a romp on the beach
with temptation.
Will Knecht is a junior
journalism major.
BISD plan
does not add up
O ver the past several months,
Bryan High School (BHS)
has found itself awash in dis
cipline problems.
Teachers and administrators
agree that the vast majority of stu
dents are cooperative and respect
ful, but signs of trouble have be
come increasingly commonplace.
The issue of disruptive student be
havior surfaced last October when nearly one-third
of the 197 teachers at BHS signed a letter of griev- ;
ances. The letter was then sent to the Bryan Inde- '
pendent School District’s (BISD) board of trustees.
Teachers’ complaints included excessive tardies, an
increasing number of students displaying a con
frontational attitude and an unacceptable number of
students wandering the hallways, courtyards and
commons areas during class time.
To combat these problems, BHS is requiring all
students and faculty to wear ID cards around their
necks during school hours. Also, the school board
has promised to consider increasing the number of
hallway monitors and adding video cameras to mon
itor overlooked places. While these steps will help a.
little, they ignore the root of BHS’ problems.
The school is full to the brim with about 3,500
students on two connected campuses. The large
number of students has created an atmosphere of
anonymity, providing a fertile ground for discipline
problems. Students feel they can get away with act
ing up because, as Blue Campus Principal Robby
McGowen said in The Bryan-College Station Eagle,
“there are so many kids here we don’t know.”
BHS’s population has grown beyond the point
where it can be effectively managed and discipline
rules can be effectively enforced. Bryan needs a sec
ond, full-size high school to alleviate the problems
currently plaguing BHS, and to provide a better edu
cation for all its students.
Earlier this month, BISD superintendent Sarah
Ashburn announced a plan for a second high school.
Ashburn, who is retiring June 30, said she will con
tinue to work as a coordinator on developing the
new school. The second school has been described »
as “experimental”: Administrators hope to imple
ment different staffing and scheduling patterns. The
concept is interesting, but has one major drawback:
Current plans have the school servicing less than
800 students.
The concept high school has won praise from other *
administrators as a project with three main benefits: It ;
would create a different and more attractive job market*
for future secondary educators, give its students a
unique education for their future careers, and provide -
an arena to conduct new programs with faculty and ed-"
ucation students at Texas A&M. Bryan School Board
President Wayne Hayenga called it a “win, win, triple
win” idea, there is a very decided loser: the 2,700 other.’
high school students at BHS.
A full-size second high school has been discussed
in the past, but shot down for financial reasons.. In ;
1995, the district decided to expand BHS rather thap
build a second high school because it did not think if
could afford to do so. Former trustee Allan Hanson
told The Eagle that, in retrospect, the board might
have made a mistake in not opting for a second
school. In the same article, former school board
president Bill Birdwell noted that the district was
much poorer five years ago. BISD now has a rela- '
lively large tax base, and signs point to further popu
lation growth. BISD’s tax base will likely continue .
to grow, making the present the best time yet to fund
a full-scale second high school. An 800-student
school simply will not alleviate BHS’s overcrowd
ing and discipline problems.
Along with financial concerns, Hanson said, *
another reason the board did not approve a second
high school was fear of creating a school of haves
and have nots. Hanson said the board did not
think it could afford to equally staff and equip two
full-size high schools, so one would be inferior. .
Unfortunately, creating a school of haves and one
of have-nots is exactly what Ashburn’s proposal -
would do. Phillip Sulak, BISD’s communications
director, said the experimental school’s popula
tion would mirror the city’s in terms of economi-.
cally disadvantaged families and ethnic makeup.
While this avoids overt discrimination, those stu
dents would still receive a better education than
BHS’s students because they would have smaller
classes. Also, Ashburn wants the school to pro- -
vide a more attractive market for teachers, which
would mean better teachers at the new school.
The experimental high school is an interesting
idea but impractical. A specialized high school
might attract new teachers, but there will continue
to be a shortage of qualified teachers as long as
discipline problems occur. Future teachers fre
quently do not consider high schools because they
are perceived to be less safe than elementary and
junior high schools. The way to increase teachers’
interest in secondary education is not by provid
ing a more attractive experimental school but by
fighting the ails of the existing schools. To do so,
BISD needs to combat overcrowding at BHS.
The BISD school board has had no public dis
cussion on the need for a second high school, ex
perimental or otherwise. Having a public forum
for parents and community members to provide
their input should be the first step in deciding the
future of secondary education in Bryan. Eventual
ly, a bond has to be passed by the public to fund
the building of any second high school. At that
point, tax payers will have to decide the issue for
themselves.
Eric Dickens is a senior English major.