: BATTAL
Opinion
THE BATTALION
5B
Thursday, January 17, 2002
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EDITORIAL
Destructive
Construction
The construction sites scattered across campus have left Texas
&M unsightly and difficult to navigate. At present, construction
|xists on Wellborn Road and West Campus, where an under
ground passage and parking garage are being built, on Ross
Street, and now renovations on Bizzell Loop. Although construc-
lon inherently suggests the improvement of campus, better plan
ing of construction projects, improved communication and
Nmovative thinking are needed to solve these problems.
■ Aggies are prideful of many aspects of A&M, but with recent,
lirge amounts of construction and increased parking difficulty,
pride in the beauty of our campus has dwindled. In addition to
increased construction, parking area 61 has recently changed
from a blue and red commuter and resident parking lot to a com
pletely red resident lot. This inevitably creates an increased bur
den on the already limited blue commuter parking lots. To make
le student commuting process easier, better communication
Between the Department of Parking, Traffic and Transportation
Services and the student body needs to exist in addition to bet
ter construction planning. Completing one construction project
before beginning another, holding more discussion forums and
allowing students to vote for major parking and construction
^decisions would help solve some transportation problems. Bus
Operations should consider creating alternate routes to avoid
congestion on Bizzell Loop.
■ The new parking and construction developments affect all who
set foot on the Texas A&M campus. Students, faculty and visitors
Oh bikes, cars, buses or foot deserve the right to travel through
campus with ease and safety. If A&M wishes to be viewed as a
world-class University, it needs to remember the important
impression that a world-class University campus should make.
| THE BATTALION
•■“*■»«»»«»«**■**■*■■****»*■*««*««**»■«*»»»»»■ SINCE IMS -
EDITORIAL BOARD
Editor in Chief Mariano Castillo
i0uamr } M.nuigiuz ^itor
Is** - - wOpinion Editor
News Editor
News Editor
tatf College;
Brian Ruff
Cayla Carr
Sommer Bunce
Brandie Liffick
Member
Member
Member
Member
Melissa Bedsole
Jonathan Jones
Jennifer Lozano
Kelln Zimmer
The Battalion encourages letters to the editor. Letters must be 200 words or
less and include the author's name, class and phone number. The opinion editor
■erves the right to edit letters for length, style and accuracy. Letters may be submit
ted m person at 014 Reed McDonald with a valid student ID. Letters also may be
mailed to: 014 Reed McDonald, MS 1111, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX
riti0nr 5 nn Fax: ^ 979 ^ 845 ' 2647 Emai,: mailcan@thebatt.com
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)r. Bowen speaks
>ut about cartoon
i response to Jan. 14 cartoon:
Texas A&M is known for its lead-
rship development and for the
ght bonding that united us as an
ggie family. We sing “true to each
ther as Aggies should be,” and we
ant to make those words a reali-
'. It is disappointing, then, when
i/ents happen that diminish our
ladership role in the larger socie-
1 and divide the Aggie family.
Racial stereotyping and racist
ikes are examples of such
vents. Behaviors of that kind limit
le inclusiveness of the Aggie fam-
y and perpetuate negative
nages of the university, thus
Jducing the opportunity for
ggies to be leaders. That is why I
'as so disappointed to see the
artoon published in Monday’s
battalion, which clearly played on
egative stereotypes of African
jnericans. The attitudes
expressed in the cartoon are
directly contrary to my own values
and ideals and to the values and
ideals that I believe are held by
most TAMU students, faculty, staff
members and former students.
The Battalion is an independent,
student-run newspaper. It enjoys
the full freedom of the press that
we celebrate in this nation. I am
not writing this letter to challenge
the freedom of The Battalion. But
I do wish to tell you how greatly I
deplore the messages conveyed
by this cartoon, which casts
doubt on whether we are truly a
welcoming place for all people.
Monday, Jan. 21, is the birthday
of a great American, Martin
Luther King, Jr. In honor of this
occasion, I hope we will all renew
our commitment to a Texas A&M
that welcomes all people, of all
groups, in a spirit of equality,
mutual respect and friendship.
Dr. Ray M. Bowen
University President
COMING UP SHORT
Football squad should improve NCAA graduation rates
M ost students Director Wally Groff have State, Kentucky and Texas Christian for
attend Texas 1? complained that the NCAA increased playing time. It is not that thes
A A 4 i' .. f a * i / 1 i 'it « / \ l'1 ■ ■< Kkiiti- ii ' i ■ ti r> 1 t/v
RICHARD BRAY
M ost students
attend Texas
A&M for a
degree at the end of their
college careers.
Apparently this is one
more thing that separates
the members of the football team from
the rest of the student body.
According to an NCAA report issued
in September, Texas A&M's football
graduation rate for the past four years is
33 percent. This ranks A&M last in the
Big 12 and far below the national average
of 49 percent. It is also well below
A&M’s student body graduation rate of
70 percent in the past four years. A&M
student athletes, in all sports, post a 55
percent graduation rate.
Texas A&M football
head coach R.C.
Slocum and
Athletic
Director Wally Groff have
complained that the NCAA
graduation rates are not an
accurate representation
because they include athletes
who have transferred to a dif
ferent school, were dismissed
from the team or leave early to play pro
fessional football. Groff also said A&M’s
football graduation rate is reduced
because A&M has higher academic
requirements than other schools in the
Big 12.
Slocum and Groff are correct. The
NCAA method of determining gradua
tion rates is faulty. Players often transfer
from large, competitive schools like
A&M to obtain more playing time. In
recent years, A&M has lost
players who have trans
ferred to Abilene
Christian,
Louisiana
State, Kentucky and Texas Christian for
increased playing time. It is not that these
students were unable to complete their
degree requirements, nor that they did
not take academics seriously. They left
A&M for reasons unrelated to academics,
and to count them as students who failed
to graduate makes no sense.
The NCAA should also not count stu
dents who go on to play professional
sports. After all, the purpose of college is
to prepare students to make a living. If
student athletes choose to pursue an
affluent career in professional sports
before they get their degree, then their
university has done them a service.
While Slocum and Groff’s arguments
are entirely reasonable, these arguments
do not explain why A&M ranks last in
the Big 12 in graduating football players.
Other schools in the Big 12 must contend
with students transferring for more play
ing time elsewhere. They also lose play
ers who go on to the NFL.
The reason A&M football’s gradua
tion rate is the worst in the Big 12 is
because there is something wrong with
A&M’s football program. It is
the responsibility of the
coaching staff and the
athletic department to
improve the gradua
tion rate, whether it
is by teaching play
ers the importance
of obtaining their
degree or by recruiting
players who can with
stand the rigors of
A&M’s academic pro
gram.
It is not impos
sible for teams to
have success in
both graduation
rate and on the
football field.
Teams such as Northwestern,
Stanford and Michigan have field
ed highly ranked teams with high
er academic standards than A&M.
None of these teams had to set
tle for the
Galleryfurniture.com
Bowl.
It is one thing
for the A&M
football team to
have sub par
years; it is another
thing entirely when poor
seasons are coupled with poor academic
performance. The players, the coaches
and the athletic department should
all be held accountable for A&M’s
poor academic performance, and
Hr changes are necessary, be it in
personnel or policy.
ANGEL1QUE FORD* THE BATTALION
Richard Bray is a junior
journalism major.
Unnecessary screening
New no call law in Texas threatens businesses
A new state law gives
consumers a way to
stop unwanted sales
pitches from reaching their
telephones.
More than 81,000 Texans
have signed up on the “no
call list,” which means that many tele
marketers will likely lose their jobs. With
the economy struggling after the Sept. 1 1
terrorist attacks, there are now even more
job-seeking individuals trying to support
themselves and feed their families.
Businesses will be making huge adjust
ments as employment industries are
affected by this no-call law.
Answering the calls of telemarketers
would be less of a bother than helping
individuals pay for their necessities
after they have lost their jobs and
turned to welfare.
It is extremely difficult for a student
just out of college to find a job. It must
be twice as difficult after being a tele
marketer for 10 years with little other
experience.
On Jan. 1, Texas joined 24 other states
accepting the no call list law. As the law
states, the service costs $2.25 for three
years and bans calls from general mar
keters. $2.55 stops calls from competing
electricity providers and $4.80 for five
years eliminates both.
Telemarketers calling into Texas must
buy the list every three months for $45
and must update their list within 60 days.
CATHERINE RICHARDSON
If telemarketers fail to
obey the law, business
could be fined up to $1,000
for each violation or up to
$3,000 per violation if the
call was made willfully or
knowingly.
Although the law seems to be having
a positive response in Texas, individuals
and businesses will be struggling
through this change.
According to the Research and
Answering the calls of tele
marketers would be less of a
bother than helping indi
viduals pay for their necessi
ties after they have lost their
jobs and turned to welfare.
Statistics Office in Minnesota, 485,650
telemarketers were employed in the
United States in 2001. As this number
drops, the unemployment rate will rise.
The newspaper business is one in par
ticular that has proven to be negatively
affected by the law. Newsday, a New
York paper, which has had the law since
April 2001, announced recently that it
was forced to eliminate 92 jobs in its
teleservices division.
According to Newspaper Association
of America’s 2001 Circulation Facts,
Figures and Logic study, 43 percent of
new businesses depend on telemarketing
for advertising and profit. 58 percent of
all solicited subscription sales are from
telemarketing, making it the single
largest source of new subscription orders.
“The regulations are coming thick and
fast and newspapers are the victims of
the growing public resentment of all tele
phone-linked commercial activity,” said
Kip Cassino, director of research for
Knight Bidder in San Jose, Calif.
Cassino has found that newspapers are
spending more money than before to
complete research. He said more than 50
percent of the people called to answer
research surveys will not cooperate.
Therefore, not only does the law make
research more costly, but also more time
consuming. In a profession where time is
of great importance, this law could be
severely detrimental to a company’s cred
ibility.
In the communication industry, news
papers and broadcasters compete to pro
vide the best information to the public.
Although expected by the viewers and
readers to give accurate and plentiful
information, the public continues to
refuse to cooperate.
Yes, the calls tend to come at bad
times and too often, but taking away a
company’s right to profit over the phone
is like taking away a Girl Scout’s right to
sell cookies.
Catherine Richardson is a senior
journalism major.