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Opinion
THE BATTALION
11
Tuesday, March 26, 2002
Ml 1 H m
EDITORTAT
A Sincere Vote
In a field of two strong candidates, T/te Battalion encourages stu
dents to vote for Zac Coventry in the election for Texas A&M student
body president. He has the leadership background and experience
to effectively and articulately represent the views of students to
University administrators. The race for student body president is par
ticularly important. This position is the primary means of communi
cation between the student body, through elected representatives,
and administration officials.
Coventry has the sincenty and positive demeanor needed to
achieve and maintain a high level of effective communication. He
has held a variety of leadership positions in and out of the Corps
of Cadets and has emerged with a reputation for fairness, honesty
and integrity. He conducts himself in a down-to-earth manner with
high personal standards. The genuineness of his desire to more
accurately and completely represent the views of students to
administrators is evident.
In addition, Coventry’s campaign platform contains specific and
attractive proposals as the goal of greater diversity is realized. The
creation of a Traditions Partnership to further promote A&M tradi
tions and ensure consistency in education is a good idea, as is the
"Aggie 101” class, an optional class through the Traditions Council.
An information exchange in the form of a monthly newsletter and
detailed open door policy are some of the original and innovative
ideas that set this candidate apart. The specifics of his platform are
a positive sign of leadership.
Coventry should be elected student body president because he has
the marks of a good leader and effective communicator. His high per
sonal standards, leadership experience, sincerity and campaign plat
form are more than just the filling of a void. He is a student govern
ment outsider, and this can be a positive. Oftentimes, an outsider is
better able to understand and sympathize with the frustrations of stu
dents. The theme of his campaign is working together as a team. If
put into action, that is much better for Aggies than simply relating
administration views to students.
THE BATTALION
EDITORIAL BOARD
Editor in Chief Mariano CASTILLO
Managing Editor
Opinion Editor
News Editor
News Editor
Brian Ruff
Cayla Carr
Sommer Bunce
Brandie Liffick
Member
Member
Member
Member
Melissa Bedsole
Jonathan Jones
Jennifer Lozano
Kelln Zimmer
Ihe 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 reserves the
to edit letters for length, style and accuracy. Letters may be submitted in 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 77843-1111. Fax: (979)
845-26 47 Email: mailcall@thebatt.com
10 SAFEGUARD INNOCEMT
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round-the-clock wrpmrols
OVER CATHOLIC CHURCHES
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ROOM
MAIL CALL
tonot eliminate
^iqueness
r pp° nse f Q Dharmaraj
n ^y's March 25 column:
I'^hy wrote, "Individuals
e he right to provide the best
la/ 6 ° r t ^ e ' r offspring, and if
Crwu mani P ulatin g organic
P % they cannot be denied."
JP ports genetic screening for
eat?! In ^ ^ rom Alzheimer's dis-
l f Set h ° ba ldness.
inborn deS ' re is to § ive the
imm 8 en eration the least
hev 0 Str ^ e cause d by who
naybel 01 " what the V Io o k like '
he c ° untr y should decide
loursp 6 ! nat '° na * sk ' n c olo r - Of
pa Se d 0 P rev ent discrimination
:olnr, 0n ^ 0 l or ' one hair and eye
Quid have to also be cho-
hef ut a ^b e genetics can unify
non s Ure 8® ner ations in a com-
eli^T'lty an d maybe even
'mount of°f further reduce the
I how 0 u ture persecution.
I' v ersih, V f r Wou ld argue that the
l° f Americans Should not
'veered- Overcoming
1 °n hkn urnte under a com-
t,a, ma |"V a iarge part of
[ '"Cd America § reat -
P^vent^ 0 ' ^P en ding money on
en, "'8 future generations
from suffering truly horrific
ordeals such as ingrown toenails,
we could educate future and
present generations on the bene
fits of diversity and the apparent
ly forgotten idea of ethics.
Terry N. Marquardt
Class of 2004
Hasta La Vista
Dr. Bowen
Just received word here in
North Carolina via the West to
East route of the Pony Express
that Ray M. Bowen is retiring.
Best thing I've heard since a
Huey brought in my replacement
to a Drop Zone in Vietnam in
1966. Bowen has been a com
plete disaster, attempting to con
vert A&M into the University of
California Berkley (Southwest
Campus). He could give tinkers
damn about the Corps of Cadets
but encouraged cloning of cats
(Nothing against you CC).
Hopefully his replacement will
restore the values and traditions
that have made Texas A&M
unique in Texas and the USA.
Donald J. Soland
Class of 1959
Colonel, US Army (retired)
HOPE for A&M diversity
Georgia scholarship could encourage minorities
JENNIFER LOZANO
F or those in Aggieland who did j
not think a shred of hope existed i
for achieving greater diversity at
A&M, it is time to think again. The
answer is not in the form erf top 20
percent admission, affirmative action
or any other act that even contem- 1
plates breaking the Hopwood deci
sion. Instead, it exists in a truly fair j
financial aid program with the appro
priate name, HOPE (Helping
Outstanding Pupils Excel)
Scholarship. The HOPE Scholarship j
was originally implemented in
Georgia in 1993 under the guidance of j
former governor Zell Miller. The
scholarship, which is in its ninth year,
is entirely funded by the Georgia lot
tery and helps provide a public, pri
vate or technical college education for
hard-working Georgia students with
zero cost to taxpayers.
The HOPE Scholarship for a stu
dent going to a public institution cov- J
ers tuition, mandatory fees and a
$150 per semester book allowance.To
receive the HOPE Scholarship, a stu
dent must have graduated from high
school in 1993 (1996 for a private
school) or later with a B average and
must maintain a B average in college.
Unfortunately, it is a given fact that
minorities come from a more disadvan
taged economic background than whites
and thus have a narrower opportunity of
attending even a state university given the
increasing cost of higher education. This '
was the theory at the heart of the top 20
percent plan, which intended to admit the
top 20 percent of students at specific eco
nomically disadvantaged schools as
opposed to the standard top 10 percent.
However, this plan met heavy opposition
as it was affirmative action in disguise.
Although other scholarship programs
exist, they are often shrouded in miles of
red tape and leave minorities feeling like
applying is not worth the effort.
It is these obstacles that create diver
sity problems in universities like Texas
A&M, whose student demographics are
incredibly askew from those of the state.
Although Georgia’s HOPE Scholarship
retains some stipulations, they are not
terribly difficult given that students have
the opportunity to have their education
almost entirely paid for. In fact, these
stipulations do little to detract from the
beautiful fact that this scholarship does
not consider a student’s race or family
makeup, but only the academic efforts of
IT n
6: i
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m
Ssrr
Jta
Y w I
J I
that student, making it a truly equal
opportunity for everyone that would
result in greater student diversity if
implemented in Texas.
A study conducted by Dr. Gary T.
Henry and Dr. Ross Rubenstein of
Georgia State University revealed that
university standards were improving, as
opposed to the debated prediction of
lower standards that surrounded the top
20 percent proposal. For example, in
1989, before the HOPE Scholarship was
created, the average SAT score for enter
ing freshman classes in the University
System of Georgia was 976. In Fall
2000, seven years after HOPE began, the
average SAT score for incoming fresh
men in the University of Georgia System
was 1021,45 points higher and two
points above the national average.
Since its inception, the HOPE
Scholarship has been the model of a
great financial aid program. According
to Alma Bowen, the Georgia State
Financial Commission Communication
Division representative, 43 states plus
the District of Columbia and 13 foreign
nations have requested information or
sent delegations to visit Georgia for
DIANA SUAREZ* THE BATTALION
information on HOPE. Also, in 1996
President Clinton modeled his
America’s Hope program, a tax credit
for the cost of two years of education
beyond high school after Georgia’s
HOPE program. About five other states
have implemented similar but not
duplicate programs.
Even if for some reason this program
did not change the demographics at Texas
A&M, it would provide an opportunity
for a good education for those who
would ordinarily presume they cannot
afford one. Although diversity is impor
tant, it is also important to remember that
equal opportunity should be at the heart
of this goal. If someone is willing to
work hard, he or she should be given the
opportunity to succeed, regardless of race
or economic status — it is the American
dream. Through this program the playing
field will be leveled as much as humanly
possible, and everyone will have an
opportunity to achieve this dream.
Jennifer Lozano is a junior
English major.
Equal education needed for all
Special help for disabled students leads to skewed test scores
D isability rights advocates and parents are
applauding District Court Judge Charles
R. Breyer’s recent decision in California to
grant special treatment and accommodations to
learning-disabled students taking high school
graduation exams. But in their quest for academic
fairness and political correctness, these people have cheapened
the whole notion of high school diplomas and cheated the peo
ple they were trying to help out of a legitimately earned educa
tion. It is naive for these parents and advocacy groups to think
this is helping students in the long run.
Because this unfortunate ruling sets a legal precedent, other
states could soon start adopting similar programs, as over a
dozen states are planning on implementing graduation exams
in the next few years. Currently, half of all states use stan
dardized exams to test students’ basic skills before they are
allowed to graduate.
It is a disgrace to this country's
educational system when poorly-prepared
students are simply passed and ushered
out the school's door with a diploma in
hand because they were labeled y disabled.
However, it is a disgrace to this country’s educational system
when poorly-prepared students are simply passed and ushered
out the school’s door with a diploma in hand because they were
labeled, “disabled.”Sweeping problems like this under the rug
never solves them. To grant special treatment — different assess
ment methods and accommodations for some students and not
others, even if the students in question are deemed disabled — is
irrational and unfair.
The growing concern among educators is that many students
are feigning disabilities and learning handicaps to get easier
treatment on tests and further exploit a system already skewed
in the students’ favor. Of the two types of disabilities teachers
GEORGE DEUTSCH
deal with, physical and learning, only physical
disabilities are easy to measure. A clever student
can easily fake a learning disability to fool his
administrators and receive unearned grades.
But what about those students who toil end
lessly and, in spite of their genuine effort, per
form poorly on exams? This passing-based-on-
pity system has nothing to offer them.
Unfortunately, a system like this is very problematic
because it strips teachers and administrators of much of their
duties as school employees. Instead of ensuring that students
get a real education, it allows teachers to rid themselves of
students after four years, whether these students have learned
anything or not. So these students get a bogus education to go
with their bogus diploma.
States implementing these learning-disabled test accommo
dations cannot very well claim to have “standardized testing”
when the tests being administered are anything but standard.
As Tamar Lewin of The New York Times put it, “What is a
diploma worth ... if students who cannot read, write or do
arithmetic are allowed to pass tests?”
One part of Breyer’s ruling, however, was left open-ended.
It is still undecided whether these disabled students’ scores
will be treated and measured in the same way as those under
normal conditions, and they most certainly should not be. If
teachers test these students differently, they should score them
differently as well.
In all fairness, how would one of these potential learning-dis
abled graduates know if they truly earned the diploma they
received? They might never know, but one thing is certain: An
illegitimate diploma will not prepare anyone, disabled or not, for
life in the real world or a position in today’s job market.
As Phil Spears, director of the California Department of
Education’s Standards and Assessments Division, so eloquent
ly said, “When special [education] kids get out of school, they
don’t go back to special ed town. They go out and compete
with all the rest of us.”
George Deutsch is a junior
journalism major.