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1st II.
Opinion
THE BATTALION
5B
Wednesday, April 17, 2002
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EDITORIAL
A Student Voice
Blhe student newspaper of the University of Texas-Tyler has
ome under fire from university administration simply for doing
s job. The Patriot has evolved into an award-winning, inves-
Igative bimonthly publication under the guidance of its faculty
"dviser, a former newspaper reporter. This, however, has gotten
*\e paper into trouble. The Patriot now faces a First
Imendment battle over the administration's decision to
eplace Vanessa Curry as adviser and create a student media
lolicy that decreases student involvement. Such action is a
Jross violation of free speech rights and a detriment to college
Itudents and the surrounding communities.
1 The student newspaper has aggressively sought to obtain
public information that the University of Texas-Tyler would
rather keep out of public view, such as faculty salaries and
Campus crime reports, data readily available to A&M students.
3ut the students kept up their efforts to obtain what they had
i right to know, in an effort to write well-informed, balanced
ptories that target their readers. For this, the students and their
adviser are being punished.
The UT-Tyler administration has acted shamefully and reck
lessly. A student newspaper cannot be effective with adminis-
vative interference.
The administrative plan to set up the Publication
■Administrative Council, an oversight board completely com-
Iposed of administrators with the power to hire and fire the fac-
lulty adviser and student editors, is a naked power grab by over-
o bearing administrators.
The administration of the University of Texas-Tyler, by dis-
jmissing a faculty adviser and dragging its feet on the release
j of information and setting up an oversight board, has con
ducted itself in a manner contrary to the First Amendment.
The Patriot has yet to do anything that would warrant such
hasty and overreaching action.
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
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 reserves
the right to edit letters for length, style and accuracy. Letters may be submitted in per
son 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) 845-2647 Email: mailcall@thebatt.com
J*,
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MAIL CALL
et for 6 p.i’ 1 ' al
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What merits Aggies?
Last week, Texas A&M disap
pointed me. After my brother
received his rejection letter, we
roet with the admissions commit-
|ee to review his application to
better understand the rejection.
Varsity athletics, leadership in
organizations, college credit,
strong grade point average, and
competitive SAT scores were com
plimented, however, verifiable
facts do not matter as much as
we thought. Further into the
meeting we discovered that 60
Percent of admittance this year
depended on the amount of com
munity service hours, something
mat easily can be embellished
S| nce no record of the hours is
[equired. Admissions should real-
lze that sometimes, community
service can be obligatory by court
order or requirements for school
organizations, not just completed
from the goodness of ones heart.
Furthermore, our parents both
have college degrees. We were
fold a stronger candidate for
^mission would have parents
who had not graduated high
Sc nool. Maybe I should quit now
so my children will have a
chance to attend college. Also, I
understand that legacy is no
onger considered because it is
'scrirninatory, but I cannot help
ut wonder if he was rejected
ocause his family attends A&M
‘fnd *f would look bad for diversi- numbers,
fy 'ssues.
Vision 2020 will eventually
make Texas A&M an "ivy league"
caliber school, but once you try to
be like everyone else, you are no
longer special, like A&M still is.
So if your family and friends were
rejected by this University, it is not
because they are not great stu
dents or great people. It is
because Bowen and the adminis
tration are so wrapped up in
Vision 2020 and filling state quo
tas, they have forgotten what it
means to be an Aggie.
Kristen Roesler
Class of 2004
Statistics are what
you make them
Just because a statistic is alarm
ing does not make it true. The sta
tistic in a Tuesday Battalion article
"1,400 students are killed each
year in alcohol-related accidents"
is actually a fabricated statistic
from the Task Force on College
Drinking. According to a FOXNews
article, these statistics did not
come from research but from
guesswork. The task force began
with the total number of deaths of
18-24 year-olds caused by alcohol
related incidents (4665). Since 31
percent of that age-range is in col
lege, they calculated 31 percent of
the overall number to conclude
that 1445 students were killed.
The same technique was used to
arrive at other, equally shocking
Burton French
graduate student
Freedom Censu
FemaTelnnge
drmkerTsKould
think twice about
their actions
Pm
JENNIFER LOZANO
F or years, women have fought to
overcome stereotypes, ridicule and
physical weakness to develop a
strong, educated and competitive image
next to men in many areas of life. Today,
the front line is on novice ground, and the
battle scars are in the form of hangovers,
blurred recollection and sometimes alco
hol poisoning or sexual assault.
According to Time magazine, universi
ties nationwide have reported an increase
in binge drinking among college women.
In a society that has predominantly asso
ciated heavy drinking with men, this new
twisted level of equality demands the
attention of Americans, educators and
especially young women.
As women’s suffrage evolved into the
1960s sexual revolution and later the fem
inist movement, notions of femininity
were thrown out the window, and women
began to embrace liquid liberation, also
know as the keg. Although this develop
ment came with many perks such as shed
ding the stifling, unrealistic image of
women being angelic, innocent naiveties,
the dangers generated are very real. For
example, according to Time, Syracuse
University administrators report that twice
as many women as men are rushed to the
local hospital because of acute intoxica
tion. In addition, counselors at Stanford
University have observed a rise in the
number of women who report “regretting
sex” while drunk, and at Georgetown
University, there has been a 35 percent
increase in women sanctioned for alcohol
violations during the past three years.
Unfortunately, this trend has not been
limited to universities located in a large,
metropolitan area or with a large Greek
life. In fact, all-women colleges have
seen a 125 percent increase in frequent
binge drinking since 1993. Although
Texas A&M’s results from the four-year-
old CORE survey, a national college sur
vey, have been surprisingly reserved —
Aggies still need to be aware of the haz
ards of binge drinking at a young age.
Jennifer Ford, programming coordinator
for Texas A&M’s alcohol and drug edu
cation program, said other universities
that already have collected the results of
this year’s survey claim that a larger pop
ulation are choosing not to drink, but the
population that is drinking is drinking
significantly more.
If more young women are falling into
this category of heavy drinkers and trying
to drink one for one with men, there are
certain female biological limitations that
must be considered. Aside from the obvi
ous size difference, studies reported by
Time reveal that women’s bodies have a
higher fat to water ratio that makes alco
hol less diluted when it enters the blood
stream. Women also have a lower level of
enzymes that help break down alcohol
and the long-term negative effects of
drinking for women have been found to
develop earlier than in men. To add insult
to injury, mounting evidence leads
researchers to believe that girls who start
drinking in their early teens are more like
ly than boys to become alcoholics. It has
become more apparent that although
women have become overzealous about
drinking with the boys, their bodies have
not been as able keep up.
However, advertisements in women’s
magazines, popular television shows and
movies have done little to enlighten
women to the threat that binge drinking
poses. In fact, given that the media fre
quently equates female drinking with
power, it is no wonder that women turn
to alcohol for a sense of equality.
Through pleasing media messages and
economically pleasing offers such as
“ladies night” at the bars, the negative
effects of binge drinking for women have
been concealed. Unfortunately, the evi
dence against binge drinking for women
is mounting and cannot be ignored. It is
an educated woman’s responsibility to
learn about the dangers that surround
binge drinking. Although it may seem
unprogressive and old-fashioned, women
are at a higher risk when drinking exces
sively. This is the reality, and reality
does not heed the fashion of the times.
Jennifer Lozano is a junior
English major.
Stricter punishment for cheaters
KATHERINE TUCKER
A
ggies do not lie, cheat
or steal, right? Think
again.
In an academic integrity
survey issued in 1997, 88.5
percent of Aggies surveyed
admitted to cheating at least
once. What is more astonish
ing is that 74.6 percent of
Aggies admitted to cheating
more than once. On most col
lege campuses, more than 75
percent of students admit to
cheating, according to the
Center for Academic Integrity
at Texas A&M. Texas A&M
boasts of honor within its stu
dent body. However, it seems
that in such a competitive
academic environment, honor
has been overlooked in light
of personal advancement.
A&M is aware of this
problem. In response to the
1997 survey, the Student
Government Association
established “Know the
Code,” a committee focus to
encourage Aggies to abide
by the honor code. If only it
was encouragement Aggies
needed.
According to the 1997
survey, only one participant
did not know about the
Aggie Code of Honor. When
a majority of students know
ingly engage in an activity
that is expressly forbidden,
there is only one answer —
stricter enforcement of the
honor code.
A&M has sent out a mes
sage by the silent tolerance of
students looking over other
students’ shoulders that
cheating is not a serious
offense and will be tolerated
under most circumstances.
However, according to a fac
ulty workshop on plagiarism
Tuesday, it is apparent there
is grave concern about the
lack of academic integrity.
The focus of the discussion
on student cheating revealed
that A&M faculty and admin
istration are dissatisfied with
their current role in the pre
vention of cheating, and they
wish to recommend institu
tional changes to improve the
situation.
There are two ways to
combat academic dishonesty
at A&M — by preventing and
policing dishonesty or by
reinstating the virtue of hon
esty and integrity. It is a lofty
thought that by offering stu
dents a refreshing course on
honesty, they would change
their virtues but realistically,
students already know that
cheating is dishonest, accord
ing to the survey. This is not
to say that the University
should not promote honor but
A&M needs to be realistic —
if people are dishonest, they
already have violated the
honor for which A&M stands,
and the University cannot
assume that its renewed inter
est in honor will overcome
the self-focused goals of the
individual.
Instead, A&M needs to
focus on preventing cheating
by educating its faculty more
intensely and on punishing
those who are guilty of cheat
ing. It was noted at the facul
ty workshop that less than 50
cases of plagiarism per year
are reported to the dean of
student life. The fault of
Texas A&M because it does
not require faculty to report
cheating. Reports such as
these could establish whether
a student is a repeat offender
and merit harsher punishment
for reoccurrences. Having an
active faculty and administra
tion is the first step to cor
recting academic dishonesty
on this campus.
Punishing cheaters is the
primary way to enforce the
honor code and the best alter
native. The 11.5 percent of
students who are trying to
earn their degree honestly
deserve to be given a fair a
playing field. They cannot
wait for the conscience of the
88.5 percent to catch up to
them. Texas A&M is at a crit
ical point of growth and must
be open to change. Now it is
time to see if students will
stand up against the skewed
morals of a select group and
reclaim the University as an
institution that stands for
nothing less than complete
academic integrity.-
Katherine Tucker is a sophomo
general studies majt