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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 13, 2002)
INTKRNATH; 1 HE BAIT) •v • Sandiford said ^ s ubway rail S \ b the trade center i ^ that stationrej ossdmg i n ol)l<;r ■"■if commuting i ‘ttan much more^i ord said. The r 't> is also wort] subway rail tunn: 10 trade center ^ ^ J-. just acr.* a River. have to pick % I get the infrac, ^ acain;' Sandifrr c less than tuopr le around the States. I’emed about the Students m ger same is true for ■ go through a 1 1 other college < ta as well. Droksi r enough mone >r. prose to theL ite to a new courr ig other things rc denied idnu*. ailmined. Drolesi our stuslenistfa muted.” she us: skied poteniu] s> i Hi matt siuder'. or SARA 1-OLEY Student workers learn responsibility T hey are everywhere. They . are the bus drivers, the voic es on the phone and the girls ^fchind the counter. They are the Baiters who get generous tips from sympathetic customers who know th problems of working while in school. They might already be dressed for their positions in class, or perhaps they arrange a hurried change somewhere else. Darting out of the room, they are off to begin the second phase of the day. Later that night, while their friends socialize, they must find time to keep up with classes. I Whatever inconveniences a job may bring, it is a good idea for all students, regardless of whether they need the money. Budents who manage to hold down a job while enrolled in Basses hold an advantage over those who choose not to work. I It is true that a student’s first priority should be his or her school work. Many students spend time doing little else besides focusing on their studies and do not allow time for the obliga tions of a job. However troublesome juggling time between dif- ft rent activities may be now, prioritizing after graduation will Only become more complicated. Holding down a job while in school provides insight into the future and helps instill time management skills now, as opposed to learning these lessons v hile in a career. If these abilities are not developed before hand, it may be detrimental toward one’s professionalism in the workforce. By arranging concerns in their life now, working Students avoid further difficulty. The main benefit to working while in school is the extra money earned. Not only does the additional cash free a student from the burden of continually depending on parents or loans, but provides an opportunity to develop money management skills. This extra money adds flexibility and relieves stress from the typical lifestyle of a poor college student. In addition, the job can provide various advantages. If a stu dent is able to be hired in a position that relates to their intend ed career path, this work could lead to gaining a higher posi tion later in life. Not only will prospective employers be impressed with a resume that boasts of relevant experience, but contacts made through the job could develop into future refer ences or associates. Even if the job is far removed from the eventual job one hopes to obtain, the experience can be worth while. Having a job while classes are in session makes the search for a summer job less difficult. Even if the job seems menial and tedious, it will remind students why they are in col lege in the first place — to avoid staying in such a position )ennanently. Although a job might occupy much of a student’s free time, that time is not essentially lost. What extra time remains will >e treasured and utilized instead of spent procrastinating. Since Employers and co-workers depend on each employee in a way extracurricular activities do not usually demand, the time invested at the workplace causes the student to become more responsible. Working provides the opportunity for friendships >etween people who would not have met otherwise. Working allows opportunities that would not normally come about, and produces benefits that would be difficult to obtain through Snther activities. While unemployed students might have more time to study tnd socialize, they could find themselves lacking the responsi bility and experience their classmates who do work possess. Sara Foley is a sophomore journalism major. MAIL CALL Skaters more than More on-campus simply annoying parking disappears In response to George Deutsch's Sept. 12 column: I was glad to read about the skating park idea in Thursday's Battalion, as the skateboarders on campus are more than just annoying. I They rub a gray wax onto the sides of low concrete structures to practice tricks where they jump along the sides of the structure. Soon, the concrete becomes hipped, jagged and ugly, everal benches near the Memorial Student Center have been damaged in this manner. We should work to prevent his sort of vandalism to our ampus. Beth Sutherland Class of 2002 The insufficient parking offered to paying campus resi dents has gone beyond any semblance of sanity. That being said, the University decided to demolish nearly 100 spaces of red resident parking near the North side of residence halls.This imperceptive move has only created more havoc. But instead of affording stu dents alternative parking spaces for the $133 paid, one must circle full lots in a vain effort to find a spot.. A stu dent's last resort is to park in a thirty-minute or faculty spot and watch as the puppet offi cers armed with pens eye their next victim. Chris Haberle Class of 2005 Opinion The Battalion Page 9 • Friday, September 13, 2002 PITS change overdue Weis appeals to students, not student government T he Department of Parking, Traffic and Transportation Services (PITS) will have new leadership as Rod Weis takes the reins of one of the most visible departments on cam pus this fall. Weis brings with him an excellent reputation for customer service, a trait which will prove invaluable in his new position. While PTTS should focus on improving customer service, it should give up the vain attempt to improve its public relations through the A&M Student Senate and student body presi dent. According to The Battalion, Weis’ cus tomer service reputation played a part in the decision to hire him. As direc tor of Georgia Tech’s Parking and Transportation Services, Weis implemented a customer online service which allows students to buy parking permits, check for citations, appeal citations and make payments, among other options. In the article. Weis described himself as very customer driven. This focus on customer service is the solution PTTS has been searching for. During the past year, PTTS has futilely installed pro grams meant to improve its public relations by developing a close relationship with the Student Senate and other student leaders. For example, last year PTTS allowed student leaders to work in the office for a day to provide them with insight into the chal lenges PTTS faces on a daily basis. PTTS also created a committee composed of PTTS officials and student leaders to garner more ideas concerning how to improve the relationship between PTTS and students. Unfortunately, such solutions are merely band-aids for a problem that a public relations spin simply cannot fix. PTTS cannot speak to each student in an attempt to con vince him that PTTS is not an evil, greed-driven entity. As a result, PTTS can only speak to student leadership such as the student body president and the Student Senate and hope the message spreads. Unfortunately, PTTS is placing its RICHARD BRAY faith in leadership which isn’t necessarily visible to the aver age student. It’s doubtful most students even know who the student body president is this year (Zac Coventry) and even fewer have exchanged ideas with him in any manner. The Student Senate faces a similar problem in that its greatest weakness is its inability to communicate effectively with the majority of the student popula tion. Even after convincing these leaders, PTTS was unable to overcome the nega tive public relations that parking tickets create. As a result, PTTS was unable to influence much public relations change through student leadership. While PTTS will never become the most popular department on campus, a customer-oriented attitude is the only real solution. All the spin in the world won’t change student opinion regarding PTTS, nor should it. Only through advances in providing services will PTTS be able to improve its image. Most of the A&M students are intelligent enough to recognize that rules and consequences must be in place in order to prevent chaos. They just want to see PTTS doing everything it can to improve the student parking experience on campus. Richard Bray is a senior journalism major. JOSH DARWIN • THE BATTALION B-CS needs to recycle more University should expand its recycling efforts, involve students Every year, Americans generate more than 232 million tons of garbage, accord ing to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which is approximately four and a half pounds of waste per person per day. This immense amount of trash produced has caused numerous problems ranging from the need for more landfills to the pollution of the air and water caused by the leakage of toxic chemicals. Growing concern for the health of our nation’s environment prompted organiza tions such as the EPA to seek solutions to the increasing problem of garbage dispos al in the past few decades, and one of the most important and successful solutions has been the recycling process. The EPA reports that in the year 2000, recycling diverted almost 70 million tons of materials such as papers and plastics away from landfills and incinerators. Currently, about 30 percent of all garbage is recovered and recycled in the United States. Here in the Bryan-College Station area alone, more than 4,400 tons of recyclable materials were collected in 2001, according to The Eagle. College students make up a major component of the population here in Bryan-College Station, and need to do their part to help the environment and our community by participating in the recy cling programs offered in the area. Laura Tankersley-Glenn, director of Keep Brazos Beautiful, said to The Eagle, ”It all boils down to quality of life issues. If we weren’t recycling, our landfill would be filling up twice as fast.” Recycling has many benefits, both envi ronmental and economic, according to the recycle.com Web site. These benefits include saving and con serving natural resources, saving landfill space and preventing the need for more landfills and incinerators, reducing pollution, saving energy, creating employ ment opportunities, and saving money in waste disposal costs. The Eagle reports that every ton of recycled goods saves the city of College Station, and therefore its inhabitants, about $20 in waste transportation and storage costs, as well as contributing to eliminate the cost of opening another dumping facility in the future. a The University and the cities of Bryan and College Station should seriously consider further expanding and developing their recycling programs to make it easier for students and citizens to participate. * According to The Eagle, College Station and Bryan offer drop-off recycling programs at many locations, such as Wal- mart, and College Station is considering expanding its curbside collection program further include apartment complexes. These programs accept newspapers, mag azines, aluminum cans, sorted glass, car batteries, soda liter bottles, and milk and water jugs. Many of these items college students use and discard on a daily basis. There are also several recycling pro grams on the A&M campus for newspa pers and aluminum cans, with collection bins in most of the buildings and dorms around campus. Students can and should contribute to the recycling process in several ways. We can take a few minutes out of our day to sort recyclable goods for pick-up or drop-off at recycling locations, and we can also make a conscious effort to try and buy more recycled materials which are becoming much more widely available in stores. The University and the cities of Bryan and College Station should seriously con sider further expanding and developing their recycling programs to make it easier for students and citizens to participate. More collection bins can be set up around campus, and collected materials should be expanded to include the popular plastic soda bottles that thousands of students purchase from machines. Bryan does not have a curbside recy cling service, according to The Eagle, and both Bryan and College Station should take the next step and provide curbside programs to apartments, duplexes and res idential areas. If the recycling process was more con venient and widely available, more peo ple, including students, would participate in it. It is the responsibility of every person, especially college students, the future leaders of society, to make a concerted effort to conserve our nation’s resources and preserve its natural beauty and the environment in which we live. Recycling is one of the most signifi cant and convenient ways to contribute, and residents of Bryan and College Station should be given the chance to give back to their community. Laurel Franck is a sophomore English major. LAURKL FRANCK
