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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