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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 4, 2002)
NB BATTAUl )ed so Iwaukee Opinion The Battalion Page 11 • Friday, October 4, 2002 beatini ^ p ) - One J t attend sd# Jther does end him. nested for b J was lo. ld - at 14, he's mob of bd; dn g a man ^sticks, shot:; he took t want anyo - ; d. arged as a# 'st-degree fed- he youngest; 0-year-old, itj anile with pjj :kless homice since Sundi itements )ys have s^ P- ewart >m stod board 'VP) - Mace federal inves cion of insio? Thursday frir irectors off- Exchange mt the mede :ly surroundnf om the imptr- NYSE andta opropriate lo said in a state- Earlier in die tter of resign;- chairman and Dick Grass: nange's lepartment is wart's sale of shares of is just before mmeted last id news about highly touted s fight remove ference _ prosecutors Reid's attempt A&M’s top administrators overpaid Sizeable disparity exists between faculty and administrative salaries A; JENNIFER LOZANO he ga ,ned rd accoun 5 -ansfer mi'; suchf'g ure ; rg, Wartf" ttewart- s indicated by recent survey reports, Texas has joined the nation al trend of dishing out increas ingly exorbitant salaries for uni versity presidents and chancel lors. As a result, a very large and disconcerting gap steadily grows between university big wigs and faculty members. Some choose to blame an intense ly competitive job market for this gaping disparity while oth ers claim the additional administrative skills and responsibili ties required for administrative positions are enough to justify the pay difference. Nonetheless, according to the Houston Chronicle, the Texas Legislature only appropriates $63,654 and $70,231 for presidents and chancellors respective salaries. Therefore, according to Vice President for Finance and Controller, William B. Krumm, a portion of both faculty and administra tive salary conies from a pool of money that includes student tuition and fees along with state appropriations and invest ment income placed in the general fund. For this reason, bet ter management and prioritization of funds should be demanded in order to improve faculty pay, the quality of pro fessors and thus the quality of universities. According to the Houston Chronicle, the latest report from the Texas Faculty Association (TFA) reports presidents’ salaries have increased 34 percent in real dollars over the last decade and chancellors’ have increased a whopping 54 per cent while faculty salaries have only grown an average 11 percent. Also, chancellors and presidents oftentimes receive many fringe benefits and perks that can include houses, club memberships, deferred compensation and car allowances that need to be taken into consideration. In fact, when perks arc included. Texas boasts four of the nation’s top-10 best-paid administrators, including Texas A&M’s chancellor, Howard 1). Graves, who according to the previous year's figures, compensation included, came in ninth in the nation, earning $462,000. Just recently, according to Mara Soloway, communica tions specialist for the A&M Systems, the Board of Regents approval increased Graves' already impressive salary to $500,000, (including compensation). According to the Chronicle, this bumps Graves up to number six on the top- 10 list. Meanwhile, back in the heart of academia, with no club memberships and car allowances to speak of, professors work hard to deliver a quality education to their students and earn a Vvving. The Battalion recently reported that assistant profes sors earned $56,71 1 in 2001, associate professors made Sd(,l44 and professors earqed an average of $85,000. Although it is clear that professors are making an adequate salary to survive, the difference between their salaries and top officials is disheartening and suggests that only top adminis trative positions at A&M are highly valued and worthy of sig- MAIL CALL nificant pay increases. Administrative salary increase has partly resulted as a means to compete with private universities to attract qual ified leaders, Ronald Ehrenberg, director of Cornell University's Higher Education Research Institute told the Chronicle. “For a long time, the publics were losing the best and the brightest of their leaders to private universities because the compensation was so much higher in private uni versities,” said Ehrenberg. However, according to the 2003 rankings of America's Best Universities in the U.S. News and World Report, Texas A&M dropped from number 48 in the first tier to the second tier. Executive Associate Provost Bill Perry previously told The Battalion that the drop could be attributed to this year’s report not counting large classes with labs as “one large class and several small classes” as it had in the past. To address this issue of class size. Perry said money was already desig nated to hire 60 more faculty members. However, it will be hard to attract and retain qualified professors with non-com petitive salaries and an impressive gap between administra tive and faculty salaries. This example shows the important role that faculty play in a university's overall achievement. “The need to elevate faculty salaries is a top priority for the University and an imperative goal of Vision 2020” said Cynthia Lawson, director of University Relations. On the other hand, Lawson points out that given the amount of money going towards administrative salary and the num ber of students that attend the University, A&M is a rela tively efficient campus. There are many alternative avenues for correcting the discrepancy in faculty and administrative salaries. Alternative sources of income such as department budget cutbacks should be considered along with implementing laws such as those that exist in California. According to the Chronicle, California law regulates public university officials' pay to the average of a selected group of universi ties. The gap in faculty and administra live salaries is not going to be closed by simply hop ing the Texas Legislature will grant the University more money. Instead, different manag ing options at the university level that would allow faculty pay increases and a cap for admin istrative salaries should be considered. Jennifer Lozano is a senior English major. JOSH DARWIN • THE BATTALION A&M football team should act appropriately at movie theaters I will never be able to watch an Aggie football game again in the same way after tonight. And coming from a family steeped in Aggie traditions, especially that of following and rooting for the football team, that is a sad thing. After a long day at work and an even longer We ek, my husband and I wanted to relax at a movie one evening the night before a football game. We purchased tickets for a movie that egan around 7 p.m., arrived at the theater, and look our seats. After just a moment, it became very clear to my usband and I that we were surrounded by a lot 0 A&M football players. My husband was so excit- e - remembering that it was an established rou- me for the football team to be bussed over to the ollywood Movie Theater to watch a film on the riday prior to a home game. He had accumulat- ® mis knowledge due to friendships with past football players. The movie began and immediately the football Payers that were sitting directly behind us in the ^ry back row, began to converse back and forth w, t what could only be described as inappropri ate commentary. They weren't even trying to whis per, they were using their full, normal speaking voices. They continued this disruptive behavior throughout the entire movie. In addition to this, one of them kept calling peo ple on his cell phone and holding conversations. I attempted to alert them to their rudeness by turn ing around and looking at them, but this did absolutely no good. In fact, I believe it may have made matters worse, because after that, the one sitting directly behind me placed his feet on the back of my chair and kicked me every now and again. There was a coach sitting right by me and my husband, sadly, he did nothing about the continual noise. Perhaps he didn't hear it. The most disturbing thing about this whole situ ation is that these young men are supposed to be role models and representatives of our great University. Maybe they didn't ask to be role mod- les, but like it or not, they most definitely are rep resentatives of A&M. We all are. I would like to see representatives displaying more respect and cour tesy to others. In short, I suggest that R.C. Slocum educate his athletes on proper movie-going etiquette before taking them in public. Jennifer Driscoll Nichols Class of 2000 kmir TLxm--«rrT\jrtA Leaving students distant Distance education is a poor choice E veryone knows those pro fessors are out there. The monotone voices that drone on, saying little else besides unenthusiastically read ing aloud the material presented in the textbook. There are the ones who talk about their high school basketball team and what they ate for lunch and rarely touch any thing relative to the class. Everyone has probably had an experience like one of these, and if you didn’t stop attending class altogether, you probably wish that you had. In addition to the time spent studying the material, you have to take time to teach it to yourself. Somewhere in the back of your mind, you probably are wishing there was a way to avoid problems such as these. The University does provide an opportunity for students to alleviate these problems them selves through the distance education pro gram. Lessons are identical and courses sim plified, and the student can arrange the class to meet his own time constraint needs. However, not only are these courses inef fective in teaching and testing the material, but students who enroll in these classes rarely come out of the course with a firm knowledge of the subject. True, these courses may have benefits. The appeal of organizing class times around your schedule is attractive to students who work or have hectic schedules. An obvious benefit for some is that these classes are not as challeng ing as courses taught in a traditional setting. However, the easy way out is not usually the best way, and students may find them selves unprepared in another class or later in life when they need the knowledge they were expected to have learned. During the 2001-02 year, 192 courses were offered via the Internet or as a video/televi sion series. Some undergraduate courses are offered each semester, but the graduate degree plans is where this program is channeling its focus. More than 14 degree plans are offered for graduate students, and a degree can be earned entirely through distance education. SARA FOLEY While the Department of Distance Education says these methods are effective, it is difficult to believe that a student can go through graduate school at Texas A&M without ever stepping foot on campus or in a classroom and have a degree equal to those who spend their time in traditional classes. It seems to cheapen the degrees others receive and the grades they earn. A&M has plans to expand the current distance education program, spending more resources and money on a plan that doesn’t benefit the students on campus. Although the department could not provide accurate data on the average grade in a distance education class, if you were to speak to anyone who has ever enrolled in such a course they will assure you of its ease and efficiency. One area that needs heavy reform is the testing policy. If students are taking a test in their home, there is no way to regulate them from using materials that would give them an unfair advantage, or having someone with them who would be willing to do the work for them. Another problem students complain about is the server constantly going down, causing problems in regards to due dates and time constraints. Any students who have lived on campus or frequently use the computers have experienced the maddening frustration that comes with the server that is not always dependable. When enrolled in a course which relies solely on the Internet, many technologi cal problems will arise. Although the distance education pro gram may remove one from those intolerable situations with professors, having difficult professors is part of college, and a realistic situation which will come about in the work force. By continuing to enroll in traditional courses, you may give up some convenience but gain experience and knowledge. Sara Foley is a sophomore journalism major.