Forum
:
The Battalion
Page 8 • Friday, September 19,
A commitment to excellence
A&M students should take advantage of research opportunities open to then
T he mission of Texas A&M is to offer an
outstanding education to students at both
the_undergraduate and graduate levels.
At our University, an integral component of this
process is the pursuit of new knowledge through
research and creativity. A&M is a research insti
tution and a world leader in many fields; however
it is not always clear to students the role that
research can play in their academic careers.
As an undergraduate student at A&M, I was
admittedly in the dark about research. To me,
research was something that my professors
seemed to care more about than anything else.
Book reports and chemistry experiments were
often things that came to mind when the term
“research” was mentioned. There appeared to be
no practical component and thus, research could
never be useful to me in the “real” world. If
there was ever a time in my life that I was com
pletely wrong about something, this was it.
Conducting research is about a commitment
to excellence. Discovering
and applying new knowl
edge requires dedication to
continuous learning, not
just when homework is
assigned or an exam is
approaching. Leadership is
developed as a student
becomes the one responsi
ble for tasks and results.
Written and verbal skills
Josh Peschel
are enhanced since the student must be able to
explain various details to individuals at many
different levels. All of these characteristics are
desired by employers regardless of what a stu
dent decides to do in his career.
Among the many A&M students already
including a research experience as part of their
education, several are focusing on topics related
to the state of Texas. One undergraduate student
in ocean engineering has developed a new
method to predict beach ero
sion along the Texas coast
line. Another student in polit
ical science has outlined the
influences of change in Texas
politics with regard to a shift
ing Hispanic majority.
Students are also impact
ing other parts of the world.
Research related to tracking
and classifying marine mam
mals on naval weapons testing sites was con
ducted in the Bahamas by one A&M student last
year. Economic relations between Japan and the
United States were modeled by a student in
interdisciplinary studies, which yielded several
predictive scenarios for future markets in the
Far East.
There are many ways that A&M students can
become active in research.
Approaching a professor in your department
is the best start. They will be able to tell y«
about their current interests and help you find
way to get involved. Sterling C. Evans Libran
another outstanding resource. Library staff
committed to helping students excel in all are;
of academics.
The upcoming Pathways Rescan
Symposium (http://www.tamug.edu/synipf
sium) and Student Research Wed
(http://srw.tamu.edu/srw) provide venues fora
A&M students to showcase their efforts.
Every student at A&M has the opportunity tote
a leader in research and to contribute to the better
ment of our society. Whether it is curing cancel
outlining a new political policy or discoverinji
new chemical, the time is now for all Aggies to
take advantage of this facet of their education.
Graduate Student Coucil President Josh Pack
is studying biological and agricultural aigiumi
MAIL CALL
Music downloading
story inaccurate
In response to Sept. 17 Aggielife:
I was quite dismayed to read the
article in The Battalion regarding
MP3 sharing on Wednesday, both for
its lack of research and its bias in
what sources were quoted.
Consider this: the Web site most
often quoted in the article,
www.musicunited.org, is known to
be run by the RIAA. Of course it’s
going to say that MP3 sharing is bad.
In addition, there are numerous
references to the act of ‘stealing
music.’ The issue at hand is copy
right infringement, not theft. They
are two separate and distinct
crimes in law.
As for the argument that file shar
ing hurts new and up-and-coming
artists, that is outright false. The
vast majority of new music groups
today enjoy the ease of publicity
available via P2P connection, since
it is near impossible to get a record
deal with certain large recording
companies.
Alleging that file sharing hurts the
artists would be a valid point, if the
RIAA gave the music artists their
due from the sale of their music.
However, most musicians make
very little off of their CDs, and many
are left wondering where their
money is after inking recording
deals.
Nathan Spanel
Class of 2006
remembered downloading before.
All they see is the digital media
stored on my computer.
The RIAA wants people like me to
stop downloading music. Fine. But
while I’m at it, I’ll stop buying
albums too. I’m not going to pay to
support a group which makes me
feel like I’m being persecuted for
looking for music I’ve never heard.
P2P programs lead
people to buy music
Thomas Critz
Class of 2005
entropy, which is a problem of
physics, and it’s not really a mys
tery. It’s the natural order of things;
all things go towards chaos. Why it’s
like that is the mystery; but again,
that’s physics. It has almost noth
ing to do with evolution itself.
In addition, the missing link is a
byproduct of the Theory of Evolution.
It wouldn’t exist but for that theory, so
saying it can’t explain the missing
link is, well, an odd thing to say. Of
course it can’t find the missing link
It’s the missing link because
Darwin’s theory says there should!*
something there, but we haven!
found enough evidence to positively
identify every australopithecene w
hominid that came between us and
the point where the chimp familyand
ours split.
Billy Brantingim
Class o/2003
I’ll admit, I’ve downloaded music
from peer-to-peer clients. Much of
what I downloaded I didn’t own.
However, I also own more than 100
CDs. Moreover, I wouldn’t own the
music I have now (with limited excep
tions) if it weren’t for Internet sampling.
I would never have bought a Korn
album if my only exposure to their
music was their singles on the
radio, I wouldn’t have gone to Ag
Kickoff to hear Pat Green, and I
would have never even considered
going to a concert hall to hear my
now-favorite symphonies.
The RIAA, though, would label me
a thief. They don’t see the stacks of
CDs I have. They don’t remember
all the times I bought albums I
Evolutionary theory
is scientific
In response to Sept. 18 mail call:
Mr. Rainey, I think, is kind of mis
taken on just what theory means. A
theory is a framework that sur
rounds the data that we’ve got over
the years and does its best to
explain the problem posed by that
evidence. The Theory of Evolution is
just a theory; it can’t be proven. It
can only be disproved, which hasn’t
happened yet because no one can
disprove it. It’s still the best expla
nation for what the scientists have
found all over the world.
And it has nothing to do with
Univt
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