WORK
THE BATTALIO 1
titutioi
ih law was dropped
ig under an amends
a 1964 constituli
mder former Kim
id Zaher Shah,
i Afghanistan supper
i of Shariah impost;
ban, others argue Ik
v should be the law
the land — evi
if it’s not tk
interpretati
practiced by I
q Taliban, wit
emerged fn
hard-line reli
gious schools
Pakistan.
While
1 Arab
— define
uslim nations
i, some call Sharial
' their laws andsomt
icntion of Shariali
Tatyia enforces a ver-
nic law that is some-
strict than tie
me
state
as been given a
stitution for review
ease it to the publii
next few days,'
nal Review
a spokesman Abdul
Lewal said. He
comment on the con-
locument.
official said it would
Thursday or Friday,
ii returns from aa
cut the voice sound-
s no immediate way
ed by America ...is
even if it claims tial
:ampaign is seeking
ne and a law,” lie
id Bailout told Tie
lion received a tele
person saying they
I the station wot:
tape.
to
Opinion
The Battalion
Page 11 • Monday, September 29, 2003
TS must re-evaluate bus routes
DAVID
SHOEMAKER
E very day, more than 30,000 students
ride buses to commute to or get
around campus. Transit Services, for
merly known as Bus Ops, has been adding bus
routes since 1999 to improve mobility for stu
dents and accommodate those inconvenienced
by the construction of the West Campus
Garage. Implementation of these services has
strained the Transit Services’ budget to the
point that it now faces a $324,000 shortfall for
the fiscal year. Transit Services assessed that
the additional services added during West
Campus Garage construction have increased service costs
beyond the amount generated by the $50 per student transit fee.
Although at this point some type of service rationalization is
necessary in the face of increasing passengers, TS, students and
the University need to create a plan to deal with the service and
capital funding problems faced by Transit Services. TS needs to
adjust the services on routes with a low number or riders and
high cost routes to bring it more in line with the budget goal. It
also needs to reduce usage or retire as many older buses as pos
sible, and create a plan with the University and students to
replace buses to avoid such problems.
Transit Services’ solution has been to outline potential routes
and services to be reduced to make up for the shortfall. Even
with those efforts, high maintenance costs on the older Thomas
buses used by TS are still not addressed.
TS has already made plans for service changes to reduce the
deficit for this year. The goals primarily focus on off-campus
routes, such as the route used by students of the Rural Public
Health Medical School, or the route used for weekend off-cam
pus service. According to TS figures, the RPH route costs
almost $50 per passenger, which is simply unacceptable.
Many of the weekend routes also had high costs compared to
other routes, and five of the routes had fewer than 10 passen
gers an hour.
TS has decided that weekend service should be replaced by a
Dial-A-Ride service, where vans would pick up students on
weekends rather than run empty buses on fixed routes. Vans
should be used on other low ridership routes, especially in non
peak periods.
The expanded use of vans on low-density services, where
possible, might also help cut TS’ rising bus fuel and mainte
nance costs. According to TS, roughly $11,000 is spent each
year maintaining the old Thomas buses, compared to $7,000 for
the newer Nova buses.
Although the older buses cannot be retired yet, one way to
minimize costs for them is to reduce the hours they operate as
much as possible. According to TS, this reduction would help
cover all fuel costs as well, which comprises 9 percent of the
2004 budget. However, service changes and reductions in bus
hours, which are expected to total $180,000 this year, up from
$83,000 in fiscal 1998, are not enough.
TS needs to create a plan with students and the University
allowing them to plan for long-range bus acquisitions and main
tenance of service levels.
The plan should allow for the incremental purchase of buses
to replace the old Thomas buses on a
yearly basis, freeing up more of the
transit fee paid by students for
funding operations. Although
funds are probably not going to be
forthcoming for such a purchase
this year, such a plan would be
useful in the future. A plan that
purchases roughly eight
buses a year would
allow for full
replacement of
the older
buses in four
years.
The advan
tage of a pur
chase plan spread
out over several
years is that the
buses would not
come to the end of
once, which is a major problem currently facing TS. Thus, the
problem of having 49 steadily deteriorating buses needing
replacement en masse could be avoided in the future.
Transit Services faces a serious budget shortfall this year,
which is indicative of major problems inherent in its funding
and where the money is going. TS should not have to fully
shoulder the load of providing increased services and new bus
purchases on the same fixed fee. Students, university administra
tors and TS itself need to come to a comprehensive solution to
this problem.
David Shoemaker is a junior
management major.
their service lives all at
CRACIE ARENAS • THE BATTALION
College costs should be discussed during divorce
In a recent legal uprising
spreading across America.
- purenlSHre being ordered by
• courts to pay their children's
I tuition bills. This is not
I because their children have
I any sort of extenuating cir-
! cumstances or because the
! parents had previously
I agreed to pay. The reason is
I solely because the parents
■ are divorced.
Seventeen states permit such rulings in
• which divorced parents are forced to pay their
| children’s college costs. Recently, the New
; Hampshire House of Representatives became
i the first to prohibit such rulings, and the case is
; expected to go before the state Senate next year.
; In a generation where students are frequently
; the children of divorced parents, the problem of
1 college tuition payments will undoubtedly be
questioned. However, the question should be
answered during divorce settlements and not
when the tuition bills come in.
The major inconsistency with these rulings is
that no parents are legally required to pay their
child's tuition. Unless all parents are required to
pay their child’s tuition bills, regardless of their
marital status, divorced parents
should not be the exception.
As many students can
attest, parents are not always
the ones paying the bills.
Students often bear the bur-
den with student loans or
while they attend school.
Even many parents who are
financially able to pay tuition
bills require their children to
pay their own bills to build
responsibility. A married cou
ple does not necessarily pay
its child’s tuition bills, as
these rulings assume. Because of this, a
divorced parent should not be required to pay
either.
The rulings are based on what would have
happened had the parents remained together, a
fact that cannot be proven and should not have
anything based upon it.
These rulings that force divorced parents,
even those without partial custody, to pay for
college tuition are unfair
to the parent; the parent
may not have a close
relationship with his
child but still be required
to pay thousands of dol
lars in tuition payments.
The divorced parent in
question could have little
influence in the child’s
life, including his choice
of school, as was the
problem of Alexander
Duran. According to
cnn.com, Duran was
ordered to help pay tuition bills for his daughter,
who chose Brown University over a less expen
sive school that had given her a better financial
aid offer. Duran claimed that he had no input on
her decision, and that his ex-wife swayed their
As many students can attest,
parents are not always the ones
paying the bills. Students often
bear the burden with student
loans or holding jobs during
school
daughter’s decision.
Children of divorced parents are statistically
less likely to go to college, according to The
New York Times. This fact should not grant
them special treatment. While this may be true,
contributing factors such as the economic status
and ethnic backgrounds of divorced families
also increase the likelihood of those children
going to college.
Students faced with tuition payments have
plenty of options, such as military contracts,
loans, scholarships, grants or choosing to attend
a less expensive school. Having a divorced parent
should not be a guaranteed payment, and assum
ing that it is ignores the reality of the many stu
dents who put themselves through school.
Child support ends at 18, and at that age stu
dents should be mature enough to take responsi
bility for their own education.
Sara Foley is a junior
journalism major.
America
MAIL CALL
Leaving the game is
against tradition
mpr
L
m
What does the tradition of the
Twelfth Man mean to our school? Is it
something just symbolic we like to tell
our friends about to make ourselves
look good, or is it something special
to A&M that we actually practice?
On Saturday, we had to watch
our Aggies be outscored by
Pittsburgh. Shockingly, before the
fourth quarter even began, students
began leaving Kyle Field. That was
nothing compared to the mass exo
dus of students filing out with four
minutes left in the game. Once the
:game was over, another large
chunk left as the yell practice
began. Then, to make matters
worse, the team, which had lined
up facing the student body, had to
witness the ghastly sight.
Honestly, how hard is it to go to
the game, stand up, and stay until
the clock reads zero? Not only do
the players deserve this spirit, but if
we’re going to call ourselves the
best fans in the nation, we better
show it and stop fooling ourselves.
Anyone can call themselves great
fans when the team wins, but the
Twelfth Man should stand out
regardless of the outcome.
To the members of the Twelfth
;Man who stood and yelled the
: entire game; thank you, and it was a
privilege being there amongst you.
To the football team: we will show
you a better Kyle Field against
Baylor, but for now, let’s beat the
hell outta Texas Tech!
Cuyler Dear
Class of 2006
Students must stay
until the bitter end
I was saddened to read Sunday in
The Bryan College Station Eagle that
Kyle Field started emptying with
seven minutes left in the game
against Pittsburgh. During the Virginia
Tech game, I had to explain to my
mom that, although the Aggies were
certainly going to lose, we couldn’t
turn off the television because Aggies
stay for the whole game, win or lose.
Texas A&M is a special place to get
a college education, because not only
do you learn about your chosen field,
hopefully you’ll learn about how to
relate well with people. Be assured,
the football team surely noticed that
Kyle was quiet and empty. Some play
ers may have not cared, but some
probably felt like they were lied to
when they were told that Aggies
stand with them win or lose.
Yes, it’s just football. But look at the
bigger picture. When we learn to be
diligent in the little things we’ve been
given, we will be diligent over the
greater things to come.
Philo H. DuVal Jr. 1951 said, “I’ve
seen them play since way back when,
and they’ve always had the grit; I’ve
seen ‘em lose and I’ve seen ‘em win,
but I’ve never seen ‘em quit.”
They haven’t quit yet, so don’t quit
on them.
Cariho Casas
Class of 1999
evision. We love Texas A&M and we
love what Texas A&M stands for.
Lynda Ruffino
Class of 1992
An Aggie should
never boo
this behavior exists among my fel
low Aggies. I don’t care what kind of
call the referees made, Aggies do
not boo!
Robert Klepac
Class of 2003
An early exit is
unacceptable
I cannot believe that Aggie fans left
the Pittsburgh game early because
we were being outscored. My hus
band and I live in Iceland and would
give anything to be back at Kyle
Field. My husband spends time
every evening and weekend reading
as many articles as he can about the
Aggies. We miss going to the games
so badly that we set our alarm and
wake up at midnight just so we could
listen to the Internet broadcast of
the game. Of course we wish we
could have beaten the hell outta
Virginia Tech and Pittsburgh but we
were thrilled to feel like we were still
part of the Twelfth Man by listening
to the games.
The fact that our record stands at
2-2 should only inspire Aggies to
support their team even more. My
husband and I plan on waking up at
2 a.m. this Sunday morning so we
can watch the Aggies beat the hell
outta Texas Tech, if we are fortunate
enough to receive this game on tel-
I was extremely disappointed
today at the behavior my fellow
Aggies displayed at the game on
Saturday. It seems some people do
not recognize the true spirit of being
an Aggie. In all of the games I have
attended there has never been boo
ing in the stands. Aggies do not
boo; they hiss. I am not sure who it
was, but it bothers me to know that
The Battalion encourages letters to the edi
tor. 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 person 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 77843-1 111. Fax: (979) 845-2647 Email:
mailcall@thebattalion.net
__ ISRfcom
1
WttlTWW
jK MT DALLY