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Opinion
The Battalion
Page 11 • Wednesday, January 28, 2004
Unraveling Chet Edwards
tudenn should vote Aggie Edwards to represent them in District 17
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ile most Texas
Democrats are still
cursing House
Majority Leader Tom Delay
and company for unjustly
redrawing district lines.
Congressman Chet Edwards,
a primary Republican tar
get for ousting, has put
the ordeal behind him.
\ Now serving his 14th
year in Congress, Edwards is
more interested in dealing
with issues that affect his
current district, as well as
looking ahead to additional
concerns held by the newly
created District 17, of
which Texas A&M and
Brazos County will be a
major component. Edwards
announced on Jan. 15 that
he will run for the District
17 seat, and in November
of this year, A&M students
should seize the opportunity
to elect not only a former
Aggie, but a congressman
who has proven his dedica
tion to central Texas and the
United States.
Edwards’ current district
includes Fort Hood, home to
42,(XX) soldiers and the largest
active-duty U.S. Army post in the
United States. He said he is sad
dened that he will not get the
opportunity to represent Fort
Hood after this term, but
considering his
Congressional
JOHN DAVID
BLAKLEY
record regarding troops and
veterans, all may be assured
that Edwards will continue to
give military needs more than
mere lip service. He recently
received the National Security
Leadership Award from the
American Security Council
and was named Legislator of
the Year by the Association of
the U.S. Army, an award
Edwards said he is especially proud of.
Mm
.iPE
... A&M students
should seize the
opportunity to elect not
only a former Aggie, but
a congressman who has
proven his dedication to
central Texas and the
United States.
One does not have to dig too deep
to find out why such honors have been
presented to Edwards. In the Nov. 8
Democratic Response to the President’s
Weekly Address, Edwards called for
increased funding for V.A. hospitals
and improved healthcare for injured
troops returning from Iraq. He also
brought attention to the Bush adminis
tration's proposal to cut $1.5 billion in
military construction funds for housing
and healthcare for troops and their fam
ilies, which would deny daily necessi
ties to those who are dedicating their
lives to their country.
Edwards has also earned a seat on
the House Appropriations Committee,
which recently set out the appropria
tions bill for 2(X)4. One particular fea
ture of the bill is emblematic of
Edwards’ dedication to the people of
his district. He managed to add $6.9
million to the legislation for transporta
tion, education, water and community
development in central Texas.
“Improving our roads and trans
portation system and protecting our
quality of water,” Edwards said, “tire
crucial infrastructure investments to
ensure our economic growth and quali
ty of life in central Texas.”
When in Washington, D.C., con
gressional leaders too often forget
about those back home. But Edwards’
track record has proven that he will not
fall into such a trap. This conviction
should be the goal of any elected repre
sentative, and Brazos County deserves
such dedication.
Healthcare is also among Edwards’
chief concerns. Last month, he intro
duced the Medicare Prescription Drug
Price Reduction Act into Congress. The
bill will allow Medicare to negotiate
with drug companies, resulting in lower
drug prices for seniors.
Though most fail to realize the con
sequences of a huge national debt, its
effects are felt in every community
through increases in the cost of buying a
home and building a business. Fiscal
irresponsibility leads to future genera
tions — including the student presently
in college — having to pay off debt. As
a sponsor of a Balanced Budget
Amendment to the Constitution.
Edwards knows that fiscal responsibility,
not reckless spending, helps Americans
today and down the road. Edwards has
said the failure of an administration to
be fiscally conservative and the resulting
rising debt, is analogous to the govern
ment charging huge expenses on the
next generation’s credit card.
When Brazos County decides who it
wants representing its interests, it
should not come down to politics and
partisanship. What will matter is expe
rience, a track record that shows gen
uine and heartfelt concern for con
stituents at home and dedication to the
United States and those who serve in
its armed forces. With these attributes
in Edwards’ comer, any candidate run
ning against the congressman will be in
for quite a race.
John David Blakley is a sophomore
political science major.
iro
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;ers
ndt
erformance-based pay
ot ideal for teachers
MAIL CALL
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here has been much
debate recently over
whether or not teach-
1 salaries should be par
tly based on their stu-
idle dems' progress in standard-
■d tests. Many teachers are
htfully outraged by the
a that their incomes may
affected by standardized
t scores and childrens'
nions of their classes.
Currently, teacher salaries are
Ised on experience and education,
ubbielough it may seem natural to base
nces'lsalary increase on the performance
)f|a given teacher, student grades
y not be directly related to their
cher's ability. This could hurt cer-
teachers more than others —
^ardless of their teaching ability
by giving an insufficient raise to
e of them, and more than what
[deserved to others.
"You have to be convinced that
[u can, in fact, measure the
gress that students make in a
ar, and that you can fairly tie it to
teacher," said Michael Allen of
ie Education Commission.
One of the main problems with the
;ument Allen presents and the pro-
sal for teacher salary increase is
ether the progress of the students
illy be measured accurately and
ectively by the standardized tests
tv in place. While it may seem that
ndardized tests are efficient and a
ictical means for knowledge com-
ison, they are not particularly stan-
"dized from state to state, nor are
y fair for students from lower
|ome areas and schools.
Ilf this new pay scale is indeed
ling to be set in place, the school
istricts and their locations need to
)e taken into account when the
Ichers are being observed and the
‘"'il scores are being calculated.
LAUREN
ESPOSITO
If the teacher is in a
lower income area, the test
scores of their students may
not, historically speaking, be
as high as the scores of
those students residing in
more affluent school dis
tricts. One cannot help but
wonder if the teachers who
took on a challenge by try
ing to bring quality educa
tion to a poorer area are going to be
penalized for doing so. If teachers'
pay is based on student perform
ance, this scenario seems feasible.
If that is the case, teachers will
not want to work in these specific
regions, knowing that their pay will
be significantly less than it would be
in other areas. It will then become
even harder to staff these districts,
which only hurts the children in
these areas in the end.
The National Education
Association, the country's largest
teachers' union, does not support
tying teacher pay to student scores,
said Tom Blanford, associate director
for teacher quality. Such a plan could
ignore the kind of performance that
doesn't show up in test scores, such
as a teacher who prevents a child
from dropping out or one who
inspires excellence in poetry.
With the teachers’ increase in pay
being primarily based on test
scores, it would give them no reason
to interact with the students in any
other way than to just cram basic
material into their heads in prepara
tion for a standardized test. This is
not the type of education that is
helpful for children in schools now
and in the future. The teacher who
is able to reach the child, and
unlock his or her imagination or a
dream is more worthy of a pay raise
than one who can make students
retain point-specific information.
On the other side of the argument
is the idea that many other profes
sions are in the same boat as teach
ers, and their pay is based solely on
their performance.
"Lawyers do it, engineers do it,
business people do it," said Louis
Gerstner Jr., the Teaching
Commission chairman. "All profes
sional people ultimately come up
with methodology to judge the dif
ference between great performance
and mediocre performance. Just
because it's hard doesn't mean we
can't do it."
Although Gerstner makes a point
for pay-based performance, judging
such performance and the pay that
would accompany it would be sub
jective and arbitrary.
According to the Teacher Quality
Bulletin, a survey done by Public
Agenda found that 51 percent of
parents want teachers in their dis
trict to receive monetary rewards if
their students consistently perform
well on the tests.
Would the parents also want the
teachers' pay to be docked if their stu
dents did not perform on a standard
ized test at a level that they chose?
It comes down to the fact that if
the students put forth a sufficient
amount of effort, their teachers
would receive a raise at the end of
the year because, in theory, the stu
dents will then do well on their stan
dardized test and demonstrate the
ability of the teachers at their school.
But even if the students do score
well, and the teacher is able to get a
raise, there really is much more to
rating a "quality" teacher than a few
standardized test scores, and that
should be taken into consideration.
Lauren Esposito is a senior
English major.
Visitors send thanks to
'good Samaritans'
On Dec. 5, at 5:30 p.m., 1, along with
my wife, Rose Marie J. Nagle, were
passing through College Station.
I am a native Texan, and I have been
doing research on the Nagle genealo
gy. I wanted to visit Nagle Hall, which
was named in honor of my grandfa
ther’s brother, James Nagle, who I
believe was Dean of Men at Texas
A&M in the early 20th Century — affec
tionately known as “Uncle Jimmy.”
Thanks are in order for three proud
Texas Aggies who witnessed Mrs.
Nagle’s fall when she broke two bones
in her left arm and were extremely
helpful in directing her to Beutel Health
Center, where, unfortunately, she was
n’t able to receive medical treatment.
We were given directions to an off-
campus emergency care center, which
we were unable to find. We would like to
thank the other good Samaritan whom
we asked for directions at a red light.
She said, “Follow me” and took us to
the front door of the emergency room
at St. Joseph Hospital.
Due to Mrs. Nagle’s intense pain, we
were remiss in getting names and phone
numbers of those good Samaritans. If
you were one of these people, please
call us collect at (505) 352-2419.
John F. Nagle II &
Hose Marie J. Nagle
Humane treatment not
priority for Saddam
In response to Sommer Hamilton’s
Jan. 26 column:
Ms. Hamilton grossly misrepresents
America’s position in Iraq by implying
that, only now that we have captured
Saddam, does the Bush administration
have a “fresh incentive” to return con
trol of Iraq to the Iraqis.
Our intentions in Iraq have been clear
from the beginning, and they included
the establishment of a free and demo
cratic Iraq.
It would appear that it is the world
community, represented by the U.N.,
that now has an incentive to disallow
freedom and democracy in Iraq.
Claudia Roth’s statement is under
standable, but this “top human rights
official” fails to realize a major differ
ence between Saddam’s behavior and
that which he will receive from the
newly-freed Iraqis. Namely, a trial,
which I believe he failed to grant to the
thousands he slaughtered over the
years.
While it is certainly within their pre
rogative to do so, it is not required of
nations to grant humane sentences to
the inhumane.
J. Stephen Addcox
Class of 2005
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