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The Battalion
Page 4B ♦ Thursday, February 26,200!
Students should learn
as much as possible
MAIL CALL
Hotard Hall must
stay open
In response to Carrie Pierce's
Feb. 24 article:
Sen. Kerry is not
moderate or a hero
In response to Collins
Ezeanyim Feb. 24 column:
AIDS failures areiri
all Bush’s fault
In response to imfe
Orman’s Feb. 23, coin:
I recently heard a student
on campus say, “I didn’t
come to college for an
educational experience.” My
first thought was, “What?”
How could you come to
Texas A&M University, an
internationally-renowned
institution, and not want to
get an educational experi
ence? And although she
meant that she only wanted to get a degree and
get out I found it amazing that any student
wouldn’t want to take advantage of the chances
we have to expand our minds outside of class.
However, it seems as of late that this is the
unfortunate mentality of
many students at A&M.
Students at this
University need to take
responsibility for creating
an educational experience
for themselves in and out
side-of the classroom.
There are a wealth of
opportunities to learn on
this campus, but students
are not taking advantage
of them.
Now is the time for
students to take these
opportunities to learn. As
students, there will never
be more time to learn than
now. After graduation,
full-time jobs, spouses
and children will occupy
most of our time, and
there won’t be time for learning. There are a
myriad of chances to leam about the world
around us here on campus. The Bush
Foundation brings amazing world leaders to
A&M more than once a month. Many academ
ic departments host lectures on contemporary
topics outside of the classroom that are free to
all students. Other campus organizations are
hosting programs about politics, religion and
science, just to name a few.
This is also a great time for learning because
this is the time when our minds are most open
to new ideas and experiences. Whether our par
ents like it or not, college is a time of self-dis
covery and learning. These are the years that
we figure out who we want to be. As students,
we can learn many things during these years
that will help us understand ourselves and who
we want to be when we leave here. We have
the opportunity to learn about everything from
leadership to politics during this time. It would
be a shame for any of us to walk away from our
college experience without taking in as many of
these new ideas as possible. We will be better
prepared for the world outside of college
equipped with this knowledge.
Taking advantage of the abundant opportuni
ties on this campus will
prepare us for our
futures but also for our
futures. In my experi
ence, employers are not
just looking for an appli
cant with book knowl
edge, but a student well-
versed in a variety of
topics. Employers are
looking for people who
can carry on adult con
versations about virtually
any topic, people who
have an understanding of
the world and people
who can work with
someone from a back
ground different from
their own. Fortunately,
we have the opportunity
to leam how to do all of
these things.
Even with all of these chances and all of
these reasons, few students seem to want to
expand their minds to their full potentials. I
challenge all of us to look beyond the class
room for knowledge and to learn about the
world in which we live.
Elizabeth Dacus is the MSC Council President
ELIZABETH
DACUS
Students as this University
need to take responsibility for
creating an educational
experience for themselves in
and outside of the dassroom.
There are a wealth of
opportunities to learn on
this campus, but students
are not taking advantage
of them.
Shutting down halls such as
Cain, Hotard and Legett is a huge
mistake! These halls contain a lot
of The University's history and
deserve to be kept as residence
halls, rather than impersonal
offices for faculty.
The history of Hotard Hall, built
in 1939, gives it a character and
sense of self not found in the
newer residence halls. Quirks,
such as community bathrooms,
funky staircases and the tiny
basement make Hotard undeni
ably unique and irreplaceable.
Hotard may be the smallest res
idence hall on campus, but it con
tributes as much as the larger res
idence halls to the school com
munity, proving how great their
residents are. Winning awards for
their residence hall programs and
having the greatest return rate on
campus are more important than
faculty offices.
The tight-knit community of
Hotard Hall has been creating
friendships for more than 50
years. Residents often live in the
dorm for several years or move
off campus with friends they met
in Hotard.
Since the University is getting
rid of these resident spaces there
will inevitable be more ugly,
impersonal modular residence
halls built. It makes no sense to
shut down two or more historic
residence halls when one building
could be built for the same pur
pose. This University needs to get
its head out of the sand and real
ize that by closing down our resi
dence halls it is destroying large
parts of our Aggie community.
Jocelyn Wright
Class of 2003
I agree that news outlets
should verify rumors before
reporting them. I am taken
aback by some of Mr. Ezeanyim’s
unnecessary and unfounded
comments in conveying his fun
damental idea.
First, his obvious dislike for Fox
News. While some liberal
Americans feel there is a conser
vative tilt to the reporting of Fox
News, I disagree. I believe its
reporting is far more centralist
than any other major news agency.
Secondly, while John Kerry is
most certainly an intelligent
man and a veteran, he is by no
means a war hero, nor does he
maintain a moderate voting
record. Kerry received the Silver
Star for action no more severe
than that encountered by thou
sands of Vietnam veterans.
Read the report for yourself and
form your own opinion. Kerry
was certainly intelligent enough
to request removal from
Vietnam through an obscure
regulation allowing thrice-
wounded soldiers to return
home, even though Kerry him
self said the three wounds were
not severe enough to limit his
duty more than two days.
As for his supposedly moder
ate voting record, Kerry has a
lifetime rating of 92 with the lib
eral Americans for Democratic
Action. A perfect liberal score is
100. Even Ted Kennedy has a
less liberal lifetime score at 88.
If that is moderate, then your
point of view must be so far left
as to be off the scale.
Michael Straney
Class of 2005
I would like to say that Ms,
Orman was absolutely rightto!
funding is not sufficiently ami
adequately being distribute
toward AIDS act promises, but
her statement “the only visiblt
results of the President's plam
are the three million peopled
have lost their lives to AIK
since he vowed to help them,"is
a fallacious statement of hast)
generalization.
Ms. Orman is justly blamiiij
Bush for not implementing his
plan, but she is unjustly blaming
him for the deaths of three ml
lion people. The massive
spreading of AIDS is definitelyj
cause for concern, and Bust
has been working actively to ha#
the trafficking of sex internafe
ally in order to limit the spreal
ingofAIDS. Conservatives have
been urging Bush to end se»
trafficking and that in turn i
significantly decrease the preva
lence of the disease. It is unfair
to say that his AIDS plan "has
been utterly futile."
Jessica Hollowst
Class of 2006
The Battalion encourages leticrsio
the editor. Letters must be 200 wordsor
less und include the author's name,
class and phone number. The opinion
editor reserves the right to edit letiersfor
length, style and accuracy. Letters nmft
submitted in person at 0)4 Reed
McDonald with a valid student ID. j
Letters also may be mailed to: 014 lit
McDonald. MS 1111,TexasA&V
University. College Station. TV IIM!-
1111. Fax: (979) X45-2M7 Email, mail-
cnll(h thchnttalion.net
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205 Brentwood, College Station
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NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING
Wednesday, MARCH 3, 2004
7:00 pm Lincoln Recreation Center
1000 Eleanor St.
College Station, TX
Woodway Park Development
The College Station Parks and Recreation Board will hold a public
hearing to consider the site development of Woodway Park. This park
is located along the south side of Holleman drive south of Sienna Ct.
Approx. 1 block west of Wellborn Road. ,
Features proposed for development may include a basketball court,
volleyball court, walking trails, lighting, picnic units, picnic shelter,
playground, and parking.
The meeting is open to the public and comments from the public are
encouraged. Interested individuals may respond to the Woodway Park
project by writing to:
College Station Parks and Recreation Department
Attention: Director
P.O.Box 9960
College Station, Texas 77842-9960
For additional information on the
meeting. Call the office of the
Sr. Secretary at 979-764-6271.
For more information or to
review related maps or plans,
please contact:
Peter B. Vanecek, College Station
Parks & Recreation Department at
979-764-3412
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Rudder Auditorium at 9:00 pm
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* Frtt activities in the MSC Basement: pd,
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