The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, March 08, 2004, Image 9

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Opinion
The Battalion
Page 9 • Wednesday, February 25,
Dropping bad grades
rude forgiveness concept should be incorporated into current Q-drop policy
or at least a year now, the Texas A&M
Student and Faculty Senates have
been considering a new grade policy,
new style Ft mt nothing has been passed. Last spring,
rim vi/ca^J j, e proposed "Modified GPR Calculation
resolution” was stopped just short of being
ml into action, according to The Battalion.
Although the Faculty Senate passed it,
Jniversity President Robert M. Gates did
lotsign it because there were complica-
onsthat the implementation task force ran
ito, along with some dissension from some
tudent Senate members. The resolution would
iave allowed a student to drop a class in which he
ladreceived a ‘D’ or ‘F’ during the previous semes-
er, as long as he acts within 15
lays of the following semester of
he bad grade. //
This topic, however, hasn’t died w
«§el.Along with the resolution from
asiyear that's still up in the air,
j hree concepts have been discussed.
}f these concepts, grade forgive-
wfiess is the best fit for students.
As noted before, the first idea for
0ulle! :onsideration is grade forgiveness,
omin,i nhere a student can just drop a poor
Outlet ^ F 16 from his transcript. This is
coring, bp pt for getting rid of unwanted
979-7M mdes and getting multiple chances
™ght and^ Mart with a clean slate. This con-
■ ist 1)6 2, '| cept is partly embedded in last
year’s proposed “Modified GPR
Calculation Resolution.”
The second is grade replace-
Ifthe grade
forgiveness concept
was incorporated
into the Q-drop
policy, students
could erase a few of
those needless
dasses along with
their bad-grade
baggage.
Furs
sns apply.
luiWmgsatnjt
r appt.
.where the student could replace a bad grade
»henhe retakes that class, instead of just averaging
two grades. For example, say a student had
toretake a physics or calculus class. The first time
a ‘D,’ the second time a ‘B.’ Instead of aver
aging the grades to get a ‘C’ for the class, he would
support &|walk away with a ‘B.’ This is fair because the stu-
se see rece#
shown that he knows the material.
The third idea is changing the current Q-drop
policy so that a student may use a Q-drop at the
ewloUhe semester. Pretend again that this stu-
hiisin a chemistry class and is sitting uncom-
iortably with an ‘F’ three weeks before the semes-
ler’send. His instructor has set up the class where
(htirT*^ 5 ^ ' s ^ P ercent of the course grade. So if
student can ace the final, he can wind up with
jrdays.
nlnal recwif
300 Gwrge
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jurces, 1101
a decent grade. With this new Q-drop pol
icy, he can sweat it out till the end of the
semester to see if he passes. If he doesn’t,
then he may Q-drop the class on the last
day of the semester.
The problem with all of these plans is
that they can easily lead to abuse.
Administrators and other critics say the pol
icy changes will encourage laziness. But
many students would say the University
should encourage success, not punish them
for a mess up during freshman year. Both sides
have a point.
Ideally, the grade forgiveness component
should be incorporated into the current Q-drop
policy. Pretend this time that a stu
dent is trying to get into graduate
school. As a freshman, he found
himself making a few ‘D’s as a
mechanical engineering major, so
he switched to business. Since
then, he has done well. He aspires
to get an MBA, but his freshman
past is coming back to haunt him.
Those classes he made ‘D’s in are
holding him down. They don’t
count for anything toward his
major, just extra hours that show
up on his transcript. But they are
lowering his GPA significantly
enough to where he might not be
able to fulfill his ambitions.
If the grade forgiveness concept
was incorporated into the Q-drop
policy, students could erase a few of
those needless classes along with their bad-grade
baggage. This new policy would help students suc
ceed, without encouraging students to be lazy
because they know that they only have a limited
number of Q-drops. If nothing else, at least the
"Modified GPR Calculation Resolution” from last
year should be pushed through and signed.
With Student Senate elections coming up, voters
should put pressure on senators to prove that they
really do represent the students and support a logi
cal new grade policy that helps students succeed.
David Ege is a junior
computer etigineermg major.
Ivan Flores • THE BATTALION
MAIL CALL
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In response to a Feb. 24 mail call:
Mr. Moore's recent mail call in which he
% that Christians are persecuted just as much
^ is homosexuals somewhat unconvincing. First of
question the accuracy of the statistics he quot-
regarding the number of Christians killed in
Although plenty of people mentioned it with
l3| ying numbers, I couldn't find the actual study
"'Where; no one bothered to reference the actual
We (other than saying it was from "Regent
wersity"). Perhaps Mr. Moore could send me a
opy, because I'd like to see their methods. The
owe is also questionable, considering Regent
® ersi ty is a Christian university run by Pat
fPertson, one of the most fundamentalist
'ustians in America. I would be much more willing
Wept a study by an independent group.
Wnd, those numbers, if correct, would be
wide, not in America. They also say nothing
many other groups are killed for their reli
cs beliefs. Regardless, the issue is persecution
Nsrica, and I apologize if I'm not sympathetic
w claims of persecution when almost every
''cal office is occupied by a Christian. If
Wans are being persecuted here, then it is by
r Christians,
» s ^’^i e ^ff erence between "straight pride" and
; , pride ' is in connotation. "Gay pride" events are
i/ent ^ t0 teaC ^ to,erance - while "straight pride"
an p S T 6 a ^° Ut l3eing int °l eran t- A straight person
hi 3 8ay pr ^ e event anc * k® accepted, while
p inc 0 | S i ex J Ua ' ^^ding a straight pride event would
and told to leave.
a is why a "straight pride" day is bigoted.
Adam Kemp
Class of 2005
a Vs want to marry gays
re sponse to a Feb. 23 mail call:
»sompt Llment * S absolute| y ludicrous, and I won-
>aii 2e h n ' rne k s P e °Ple who support your position
homospy 9 1 utely hypocritical you are being.
'ey want tu don t want the right to marry.
He;j7 lght t0 legal| y marr y the people
iry° u to e> 'I ls Pointless and absolutely stupid
lat aeav ay a les bian can marry a man, or
lis isnott! 1 h an sbou ’ cl m arry a woman, because
enter ° tlley ' ove: tbis is n °t who they wish
committed relationship with. This is
• ^ tll6 - —w. IW! |||^ Willi. IIIIW .w
‘A anann! 80Ve i rnmen t saying what homosexuals
u cannot do.
1,(1 lesbian^' governm ent dictated what gays
0, " es 'Whatt C h OUld and cou ' d not d 0 in tbeir own
id to s t nn l; . hey war, t now is the power of attorney
^yinethat" 18 Wfl ° tbey are because of bias. It's
an African American cannot marry a
white person. Nowhere is there a legal basis for this
definition of marriage that you cling to and if you
pull it out of scripture, realize that there is a lot in
the law that Christians do not follow, and stop your
hypocrisy before you show it to the world.
Sarah Fremgen
Class of 2004
Dot Snyder a good choice
On March 9, Aggies should cast their vote for Dot
Snyder for Congress. When it comes to District 17,
we need a representative who will truly represent
our conservative values in Washington. As former
Waco ISD board president and member, she helped
take W1SD from $3 million in the red to $14 million
in the black.
Dot Snyder's work towards ending the practice of
social promotion in WISD served as the example
that then-Gov. George W. Bush used throughout
the state of Texas. She was also appointed, by
Bush, to the Texas Healthy Kids Corporation Board
of Directors where she helped return $9 million to
the taxpayers.
As a rancher, Dot Snyder is passionate about pro
tecting Second Amendment rights, private property
rights and permanently repealing the death tax. Dot
Snyder has a proven record of action with results
and is an unwavering pro-life conservative
Republican. Dot Snyder has the experience and wis
dom necessary to resolve the problems facing
District 17. I encourage all Aggies to cast their vote
for Dot Snyder.
Charlie Leal
Class of 2003
Some courtesy rules to follow
As a TAMU bus operator, I have noticed a few
things about campus that needed to be brought up.
Look both ways before you cross a street. This sim
ple rule should keep us from adding a name to the
Silver Taps list.
Now, we are all grownups and do not need to be
walked across the street, but we did learn in kinder
garten to look both ways before crossing and do not
step out into traffic. Also, for you bike riding Ags:
Remember that bicycles have to obey all pedestrian
and traffic laws. For example, STOP SIGNS. If you
are riding in the bicycle lane and a bus is unloading
or loading, please slow down or stop as to not mull
over a passenger, especially if the doors are open
and the flashers are on. These are common courte
sies you can convey to your fellow Ags. Simply put,
do not walk into traffic, and pay attention to what
your are doing.
L. Reynard
Class of 2005
Despite the criticism,
‘Passion’ is accurate
Movie doesn't smear Jews or distort facts
N ews of Mel Gibson’s much-antici
pated movie “The Passion of the
Christ” has been circulating for at
least a year, and just about everyone has
an opinion on it. A motion picture, some
thing as regular in America as hamburgers
and Coca-Cola, has taken on a fiercely
controversial atmosphere because of the
main character, Jesus Christ. The film is a
graphic portrayal of the last 12 hours of
Christ’s life, from his arrest to his trial and
subsequent execution. Many think the movie will
be one of the greatest cinematic epics of our day.
Others oppose its release, saying it might ruffle
the feathers of various religions.
Many of the attacks on the movie come from
the Jewish community. The Anti-
Defamation League, a Jewish
watch group, condemns the pro
ject’s “poisonous accusations”
saying that it is an inaccurate por
trayal of the events and will cause
animosity between the movie’s
viewers and members of the
Jewish faith. The contention is
that the movie portrays Jewish
people as largely responsible for
the environment and public opin
ion that led to Jesus’ execution,
and they say it is wrong.
This is an issue that the
Christian church has addressed in
the past. The Vatican, in an attempt
to foster respect and understanding
between the two faiths, issued an
opinion as part of the second
Vatican Council of the 1960s.
The Vatican said, “What happened in His passion
cannot be charged against all the Jews, without dis
tinction, then alive, nor against the Jews of today.”
Clearly, its mandate, which everyone should
embrace, is that not all Jews in the world were
responsible then, and more importantly, the Jews
of today should not be held personally responsible
for events that occurred more than 2,000 years
ago. This principle is almost common sense and is
extended to many other groups in society today
such as descendants of slave holders or tyrannical
governments.
Sadly, these arguments miss the point of the
life and death of Jesus Christ.
“The Jesus of the Bible came into the world to
JOSHUA
LANGSTON
With the social
acceptability and
historical accuracy of
Mel Gibson's movie
verified, his film
should be viewed
and meditated on
rather than attacked
and feared.
die,” said Matt Graham, Class of 2003.
“He died for the sins of all of mankind, so
in that light we are all equally responsible
for his death. It doesn’t matter who was
actually there that day.”
Mel Gibson agrees, saying in an inter
view with ABC news that he would be
first in line of people responsible for
Jesus’ death. In fact, the only place in the
movie where Gibson appears is when his
hand is shown in a close-up nailing Jesus’
hand to the cross, a deeply symbolic role.
The next logical step for attack is to say the
story that Mel Gibson followed in his development
of the script is not historical fact. The story in
question is the Biblical summary of Jesus’ life in
the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
Unfortunately, this argument
hits a dead end here. The validity
of the gospels has been proven
repeatedly by historians and
archaeologists. In fact, there are
more than 100 times the number
of manuscripts of the Bible as
there are of the writings of
Aristotle, 99.5 percent of which
say the exact same thing, word-
for-word, according to
www.carm.org. This information
led Sir Frederic Kenyon in his
book “The Bible and
Archaeology” to summarize, “The
interval then between the dates of
original composition and the earli
est extant evidence becomes so
small as to be in fact negligible...
Both the authenticity and general integrity of the
books of the New Testament may be regarded as
finally established.”
With both the social acceptability and historical
accuracy of Mel Gibson’s movie verified, his film
should be viewed and meditated on rather than
attacked and feared. Since the original crucifiction
took place 2,000 years ago, Jesus has been the
most controversial figure in recorded history.
Aggies should see this movie for the rpose of
deciding for themselves whether they believe
Jesus is who he says he is. The real question is not
who killed Jesus, but instead, why did he die?
Joshua Langston is a senior
biology major.