Page 10 • Thursday, March 11,2001
Students need to find
what is important
Active hall directors
will pave the way »
A s spring sets in for the
Corps of Cadets, we
find ourselves begin
ning the process of seeking
out the leadership of the
future. For members of the
Class of 2005 in uniform,
eager anticipation to take
charge will generate a new
vision of how the oldest
organization at Texas A&M
should look next year. With the departure of the
Class of 2004 on May 15, the Corps will see the
end of an era in training doctrine and leadership
philosophy, as well as four years of experiences
that shaped the ideology of
an entire class.
With this in mind, many
have said that Corps morale
is at an all-time low due to
changes that have taken
place during the last year
and a half. For the most
part, a feeling of alienation
has been expressed by
members of the junior and
senior classes, who I
believe simply become
uncomfortable when
asked to do things that they do not find familiar.
A clash of culture that can be felt over the entire
University between the old and the new is, for
the most part, a matter of growing pains to bet
ter align A&M with American society today.
For the Corps, time will heal our wounds that
have caused the consternation of a generation
who merely grew up under the teachings of the
old regime.
Even with the turbulence of this year's
sweeping changes, we as an organization have
begun to see the fruits of our labor. Corps-wide
retention is up 3 percent; grades are up, if only
by 5 percent of a grade point; special units are
thriving, as proven by our national champion
Fish Drill Team, Ross Volunteers and Parsons
Mounted Cavalry. All of these are steps in
rebuilding and taking back the idea that the
Corps is developing the men and women who
will be here for A&M in coming years.
My predominant concern as a student leader
is that all Aggies are seeking a direction to
move toward, yet lacking a definite goal to
attain. The Corps is struggling, as the rest of
the student body is, to find what is important as
an A&M student. As Corps commander, I do
not want to lead 2,000 intellectuals with no
leadership skills, experience or aptitude for
command and management. Conversely, I do
not want the Corps to erode into a culture of
academic mediocrity. What we must, and are
attempting to create, are those supermen and
women who excel in both
of these very harsh environ
ments. These people who I
speak of do not come to
A&M with these qualities;
it is our responsibility as an
organization and the
University as a whole to
teach them.
That middle ground
between leadership and
academics is what Aggies
are famous for. It is this
infallible trait that has
shaped the characters of
those individuals who have helped build our
country into what it is. To the cadets I would
say our direction is clear, and it is unaltered
from that of generations of Aggies who preced
ed us. We must move to create and focus on
making men and women into intelligent, civic-
minded Americans who will work and fight for
something larger than themselves. This is what
we are, this is what we've always done and this
is what we will, as a school, move back to.
Will McAdams is
the Corps of Cadets commander
WILL
MCADAMS
My predominant
concern as a student leader
is that all Aggies are seeking
a direction to move forward,
yet lacking a definite goal to
attain.
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’0
PAiUMEMS
N o student leader can
honestly say that he
has grown during his
time at Texas A&M com
pletely on his own. In the
Residence Hall Association,
there are many advisers,
Graduate Hall Directors
(GHD) and Hall Directors CHRIS
(HD), each of whom advises mahaffey
his hall’s council. Some do
an outstanding job, but it seems unclear what
is expected from these hall directors from the
Department of Residence Life and what is
expected from the hall council.
Some HDs do an incredible job of advising
their hall councils, spending an exceptional
amount of time with the hall's leadership. One
hall president was happy to report that her hall
council officers hold weekly “one-on-ones
with the GHD.” Some hall directors even open
up their rooms in the residence halls for hall
council programming and leadership discus
sions and training. As a result, the leaders of
those halls are better prepared for leadership
situations and are better able to grow as lead
ers. Other HDs choose to be minimally
involved with their hall councils. One hall
president stated, in regard to the HD giving
leadership advice, that the adviser has, “never
tried to tell me anything that I could do to
improve on that,” and that he knows “there’s
always room for improvement.” However,
some hall councils view a minimally-involved
HD as a blessing in disguise. Another hall
president states that the HD “trusts (him)
enough to let (him) do the job (his) way,
which (he) appreciates greatly.”
Most hall directors are classified as part-
time workers and are paid for 20 hours per
week. However, they all work far more than
20 hours per week, handling resident issues,
staff and other situations that arise. Many feel
that it is not their job to develop leaders in
their hall council and that after dealing with
the hall’s management, they have little timeio
balance studies and hall council advising. One
thing organization advisers must realize is Itiai
although many do not consider themselves
part of the organization they advise, their
influence greatly weighs in on the perception
of the organization, and they influence which
students wish to become leaders in their
organization. Oftentimes, this is a good thing,
as an effective adviser will discourage most
negative leaders from joining his organization,
Other times, advisers inadvertently cause lead
ers to leave an organization. One hall council
president remarked that the hall counciTlost
some people because they don’t get along
with” the HD.
Clearly, the solution to this problem is not
simple. One solution would be to hire more
full-time HDs, allowing them to devote more
time to leadership development, but with budg
et restrictions, this seems infeasible. Another
option is for residence life to aid the Hall
Council members who wish to develop leader
ship skills by providing an opportunity for
them to audit courses in leadership develop
ment, or by working to provide a course in
application of leadership development for
those leaders. At A&M, we pride ourselves in
developing world-class leaders, and the
Residence Hall Association shares the same
charge. Without proper leadership developmem
and advising within the halls, we cannot possi
bly develop the leaders we need on campus.
But. active HDs and advisers are to be
applauded, and RH A will continue to work
harder than ever to empower and train the hall
leaders of the future.
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THE TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY STUDENT MEDIA BOARD
IS ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR
Editor
The Battalion
— Including radio and online editions —
Summer 2004 Fall 2004
(The summer editor will serve (The fall editor will serve
May 24 through Aug. 11, 2004) Aug. 16 through Dec 15, 2004)
Qualifications for editor in chief of The Battalion are:
• Be a Texas A&M student in good standing with the University and enrolled in at least six credit hours (4 if a
graduate student) during the term of office (unless fewer credits are required to graduate);
• Have at least a 2.00 cumulative grade point ratio (3.00 if a graduate student) and at least a 2.00 grade
point ratio (3.00 if a graduate student) in the semester immediately prior to the appointment, the semester
of appointment and semester during the term of office. In order for this provision to be met, at least six
hours (4 if a graduate student) must have been taken for that semester;
• Have completed JOUR 301 (Mass Communication, Law and Society), or equivalent;
• Have at least one year experience in a responsible editorial position on The Battalion or comparable daily
college newspaper,
-OR-
Have at least one year editorial experience on a commercial newspaper,
-OR-
Have completed at least 12 hours journalism, including JOUR 203 and 303 (Media Writing I and II), and
JOUR 304 (Editing for the Mass Media), or equivalent.
Editor
Aggieland
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Qualifications for editor in chief of the Aggieland yearbook are:
• Be a Texas A&M student in good standing with the University and enrolled in at least six credit hours (4 if a
graduate student) during the term of office (unless fewer credits are required to graduate);
• Have at least a 2.00 cumulative grade point ratio (3.00 if a graduate student) and at least a 2.00 grade
point ratio (3.00 if a graduate student) in the semester immediately prior to the appointment, the semester
of appointment and semester during the term of office. In order for this provision to be met, at least six
hours (4 if a graduate student) must have been taken for that semester;
• Have completed JOUR 301 (Mass Communication, Law and Society) and JOUR 302 (Graphics), or
equivalent;
• Have demonstrated ability in writing through university coursework or equivalent experience;
• Have at least one year experience in a responsible position on the Aggieland or comparable college
yearbook.
Application forms should be picked up and returned to Dell Bomnskie, Student Media business
coordinator, in Room 011A Reed McDonald Building. Deadline for submitting application: noon
Tuesday, March 23, 2004. Applicants will be interviewed during the Student Media Board Meeting
beginning at 8 a.m. Thursday, March 25, 2004, in room 221F Reed McDonald.
An Affirmative Action / Equal Opportunity Employer Committed to Diversity
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