Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (July 28, 2004)
tens for MV ;h °ts, tesfc Jtments. One proven, two leonlsji e info. 764.|; If~voi7r( 11 Point, dan' I. one blact >tate 300 & 10021 '■000. 31x1m :>letely remn Opinion The Battalion Page 5 • Wednesday, July 28, 2004 Big budget bike racks £2 xcessive spending could be solved by better planning and individual contracts DAVID SHOEMAKER , 3bdrm/2lr ill have o*r i 979-7^ 64. ^2bthj he summer is not just bdrm7ii)ttua| tjppe f or students to i. 979.°229^ML catch a breather, but jiaHhlime when the University ^IHHches up as well. The Uni- roommate versity uses the summer break 1e Rachel°2= *° vor * < 011 P ro j ccts that would ■rapt the campus during the fal and spring semesters. >Sjfl 0ne thin g the University ^/mo+bisMches up on is bike racks. set-648s,■ me pi aces have been identi- fiedas in need of more rack space, so the Univer- siU is addressing this by installing new ones. ■The actual work is fairly simple — the rack ^Ts^isametal pole slid into supports stuck in the 5n ' w/d ■•Bound, and then has metal loops for locking bil es slid onto it — and could be installed in a k-zm 65 T ll P* e °f hours. Placing bricks under the racks 1 uld be done in a day or so, weather permit- t ig. Overall, it seems like one of the simpler 7-235-356t jl iprovements to be done on campus. 1 Bike racks are just one of the many projects that are related to the upkeep and improvements to residence halls on campus. Improvements are proposed by Residence Life and then submitted tl the Physical Plant for estimates. But then the ■w house ■ pi cess becomes murkier. If the Physical Plant dt s not do the job, it goes out for bids, or to a om fu n called Alpha Corporation. 778 5713 ■ r r . The problem is that not all jobs can be bid out f e to time constraints, meaning that Alpha, with contract, gets the job without any competi tion. This works fine for jobs identified long in vance, but this is not always the case. The list projects to be done this summer at ResLife’s request illustrates that not all projects are part of long term plan but on a more immediate basis. ResLife has a list of projects for this sum- I er, which can be found on the Residence Hall ssociation’s Web site. Many of the projects for is year were originally identified in a study of 979-690#: facilities conducted in 1996. andoah sutcB This study prioritized need for work on a Call 979-n ■tale from one to live, with ones being the most -^j^Hnportant. In the seven years since the study, 84 i-293-a Jpercentof the “priority one” jobs have been fin- nmate'ished, said ResLife’s Dan Mizer, who oversees O, Stll IWI me 3/2 io. +i/3u r Fall Redstone »nng. i, $325 i from ores, ishing. 97 o. and$2t ixcept bed! 7. g. 2bdmvl icluded, full irina, 4854 Brand : No smok Facilities and Operations for ResLife. But many jobs that were not in the study are being done as well. These projects include replacing shower doors, replacing ceiling tiles and replacing bike racks. In fact, the bike racks seem to stand out from the rest of the document. This is because of the seemingly high cost of expanding the bike racks near Mcln- nis Hall. The cost of expanding the racks there, as well as replacing the gravel under them with brick pavement is estimated at $16,000. A similar project planned for Walton Hall that includes adding tables and benches is estimated at $35,000. Although it is always good to ensure quality work is done, $16,000 is too high. It is possible that the project could run under estimate, but it could just as easily go over. The Physical Plant’s estimation shop has the responsibility of making an estimate for projects such as this. Jobs that do not go to Alpha or the Physical Plant are bid out. George Parker, assistant director of Re source Management for the Physical Plant, said the bidding usually takes seven to 11 weeks. This means that ResLife would need to iden tify work that is not part of the facility study by March or April for work to start at the end of the spring semester, so projects identified late in the spring must either be done exclusively by the Physical Plant or Alpha. In either case, there is no way for someone to come in with a better deal. Even though the Physical Plant does not make a profit and the cost of using Alpha is fixed by its contract, it is not guaranteed that it has the most cost-effective plan. The Physical Plant must allow more options to have the most cost- effective plan enacted. In cases where there is a long lead time, obvi ously the most cost effective contractor, whether it is Alpha, the Physical Plant or an outsider, will be cho sen. The trouble is that when the University needs work done over the summer, it is boxed in — it lacks time to pick and choose. More options could be available if several contractors had contracts like Alpha’s with the Physical Plant. That way there would be multiple providers of jobs. Under the current system, there is no competition for the jobs that go Alpha’s way. This way, when a job could not be put out for bids or completed by the Physical Plant, several compa nies under contract could compete to do the work. Competition is the best way to try to keep costs for such work down. Without it, there is no incentive to try to improve and be more efficient. Estimates for $16,000 bike racks seem to indicate that perhaps a little more efficiency is in order. David Shoemaker is a senior management major. Graphic by Grade Arenas 87-2481. ing roon*i»_ ugainvillea.** . i Hew parking system -—4astes time ;e. $425V | am a fifth year senior who registered on e for a spot in PA050, Zachry lot. I was ied my first and second choice and now 'e to park at Reed Arena for the entire year. I hope TS realizes that instead of Iting 15 minutes like I have in years past |a spot in Zachry lot, I will instead be mak- a 40- minute round trip from Reed to the jneering buildings every day for the next ir. There are 164 days of class this next ioo! year. Multiply this by 40 minutes nd trip) and you get 109.3 hours, the ount of my life TS will be wasting this ir. Multiplying 164 by 15 minutes (wait time) and you get 41 hours, the amount ly life that TS wasted last year. Subtract amount of my life that TS wasted last or SbdfflPB in souitiCiar from the amount of my life that they -820-0114^1 b e wasting this year and you get 68.3 eeded j as*; Jrs [\| 0Wi to top it all off, multiply 68.3 the thousands of students in the same lation that I am in and multiply that num- S'avanaf by the average value of a student’s time, it comes to several million dollars. How will TS compensate me for my ttime? I’d like to suggest a free park- pass for I doubt TS is going to recon- me for the full value of my time. MAIL CALL 3/2/2, sM j/mo. +1/3SI idmiMbth 1 U cable, lifl )/mo. 972$i led, uded.onDn'J adrm Itousej jets ok. fenced f imate oee# I condo ink >droom Sbai atie, 832-26 )a - fett, 713-226 2ba, $250/*' -744-0487 drm/1btli 3.1st mo# ■net include Adam Shephard Class of 2004 Abstract art can add to campus In response to Mike Walters’ July 27 column: Art of any kind is an open book for end less interpretation. Abstract art may be more conceptual than some, but I hardly see it was a reason to rage against all that is modern and forward. Mr. Walters is campaigning for art with concrete ideas and meanings, but show me a “realistic statue” that depicts the Spirit of Aggieland. What does a feeling or emotion like spirit look like? It’s unique to each person, so why not embrace the fact that everyone is different and free to think or feel as they wish with a piece of modern art that’s meaning is left to the eye of the beholder? “Modern art on campus will take away from traditional campus atmosphere?” No, people change the atmosphere of this campus. One piece of art will not make or break us, it is the people who hold the Aggie Spirit in their hearts, and if we need a piece of art or special event to prove that, we don’t really know what the Aggie Spirit is. Travis Hawkins Class of 2006 ing. Lols-t' smissat/ina/ m^piti), ' Fri(6pm# 3am-2:30pi" 20yrs. Iflitf Inn, Sle.26 Walk-ins *' nrlce by I® 7. Show-' he Battalion encourages letters to the editor. Letters should be 200 words or less and include the luthor’s name, class and phone number. The opinion editor reserves the right to edit letters for | ngth, style and accuracy. Letters may be submitted in person at 014 Reed McDonald with a valid I udent ID. Letters also may be mailed to: 015 Reed McDonald, 1111 TAMU, College Station, TX 7843-1 1 1 1. Fax: (979) S45-2647 Email: mailcall@thebattalion.net A&M should take advantage of Napster’s file-sharing solution T he file sharing war has seemed to die down in the past few months, after hundreds of lawsuits and settlements heightened the crackdown by the Recording Industry Associa tion of America against those who illegally downloaded mp3 music. Until recently, no real solution existed to the problem of young Americans wanting to listen to music but unwilling to pay $15 for a CD from which they only wanted one or two tracks. And while there were some efforts from Web sites such as BuyMusic.com to allow a customer to purchase an individual track, such services offered a lim ited selection. Luckily, Napster, which pio neered the original music-shar ing phenomenon, has once again stepped forward to solve the problem. This time, Napster is do ing it legally, and in an intelligent method that appears capable of quenching college students’ thirst for new music, while keeping the music industry pleased as well. Currently, Napster offers a subscription service that offers a library of 800,000 songs for a monthly rate of $9.95. While this is an affordable rate for most people, Napster has further reached out to college students by striking deals with colleges across the country. A&M should negotiate with Nap ster so that Aggies can benefit from this service as well. Pennsylvania State University was the first to make such a deal, and many others have followed suit, each making different deals. Some, such as the University of Southern California, offer Napster to its students at a reduced rate, while George Washington Univer sity is making the service free. Napster is even working with the universities’ music schools to add their own musicians to their music library, as they are doing at the University of Rochester. “This deal between Napster and the University of Rochester dem onstrates the momentum behind our initiative to put the world of legitimate digital music in the hands of college students — the nation’s most demanding music consumers,” said Larry Linietsky, Napster’s senior vice president of business development in a press release. Napster’s plan seems nothing short of business genius. With easy access to high-speed Internet connec tions, college students are can quickly amass thousands of illegal mp3s. By making deals with universities to make their downloading activities easy, affordable and legal, Napster keeps college students happy and safe from prosecution. There has been a lot of demand for a service like this on campus. Students want to get music through legal means,” said Matt Nehmer, a spokesman for George Washington University. Indeed, these deals may very well prove the start of a return to legality for many students who have strayed because of the ease of downloading mp3s. But Univer sity of Rochester Provost Charles Phelps feels that to make this return permanent, education is the answer. “We intend to mount a vigorous effort to educate members of the University community about their personal responsibilities to observe copyright regulations,” Phelps said. “The digital world — and our own institution’s role as the creator of‘intellectual prop erty’- demand that we respect the principles of ethical use for digital data and products.” In carrying out his vision, his school is exploring the creation of an undergraduate course that studies digital copy right issues. Will the deal between Napster and these universities bring illegal file sharing by college students to a halt? They won’t know for certain until the end of this school year how this “experiment” will work, but the officials at participating universities are ready to ex tend their one-year contracts if the program proves useful to students and the RIAA and A&M should jump on the bandwagon. Students should contact the administration and express an interest in this program. Texas A&M of ficials have continuously been trying to increase the quality of education of its university. While most of the administration’s meth ods have proven controver sial and even sometimes offensive to students, making a deal with Napster would be something the entire campus would benefit from. Certainly A&M doesn’t want the kind of press that comes with RIAA lawsuits filed against students. If a measure can be taken to prevent illegal file sharing on campus that lets students continue to download their favorite songs, it should. Napster seems to have the solution to this problem; Aggies should en courage their university to accept it. Mike Walters is a senior psychology major. MIKE WALTERS These deals may veiy well prove to be the start of a return to legality for many students who have strayed...
