| Keeping Busy
Ahh ... Thanksgiving. A day to eat until you can eat no more. It's a day to sit on the couch, watch football and complain about exactly how much you just ate. But after the food settles, and the clock ticks away the last seconds of the game, what's left for you to do? Stuff your neighbors' mailbox full of cranberry sauce. When they go to check their mail, be sure to mention to them that all your leftover sauce was stolen in a cranberry heist earlier that morning. Learn everything there is to know about this thing called Pokémon. What is it? Where is it from? And why are there news features about it every where you turn? Play rhyming games with your family for the rest of the days. Don't acknowledge anything they say unless it's in a rhyming phrase. Eat the leftover turkey out of a Styrofoam box to pretend like you're back at The Main. Hey, the food will still taste the same! Instead of the traditional football game in the backyard with the family, Tae Bo in the living room. That way, no one has to miss a phone call. So maybe you have other ideas of what to do after the big meal. Maybe they include football and naps, or maybe they include volunteering at a food bank. Start getting prepared for finals because they're closer than you think. But whatever you do, be safe and enjoy the break from classes.
Labs take time and deserve credit I made it. I conquered FrogNet and somehow managed to schedule the classes I wanted. Yes, I'm one of the lucky few. Of course, only after a couple phone calls to the registrar's office. But after a nice man informed me that the Healthy Lifestyles class was in the nursing section, not the health section (figure that one out), I was in business. Until I printed out a copy of my schedule. Listed were five different classes, three of which had labs attached, and only 13 hours of credit total. Thirteen hours? How is that possible? I will be spending a good 18 to 20 hours in class each week, yet it only counts for 13 hours. It's just sick. That, my friends, is why none of us will graduate in four years. Labs, for example, take up about an hour and 50 minutes each week, and most of us have more than one. This extra time though isn't just for practice. It may say "none" under the credit bracket for registration, but that doesn't mean "none" under grades. In two of my current classes, the labs count for 50 percent of the total class grade. That should be worth some credit. If TCU is going to allow a grade to be taken in that hour and 50 minutes, they sure as heck better be giving credit for it. Don't try to tell me that the lab is already accounted for in the three credit hours. I'm giving more time in the classes with labs than in the normal three-day-a-week classes worth three credit hours. So, those two structures of classes are definitely not equal. I appreciate that a class like second semester chemistry receives five credit hours. It convenes three times a week and has a lab of almost three hours. But what about the rest of us who are not going into medicine? Many art students go to class two times a week for three hours at a time and only receive three credits. The point is, there are a lot of other classes that deserve some attention. How about those pesky health and physical education classes? We are required to take them, and to add to the punishment, we are awarded with one measly credit hour. How pathetic. If I drag myself to aerobics two times a week for two hours at a time, it should make a bigger dent in my strive toward junior status. We actually do take notes and tests in these classes. OK, so it's not quite as challenging as other classes. But it is still time. As with any complaint, it's only fair to offer a solution. I suggest that every lab be worth one credit hour in addition to the lecture. Probably not an ingenious solution, I'm sure many students have already thought of this. My parents don't think 13 hours is funny anymore. They are starting to become annoyed with the idea that the college debt may be adding up for a semester or two more than expected. The blame is not to be placed on the registrar's office. They are not the ones who make the rules. I asked them why labs receive no credit, and they said it was because labs were possibly considered outside homework. They said a committee decides undergraduate curriculum and probably takes into consideration that professors grade students for labs. I'm sure a few of us would be willing to dispute that. Nevertheless, consider this a plea to the higher powers somewhere in Sadler Hall to take this issue into consideration.
Courtney Roach is a sophomore broadcast journalism major from Springfield, Mo. She can be reached at (caroach@delta.is.tcu.edu). Criticism for intent to post Ten Commandments unjustified The American media constantly criticize the government for not taking steps to improve our society. Yet, when legislators make the slightest move forward, they are often slammed by that same media and are referred to as nothing more than silly cartoon characters. In his column last month, Bob Ray Sanders of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram criticized and mocked legislators for their intent of placing the Ten Commandments on their office walls. His main argument is that legislators are hypocrites who have no business placing moral rules that they do not follow themselves on their walls. Sanders is making a sweeping generalization about many people with whom he has no personal relationship. He attacks them based upon the actions of a few. To judge the character of all legislators in this way is simply unfair. Second, let's assume for a moment that Sanders is right and that some legislators do not live by the Ten Commandments. Because they have "sinned" under Christian law does not mean that they should give up on what they believe in. In fact, that would be totally AGAINST Christian principles. No one is without faults. To preach against what you might have practiced before is human nature. We learn from our own mistakes as well as those of others. Sanders implies that the only reason for the posting of the Ten Commandments is because of pressure from conservatives who "want to impose their religious beliefs on others." Do opponents really believe that these words hung upon a wall will lead to great Christian conversions or baptisms on Capitol Hill? Anyone who doesn't already believe in the Ten Commandments is highly unlikely to change his or her mind upon seeing them on a government wall. Another aspect that Sanders and others oppose is the posting of the Ten Commandments in schools. He calls it "ridiculous" and adds that it is a "blatant disregard for religions other than Christianity and Judaism." Obviously he believes this to be a constitutional violation of church-state separation. However, Darwinism is now a huge part of school curriculum, even though it completely contradicts Christianity. What more blatant disregard for religion is there than that? Certainly, many more people in this country are offended by the thought of evolving from primates than by the Ten Commandments. A degree in rocket science is not necessary to realize that several of the Ten Commandments are common sense regardless of your religious beliefs. Lying, cheating, stealing and murder are wrong, and no society could survive without rules that govern against such actions. America and its laws are founded not only on the concepts of the Ten Commandments, but also on Christianity itself. As Sanders points out, this is offensive to some. Why then, do those who are offended not decline to use American money that clearly reads, "In God We Trust?" How is it that they are more offended by a plaque in an office they will probably never see than by the infinite number of coins or bills they will possess? It makes no sense. Sanders claims the whole idea of posting the Ten Commandments is a "Mickey Mouse idea from an obviously Goofy Congress." Maybe the media could learn something from Disney. "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all" would be a refreshing media concept. From Disney our children begin to learn right from wrong - some of the same ideas that can be found in those "offensive" Ten Commandments.
Lisa Perdue is a senior political science major from Aledo. She can be reached at (LisaTCU@aol.com). Bush is smart, but not smart enough to run the country Sarcasm is a tool many columnists use, some quite well. The trick, however, is to let your readers know that you are indeed being sarcastic. After reading a column in the Nov. 16 Dallas Morning News, I'm still not sure whether the author was being serious or sarcastic. In a commentary bearing the headline "Bush is a Lot Smarter Than his Detractors Will Admit," the columnist made several arguments - and I use that word loosely - in defense of Gov. George W. Bush that left me wondering what the tone of the article was. First, the columnist (whom I will hereafter refer to as "W") applauded Bush's lack of basic political knowledge in both his 1994 gubernatorial campaign and the current race for the Republican presidential nomination. "W" declared that in 1994, Bush was fully acquainted with the issues of Texas law "by the middle of the race." I don't know if he meant this to be funny or serious, but it casts some serious shadows on Bush's qualifications for office. Political figures should know what's going on in the area they plan to represent before they start campaigning, not halfway through. There's no room for ignorance in politics (yeah, right). Equally flawed was "W's" logic in regard to Bush's recent failure of a quiz on leaders of foreign nations. "W" actually praised Bush for admitting he didn't know the answers and said the governor wouldn't hesitate to refer the questions to someone who did know the answer. Come on. For a governor not to know the names of world leaders is not as big of a deal. He or she would probably never deal with them. For a presidential candidate not to know the names is a very different matter. If Bush is elected president, will he talk to the other world leaders or will he simply refer them to someone who knows what's going on? Heaven forbid the president should have to dirty his hands in foreign affairs. Who knows, maybe Bush will simply lose interest in foreign matters and drift out of contact with the leaders of other countries. After all, "W" pointed out that Bush "tends to disappear from a conversation if the subject doesn't interest him." Did "W" mean "subject" as in topic or conversation partner? Either way, the leader of the free world needs to have a long enough attention span to discuss topics that may not be of much interest to him, but of vital importance to even the smallest group of people in the world. In addition to having a short attention span, Bush is also neither visionary nor conceptual, according to "W." He's smart, though. He went to both Harvard and Yale, and must therefore be a genius. Wrong! That's like saying that I go to TCU and must therefore be a devout Christian. Nope, sorry. The great proof that "W" offers of Bush's genius is his ability to form "well-constructed sentences" and the fact that he claims to have studied diligently for the SAT so long ago. How do either of these "proofs" demonstrate brilliance? "The sky is blue, but the grass is green; however, the ocean is blue-green" is a well-constructed sentence, but it is not particularly intelligent. Wanting to attend a prestigious school is more a sign of vanity than intelligence. Notice that Texan Bush went to two out-of-state universities even though there are some here that would also endow him with a very good education. Harvard? Yale? That's name-dropping more than anything else. Intelligence? A college can't teach you that. It has to come from within. I'm sure Gov. Bush is indeed very smart. He did, in fact, graduate from college and graduate school. He just hasn't proven that he has the intelligence to run a country. Maybe he will before the election is over - after all, he figured it all out halfway through an earlier campaign.
Weekend Editor Pam Woodhead is a senior English major from Arlington. She can be reached at (pawoodhead@delta.is.tcu.edu). |
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