The Blue Banner
September 14,2000
Opinions
The Blue Bdnner
Sean Clancy
Knock before entering
The new pamphlet program started by public safety in August invades
the privacy of students. The Safety Tips & On-campus Prevention (STOP)
flyer program began because of the steadily increasing rate of thefts on
campus.
Although this initiative shows that officers care about our safety and
belongings, it goes too far. All public safety needs to do is refrain from
going inside dormitory rooms and offices, even if the doors are open,
because those places are privacy zones for students and professors.
Putting a pamphlet on the door is sufficient enough to remind us that we
could have been robbed or someone could be waiting inside. Going for
the dramatic effect is not always the best policy.
Knowing that someone, even or especially an officer, can violate our
freedom is very scary. Does the university have the right to allow public
safety inside our rooms, without us there? If they do, it should be
stopped.
As adults, we should be able to say who can and cannot come into our
rooms. Although we do not own the property, we pay a substantial
amount of money to live on campus, and in turn expect to be able to
conduct a somewhat normal routine wihtout the threat of invasion.
Doesn't that entitle us to some privacy rights? We don't live at home
anymore — if we need reminders about what's good for us, we'll call
home. Let us take responsibility for our own mistakes. It's the only way
we'll learn anything.
Remrding the laborers
To most people, it is no secret that North Carolina is one of the more
unattractive states for prospective teachers, offering comparatively lower
salaries and fewer benefits than most states.
Efforts such as the implementation of the N.C. Teaching Fellows scholar
ship, wherein 400 incoming college freshmen a year promise to teach in
the state for four years in return for a sizeable scholarship, have increased
the number of prospective teachers, but Governor Jim Hunt has proposed
another incentive for teachers in the form of free tuition for children at in
state public universities.
Obviously, on a teacher's meager salary, affording the increasingly more
expensive tuition for a child to attend college is a difficult goal. If this
proposal becomes reality, many a N.C. schoolteacher and parent will be
able to breathe a little easier.
N.C. is in need of incentives to entice not only future teachers, but also to
retain existing teachers. As a state, there has been a 12.3 percent turnover
over the past four years among teachers. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg
school system, one of the largest and higher-paying systems in the state,
lost approximately 1 of every 5 teachers in their system last year.
A large number of high school seniors may be applying to become Teach
ing Fellows every year, but after those four required years, many will
likely leave for more lucrative positions if salaries and benefits are not
increased.
The proposal has not yet been finalized, but may include the stipulation
that free tuition for family members is offered to teachers only after teach
ing for a certain number of years. Even if a teacher has to achieve a certain
tenure before being able to reap these benefits, this is still another few
years that the school system will not have to search for a teacher.
N.C. has been lagging behind most states as far as teachers' salaries and
benefits in the past, but now has an opportunity to be the first state to
offer such an incentive for teachers. Some states offer free in-state tuition
for teachers who promise to teach in the state, but none offer free tuition
for the teacher's children.
The idea was originally proposed about five months ago, but was put on
hold because of budget constraints. The financial aspect of such a plan is a
major concern for legislators involved.
In the next decade, N.C. will need approximately 80,000-100,000 new
teachers. It is time to promise our teachers the rewards they deserve.
If I had a million dollars
We at The Blue Banner are just as sick and tired as everyone else of spend
ing ridiculous amounts of money on gasoline. So if we didn't have to
spend our hard-earned money to fill up the tank, this is how we'd spend
the extra bucks:
Exnma Jones: heavy sedatives
Cate Bergman: better wine
Sarah Wilkins: a new car
Kathryn Krouse: an Austin Healy Sprite
Lena Burns: a new tattoo
Sarah Lacy: cat litter
Lauren Deal: a Hello Kitty waffle iron
Mark West: a complete set of WWF action figures
Attendance a bad policy
Every semester, one of riie
first things professors explain
to students is the attendance
policy.
Without fail, every semester
I get one of those teachers that
must explain that they will
keep track ofevery second you
miss of their class, so they can
penalize your grade, so that
you will come and make bet
ter grades. They will also in
evitably explain that it is in
your best interest.
In this year’s UNCA cata
log, all that is said regarding
attendance is “Students are
responsible for regular class
attendance. Faculty members
are responsible for reporting
to the student’s advisor any
student whose repeated ab
sence from class is impairing
the student’s work,”
Now, assume I’m in a class
where the teacher lectures di
rectly from the text, with the
only digressions being to il
lustrate examples of key points
in the text, or to reminisce of
past events.
Then, I know that if I have
read and understand the ma
terial, my presence on a cer
tain day could be superfluous,
or at least not crucial to un
derstanding the fundamental
concepts of that particular day.
Also, let’s assume that some
thing has come up (God for
bid) that seems more impor
tant than attending a class. I
think it should be my deci
sion as to whether or not I
Columnist
need to go to class.
A few semesters ago, I had a
girlfriend who lived in south
ern Florida. I had a Monday-
Wednesday-Friday class that
I skipped often to drive to
Florida.
It is almost impossible to
drive to Florida and back be
tween Friday night and Mon
day morning and still actually
do something besides sleep
and eat while you are there.
However, it was an entry-
level class that was taught di
rectly from the book. I ended
up getting a B in the class,
until my professor averaged
in my attendance grade of
negative 30 to my overall
score, dropping me down to a
D for the semester.
He also neglected to notify
my advisor, perhaps because
my attendance did not impair
my work. Only his attendance
policy did that.
What purpose do actions like
this serve? The student might
decide that the most impor
tant thing in their life is the
class where the professor
thinks their class is the most
important thing in a student’s
life, or they might not.
Maybe the teacher will get
satisfaction out of ripping
apart a student’s overall grade
because of the impurities that
were inherent in a grade earned
through poor attendance.
Whatever the reasons are for
strict attendance policies, they
are not good enough.
This semester, I had a teacher
explain on the first day that
class began when the door
closed, and anyone who came
in after the door closed was
late. Furthermore, anyone late
was counted absent, and, of
course, anyone absent had
points counted off.
If my watch is eight seconds
off and I’m three seconds late
for class, my grade goes down.
That makes a lot of sense. Did
anyone reading this go to high
school? Did you not think
that you graduated?
While the education students
in college receive is usually
very important to the rest of
their lives, it is not manda
tory. Most professors explain
the situation by stating that
what is taught in their class
room is essential, and atten
dance policies raise the level
of attendance and, thus, raise
scores.
So, assuming students don’t
attend class, you could also
assume their scores are lower
and that they have learned
less, generally speaking.
Hopefully, everyone attend
ing college is smart enough to
figure out on their own that if
they don’t show up to class,
they need to do extra work or
risk a poor grade. If they keep
missing class, they probably
won’t be surprised to get a bad
grade.
Students pay money to come
to classes. In the same vein, if
you buy a dozen doughnuts,
nobody is going to penalize
you if you don’t eat them all.
What if the cable company
charged you five dollars every
month that you didn’t watch
every channel you were of
fered?
If not coming to class equals
not learning and that equals
poor grades, is that not incen
tive enough to go to class? No
one comes to school with as
pirations of doing really bad.
Do you think if every teacher
had a rigid attendance policy
college students would cease to
go out and party? Would frater
nities throw down their beer
bongs in order to better em
brace service projects, studying
and the lofty goals of dedicated
higher education?
Suppose the American gov
ernment wanted to provide
incentives for the American
public to exercise and stop
being fat and lazy. Would it
make sense to write tickets to
people who couldn’t find the
time to work out or, more
importantly, people who just
didn’t want to?
One important thing to re
member is that school may be
like a job sometimes with con
cern to deadlines and effort,
and it may be even more im
portant to an individual than
a job, but it is not a job, unless
you are a teacher.
I think teachers concerned
with attendance should shift
their focus from the students
to themselves and their teach
ing style. If this means bring
ing in more outside informa
tion into class and testing on
it, do that instead.
If it means changing styles
from straight lectiiring to more
interactive types of activities
that will promote class involve-
ment, why not? Shouldn’t
teachers and their classes be
irispiring or at least slightly
interesting?
Thert are a lot of excellent
professors at UNCA that
motivate students’ attendance,
participation and quality of
life. Most of them don’t ac
complish this by forcing un
happy students to fill their
classroom.
Traveling toward broke
Kay Alton
Columnist
Will everyone who believes
the present administration
cannot lower gas prices please
stand on their eyelashes?
The unfairness of these arti
ficially inflated gasoline prices
means I have to pay almost
$100 to drive to Montgom
ery, Alabama to meet my new
granddaughter.
If we didn’t know that Bill
Richardson, our federal en
ergy cabinet person, struck an
agreement with the oil cartel
to limit production in order
to boost Russia’s flagging
economy, we might believe
our government was on the
ide of the American con
sumer.
This presidential administra
tion betrays American citizens
time and again in the name of
national prosperity, only to
pour aid dollars into all areas
that might improve its image.
Resentment rises when our
commodities like oil products
are inflated in order to buy
friends in foreign places.
Coincidentally, any sense of
government for the people and
by the people becomes hollow
when we stand before these
icons of public theft. Who
can believe ordinary citizens
are uppermost in the consid
erations of our president and
his cabinet?
Not all citizens in the United
States of America are flush
with cash. This grandmother
has a budget, as do untold
regular folks around us. Be
trayal springs to mind when
considering these obscene
pump prices, knowing the
clout those in office have over
other world leaders.
The Asheville-Hender-
sonville area exceeded all other
prices for gasoline observed as
I traveled through South
Carolina, Georgia and Ala
bama.
Billboards along the inter
state seemed to mourn this
price gouging as much as I
did. Many signs sported can
vas shrouds covering entire
spaces that usually advertise
gas prices. Some signs indi
cated only the $1.5_ price,
leaving the final digit vacant
for an up-to-the-minute in
crease change.
Along the borders of South
Carolina and Georgia, prices
fell to lows of$1.379 per gal
lon. That was a whopping
decrease while traveling to and
from my destination.
Obviously, state agencies are
able to lower or raise prices,
because we see this reflected
in a ricocheting gasoline pric
ing pattern from the Adantic
to the Pacific, from Alaska to
Florida.
Predictably, front-page sto
ries reveal that a drive-away
gas theft epidemic exists in
Montgomery. Poor people
who have to use gasoline but
cannot afford it are reduced to
stealing.
The Clinton administration
supports other nations’
cheaper oil prices while, in
America, they are out of reach
for this basic necessity of our
families.
This administration callously
refuses to reconsider. Prefer
ring to engage in political fin
ger pointing, the Democrats
accuse the Republicans and
vice-versa. Meanwhile, we,
the little people of America,
desperately need relief at the
gas pump.
If we had their ear, we would
ask, “Mr. President and Mr.
Energy Secretary, what about
the voters who put you into
office?”
Our basic need for gasoline
and heating oil should be ex
empted from the present game
of election blame fixing.
Some of us have fixed in
comes, especially the elderly
and the retired.
However, the need to drive
to doctors, grocery stores, fam
ily visits and trips to the polls
all require a decent amount of
gasoline at a decent price. The
cold of winter will not be
warmed by heating oil prices
that are forecasted to double,
perhaps triple, this winter.
This week, we see that the
press reports that the oil cartel
is meeting and just might con
sider releasing a little more oil.
The leader of the number one
nation in the world surely can
convince producers to raise the
production, just as this admin
istration previously convinced
them to lower production.
No one’s standing on their
eyelashes, and nobody believes
this administration is power
less to lower gas prices. Riots
in the streets could occur. But
my hunch is that very soon,
much closer to election day,
these prices will be reduced.
By then, some people may
be in debt or in prison for
stealing what the government
has stolen from us through
artificially limitingoil produc
tion and allowing exorbitant
pricing at the pumps.
Perhaps we will help this ad
ministration remember that
we, the American public, in
creased their income and en
hanced their personal lifestyle
when we elected them to pub
lic office. We hoped for a bet
ter economy for all.
We, the faceless masses,
watch and wait while existing
on limited incomes and pay
ing very high taxes for our
presidential administration to
relieve this gasoline-pricing
crisis.
The common people need a
break in their cost of living,
beginning at the gasoline
pump.
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