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Athletes need to regain patriotism

Just eight years ago, the Dream Team, comprised of basketball legends Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and others, had 12 NBA and six NCAA championships under their belts before even entering the Olympic court in Barcelona. When they arrived in Spain, their opponents asked for their autographs and posed for pictures with the stars.

In contrast, this year’s players are virtual unknowns without a single championship win among them.
Sure, they’re talented. And yes, the United States probably will win the gold medal in Sydney.

But the fact that three of the NBA’s elite, Grant Hill of the Orlando Magic, and the Lakers’ Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal, turned down the opportunity to represent their country at the Sydney Games because they had “better things to do,” says something.

The Olympics seem to hold less of an appeal for our athletes. Maybe it is too much to ask them to travel across the globe to sweat for free. But what is going to be the excuse when the Games come back to the United States?

It was just eight years ago that being at the Olympics was an honor. Today, our players turn down their invitations because they don’t get paid or just because they don’t feel like traveling.

It seems that good old-fashioned patriotism just ain’t what it used to be.

In contrast, Wang Zhizhi, a forward for the Chinese national team, rejected a multimillion dollar offer to play for the Dallas Mavericks because he wanted to finish his obligations with the Chinese military. The 7-foot athlete represented his country Sunday in a 40-point loss to the United States.

Maybe our country could learn something from China.

Students complain about quality of food with no results

After serving two semesters on TCU’s House of Student Representatives, I have heard numerous reports of the student population’s concerns regarding TCU dining services. During my three years at TCU, I have watched this battle continue between the administration and the students. Students have complained about the outrageous price of food, the service provided by the employees and especially, the quality of the food.

In response to these complaints, I have heard an abundance of rumors every year regarding TCU’s plans to improve the students dining experience. These improvements have included such things as serving a higher quality of food, changing contractors from Marriott Food Service to Luby’s and making various off-campus restaurants included in the meal plan.

However, the only solution that has ever actually been offered to the students has been an increase in the variety of selections from which they have to choose. Yet this is not truly an improvement when the real problem is not the selection of meals, but the quality of the food.

TCU students are continuing to spend a great deal of money every semester on food that they do not enjoy. In addition to this, they spend an enormous amount of money on tuition every year so that they can go to a small, private school where they are not considered “just a number.” Therefore, I think it is ridiculous that when roughly 6,500 students have complaints about the same issue, they still cannot see any changes made toward improvement.

— Jennifer Robinson
senior psychology major

Foolish to spend money on new facilities when old ones are dingy

On June 19, TCU had the groundbreaking ceremony for the Tucker Technology Center. Eight months before this, I was sitting in my child psychology class as I watched the person sitting in front of me fall to the ground. The pole that was holding her desk up snapped in half and the desk fell over. The next class, I looked to where the old desk was and an orange desk sat in its place. I looked around the room to see at least 10 other orange desks where the same thing had happened.

As a psychology major and business minor I am readily aware of the double standard here at TCU. The business building has state-of-the-art equipment, sturdy desks, and even a mini cafeteria. In Winton-Scott Hall I have to shake my desk every day to make sure it can support my weight.

Why is TCU spending millions of dollars to build the technology building and add on to the business building when other buildings on campus are falling apart?

I agree that TCU should expand, especially with growing programs such as business and computer science. But this expansion should not occur at the expense of other programs. If TCU is going to achieve the tier-one status it seems to desire, then all areas must be improved, not just a select few.

— Natalia Bayer
senior psychology major