| Water Woes
Almost from its opening day, the Mary D. and F. Howard Walsh Center for Performing Arts has not stood without problems. The acoustics of the building, especially the band and orchestra halls, are so problematic that many students and faculty have complained of headaches and ringing ears. As a result, a special acoustical pad was placed underneath the carpet last spring. Students also cited insufficient number of practice rooms as a shortcoming of the center. Not all of the Walsh Center's problems are internal, for it was also the focus of a major lawsuit brought on in August by the contractors hired to build it. The firm, Thos. S. Byrne Inc., claimed that TCU had not paid for "numerous changes" to the original contract that amount to a charge of $584,807. Attorneys for the university claimed that the extra costs were the result of errors and omissions on behalf of the contractors. While the lawsuit was an issue earlier in the semester, the Walsh Center is back under the microscope for floodings in the performance halls. The Broyles-Breeden Instrumental Rehearsal Hall flooded Sunday for the third time in the past year after water leaked in through the foundation of the building. The water damaged the carpet to the point that it will need to be replaced. The leakage was likely caused by runoff from the sprinkler systems outside the center. Similar floodings since last October raise the question: Why is this new facility experiencing so many problems? TCU spent quite a bit of money on this building, so it seems ludicrous to accuse the university of skimping - of sacrificing quality for the sake of saving a buck or two. The extra costs amassed by the contractors only reinforce the suspicion that the error lay in the building process. Responsibility for the problem is not as important as responsibility for the solution. No matter who is to blame for the floodings and the acoustics, the fact remains that the problems with the building should be solved. The Walsh Center was built for the enjoyment of both the performers and the audience, and students must feel they can practice and perform without fear of a sudden flood or headache.
Pay first, get beautiful child later Would-be parents who want to have a beautiful child can now bid on the eggs of models at an Internet auction site that officially premiered Monday. What's next - drive-thru egg donations? "Hi, I'd like an egg from a tall, athletic model with high SAT scores. Oh, and could you throw in the sperm of a tall, dark and handsome man from an Ivy League school?" "OK, that will be $150,000. Pay at the first window." The Web site is the creation of Ron Harris, a renowned New York photographer and award-winning horse breeder. Apparently, Harris has combined these skills to breed award-winning humans. At (www.ronsangels.com) - which calls itself "the only Web site which provides you with the unique opportunity to bid on eggs from beautiful and healthy women" - bidders can choose which model looks most like them or which model's looks they like the most. The site instructs interested donors to send a picture and two forms of photo identification along with a picture. Also, it says donors "must be beautiful, healthy and between 18 to 30 years old." But what is beautiful? And who defines it? Then at the Website potential parents bid in increments of $1,000 with bids starting between $15,000 and $150,000. A sperm auction is coming soon to the Web site with minimum bids between $10,000 and $50,000. Harris states on his Web site that beauty is worth the price these parents are paying for their pre-packaged child. "Beauty is its own reward," he posts on the site. "This is the first society to truly comprehend how important beautiful genes are to our evolution. Just watch television, and you will see that we are only interested in looking at beautiful people." It's perfectly natural for parents to want the best for their children. Everyone wants a perfect child. But the thing is, there's no such thing as a perfect child. Just because a child's biological mother is "beautiful" does not mean the offspring will win any fashion shows. There's this thing called a father who provides just as many chromosomes as the mother does. And people who think their children will have an advantage in life because they paid thousands of dollars for beautiful genes are kidding themselves. Surely there's nothing inherently evil about being beautiful, but to allow and even encourage the genetic selection that this idea promotes is to support the theory that beautiful people are more worthy of a good life. And if our society continues to breed the idea that the beautiful people are more valuable than others, we are begging for more eating disorders and emotional distresses than those that already exist in today's culture. Would parents love their children more if they were more athletic or made higher grades? Does the cost of conception correlate with the value of the child's life? The answer to both of these questions is no. While it's certainly commendable that parents are willing to sacrifice so much for their children, their driving purposes are still shallow and asinine. "Every organism is evolving to its most perfect state," Harris posts on his site. "If you could increase the chance of reproducing beautiful children, and thus giving them an advantage in society, would you?" Let's hope the future holds less of this "drive-thru" genetic programming and more natural conception. After all, this is one drive-thru order that can't be returned if somebody doesn't get what they ordered.
Opinion Editor Laura Head is a junior news-editorial journalism major from Shreveport, La. She can be reached at (lahead@-delta.is.tcu.edu). No parking causes distress It's Tuesday. I wake up in a great mood, dress for a day of learning and head off to class. The sun is shining as I smile and realize what a great hair day I'm having for a change. The morning is perfectly wonderful. Then I enter "the lots." I hit the first one at random, knowing my chances of finding a spot right away are about as good as growing wings. As expected, it's full with "waiters" at all entrances. I check my pager for the correct time - 9:08 a.m. No problem. Class isn't until 9:30. I'm still calm as I hit Lot 2, then 3, then 4. Yep, all full with "waiters." What a shocker. The expression of the blonde waiting in front of No. 4 informs me that I better be GLAD I didn't find a spot since she's already been waiting 15 minutes. I have a guest speaker in class today, so I have to be there on time. But if I leave now, I might miss an opening. I decide to wait three minutes and then bail. Seeing no potential "leavers" in sight by 9:17, I screech off. Time to panic. I scurry over to West Cantey Street, shift gears like a madwoman and wait through the eternal stoplight. Time is ticking! Don't these imbeciles in front of me know you can turn right on red? Who cares if a diesel is coming? Finally, they go, and I lay rubber crossing University Drive while praying that the church parking lot won't be blocked off for a special event. I whip into the entrance and see my salvation up ahead. Just as I fly over and am about to land, devastation hits. I see the spot is taped off and under construction. For just a fleeting moment, I wonder if my little car could move that asphalt mountain. But then sanity kicks in just long enough to make me move on. I'm over the edge now - a psychopath on the loose. I race back to Lot 1, determined to park anywhere. Up ahead I see a girl who has parked just outside the designated lines and is getting out. It's clearly an illegal spot. I pull in directly behind her, making it two illegally parked cars. I pry my fingers from the steering wheel, grab my books and rush to class. Safe! I slide into my seat and realize that only two of us have arrived in class. I grab my pen and try to regain composure after the 30-minute ordeal. I begin to think of the little yellow rectangular piece of paper that is about to be stuck under my windshield wiper. Was it worth $25 to me? As others drift into class, I wonder where the guest speaker is. As it turns out, he's 10 minutes late. Why you ask? I'll give you one guess. Parking at TCU is like trying to squeeze a cracker in a brick wall - mission: impossible. The Sept. 15 chancellor's report reads that, "Parking on campus has become the biggest issue among students and staff, and the University recognizes that this issue must be addressed." Obviously missing from that quote is "immediately." We need immediate action here so that a plan can be decided upon and construction may begin. The most logical answer to all the madness is a parking garage. However, some people in the TCU community feel that a parking garage would be "unattractive." Hmmm, isn't THAT special? Perhaps these people should ride with us to class on one of these fun-filled mornings. There are approximately 7,000 students at TCU spending anywhere from $10,000 to $20,000 a year here. Even at a minimal estimate, that's $100 MILLION from students alone! At that price, we should have a purple-mirrored parking garage trimmed in 14K gold with diamond-studded horny toads on top! All of us need to stop griping about the problem and do something. E-mail our chancellor today at (M.Ferrari@tcu.edu), and let him know how you feel. Realize that it will take you less than half the time to write as it will to find a parking space tomorrow morning. Our sanity depends on it.
Lisa Perdue is a senior political science major from Aledo, Texas. She can be reached at (LisaTCU@-aol.com). Letters to the editor Despite criticism, PeopleSoft system was right choice for TCU I like PeopleSoft. I know many of you will be critical of my statement. However, unless you have a complete understanding of how the decision was made to purchase this software, and of what options were available when this decision was made, then you are not in a position to judge. The installation of the new operating system is probably the single biggest project this university has undertaken in the past decade. Most people on campus have absolutely no understanding of the complexity of this process, regardless of software choice. Is PeopleSoft a perfect system? No. Does it have bugs and problems in the software design? Of course. Does it do everything we need it need it to do? I wish! Was it the right choice for TCU? Absolutely. Those who are so critical of this software seem to think that a better choice was available. Every software package available has flaws. There is no perfect "out of the box" solution that meets the needs of every area of the campus. TCU did not purchase PeopleSoft because of what it would do for us this year. We purchased it because it contains a tool-set that will allow us to build a system that will meet our needs for years to come. But it takes time to do so. It took us 14 years to get the old system the way we wanted it, and it still had flaws. How can anyone expect this installation to be perfect the first year it is online? The irony of this entire situation is that few people understand just how incredibly successful this project has been. Compared to virtually every other school in the country - not just PeopleSoft users, but all schools with new systems - we are way ahead of the game. The reason for this is that a large number of dedicated employees have virtually given up their personal lives for the last year. Many people spent many long nights on campus to pull this off. For someone who has had no involvement in the project to criticize the outcome is unfair to those who have done such extraordinary things to get us where we are today. And contrary to what many of my colleagues think, TCU did not spend millions of dollars to make our job easier. Many people, including me, are finding our jobs to be even more challenging. We spent millions of dollars to provide better service to our students. Are we there yet? Of course not, but we will be soon, and you will be amazed at what we will be able to accomplish when we get there. Michael Scott director of scholarships and student financial aid
Someone responsible for 'ripping off' students at eateries I read the article in the Oct. 14 Skiff regarding concerns with the Marriott food service, and I was disappointed that there was no mention of the outrageous prices that we are forced to pay. I think a whole article could be devoted to unearthing the truth as to who is responsible for ripping off every student at TCU. It took me a while to realize it, but when I found myself making trips to the ID center on a regular basis to add money to my meal plan, it finally hit me: This is real money I'm wasting on food that's worth half of what I pay for it. Every time I eat a meal on campus it costs me AT LEAST $7. That's $21 a day not including a snack or two. So, that mandatory $400 is gone in what, under a month? Something is very wrong here. I don't know who, but somewhere somebody is getting very rich off me, and I don't like it. William Gray sophomore premajor |
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