| Safety first
Two weeks from today, final exams will be over. The Main will close - it's gotten pretty good at being closed this semester - and we will line up at the bookstore to get a few extra bucks for the holidays. And at noon on Dec. 18, Residential Services will give on-campus residents the boot, kicking them out on the road to home. Whether your home is a 15-minute drive away or a 15-hour flight away, we ask that you have a safe trip home and a safe break. If you're driving home, follow the basic safety principles: Wear your seat belt, and don't speed. Try not to get too angry at the jerk who cuts you off. After all, you're in Texas. Expect it to happen. If you choose to drink on New Year's Eve - or any day, for that matter - do so responsibly. But whatever you do, please don't drink and drive. Although people between 16 and 24 years old comprise only 20 percent of the total licensed population and 20 percent of the total vehicle miles traveled in this country by all licensed drivers, they cause 42 percent of all fatal alcohol-related crashes, according to statistics compiled by the U. S. Department of Transportation. It's just not worth the risk. Find a designated driver. Be a designated driver. Enjoy your break from classes, but make a point to make it back here next semester. You'll be back just in time to line up at the bookstore again.
Celebration from afar Tradition is a big part of my family's Christmas. My mom bakes fruitcakes. My grandmother bakes pies. Lots of pies. We bring out this old calendar that tells the Christmas story as we open one little window at a time. Every year on Christmas Eve we read the Christmas story from Luke. While our family traditions changed a little when we moved to Texas (no more of Grandmother's pies and snow), they have stayed basically the same. But this Christmas, that all changes. I will be spending Christmas in Hyderabad, India. And I have no idea what Christmas will be like. I will be interning at Hyderabad Baptist Church for a month over the break when I will help teach English in the all-girl's orphanage that the church runs. I am so excited about going, but when I hear my sister say, "So, you'll be gone for Christmas?," I hesitate. Of course I want to go to India. But I am scared Christmas day will find me thinking of my mom baking fruitcakes, my sister decorating the tree and both of them reading the Luke story. While I am certain I will miss my family, I am also a little eager to see what Christmas in Hyderabad will be like. Will there be Christmas decorations, Christmas music, Christmas trees? I am guessing there won't be that Christmas snow, but I doubt Texas will have any either. If there aren't Christmas celebrations and traditions in India, will it still be Christmas? Although I love Christmas songs and family traditions, I remember the saying that "sometimes the good keeps us from the best." There is definite value in family traditions - I am learning that the time I spend with my family is limited, and I want to take advantage of it all. But maybe I let family traditions become Christmas, rather than a way to celebrate Christmas. And maybe being away from my family, I will see Christmas differently. I will be staying at the church compound when I am there with the pastor and his family close at hand. They will be celebrating the very same event but probably not in the same way. Maybe I will learn that Christmas isn't really those yummy peanut butter cookies with melting Hershey's Kisses on them. Maybe it isn't about going out in the cold to cut down a tree and then analyzing its peculiarities. And Christmas might take on a different meaning. Although tradition is usually part of Christmas and something most of us desire, maybe it is also limiting. Experiencing Christmas in a different country or cultural context might be strange, but it could also help us understand what Christmas means to others. Try to find a way to experience Christmas a little differently this year, whether it means celebrating with a family from a different country or simply learning how other people are celebrating. Now how do you say "Merry Christmas" in Telugu?
Tara Pope is a senior religion major from Longview. She can be reached at (tpope13@aol.com). A fair revocation Degrees earned at TCU should be revocable by the Board of Trustees for five years or the first five jobs after graduation, whichever comes first. If a TCU graduate goes into the work force and demonstrates incompetence or dishonesty, then the university can declare the diploma null and void. If any student embarrasses the university, they just return the diploma. Doesn't it seem like an intriguing idea to explore in this day and age? Ethicist Gary Pavela explores this issue in the Oct. 23 issue of the Chronicle of Higher Education. He says that "confirmation of good conduct and development of character are part of the informal curriculum [and are] therefore proper consideration when deciding whether to award a degree." There is an underlying current in the academic community that TCU sometimes graduates people who are not ready for the workplace. So what does an academic degree portray to the community? Certainly an employer should get more than four years of residence on campus in Fort Worth. A degree represents a certain level of academic excellence. Pavela argues for revoking degrees if the university finds that the student cheated or commits a disciplinary offense on campus that is not discovered until after graduation. It seems like there should be other reasons. If a student graduates from the School of Education and cannot pass a competency test in his or her field of study, the degree should be revoked. Certainly even during a time of grave teacher shortages, no one wants to send an unfit teacher into a classroom. This should give the School of Education great distress and the degree should be returned. There are those who might feel an incompetent engineer might return his diploma to TCU. Should we set the same standards of ethics for a journalist who writes irresponsibly or a theologian who preaches heresy? Perhaps it is time to look at why we awards degrees at this university. Pavela argues that when a student leaves college and enters the work force, "an institution assures potential employers that the [graduate] has developed some basic degree of emotional intelligence and social responsibility." So if a student does not have employable skills, it is fair for the Board of Trustees to revoke the diploma. It would send a message to each and every student that this university is serious about education. The Board of Trustees has the authority to award degrees. Just completing the required number of hours certainly does not qualify a student to don a cap and gown and be sent into the world. There has to be a higher bar of excellence that must surpassed before graduation is a foregone conclusion. Pavela believes that the extra requirement should be integrity. Perhaps so. If the task forces of the Commission on the Future of TCU have any courage, they will set the highest possible standards for this university. The litmus test for TCU students needs to be intelligence, common sense, integrity and character.
David Becker is a graduate student in Brite Divinity School from Pueblo, Colo. He can be reached at (evadgorf@aol.com). Skiff-ing breeds insanity Eat. Sleep. Skiff. We on the Skiff staff have worked long and hard to bring the paper to you every Tuesday through Friday this semester. For the past 55 issues (that's about four months in normal people time), we lived and breathed newspaper. What a sad, sad life we lived. Some would say we didn't work hard enough. OK, our adviser is probably the only one who would say that. But we still like her because she bought us pizza when we made deadline. Both times. To everyone who braved the crude jokes and the endless Disney World references to help produce the newspaper, we appreciate your help. We couldn't do it without all of the reporters, production staff and advertising staff. And, yes, even the copyeditors came in handy every now and then. To my roommate who I've hardly seen all semester, I'll be home this afternoon. Maybe we can take the cool bus to Taco Cabana for some quality roommate time. To my parents who moved to a new house in Shreveport, thanks for giving me the smallest bedroom. There's no reason for me to mention this here other than the fact that I remind them of this any chance I get. To everyone who picked up a copy of the Skiff - even if only for the crossword puzzles and to read my witty columns - thanks for giving us a chance to test the waters of journalism. As future journalists, we must be prepared to enter the world with experience and reporting skills. The Skiff is our vehicle for those purposes, and you continue to allow us to improve our reporting. Most of our goals for the campus newspaper have been met. Our staff reporters covered breaking news, features, profiles and much, much more. We covered the shooting at Wedgwood Baptist Church, the Commission on the Future of TCU and everything in between. Some of the things we did were fine examples of journalism. Others were not, but we learned from everything that happened. After all, that is why we're here. Best of all, we came together as a staff and had fun while we were producing a daily paper. And sometimes we had too much fun - fun that continued well into the early morning hours of the next day. But somehow, we always made it back to Moudy South to produce another paper for you. We know that you read it. If you had not read it, we wouldn't have gotten letters to the editor almost every week. All the Skiffs would not have been stolen two consecutive days in early November. To everyone who picked up 4,600 copies of the Skiff in one day, thanks for not dumping them in an obvious place. We would have found them. (We still haven't figured out why the Skiff was so popular right around election time for Student Government Association officers. All we can guess is that it was a damn good crossword puzzle.) Thank you for your time, your letters and your patience with us. Have a safe and happy holiday season. I hope you enjoy your time at home, even if your parents gave you the big room.
Opinion Editor Laura Head is a junior news-editorial journalism major from Shreveport, La. All of the other editors are jealous of her incredible knack for slamming doors. She can be reached at (lahead@delta.is.tcu.edu). |
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