The J-TAC (Stephenville, Tex.), Vol. 155, No. 6, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 26, 1998 Page: 2 of 6
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Texan Commentary
J-TAC
February 26,1998
Editorial
Members of the J-TAC staff hold different views on the ticket issue. Some of us believe the Tarleton police
department needs to re-examine the way they issue tickets and the actual reasons they give tickets. Others
believe that the campus police are simply doing their job, and students shouldn't be parking in wrong spots any-
way. Then, there are those of us who believe that it doesn't matter either way, no one is really going to listen to
us anyway. It's a sad day at Tarleton when even one student thinks that his/her opinion does not matter on this
campus.
No matter what position you may take on this issue, nothing is going to happen unless you step forward and
reveal your opinion. That's what the Ticket Forum is for. This is an opportunity for students and the campus
police department to discuss all opinions about the issues. Maybe nothing will change, but one important thing
will happen — it will be on record that Tarleton students stood up to administration and spoke about these
issues. That's the first step, and without this step, nothing will ever be accomplished. We want to encourage
everyone to attend the Ticket Forum on March 3 from 2:30 - 3:30 p.m. in the Student Development Center
Room 22D.
Letters to, . .
liigi
e editor
Ticket Fever spreads across Tarleton
Now it seems to me from reading the paper every week that we have a great epidemic going around
Tarleton, it's not the flu, but it seems to be quite contagious. It's Ticket Fever! It seems to afflict those who
get tickets, for some reason they believe they shouldn't be getting them at all. How strange. It seems this
disease works on people's minds. The good news, however, is that it is quite curable. With a little pinch of
this and a couple of $10 and $15 medication fees you can avoid it forever.
From the way students carry on, especially our commentary editor, you'd think tickets were used to
finance University administration officials' trips to Vegas every weekend. However, I ^ave a one-stop, sure-
fire, fix-all solution to Ticket Fever. You see Ticket Fever is a perfectly voluntary disease, it seems to strike
only those who park where they are not supposed to. And when you park where you are not supposed to,
you get a ticket. (I admit it took me a while to grasp the coincidence.) But how do you know where you are
not supposed to park? It's easy; it's called the "Parking & Traffic Regulations Handbook." (That little white
book you get every semester when you receive your parking tag.) If you don't have one, anyone can' go by
the parking office and pick one up; they're free, and they even had some in English the other day. This
handy little booklet is the secret vaccine for Ticket Fever. Get it, read it, know it and you will never get a
ticket and still be able to park on campus.
Now let's talk about everyone's second symptom of Ticket Fever: The fact that Tarleton writes close to
500 tickets every week. Chief Hooper was asked this question once a couple of years ago, and I thought he
had quite a cunning response. Here is a paraphrased excerpt:
Question: Why do the Tarleton Police write nearly 500 tickets each week?
Answer: Because that's how many we find.
Question 2: And why do you find that many?
Answer 2: Because we pay people to find them.
So if you get a ticket this week does that mean you've been unjustly singled out? No, it means that you
and 499 other people parked where you weren't supposed to and someone who is paid to find you found
you. Actually I'm glad they write tickets, because it helps keep fees from being higher than they are.
So in closure, parking tickets aren't some global conspiracy against students, they're a conspiracy against
people who park where they shouldn't for longer than they should. I myself have paid a few $10 and $15
fees to have my Ticket Fever cured, and in every one of them, I was parked where I shouldn't have.
(Another strange coincidence I know.) So remember next time the little yellow envelope is on your car, you
deserved it. If you think you didn't, appeal. (Secret: It sometimes works, I won an appeal once.) And if you
lose, tough cookies, pay the fine and go on or maybe petition the Police to change the law. As for paying in
pennies? Remember, you pay with 1,500 pennies, you have to count the 1,500 pennies too. (And the police
'probably have a change sorter ready for the next person who does.)
! ff'JU ,/JUOI
Uf!
James Greshairi
Ticket Fever Survivor
Blame Tarleton for drop in dorm numbers
In response to the "Freshmen, Sophomore enrollment down," I would just have to say I am in outrage. If
one of the biggest factors is the residence hall occupancy, then I have several points to address:
1)1 live in Crockett, and it is a big problem having thousands of ramp meetings at the beginning of the
year. I am looking into apartments just because of them. Last time I checked, I was 19... I think I am old
enough to read the rule book.
2) CURFEW!...'nough said...I don't know what Tarleton is trying to do setting curfew, but it is really
making me angry. Thank you to all the parents who try to avoid teen sex, violence, etc...BUT EXCUSE ME
L.I MOVED AWAY FROM Y'ALL {...Actually, I am seeing major social trends in result of this. With all
the time studying, I have to MAKE time and move over some studying just to see my girlfriend within the
curfew. People on campus don't hold hands with their loved-ones that often, and sometimes I believe that I
am the only one on campus who is a social kisser. Controlling our social time should be ruled unconstitu-
tional... right there with freedom of speech...But the school only wants to see "good" grades...Not the indi-
vidual.
3) Prices...HELLO ! I can find apartments cheaper than the 1,000 dollars I put into my dorm a semes-
ter. And what exactly does my fee cover.,.Hmmm...The security doing her nails, forgetting the messages I
leave her„.A maintenance team who takes a week to fix a toilet...A heater that doesn't heat, but spreads mold
spores all over my room causing extreme allergies...Guys down the hall with boom boxes emitting sound fre-
quencies 220 kilojoules! I double pay for lost keys, as well as for cable.
4) The actual room itself...I am lucky to say that I only share one bathroom. I don't want to sound
spoiled in any way...But in my girlfriend's bathroom (Gough), she has to pay careful attention to washing her
feet due to the bathroom floors. Even when I was in Ferguson for a few weeks...It was not wise to go in the
showers without sandals...We had to watch out for athletes foot. Also, the poor conditions the maintenance
crew left our own bathroom after they fixed the toilet. The walls^arejtained brown as well as the tip of our
bathtub...THANKS GUYS ! Let's go give the housing coordinators a room check, and see what their places
look like...
5) Using the dorm for promotional purposes. I am sorry, but I have no joy with our so called student
government. I don't want to beat a drum, I don't want to go to free movies when they see fit, I don't want to
participate in cookouts, and I definitely do not want to spend 20 minutes choosing Resident Hall
Governments which only look good for the J-TAC to type a story on...
So, as the campus can see, the decline in freshmen, and sophomores enrollment is justifiable...IT's
Tarleton who made it possible. I don't know why they are so surprised about the numbers. My sugges-
tion—Quit acting so snobbish, and make it better for the student body to live at peace and feel appreciated as
"grown-ups."
The J-TAC, or anyone involved does not have any right to change any writing in my article but typos
which I know there are some...Thank you
Tim Harris
Bad professors hide under tenure blanket
If you want to stir up a lively discussion among your peers just mention the word tenure. The State of
Texas is also considering what to do about tenure. Many faculty seek tenure and promotion each year. Does
attaining tenure change the way a professor teaches? I would like to think that a good professor is not affect-
ed by attaining tenure. Tenure is more an administrative step that one strives for because of university policy.
Tenure does not mean that a professor is a better teacher than one without tenure. As a matter of fact, tenure
can be used to protect bad professors. I am sure that on every college or university campus there are just as
many good instructors and professors without tenure as there are with tenure.
I am also sure there are some very bad professors with tenure and nothing can be done because of the job
security that comes with tenure. This is a shame since the students are the ones who end up suffering. The
solution to this seems to be to eliminate tenure altogether. It would sure make it a lot easier to fire those bad
professors unless they go to the protective arms of a teachers' union. When was the last time you heard of a
teachers' union say, "Yes, we agree you are an incompetent professor?" The fact remains that it is very diffi-
cult to get rid of a bad teacher whether it is in the public school system or at the university level.
f \
Anonymous
What they appear to be — What they really are
1 New Science Bldg — Biological Weapons Facility
2 SDC — Soldier Development Center
3 Admin Bldg — President's Bunker
4 Men's Dorms — Barracks
5 Business Bldg — World's Computer
Take-over Center
\\
-
L<)-!**•
Wire
Barricade
Secret J-TAC operatives have obtained Tarleton State's real Master Plan for the year 2010,
but I have been unable to figure out whose handwriting is on the plan. A couple of reporters
lost their lives to get this information. Please remember them and their efforts.
Dublin
TARLET ONVILLE
Wade Miller
Commentary Editor
aaa, yaaa, yaaa
In the next couple of years y'all (I say y'all because hopefully I will be gone) will hear the roar of construc-
tion — the bulldozers and disgusting men who holler at the pretty women that walk by. "Hey baby, shake it!"
Splat! That's the bulldozer smashing the ignorant fools because they weren't paying attention to their work.
Where was I? Oh yeah, my point. Tarleton will have a new science building. You're supposed to jump up and
down now. Do it! Now!
t
I was looking through some J-TACs from earlier this semester, and I found an article written by our great
chief, Justin Wayne Beam. The story talked (sometimes they do that, you know — talk — though, nobody else
hears them) about the science building's cost per square foot increasing. The story went on to say that the size
of the building might need to be reduced. I started to wonder, and let me tell you, that can be a very bad thing
because I have no thought process what-so-ever, or so I've been told a countless number of times by y'all. I
started thinking about birds, then bricks, then buildings, then ugly buildings, then Tarleton, then faculty, then
stupidity, then money and then the science building.
I just hope that by the time it gets built that it's not some one-room shanty that only fits ten people and then
only when they're sitting on each other's laps. Someday visitors will stop by and say, "Oo wee, lookee how
much $28 mil got ya' back then."
I wanted to know what benefits students would have from this new facility. So, I decided to hop in my time
machine. You didn't know I had one of those, did you? Well... really, it's not much of a time machine but more
like a treadmill. I get on one and run really fast until I pass out, and while I'm passed out, I pretend that I'm in
the future, and on my last journey into my twilight zone, 50 years into the future, I read a J-TAC. While I'm
I thirfkiiig about it, I ran into Justirty«who still worked for the paper. One word of advice, Justin, be careful with
. J > ! - fii"/- ■-*«:
Back to the future, I read an article in the J-TAC about the new science building (well, neiv to us now, but in'
the future it's called the "28 Million Dollar Dump;" if you don't believe me, go find out for yourself). I'll try to
reprint the article in its entirety here; I don't have to worry about copyrights since it hasn't been written yet. and
besides Justin won't mind if I use another one of his stories. Now remember, I might have been drinking at the
time I went, so it might not be correct.
In a flash, Tarleton's science building went up in a stinky ball of smoke. On Monday, smokers accidentally
ignited the fumes of a project researchers were working on. No casualties were reported as of yesterday, but
John Willimson, junior biology major, is still listed as critical in the hospital. Willimson was a test subject at the
time of the explosion.
"My God! All I know is that the door opened — the wind rushed out — then there was a flash," said Bert
Thompson, senior biology major who was outside smoking a cigarette.
According to Stephenville's Fire Marshall, Chad Blake, the fire ignited when the building's door was opened
and the toxic fumes from the project rushed out and ignited with the fire from smokers' cigarettes. "Well, since
the building is so small, the fumes built up inside, and when the door opened... well, we know what happened
next. Combustion! Boom," said Blake.
Kurt Jones, fire investigator for the State, said that since the building's ventilation system wasn't working,
the fumes were not being removed properly. "We need to find out why they let aggies get involved in the build-
ing of this place. We've found that most projects, which involve aggies, tend to blow up," he added.
The research project was headed by Richard Downings, professor of biology. It involved testing the gases of
various subjects to find out why the gas stinks. The project had received a grant from the Federal Government
for $3 million last year. "It was a very important project; we wanted to find out why our gas stinks' and if there
was any way we could alleviate the problem," Downings said.
That's when I came back to the present, or actually, that's when my phone rang and woke me up. The future
is not set in stone, so it can be changed. I just hope that this science building lives up to all the expectations and
that we get our money's worth.
Editor's Note:
Regardless of what Commentary Editor Wade Miller writes, I do appreciate my hair, and 1 will have it to
appreciate for a long time. I will graduate on time. '
If you have any
suggestions,
comments or
responses about the
J-TAC, Tarleton or
world events, write a
letter to the editor.
Please submit your
typed commentary to
the J-TAC, Room 20
in the SDC, with your
name and social
security number at the
bottom. The deadline
for letters is Monday
at 5 p.m.
The J-TAC reserves
the right to refuse to
print any commentary
in poor taste and the
right to edit any letter.
J-TAC
W TarieUm Irdu Wttklj Ntw«
Editor-in-Chief
Justin Wayne Beam
Managing Editor
Kisty Hoffman
Commentary Editor
Wade Miller
Sports Editor
Chris McBride
Photography Editor
Joe Prado
Production Managers
Charles Crittenden, Jr.
Melissa Marshall
Advertising Manager
Cathryne Zacharias
Photographer
Sonya Whisenant
Web Editor
John Kerby
Robert Vaughan
Shadoe McGhee
Angela Brewer
Amy McDonald
Staff Writers
"Kathryn Forst Jeff Doty
Brian Botch Randy Jackson
Jeff Daskam Michael Teer
Adviser
Rachel Cruthirds
Web Address Email Address
http://www.tarlelon.edu/organizations/j-lae/ jtac@tarleton.edu
The J-TAC is published on Thursdays during the regular semester with the exception of university
holidays and examination periods.
The editorials express the opinions of the J-TAC staff. Other articles in the opinions section do not
necessarily express the views of this university or this newspaper.
Letters to the editor must contain a name, phone number and copy of student ID. However, the
name may be withheld by request if the previous information is given. Deadline for letters is 5 p.m.
Monday.
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The J-TAC (Stephenville, Tex.), Vol. 155, No. 6, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 26, 1998, newspaper, February 26, 1998; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth141921/m1/2/: accessed July 5, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Tarleton State University.