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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 29, 1996)
The Battalion March 29, FS i safety class :>nday jal Women's Safct/ Self Defense Class Monday, April fall sh Center, 600 [, Dp beings at 6:30 n to all females IJ s of B-CS police tie- ve presentations on efense, and the au- ■ the opportunity to dense maneuvers, p is free, and reser- ii raged. on, call 268-7273, ins push I passage JN (AP) - Lookinj re President Clinton publicans pushed for ay of legislation to ; to health insurance: nericans who loseti sure contained set- sions that drewlire House and Demtr ncluding limilsoi act ice awards and system of tax-rle- tridual savings at- ■ medical expenses age would send the ate, where Majority )le, the COP presi- ee-in-waiting, lias ate for next montli lest bill. rats, who favored) et of changes, said iverreaching. Cosmonauts ce station JTER, Houston (API nigs and tearyeyes, Atlantis' astronauts o the crew of Russt- m Mir and thenp y, leaving Shanta or a five-month sis rew unlatchedfc fir after five dayse’ Dime 250 miles ate tile circled Mir ok king session an# ay; it's scheduftt on Saturday, communicate wit a bad radio link, Ik I to relay their find jest wishes to Luci: ussian colleagues vi) ters. racks down ig criminals TON (AP) - Ptes : - ordered evictin' myone commiltinf jg-related crime» g, declaring a "or< u're out'' rulew)i :e such housing salt ml signed a directi'* sing Secretary Hew) je national guidete horities to incorpor) 1 * mgh tenant screeiwj merits, means any reside" ed for being involve* :d or violent crime, guest to take pad Conceivably, a fam' nmeless by the acte ■mbers FRIDAY March 29, 1 996 AMs,- Jils GGIE m M m * 11 WS lip 4: Page 3 Fighting stereotypes james Jolivette strives to accomplish goals through positive leadership, attitude Rachel Barry The Battalion W hen the emcee announced the the winner of the Mr. Black Posi tive Pageant last Saturday, James Jolivette was ready to clap for someone else, until he realized he was the winner. Jolivette, a sophomore biomedical science major, said he entered the pageant as a favor to some of his friends in the Zeta Phi Beta sorority that was hosting it. “I had told them if they needed me for anything, I would assist them in any way I could,” he said. “They gave me a call and said they needed another con testant, and I said, ‘Fine, I’ll do it.’” Irma Jones, a member of Zeta Phi Beta and a junior speech communications major, said the pageant was started at A&M in an effort to support and recog nize African-American men on campus. “We feel that the African-American male has taken a lot of heat from African-American women on campus,” she said. “We wanted to show that there are some positive African-American men here at Texas A&M.” While the men showed off their tal ents and competed in a formal and night wear competition, Jones said Mr. Black Positive was unlike other pageants designed for women. “We believe that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover,” she said. “That’s why it isn’t a beauty pageant. It’s what’s on the inside that counts.” Tallying up Jolivette’s philosophies on life and his plans for the future reveal his desire to help people around him. “A positive black man is one who knows what his goals are and has a plan to achieve those goals,” he said. “A positive black man also realizes that with him moving on and succeeding, he is opening doors for somebody to come along behind him.” Jolivette said that going back to the community from which he came, help ing out children and giving back to the community the strength and support it lent him is part of what being a positive black man is all about. “He’s a positive role model for kids, a mentor and a friend,” he said. “He’s there when you need him.” He also said a positive man has to care about what he is doing and how it will benefit his community. He said he wants to go further in life and succeed, but he also wants to bring other people from his community with him. “Since you were fortunate enough to go to a university and better yourself, it is only fitting to go back and bring somebody else up with you,” he said. “Not only because you want to do it, but because it’s your duty as a black male. iot, Night News W : ;imi 1. Editor is, Sports Editor adio Editor unich, GraphicsEdi k '’ 1 rati lies Editor , Pamela lienson, tier nher Pace, Danielle*' auma Wiggins ■el Barry, Krislin.i Bi 1 ' aber, lames Francis, l 1 ■ ifl & Alex Wallers; F '. Stephanie ChriV*' )isignir: Jody Hob . Baxter, Rob QaikJ* son, Elaine MejisJ'* dez & KieranWaW Rony Angkriwan, 1 * ve, Cory Willis Xi'* stin IDeLuca, My Ho 0 n, |ohn Lemons, eyard & Chris Yung iway, Mandy Calei, w Texas A&M Univcrsilf 1 lent of Journalism, phone: 845-3313;^ Tim Moog, The Battalion jolivette, a sophomore biomedical science major, speaks at the Mr. Black Positive pageant. You have to care to do this.” Jolivette said his positive attitude comes from the support of family and friends throughout his life. These are the people, he said, that pick him up when he is down and make him go on and who he can turn to when something goes wrong. He said their support is ever-present in his life. “The people who are traveling with me may not be going the same place I am,” he said, “but they are all coming with me.” He said moving ahead in his life may be difficult, though, when he is forced to fight the negative images and stereo types of black men created and perpetu ated by the disproportionate coverage of the media. “Sometimes, some people get caught up in what they see in the news, and there’s not a lot of representation of pos itive black men in the news,” he said. “What they see on the news mostly has negative connotations.” This, he said, causes African-Ameri can men to suffer because of a few. “Things that get highlighted are the bad things that African-American males do, and they really overshadows all the good things that we do as well,” he said. “But that just comes with the territory.” By participating in the Mr. Black Positive pageant, Jolivette said he hopes people will take from the event not only more respect for African-Amer ican males, but also the desire to seek out and get to know individuals and not judge them based on stereotypes. “I hope the pageant will let people know there are African-American men who don’t fit the mold of the bad things they think all black males do,” he said. “There’s not just one Mr. Black Positive; there are many Mr. Black Positives. “ He said that sometimes, finding them is hard. “(People) have to seek them out,” he said. “They’re not always in the lime light or trying to be seen. Men who are positive don’t seek rewards. They know what they are doing is for the good of the community. They do it because they want to, not because they have to or want recognition. They do it because they know it is important.” He said positive males are satisfied as long as they feel their work is being ap preciated and are helping to change some body’s life. “(Positive males) are the guys who are always working to better their community and to better themselves,” he said. “They don’t talk about their accomplishments.” With the work he has done and the recognition he has received, Jolivette says his best reward still comes in the form of simple acknowledgement. “I don’t need a plaque, or money or a trophy,” he said. “All I need is for some body to say, ‘Thank you.”’ Tim Moog, The Battalion jolivette is congratulated after he wins the Mr. Black Positive pageant. Vigilantes of Love bring Southern roots, music to B-CS Vigilantes of Love By John LeBas The Battalion B ill Mallonee, guitarist, vocalist and chief song writer for the Vigilantes of Love, knows roots. Roots rock forms the back ground of VOL’s sound, and Mallonee knows the impor tance of staying in touch with his performance roots, as well. “We like to play at smaller places, like coffee houses —- that’s how we got started,” Mallonee said. Saturday afternoon, Mal lonee will plant his Athens, Ga., roots in the College Sta tion Hastings for a short all acoustic set before VOL’s Dixie Theatre show later that night. Mallonee started VOL in 1990 in the Athens folk scene. As a “second-wave Athens band” pursuing a “grass-roots pioneer spirit,” VOL has transcended a vari ety of line-ups and musical styles in Mallonee’s effort to express himself. The band is now touring in support of its fifth release, Blister Soul, on which Mallonee incorporated guitars, Hammond organ, mandolins, accordions, pedal steel and sitars. “The band started out more acoustic,” Mallonee said, “but I’ve always liked the more punk overtones, so it’s been on both sides with folk and faster music.” The resulting sound is rem iniscent of some other South ern rock, Mallonee said. “It’s Southern in a roots sense,” he said. “We’re a thinking person’s roots rock band, with emphasis on lyrics and delivery.” The lyrics tend to focus on themes of human hurt, sin and redemption, Mallonee said. “I’m forever drawn to the question of where human na ture comes to the ultimate test and what that looks like from the inside out, from a highly personal and private point of view,” he said. ground,” Mallonee said. “I’ve always been a Velvet Under ground and a Byrds fan; I like that kind of jangly sound.” An R.E.M. fan, Mallonee said the college rock legends were in strumental in helping set a standard for bands like VOL. “They were more of a moti vator,” he said. “R.E.M. wrote books for most of the bands who are doing the college rock thing. But these alternative bands are now Top 40, and now there’s more of a gentrifi- "We're a thinking person's roots rock band, with emphasis on lyrics and delivery." — BILL MALLONEE guitarist / vocalist of Vigilantes of Love Mallonee said Blister Soul rue veals hints of Neil Young, the Beatles and Bob Dylan. “I wanted to achieve the sort of sound Dylan got early in his career,” Mallonee said. “His first albums were so spontaneous — like a set of emotional snapshots. And that’s the approach we took here — to just throw down a bunch of songs in the studio with as little rehearsal as pos sible to preserve the loose, live feel of the music.” Mallonee also compared VOL’s music to his Athens brethren, R.E.M. “There’s some of the early kind of R.E.M. records and de rivatives of bands like the Byrds and Velvet Under cation of rock again — more bands are doing the ‘out of their garage’ thing.” VOL, while signed to the Capricorn label, still feels the heat of the competitive music business and is trying to cement itself in the in creasingly popular “triple A” radio format. “We’ve had four songs in the triple A top 10,” Mallonee said. “But it takes a lot of money and push to break. We’re trying to break in triple A and then move into modern rock.” Since its 1995 release, Blis ter Soul has enjoyed good suc cess, Mallonee said. He is in See VOL Page 4