Page 6 THE BATTALION
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 26, 1977
V Prof says students work too hard
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By MICHELLE SMITH
In a hundred years at Texas
A&M, thousands of professors have
told half a million students that hard
work will inevitably win them high
grades and success in life.
And then there’s Professor Ar
nold LeUnes in the psychology de
partment. He says students work
too hard. He believes they should
play harder. “The problem with col
lege is competition is so cutthroat
that students are forced into these
weird habits of studying all the time
if they want to get into vet school or
law school or most any professional
field,” LeUnes said.
LeUnes advises his students to
play, and play hard.
“I work hard when I work, but I
play hard too, whether I’m shooting
the bull, drinking Budweiser or
playing softball,” LeUnes said.
LeUnes believes that students
should not be expected to know
from day one at college what they
will do with the rest of their lives.
He urges kids to organize their
weeks better to allow more time for
fun.
LeUnes works in the lofty re
cesses of the 4th floor Academic
Building when he’s not teaching his
abnormal psychology class or work
ing with retarded children in one of
the mental institutions in Texas.
His office walls are decorated by
prison art by inmates he has helped
at Huntsville. Gold shag carpet
worn by constant traffic covers the
floor. You walk in and find a chair, if
they’re not all already filled, and
this easy-going man from Oklahoma
confronts you with a warm smile.
LeUnes is presently consulting
psychologist for the Brenham State
School for the mentally retarded.
He was the consulting psycholo
gist for the Brenham-Washington
County Counseling Service for the
past four years. Also, LeUnes has
taught the polygraph course at the
Texas A&M police training school
for the past eight years.
In describing his job, LeUnes
thought back on the other jobs he’s
had.
“Anyone who’s done much slave
labor knows the feeling of getting up
in the morning and hoping it rains.
If it rains, you know you don’t have
to paint a house or carry concrete to
build a highway.
“When you have a good job, you
learn to value it a great deal. There
are so many people who have jobs
they can barely tolerate,” LeUnes
said.
“I can’t begin to tell you how
much I enjoy being in that class. It’s
like being on stage,” he added.
LeUnes’s approach is reflected by
his past students’ evaluations of
him.
“He makes you feel like you are
his only student. Dr. LeUnes can
relate to the individual and you
don’t feel like you are just part of
the masses,” said Sondra Goad, a
junior elementary education major.
“He’s an entertainer as much as
he’s a teacher, but you can tell he’d
rather be teaching than anything,”
said Annette Cuellar, a junior jour
nalism student.
“He keeps our attention by tell
ing us funny stories about things in
psychology that have happened to
him, and he has experiences for
every chapter of the book,” Cuellar
said.
“There’s not very many profes
sors like him left,” said Connie
Swartzwelder, a sophomore psy
chology major.
“Dr. LeUnes has a genuine inter
est in his students. He knows every
student’s name by the second week
of class, which is incredible consid
ering his volume of enrollment.”
LeUnes has taken more than
4,000 students on field trips to pris
ons in Huntsville and schools for the
mentally ill in Mexia and Brenham.
“Until you see what those people
go through, you really do not grasp
how they feel,” Swartzwelder
added.
The value of field trips impressed
LeUnes during a criminology
course at A&M with Prof. Dan Rus
sell.
“Russell was well known in
penology circles and he arranged a
trip to the Huntsville prison for his
class,” LeUnes said.
“We got the full red carpet treat
ment and I know it was because
Russell knew so many people there.
We went through four or five of the
units, including the female unit at
Goree, and we ate lunch there. I
learned so much that I decided if I
ever was a teacher, I would take my
classes there, too.”
LeUnes has taken 50 or 60 such
trips with his students since he
started teaching at Texas A&M ele
ven years ago.
LeUnes believes that the most in
spirational teacher he ever had was
Merle Bonney, distinguished pro
fessor of psychology at North Texas
State University where LeUnes did
his graduate work.
“Bonney had the most marvelous
command of discipline and humor.
He mixed the two so that we
laughed constantly in class and had
8-10 pages of notes before we knew
it,” explained LeUnes.
However, LeUnes was not always
so fortunate. He says he learned just
as much about teaching from bad
teachers as he has learned from
good ones.
“I remember one philosophy prof
who always had his head buried in
his notes, except when he’d look up
to say, “You see.” Well, I didn’t see,
so one time I sat and counted 143
‘You see’s’ in that hour and a half
period.”
Dr. Tony Bourgeois, one of
LeUnes’s colleagues in the psychol
ogy department, says that LeUnes
is a big recruiter for psychology
majors.
“He really has the talent for turn
ing kids on to that kind of work”
Bourgeois said.
Bourgeois is one of the five or six
guys in the psychology department
who jogs with LeUnes every day at
lunchtime. Also, LeUnes is man
ager of the psychology department’s
baseball team, which was formerly
called “Conditioned Helplessness.”
“You can tell LeUnes is just in
love with his profession,” said
Danny Simpson, a senior sociology
major.
“I loved the way he lectured. It’s
not like any other class and you
never look once at your watch to see
when class will be over. You can talk
to him about anything. If you want
to talk bass fishing, he can talk bass
fishing. If you want to talk hunting,
he can talk hunting. Whatever sub
ject you choose, LeUnes can stay in
the ball park with you.”
War Games
Members of the Brazos Valley Gaming Soci- Heyde, Jim Taggart, Paul Scott, Mike New-
ety spend their leisure time matching wits in ton ant j xim Harrelson.
strategic war games. Pictured here are Tom
'Hotel California’ gets good play
By PAUL MUELLER
Hotel California is the first
album the Eagles have released
since losing their banjoist, Bernie
Leadon, and adding guitarist Joe
Walsh to the band. Like many
people, I was surprised to hear that
Walsh had joined; his flashy guitar
style seemed out of keeping with
the Eagles’ smooth Southern
California sound. But this unlikely-
sounding combination seems to be
working out, at least musically, with
the help of a few compromises.
Walsh’s playing often seems sub
merged in the rest of the band’s
music, which in turn has become a
little more guitar-oriented than it
has been on recent albums.
“dueling guitar” licks by Walsh and
Don Felder.
Ask the average music listener
about the Eagles’ new album, and
you’ll probably hear all about “New
Kid In Town,” the album’s first big
single. This one is classic Eagles: a
slow melodic love song with sad
lyrics, sweet harmonizing vocals,
and smooth unobtrusive instrumen
tation. It is, all in all, an eminently
hummable song, and one that will
stay in the Top Ten for a good long
while.
As usual, the album is made up
almost entirely of popular songs that
get a lot of air play on the radio.
Side One starts with the title cut,
which seems to describe a mirage in
the desert (these interpretations of
the often-obscure lyrics are mine
alone; you can draw your own con
clusions). The song has a Spanish
flavor, provided by drums and
rhythm guitar, and features some
“Life In The Fast Lane” is typical
of the Eagles’ faster music. It’s a
negative view of the “fast life,” high
lighted by Walsh’s lead guitar. The
side ends on a quieter note with
“Wasted Time.” I’m going to go out
on a limb right now and make my
first prediction of the year: this song
will be in the Top Ten before very
long. As you might guess from the
title, it is about wasted time (and
love), and it’s a nice song to listen
to.
Side Two opens with “Wasted
Time (Reprise),” a short instrumen
tal played by a string section. It con
tinues with “Victim Of Love,
‘Silver Streak’ sports seasoned cast
By SHEP GRINNAN
If you’re combing the streets of
Bryan-College Station looking for
excellent adventure-comedy, try
the film “Silver Streak.” It provides
both an excellent story line and
lively characters to make a night of
entertainment surpassing the tube
almost anytime.
These characters include a some
what neurotic hero, Gene Wilder; a
jive black, Richard Pryor; a volup
tuous blond, Jill Clayburgh; and a
thoroughly despicable villian with a
nervous smile, played by Patrick
McGoohan. An All-American
fraternity brother type secret agent
and the stereotyped Dodge com
mercial southern sheriff also put in
an appearance.
The cast, headed by Wilder, con
tains no newcomers. Wilder ap
peared in “Bonnie and Clyde” as an
undertaker, and played in Mel
Brooks’s “The Producers,” “Blazing
Saddles,” and “Young Franken
stein.” He also appeared in “Willie
Wonka’s Chocolate Factory,” and
“Sherlock Holmes’ Smarter
Brother.” Clayburgh starred as
Carol Lombard in “Gable and Lom
bard,” a movie highly criticized but
praised for introducing Clayburgh
to the screen.
McGoohan starred in the old
television series, “Secret Agent,”
and “The Prisoner.” He also played
the British agent in Howard
Hughes’s favorite film, “Ice Station
Zebra.” More recently, McGoohan
was the villian in the television
production of “Man in the Iron
Mask.”
“Silver Streak” details publishing
executive George Caldwell’s adven
tures aboard an AmTrack-like train
as he becomes involved with a
strange crew of secret agents,
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uptuous blond.
Caldwell decides to take the
Silver Streak from Los Angeles to
Chicago because, as he tells
Clayburgh, he wants to be bored.
He’s never traveled by train before
but looks forward to his initiation to
train life, abley aided by a friendly
secret agent posing as a vitamin
salesman. The agent (Bob Sweet)
tells Caldwell the train is a “single’s
bar on wheels.” He thinks “its
something about the motion of the
train that does it.”
Caldwell is decidedly skeptical
about the train’s influence on the
female mind until Hille, played by
Clayburgh, dines with him, sips a
little too much champagne and falls
in love with him. When the two of
them are finally alone in the room
they have created from their adjoin
ing compartments, Caldwell looks
out the window and sees a dead man
fall from the roof of the train. Fi
then on Caldwell and Hille,
joined by Richard Pryor, figk
bad guys to save their lives anil
dead man’s secret.
McGoohan plays the worsto(
bad guys, Roger Devereai,
head of an international forging
eration.
Altogether, “Silver Streak is
entertaining movie that comli:
warmth with intrigue and hut
with the somber topic of murl
The film allows Wilder to break
of his zany stereotyped image
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giving him a part as a fairly non avid C
straight guy. Clayburgh is excel
as the pretty girl next door whol
been somewhat buffeted by life!
still remains vulnerable, feminj
and competent. Pryor is
as a thief with soul. But McGoolj
with his detach air of total unci
cern for life, makes you want toJ
him.
another fast rocker, with Walsh
again playing lead. This song sounds
best at high volume.
“Pretty Maids All In A Row” is
mostly Joe Walsh’s song. He co
wrote it (employing his usual foggy
lyrics) and plays guitar, piano, and
synthesizer. He also sings the lead
vocal; his easily-recognized voice is
well suited to the doleful lyrics.
Randy Meisner, the band’s bass
player, wrote the next song, called
“Try And Love Again,” and also
sings the lead vocal. His voice is a
nice change from Don Henley’s
usual singing, and the separate
guitar lines in the two channels are
also nice.
The album ends with a strong cut
called “The Last Resort.” I am not
sure just what the song is trying to
say, but I think it has something to
do with religion and Indians, among
other things. Anyway, it is a more
serious song that the Eagles usually
sing, and contains some powerful
playing.
The production and finish of the
album are very good, as they usually
are on Eagles albums. If you’re an
Eagles fan, buy it — I think you’ll
like it.
Bestsellers
United Press International
PUBLISHER S WEEKLY
FICTION
Trinity - Leon Uris
Sleeping Murder - Agatha Christie
Raise the Titanic - Clive Cussler
The Crash of’79 - Paul E. Erdman
Storm Warning - Jack Higgins
Slapstick Or Lonesome No More -
Kurt Vonnegut
The Users - Joyce Haber
Ceremony of the Innocent - Taylor
Caldwell
Lovers and Tyrants - Francine du
Plessix Gray
October Light - John Gardner
NONFICTION
Roots - Alex Haley
Passages: The Predictable Crises of
Adult Life - Gail Sheehy
Your Erroneous Zones - Dr. Wayne
W. Dyer
Blind Ambition - John Dean
The Hite Report - Shere Hite
The Grass Is Always Greener Over
The Septic Tank - Erma Bombeck
A Civil Tongue - Edwin Newman
Adolf Hitler - John Tolland
The Right and the Power - Leon
Jaworski
Letters of E.B. White - Dorothy
Lobrano Guth, editor
Silver Streaks’ Wilder and Pryor
Poet, lyricist Bob French
^ par
to play at MSC Basement^
Farsi
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fade
Horseman s group holds spring judging
By TONY GALLUCCI
- ...and many men have died since
summer of a year ago...a friend of
ours died just last week...I thought
you’d want to know.. spring is com
pleting the link on the chain.. .seems
a shame to shy away from what it
holds in store.
Summer, Bob French, reprinted
by permission
By JEANNINE ATZENHOFFER
Dreary skies were no barrier to
some 100 horse enthusiasts who
participated in the 4th Annual In
tramural Horse Judging Contest
Sunday at the Texas A&M Univer
sity Livestock Pavilion.
The judging contest was spon
sored by the Texas A&M Horse
men’s Association, a five-year-old
club which develops and promotes
horse activities for interested col
lege students. The contest provides
firsthand experience at judging
horse body conformation and riding
performance.
Former Texas A&M horse judg
ing team members coordinated and
operated the event. Joan Goris, a
senior animal science major and
member of the 1974 Texas A&M
horse judging team said the contest
was a free activity for members of
the Texas A&M Horsemen’s Associ
ation. She said nonmembers in
terested in the judging were wel
comed, and a $5 entry fee enrolled
them in both the contest and the
Horsemen’s Association.
College students were not the
only benefactors of this activity.
Brazos County 4-Hers provided all
the horses for the 38 contestants.
There were also numerous local
4-Hers intermingled with the con
testants, testing their knowledge of
horsemanship. Several animal sci
ence professors, parents of 4-Hers,
and curious spectators were also on
hand for the event.
Members of the two 1976-1977
Texas A&M horse judging teams se
cretly determined the final ranking
in each of three halter (body con
formation) classes and four perform
ance classes. The contestants
ranked the horses while mentally
reiterating such equine jargon as
“gaskin muscling, toeing in, splay
foot and croup length.” Scores were
tabulated and awards given accord
ing to congruency with the judging
teams’ placings. Critiques on each
class were given by the team mem
bers.
The judging contest also had one
very special purpose. The contest
provides experience for prospective
members of the of A&M’s horse
judging team. Approximately 20
students try out each year and for
the first time, A&M has two teams.
The four-student teams are picked
every year in September. Sopho
more status is required.
Dr. Gary Potter, an associate pro
fessor in animal science and advisor
for the Horsemen’s Association, is
the coach for the judging teams.
Potter said most of the students try
ing out for the team had either
completed or were enrolled in a horse
evaluation course which he teaches.
They spend a lot of extra evenings,
nights and weekends at the A&M
horse center, he said.
The eight members on the 1976-
1977 teams have all had previous
4-H experience. All but two have
been to the National 4-H Horse
Judging Contest. Each, however, is
uniquely different.
LeeAnne Hammett, sophomore
ag journalism major and Paul
Buchanan, sophomore accounting
major were members of the 1974
National 4-H Champion Horse
Judging Team. Curiously, Hammett
came to A&M with only her major
in mind, while Buchanan came be
cause he “wanted to join the judging
team.” Now Hammett hopes to be a
recognized judge for the American
Quarter Horse Association (AQHA)
and to work as a 4-H resource per
son. Buchanan is striving for law
school. Buchanan sees horse judg
ing as a hobby, but says he he has a
sister who now shows horses profes
sionally.
Pete Gibbs, a junior animal sci
ence major, comes from a family
that has always owned horses. He
wants to make it a career by becom
ing a horse specialist for the Texas
Agricultural Extension Service.
Gibbs said he would like to judge
horses for the AQHA eventually.
Camille Gofer, a senior in animal
science, got her start in horseman
ship from her grandfather when she
was five. Gofer hopes to become a
County Agent for the Extension
Service.
Martha Motsinger, a junior ani
mal science major came from North
Carolina in hopes of making the
team. She hopes to return to North
Carolina State University and teach.
Suzie Winslow, a sophomore
speech therapy major, has trans
ferred to Abilene Christian Univer
sity, but originally came to A&M
with interest in the judging team.
Betty Parker, a senior with a
double major in biology and educa
tion, sees the horse judging as “an
avocation, but not a vocation.”
Parker made the plaques that were
given as awards to winners in the
horse judging contest.
Vikki Owen, another team
member, is aspiring to be an AQHA
judge.
The teams placed 2nd in the All-
American Quarter Horse judging in
Columbus, Ohio this year—the big
event of the year for the teams.
They also participated in contests in
Colorado and in Kansas.
“This song is about a friend of ours
who went here to A&M. He’s no
longer with us,” were the words
Bob French used to acquaint an
MSC audience with the lines he
wrote about a friend who passed on.
The ideas presented in that song
became the inspiration for the title
of his debut album. The First Link
in the Chain.
“We hope it is the first link,” said
French. “If you compare a life to the
links on a chain, then in my life, this
would be the first link.”
The album will be recorded live
this weekend at the Basement Cof
feehouse in the MSC.
“We’re gonna do this for different
reasons, experience mostly, and we
wanted something to give for a few
friends,” said French.
The managing force behind the
operation is graduate marketing
major Skip Bruner, who just hap
pens to be French’s roommate.
“I’m financing this also for ex
perience sake. We have commit
ments from enough of Bob’s friends
so that we won’t lose money. If it is
successful we may run off some
more copies with profit in mind,”
says Bruner.
Why all the hubba over French?
Try talent.
French can anneal to many tastes
with his renditions of Dylan,
Michael Murphey, Willie Nelson,
and his own personal favorite, Hank
Williams.
Those names won’t appear on the
album, though.
“We re making 200 records, he
told a gathering in the MSC lounge
recently, “I’m gonna get a tin rec
ord. I wrote all the songs on the
record, except one, which my
roommate and I wrote, because we
don’t have any money for royalties
on copyrights. That’s why we re
gonna sell so many records,”
French said.
Outside of excellent interpreta
tion of well-known lyrics and a little
dry wit, French’s own lyrics account
for his share of talent.
“I’m gonna sing a couple of songs
I wrote for friends, dopers, and
nymphomaniacs around College
Station. There’s a lot of them
around,” French said. A girl giggles
toward the back of the lounge.
“Which one are you?”
When I walk away from your door
Don’t feel so empty inside
Your only real lover will come back
to you
And all will be satisfied
...and what matters to you is...
...you win.
Pawn, Bob French, reprinted by
permission
French has been at A&M for five
years. Few people who are familiar
with the Basement Committee’s
Coffeehouse don’t know him.
His constant stage presence and
unique style team to keep him fresh
in the minds of those who have seen
him perform.
When performing his own'*
French always prefaces the'
with the date and place of con*
tion.
In his early days, French'
often introduced as the croonet
his clear vocals bring other tho«!
to mind. French brings out wh
missing in the voices of many!
fessionals. His intricate pronu*
tion of each word doesn’t fort*
audience to strain for meaning
The album will be records
Jim and Barbara Taylor’s Old
record label. The Taylors willt'
ternating sets with French
weekend and will be handling
recording chores when French
stage. The concert and the re<>
ing will be both Friday and Si
day night from 8 to 12. Ad' ;
tickets are available at the R“ l
Box Office. The album is duefo
lease about the first of March,
ciding with the release of
Taylor’s new album.
French and Ethel (his W'
string guitar) ended last "’ e
lounge show with the lead son'
the album;
Red sky at morning, sailors
warning
The first mate did hang in theV
Full speed ahead now, thefirsl
is dead now
And the captain and ship 0
on
Red sky at morning, sailors
warning
The ship and its fate will ci
In unfriendly water, the t*
caught her
And the crew and the captain
died
Mutiny and the Red Shu.
French reprinted by per®!
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