Entertainment supplement
to The Battalion
This year cools Texas heatwave
The hot summer really wasn’t
By K. McElroy
Battalion Staff
Last summer's heat justified
air-conditioning, Slurpees and
shade. Eggs fried on sidewalks,
and iced tea never remained that
way. The official hype term was
"The Texas Heatwave," and
everyone's goal was to survive
it.
Surviving hasn't been that
diffuclt this time around, and
summer — especially for those
who think in academic terms —
is practically over. The severe
heat that everyone prepared for
was minimal. It's been hot, but a
local weather service confirms
that it was not as scorching as
last year.
Bob Strauss, of the state cli
matologist's office, says this
summer seems cooler than last
year, but temperatures have
actually been normal for this
area. The average high tempera
ture for College Station in June
1980 was 94.1 degrees, a normal
reading for that month. But the
July temperature marked the
Texas Heatwave — the average
was 100.3 degrees. In the shade,
no less. The average high for
August was 98.
In comparison, this summer
has been arctic. The average
temperature for June was a mild
89.1 degrees. And last July, the
average was only 92.5. The
highest it ever got in July was 98,
two degrees cooler than last
year's average.
Last summer the mercury hit
103 in June, and 104 in July.
Strauss says climatologists
consider it hot outside when the
temperate hits 95 degrees. This
year it didn't hit 95 until the mid
dle of the summer, July 19th.
"It's fairly late (for that
high)," he said, "but it's not the
latest it's ever been." He also
said that even though the tem
peratures are slightly lower than
yearly averages, it's been a fairly
dry summer. The last four sum
mers have alternated climate —
78 was hot, but 79 was wet.
Last summer was hellish, but
this year is cooler.
Even though there's a wide
gap between this year's high
Slow dancing
sufficed; however, if
done too slowly, it
only increased the
heat.
temperature and last's, the low
temperatures are consistent —
the average for Jume and July
1980 is 73.6. The average tem
perature for the past two
months was 73.9
The Beutel Health Center was
prepared to treat hordes of
Texas A&M University students
suffering from heat ailments.
However, the number has been
smaller than last year's, which is
exactly what C.B. Goswick,
head of the Beutel Health Cen
ter, expected.
My hero!
Kim Conner, a junior at
Texas A&M University,
shows off a Darth Vader doll
from her collection of "Star
Wars" pictures, books and
other memorabilia. Conner
is a journalism major from
Galveston.
Photo by Sherylon Jenkins
"I hope last year was the ex
ception," he said.
"I would say that we haven't
had as many students in with
heat problems, " he continued,
"but I don't have any statistics.
The heat has not been as oppres
sive as it was last year, and peo
ple are a little more sensitive ab
out the heat."
But some students still don't
know how much sun they can
take. Probably thinking the sun
isn't so bad this summer, tan
ners were spending more time
in the sun, so the Health Center
has handled more sunburn
cases this year than last.
So technically, it hasn't been
as hot as last summer, but to the
untrained sweat glands there
wasn't that much difference. It
was still too hot to do any of the
following activities:
— for males to wear corduroy
jeans
— for females to wear pan
tyhose
— for males to grow beards
— for females to wear make
up
— for anyone to take interme
diate tennis at high noon
(only 16 students took the
course the first summer ses
sion)
— for moviegoers to wear
mosquito netting to The
Grove
— for drinkers to sip Irish Cof
fee; everyone slurped dai
quiris instead
— for soapers to venture out
in the afternoon, when it was
much cooler to stay indoors
and watch "General Hos
pital"
— for dancers to boogie. Slow
dancing sufficed; however, if
done too slowly, it only in
creased the heat. Maybe
dancing is best saved for
when the sun goes down.
Figuring galactic
relations
By Scott McCullar
Battalion Staff
Well the hot summer is almost
over, and the baseball strike
isn't really worth talking about
any more, or the airplane con
trollers' strike, or the royal wed
ding, so what can you talk about
at back to school parties?
"The Empire Strikes Back" is
in town again, and there are sev
eral things to think about and
look for while watching the
movie or talking with friends af
terwards. Some of these con
cepts aren't common know
ledge and speculating on these
ideas will only add to anticipa
tion of the series' next chapter,
"The Revenge of the Jedi", due
out the summer of 1983. If any
thing, it is hoped that these
questions will only add to the
present confusion.
What is Darth Vader's real
identity? (or who is that behind
those Foster Grant's?) Vader
tells Luke Skywalker that he is
his father. Even though Vader
tells Luke this at a moment of
tension and fatigue, Luke seems
to feel it is the truth, even
though he does not want to be
lieve it. He was told by Ben "Obi
Wan" Kenobi that his father was
killed by Vader, but Luke's pow
ers of the Force seem to tell him
not easy
that Vader is really his father.
Mark Hamill said in an inter
view that someone reminded
him that Luke's father and
Darth Vader were supposed to
have fought during the "Clone
Wars." Ah-Hah! Is it possible
that Vader is a surviving clone of
Luke's father? That may explain
why Luke's feelings tell him
Vader is really his father, while
still seeming to feel it is a lie.
While talking to Vader the
Emperor makes a passing men
tion to "the son of Skywalker."
What is that all about? And
while we're talking about the
Emperor, why does his face look
like a cross between Obi Wan
and Yoda? He talks like Obi
Wan. Vader addresses him as
"master" and the Emperor
seems to know all about the
force.
Oh well, back to Luke. When
Luke fights the image of Vader
in the cave on Yoda's planet in
the Dagobah system, he reveals
a face inside Vader's mask that is
his own. This is probably more
concerned with Luke's facing
the dark side of the force within
himself, as Yoda tells him there
is nothing in the cave other than
"that which you take in with
you," but could it concern the
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