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Cfir/stopher ReGve is in the dog house
'Monsignor'barks up wrong tree
by Gary Barker
Battalion Staff
Movies fall into several cate
gories: spy films, epic films, art
films, foreign films, B-grade
horror films. But "Monsignor"
is a movie that doesn't fall into
any of those categories. In fact, a
special category needs to be in
vented for "Monsignor" — the
bow-wow film.
"Monsignor" is an absolute
dog of a movie. It fails in all its
attempts. It has less drama than
most kiddie shows and worse
acting than most high school
plays.
The movie tells the story of an
American priest, played by
Christopher Reeve, who kills
some Nazis, has an affair with a
nun and invests in the black
market to make money for the
Roman Catholic Church. The
underlying premise of all this
seems to be that since the priest
has a pure heart, the audience is
supposed to feel sorry for him.
The logic fails.
At the center of all this farce is
Reeve, that so-called actor who
emerged from the soap-operas
to impress us with his ripples as
the man of steel. While Reeve
portrayed Clark Kent and Su
perman as well as anyone could,
he fails as a priest.
In "Monsignor" he falls into
the costume changing game
again. He changes out of his
clerical collar and into a soldier's
uniform and then out of his uni
form and into a business suit.
He's not convincing in any of
them.
But while Reeve plays little
more than a cardboard role,
Genevieve Bujold tries much
harder as the nun-in-training
with whom Reeve falls in love.
She tries as hard as she can to
make the love affair tender and
heart-wrenching, but there isn't
any drama here either, since it's
more of a lust affair — three
words in a bookstore and
they're IN LUV.
Bujold hardly looks the part
of a young nun anymore either,
but that's besides the point and
isn't her fault.
Who's fault is this? Perhaps
it's the director's, Frank Perry.
Or maybe it's the screenwriter's
for writing this abysmally pre
dictable movie.
So what do Catholics think of
this movie? Well, according to
Father Guido Sarducci, they
think it's like-a really a bow-a
wow-a too.
Club relives dashing days of railroads
by Kathy Breard
Battalion Reporter
The days of long, leisurely
train trips and thrilling model
trains are not over yet. They live
on at the Brazos Valley Model
Railroad Society.
The club has its own layout of
railroad track, 3.9 miles long, in
its clubhouse. The members are
continuously adding to the
scenery and are rearranging the
track layout. One of the latest
additions is a "narrow gauge
section," which places the
tracks closer together, and
allows for sharper curves and
steeper slopes.
The setup includes scenery,
including mountains, tunnels
and bridges. The scenery makes
the track seem shorter and
makes it more interesting to
watch, said Rudolf J. Freund, a
Texas A&M statistics professor
who is involved in the railroad
society.
The purpose of the club is to
enable train enthusiasts to enjoy
train equipment, something
that may be difficult to have in a
home, Freund said.
Freund said that the best
place to get train models is in
Houston, although some parts
can be found in town.
Beginning collectors can buy
trainsets just about anywhere
during the Christmas season,
he said, but they will be toylike
and may not actually represent
trains, Freund said.
"We try to get close to the real
thing — more like a model," he
said. Some members even like to
get particular and want models
to look like customized trains
Miniature city teaches tots a
As children peddle through Safety
City they learn traffic rules and
safety tips. At the end of their
course they get their "licenses" — a
Certificate of Completion from the
Community Education office.
down to last detail, Freund said.
Model trains come in a variety
of styles, and the cars may be
copied after some train that ex
isted years ago.
The passenger trains that
were popular in the 1940s and
1950s were fancy and often had
special names, Freund said.
Other trains had cars named
after famous people or parks.
Freund is collecting a model of
the Norfolk and Western train
company, which has cars
named after colleges in Virginia.
The Southern Pacific Line at one
time had a train which had an
engine painted to match the
cars.
Membership in Brazos Valley
Model Railroad Society is open
to anyone interested in model
railroads.
The club has special member
ships for students, with a $2 a
month fee.
If you'd like to find out more
about the railroad society, it will
sponsor its 5th annual open
house from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on
Nov. 30 at the clubhouse on
Roundtree Drive in Bryan.
For more information, call
Rudolph Freund at 845—3170.
valuable lesson
by Carole Craft
Battalion Reporter
Walking into Safety City is
like entering a minature College
Station. Cars and bikes scurry
along the streets just like the
traffic on Friday afternoons at 5
p.m. The difference is the cars
are pedaled, the bikes are big
wheels and the drivers are chil
dren.
Safety City is a permanent
safety training facility on Timber
Street in College Station. The
city opened five years ago to
teach bicycle, pedestrian and
motor safety to .children in
grades kindergarten through
fourth grade.
The Neighborhood Advisory
Council of Citizens created the
program out of concern for the
safety of children, Toni Broad
way, assistant director of Com
munity Education, said. Com
munity organizations and
businesses donated the mate
rials, buildings and services
used in the construction of Safe
ty City.
Safety City includes one-way
and two-way streets, street
lights and signs, left-turn lanes,
a railroad crossing, a little red
school house and a city hall.
Downtown businesses are
simulated through twelve metal
storage buildings which house
the Safety City cars and big
wheel tricycles. Each building
displays a sign for the local mer
chant who donated it.
Since the original materials
and construction were donated,
maintenence of Safety City is a
problem. Money and labor are
needed for repairs. Street lines
and buildings need to be
painted. After five years of
heavy use, the Safety City cars
need repair. The Engineering
Technology Department of
Texas A&M offered to fix the
cars so they will run smoothly
again, Broadway said.
Broadway said Safety City is
designed to supplement and
reinforce safety lessons the stu
dents learn in the classroom.
The experience develops good
attitudes and understandings
about safety, she said. A safety
officer from the College Station
t Police Department helps guide
children through Safety City.
Classes are divided into two
groups. Half of the class rides
Safety City cars while the others
rides bikes or walk. If a child
makes a mistake, he is stopped
and corrected. Broadway said
the children become familiar
with bicycling, motoring and
pedestrian rules through first
hand experiences, just like a lab
that accompanies a biology or
chemistry class.