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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 23, 1983)
F Page 6/The Batta I ion/Wednesday, November 23, 1983 •uh my w. Def Leppard apologizes for anti-Hispanic comment United Press International EL MONTE, Calif. — The lead singer for the English rock group Def Leppard Tuesday presented checks for $15,000 to five groups serving Hispanics and apologized for calling El Paso, “that place with all the greasy Mexicans.” Singer Joe Elliott, 24, out raged Hispanics with his state ment about the west Texas bor der town during a Sept. 7 con cert by the heavy metal group in Tucson, Ariz. He later apologized, saying that as an Englishman he didn’t realize the nature of the state ment. “This is a lot harder to do than a gig,” Elliott said at a news conference in the predominant ly Hispanic Los Angeles suburb of El Monte. “I would like to publicly apologize. The state ment was entirely unintentional and was said during a highly emotional part of the concert when I was trying to increase au dience participation. It was pa tently false.” Elliott maintains that he does not remember making the state ment and was unaware of the subsequent controversy until he was informed about it while on tour in Japan. “My only excuse, although I am English and have spent most of the last three years in this country, is that most of what I have learned about Americans is through the media. But I know that all Englishmen are not sec ret agents or long-haired rock stars. “The last thing Mexican- Americans need as they try to rid _ themselves of the stereotype is for me or anyone else to make such statements. It was stupid of me to make such a false accusa tions.” The predominantly Mexican- American audience packed into a room in City Hall appeared to accept Elliott’s apology, break ing into applause at the end of his statement. The blond-haired Elliott, dressed in black leather pants and wearing a T-shirt with the inscription “Rock till you drop dead,” then posed for photo graphers with his arm around a young boy in a wheelchair from one of the organizations that will benefit from the group’s dona tions. He also kissed a woman from another of the organiza tions. After his statement about El Paso, a number of radio stations in that city temporarily stopped playing Def Leppard music and the League of United Latin American Citizens called for a national boycott of the group. Elliott agreed to fly to Los Angeles from Paris Tuesday af ter state Sen. Joseph Montoya’s office contacted the manage ment of Def Leppard to inform them they had received numer ous calls from concerned consti tuents regarding the statement. “I believe that he was unaware of the sensitive nature of his comment and that he truly re grets having made the state ment,” Montoya said. “Joe has demonstrated his sincerity by being here today to personally present checks to five local char ities that primarily serve the His panic community.” Elliott was scheduled to fly to Mexico City later in the day to convey his regrets over his state ment. Def Leppard has released three albums, including their latest album, “Pyromania,” which the group’s manager Cliff Burnstein said has sold five mil-' lions copies — more than any album in the United States this year. Serving Luncheon Buffet | Sandwich and Soup Bar Mezzanine Floor Sunday through Friday 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. ■Delicious Food Beautiful View Open to the Public ^ “Quality First” •m Thanksgiving Day Bonfire or football Pictures, bring them all QUICK AS A FLASH Post Oak Mall 764-0601 COUPON QUICK AS A FLASH 2 for 1 BQES53S with this coupon 9 TWO PRINTS FOR THE PRICE OF ONE at time of processing Expires Dec 31 MSG-TOWN-H AT,T,- w evening with the lUnannounced opening act./ If your date to Bonfire isn’t taking you to the Commodores, get another one Friday, November 25, 9 pm “Bonfire” G. Rollie White Coliseum Tickets $10.00, $9.50, $8.50 MSC Box Office 845-1234 Remains of dinosaurs found near Lubbock United Press International WASHINGTON — Fossils of a previously unknown type of dinosaur and a possible ancestor of the giant Tyrannosaurus rex have been found in 200-million- year-old rock southeast of Lub bock by a Texas Tech University field party, the National Geog raphic Society says. The area is rocky and arid today but during the Triassic Period, 200 million years ago, it was lush with vegetation and many lakes, rivers and ponds. Paleontologist Sankar Chatter- jee, director of the group, said the animals probably were drowned in a flash flood, then covered by mud and debris that preserved their remains. Dinosaurs made their appearance during the Triassic and by the middle of the period outnumbered all other kinds of reptiles. Chatterjee, whose research is supported by the National Geographic Society, said the new type of dinosaur discovered in the quarry was identified by a 4-inch-long piece of upper jaw with teeth. He said the creature */SEBRING SCHOOL OF HAIR DESIGN •Salon Service At Reduced Rates •Today’s Advanced & World Renowned Method of Cutting & Designing 1406 Texas Ave. S—Next to Gibson’s—C.S. 693-7878 apparently was about 4 feet and ran on its liitul legstoet predators. “The find is importaiit cause the dinosaur reprei the earliest form of an offi chian or bird-hipped type saur,” C .liatterjee said. National Geographic 1 Chatterjee believes he has ft the reptile ancestor of Tyraii saurus, a giant dinosaur5(l long and 20 feet high. The find is much smaller, about' feet long from snout to taif had dagger-like teeth, pow^j jaws and curved claws. The Texas Tech gr®) which calls the creatureP(* osiu hus af ter the town of V near the quarry, reportedfn ^ ing the complete skeletono: I sub-adult and two young N the remains of eight otherjir I idles. “The discovery of sent L together suggests that Pc [ osiu hus hunted in a pad* cared tor its young before4 1^ were old enough to set offlU |r own,” Chatterjee said. I Welcome to Oronae vJuliu Hamburgers Ranch Fries POST OAK MALL Now Introducing: Strawberry Yogurt Julius. It’s a natural. ft >-/ 4L -^aSA\\U|l!= .llll)))’' j Buy % pound Ham- j burger and order of Ranch Fries and get i a FREE 12 oz. Julius of your choice! Good only with coupon 1 expires 11/30/83 Post Oak Mall only