Wednesday, October 31, 1984/The Battalion/Page 3
II
Great pumpkin’s
flight a tradition
By MIKE DAVIS
Reporter
Every Halloween, according to Li
nus, the Great Pumpkin delivers
lodies to deserving boys and girls,
ut the Corps of Cadets has its own
rsion of the old tale.
One version of the Flight of the
|}reat Pumpkin tale goes like this:
Members of Company C-2 were
arading a huge pumpkin up and
own the Quadrangle one year
lihen one of the cadets decided to
nash it inside the Aggie Band
they watdis : p ence ^ birth of another tradi-
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ion and a rivalry between the band
ind Company C-2.
Every year on Halloween night
he Great Pumpkin, surrounded by
irch-bearers from C-2, makes his
ilight” down the Corps Quadrangle
ith the intention of “visiting” the
»nd dorm. And just like Linus, the
jand freshmen anticipate the visit.
Armed with buckets of water, the
hourfe] fr es h men wait outside their
' dorm, hoping to extinguish the
I torches and smash the pumpkin.
) wasdoill|!| yhe Flight of the Great Pumpkin
d Tracer as| is expected to start at about 10 p.m.
“We’re running an old tradition,
d Tract • ant * h’ 8 just good bull,” Dave Waugh,
gbrnmanding officer of Company C-
2, said.
C-2 holds a secret ceremony be
fore the flight to determine which
junior in the outfit will bear the
iiimpkin, he said.
“Only the seniors in the company
ow about that (the ceremony),”
Waugh said. “It’s the white belts (ju-
lors and seniors) that run the
pumpkin.
“One of them will be the Great
Pumpkin, and the rest of the white
belts are the ones who guard the
far away, la
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pumpkin with the torches.”
It’s the responsibility of the C-2
freshmen to find the largest pump
kin they can, Waugh said. The 1983-
84 commander of C-2 said last year’s
pumpkin weighed 91 pounds.
John Ripley, commander of the
band, said that though the rivalry is
all in fun, it has been plagued in the
past by outsiders who cause prob
lems.
“We had some problems last
year,” he said. “A guy was there
^throwing buckets around and push
ing freshmen.”
Ripley said steps are being taken
this year to prevent the interference
of outsiders.
“It needs to be fun for C-2 as well
as my fish,” Ripley said. “They don’t
need to have to worry about some
body coming in there acting radical.”
The band upperclassmen will
stand around the path of the Great
Pumpkin to keep people out of the
way.
“The idea is to give the freshmen
room to participate without interfer
ence from other people coming in,”
Ripley said.
Campus authorities also will be
there, he said.
“We’re going to have a couple of
campus police there, military advis
ers and nousing officials because of
the size of the crowd we anticipate,”
he said. “We’re trying to do this for
the protection of everyone invol
ved.”
Waugh said precautions are being
taken in order to preserve the tradi
tion.
“If anything goes wrong at all — if
someone is hurt, (or there are) any
problems — it’s gone,” he said.
Ripley said the main concern is
the safety of all the participants.
Difference of opinions
Photo by WALTER SMITH
During the SWAMP open forum on Tuesday, two opposing
interest groups go head-to-head to attract students’ attention.
The Gay Student Services distributes literature from the table
on the left while students at the right solicit signatures for
their petition, which is an attempt to nullify the Student Gov
ernment’s resolution to recognize the GSS.
Pro-Solidarity priest found dead in reservoir
United Press International
WARSAW, Poland — A pro-Soli-
darity priest was found dead in a res
ervoir Tuesday, 11 days after he was
kidnapped by three interior ministry
officers in what authorities charged
was a wider conspiracy to under
mine the government.
Polish television said the body of
the Rev. Jerzy Popieluszko was re
covered by divers searching a reser
voir near the north-central city of
Wloclawek on the Vistula River.
The body was taken to “medical
experts” for an autopsy, the report
said.
The priest, an ardent Solidarity
supporter whose fiery anti-state ser
mons drew thousands of Poles to St.
Stanislaw Kostka church in Warsaw,
was abducted from his car Oct. 19
near the city of Torun in northern
Poland.
Since his disappearance, nightly
masses have been held at the church,
whose fences have been hung with
wreaths and floral bouquets, pictures
of the priest and banners painted in
the distinctive red-on-white Solidar
ity format.
Millions of Poles across the coun
try have prayed for his safety in their
own churches.
“The ministry of the interior in-_
forms that on Oct. 30 in the af
ternoon, as a result of an intensive
search with the par ticipation of po
lice frogmen, the body of Rev. Jerzy
Popieluszko was found in the water
reservoir of Wloclawek,” a statement
on a television news program said.
“On the order of the Minister of
the Interior an investigation is going
on focused on finding (the people
who) inspired the abduction and
murder of the priest.”
Solidarity founder Lech Walesa
pleaded for calm in an emotional
statement issued from his home in
Gdansk and called for a national dia
logue between authorities, the-
church and representatives of the
trade union, banned under the im
position of martial law in Dec. 1981.
“May the silence of this mourning
create the possibility to start a dia
logue ... I hope that everyone de
cided on continuing a dialogue will
take part in the funeral,” he said, ap
parently inviting authorities to at
tend the ceremony.
He asked Poles to “avoid demon
strations, rioting or other tensions in
these days.
“May the tomb of Rev. Popie
luszko become a place in which we
shall bury mutual accusations,” Wa
lesa said.
Reveille IV retiring — ends her nine-year career
ar blimp*:
By CYNDY DAVIS
) has a rep | Reporter
what he'sni For the first time in Texas A He M
tumtherai istory, the Aggie mascot is being re-
^ if Reveille IV will end her nine-year
SCOmwertti I r as Aggie mascot and “First
gam bach a( jy 0 f a&M” at the University of
o Story. Ifa Texas football game Dec. 1, John T.
ITiite, adviser to Reveille and Gom-
issayinnti |pany E-2 said.
j jj MM She will be honored at a brief cer-
. ijij inony during halftime at the A&M
R u! vs. Texas Christian University game
Nov. 24.
White said Company E-2, which
traditionally keeps Reveille, made
the decision to retire her because of
her age. E-2 Commander Carl Byars
said she can’t go on runs with them
or do the other things she used to
do.
“She is getting old and it’s getting
hard on her,” Byars said. “She just
needs to be where she can relax.”
Byars stressed Reveille was in
good health, just suffering from old
age.
Reveille IV is nine and one half
years old. She has served as Aggie
mascot since she was donated by Dr.
Thomas L. Godwin ’67 as an eight-
week-old puppy in 1975.
She regularly attends class with
mascot corporal Hans Meinardus
and other members of E-2.
The money to keep her is taken
out of student service fees and inter
est from a $6,000 permanent en
dowment, White said.
Reveille IV will be the first mascot
to retire. The other three dogs died
while serving in their ninth or tenth
year as mascot, White said.
After retiring, Reveille IV will live
with Dr. and Mrs. Lee Phillips of
Bryan. Phillips, ’53, is Director of
Continuing Education at A&M, and
a long-time supporter and friend of
Reveille and E-2, Byars said.
“She’s close, so the guys in the out
fit can visit,” Byars said.
He said he wouldn’t be surprised
to see Phillips bring her to his Uni
versity office or to football games. *
Meanwhile, a search is underway
V. The company is
young female collie,
for Reveille
looking for a
Byars said.
The company would prefer an
American Collie puppy, but would
consider a border collie, Byars said.
Because she is “The First Lady of
A&M,” the puppy must be female,
he said.
They will choose the new mascot
from offers made on the basis of
breeding, medical history, tempera
ment and availability, he said.
The outfit wants to get a puppy
before Christmas so Meinardus can
start training her over the holidays.
“They might have a hard time
housebreaking her from the third
floor of the dorm,” White said.
White, mascot search coordinator,
says they should have no trouble
finding a new mascot. Over 200 of
fers of collie puppies were made
when Reveille III died in 1975, he
said.
Offers should be directed
White in the Corps Area office.
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“STRAIGHT THROUGH THE HEART’
CONTEST
Wed. Oct. 3111-1 p.m.
Rudder Fountain
Win 2 free tickets to the thrilling DRACULA appearing on Nov. 5