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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 4, 1985)
Wednesday September 4,1985/The Battalion/Page 7 has a ^ p m. UonaJ ame. •in. in U. ■ MSC (i per il 301 . in I Resident dreams with 40 foot high Bob By SALLY TAYLOR Reporter Parsons wants to build a wall around .m activ- ENat ION: :ers in .socia- alion, to de tect all JS .marilku iti H.3 ptt nt; 10. m e - l.sJ i, 2,978: , 2,715: ij Arlingtm 0; 8. Alt' 1,778; IS ome - I Houstoi 42; 4. Cor- 15,732; ‘I 3. AusiirJ S2; 10. Sail Kenny Texas. Kenny Bob says he wants to build his wall 10 high and 40 leet w ide all around the state’s border 13,816 miles of it. T Kenny Bob is the self-proclaimed, head honcho of I The Great Wall of Texas Society, “a group of con- Icemed Texians (as the Texas revolutionaries of 1835 Icalled themselves at the Alamo) w ho realize and appre- Iciate (he abundant economic, cultural and emotional I wealth provided us by the great Republic of Texas." I He says that while most politicians are more con- [cerned about the state’s soutnern border? several true [Texans feel that the biggest threat to the Texas way of Mile comes f rom north of the Red River. | Kenny Bob says that he doesn’t mind people moving to Texas (“even Stephen F. Austin came here from Mis souri”), but he objects to “the new wave of immigrants who want to change our way of life.” “We feel that the time has come to protect and pre serve Texas from the exploitationists and people who are intent on Californicating Texas," Kenny Bob says. The wall idea was born four years ago when Kenny Bob was a song-writing musician in Dallas. “I was writing a song called ‘ The ( b eat Wall of Texas’ "hesays. But his friends weren’t impressed. “They said, ‘forget the song, just build the wall,’ ” he says. “I’ve been at it for four years now. I’ve just stayed at ; it. It’s one of those crazy things I wanted to do. It’s kind of a dumb idea, except I’m just so stubborn. I just stick with it.” Kenny Bob spends most of his time at the society’s headquarters in the World Trade Center in Dallas. “I write computer programs in my spare time to make enough money to eat,” he says. “But all my time is devoted to the Great Wall right now.” Membership in the society (“and that’s for life”) costs of surrounding state 'Great Wall of Texas' $15. In return, members get a brick minted at the old est brick factory in Texas, Kenny Bob says. Each brick is stamped with the words, “The Great Wall of Texas.” The society has 2,070 members including Lt. Gov. Bill Hobby, Attorney General Jim Mattox and country- western singer Rusty Wier. “Right now, everybody thinks there’s some kind of a harmless con-man somewhere that’s selling bricks and making a mint of money,” he says. “That’s just not the truth; the money just covers the cost. Like if I was mail ing a brick to College Station, it costs me about $4.20 to prepare and then it costs about $2 to mail, and so on and so forth. The rest of the money goes to keep the of fice open. “I should be moved from the harmless con-man cat egory to absolute maniac. That’s what I’m striving for.” Kenny Bob is also striving to make the wall a reality. “We’re working a deal with some people on the Red River who are going to donate some land to us,” he says. “I’ve talked to the people we get our bricks from and they’re gonna donate some bricks. I’ve got an architec tural firm here that’s going to design a structure that’s 40 feet wide and 40 feet high and 80 feet long to start with. “It’s going to be unusual in that it’s going to be of gothic design with no f ramework, no steel or wood. It’s gonna be all bricks with vaulted ceilings and Hying but tresses and such.” Kenny Bob says the structure will house four mu seums, including a Texas artists’ gallery. “Hopefully we’re gonna break ground next San Ja cinto Day (April 21),” he says. “We’re hooked up with the Texas Sesquicentennial Commission, so they’re gonna declare it an official sesquicentennial cele bration. “We’re gonna build it. Well, we’re gonna start build ing it — you know it took the Chinese 2,()()() years to build theirs. “Nobody in the world anticipates me even starting it — I’m gonna start this thing.” THE KAPPA SIGMA FRATERNITY '85 FALL RUSH SCHEDULE Thurs. Sept. 5 — South Sea Island Party Sat. Sept. 7 — Generic Party Thurs. Sept 12 — Annual House Party Sat. Sept. 14 — Country Club Party All parties to be held at 8:00 p.m. at the KE House: 606 West 28th (in Bryan) For More Information: 822-0548 in a AVERAGE OR OUTSTANDING? School is school. Papers, textbooks and going to class. 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