Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 27, 1985)
-9- -C -SC«iut>ocn2^c^:>r“u . • i_ - .OcucScc-ii “ ^^■=^3.2 SPe-3 <U _c J- in S PS >- c — "O t) PS *J u c o -3 •< fc ' c _i£ C 3 bC-O •£• 3 SJ fc Oi^cuS o“£_: -2, 3-) rs p3 3 tj *3 <Lf 3-i - — t- 3 '3 3 33S2caJr3-Sci. Jj -£ £ 5 Cu bo bo Cv ~0 <U £ CS3 <s-> ^3 CU Z3 Z3 £ £ S <u o o-^- ^ O ^ C e/5 .22 t_ 2 ^ ' T~ J-W CD _ i— D- in tlie Corps of Codots requires :ipline, but dffffUs camaraderie 3W to [ to nd ps ta- set by jre ich he of :ch re it's tck nt, nd 're in ick . a lot to eir ey m- to- 5C- )m -20 he ds or- ?re on ire to :he igs pet tey the rps the [Ik on an ■te- a m- re- in- of for ‘ue Sir nd do not know, Sir/Ma'am." This must be articulated as rapidly as possible. Sounds like a dog's life, right? Not if you keep in mind the philosophy be hind it, says Yori Escalante, a senior and Corps public relations officer. "You've gotta shoot for something," Escalante says. "Things don’t come easy in life. You've gotta have a little bit of hardship, work for something. In order to lead you have to follow. In order to follow, you have to follow guidelines." Raphael, a member of Company D-1, prefers to view it as a challenge. He says, "At first, like during F.O.W., you think, 'How in the world do they expect us to do all this.' But if you find a good system, then it's no problem." One of Raphael's systems is marking the rod in his closet so he can line up his clothes on hangers more quickly. And besides, the fish can get back at the upperclassmen once in a while. After Midnight Yell Practice, fish walk in the streets and indulge in a little good bull. (Just a term. It means something positive, something fun.) A fish will round up a bunch of his buddies and they'll line up to whip out to a sophomore. You've seen ca dets whipping out, or introducing themselves to each other, all over campus. The sophomore, called a pisshead, has to greet each and every one of them. And a fish who's met the pisshead can get back in line and do it again. Sophomores are in charge of mak ing sure the fish behave, as they're supposed to, and if the fish don't, pissheads correct them. Pisshead ... sounds like a good word for someone who's always on your case. They also have holes, and — except that they rank above fish — pisshead life isn't measurably differ ent from fish life. In the Corps, life begins when you're a junior. First off, you're a surgebutt, so named because of the way the pants of your uniform have a surge in the back on your butt. There are still a few things surge- butts can't say or do, but for the most part life is comfortable. Surgebutts can have rooms, and a lot of the goodies that come with them. Seniors in the corps, inter changeably called zips and el ephants, answer to no one. The only regulations they're must adhere to are those of Texas A&M and of the housing office. In other words, they can build lofts and have extra furni ture, carpet, televisions and curtains in their rooms. Escalante says seniors are called zips because they'll soon be zipping out of the University, and elephants because of the way they look in their senior pants. They're the only ones allowed to know anything about being dead, dying or funerals. The other classes can know only being biologically in ert, becoming biologically inert or ceremonies for those who have be come biologically inert. There are a lot of things that a ca det can't know until he's a senior. Most of them are words, and the fol lowing is just the tip of the iceberg: Only seniors can know zipper (for obvious reasons) so it becomes a metal corrugated fastener. The word "button" (you have to think about this one) is off limits unless you're at least a junior (that's a hint) it is known sim ply as fastener. "Elephant — that's a dangerous word," Raphael says. He says it means trouble when someone at the bottom of the ladder pulls out a priv ilege of someone at the top. He says the punishment is pushups — a maxi mum of 20. "That scares a lot of people be cause they're not used to physical ac tivity," Raphael says. Only seniors can know elephant, says Mason Carnes, junior in Squad ron 2. Surgebutts can't know el ephant, or anything to do with them, such as circus or peanut butter. If for some reason, a junior really has something to say about elephants, he refers to them as large field mice or African pack rats. Peanut butter is, of course, African pack rat food. The Ross Volunteers, an honor group in the Corps, is made up of surgebutts and zips. So fish and pissheads can't know words for the group's members, says Larry Groce, a sophomore in Squadron 2 from De- Ridder, La. The surgebutts for this year won't be chosen for another couple of weeks so surgebutts can't know the following words yet either: Ross Volunteers, or RV's, are di vided into three groups: shorter ca dets, or squats; cadets of medium height, or meatballs; and tall cadets, or trees. "Tree — that one slips a lot," Groce says. "Like if you're throwing a (foot ball) pass to a senior and they're not watching where they're going and you say, 'Watch out for that tree,' then there's trouble." The best place to see the class dis tinctions and the Corps vocabulary in action is at chow in Duncan Dining Hall. For a slice of bread, a cadet says, "Deal one, please." Dirt is black pep per, blood is catsup and worms are spaghetti noodles. Bullneck is meat, cow is milk and long-range artillery means green beans. Every food has its own name. In Duncan, fish can't talk, and they have to sit at attention when they eat. If they'd like something passed to them the proceedure is this: "Sir ..." a fish says, and his fish buddies must put down their utensils and pop to attention. "Has everyone had first on the long-range artillery that would care for some please?" If an upperclassman wants green beans, he'll say, "Shorts on the long- range artillery," thereby snagging first rights on the beans. If no one re sponds, the fish then says, "Shoot the long-range artillery, please." Raphael says, "You have to ask for food loud and clear. Everyone's all motivated because they've done their outfit yell and the Corps yell." Some times a fish won't be heard over the dining din. A pisshead also has to ask if upper classmen would care for seconds be fore helping himself, but his buddies don't have to pop to. Pissheads have to offer the dish to each upperclass man individually, but they have rights to the food before the fish. When it comes to privileges in Dun can, the big change occurs for pissheads who've become surge butts. "As a sophomore you don't have very many more privileges and you're watching the fish," Carnes says. "As a junior, all you have to do is sit and eat." Juniors can talk, and they don't have to request a dish. All they have to say is "Shoot the long range artil lery. " "The only thing juniors can't do is drop handles with the food," Carnes says. "Dropping handles" is suspend ing Corps terms for conventional ones. All classes have to suspend Corps terms when outsiders are eat ing in Duncan. "Unless we have guests or it's a cross dine, only seniors can drop handles with the food," Escalante says. □ c* V r* & f* V r* 0 Q r* O r* O O r* Or* O ** ~~ fXyxfl ^fXfX fX^fXfXfX
