Wednesday, December 17,1986/The Battalion/Page 3
State and Local
^iftudents create a unique holiday
©sign for the Vandivers' home
By Amy Couvillon
Staff Writer
fchristmas has arrived at the Van-
Ers’ — thanks to 30 Texas A&M
students in an advanced floral de-
idass.
from a choir of shimmering an
ils on the mantelpiece to a 10-foot
tree draped with pink lam£ and
^inkling lights, the interior of the
Ts^idivers’ home has been trans-
into a Christmas wonder-
Irresident Frank Vandiver and his
fe, Rene, say they’re delighted
i the student decoration arrange-
hey did a beautiful job this
L” Rene Vandiver says.
Student decoration of the presi
dent’s home goes back a long way,
says Jim Johnson, a senior lecturer
ith the horticulture department.
Even before the Vandivers ar-
d in 1981, Johnson’s floral de
students have turned out in
:e each year to deck the presi
dential halls.
[ “Actually, we started back about
two or three or four presidents ago,”
'Hays.
ilEach year during the first few
H|ks of December, groups ofjohn-
umor.buttkj son’s students descend on the white-
Confercnit w^uimied house near the aerobics
i i r. : track to practice their art.
’ l ^R)n the front door is a large
1 Nvre.ith, decorated in light blue and
)• And ot w ith a silver angel on it.
ut the rthair. jiAH through the inside of the
'ainst Mum Hpse, there are many gold and sil-
id nobodv iVer an g e l figures made with shiny
.i ni» B i» s r^r n ? dyara -1 .
., 1 The Christmas tree — real, not ar-
. 1 lificial — is impressive, brushing the
lion. IhaO jliigli ceiling of the living room.
i But the most spectacular display is
l: oii the mantel. Gold figures of an
gels hold blue, pink and red pre-
csents. Pine garlands and dried col-
i nastiness, lored plants complete the elaborate
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Blue glass ornaments hang from
the dining room chandelier, and
light fixture in the four deco
rated rooms is draped with ribbons,
greenery and pine cones.
With all the fresh greenery, the
house even smells like Christmas.
Johnson says the decorations are
created by the students in a design
laboratory.
“It takes a whole day to go install
them in the house,” he says. “A lot of
things have to be put together on the
spot.”
Just as too many cooks spoil the
soup, too many floral-designers-in-
training working at the same time
could create chaos.
To prevent this, Johnson says,
groups of students work at different
times during the day.
“They come and go between clas
ses,” he says, “so we don’t have 30
people trampling through the house
at once.”
Jan Kaltwasser, the Vandivers’
house secretary, says the student in
vasion wasn’t disruptive at all.
“They kept busy,” Kaltwasser
says. “There were two groups; there
was a group that came before lunch
and a group that came after lunch.”
She says the angel theme was one
of Rene Vandiver’s favorites.
“She chooses the color scheme
and the theme,” Kaltwasser says.
“Jim Johnson orders all the materi
als that are needed, and the Vandiv
ers pay for the materials.”
Johnson says the colors, materials,
and theme for the designs are dis
cussed in class.
The students use greenery, pine
cones, ribbons, glass ornaments, fab
ric and colored lights.
“We try to use as much fresh
material as we can,” he says, adding
that many of this year’s decorations
were created with fresh pine, cedar
and fir.
Dried plants used for the decora
tions came from areas throughout
the world, including the Orient, In
dia, Brazil, Central America, South
America and South Africa, he says.
“The variety gives the students
the opportunity to learn about these
materials and learn how to work
The following were reported
to the University Police Depart
ment through Monday:
MISDEMEANOR THEFT:
• A professor reported that
someone stole a camera with at
tachments from a table on the
fourth floor of the Sterling C.
Evans Library.
• Four backpacks were re
ported stolen.
BURGLARY OF A MOTOR
VEHICLE:
• A man reported that while
he was delivering a pizza on Ave
nue A a radar detector was stolen
from his car.
• A student reported that a ri
fle and other items were stolen
from his car.
• A student’s car was stolen
between 9 and 11:30 a.m. It was
found later at St. Mary’s Catholic
Church. The student reported
that $400 in cash and several
books were missing from her car.
The investigation is continuing
and has been referred to Student
Affairs.
HARASSMENT:
• A student reported she has
been receiving annoying phone
calls at all hours.
• Another student reported
that for the last two days she had
received annoying phone calls ev
ery two hours.
BURGLARY OF A COIN OP
ERATED MACHINE:
• While on patrol, an officer
observed a clothes hanger in the
door of a candy machine on the
first floor of the Academic Build
ing.
INDECENT EXPOSURE:
• A woman reported that a
man exposed his genitals to her
while she was on the third floor of
Sterling C. Evans Library. The in
vestigation is continuing.
2 Dallas-based banks
plan $35 billion merge
Photo by Bill Hughes
The Vandivers show off their home’s Christmas decorations.
with them,” Johnson says.
He says 1986 is the second year of
the angel theme.
“Usually we try to do a different
design each year, but . . . this year
Mrs. Vandiver commented how she
especially liked the angels,” Johnson
says. “She’s very generous in leaving
the ideas of what to do to us; she
usually will just give us some general
directions.”
DALLAS (AP) — InterFirst Corp.
and RepublicBank Corp. are com
bining to form a $35 billion banking
organization called First Republic-
Bank Corp., executives of the bank
holding companies said Tuesday.
The news of the all-stock merger
of the Dallas-based banking compa
nies came a day after Texas Com
merce Bancshares Inc. of Houston
and Chemical New York Corp. an
nounced they planned to merge in a
$1.4 billion deal, the largest U.S.
bank merger ever.
InterFirst and RepublicBank offi
cials said their merger would form
the 12th largest U.S. bank holding
company.
The transaction, subject to appro
val by shareholders of each company
as well as federal regulatory agen
cies, is expected to be final sometime
during the second quarter of next
year, said Robert W. Stewart, chair
man and chief executive officer of
InterFirst Corp..
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Stewart will be chairman of First
RepublicBank, and Gerald W. Fron-
terhouse, who is chairman and chief
executive of RepublicBank, will be
the president and chief executive of
the new company.
Fronterhouse said First Republic-
Bank will save $600 million in over
head over the next few years, largely
by merging operations in cities
where each company now has a
bank. He said the companies will
probably close about 25 branches
and lay off about 3,000 employees —
18 percent of the combined work
force — over the next two years.
RepublicBank is the second-larg
est Texas bank-holding company,
with $21.7 billion in assets as of Sept.
30, and 41 banks. InterFirst, the
state’s third-largest bank company,
had $18.5 billion in assets and 68
subsidiary banks. Stewart said asset
shrinkage accounted for the $35 bil
lion combined figure.
OZ_y J>1
Aggies, Texas Coin Exchange would
like to thank you for your continued
support and to wish you a very
happy and safe holiday and
vacation.
Bring this ad in on your way out of
-M, town for a free silver heart or chain. *
Supplies are limited' christmaS gift t0 yOU ' "
Texas Coin Exchange
404 University Dr E.
College Station
846-8905
Mon-Fri 9:00-5:30
Thurs til 8:00
Sat 9:00-5:00