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 uod things ab pie, it’s east: in campus it evel at night most subn tereos, nen to call lit ing about lilt r, "school's ire colorful go homeij ades and it< : call over [ four-weet md only to of year foi •ince your pi* enough tk et them to stmas breal tinged away an’s Island, llywinlts and ind a friend imb-wrestlits Christmas bttj y moment ofi ut I feel son 1 ! tes. Lihristmas. North." reading itl semester tknown, get back id arne time it should I olumn. a senior inion Paffi oiay. 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.. NM’ssignakj telephone lil e signal loM nit $4,500 Ij igh to com ly. This i on par-:'I leasts. iplimentsoiHl rth. Thtim will lllffq md mlim 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