The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, March 31, 1987, Image 5

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    Tuesday, March 31, \9QlfThe Battalion/Page 5
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i ABC New
’s The Fire?
HMiellghters from all over the country attended a
fc-day seminar last week at the Brayton Fireman
[framing Field, an af filiate o( the Texas A&M Uni
versity System. This firefighter steps down from
the top of a tower that provided him with a good
vantage point for supervising a training session.
Latin makes
comeback
in U.S. schools
DALLAS (AP) — Latin, a lan
guage long belittled as a dusty relic
of bygone empires, is making a lively
comeback in the state’s high schools,
educators said.
“People are realizing it does make
a difference on SAT scores and it
does help incredibly on English,”
said Patti Rawlins, Latin teacher in
suburban Richardson’s school dis
trict. “At one time, I would have said
I had the brightest students only.
But now I can’t say that.”
Kathryn Sharp, 18, said she en
rolled in a Latin course while plan
ning to become a lawyer. Now she is
reading Julius Caesar’s “Gallic
Wars,” and is considering becoming
a Latin teacher.
“Everything else comes from it,”
she told the Dal his limes Herald.
“And it’s got a lot of mythology, kind
of like a soap opera. All that trashy
stuff.”
Interest in Latin flagged in the
I9()0s and 1970s, when many high
schools and colleges put less em
phasis on foreign language study,
said Robert LaBouve, director of
language curriculum development
for the Texas Education Agency.
Last year, I(},027 Texas students
signed up to study Latin — 1,000
more students than studied German,
and more than double the number
of students who took Latin seven
years ago.
Edward Phinney, president of the
American Classical League and co
sponsor of the National Latin Exam,
said the resurgence of Latin reflects
an increase by parents and students
in education basics.
Some 67,000 students will take the
voluntary test this year, compared
with 16,497 students in 1979.
\&M prof: State's variety draws crowds
ie their (dual
A&M
let ted inflm
Tourism now big industry for Texas
i our re
v alread
I rise mite 1
rihuted lim
(■lain Dni
lice id llanm
By Sheryl Taylor
Reporter
■When many people think of
Texas, the first thing that comes to
mind is the oil and agriculture in
dustry. But today, tourism is the sec
ond-largest industry; it surpassed
^ ^ agric ulture about two years ago.
l»er of T '* t5 rea ^y interesting that Texas
i I • WTi® sn 't move< * aggressively forward
l " < in the direction of tourism, because
I* 1 ' tourism has not been seen in Texas
1 "' as a political and economic alternati-
, , ve.” says Dr. Daniel Fesenmaier, as-
noim is ( ■|j 0(: i ate professor of the recreation
hing [xopk'i.: Id parLs department,
ol those pco|i|
ol, he says. But in Dallas, tourist industry of fi-
■ was in iliimr* c * a * s P ro P ose d raising the city hotel
, i • . i i room tax from 9 percent to I 1 per-
. "r y ' ' cent to pay for city promotion and
owl niff says. . r 7 r > *7. n ^
, r,, improvements of the Dallas Conven-
tiercem or« • r 0 j r. • »
i i , ttun Center and Reunion Arena,
on I mdualfifMr . , .
n Fesenmaier believes that an in-
(|ease in hotel room taxes would
take money from the same industry
,, i, thai it would help.
“just Iwlij™ '
Legislature, supposedly will gener
ate $5.2 million a year for the city.
“It’s a good idea,” Fesenmaier
says, “because studies around the
country suggest that the returns on
advertising tourism can be quite sub
stantial — as much as 3-to-l, 4-to-l
or even 12-to-l.
cities should follow Dallas’ lead and
increase their hotel room taxes to
raise money for the promotion of
tourism.
“I think that the state as a whole
hasn’t recognized the importance of
tourism and travel to its economy,”
he says. “Traditionally, Texans
“There are two strategies to better the development of
tourism in the state: attract people here and keep the
state’s residents here. ”
— Dr. Daniel Fesenmaier, associate professor in the
recreation and parks department
ist fall as comfit
tirolltnenl ofi
high schoolE
I'Texas has a fantastic variety and
allot to offer to tourism and they
should follow Dallas’ suit, but only
up to the point to where the tax rev
enues spent on tourism are no
logger generating new revenue,” he
says.
■The Dallas proposal, which has
not been approved by the Texas
“Studies have shown that advertis
ing in newspapers can generate tou
rism more than 300-to-l.”
Although Texas has cut its tou
rism advertising budget from
$939,000 to $44,000, Fesenmaier
says advertising is an important fac
tor in the tourism industry that will
aid in generating new jobs and new
revenue.
“For every $ 1 billion that comes to
Texas in tourism, an estimated
23,000 new jobs will be created,” Fe
senmaier says.
Fesenmaier also says other Texas
know that much of the state’s econ
omy is based upon the petrochemi
cal industry and the long-standing
industry of Texas — agriculture.
“Also, the United States as a whole
has not recognized the economic sig
nificance or the political significance
of tourism to its economy.”
The reason Texas’ tourism indus
try surpassed its agriculture indus
try, Fesenmaier says, is because of
changes in the American economy,
product demand and population.
Most industries today, he says, are
characterized by service industries,
not manufacturing industries.
“We haven’t developed an infras
tructure to exploit all the resources
that are available for tourism in Tex
as,” Fesenmaier says.
The Texas Tourism and Depart
ment Agency is restricted by state
law from trying, through advertis
ing, to keep people from going else
where in the United States.
“If a person stays a day longer in a
city, it could literally transmit into
hundreds and millions of dollars,”
he says. “There are two strategies to
better the development of tourism in
the state: attract people here and
keep the state’s residents here.”
Fesenmaier also is active in the
Texas Tourism Recreation Informa
tion Program (TTRIP), ajoint effort
between the recreation and parks
department and the Texas Agricul
ture Extension Service, which is de
voted to understanding people’s mo
tivations, behavior and reasons for
travel.
“The research we do is basically
theoretical research on how people
make decisions on where they trav
el,” Fesenmaier says. “We do the ap
plied work that we call ‘meeting the
needs of the tourism industry.’ ”
TTRIP also offers seminars to
help businesses within the industry
develop a greater expertise in tou
rism, he says.
Robbers of Dallas restaurant left patrons’ humor intact
Jb Specii
from any hei'j
ubics Centei!-;
i for
er session
4/5/87
846-977:1
j DALLAS (AP) — A $200,OOO heist from din
ers at one of the city’s fanciest eating spots proba
bly was the latest, and most exclusive, strike by a
ring of restaurant robbers, police said Monday.
I Patrons at Chez Gerard, a chic French restau
rant, were relatively unruffled by tfie Saturday
night heist, applauding the arrival of police and
the announcement that their dinners were on the
house.
■ Customers were able to see the humorous side
of the theft, which police estimate is one of the
city’s biggest restaurant robberies.
“Everybody was just sitting there, having din
ner, and all of a sudden they were real poor,”
said Ladelle Ross, who lost more than $1 (),()()() in
jewelry.
No arrests had been made Monday, but the
heist was believed to be the latest in a string of
similar robberies since the beginning of the year,
said Sgt. Mia Sullivan of the Dallas Police Depart
ment’s robbery unit.
Sullivan said police don’t know how big the
ring is and so far have had difficulty tracking
them because their targets are unpredictable.
Thieves have struck at moderate restaurants and
bars in nine previous incidents.
“That (prestige of the restaurant) doesn’t seem
to be a criteria,” Sullivan said. “This one is proba
bly the most exquisite. But they’ve hit some oth
ers that were less expensive. It appears to be very
difficult to predict.”
In the Chez. Gerard heist, customers handed
over cash and jewelry to two men armed with pis
tols and wearing ski masks.
YESTERDAY!
Daily Drink & Lunch Specials
Billiards & Darts
Near Luby's / House dress code
846-2625
<2.
Thumbs Up!
for
STEVE KEATHLEY
Junior Yell Leader
ThEOxhER Eclips
25% discount
on all hair products
Paul Mitchell KMS Don Sullivan
Redkin Bain De Terre Sebastian
S. Texas Ave.
Next to Winn Dixie, C.S.
Expires
4/11/87
696-8700
don’t YOU come 1
STUDENT Y
GENERAL MEETING
March 31 7 p.m.
308 RUDDER
^ and join the fun!
HEY ZIPS!!
Come VOTE ON CLASS GIFT and
get SENIOR WEEKEND INFO,
at our next
GENERAL CLASS
MEETING
Tuesday, March 31 8:30 p.m.
308 Rudder
OFF
CAMPUS
AGGIES
OFF CAMPUS
AGGIES
General Meeting
ttalion
inAggielant
Tuesday, March 31
7:30 pm 107 Heldenfels
- Mardi Gras at A&M 1988
- Officer Candidates
- Spring Banquet
/tie
Waist,
mw
Basket
jCe*f One Month
Unlimited Tanning
$29. 95
Offer ends Wed., April 1
846-1013 1003 University Dr. E.