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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (May 1, 1987)
Friday, May 1, 1987AThe Battalion/Page 5 ^“^QUSLMAN'rii^l Head of A&M’s English department lectures at 15 European universities e"l!i§ By Cray Pixley aiedlv i Reporter questiomj (Texas A&M’s English department H talks head recently told the tales of a pop- 'n to con ular American humorist on a 15-uni- Noni! vefsity, 23-lecture whirlwind tour of Five countries as a Fulbright Distill ed as i; guished Fellow. I’ennzoil Dr. Hamlin L. Hill spoke to stu- lillion n dents and scholars throughout Nor- (onibin way, Sweden, Finland, Denmark and li and ((Iceland about humorist Mark Tijvain. MHill was one of 37 scholars, writ ers and performing artists chosen ^^tiationwide to lecture in 62 countries 'as part of the 40th anniversary of the Fulbright Academic Exchange Pro- mm, which is administered by the ■S. Information Agency. ■Although Hill said he was hon ored at being named a Fulbright Dis tinguished Fellow, he isn’t a novice atlecturing abroad. I'Tve had two Fulbright programs and I spent the 1984-1985 academic year in Washington D.C., as their resident scholar in American stud ies,” Hill said. “During that time, I lectured in several other countries celebrating Mark Twain’s birthday.” IlHill also served on the Fulbrignt program’s selection committee. ■‘Tve realized that Mark Twain is a wonderful international passport,” Hill said. “Twain and his work is studied all over the world.” ^Although most Europeans are fa miliar with Twain’s work, Hill said V, he had to be careful when choosing ,'h which works to present to foreign ers. ■“I try to pick works which are not dialect-orientated because some of Twain’s stories would be very diffi- cull for an audience to follow with- out having a book in front of them to ‘"vr.;-: refer back to,” Hill said. In a passage Hill read from Dr. Hamlin L. Hill Twain’s autobiography, Twain tells of how he can tell if a watermelon is ripe without plugging it. Hill said that after he read the passage at a lecture he wondered if the Euro pean audience knew what plugging a watermelon meant. “I talked to a man after the lecture Photo by Chris Lane and he told me that he hadn’t known plugging meant cutting a hole in the melon to test the ripeness,” Hill said. Hill explained that regardless of some problems in communicating Twain’s meaning, there are many works which can be universally un derstood and are contemporaneous for audiences in the 1980s — just as they were for audiences in the 1880s. “I usually lecture on Huckleberry Finn while abroad because most peo ple have read the story,” he said. “I gave the universities on the recent tour a list of six to eight topics from which to choose a lecture,” he said. The lectures include Twain’s au tobiography and travel books. Hill said most universities chose lectures which discussed Twain’s influence on American humor and his influ ence on the American vision. “On my lecture tours, I have found that people from other cul tures view Mark Twain, the charac ter created by Samuel L. Clemens, as the typical American,” he said. Clemens’ Fictional persona, Hill said, possesses characteristics which Europeans attribute to Americans. “The greatest misconception about Twain that I encountered overseas was the facet of his person ality known as the Ugly American,” he said. “It was based on his travel ■Spooks on Europe which deliberately present a character who is shallow and doesn’t give the proper obedi ence to tradition. “People in other countries who read only Twain’s travel books often get a distorted view of Twain and Americans. They may not realize Twain wrote the travel books for a certain reason and audience.” During his tour as a fellow, Hill said he tried to clear up any ques tions about Twain and his style. “I feel the tour was an academic success in that the audiences were in terested and complimentary toward my lectures,” Hill said. “It was also a personal success because I enjoyed myself a great deal.” GUIS 0L1S ONI. fa say ob. 2 more banks in Texas close from loan loss I Two more Texas banks col lapsed under the weight of mas sive loan losses Thursday, bring ing to 23 the number of banks that have failed in the economi cally depressed state this year, of- fidals said. 1 State Banking Commissioner Kenneth W. Littlefield shut down Unitedbank-Houston and Peo ples State Bank in the Panhandle town of Turkey, and turned them over to the Federal Deposit In surance Corp. for liquidation. I The failures pushed the na tional total to 71 and brought the Lone Star State two steps closer to breaking single-state record it set last year with 26 closings, state banking spokeswoman Heidi Cot- tingham said. I Unitedbank-Houston had as sets of $218 million, although a recent State Banking Department examination showed severe dete rioration in the bank’s loan port folio, Cottingham said. ‘No-pet’ policy for dorms often ignored by students By Becky Weisenfels Reporter University policy says no pets ex cept fish are allowed in residence halls, but cats, dogs and a variety of other animals still call the Texas A&M campus home. Kim, an student who asked that her last name be withheld, said she has been keeping a cat in her dorm room since the beginning of the spring semester. “At first, we intentionally just had him until we found someone to take. him, but then we liked him so much that we didn’t try very hard to find someone else,” she said. “And we weren’t getting caught for it or any thing.” Marci Bush, McFadden Hall head resident, said that finding pets in residence halls is not unusual. “Between Spence and Under wood, the joke has been that they have confiscated enough pets to start their own zoo,” Bush said. “Here (in McFadden), we’ve caught one that l know of this semester. One day I was leaving and I saw a cat litterbox with two bowls sitting in the entryway. I stood there waiting to see who was going to come back for them, but no one ever did.” People probably have pets be cause the rules concerning pets are not strictly enforced, Bush said. “We write them up (if they’re caught),” Bush said. “They may have a hearing with me or a hearing over in the area office, like, ‘Don’t do that.’ That’s it. Of course, it’s on their record if they continue.” Most students are caught because of the smell or the pet’s whining, Bush said. But Kim said she isn’t afraid of be ing caught. “We assumed all along that if the R.A. ever came in here, we would tell her we just had the cat for the day,” she said. “And if they say we have to get rid of him, then we’ll say ‘fine.’ ” Kim says the people who live on her hall know about the cat. So does the maid. No one is out of the room for more than 45 minutes, during which time the cat is shut in the bath room, Kim said. If the maid comes while no one is there, she just doesn’t clean, Kim said. Bush said the maids are careful not to tell on students with pets. “I’ve asked (about pets) and they’re real leery to tell on us be cause they don’t want to get in trou ble,” Bush said. “I feel like we’ve got a pretty good relationship with the maids, but they don’t want to get in trouble and they don’t want to get the girls in trouble.” Kim wants to bring the cat back next semester but it has grown to about four times the size it was when she got it, she said. She is consid ering bringing back a chinchilla in stead. Even so, she doesn’t think the “no-pet” policy should be changed. “We open the door and the cat runs out and everybody in the hall is chasing after him,” she said. “(If pets were in the dorms), so much of that would be going on. Besides, some people might have allergies.” Clements threatens to call special session ; AUSTIN (AP) — Legislators are engaged in wishful thinking if they believe they can force a $39 billion-plus state budget into law, Gov. Bill Clements said Thursday. I Clements suggested that he will call a special session for July if a balanced budget cannot be written before lawmakers’ scheduled June 1 ad journment. I “I just don’t think we’re getting there,” said Clements, who has vowed to block state spending to exceed $36.9 billion for 1988-89. But the Senate has passed a $40 billion budget, and the House on Monday will debate a $39.4 bil lion spending plan. “Those appropriations are wishful thinking,” Clements said. If the Legislature fails to write a balanced bud get by June 1, Clements said he will call a special session to finish the work, but probably not until July- That will push the process closer to the Aug. 31 end of the fiscal year. Clements said he wanted the legislators to go home and hear first hand what the voters think. “I want them to go home. I want them to listen to their constituency and see what’s going on back there,” the governor said. Clements repeatedly has said he would veto any tax increase higher than $2.9 billion, the amount needed to balance his $36.9 billion bud get. That would be generated by continuing tem porary sales and motor fuel tax increases that are scheduled to expire Aug. 31. 011- 2.50 ADMISSION 1. Any Show Before 3 PM 2. Tuesday - All Seats 3. Mon-Wed - Local Students With Current ID’s 4. Thur - KORA “Over 30 Nite” •DENOTES DOLBY STEREO PLAZA 3 226 Southwest Pkwy 693-2457 Rccb -'3 v * RAISING ARIZONA PG-13 *ALLNIGHTER 7:35 9:55 SALE LETHAL WEAPON r MANOR EAST 3 7:25 9:45 Manor East Mail 823r8300 * PLATOONr ARIST0CATS g EXTREME PREJUDICE SCHULMAN 6 2002 E. 29th 775-2463 MANNEQUIN PG 7:20 9:50 ‘CREEP SHOW II 7:10 9:55 $ DOLLAR DAYS $ This Week’s Features Are: BLACK WIDOW r 7:20 9:45 ‘CROCODILE DUNDEE pg-13 7:25 9:35 NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET III r 7:30 9:40 BURGULAR r 7:15 9:45 $ 20 OFF selected styles WYATT’S SPORTING GOODS 505 University Dr. Manor East Mall 846-6715 Culpepper Plaza 775-9168 693-2949 AFFORDABLE HOUSING * Single Family Housing from $30-$200 / 000 * Condominiums - On Shuttle Bus, Close to Campus * Income Producing Property * Raw Land STANFORD "The First Name in Real Estate" STANFORD REAL ESTATE I N V E S T M E N T^S ^776-033 JJ Someone is Always Available Now Open on Saturday ’til 3 p.m. William* m 10 Minute Drive-Thru Lube, Oil, & Filter Change?* $3 00 off 205 Holleman 1 OIL, LUBE & Filter Change (your choice of oil) 764-7992 J Secret of My Success pg-13 Sat & Sun 2:00 4:15 7:00 9:20 Post Oak Mall R Room With A View Sat-Sun 2:10 4:20 7:,0- 9:25 Post Oak Mall Project X 03 Sat & Sun 2:05 4:30 7:05 9:30 Post Oak Mall Malone r Sat & Sun 2:05 4:20 7:15 9:20 Cinema III Blind Date PG Sat & Sun 2:00 4:307:00 9:30 Cinema III Hoosiers PG Sat & Sun 2:10 4:15 7:10 Cinema III Demon Lover Sat & Sun 9:15 Cinema III PG-13 ie ill WWW SHORT ON CASH? advertise with the Battalion ^ classified ads 845-2611 we won't sell you short JOIN THE FUN AND SIGN Ml UP TODAY! PLACE: Central Park Starts 10:30 Sat. May 2nd TIME: DATE: Proceeds go to the Brazos Valley Rehab Center SPONSORED BY PHI KAPPA SIGMA