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