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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 25, 1987)
Friday, September 25, 1987/The Battalion/Page 3 State and Local IK A&M students discover selves in ruins at dig site lint: they haveor-i: By Mary-Lynne Rice Staff Writer sniper. OurlxLBL] on g t j ie Mi m t> re s River in nil we get one w southwestern New 1 Mexico, a prehis- hat woulditCOSl’i tone pueblo ruin abandoned in 1150 at’s all, but stopd is gradually being uncovered and Id mean: notjuj®aerstood. Id-wideexposiit® Every summer for the past 10 -.v-oU, TKitlcLJyears, Texas A&M students have ersity. inisist- ' ’ L • r , , . , , . come to the site fear archeological lampionship i field school) and in learning a g out »u saw I - ull Met| archeology and the Mimbres Indi- ^ what I’mtallti:.;! ans, the students also have learned ab< >ut themselves. r et to immortalsH" 11 taught me a whole new opin- I w hen Mr \ ion of archeology and oflife,” junior ‘tethropology major Rob Barros i i' ugui; jjyj ..j t hink it was the best experi ence I’ve ever had.” B What began as an invitation to in spect some archeological materials developed into an extensive 10-year project. ■ “In the beginning, we were a little naive about what we wanted to do,’ he was en wanted to.Tha:j fish over in the :J 1 out likeclociv j out of mechanic aappens to have: * V >iK .|] U S i Hy s Dr. Harry Shafer, A&M profes- ih v u( as 0 p an thropology and director of ■"111led loiut.. jjje Mimbres field-school project. ink of it: A&M J :>wed reputatic M “But now, after 10 years, we’ve becomes an unrSnassed so much knowledge that ^ft’re at the point where it’s time to stop that and start writing,” he says. ■ “We’ve got to have some dme to ilprocess the informadon because the amount of material we’ve brought in jeach season is considerable,” he says. H° uses > tools and skeletons have . i< * uc j « en recovered as we n as the “hall- " 111 tnark" of the Mimbres culture, de- Mascotfoltjjieci painted pottery, he says, gie Class of NirriH “It's a reference library of arche- itv Eight! iological materials and it takes time to ts Aggie SNIPE! Iprocess all that stuff — to see that ev- C )uta t u 1 ” Hything gets cataloged and properly I inventoried,” he says. a graduatem'Wi “We want to try to reconstruct (ration. P 351 wa y s an d learn as much about the people as we can,” he says. “Once we begin to see a pattern of ange through time, we will try to understand and explain why those ' anges are taking place.” perienced people always have to be out there.” But experience is quickly gained, he says. “In three or four weeks, all of them are very good at what tasks have to be done,” he says. Students serve three-day job rota- dons, he says, learning field excava tion techniques, cataloging and labo ratory procedures and helping to cook meals and clean up the camp and kitchen area. “Everybody d everybody Photo by Samuel Myers Dr. Harry Shafer, director of the Mimbres Indian field-school pro ject, examines one of the pots reclaimed from the site this summer in New Mexico. The pottery is famous for its ornate designs. ? Ever Lovin'! “r Livin’! as Aggie OffetK as Aggie Defense j! The Mimbres project has been Kinded by National Geographic, Karthwatch and contributing volun teers interested in the excavation, ly disturbed ttif ifShafer says. He estimates the project loyers may ask ncd. evented hen the student 1 o cares about ttel has received about $80,000 in grants. Each student who attends the field school pays six hours of tuition and a $400 lab fee that covers food and transportation costs. There are no prerequisites for joining the field school — the stu dent doesn’t have to be an anthro pology major or have taken any an thropology courses. But at the end of the six-week course, each student has learned proper field excavation techniques, Shafer says. “It’s designed to take them from the very beginning,” he says. “We work them in very quickly. From day one, we have them participating in field work.” Each day in the field begins with a 6:30 a.m. wake-up call, work lasts from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. and lec tures are given in the evening, he says. “With that kind of exposure, it doesn’t take people long to catch on to what the basic techniques are,” he says. Students ease into the program slowly, so they can learn basic proce dures, Shafer says. But from that point, he says, the students are fully involved in the excavation, working in groups of five or six and super vised by either Shafer, a graduate student or an assistant instructor. Constant supervision and guidance is necessary to protect the artifacts from accidental damage, Shafer says. “Since archeology is such a fragile resource, in order to study it you have to destroy it,” he says. “If you’re not aware of what the signifi cance of something is, you’re liable to dig through it and not even re cord it. “You might have dug through something nighly significant that helps you fill in the pieces to make sense of a much broader area, so ex- has a responsibility and everybody has to carry a certain weight,” Shafer says. “So when they come home, they realize that it wasn’t just going out and having fun at the field school and having some one wait on you all the time.” For many of the students, the field school requires them to take more responsibility for themselves than they are accustomed to. Doing laundry and cleaning up after themselves is sometimes as much of a learning experience as the field work, Shafer says. He describes the field (school ex perience as a maturing process. “It’s structured in such a way that they start where they feel comfort able and we feel comfortable assign ing them certain responsibilities,” he says. “The responsibility load is in creased through the season at the pace at which that particular person was developing,” he says. “That’s one of the true tests of the field school — to see who’s going to be a natural leader, who can take re sponsibility and handle the group ef fectively, and who are always going to have some leadership provided for them,” Shafer says. At the field school, some students discovere that archeology isn’t what they expect, Shafer says. For some, the physical demands of field work are too intense. Others find they simply don’t enjoy the excavation process. But in 10 years, no student ever left the field school early, he says. “It is a weeding-out process,” he says. “Some of them get out there and realize that ‘This is not what I want to do at all.’ Others are just at tracted to it — they really enjoy that aspect of it. They’re very responsible and they develop into really good leaders. “Those are the people we’re looking for in terms of encouraging them to go on in the profession.” Shafer believes the impression he and his assistants make on the stu dents greatly affects what they learn from the field school. “It has a lot to do with the tone,” he says. “If you set a professional tone and let the students know that you’re serious about what you’re doing, but you’re not a fuddy-duddy — you do have a sense of humor about it — there are some light mo ments, yes. But in terms of the work itself, you’ve got to be out there doing it yourself. “If you sit back and order some body to do something and if you sit back and watch them, their morale is going to be destroyed.” Shafer is always in the field, work ing early in the morning and late at night. His example shows the stu dents what is expected of them, he says. “A lot of it has to do with peer opinion,” he says. “They don’t want to be seen as someone slacking off, so they’ll go do their task. In the end, they’ll see the importance of being a team member — if one person slacks off, someone else is going to have to pick up the slack.” Junior anthropology major Phil Harrison says there is more than academics in what field school taught him. “I learned more than just how to excavate a site,” he says. “I also learned a lot about myself and other people. It was a cumulative learning experience — not just about archeol ogy itself or the Mimbres Indians, but a lot about different aspects of li fe.” Shafer says his goal as a teacher is to provide opportunities and learn ing experiences, and that his reward is watching students mature and benefit from his guidance. “It’s not just the discoveries that make it exciting," he says. “That, too, is exciting, but what makes it more exciting for me is to see the transformation in these students who are for the first time in their lives discovering the outdoors, dis covering the lessons that can be learned from field work and from being a team member, learning to handle responsibility. We give them responsibility and see them grow up. “Even though it’s only six weeks, you can see an enormous change in people. And over and over through the years, that has been the real re ward.” Correction An article and accompanying headline published in Tuesday’s Battalion incorrectly reported that the Texas A&M Student Counseling Service had been dis continued. The Student Counseling Serv ice provides academic and per sonal counseling, both emergency and non-emergency, every week day from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Student Counseling Serv ice’s after-hours and weekend emergency services were disconti nued m 1986 when the A.P. Beu- tal Health Center’s 24-hour and weekend medical services were closed. The health center’s 24-hour and weekend services were re stored this semester and the Uni versity is considering reimple menting the 24-hour emergency and weekend counseling service as well. But any student in a med ical or psychological crisis after hours or on weekends still can re ceive care at the health center. It also was reported in the arti cle that the Student Senate passed a resolution urging the University to reopen the after-hours and weekend counseling service. The Graduate Student Council, not the Student Senate, passed the resolution. Also, Wade Birch, director of counseling and testing at the Stu dent Counseling Service, incor rectly was identified as the direc tor of student services. miors and senior 1 1 intact. AIDS ey need jobs morrl e to be outcasts DS is a definite treat. TEXAS COIN EXCHANGE HAS PURCHASED AN ENTIRE JEWELRY STORE AND FOR A LIMITED TIME WE WILL BE SELLING THIS JEWELRY AT UNHEARD OF PRICESI All gold items sold by weight. These prices are up to 75% off retail. LOOSE DIAMONDS bail team is ui on the field ►ologize if I have No. 9. Again,! it; I should have of my sentirnemil he library, n tolerable nti iiic (, | nustbe kepttos any areas w with earplugs! Ii| imingit tobea nable degreeof ry areas not set i might beoneio I here are plent' i rues the right loti h letter must besipn-^ Breathdj MYPM‘1 I7WCW^ : fCR M HOUND ROUND PEAR 2.87 2.05 2.04 2.03 2.02 2.01 1.83 1.55 1.26 1.17 1.16 1.10 1.08 1.08 1.06 1.02 1.02 1.00 1.00 1.00 .96 .87 .84 .80 .80 .78 .78 .78 .75 .75 .75 .73 .72 .71 .71 .71 .71 .71 .71 .71 .71 .70 .70 .69 .69 .67 .65 .63 .62 .61 .61 .60 .59 .59 .57 .55 .55 35 .54 34 33 .53 Compare At $18,500 14,500 9700 9700 15,000 12,000 5800 4500 6100 4900 2700 2600 4400 5600 3800 4500 5100 6500 3800 2700 3500 1750 2600 1950 2300 1875 2200 1475 1550 2075 1750 2500 2200 2500 2050 2300 2100 2100 1700 2300 2300 2850 1800 1700 1700 1450 1600 1700 1400 1400 1400 1700 1200 1800 1800 1400 1700 5500 1400 1600 1650 1750 Our Price *8275 7280 4850 4785 7630 3675 2900 2295 3675 2525 1395 1345 2230 2895 1975 2373 2685 2895 1950 1345 1840 896 1275 1025 1200 995 1093 725 750 1095 950 1143 1175 1145 1043 1175 1053 1093 893 1195 1175 893 793 773 775 760 815 973 713 775 713 893 695 930 930 695 895 865 695 873 695 793 .52 51 .50 .50 .49 .49 .48 .42 .41 .40 35 35 30 .20 .15 .10 .07 .05 .03 .02 Compare At 985 1750 1625 1550 1275 1300 1300 1300 1350 985 985 850 750 750 325 220 140 75 70 30 22 Our Price 495 845 810 795 695 650 650 695 660 470 540 395 375 335 165 110 63 38 35 14.95 10.95 MARQUISE Our Price Compare At $13,200 2.78 $27,500 4888 2.14 9800 2750 123 4500 3200 1.20 6400 1975 1.10 3900 1175 1.01 2300 2950 1.01 4300 2585 .93 4950 1890 .91 3700 1575 .90 3200 995 .81 1800 2900 .74 5800 895 .71 1900 895 .57 1900 895 37 1900 795 35 1850 695 34 1300 695 .47 1300 626 .47 1300 425 .47 1300 425 35 890 435 31 875 1.80 122 1.14 1.04 .60 .55 .55 35 32 3t .45 37 31 152 .83 .71 .46 2.16 136 .74 .42 .38 27 Compare/ $6800 5400 4900 4200 2300 1600 1700 1700 1300 1400 675 675 500 OVAL Our Price $3495 2390 2375 2085 1195 795 695 895 665 695 325 350 245 2700 2800 675 Our Price $5275 1350 1495 375 EMERALD CUT Compare/ *12,500 7200 2500 1500 1000 HEART Compare At 675 RADIANT Compare At 1.03 5200 SQUARE .46 33 Compare At 1850 750 Our Price $6295 4900 1350 695 595 Our Price 335 Our Price 2600 Our Price 920 385 Ran by Aoaifc.** for acsoies TEXAS COIN EXCHANGE OFFERS THE FOLLOWING SERVICES JEWELRY REPAIR 30 DAY MONEY BACK GUARANTEE ROLEX WATCHES 43** % Full Time Jeweler on the premises for jeweliy repair and stone setting. Most repairs done in 1 -2 days LOOSE DIAMONDS Largest selection of loose diamonds engagement rings in the area. We have diamonds in eveiy size, cut and quality to fit eveiy budget, we also We offer the only 30 day money back guarantee on loose diamonds in the area. (Lay-A-Ways, labor and mounting not included, di amonds must be returned in original condition) 14K GOLD ITEMS We have the largest stock of 14K GOLD Italian Chains, bracelets, earrings in the area. We sell all of our 14K Gold by WEIGHT! Our prices our 75% less than what retailers ask for ttheir Gold Jeweliy Items. -TT‘T7r«T^f We buy, sell and trade Rolex, Piaget and Patek Phillpe watches. All pre owned watches are carefullly restored and cany a 1 year warranity. We can special order new watches at big savings. CASH BUYERS We are strong cash buyers of all rare coins, gold, silver, platinum and old gold or scrap gold. Also strong buyers of all diamonds and Rolex watches. INVESTMENT ADVICE