Friday, November 20,1987/The Battalion/Page 3 State and Local >n imaging t find a >• When 111 do?" i never ut it w his fact red him- stressed a panic as a sad Just for e hasn't est that's ie's also doesn't mcheas- Opinion She was ,5 billion ire carat ■r, but to ; frenzy, »f the let- o whole d downa the same day that arted ei- t have to ning in. urnalism ion. ent, e tivities ihant jy the will i n fire ant ition. tciated- ‘Just say no’ program spreads to CS schools By Mary McClenny Reporter The national “Just say no” cam paign — which is against illegal drugs and has been used from big- business offices to rural school yards — is now formally spreading to class rooms in College Station. About 375 fifth-grade students at Oakwood Middle School are learn ing ways to avoid involvement with the drugs in an 11-week drug aware ness program taught by College Sta tion police officer Bob Price. “There is a drug problem every where,” Price says. “We (the College Station Police Department and the College Station Independent School District) chose fifth grade because kids are very impressionable at this age.” The Drug Abuse Resistance Edu cation program, or DARE, was de veloped in 1983 by the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los An geles Unified School District in re sponse to the city’s drug problems. After training with tne Los An geles Police Department, Price be gan his own program at Oakwood earlier this month. The classes will run through Feb. 18 and consist of related subjects that build on each other, week by week. “The information we are giving them (is something) they can hold on to into junior and senior high school. where the drug problems are wor se,” Price says. T opics such as personal safety and drug use and misuse already have been discussed; and consequences of use, drugs in media, peer pressure to use drugs and other types of pres sure are some other topics scheduled in the program. “I use role-playing a lot of the time to get the children involved,” Price says. “It makes a difference in the kids’ understanding and motiva tion when you let them get invol ved.” In the 11 lessons, Price plans to give the children examples of ways to stay away from drugs, such as walking away, making excuses and changing the subject. The children then act out these techniques. His teaching is reinforced through use of drug-awareness films and lessons. Susie Striegler, a fifth-grade health teacher at Oakwood, says the children like the program. “The kids really love the class and even ask when the next class will be,” Striegler says. “In our follow-up dis cussions, the kids are really attentive. They are looking for answers.” In order for Price to gain the chil dren’s respect and trust, he says, he keeps in contact with them outside the classroom. “Sometimes I go to the lunchroom and eat with them or to the play ground to play kickball,” Price says. “Its very important to get to know the kids so they will trust me enough to tell me if they have a problem. They have to be able to trust me or the program won’t work.” The program is funded by the College Station Independent School District, the City of College Station and K Mart. It’s now classified as a pilot program, but Price says there is hope the program will spread to other schools and grades. It would be difficult to predict where the program is heading be cause it is so new, but responses have been overwhelming, he said. Striegler says the classes are bene ficial for her students. “The classes really stress those things the kids need to know about drugs and it also makes it easier for kids to open up and ask questions,” Striegler says. “They need to de velop refusal skills now.” Price hopes to extend the effects of the classes to parents. This, along with a presentation about the program Price is hoping to give at an upcoming Parent-Teacher Association meeting, will give par ents a chance to try to understand the program and be there to help their children understand, he says. “The drug problem is everywhere and I’m just trying to help these kids make educated decisions,” Price says. Worker overtakes heights to help build A&M garage Photo by Sam B. Myers Construction worker Willie Hampton towers above the site for the new A&M parking garage on the crane Thursday afternoon. By Stephen Masters Reporter For eight years Willie Hampton has been climbing the ladder of suc cess but he comes back down around 4 p.m. each day. Hampton runs the huge crane at the parking garage construction site. Each morning he makes a 15-minute climb to the 230-foot-high cab of the crane, which is like climbing a ladder up a 23-story building. Hampton says the distance didn’t take much time to get used to be cause he has worked at heights of up to 700 feet on previous jobs. It just takes a little bit of adjustment, he says. But height is the least of his wor ries on this job. “You have to know what you’re doing and be really careful,” he says. “You have to be sure of who’s doing the rigging (on the ground). “There are lives at stake here. If you get someone who doesn’t know what he’s doing at either end, then it wouldn’t be long before somebody gets injured.” Hampton has been in the con struction business for 20 years and has worked with cranes since coming to the Bryan-College Station area in 1979. He’s worked on construction jobs such as the College Station Hil ton and Convention Center, the First Bank & Trust building and the Western National Bank. “You name it and I’ve worked on it,” he says. The crane is a Hammerhead Lindy, 8,000 series, he says. It is run by two joysticks and can lift any where from 6,600 pounds at the far end to 39,700 pounds close to the tower. One of the main problems of the job is its complexity, he says. “You have to compensate for the wind, because we have to work even on windy days,” he says. “You can be swinging around and the wind will blow you right past where you want to go. It can be tricky.” Hampton says it also takes a while to acquire the right depth perception to work on the crane. All the people working around it must work as a team, he says. “Getting used to a new height is a gradual thing,” he says. “While you do all this, you have to be aware not only of what you do, but what the people around you are doing. If you’re not aware, then it’ll cause problems and people can get hurt. “But then again, they won’t put a beginner on the crane; it’s too dan gerous.” Hampton doesn’t think one can stress safety enough. “It doesn’t take a crazy person to do my job,” he says. “You could put just about anybody up in the booth but before long their lack of knowl edge would show and someone would get hurt or even killed.” Engineers build concrete canoes to race against other SWC schools By Sara Mitchell Reporter staff fort to ethe 'M V Every day, hundreds of students passing through the staff parking lot near the Engineering Research Cen ter at Texas A&M see a maroon and white trailer which reads “TAMU Concrete Canoe.” It’s not, as odd as it may seem, an error. The trailer contains two ca noes made of the unlikely material. These concrete canoes, which ac tually float, are products of the A&M Concrete Canoe Team, which is comprised mainly of civil engi neering students. The canoes are raced two or three times a year against teams from other schools in the Southwest Conference, usually at conferences of the American So ciety of Civil Engineers. A&M Concrete Canoe Team Chairman Fred Ramirez, a senior civil engineering major from San Antonio, says A&M usually does well and has placed in all of its races since 1979. Last month in a Houston race, the women’s team placed second and the men’s team placed fourth, Ram irez says. Teams of men, women, faculty and alumni participate in the races, he says, which usually take place in lakes since the canoes tend to crack under too much stress. Races usually are conducted in a half-mile triangular course. Ramirez estimates the canoes’ top speeds to be 10 to 15 mph, depending on who is rowing. Ramirez says A&M’s 18-foot ca noes are the longest canoes raced by all Southwest Conference schools, which makes them the fastest. It also makes them the heaviest, at about 150 to 200 pounds each. The canoes are painted maroon and white and are decorated with what opponents must consider appropriate instruc tions for Aggies: “This Side Up” and “Paddle Here.” Each year, team members try to develop a light-weight concrete for the canoes that is strong enough to hold two people and withstand the stress of the race. Ramirez says ASCE rules require the canoe to stay afloat even when it is holding water. Team Vice Chairman Allan Moore, a senior civil engineering major from Whitesboro, says the concrete formulas used for A&M’s canoes are based on past formulas that have been proven successful. This year, Ramirez says, members have developed what they hope is an improved mix — using cement, per lite, glass beads, ceramic nodules and a new fiber mesh containing half-inch metal strands to better withstand impact. Once a satisfactory concrete mix is developed, wire mesh is formed into the shape of a canoe. Moore says the same form has been used at A&M since the team formed in 1975. When the wire frame is ready, the concrete is poured and must cure for about two weeks. The team usually makes two canoes at a time. Because all race contestants are secretive about their concrete for mulas, Ramirez says, no one knows what ingredients are in the most suc cessful formulas. He says ASCE rules state canoes must be poured nine months before a race. The team plans to pour two canoes the weekend of Dec. 5. “We’re trying to get as many peo ple as we can,” Ramirez says. “We need a lot of help pouring the ca noes — it’s a lot of work.” The next race is scheduled for April at a Corpus Christi ASCE con vention. AGGIELAND PHOTOS NEXT WEEK Nov. 23 - Nov. 25 Makes for Juniors, Seniors, Grads, Vets and Meds! “GET IN THE BOOK” AR PHOTOGRAPHY 707 TEXAS AVENUE ACROSS FROM THE POLO FIELD HOURS 9 TO 5 693-8183 After graduation, this will be your first smart move. At Lincoln Property Company, all you need is this ad and a copy of your diploma and we’ll forget about the credit check and the security deposit when you move into your LPC apartment home.* Now that’s a smart move. You’ve finally made it, and we at LPC believe you deserve this great graduation present! Call the Lincoln Lifestyle Center today at (214) 373-9300 for a complete list ing of the 20,000 apartment homes in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, including The Village. Let us introduce you to The Lincoln Lifestyle! *Plus we’ll give you a $300 rebate on your 1 st full month’s rent. Offer expires January 31, 1988. Offer good only at participating LPC communities. We've got the best apartments in Dallas! WJ Lincoln Property Company 214/373-9300 Godfather's Pizza FREE DELIVERY CALL606-4166 United delivery area and hours 13” Original Crust Two Topping Pizza $7.95 One coupon per order. Not good with other discount or coupon offers. Offer valid at participating Godfather’s Pizza Restau rants. Good for in-restaurant, take out or delivery orders. Limited delivery area and hours. Offer expires Dec. 4, 1987. 2 fop Two medium cheese pizzas for just $8. Each additional top ping $ L