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 <M \ covers both pizzas.
I One coupon per order. Not good with other
! discount or coupon offers. Offer valid atpar-
[ticipating Godfather’s Pizza Restaurants.
I Good for in-restaurant, take out or delivery
I orders. Limited delivery area and hours. Of-
|fer expires Dec. 4,1987.
ALL YOU CAN LAT PIZZA AND POP $2.69
MONDAY AND TUESDAY 5:80-8:30 p. m.
attalion
Classified
845-2611