3
Welcome to the Batt cave 8
Although thousands of copies of The Battalion are read
daily, many people never think to look at the story
behind the stories. Who decides what will go into the
paper each day? When does the day begin in
newsroom and does it ever end? What are the steps
leading to the completion of each day’s paper? We’re
inviting you to experience A Day at the Batt.
Dear Readers 6
Some Battalion editors have waited a long time to
express their opinion to you, their sometimes faithful
readers. In this somewhat unusual Mail Call, Battalion
staff members take advantage of the situation to get a
few things off their minds.
Batt-folks 10
After spending a day at the Batt, you are probably
wondering who all those people were who we talked
about, and exactly what their jobs entail. We’ve taken
the opportunity to introduce some members of the Fall
1987 staff, and let you meet the people behind the
pages.
Aggienizing Answers 11
Since our editors had a chance to tell you how they
feel, we figured it would only be fair to give you a
chance to express your opinions on The Battalion.
Remember when ... 12
The Battalion was born in 1878, only two years after
Texas A&M was founded, but back then it was called
the Texas Collegian. We’ve come a long way since the
early days, but in this article we take a look back at the
way things were.
Movie review 4
Steve Martin’s new film, “Planes, Trains and
Automobiles, ” isn’t one of his best, Tom says. But the
personality conflict between Martin and co-star John
Candy does add humor to the movie.
Album review 4
Progressive music listeners have a new band to listen
to, Tom says. Shelleyan Orphan, with the album
“Helleborine, ” follows in the footsteps of the Cocteau
Twins and Prefab Sprout, but with more
instrumentation than these other bands.
Dear Readers:
As the year draws to a close, so do this
semester's issues of At Ease. We decided to end
things with a fun topic, or at least one that we
hold near and dear to our hearts.
Being aware that most people do not realize
what it takes to put out a day's paper, we
thought it was high time to introduce everyone
to the world of intrigue, the world of
excitement, the world of pressure, the world of
wonder... the world of The Battalion.
Our main story outlines a typical day at the
paper. With students slaving about 17 of the 24
hours each day, the newsroom is seldom quiet
Each hour, some stage of the paper's
production is taking place, and each minute, the
destination: the printing press. Come spend a
day with us as we wrestle the beasts of the
Since there are more than 50 people working
bribe Battalion, it is obvious that not
everyone perbrms the same job. Our second
We talked to editors, staff writers and
to talk to you. So in the fashion of the Dear
page's Mai! Call, we have a collection of Dear
Reader letters.
students what they like and don't like aboutThe
Finally, we’ve included a story on the history
of the Battalion. You might be surprised to find
out that this paper has been around for a long,
longtime.
Thanks to all of you for making our semester
enjoyable, and thank you especially for
and to read At Ease next semester And don’t
ever hesitate to let us
Good luck on finals!
At Ease Staff
Editor
Assistant editor
Senior staff writer
Staff writers
Reviewer
Photographer
Karen Kroesche
Lydia Berzsenyi
Melisa Hohlt
Staci Finch
Leslie Guy
Tom Reinarts
Dean Saito