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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 3, 1987)
Thursday, December 3,1987/The Battalion/Page 5 iu> What’s up Thursday SPEECH COMMUNICATION ASSOCIATION: will meet at 5 p.m. at the Sundance Club in the College Station Hil ton on University Drive. INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT FORUM: Dr. Miguel Velez will discuss “Dairy Production in Developing Nations — Facts and Alternatives” at 7 p.m. in 404 Rudder. STUDENT Y: YOUTH FUN DAY III: will meet at 8:30 p.m. in 228-230 MSC. MSC HOSPITALITY: will have a fashion show at noon in the MSC flag room. FRESHMAN AG SOCIETY: will have a Christmas party at 5:30 p.m. in the Kleberg Animal and Food Science Center. MEXICAN AMERICAN ENGINEERING SOCIETY: will meet at 7 p.m. in 501 Rudder. S.H.A.R.E.: Applications for S.H.A.R.E. staff are available from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. until the end of the semester at the Off-Campus Center. MODERN LANGUAGES — GERMAN FACULTY: will pre sent “Die Hose” at 8 p.m. in 201 MSC. WOMEN’S STUDIES: will show the movie “To the Light house” at 7:30 p.m. in 120 Blocker. TAMU CYCLING TEAM: will meet at 7 p.m. in 350 MSC. MSC HOSPITALITY: will have an Aggie Christmas Fair from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the ballroom in the second floor of the MSC. PHI THETA KAPPA ALUMNI: will meet at 5 p.m. at Brownstone Apartments. REVEILLE V: Pictures can be made with Reveille in the MSC flag room from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. until Dec. 4. CATHOLIC STUDENT ASSOCIATION: will meet at 6:15 p.m. and at 8 p.m. at St. Mary’s Student Center, 103 Nagle. PHI KAPPA PHI HONOR SOCIETY: Applications for graduate study are available in 219 Engineering/Physics. Friday DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT — DISTINGUISHED VISITING EXECUTIVE SERIES: Mr. James Fish will speak in 114 Blocker. TAMU TABLE-TENNIS CLUB: will meet in 304 Read. DATA PROCESSING MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION: will have a Christmas social at 8 p.m. in the Ramada Inn penthouse. UNITED CAMPUS MINISTRIES: will have a peanut-butter fellowship at 11:30 a.m. at Rudder Fountain and a Bible study at 6:30 p.m. at the A&M Presbyterian Church. AFRICAN STUDENT ASSOCIATION: will meet at 7 p.m. in 404 Rudder. HART HALL: will have a bicycle auction from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. in front of Rudder Tower. Items for What's Up should be submitted to The Battalion, 216 Reed McDonald, no less than three working days be fore desired publication date. Survey shows rise in sales across state DALLAS (AP) — A survey of re tail purchases by personal checks during the long Thanksgiving week end shows a 14 percent increase in sales statewide compared to the same weekend in 1986. The Dallas-Fort Worth area led the state in purchases during what is traditionally the year’s busiest shop ping weekend. Shoppers wrote $3.2 million worth of checks to 2,000 Dallas-Fort Worth retailers during the three-day weekend, according to Houston- based TeleCheck Southwest, a pay ment services company that collects data from 9,000 Texas merchants. Reports by TeleCheck’s clients show consumers wrote $6.8 million worth of checks statewide. In Houston, check purchases for the weekend were up 7.2 percent, while sales in the San Antonio and Austin areas were down 1.2 percent from the year before. D-FW check purchases were up 23.6 percent for the weekend com pared to last year’s Thanksgiving weekend sales, the company’s fig ures show. The amount of the aver age check written also was up half a percentage point to $97.69. Those figures have helped fuel optimism in the wake of the mid-Oc tober stock market decline that some analysts feared might shake con sumer confidence during the critical sales season. “Check activity is an indicator of the direction of how things are ? ;oing,” Ken Wait, vice chairman and ounder of Telecheck, said. But Wait also cautioned that the weekend shopping traffic is unlikely to continue, noting that the three- day sales period is usually the heavi est sales period of the year. Dennis Telzrow, an analyst with Eppler, Guerin 8c Turner in Dallas, said he is expecting a 2 percent to 3 percent overall increase in sales this Christmas season. “With inflation, that means 5 per cent to 6 percent,” which would equal an average or below-average season, he said. TeleCheck’s clients include a cross section of retailers, such as depart ment and specialty stores. The com pany’s figures do not include sales paid for by credit cards or cash. Guardroom acts as center of coordination for cadets By Ross Elkins Reporter )rps guardroom in the Quadrangle is the headquarters and coordinating arm of the Corps. “The guardroom supplies Corps members with information such as what uniform will be worn for for mation,” Corps Adjutant Peter Awad, a senior computer science major, said. Another example of the guard room’s coordination is the raising of the U.S. flag at various locations on carnpus. “Flags are raised on the Quad, the west side of the Academic Building, and the east side of the System Ad- ministraton Building,” Awad said. Applications for MSC committees and Texas A&M’s Muster committee can be obtained from the guard- room. Also, bonfire buddy gifts can be dropped off or picked up there. The guardroom also offers an es cort service for women walking on campus at night, said Jay Kregel, a junior civil engineering major and Corps administrative sargeant. “Around 10 p.m. is when the serv ice is used most,” Kregel said. “Usually female students on the north end of campus who are com ing home to the Commons are the ones who use the service most. Ev eryone would like to think they are safe walking by themselves on cam pus at night, but it’s just better to be safe than sorry.” The guardroom is also a center of communication for the Corps. Mailboxes for each outfit are lo cated in the guardroom. Designated sophomores from each outfit sign in twice a day and pick up memos, mes sages, or any other pertinent infor mation and relay it to other mem bers in the outfit, Awad said. The guardroom is the coordinat ing center for the Corps, and the Military Sciences Building (formerly the Trigon) is used as an advisory unit. “Every morning at 8 a.m. the des ignated sophomore of the day signs in and takes messages over to the Trigon,” Awad said. “The Trigon in turn sends its messages back to the guardroom.” The guardroom also keeps a phone list of all Corps members, Kregel said. “This is used by students mostly, but we do have an occasional parent call and need a phone number,” Kregel said. Awad, as Corps adjutant, holds the third-highest rank in the Corps. “I am responsible for the guard- room at all times,” Awad said. “Un fortunately I can’t be there 24 hours a day, so each outfit has three days designated to them each semester. There must be four Corps members on duty. One white belt (an upp< classman), a sophomore, and t freshmen.” Freshmen members answer phones while the sophomore usually runs errands. “The white belt is there to oversee the others on duty,” Awad said. “At night, the staff is reduced to three members.” Seven juniors and 11 seniors are on Corps staff. These members also oversee the guardroom, Kregel said. “Each year we have an applica tion-interview process to select new staff members,” he said. er- two for Convenience 2 blocks from A&M for Comfort Pools, Tennis Court, Laundry Facilities, Shuttle Service for y ou! Call TODAY— only a few available for the Spring Semester SCANDIA TAOS 401 Anderson 693-6505 REMA SEVILLA 1501 Holleman # 33 693-2108 NEWPORT 402 Nagle 846-8960 Oronae 10% DISCOUNT WITH STUDENT I.D. RSK RBOUT OUR DRILY SPECIALS HAPPY HOUR MON.-FRI. 4-6 PM Happy Hour T' I I Buy 1 Julius Drink, Get Next Smaller | Size Free. Anytime w/coupon expires 12/15/87 1/4 lb. Julius Burger 99C w/coupon expires 12/15/87 California Chili Hot Dog 99C w/coupon expires 12/15/87 pJkM U17/V e /! Camp ^Sgie COUNSELOR APPLICATIONS Pick up applications — 213 Pavilion — Return applications to 2nd floor Pavilion — Fish Camp secretary’s desk On 2-1 -88 — return by NOON on 1st floor of Pavilion Open: Jan. 19 Close: Feb. 1 ★ Pick up applications-213 Pavilion return applications to 2nd floor Pavilion-Fish Camp Secretary’s desk on 2-1-88-return by NOON on 1st floor of Pavilion Texas court takes child custody from Jehovah's Witness believer AUSTIN (AP) — The Texas Su preme Court on Wednesday let stand a jury’s decision taking child custody away from a Jehovah’s Wit ness who testified she doesn’t believe in Christmas, birthdays or singing “God Bless America.” Marianne Rutland Chaisson may now ask the U.S. Supreme Court to rule that questions about her reli gious beliefs should not have been K rmitted at the custody trial, her vyer said. Jurors in a Dallas County court appointed Lawrence J. Rutland, Chaisson’s ex-husband, as managing conservator of their two sons, ages 5 and 6, when the case was tried. Chaisson had been named managing conservator when they were di vorced in 1983, but Rutland later filed suit to change that. “The problem is you are dealing with Jehovah’s Witnesses, which is a very tiny minority,” said lawyer Mi chael Sloan of McKinney, handling the appeal for Mrs. Chaisson. “They come across to the main stream American as being strange and different,” he said. “That auto matically puts someone behind the eight ball. They do have some un usual beliefs. And this case was tried at Christmas time.” Chaisson, who is remarried and lives in La Feria, testified that she does not celebrate Christmas be cause the holiday “comes from Sa turnalia, which is pagan.” She testi fied she does not celebrate birthdays because “Herod had John the Bap tist beheaded on his birthday and Pharoah had his baker hung on his birthday.” “Being that the only two birthday celebrations recorded in the Bible . . . were enjoyed by only pagans, to me and to Jehovah’s Witnesses it is evi dent that Jehovah God does not ap prove of birthday celebrations,” Chaisson testified. She said she would not let her boys sing “God Bless America” be cause “we are not patriotic.” Asked if her ex-husband could provide a better home for the sons, she testified, “He could provide very abundantly in a material way, but as far as spiritual things, there wouldn’t be that much. “We can provide abundantly in a spiritual way and they stand a good chance of passing the Armageddon and living forever in a paradise.” According to court records, testi mony showed Chaisson had put hot pepper juice on the boys’ tongues for lying, and they had been spanked with a belt and a paint stick. The spankings sometimes left bruises, according to testimony. Sloan said the evidence about the discipline was compounded by Chaisson’s religious beliefs. “The spanking, while perhaps more severe than normal, was not beyond what the law allows,” he said. “They are allowed to bring in evi dence about discipline. That’s a fac tor to be considered, but don’t pound her with her religious prac tices.” The Supreme Court, without writing an opinion, said there was no reversible error in the 5th Court of Appeals of Dallas’ decision uphold ing the appointment of Rutland as managing conservator. Chaisson’s original lawyer, not Sloan, failed to complain about the religious-related questions during the trial. In order to raise a point on ap peal, a litigant must object to the contested point at the trial. But the Dallas appeals court ruled there was no such question in this case. Friday and Saturday nights (7:30 & 9:45) come see our Jje. Starring: Rick Moranis, Ellen Greene, Vincent Gardenia Special appearances by: Steve Martin, James Belushi, John Candy, Christopher Guest, and Bill Murray Directed by: Frank Oz 35