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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (May 4, 1988)
■ Wednesday, May 4, 1988/The Battalion/Page 5 Officials say student groups lot part of act 6 Pm. at Ail AUSTIN (AP) — Student govern- ®ent groups do not fall under the °nuddef. ■ exas Qp en Meetings Act, the state 9at8'30 ■ torne >' general’s office has deter- ^■ined. 9 at noon f State Re P- J uan Hinojosa, D- BcAllen, had sought an opinion on 'P meeting Jbehalf of the student newspaper at Kn American University at Edin- Hrg. Kp The weekly newspaper, the Pan American, has been at odds with the Student Government Association wer closed “executive sessions” and ip meetingr the advance posting of agendas. ■ The Open Meetings Act requires '9 at 8:30p P governmental bodies to post ad- ■ince notice of meetings, list topics 9 at 12:15pr| t 0 be discussed and limits the cir- ■imstances under which closed ses- Hons may be held. B Hinojosa said the attorney gener- 'eedMcDcr- Ja’s office did not address the ques ts onlypuk )lon of student government. He said o. lfWiah({Be is considering sponsoring legis- ussions&c; l a (ion to bring student governments y willm.hi UIK j er t be state law. B The Pan American editor Cindie ^^^^^Bowell said the paper will lobby for ^^Wie legislation. iy$ iges office fros on Bowk! ov. 16. this age!"- and sour™ onal sup: fexas, came as tW | Loan Ins to begin iiv Plan with rn the l gh consot; if the S&Lss e plan’s r ilize sum >t that the f: 1 are playin the recovr loan e Votes sway in election for betting LUBBOCK (AP) Few are lay ing bets on whether self-styled [proponents of economic devel opment or local church leaders will sway voters their way in Sat urday’s hotly contested local-op- Ition election for pari-mutuel bet ting. One group promises horse rac ing will be a boon to the city’s economy, while the other says le galized gambling will corrupt res idents’ morals. Two counties, Lubbock and Dallas, will hold local-option elec tions Saturday. Those two proba bly will be the last two counties in Texas to decide whether to allow pari-mutuel wagering in their reas, Ricky Knox, executive di rector of the Texas Horse Racing Association, said. Since Nov. 3, when voters statewide decided in favor of pari-mutuel betting, 51 counties jjhave decided the local-option |question, with all but six voting in [favor of horse racing. ! In this city of 190,000, the pari- Imutuel issue has been hotter than a illegal tip sheet, and the out come is likely to be a photo finish. “It’s anybody’s guess as to how it will go Saturday,” said Steven Lemley, president of Lubbock Christian University and a pari mutuel opponent. Lubbock County clerk Ann Da vidson said high absentee voting totals indicate heavy interest in the issue, although for approxi mately 40,000 voters outside Lub bock the racing question is the only item on the ballot. City residents also will elect city council, municipal judges and school board trustees. As the battle lines have been drawn, preachers have urged their congregations to vote against pari-mutuel and racing supporters have raised $31,000 to aid their effort. The local newspaper hesitantly endorsed the measure, while school Superintendent E.C. Les lie, Mayor Peck McMinn and county Judge Rod Shaw all came out against pari-mutuel wa- jgering. A group calling itself Citizens jAgainst Pari-Mutuel Gambling jhas run quarter-page newspaper ;ads citing statistics that gambling causes failed marriages and fos ters organized crime. Television iads are to run later in the week, |said the Rev. Gene Glaeser, pas tor of Broadway Church of I Christ. Racing opponents worry that having a racetrack will soil Lub- |bock’s image. RIF program encourages reading for local children By Ashley A. Bailey Reporter Ejsy om yjr eptlf od jsoorbubh ub yhid dyotir. E esny yo knor ehsy id giubh bb, nut U fiby jbie. The previous paragraph is noth ing but a jumble of letters that make no sense. To a person who is illiter ate, the following paragraphs will make no sense either. Reading is Fundamental Inc. is trying to reduce the illiteracy that prevents people from reading even the simplest sen tences. The group aims its efforts at children, teaching them the love of reading that RIF hopes they will keep for life. Children who read grow up to be come adults who can read. 1 So asserts the slogan of Reading is Fundamental Inc. RIF is a nonpro fit, nationwide organization that inspires children to read and to as pire to learn through reading. Founded in 1966 by Margaret S. McNamara and affiliated with the Smithsonian Institution, RIF serves more than 2 million children each year through a far-reaching network of local programs. The Bryan-College Station RIF program was established in 1985 by Wendy Costa to distribute books to children who would not have books of their own or be able to experience reading for pleasure. Costa, who taught English at Blinn College in Bryan for 12 years and who now works on Texas A&M’s Project 30, a project for im proving teacher education, said she was horrified at the literacy prob lems her Blinn students had. “In 12 years, I rarely had a stu dent who could read well,” she said. “Almost everyone I taught could read a little because they weren’t to tally illiterate, but most of them never read anything for enjoyment and very few could remember the last unrequired book they’d read. “It was unique if I had three peo ple in a class thafd read a book in the last year, and that was what inspired my involvement with RIF.” Nearly 100,000 volunteers work with RIF across the country. “Parents, educators, librarians, business and civic leaders — people from all walks of life — give their time and talents to run local pro grams. “We make books available to chil dren and create a climate in which children want to read.” There are about 3,000 RIF pro jects in the United States, most of them administered through school organizations such as parent-teacher organizations and libraries. But not enough people in the Bryan-College Station school dis tricts wanted RIF, Costa said, so she decided to take another route. “I decided to go through local churches because churches are espe cially frequented and important in the minority community here, which is where illiteracy is concentrated,” she said. “When I first started RIF it was only in Lee Chapel, a small black church, but now we distribute books to Shiloh Baptist Church, Santa Theresa Catholic Church, the Girl’s Club and various other locations.” The Bryan-College Station RIF program now gives three books a year to the children of low-income families, she said. RIF gives books only to underprivileged children, she said, because they are the ones who cannot afford to buy their own. “We just can’t have RIF distribu tion centers at the mall and have 20,000 kids show up wanting free books,” she said. “We don’t have the books or the funds with which to do that. If we did (have enough books or money) we would (have more distribution centers) because our job is to pro mote children’s reading. It’s really too bad that we can’t give our serv ices to everyone.” Because selection of the books can be complicated, Costa sought out side help. Dorothy VanRiper, A&M lecturer in English, and Dr. Donna Norton, A&M professor of reading and chil dren’s literature, give insight and ad vice on appropriate children’s books. Norton said she uses several crite ria in choosing books. “I recommend some books by interviewing children for their favorites, but I also try to choose some really good multi-cultu ral books since most of the children involved with RIF are in minorities. “It’s important for them to learn about their heritages, and if they think the books are about them, they might be more interested and in clined to read them.” Costa said that the goal of the RIF program is to make reading a habit with young children. “We’re trying to make reading fun for these kids,” she said. “It’s not a real teaching organization. We’re just trying to get these children in terested in learning so they’ll stick with it.” When young people are given the opportunity to choose — and keep — the books they want, they will read, she said. They will then con tinue to read and acquire literacy skills that will carry them through their school years and into adul thood, she said. Norton said that RIF helps em phasize the importance of books. “It gives a child a book and allows him to value the book as his own,” she said. “It also helps to improve the child’s reading skills and his atti tude toward reading and books in general.” Debbie Hodnett, a first-grade tea cher at Travis Elementary School in Bryan and the treasurer of RIF in “A kid who’s never been read to has little chance of competing with kids who’ve had books placed in their cribs since birth. There’s no reason why all children shouldn’t be read to; it doesn’t cost any thing. It’s just sheer lazi ness on the part of the parents.” — Wendy Costa, founder ofB-CS RIF Bryan-College Station, .said) that ,RIf gives children access to books 1 that they may never have had before. “Many-^f the children that RIF serves have no opportunity to ever get to the library,” she said. “Either there’s no parental structure that will take them to the library, or they just don’t know how to use the facili ties once they’re there. For this rea son it’s important that these kids be allowed to pick out their own books and know that it’s really theirs.” Norton, a RIF volunteer for five years, also has helped A&M students to experience the joy of giving to the RIF children. “In my language arts course, my students are required to work with children in some aspect,” she said. “The RIF program has turned out to be the one they like participating in the best because they are perform ing a very worthwhile and appre ciated service for needy children. They go to a place, such as the Girls’ Club, one day a week and read aloud for the children. “Even though they are required to do this all semester I haven’t ever really received any complaints.” VanRiper said that the students who participate in RIF provide a great service. “They might not realize it, but they are not only helping children in the RIF program here, but they might also put their knowledge to use in their hometown communities someday,” she said. “I know of seve ral former students who have been instrumental in beginning RIF pro grams in their hometowns.” As a result of Costa’s initiative, the Bryan-College Station RIF program has been chosen as one of seven or ganizations across the nation to de velop innovative pilot programs for their communities. In partnership with the national organization, the local RIF" project will conduct a 15- month multi-media campaign to en courage parents to share the plea sures of reading with children. Costa, who helped develop the theme, “Reading Together,” said that the primary goal of the new project is to reach parents before their children enter school. Funding for the campaign, is pro vided by a $26,000 grant awarded to the national RIF organization by the John D. and Catherine T. MacAr- thur Foundation. The grant enables RIF and its local partners to develop pilot programs to assist families whose children are at risk of grow ing up without necessary literacy skills, she said. One of the new programs pro vides book boxes filled with used books and magazines for children to read, she said. The boxes will be placed in hospitals, laundromats, welfare agencies and various other locations. Another program will provide a book for each newborn at Saint Jo seph’s and Humana hospitals. “We have to get parents to read and talk to their children in the pre school years,” she said. “Only chil dren who have been read to and are familiar with the language will be able to take advantage of all that is eventually offered to them in school.” Costa said that reading leads to future success. _ “Reading is the key to all success in school, and school is the key to getting out of poverty and to most opportunities in life,” she said. An awful lot of children just aren’t able to use these opportunities because they’re not reading and some of them are coming to school with handicaps in reading. A kid who’s never been read to has little chance of competing with kids who’ve had books placed in their cribs since birth. There’s no reason why all chil dren shouldn’t be read to; it doesn’t cost anything. It’s just sheer laziness on the part of the parents.” Costa said that RIF encourages ac tivities that are free, so that all par ents, regardless of their own reading ability, can ensure that their children read and enjoy all the advantages and pleasures of reading. Parents should begin reading to children as early as possible, Norton isaid. «*-•»••• Sell Your Books at University Book Store Northgate & Culpepper Plaza & Village Shopping Center across from the Hilton Problem Pregnancy?^ * •We. (isten, We core, We fieCp •Free Pregnancy Tests •Cuncentea Cmmsefors Brazos Valley Crisis Pregnancy Service We’re Local 3620 E. 29th Street (next to Mafley’s Gifts) 24 hr. hotline 823-CARE ks i-IYE Eric Johnson Hay 7th Advance tickets at Lippmann Music & Eastgate Live. Call 764-2095 for more info. d- :er sOUTHWG STERfVJ Summer Work INTERVIEWS MAY 3 at 1 p.m. or 3 p.m. or 5 p.m. Rudder Tower 308 Please be prompt profit LEARN We need a few hard workers, experience EXCITEMENT Soccer Tournament June 4 & 5 Basketball Tournament June 11 & 12 Entry: one can of food per person for charity Entry Deadline-May 20 Sell Your Books at University Book Store Northgate & Culpepper Plaza & Village Shopping Center across from the Hilton STUDY ABROAD “Reading to children helps to teach them the value of stories,” she said. “It also exposes them to other thoughts, cultures and knowledge that prepares them to read books on their own when they get into school. In fact, research shows that reading to children at an early age increases their own reading comprehension.” Costa said that parents can en courage literacy before their chil dren start school. “Children become verbal when they are talked to, and when adults use a wide variety of words, the chil dren develop a better vocabulary,” she said. “The advantage of reading to a child for 15 minutes a day from age 1 will never be bridged by chil dren who haven’t been read to. In fact, kindergarten and first-grade teachers have told me that they can tell on the first day of school which. children have been read to and which haven’t.” Hodnett said that until she started teaching first grade she did not be lieve that a child who had been read to would stand out. “However,” Hodnett said, “after teaching first grade in Bryan for three years, I have noticed that the children who’ve been read to are more interested in reading. They also know how to open books cor rectly and that they’re supposed to read left to right.” “How do we know if the standard boxes, billboards and posters (that are used to advertise the program) are effective?” she asked. “It’s very difficult to tell. Over the long run, if we have a very intensive campaign, maybe teachers will be able to tell that children are coming to school better prepared, but it’ll be years be fore we know.” Aspire to see Germany Summer 1989 Hist 402 Live tfie history and culture of central Europe and earn TAMU credit (Pending final course approval) witft Professor Arnold Krammer Department of History Harrington Bldg 549 2:00-3:30 MTTHF For More Information Come by our table in the MSC Hallway, May 5,10-1:30. There will also be a Meeting in MSC Room 027, 2-3. 161 W. Bizzell Study Abroad Office 845-0544 Life in the fast lane: It’s who you know. It’s what you \ drive. It’s how you dress. It’s where you live. If you want to be in the fast lane at A&M, you have to move in the right circle. Parkway Circle. Parkway Circle gives you huge 2 and 3 bedroom floorplans, two full baths, private patios, washer/dryer connections, pool, hot tub, clubhouse with fireplace, shuttle bus and manicured grounds. Why keep up with the Joneses when you can pass them? Move in the right circle. Parkway Circle. SUMMER RATES FROM $260 / / PARKWAY CIRCLE 401 Southwest Parkway 696-6909 University Drive Parkway Circle Southwest Parkway Coupon INTERNATIONAL HOUSE RESTAURANT $2.99 Mon: Burgers & French Fries Tues: Buttermilk Pancakes Wed: Burgers St French Fries Thun Hot Dogs & French Fries Fri: Catfish Nuggets & Fries Sat: French Toast Sun: Spaghetti & Meat Sauce 3030 E. 29th Suite II Emporium Center 776-2267 ALL YOU CAW EAT $2" 6 p.m.-6 a.m. TYo take outs • must present this ad ■1 M M M M m WM Expires 5/31/88 I Mi Bl Hi B M ■■ WM Rooty Tooty $2 49 12 eggs, 2 pancakes, 2 sausage, 2 baco good Mon.-Fri. Anytime International House of Pancakes Restaurant 103 S. College Skaggs Center