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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 28, 1989)
Monday, August 28,1989 The Battalion Page 5E iJionfiltpl ■ LawreiKsi nd & ooking for an academic challenge? diversity Honors Program offers students opportunity to excel By Cindy McMillian STAFF WRITER P' ! la Small classes, individual attention and inde- endent research often are difficult to come by at arge universities such as Texas A&M, but the University Honors Program offers these and other services for students willing to take an ex tra academic challenge. The campuswide program encompasses all undergraduate colleges in the University and provides opportunities and services not available to all students. The goal of the Honors Program, said pro gram director Dale Knobel, is to provide students who have achieved a certain level of success in previous academic work with academic chal lenges that meet their needs and interests. Small classes, dynamic professors and a more participatory learning process are part of that challenge, Knobel said. “Undergraduate honors classes are like grad uate seminars,” he said. “The students and in structors are engaged in teaching one another through interaction rather than through passive learning.” The average honors class has about 25 stu dents, Knobel said. Some of them take one or two honors classes each semester and complete the 36-hour requirement to graduate with University honors, but others take just a few honors courses during their college careers. Knobel said the program enrolls about 5 per cent of all undergraduates, about 1,700 students. This fall the program offers 140 sections of hon ors classes from every academic college. In addition to individual attention and an aca demic challenge, the Honors Program offers sev eral services to its students. Any students who have taken nine honors hours previously or are enrolled in an honors class at the time of registra tion may participate in priority pre-registration, signing up for classes the same day as seniors no matter what their classification. “X I he students and instructors are engaged in teaching one another through interaction rather than through passive learning.” — Dale Knobel, honors program director The program works with the scholastic honor societies and the Honors Student Council, which allows studens to advise program directors about development and help with recruiting of high school students. Academic and career counseling are offered to program participants, especially those seeking acceptance to graduate schools and applying for national scholarships, including the Rhodes Scholarship, Truman Scholarship and Jr. Ful- bright Fellowship for international study. One recent development is Lechner Hall, an honors residence hall located near Sbisa on North Campus that will house mostly freshmen honors students with academic scholarships. Knobel said activities for all honors students will be offered at the hall, which he hopes will bridge the gap between residence hall life and academic life. Also new in the fall are honors study sequences offered by individual collegs, including the Col leges of Liberal Arts, Engineering and Veteri nary Medicine. With the exception of the College of Business Administration, these are the first colleges to outline specific honors sequences. In order to graduate with University Honors, students must take a minimum of 56 honors hours or combine independent honors study with honors courses. University Undergraduate Fellows complete a full year of honors research and write a senior honors thesis. A recent study showed that many graduates of the program received large fellowships to attend top graduate schools around the nation, includ ing Harvard University, Dartmouth College and Stanford University. Other graduates went straight into the job market, landing jobs with major firms such as Arthur Andersen and Shear- son, Lehman and Hutton. Incoming freshmen who score 1,100 or above on the SAT and graduated in the top quarter of their high school classes are eligible for the pro gram. After the first semester, any student with a GPR of 3.25 or higher may enroll in honors classes. he grand ladies of A&M, Reveilles I-V, ave been Aggies’ best friends since 1931 Jy Sherri Roberts )f The Battalion Staff A cow, sow and horned frog are [just a few of the mascots, in actuality ar representation, that adorn the Sidelines of Southwest Conference [football games. But at Texas A&M, tian’s best friend has served as the nascot since 1931. The tradition began when a group of A&M students accidentally tan over a puppy late one night while driving a Model T near Nava- sota on their way back to school. Taking pity on the dog, who they af fectionately dubbed “Home Brew,” they took her back to campus. Home Brew’s name was changed to Re veille the next morning, when she began howling during the reveille bugle call. She became the Universi ty’s official mascot after sneaking onto Kyle Field while the Aggie Band was performing during the first half time of that football season. With prestige came fringe bene- short-haired -pedigreed dog. !l buildings and Senior cadets stand tall in leather-crafted boots iBy Michael Kelley iOf The Battalion Staff The pride and joy of seniors in jthe Corps of Cadets is their senior jboots. These English-style riding (boots are more than expensive (leather; they symbolize the rank of (cadet officer achieved after three (years of hard work and dedication to Ithe Corps and to Texas A&M. Boots became part of the Corps (uniform in 1915 when they were ladopted from the style of uniform jworn by U.S. Army officers in World fWar I. These were, for the most (part, leggings that were laced above ithe shoes, or were work boots used (for cavalry or artillery practice on ahorseback. The style of cavalry boots worn to- (day by cadets became an official part |ofthe senior uniform in 1925. Aggie boots are unique because (the barrels are not soft, like most rid- fing boots, but are made of stiff Ileather, allowing them to be shined (easily. The first pair of Aggie senior jboots were made by Jack Alesci in 11921 at Randolph Army Air Field in [San Antonio. In 1926, Lucchese’s, also in San fAntonio, followed suit. Aggie bootmaking started locally jn 1931 when Johnnie Holick began making senior boots at his father’s shop in College Station. Holick’s today, as it was then, is lo cated at Northgate. Before World War II, Holick produced between 500 and 850 pairs of boots per year. Today the shop makes about 200 pairs annually. Victor’s II Just Boots in Bryan is another local boot shop and has been selling Aggie senior boots since 1970. Victor’s orders its boots from Dehner’s of Omaha, Neb. The only two other present-day Aggie bootmakers are located in Houston. Model Boot Company, owned by Joe Cecala of Houston, has made senior boots since 1945. RJ’s Boot Company, owned and op erated by Rocky Carroll, also of Houston, is not only known for mak ing Aggie boots but also has gained national fame for producing cowboy boots for U.S. presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush. Senior boots cost between $395 and $500 per pair and take an aver age of 22 hours to produce. They come in four different colors, but the ‘Tan Imported French CalF is the most popular choice. Senior cadets wear their boots for the first time at Final Review, a cere mony in which they become the new leaders of the Corps. Boot Dance is held the same night so the seniors can celebrate their new status. fits for Reveille I, black and white non-j She had access to all classrooms on campus, including the dormitories and Sbisa Dining Hall. The cadet in whose bed she chose to curl up at night would sleep on the floor. A page in the 1942 A&M year book, The Longhorn, featured a portrait of Reveille I donning a mili tary cap and named her the recipi ent of honors including best dressed co-ed, most-traveled Aggie, and most-popular Aggie. After a 13-year reign as mascot, Reveille I was buried with full mili tary honors on Jan. 18, 1944, at the entrance of Kyle Field so she always could see the scoreboard. For eight years after her death, the school had no Reveille mascot. Two dogs. Rusty and Spot, had brief runs as A&M’s mascot, but never achieved the prominence of Reveille I. It wasn’t until 1952, when Arthur Weinert, Class of ’00, donated a Shetland Shepherd puppy to the University that the Reveille tradition resumed. She was succeeded by Reveille III, a collie, in 1975. Reveille III was the first of the mascots to accompany her keeper, the mascot corporal, to his classes. The mascot corporal is traditionally a member of Corps of Cadets outfit E-2. The mascots that have followed, Reveille IV and current A&M mas cot Reveille V, also have been collies. The respect bestowed upon the A&M mascot has remained a tradi tion as well. Corps freshmen are re quired to “whip out” to Reveille and address her with the phrase, “Howdy, Miss Reveille, ma’am.” She sports a corsage and maroon cape at football games, where she is guarded by Corps sophomores. Security to protect Reveille is stepped up a week before the foot ball game that pits A&M against the University of Texas, also known as the t.u. game. During that week, E-2 freshmen have the “privilege” of guarding the door of the room in which Reveille is sleeping. Because of this protection, Re veille is the only Southwest Confer ence mascot that has never been sto len. I I ■ m wmm Battalion file photo Albritton Bell Tower, which can be seen, and heard, from all parts of campus, stands at the west entrance of A&M. Albritton Bell Tower enlivens ‘AggielancT with chorus of chimes By Mia B. Moody Of The Battalion Staff The Albritton Bell Tower, lo cated at the West entrance of Texas A&M, does more than tell time. It chimes the melodies of many songs, including A&M’s “The Spirit of Aggieland.” The tower, the largest of its kind in Texas, contains a series of 49 bells pitched in a chromatic se ries of at least two octaves. The carillon, housed atop the 138-foot structure, can be heard at a maxi mum distance of a quarter-mile away. The bells, ranging in size from 28 pounds to three and one half tons, were cast by a 188-year-old French foundry. The bells are programmed by computer to sound the Westminster Chimes every fifteen minutes. They also play a variety of pre-selected pieces for special University occa sions such as commencement, commissioning and military re views. Special music for holidays including Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter also have been programmed. The tower also plays the theme from the “Pink Panther” movies as well as an old commercial tune for Budweiser beer. Ford D. Albritton Jr., Class of 1943, provided more than $1 mil lion for the construction of the tower and established a separate endowment for the tower’s up keep. Hint for Aggies — prepare for 2 careers PRINCETON JUNCTION, N.J. (AP) — In this era of corporate downsizing and entrepre neurial uprising, the second career may be the norm. “We’re beginning to see changes in the way the working economy is structured, with more peo ple leaving the corporate environment and going into smaller businesses or into business for them selves,” says placement specialist Phyllis Macklin. “I don't have any figures for it, but it is a dra matic shift.” The average person usually changes jobs five times in his work life, she observes. Macklin, a partner in Minsuk, Macklin, Stein & Associates of Princeton Junction, specializes in outplacement, most often working with people who have lost their jobs in corporate cutbacks. But many of her clients are employees who ini tiate change themselves. “They know they want to move, but they can’t quite figure out what they want to do. They want to be sure they make a good move.” Both the fired and the restless employee face changes in fields, income and attitudes, Macklin says. She encourages the terminated employee to look at his new situation positively. “If he has the resources to hold up for a while, that person has the opportunity to look backward as well as for ward. Very often that person will find that what he was doing was not as satisfying as it should have been.” Many people, she says, aren’t even aware of the changes they’ve already made in their work lives. “For example, someone who worked for one company for 20 years may have started as an engineer, then moved on to project management and other activities in which engineering was no longer the primary function.” She says that those who change fields often discover that their income drops, at least for a while. But since the changes frequently occur at mid-life, when children are out of the nest, the fi nancial demands are not as high. People at this stage are in a better position to take risks. “Highly paid executives may come to recog nize that they’re looking for something else. They begin to think of what they want for them selves personally. Their values change.” Some people shift to a self-employed or entre preneurial status because they truly enjoy inde pendence, Macklin says. But if a still-angry dis missed employee says he want to be on his own because he says he’ll never work for a company again, she tries to discourage him. “We have to get him to look for something to go to rather than something to escape from.” Being let go by a large corporation is especially painful because corporate culture has encour aged the idea of loyalty — “the feeling of family, the security, the trappings, the idea of going to the office. “Very often, when people start their jobs, they think of the company. They don’t think of their careers as something apart. These people need to become attuned to the business, not the corporate, environment.” That business environment, she observes, is one that is demanding higher skill from employ ees and is forcing them to change. COMMIT TO BEFIT! Semster Special $68.00 or join for the whole year foi as low as $17.95 per month. • Classes 7am-8:00pm • High & Low Impact Aerobics • Hydra-fitness Equipment • Tanning Wi/st, Bosfet Call today for a free visit 846-1013 1003 University Drive East LIVING OFF CAMPUS AT A&M Wednesday, August 30: Helpful Hints on Security, Managing Your Money and Enjoying College Monday, September 4: Living Off Campus with Roommates Both sessions at: MSC 226 5:00-6:15 p.m. Sponsored b •6 d0 ' O 4^ mpus Aggies