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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 8, 1990)
The Battalion STATE & LOCAL 3 Monday, October 8,1990 Sister Aggies’ spirit sparkles By SUZANNE CALDERON Of The Battalion Staff Although they can’t say “Gig ’Em” because there are no such words in the Japanese language, Texas A&M’s students from the sister cam pus in Koriyama, Japan, had no trouble showing A&M spirit this past week in their visit to College Station. The entire student body of 50 from A&M at Koriyama, located 120 miles north of Tokyo, made the trip to College Station. They spent the week touring the campus, attending classes and learn ing what it means to be an Aggie. The students, most of whom never had been to the United States, also got a taste of Texas beyond Col lege Station when they visited NASA in Houston and Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington. The Koriyama students went to yell practice Friday and to Saturday’s A&M vs. Texas Tech game with their student hosts from the MSC Hospitality Committee and the MSC Jordan Institute for International Awareness. For most students, it was the first American football game they’d at tended, and most agreed the game was the highlight of their week. Seiichi T akizawa, a freshman physical education major, said the football game and yell practice defi nitely were the best parts of the week. (The football game) was very ex- citing, very' nice ... you don’t ever see such a big thing in Japan,” Takizawa said. The students also were surprised at the size of the campus. Akiko Maruyama, a freshman lib eral arts major, said the Koriyama campus is only one building with eight classrooms, a student lounge and a library. She said she was sur prised at the number of buildings and people on the College Station campus. Atushi Irumagawa, a freshman aerospace engineering major, got a different perspective of life at A&M. Irumagawa stayed in the Corps dormitories with his student host, Rick Shanahan, a junior member of Squandron 12. Irumagawa said his favorite part of the week was the Corps march in before the game. Shanahan said he almost talked Irumagawa into getting a Corps style haircut as a reminder of his visit to A&M, but Irumagawa said coming to America gave him other ideas about what he wanted to do with his See Koriyama/Page 13 ‘Gourmet club’ displays diversity at A&M, Koriyama students participate ByBILLHETHCOCK Of The Battalion Staff Texas A&M students from Ko- riyama, Japan, visited A&M's Col lege Station campus to see what life in Texas is like. The Japanese students also got a taste of Spain at Friday night’s “gourmet club” dinner sponsored by the International Student Associa tion. The gourmet club is a monthly program put on by the ISA. Students from a different country get together each month to make traditional food from their country. The host country also provides recipes to other ISA members who want to cook food from that country. Ran Jan Natarajan, gourmet club director and Indian student, said diners can compare food made by the hosts to food made by the others. Besides food, the host country also provides entertainment. Two bands and dancers from Mexico provided Friday night’s entertain ment. This gives people an opportunity to express something aoout their culture through the food and pre sentations,” Natarajan said. Sriram Vadlamani, ISA’s vice president of programs, said the gourmet club has been a “tremen dous success.” “By eating and listening to music, you can learn a lot about other cultu res,” he said. Inviting the students from Ko riyama allows them to see the cultu ral diversity of the University, Vad lamani said. “We want them to get a complete idea of what Texas A&M is,” he said. “This gives them a side of A&M be sides the normal traditions. It shows that, at A&M, you will experience many other cultures.” The Koriyama students will at tend classes for two years in Japan, then transfer to the College Station branch for their last two years. Hideki Yoshiola, a Koriyama stu dent, said he enjoyed the Spanish food and the Latin-American bands. “The food was good and the mu sic is very exciting,” Yoshiola said. Masaya Kitagawa, another Ko riyama student agreed. “It is different, but I like it,” he said while watching the dancers. “It’s not like this in Japan.” More than 100 people, including the Koriyama students, attended Friday’s gourmet club. Natarajan said the dinners usually draw 50 to 70 students. Photo by Frederick D. Joe Koriyama Aggies sawing varsity’s horns off during Midnight Yell Practice Friday at Kyle Field A&M honors former student By LIBBY KURTZ Of The Battalion Staff President George Bush is prepared to keep U.S. military troops in the Middle East as long as nec essary to ensure freedom of Kuwaiti citizens, Air Force Lt. Gen. James S. Cassity Jr.,said. A classroom in Texas A&M’s Military Science Building was dedicated Friday in Cassity’s name. Cassity, Class of ’58, is director of command, control and communications systems for the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The classroom dedication is part of the Air Force’s Project Warrior, an attempt to rekindle young peo ple’s knowledge of Air Force missions. “There are Aggies in Iraq in the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps on hand to ensure free dom,” Cassity said. “Every generation has to partici pate in the defense of their country. I’m totally con vinced that a country that’s prepared to defend it self ensures freedom for its citizens.” Cassity said although no one can predict how or when the Middle East crisis will be resolved, the eco nomic blockade imposed on Iraq by the United Na tions Security Council is working. “We can see various reactions from Saddam Hus sein,” he said. “It appears that the blockade is put ting pressure on Hussein.” He said the United States Armed Forces are pre pared to fight. “Our Armed Forces have trained in a desert envi ronment for years,” he said. “We have an extensive training program in Death Valley. It’s not a very hos pitable environment. We train in Alaska, and we train in deserts; we’re prepared to fight and defend freedom anywhere.” Female soldiers aren’t allowed to serve as war fighters because of a Congressional decree, he said, but they support the military in many other areas, especially in communicarions. “It’s kind of like females here at A&M,” he said. “When I was a student, females could only attend summer classes. Some of my classmates were upset about their attendance. Females have come to A&M and excelled. Females in the military are doing the same.” Cassity served as the Corps of Cadets reviewing officer before the A&M and Texas Tech University football game Saturday. iliilliiii iiilglig V K ' Y; ^ S u t " x - 1 : tpl % .. f ,v oS- V A -> TICKETS: $2, available at the MSC Box Office US CONCEPTS r JC. 8 «s<- presents Ware Price Day Wednesday Date October 10 Time 8:00 p.m. Location Rudder Auditorium Come see what’s become of Skippy from "Family Ties". Cheek out his anti-gimmick stand-up comedy geared for college students. Look for the PONTIAC EXCITEMENT CENTER and check out the latest PONTIAC cars. Win tickets, T-shirts and enter a sweepstakes for a chance to win a PONTIAC Sunbird Convertible. G/WAC PONTIAC. W BUILD
