Thursday, June 6,1991
Orientation Leaders acquaint
incoming fish with campus
SONDRA ROBBIN&The Battalion
(From left to right) Renne Baggett, from Arlington, and her sister Michelle Baggett socialize with executive committee
members Mike Belki and Jonathan Clark Tusday evening in front of the Academic Building.
By Kelly Sweeney
The sun casts a glare upon a
map causing the onlooker to squint
jsshe and her parents attempt to
locate themselves. With a trus-
jated sigh, she shoves the map
into their all-knowing father's
tads, only to find that he too is
suspended like a "fish out of wa-
ler."
Sound familiar? The old map
game is something that almost ev-
tiy new Aggie experiences, along
with a feeling of being over
whelmed by all that accompanies
{nrolling at a large university. But
thanks to the help of the Aggie
Orientation Leader Program, the
"fish out of water" are ushered in
to the mainstream to comprise one
of the largest schools of fish in the
nation.
Although it works through the
Departmentof Student Affairs, the
Aggie Orientation Leader Pro
gram, which occurs during sum
mer conference, is completely vol
unteer and student run, said Ori-
{ntation Leader executive and se
nior Mike Belki.
But why do 200 plus students
choose to tromp around in the sum
mer heat without pay? Graduate
student Wendy Wills, who has
been an Orientation Leader, O.L.,
for the past four years said it has
been one of the best experiences of
her life.
"It's not only something to do
in the summer, but it's a way to
help students and parents in their
transition to A&M," Wills said.
Chosen for fiheir motivation and
enthusiam about helping the in
coming students, O.L.'s are se
lected in the spring and required
to attend several training sessions
to prepare them for the activities
and programs involved with sum
mer registration and enrollment.
Aside from just assisting incom-
ingfreshmen, transfer and prospec
tive students with the summer con
ference process, the Aggie Orien
tation Leader Program flows a little
further to introduce new students
to a positive touch of life at A&M.
"Our job is to make new stu
dents feel comfortable," said Belki.
"Some students come to summer
conference unsure of whether they
want to be an Ag when they leave."
In order to ensure each O.L. is
fully aware of his or her position,
the program is fueled by a motto
that is unmatched by any other:
"Our mission is to connect new
students to Texas A&M by person
ally supporting , serving and us
ing all available resources to help
ease the transition for them and
their families."
By using the motto as a close
guide, the O.L.'s are better able to
facilitate and comfort the students
and parents during the hectic days
of summer conference, while tar
geting areas of special need
through a variety of programs.
One of the three special pro
gram areas offered focuses on a
group referred to as provofish.
These are students who are attend
ing A&M for the summer in an
effort to gain admittance based on
their summer grades.
"One-third of the O.L.'s work
with the provofish," said O.L. ex
ecutive member and junior.
Jonathan Clark. "The O.L.'s are
paired off and assigned a group of
students whom they support and
encourage throughout the sum
mer."
Campus tours is another of the
main areas of the program that
works to acquaint new students
and parents with the campus and
try to ease some anxieties they may
have about its size. In order to
better accomodate any questions,
the tour guides walk backward
throughout the tour, relying on
their group to notify them of up
coming "mobile" objects which
often creep into the tour path. Bus
tours are also provided in addition
to the walking tours Jor those in
terested in the perimeter and west
areas of the campus.
Summer invitationals is a final
area of special interest. Thisbranch
works with the University Honors
Program and gives O.L.'s a chance
to interact with high school stu
dents who are undecided about
their college plans.
During the first evening of the
invitationals, the O.L.'s are in
volved in various activities includ
ing fajitas, a movie, a skit and
recreation at Aerofit. The main
purpose of summer invitationals
is to not only give the prospective
students a chance to ask any ques
tions they may have about the uni
versity but to also relay upon them
a positive impression of A&M.
In addition to the three special
interest areas are other various ac
tivities which include peer advisor
sessions, ice cream socials, Aggie
energizers and mixers. These func
tions give new students a chance
to talk to some O.L.'s, let loose and
get involved in a little of the spirit
of Aggieland.
But, the maroon and white does
not only flow through the students
but through the parents as well.
While their future engineer or horse
breeder is getting a look at Aggie
life, parents can also attend sev
eral programs intended to lend
some insight about the "other"
education at A&M and allow them
to ask any questions of concern.
Crystal's City Slickers puts
laughs on the lone prairie
By Julia Spencer
If Billy Crystal's hilarious new
comedy City Slickers, a veritable
guys' schmoozefest, is any indi
cation of the nature of the bur
geoning men's movement, we're
in for a lot of baseball talk - and
a rollicking good time. The
movie is a comedy stampede,
which hurtles along at top speed,
slowing down only occasionally
so the guys can discuss baseball,
sex, morality, childhood memo
ries and the meaning of life.
Crystal plays Mitch Robbins,
a bumed-out ad salesman at a
New York radio station, whose
39th birthday has sent him into a
tailspin. He has lost his smile
and his lust for life, and in an
amusing monologue on career
day at his son's school, wonders
why he has chosen such an
uninspiring and unimpressive
line of work.
When best friends Ed and Phil
(Bruno Kirby and Daniel Stem)
suggest at hisbirthday party that
they go on an "adventure vaca
tion" in the form of a two-week
cattle drive from New Mexico to
Colorado, it sounds like a good
way to escape the rat race tem
porarily and get his priorities
straight, while living out his cow
boy fantasies. Although an ac
tion-packed prologue set in
Pamplona has established
Mitch's touch and go relation
ship with horn-wielding pot
roast, anything sounds better
than going to Florida to visit his
wife's relatives. So when his
wife (Patricia Wettig) lets him
off the hook, the three hit the
trail, unaware of the scope of the
adventure that lies ahead.
Joining them at the ranch as
fellow cowboys-in-training are
brothers Barry and Ira, the Ben-
and-Jerry-like ice cream kings,
father and son dentists, and an
attractive young woman (Helen
Slater). Curly, their knife-wield
ing trail boss (western veteran
Jack Palance), is a leathery old
curmudgeon who, as Mitch re
marks, looks like a "saddlebag
with eyes." Two uncharacteris
tically loutish cowboys are also
along for the ride to supervise
the greenhorns.
Much comedy is wrung out of
the inexperience of the cityfolk
and Mitch's fear of Curly, who,
unlike the theater audience,
doesn't take too kindly to his
smart remarks. But after Mitch
spends a day alone with him,
rounding up some strays and
helping birth an adorable calf he
names Norman, they rejoin the
grouponmuchbetterterms. Un
fortunately, the orphaned calf is
a harbinger of things to come; a
disastrous chain of events soon
orphans the vacationers, and
they are left to herd the cattle
alone. This of course becomes a
perfect opportunity for the three
compadres to prove themselves
and chase away the mid-life de
mons of failure and inadequacy
that have been dogging them.
The second half of the movie
suffers somewhat from predict
ability, and Norman threatens to
steal the movie right out from
under the star, but Crystal rises
to the challenge, and manages to
be just as adorable. The ex
tremely witty script, written by
Splash team Lowell Ganz and
Babaloo Mandel, gives Crystal
and his talented co-stars plenty
of opportunities for cracking
wise, and the terrific action and
stunts (Crystal did his own) are
exciting enough to keep your
pulse racing. All in all. City Slick
ers has a very warm heart guar
anteed to leave you with a big
grin and a warm glow long after
you leave the theater.
KERRVILLE
FOLK SS?J
FESTIVAL
Camp getaway provides
much more than music
By Rob Newberry
The Kerrville Folk Festival
wraps up its 20th Anniversary year
with a weekend full of the best
"un-classified" music around.
Sure, it's a folk fest, but Kerrville's
three weeks of outdoor music in
cludes lots more than folk - my one
day there exposed me to some of
the best country and modem rock
around.
morous set. Uncle Walt's Band
reunited Walter Hyatt and Champ
Hood for a trip through their coun
try slash rock slash jazz oldies.
The folk fest takes place on a
private ranch about ten miles south
of Kerrville itself. In the heart of
the Texas hill country, you can be
sure that music wasn't the only
thing there.
Rounding the last hill before I
got to the ranch, I was stunned.
I visited the fest on it's opening
Saturday to catch two favorite acts
who've played here in College Sta
tion before. Trout Fishing in
America and Poi Dog Pondering.
Trout Fishing's set was a collection
of fan-fa ves, but they closed with a
cover of Buddy Holly's "Not Fade
Away" that made me crazy
(Lubbock's pretty close to home).
Poi Dog clumsily tripped through
several songs off their upcoming
record, but they managed to play
"Thanksgiving," so I was satisfied.
The rest of the night was filled
With more treats. Country duo Bill
and Bonnie Hearne strolled
through a set, and the Chenille
Sisters gave audiences some side
splitting laughs during their hu-
Rows and rows of tents were lined
up like crowded apartments in a
big city. Inside the ranch, booths
with everything from Guatamalan-
made attire to regional art to body
massages were lined up around
the fences. All sorts of people in
their grubby camp clothes mean
dered around the park. Even the
performers themselves were hang
ing out; I bumped into a few of the
guys from Poi Dog on my way in,
and caught Ezra Idlet of Trout Fish
ing standing around outside the
record booth.
But music is still the most im
portant thing at the festival, and
even though the outdoor concerts
only last for six hours each day.
there's lots more music to be found.
In fact, the best part of Kerrville
isn't really the shows at all, but the
campfires.
Each night, campers and per
form ers hea d back their campsites,
light a big fire, and sit around
strumming all sorts of music until
almostsunrise. Westoppedatsev-
eral of the gatherings while we
were there: we caught some of the
members of Poi Dog playing some
cover songs with their fans and
another guy playing a washtub
bass, and we found the members
of the Hearnes' band plucking
through some gospel tunes.
We tried out several of the camp
fires; lots of them were just groups
of friends playing old Grateflil
Dead songs. But we finally found
a group of performers that capti
vated us for over an hour. We
stumbled onto them as folk trav
eler Chris Chandler was ripping
through his song "Republican
Woodstock", a take-off on the old
Crosby, Stills and Nash song that
pokes fun at the Persian Gulf War
- lyrics like, "I know that Vietnam
vets have flashbacks of the enemy
running at them through the jungle.
Will Gulf War vets have flashbacks
of Iraqi troops coming out and sur
rendering?" (Actually, we had run
into Chandler earlier that day - he
was selling beer in a booth as a
volunteer helper for the fest).
Also around the campfire were
the members of Trout Fishing, and
three or four other solo acoustic
guitarists. They would all jam
through somebody's song, pass
ing the lead to whoever wanted it.
Some of the songs were sad, deep,
profound; others had me rolling in
laughter. I'm still trying to find out
the name of that girl who played
"Middle-Age Rock'n'Rollers Are
So Damn Cute."
Kerrville is so groovy, so cool,
so hip, I could hardly stand it.
People of all ages, tons of hippies
young and old, all semi-roughing
it for a few days just to enjoy some
great tunes.
If you can make it this weekend,
you're in for a treat. Butch Hancock
(another Lubbockite) and Peter
Rowan are on the bill for Friday,
and Jimmie Dale Gilmore plays on
Saturday. Sunday night promises
an all-star memorial show to wrap
the whole thing up.
But if you do go, go prepared.
My only complaint was that I
wasn't ready to have that much
fun -1 got there late; I forgot some
camping gear. I didn't bring
enough beer. Make sure you take
care of all the little things. But
leave it to the folk fest to take care
of the tunes.
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