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The
Battalion
(OSPS 045 360)
Member of:
Associated Press,
Texas Press
Association,
Southwest Journalism
Conference,
Texas Intercollegiate
Press Association.
The Battalion
Editorial Board
Editor
TIMM DOOLEN
Associate Editors
HOLLY BECKA
TODD STONE
City Editor
SEAN FRERK1NG
News Editors
JASON MORRIS
DOGGLAS PILS
Photo Editor
KARL STOLLEIS
Lifestyles Editor
YVONNE SALCE
Sports Editor
SCOTT WCIDEL
Opinion Editor
CARRIE CAVALIER
The Battalion is a non
profit, self-supporting newpa-
per operating as a community
service to Texas A&M Univer
sity and the local community.
The news department is
managed by A&M students in
the Division of Student Publi
cations, a unit of the Depart
ment of Journalism.
POSTMASTER: Send ad
dress changes to The Battal
ion, 230 Reed McDonald,
Texas A&M University, Col
lege Station, TX 77843-1111.
Second-class postage paid at
College Station, TX 77843.
For advertising infor
mation, call 845-2696,
Monday through Friday.
Cover photo
by Huy Nguyen
Quarterback Bucky Richardson
leads a young and unproven
team today against L.S.U.
Thousands of people visit B-CS
Business owners look forward to Aggie football
By Troy D. Hall
Battalion Gameday
Tens of thousands of visitors will engulf
the Bryan-College Station area during the
next several months for theTexas A&M
football season, creating a substantial in
crease in revenue for area hotels, motels
and merchants.
While students, former students and
visitors to the A&M campus might be look
ing forward to the home game sched
ule, area hotels, motels and merchants
are looking forward to substantial rev
enue increases.
"A&M football games make a sig
nificant impact on the area economy
and we are extremely happy about it,"
says Dick Forester, director of the
Bryan-College Station Chamber of
Commerce.
During football season weekends,
every hotel room is booked for both
Friday and Saturday night, while restau
rants and retails stores stay very busy, he
says.
Approximately 2,200 hotel rooms are
available in the Bryan-College Station area
and they are completely booked weeks in
advance for every home game, Forester
says.
"We run a very high occupancy rate all
the time, but during game weekends, we
are always full," says Jennifer Behrendt,
rooms division manager for the College
Station flilton Hotel and Conference Cen
ter.
As the largest hotel in the area, the
Hilton Hotel and Conference Center nor
mally caters to the business people attend
ing conferences, but on Aggie football
weekends the mood of the hotel changes.
"During game weekends the hotel ac
commodates former students, the Aggie
12th Man foundation, A&M dignitaries as
well as families," Behrendt says. "Aggie
football games give us an opportunity to
cater to the leisure market and that brings a
more exciting, spirited atmosphere to the
hotel."
In addition to capacity room reserva
tions, Behrendt says the Hilton dining and
club facilities profit from increased busi
ness.
But increased business is the rule for the
entire area during game weekends.
John Beltrand, owner of Tom's Barbe
cue in Bryan, says it is commonplace for his
customers to wait a couple of hours before
being seated in the restaurant. He says
most people do not even mind.
"Many of our customers are former stu
dents and they don't mind waiting to eat,"
he says. "We have people take their lawn
chairs out of the trunks of their cars and sit
in the parking lot talking about the game or
reminiscing about A&M while they wait
for a table."
Post Oak Mall, the largest retail center
in the Brazos Valley, boasts retail outlets,
movies and restaurants.
Kelley Durham, marketing director for
Post Oak Mall, says mall merchants find a
significant difference in revenues when Ag
gies play at home.
She says this year's football schedule
will mean a significant increase in rev
enues for merchants because the games
will draw large crowds. During some of
the bigger football games, she says more
people visit the mall than even during
the crucial Christmas shopping season.
"We have as many as 12,000 to
13,000 cars in the parking areas,"
Durham says.
But the real concentration of visitors
will be in the area around Kyle Field and
the MSC.
Gary Spearow, general manager of the
Texas A&M Bookstore, says about 40,000
people pass through the MSC during foot
ball games, but his staff is making prepara
tions for the crowds.
"The design of the new bookstore caters
around these type of events," he says.
"During preparation we widen our isles
and make the entrances easy to access."
This is the first time game visitors will
be able to enter the remodeled bookstore
through the main entrance across from G.
Rollie White Coliseum.
"A&M football games make a
significant impact on the area
and we are extremely happy
about it."
- Dick Forester
director of the Bryan-College
Station
Chamber of Commerce
Greetings from The Battalion
Readers:
Welcome to the first-ever Saturday edition of The
Battalion.
Our goal is to offer A&M visitors, including former
students, parents and yes, even L.S.U. fans, the opportu
nity to learn a little more of what Texas A&M is all about.
We will continue to publish the Saturday paper during ev
ery A&M home football game weekend'.
Campus news, local activities and the effects of so
many football fans in Bryan-College Station are just a few
examples of information you will find in today s paper.
As the Saturday editon develops, we will continue to
gather more pertinent news that will interest the first-time
reader as well as the long-time Battalion fan.
Our sports personnel have put together a comprehen
sive preview of today's game, and our Lifestyles' writers
have included a few entertainment tips as well. The pa
per in your hands is the result of several industrious stu
dents who deserve more accolades than we can provide.
Still, there is so much more we want to do, and we en
courage you, the reader, to offer any suggestions that may
help us improve the paper.
Again, read the paper, enjoy the game and get home
safely. Thank you for your interest.
Holly Becka and
Todd Stone
Associate Editors
Texas A&M will
have a host of activ
ities going on this
home football
weekend:
* Watch the Corps of Cadets during
their traditional march in before the
game. The procession begins at 10 a.m. on
the Quadrangle.
* Celebrate Mexican Independence
Day from 7 to 11 p.m. Sunday in The
Grove.
Activities include Mexican folkdanc
ing, ethnic food and music.
* Feed your face at the Aggie Players
membership drive pizza party at 8 p.m.
Sunday at Mr. Gatti's. Proceeds benefit
the Aggie Players Association. Pizza costs
$5 per person.
* Watch the British Aggies play soccer
at noon Sunday at Hensel Park.
* The Outdoor Recreation Club is hav
ing a picnic/meeting with food at 4 p.m.
Sunday in Hensel Park.
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Kinchen
While they are ranked No. 20 in the
nation, there are many question marks
as A&M begins its season playing as
many as eight true freshmen. The
Tigers on the other hand are coming
off a 31-10 season opening loss to
Southeastern Conference rival Georgia,
in which LSU's offense never got on
track.
As a result, Kinchen said he felt like
he had to do something extra to jump
start the team. He ended up fumbling
twice despite five catches for 83 yards
Slocum from Page 6
good of boy charm come to learn this
lesson of life?
"It's just the right thing to do,"
Slocums said modestly. "We're all a
product of our upbringing. You're
taught to be honest with people.
"My reason for coaching is that I
enjoy being around young people," he
explained. "And I would hope that a
player coming out of our program
would have more than just say he
played on some winning teams - that
the lessons he learned in our program
were the ones that he could take from
here and be assets to him as he tries to
go out in the real world and earn a
living and deal with his fellow man."
Slocums recalls his junior high
school football coach and the effect he
had on his career.
"I don't even know if he was a good
football coach or not," he said. "But he
was a caring guy that cared about his
players.
"Tve never had any question that he
cared about me more than just being a
football player."
The lesson he learned from that
experience has influenced his method
of coaching young players. He has
spent many hours teaching the aspects
of the Golden Rule.
" I think it's like the drip-effect - If
you keep saying the same thing over
and over, then you do have an
influence on young kids."
His coaching career began at a high
school in Lake Charles, La., where he
also taught five classes a day before
going to graduate school at night.
During that time he also had to practice
two nights a week with his semi-pro
football team, the Lake Charles
Pelicans. Slocum spent two years
playing for the Pelicans before he was
hired at Kansas State University as an
assistant coach.
Two years later the coach came
home to Texas for Christmas. One day
he found himself in then first year
A&M coach Emory Bellard's office,
waiting for hours to be interviewed for
a coaching job in Aggieland. The next
day he was hired as a defensive
assistant.,
"I don't spend a lot of time thinking
about it. All of life is timing - being at
the right place at the right time."
A&M is the right place for Slocum
and now is the time for football.
and a touchdown to go with 71 yards
on four punt returns.
"I felt a little bit of pressure to make
the big play but I always put that kind
of pressure on myself in a game no
matter what the score is," Kinchen
, said.
LSU head coach Curly Hallman said
he understands Kinchen's competitive
nature and said in no way does he
want to impede upon that
competitiveness. However, he would
like Kinchen to hang on to the ball.
"I don't want Todd to slow it
down," Hallman said. "He's got a lot
of imagination. He's got a lot of energy
and he gives an outstanding effort. The
only thing he needs to do is keep that
hand around the point of the ball and
bring it into his rib cage."
The senior split end said the win last
year over A&M has a lot to do with the
team's confidence coming into Kyle
Field, where the Aggies won 28-16 in
1989.
"I think that coming up on the
From Page 7
second week having won last year is
going to be a big boost for the younger
guys mainly," Kinchen said. "The
older guys are always going to be
ready to play the Texas A&Ms.
Number one because A&M is a Top 25
team. Also because we have a lot of
Texas football players on our team.
Those are big emotional boosts for our
team."
Kinchen said he's aware of the fact
that he won't be able to hide from the
A&M secondary this time around.
THE
WAITING
IS
OVER!
The long awaited 1990-91 Video
Yearbook is HERE!
If you ordered a video come by Reed
McDonald room 230 to pick up your
copy. If you did not place an order
there are still some copies available
for the price of $29.95 plus tax. Cash,
check, Mastercard, or VISA will be
accepted.
Don’t miss out on Aggieland’s
memories in motion, AggieVision
1990-91.