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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 21, 1992)
nal. 8:30 p.m. ini r more information. /ASSOCIATION ( AND BUSINESS! . 7 p.m. in 228 MS(| irmation. MITTEE: presenlil University speakinjoj ie Buffalo- a Ne.f WENT AND AGGli nch seminar at 12:J:| ie. All are welcome { 845-1341 fori Growth Groups •sm’I i at 203 College Mat I new Christians. 7:3)1 :all 846-7722 for WiI TION: Review skill I questions likely tots I rategies for the wife; I :er in advance in 2<iI 246A Blocker. Ci [ lion. jlanning and electo [ jdder. CallJotat iral discussion. 12311 845-0280 for k| tied to The Battafor. I three business 4:1 publish the nmKl ik us. What's Up iii | events and acfiVftl e, first-served te: [ ill run. /fydi/tarj 313. uster e just so amazej really try toattoc h Minnick. "Hut. other people to ss efforts beaut Blocker, Zachivr, cards havebeeic tote the event, mng to a closefc ly sit back,relaut duates »id he hasofiereda liege of literal Art 1 iate the problem. Ian in withlhecc. fers an altemat d today (Monday) fers an altema 1 n't necessitate e offerings). It's ne college, is tic that we g out." dined tocoiw" itil college offici eview it. Woodrow] rts deans, were mment. id, however, s are not afft the situation e to a head, keep everythin roblem," he sal have a pr 1 a bigger 0 students conw said. "Right Dr maybe 2,(K Iven if we mow izes, it would on 1 ndred more it ■ real crunchdc» she feels thatnc e the problem. Dr optimism aid. "It's time oking atthepD 1 ust hoping it It could ck so much that t a lot of studs 1 t in their Engi nation at thee* Page 7 Professor's imagination draws from experience in latest book, 'Home Truth' By Dawn Heliums The Battalion Although the title "Home Truth" is somewhat unfamiliar to most people today, author Janis Stout said the phrase reflects the storyline of her latest book and also some of her own experiences and challenges she has faced throughout her life. "Only someone very close to you would tell you a 'home truth' - it may be something very unpleasant but something you need to know," said Stout, who is the Associate Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and an English professor at A&M. "Home Truth" is about a woman, Meg, who attempts to care for her handicapped sister while still trying to manage her own life. Stout has a handi capped son, and said that al though the behavior of the hand icapped sister often reflects back on her own memories, the char acters do not resemble those in her family. "I don't think I'm like Meg (the main character) - but the sense of her needing to handle many responsibilities at one time is definitely something I have ex perienced," said Stout, who has worked at A&M for four and half years. Stout added that she. along with most fiction writers, combine memories of their own experiences with things they imagine. "Experience gives us a basis of which our imagination can work," Stout said. Out of the three novels she has had published. Stout said writing "Home Truth" was the most diffi cult for her emotionally. "It was often an emotional strain for me because I had to dig up some of those difficult memo ries and issues; I had to take a lot of breaks from it," Stout said. Stout has received a good re sponse from people who have read her new dook, but she said she was a little shocked her fami ly liked it so well. "I was afraid they would think it was too harsh, but my son read it and really liked it," Stout said. Stout began writing "Home Truth" in 1985 and completed it when she first came to A&M in 1987. After dealing with a few larger publishers. Stout discov ered Sono Press out of New York. They notified her last fall that they wanted to publish her book. "I'm very happy with the out come of the book," Stout said. "I think the publisher did a great job on the design of the book and that's very important." An advance shipment of "Home Truth" is available in the MSC Bookstore, but the original date for release in other book stores is in May. Stout will hold a book signing tomorrow from 4-6 pm in the faculty club, and one on Friday afternoon in the MSC Bookstore. Although she hasn't had the chance to read the finished prod uct, Stout said when she received the proofs to revise her book one last time, she was a little sur prised by what she read. "I didn't really remember ev erything that was in it," Stout said. "I cried in the sad parts so it had a fresh impact on me." Stout started writing fiction in 1973 after she finished her P.H.D. at Rice University. She published her first book "A Fam ily Likeness" in 1982. This novel was about a young girl who moved from a small farm in East Texas to a big city. Although this did not happen to her personally, it did happen to her mother. Her second novel "18 Holes" was published in 1985. It was about a group of older people who meet once a year to play 18 holes of golf. Stout said she first wrote it as a short-story but de cided it would be better as a book. "My idea, 18 holes of golf in DARRIN HILL/The Battalion Associate Dean of Liberal Arts and English professor Janis Stout presents her latest fiction novel “Home Truth”. 18 chapters first started out as a joke," Stout said. "But it turned out to be a real fun book to write." Stout is currently working on her next novel. In Advance Local bands play Earth Day show Three local bands will per form an Earth Day benefit concert tomorrow night at the Stafford Opera House in downtown Bryan. The show features the Christopher Commission, with their brand of modern, mystical rock centered around Shawn Manning's ethereal vo cals (the tunes, all original, have been said to sound a lot like hard-driving Cocteau Twins). Also playing will be Fleshpot, which sports former members of Blood Oranges, and mixes up their own eso teric rock reminiscient of Son ic Youth and the Pixies. Final ly, Gone By Dawn rounds out the bill with their collection of new rock numbers. The show kicks off at 9 p.m. If you get there early, cover is only $2; after 9 p.m., the show will cost you $3. The proceeds from the show will go to TEAC to cover the cost of their special Earth Day activities. 'Sleepwalkers' sends viewers off to dreamland of better movies By Chris Eklof The Battalion ;r hour This colimnisfo College Station Conference Ceirt , | classes ECON 202 ch 10, It Practice Exam 6:30-8:. 0,11 :c Exam || 1-8:30 ECON 203 ch 13,14 REVIEW 9-11 PM 79 Alice Krige (left), Madchen Amick and Brian Krause star in King’s latest, a surprisingly disappointing horror movie cliche. "Stephen King's Sleepwalkers" Starring Brian Krause, Madchen Amick and Alice Krige Directed by Mick Garris Rated R Now playing at Cinema III The master of modern horror's creative well has apparently run dry. "Stephen King's Sleepwalk ers" marks the first time that King has written an original screenplay. Unfortunately, King uses nothing but tired horror movie cliches and themes to fill the hour and a half of movie time. Does any of this sound famil iar? A young man (actually a monster) needs to find a virgin (what else?) to feed to his mother to keep her alive. After watching the movie, it is still hard to tell exactly what a sleepwalker is. Sleepwalkers are apparently shapeshifters that can transform their appearance into different humanoid forms. They can also make themselves and sur rounding objects invisible and can change the appearance of sur rounding objects. They are not werewolves or vampires, they are simply "sleepwalkers." They sound like bad asses, but they have a weakness like all other movie monsters. The main sleepwalker in the movie, Charles (Brian Krause), and his mother (Alice Krige) have an extremely close relationship. Too close, in fact. Charles feeds his mother life energy through sexual intercourse. The audience is subjected to watching Charles and his mom go at it hot and heavy twice in the movie. Their in- King uses nothing but tired horror movie cliches and themes to fill the hour and a half of movie time. tense incestuous rendezvous were too much to take. Madchen Amick, formerly of "Twin Peaks," plays the unfortu nate chosen one, Tanya. Tanya is the lovely virgin that Charles wants to suck the life energy (or virginity, it is not really apparent which one) out of. Conveniently for Charles, Tanya has a strange fascination with death, cemeteries and headstones, so its not too dif ficult to get her out into a weird place alone. Tanya apparently got this weird fascination from her mother who is intrigued with death as well. King stretches coincidences like that pretty far in his screen play. Everything just happens to fall into plafe. We are supposed to believe that Tanya, a virgin, suddenly wants to jump into bed with the new kid in town. Many important pieces of the movie go unexplained. Not only don't we ever find out what a sleepwalker is, we also never find out exactly what the sleepwalkers suck out of their victims. All we know is that they suck a bunch of pink and purple light out of their victim's mouths. It might be their virtue or it might be their life energy. Does this kill the victim or does it leave them craving a post-sex cigarette? The movie never takes the time to answer these questions. More times than not the parts of the movie that were supposed to be horrifying and shocking sent a ripple of laughter through the theater. This was not the typical nervous laughter that you hear in a horror movie after people are frightened; this was laughter di rected straight at the movie and its stupidity. The special effects were not ex actly top-notch either. Most mem orable was a severed hand that looked like it came straight out of a fun shop showroom. It was ob viously plastic and did not look the least bit realistic. Also, a sin gle bullet has the ability to send a police car up in flames twice in the movie. King makes a cameo appear ance as the caretaker of an old cemetery. His brief time on screen easily outshines his work behind the camera as the writer. The story behind "Steven King's Sleepwalkers" can be found in just about any Saturday afternoon B-movie horror festival. The movie's lack of originality is surprising coming from the man who has brought so many classic horror tales into the modern liter ary world. ..•sSSS-' ..•SSSSS* .^85^ ..xW' ..x«S Spring Allergy Study Individuals 18 and older with spring allergy symptoms to participate in a two-week long research study (4 visits) with a medication in nasal spray form. $100 incentive for those who complete the study. Impetigo Study Individuals oif any age with symptoms of impetigo (bacterial infection of the skin) to partidpate in an investigational drug research study using a cream with drug in it. $150 for those chosen and completing the study. Tension Headache? Individuals with moderate to severe Tensbn Headaches wanted to partidpate in a 4-hour headache relief research study with an investigational medication in tablet form. Flexible hours. $75 incentive for individuals who are chosen and complete the study. Daily, till 6:30 776-0400. Skin Infection Study Individuals age 13 and older wanted to participate in a research study for bacterial skin infections such as: infected wounds,infected burns, boils, infected hair follicles, impetigo, infected ingrown toenails and others. Investigational oral antibiotic in capsule form. $100 incentive for those chosen who complete the study. For more information call: BIOPHARMA, INC. 776-0400 $ % L- % 3 % % % % % % w .x-sSSS' ,.x<SSS' .,x<S •xsW Professional Computing 505 Church St. College Station Ph. 846-5332 ( One Block North of Kinko’s Copies ) Featuring a complete line of Hewlett-Packard Scientific and Business calculators The Best for Success IIP 48SX Expandable Calculator IIP 48S Programmable Calculator * 32K Built in RAM * Combined Graphics and Calculus Functions * I/O ports for data transfer to and from a PC * SX features Expansion Ports for plug-in Application Pacs and RAM cards HP 19BII Business Consultant * Algebraic or RPN Logic * Graphics for cash flow and Statistical Analysis * Menus and Softkeys HP 17BII Financial Calculator * Choose between Algebraic or RPN Logic * Menus and Softkeys for easy access to solutions * Over 250 functions for real estate and finance Business Hours Mon-Fri 8:00-5:30 Sat 10:00-3:00 HEWLETT PACKARD Authorized Dealer TEXAS A&M BASEBALL & SOFTBALL SEE YOU AT THE GAME Next Gaines Baseball Apr 21 vs. Sam Hous. 7:00 Softball Apr 24 vs. U.T.S.A 4 & 6 Baseball May 1 vs. Rice 7:00 Baseball May 2 vs. Rice 2:00 (2) AGGIE BASEBALL ON KTAM... 1240 AM 1993 Aggieland seeking applicants for 1993 staff !! Where: Pick up applications in Rm. 230 Reed Me Donald. When: Due April 27, 4:00 p.m. in Rm. 230 Reed McDonald. Why: To be a part of the largest yearbook in the nation and working with the best staff in College Station. Requirements: 2. 0 GPA and experience. All Majors Welcome. Positions available in photography, writing, and layout design.