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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 23, 1992)
The Battalion Vol. 92 No. 61 (8 pages) “Serving Texas A&M Since 1893” Monday, November 23, 1992 Bands to share field at A&M-UT game ANAS BEN-MUSA/The Battalion By GARY P. CARROLL City Editor of THE BATTALION For the first time ever, the Ag gie Band will perform along side of the Longhorn Band in a joint salute to the University of Texas' centennial of football during half time of the UT — A&M game on Thanksgiving Day in Austin. Col. Ray Toler, director of marching and concert bands at Texas A&M University, said both bands would be doing their rou tines before the grand finale. "We're gonna do our drill then they'll do theirs and then we'll come back out on the field and Matt Daniel, head drum major of the Aggie Band, said the bands won't actually be marching to gether during halftime. "We're not really marching with them, we're just there to enhance their performance during a salute to their football program," Daniel said. Daniel, a senior recreation and parks major from DeSoto, Texas said A&M will begin the perfor mance with a military song as the two bands move toward mid- field. "We'll play first and then wait in the south end zone for UT to finish," Daniel said. "They will be in the north end zone and we'll march toward mid-field mirroring them and then play two songs." The two songs both bands will play together are "Stars and Stripes Forever" and "Texas Our Texas." Following the two-song set there will be a fireworks dis- play. Jerry Lockhart, assistant direc tor of the Longhorn Band, said he was surprised and excited about the performance. "It's the first time this has ever happened," Lockhart said. "It ought to be really great." There were initially concerns of whether the Aggie Band would be marching during halftime of the University of Texas and Texas A&M football game at all, but they were put to rest before the season even began. Before the 1992 football season, the Director of the Music Depart ment at the University of Texas, Glenn Richter, spoke with Toler about the possibilities of neither the Aggie Band nor the Longhorn Band marching at halftime. "The Southwest Conference al lots each school's band a certain amount of time on the field dur ing halftime," and Toler said A&M was not willing to sacrifice their performance in Austin. UT had been planning a special halftime production to celebrate their 100th year of football which involved some very elaborate ef fects, and it would have kept both university's bands in the stands. "Nothing was actually locked in concrete but they wanted to do a laser show and that would have inv'olved turning out the stadium lights," Toler said. The halogen lamps used in foot ball stadiums, when turned off, take several minutes to warm up before providing full illumination on the field. Toler said if the lights were turned out before the Aggie Band took the field, there would not be sufficient time for the lights to warm back up, and people would not be able to see the per formance. Although the issue of halftime performances has been solved, A&M and UT are still at odds con cerning two other Aggie tradi tions. For the second time, UT will not allow A&M to form "boot line" during halftime, nor will UT allow Parsons Mounted Cavalry to bring their cannon. See Bands/Page 4 In preparation for their pantomime performance at Rudder Tower, Syril Mathai and Ray Tarrant adjust their make up. They performed Saturday afternoon with the Chi Alpha Christian ROYCE ROSENHAUCH/Special to The Battalion Fellowship Pantomime Team, IMAGES, before the football game. Mathai, a freshman premed major, and Tarrant, a general studies major, perform Christian pantomimes to sharing their faith. Pepsi brings TV to bonfire BONFIRE TRAFFIC AND PARKING SUMMARY OF STREET CLOSINGS Inlerseellpn Time University Drive and Polo Road All day University Drive and Bizzell Street 6:00 p.m. New Main and Bizzell Circle 6:00 p.m. University Drive entrance to PA 50 When lot fills Ross Street and Spence Street 6:00 p.m. ALL median cuts on University Drive from Texas Avenue to College Avenue will be blocked to prevent turns and U-turns. Local police ready for bonfire crowds Big screen to show commercial, game highlights at event By GINA HOWARD Reporter of THE BATTALION Modern technology will meet established tradition with the ad dition of a big screen television to the Texas Aggie Bonfire. The "Jumbo-Tron" television will be situated next to the main platform and will serve several different purposes, said Dr. William Kibler, associate director of student affairs and bonfire ad viser. "The main purpose will be es pecially yell practice and the inter views so people far away can see, but it will also be showing high lights of the season and the Uni versity," Kibler said. The television is made possible by funding from Pepsi, said Pen ny Zent, development director for KAMU-TV. "We have made provisions through Pepsi to bring in the Jum bo-Tron," Zent said. The pre-bonfire program on the screen will include game replays and highlights, responsible drink ing announcements and Pepsi product commercials. In addition, there will be a spe cial showing of "We've Never Been Licked" after bonfire. The broadcast shown on the screen will be the same as what people watching bonfire in their homes will see, Kibler said. The 9-by-12 feet screen will be on the field and operational from 6-11 p.m. By GINA HOWARD Reporter of THE BATTALION Local law enforcement agen cies have spent weeks preparing to deal with potential problems at the new site of the 1992 Texas Ag gie Bonfire. The College Station Police De partment hopes to avoid problems by keeping people informed, said Maj. Mason Newton, bonfire night coordinator for the CSPD. "Hopefully, we will be able to avoid a lot of accidents and hard feelings about the police by get ting the word out and keeping everyone informed,'' Newton said. "We are hoping that people will use the only safe parking there is — the parking garages and lots." Businesses in the east gate area have been warned and given their "The behavior of the crowd has been much more restrained and remarkable than be fore we started to crackdown on alcohol. The crackdown was precipitated because of raucous, disgusting behavior at a family event." - Bob Wiatt, director UPD rights, Newton said. "They can allow parking or charge (for parking) without any problem, plus we have given them the information on towing regulations," he said. Bryan-College Station Transit buses will not be running during bonfire, said Lyle Nelson, assis tant administrator for transit ser vices. "If there is some assurance that there will be somewhere close by for the buses to safely load and unload, then we will," Nelson said. "As the situation stands, it would not be feasible for us to run." If the situation warrants their use, 12 buses may run on bonfire night. Nelson said. "We're looking at removing 1,500 cars from the bonfire site, and it would be very fortunate if we could do that," he said. "As it See Bonfire/Page 4 Saw Varsity's horns off. . . Vandals deface Texas' stadium By GARY P. CARROLL City Editor of THE BATTALION University of Texas officials are investigating a case of vandalism in which the horns of the Bevo logo were cut from the turf of Memorial Stadium late last Wednesday night. The size of the dimensions of the turf cut out of the stadium were approximately six feet by three feet, and University of Texas officials said they have no leads and no suspects regarding the in cident which caused more than $7,500 in damage to the stadium. The person or persons responsi ble for the incident broke into Memorial Stadium Wednesday night and cut the horns off of the mid-field logo. Authorities found a pair of pliers and a knife left on the field. The suspects then fled the stadi um dropping one of the pieces of turf outside the stadium in a flower bed. Doug Wilson of the UT Athletic Department said the damages would be repaired before the Thanksgiving Day game between Texas and Texas A&M, but he could not speculate on any exten sive repairs that may need to be made. "We're going to patch the two areas, but I don't know if we're going to have to replace the turf sideline to sideline," Wilson said. If the turf is replaced sideline to sideline, Wilson said the $7,500 damage estimate will skyrocket. Lt. Robert Ewan of the Univer sity of Texas Police Department said they are not positive the van dalism to Memorial Stadium was done by A&M students, but they are exploring all possibilities. "At this point we have no sus pects, but we have been in contact with the police department at A&M," Ewan said. Texas A&M University Police Chief Bob Wiatt said right now his officers are working with UT offi cials, but there is nowhere to go without a suspect. "We have been in contact with Texas officials, we understand the incident occurred but that's all we have right now," Wiatt said. "We're not even sure that it was an Aggie that did it." Sean McCaffrey, Class of '85 and Austin resident, said he feels certain an A&M student was re sponsible. McCaffrey said an anonymous caller called in to an Austin radio show and took responsibility for the incident. "He said his name was 'Bob Hope' and that he had informa tion that the horn would be on top of bonfire," McCaffrey said. "I was in the Corps and the Ross Volunteers, and I know what good bull is," McCaffrey said, • "but when you destroy $7,500 of property that is not good bull." According to sources in Austin, Head Football Coach John Mack- ovic was not upset over the inci dent and labeled it as just another incident of youthful indiscretion. Mackovic and other members of the UT athletic department were unavailable for comment. Damage heats up rivalry By GARY P. CARROLL City Editor of THE BATTALION In 1963, the rivalry between the University of Texas and Texas A&M University was just as fiery and emotional as it is today. However, in '63 the rivalry was intensified when students from A&M stole Bevo — the longhorn, steer mascot of UT. Back in '63, the penalty for rustling cattle was still hang ing — a hefty penalty for a seemingly harmless prank. The students were not hanged, and the laws have since been changed, but the ri valry between the University of Texas and Texas A&M Uni versity has remained — and this rivalry was recently re newed. Late last Wednesday night, the horns of Bevo — UT's mas cot — painted on the turf of Memorial Stadium were cut off and stolen. See Rivalry/Page 4 Inside A&M defensive lineman Sam Adams wraps up TCU running back Curtis Modkins during the Aggies’ 37-10 win Saturday. See related stories/Page 5.