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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 29, 1993)
Lifestyles Thursday, April 29,1993 The Battalion Page 3 Student's play recalls L.A. riots NICOLE ROHRMAN/The Battalion Clinton Sam watches the C.R Time Players rehearse his play, "Quiet Riot." By DENA DIZDAR The Battalion One year ago today, the city of Los Angeles went up in flames in j response to what America came to | know as the "Rodney King ver dict." Tonight, on the anniversary of those riots, one Texas A&M stu- [ dent will present an original por trayal of the events. Clinton Sam, a senior theatre arts major from Missouri City, be- I gan writing his play "Quiet Riot" in June 1992 after the riots in L.A. | had ended. The media hype had died down, but Sam's attention had not; he finished the first draft of his two-act play in only five days. In the play, Sam deals with the black man's struggle to be a hero. The lead character, Smitty, is pushed into being a present-day version of Hercules, a Greek hero who was forced into greatness by his mother. Smitty w^pts to be a credit to his race, api^, jp the envi- I ronment of the L.A. riots, that [ means rioting longer- and harder than anyone else. "To be a hero is to make the most physically, intellectually and economically out of what you are s given," Sam said. "If you're not given a lot, then obviously it's much more difficult." [ That theory is carried through- ? out the play as Smitty is driven to I be a hero not only physically, but spiritually. Diva, a highly reli gious character played by Sedric Walker, compels Smitty to turn to | God and to be more like Jesus, the "ultimate hero." Rich with symbolism and sar- I castic undertones, "Quiet Riot" details what Sam calls the "pent- up frustration that came spilling over" after the Rodney King ver dict was announced. It is one man's personal story, but it is rep resentative of all, including Sam, who desire to be a hero and must struggle to get there. Sam began his A&M theatrical career in 1990, when he and a partner began doing two-man shows at beauty pageants and various colleges under the name Thomas Miles and Company. Sam said he grew tired of being known as "and Company," so the duo renamed themselves the C.R Time Players. The group was recognized by the University last semester and now numbers about 30 members. They perform works by African- American writers that would not normally be performed, Sam said. 'Though there have been dis agreements with actors, problems getting facilities and other obsta cles, Sam and the C.P. Time Play ers have managed to get his play on its feet. Danette Aten, a freshman the atre arts major from El Paso who plays Tallis Jackson in the play, said Sam is definitely suited for the art of crafting a play. "This is what he should be do ing," she said. "He's going to have a great future as a play wright." Sedric Walker, a sophomore speech communications major from Bryan, said "Quiet RioU is his first experience in theater, but he thinks this play's content is of professional caliber. "Anytime you try something new, and you work with someone as talented as Clint and Danette," he said, "you're definitely going to learn from the experience." Sam said he hopes everyone who sees the play will learn some thing from "Quiet Riot." "In my attempt to be a hero," Sam said., "I wouldn't just be sat isfied with New York critics say ing 'brilliant, insightful.' I feel like if I wasn't trying tp teach someone something, there would be no point in writing at all." "Quiet Riot" will be performed in Rudder Forum tonight at 8 p.m. and will run through May 2. Tick ets are available at the MSC Box 'Net'working on the Court New campus organization promotes awareness with wheelchair basketball team By DENA DIZDAR The Battalion Networks, a new campus group for the disabled, has organized a wheelchair basketball team to pro mote awareness of the handi capped. Junior aerospace engineering major Andrea Nixon, founder and president of Networks, said the purpose of the group is to be a voice to the University about is sues that concern all types of dis abled students. The basketball team is one way the group can gain recognition. The team is composed of mem bers of the newly-recognized or ganization who, so far, have only played each other. But Rocco Arizzi, a junior from San Antonio who has served as the group's coach and manager. said a game against the Board of Regents is scheduled for next fall. Board members will sit in wheelchairs to experience what it is like to be disabled and to help raise money for the group. Networks hopes to keep the team together, Arizzi said, and eventually schedule games against teams from other schools. Sarah Mahoney, a sophomore psychology and special education major from Corpus Christi, said she likes being on the team and getting exercise when she plays. "It's nice to have somewhere you can go and put out energy for a couple of hours," she said. "Right now, there's not a lot of athletic activities on campus we can get involved with." This Saturday at Sue Haswell Park in Bryan, the group will play an exhibition game at Sportsfest 93, a fundraising event for all handicaps in general. CRAIG FOX/The Battalion Joel Reeves hands a basketball off to Stephen Ashley during practice for an exhibition game at Sportsfest '93 this Saturday. Local bands rock the Grove for Aggiepalooza II By JOE LEIH The Battalion Twelve Bryan-College Station bands will converge on the Texas A&M campus Sunday for Aggiepalooza II, the Association of A&M Guitarists' second annual local music festival. Kicking off at noon, Aggiepalooza will showcase eleven hours of various musical styles and performances at the Grove. "The styles of the bands performing at the festival will range anywhere from funk, to rock, to grunge," said Kelly Shatzer, vice- president of the association and a senior ar chitecture major. "We want to show people there are really good bands in College Sta tion. A lot of people don't know that." The lineup will start with Slapdash at noon. Following will be Mother's Monkey, Acid Bath, Buddhachest, Mother Lode (previ ously System X), C 4, Crossbone Butterfly, Covenant, the Levis, the Kerouacs and House of Usher. Chad Herring, president of the association, and Shatzer agree that this year's Ag giepalooza is extremely different from the first one and took a great deal more time to organize. Shatzer said they threw last year's festival together in about two weeks, but the time commitment this year has already caused him to fail one class. The original Aggiepalooza consisted of six local bands performing at a house off Univer sity Drive. "It was basically a big party," Herring said. The 300 festival-goers, Shatzer said, caused the floor to sink about two inches. This year. Herring said he expects between 700 and 1000 people to attend due to the greater number of bands and the festival's move to the Grove. "Hopefully, each year we will try to make the event a little bigger and give the bands a little more exposure," he said. Herring said he hopes that Aggiepalooza will eventually develop into a gathering like Austin's South By Southwest music festival, which attracts musicians from all over the na tion. "That will be pretty far in the future," he said, "and depend on the the kind of re sponse we get each year." This year, though, Shatzer said he hopes to just publicize the local bands. "People have this attitude that there can't be good bands in College Station," he said. "We are doing this to prove them wrong." Texas A&M biology professor Peter Rizzo will announce the bands. Rizzo, the adviser for the Guitar Association, performs locally as "Sneaky Pete," leading acoustic sing- alongs. Disc jockey Roxanne Steele of KTSR- FM, who features local music on her radio show, "Texas Live," will co-emcee. Herring said the stage backdrop should be a giant screen with flashing images and words. Ty Michael Southerland, guitarist for House of Usher, said, "Visually it should be very stimulating." Levis bassist Carl Lintner said that most of the bands and musicians will probably not just perform alone. "We are more about playing and having fun than playing and making a fortune" said Lintner, a junior architecture major. "We should have some other band members pop ping in on stage... and we may be raiding someone's show." Herring said the guitar association, which formed three years ago, intends to bring gui tarists of various levels and styles together. "I would just like the festival to continue to go on every year...giving local bands greater exposure to a wider range of audience and promoting the name of the A&M guitar asso ciation," he said. Tickets for the event are five dollars. ‘The Final That Ate My Brain 9 Students, faculty, staff and former stu dents: The Battalion wants your horrible, gory, true-life tales of final exam misery. Cat ate your Scantron? Got stuck in Snook? Remembered on reading day that you had an eight o'clock class? Turn in your sob story to the Lifestyles Editor at the Battalion newsroom, 013 Reed McDonald, by 5 p.m. on Tuesday, May 4. Include your name, ID number, classification and phone number. Stories may be edited for length, style and content and will run in the Lifestyles section on Thursday, May 6. BioLogica Research Group, Inc. Pharmaceutical Research at Its Best Ongoing research studies with cash incentives include: Sinusitis Skin Infection Impetigo Sore Throat Allergy Asthma Ulcer FOR MORE INFORMATION CALL 776-0400 See our full ads in Tuesday’s edition The Ultimate Strategic Simulation Compete against 30 other players in the ULTIMATE game of World Conquest. You control all military, economic, industrial and intelligence decisions for your country. At your disposal are modem Tanks, Artillery, Fighters, Nuclear and Chemical Missies, Cruisers, etc. "2003" is a game played by MAIL in which a computer determines outcomes and prints out individual reports for each player. 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