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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 24, 1993)
The Battalion 1893 — A Century of Service to Texas A&M — 1993 Wednesday, November 24,1993 Fightin' Texas Aggie Bonfire burns tonight Angel Knn/THE Battalion By Geneen Pipher The Battalion The 1993 Fightin' Texas Aggie Bonfire will be set ablaze this evening at 8 o'clock bringing to an end nearly three months of work by more than 5,000 students. Junior yell leader Scott Whitaker, a wildlife and fisheries major, said the tradition proves that Aggies from all walks of life can work to gether for one common cause. "What Bonfire means to me is spirit," Whitaker said. "It signifies the fact that all Aggies no matter what race, creed, religion or what ever can come out here and work together as one group and build something great." This year the City of College Station, in response to numerous complaints about parking, is beef ing up security and will be shut ting down roads as of 6 p.m. in or der to make the event safer and more accessible to spectators and emergency vehicles. Maj. Mason Newton, of the Col lege Station Police Department, said officers will patrol the areas around Bonfire to make sure roads are kept clear. "Last year we experienced great amounts of parking problems," Newton said. "We are trying to re duce congestion on minor roads that could block not only public safety vehicles but also the normal citizen who lives in that area." Despite road closings that could cut off many establishments on Texas Avenue from potential pa trons, most local business owners in the area said they are in full support of the tradition. James Wachel, owner of Wachel's Exxon, located across from Bonfire site, said although he will be unable to sell gasoline during this time, he plans to make up for lost sales with the sale of other items. "I know that the road in front of me will be closed, so obviously there will be no gas sales, but I an ticipate making up for lost sales in gasoline with the sale of conve nience items," Wachel said. Wachel said he is not concerned about the loss of business or the parking problems often associated with the tradition. "I am not at all upset about the roads closing for Bonfire," Wachel said. "It is a tradition that has been here longer than I have, so there's no use bucking the system. I am standing behind it 100 percent." Connie Gibbs, general manager of Taco Cabana, said she too is not con cerned about a loss of business and is excited about the week's festivities. "I think it is the most exciting thing that hits our town every year," Gibbs said. "It's a fantastic tradition and contrary to what you might think, it actually picks up our busi ness around here. 1 think everyone on the strip here thinks it does a lot of good for the community." Elephant Walk 'We took a big step in saving the tradition' This year's event cleaner, leaders say By Cheryl Heller The Battalion Efforts on the part of the Class of '94 and '95 councils to keep this year's Elephant Walk clean paid off better than expected, student lead ers said Tuesday. In the past, the junior class has thrown mud, syrup and mustard on the seniors as they march through traditional campus sites during Ele phant Walk. But senior class president Chad King said this year things were different. "It went better than expected because of a smaller amount of junior antagonism," he said. "We made it the whole way through the walk untouched, and at the end of the line there were a few attacks, but they were mostly seniors against seniors." King said he was concerned there would be trouble at Elephant Walk because of fights between the juniors and the seniors in the past. "In the past, there have been some problems, but this year we took a big step in saving the tradition," he said. "There was a lot less junior involvement, and the Class of '94 service committee and Alpha Tau Omega will have a lot less to clean up on campus." Class of '95 President Jeb Jones said planned activities for the ju niors were the reason for the virtually attack-free Elephant Walk. "We had over 600 people at Kyle Field to listen to Frank Cox speak about how traditions have evolved through the years at Texas A&M, and we formed a huge 95 on Kyle Field from sideline to sideline," he said. The turnout for the junior activities has never been as high as it was this year, Jones said. "We had a few juniors leave Bonfire and not show up at Kyle Field, but the vast majority showed up there," he said. "In years past, the largest turnout the junior class has ever had at Kyle Field was about 60, but we had an estimated 10 times that amount this year." Jones said he thinks the junior activities were a significant step toward cleaning up Elephant Walk, and also helped bring the class together. "The juniors had a good time at our activities, and we did a great job," he said. "It brought the class closer together, and I think it will help make our Elephant Walk that much more special." King said this year's Elephant Walk went exceptionally well, and he hopes it will set the standard for the future. "This year was a giant improvement, thanks to the work of the class councils, who really worked to educate the students," he said. "Every one should be commended for a great Elephant Walk, because a lot of organizations went a long way in saving the tradition." Kyle Burnett/l'HE Battalion A senior gets a closer look at the mud around Bonfire site courtesy of a few of his friends. For the most part, the event was cleaner this year. I Brazos Valley group to help feed area hungry during Thanksgiving By Michele Brinkmann The Battalion This Thanksgiving, one Brazos Valley organization is hoping to feed those in need and make the community aware that there are people who need help on a daily basis. "We want to feed everyone in the Bra zos Valley that otherwise would not have Thanksgiving," said Danny Morri son, the organization coordinator for Thanksgiving in the Brazos Valley. Since the organization began in 1984, the group has helped thousands of peo ple in the Brazos Valley. The organization now includes sever al community charities such as Meals on Wheels, Hospice, Elder Aid, The Pantry and local churches. Morrison said the Texas A&M com munity has been heavily involved in this year's Thanksgiving program. This is the third year that Sbisa Din ing Hall has cooked the turkey and dressing for the program, and men's basketball coach Tony Barone and the men's and women's basketball teams will be volunteering. Barone said this is the first time that he and the basketball team will volunteer at Fannin Elementary School in Bryan. He said he started volunteering around the community because he want ed to "put something back in." "Some people think that athletes are bad people and we wanted to prove that this wasn't true," he said. Morrison said they are expecting about 200 volunteers and are planning to serve about 1,000 meals this Thanksgiv ing — 100 more them last year. "So many people want to assist, and we will not turn anyone down," he said, and no one will be refused a meal either.' "You don't have to qualify for a meal, anyone who needs a meal will get one," he said. Feeling bad that he had no family to See Thanksgiving/Page 4 aJm War ! ^ Dueling editorial boards fight it out in the annual WAR OF THE WORDS. See The Battalion staff defend Aggieland against The Daily Toxin Texan on Page 11. Inside Photo Page •Bonfire! A look at the construction of this tradition Page 3 Football Preview •A&M-Texas football preview: 100 years of rivalry Page 5 Opinion •It's back! And it's bad! Expanded Mail Call! Page 12 Rice students argue over 'salute' to Aggie band Football fan says Nazi gesture meant as a mockery of 'wanna-be soldiers' By Jennifer Smith The Battalion Texas A&M University is the center of a war of words being waged on the Rice University campus. During the A&M-Rice football game Oct. 23, many Rice students in the stands performed the "Sieg Heil" salute while the Aggie Band was performing. This sign was used in World War II to salute German dictator Adolf Hitler. In a letter published in The Bat talion's Mail Call section, Mitchell Istre, with the Office of Comput ing Services at Rice University, apologized for the actions of the Rice students. "When the Aggie Band started their show, I saw the Rice stu dents doing something in uni son," Istre said. "At first I thought they were doing a mili tary salute. "Then I realized they were do ing the 'Sieg Heil' salute," Istre said. "I was aghast." Istre said this action was inap propriate because many Aggies served with distinction in World War n. "Knowing that this salute is a symbol of hatred and racism, I thought it was totally out of line," Istre said. Istre said he has received many compliments from former A&M students who support him, but most of the students at Rice stand firm behind their action. "They don't regard the Corps as anything more than an ROTC unit," Istre said. "They don't real ize these guys have made a com mitment to the military." ■ Julia Farnham, president of stu dent government at Rice Universi ty, said the Rice students acted "all in fun." "No one takes anything too se riously around here," Farnham said. "Sarcasm is very big on this campus." Farnham said many students have told her the uniforms and the appearance of the Aggie Band make them look like the Nazis. "But it was not meant as an in sult," Farnham said. "It was meant as a joke." Farnham said the serious na ture of the Aggie Band makes it an easy target. "And Rice students spend a lot of time spoofing people," she said. Jason Hearnsberger, comman der of the Aggie Band and a se nior finance major, said it is not unusual for other schools to heckle the Aggie Band during their performance. "Some sort of negative crowd See Rice/Page 4