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The Battalion
Page 3
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By Claudia Zavaleta
The Battalion
he China Club, along with Chinese
communities all over the world,
will be celebrating the coming of
eir new year, Saturday, Feb. 5.
A two and-a-half hour program,
which will include a martial arts demon
stration and regional folk songs and
dances is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Rudder
Theater.
I Lianchou Wei, general director for the
program, said about 50 performers are
involved in the show which is spon
sored by the People's Republic of Chi
na's consulate general in Houston, the
■hina Club and Texas A&M's Jordan In
stitute for International Awareness.
"Most of the performers are students
and their families," Wei said. "But we
have also invited two instrumental
artists to play the dulcimer and the ti-
pai. The Peking Opera was also invited
to participate."
The club, celebrating its 10th year at
A&M, has been planning since the end
of the fall semester to bring all the songs
and the choreography together for the fi
nal performance.
"The China Club is very busy right
now practicing for the program," Wei
said. "The singing is easy, but the danc
ing is harder to plan. Every year the
China Club organizes this activity. It is
the tradition of the China Club and the
tradition of China."
About 400 people are expected to at
tend the annual program, which is the
beginning of the celebration for New
Year's Day, called the Spring Festival.
Xushan Fang, president of the China
Club, said since the Chinese follow the
lunar calendar, the first of the year falls
on Feb. 10.
"Spring Festival is the biggest festival
for us," Fang said. "The night before,
family and friends reunite and have din
ner together. It is like Christmas for
you."
Each new year is represented by a dif
ferent animal. Fang said. This coming
year will be the year of the dog.
"Every baby born in this coming year
will be associated with the dog," Fang
said. "It is just like a zodiac sign. Each
animal is said to have good and bad
traits, and some people can be analyzed
by those traits."
New Year's Day, children set off fire
works to ward off demons that might
cause trouble throughout the year. Fang
said. Many of the traditions are symbols
which the Chinese carry with them
wherever they live.
At A&M, the China Club is one of the
biggest international organizations with
about 300 members. Throughout the
year, the club participates in five major
projects.
In the summer, the club welcomes
new Chinese students to A&M, Fang
said. They help them arrange for hous
ing and get acquainted with College Sta
tion.
"When I came here," Fang said, "I felt
like a helpless stranger. The newcomers
really appreciate our efforts to help
them."
In August, the club begins to plan cel-
See Club/Page 5
Pey Wan Choong/Tur. Battalion
Fishbone continues quest to end the 'curse'
Band finds success
amid controversy
By Joe Leih
The Battalion
that the members are problem-free.
In fact just last May, the Fishbone
"curse" struck again. Bassist Norwood
Fisher was arrested in Marin County,
Calif.
Amazingly enough, it wasn't for the
infamous rock-n-roll cliche of drunken
disorderliness, nor was it for trying to
smuggle illegal substances across state
lines No, not Fishbone.
Norwood was arrested for attempting
to kidnap his own guitar player Kendall
Rey Jones with the use of a stun gun.
"We all are a little crazy," Norwood
said. "But my excuse is I just wanted to
help him. I wanted to take him to a hos
pital so he could get psychologically eval
uated."
Norwood and four others — Jones'
brothers Brian Kai Jones and Larren
Everette Jones, Jones' former fiancee
Anna Claire Loynes and Jones' friend Jef
frey Connor — attempted to grab Jones
on April 28 while he was walking in a
San Francisco suburb. Jones' cries for
help drew several onlookers causing Nor
wood and the others to flee in a van.
Norwood said that months before,
Jones had begun to lose all contact with
reality. He anointed instruments before
shows, heard voices in his head and later
quit the band claiming it was under "de
monic possession."
"Some of the people in his family said
he was going through a religious experi
ence," Norwood said, "and it wasn't no
damn religious experience. He was los
ing his f—ing mind."
Eventually, Norwood and the others
were fully acquitted and the remaining
members of Fishbone — singer Angelo
Moore, drummer Philip "Fish" Fisher,
keyboardist Christopher Dowd, trumpet
player Walter Kibby and guitarist John
Bigham — hardly faltered with their mu
sic.
Ceaselessly spreading their various
political messages, the members have
continually delivered non-stop, frenetic
stage shows across the country.
But even these performances have re
cently become a point of contention for
i
the bandsmen. Critics have charged that
young, white kids who merely are inter
ested in a night of drunken moshing are
the only ones to frequent the shows.
Norwood said that he does regret that
people of other ethnic groups do not usu
ally come to see them perform, but has
great faith in their audience.
"I think that all of them do get the so
cial and political commentary," he said.
"When they sit at home and listen to the
records, they dig what we're saying. It's
just that when they come to the shows,
they come to party."
Helen Triesch, a college marking repre
sentative for Sony Music, said that this
enthusiasm they spark in the crowd is
what truly makes for their popularity.
"They are always one with the audi
ence," she said. "They just incite this
amazing energy at all their shows."
And Norwood said he hopes to keep
the energy continuing.
"We plan to be running around like
Mick Jagger," he said. "I just hope we
won't be as embarrassing."
THE INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
SOCIETY
will have its first general meeting
Monday, February 7
Rudder 504 8:30 p.m.
Open to all International Studies Majors
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