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‘Adam,
Students struggle
to understand
friend’s suicide
By Anas Ben-Musa
The Battalion
Dec. 17,1992. . . it’s a cold, clear
I night. Adam Nathanael Van Steen, 22,
land his close friend, Ronald Joe, decide
I to ride around northern Bryan to see the
I Christmas lights and stargaze at Adam’s
I favorite spot. Adam used to live near the
Iwoodville overpass that overlooks
Highway 6. He loves to relax and ponder
on the bridge.
But this particular night is special,
and Adam doesn’t want to be alone. A
stellar phenomenon his grandmother
calls "John’s Eye” will appear tonight. It
only appears every 17 years. The evening
is filled with many intense memories and
feelings for Adam, and much of it relates
to the number 1 7.
Dec. 1 7th marks Adam’s “adopted”
parents’ wedding anniversary. Adam
I believes they are the ideal parents — the
I perfect family. Perfect in every way
except in dealing with Adam’s
homosexuality.
And 17 years ago, Adam’s biological
grandfather, John, died in a freak car
accident after dropping Adam off at a
nursery. Ronald remembers how Adam
said he was very close to him.
Tonight, Adam will say goodbye to
his grandfather. It’s a chilly night. At the
foot of the overpass, Adam removes his
jacket and gloves and lays them at
Ronald’s feet. Adam has borrowed a
candle and lighter from Ronald. He takes
them out.
Adam looks at Ronald and tells him,
“I knew that you would understand
about the ceremony and wouldn’t make
fun of me"
Ronald reassures Adam that he
did you leave us?’
would never make fun of him and that he
understands Adam’s need to remember
his grandfather.
A few steps more, Adam stops again,
turns around and asks Ronald, “You do
understand what atonement means, don’t
you?”
Ronald replies, “Of course I do.”
Ronald is a little irritated. Many
times he and Adam had discussed in
depth how Jesus atoned for all the
world’s sins by sacrificing himself. And
Adam knows Ronald is a spiritual
counselor with Lambda Christian
Fellowship. Ronald wonders why Adam
asked him that question, but the thought
Daniel E. '/.amoralSpecial to The Battalion
passes as they reach the middle of the
overpass.
Adam begins the ceremony. Ronald
keeps back a few feet. Adam lights the
candle, sets it on the guard rail and
kneels dovVn. He begins singing.
Ronald becomes nervous about
being in the middle of the road. He
doesn’t have a flashlight to ward off the
cars passing by. But luckily, there haven’t
been any cars. Ronald is thinking that
some people would consider two men on
the overpass a very strange sight.
“Some may even think that we’re
going to jump,” Ronald ponders. “What
a dumb tnought.”
Adam stands up and blows out the
candle. He takes a small step to the left
and places both hands on the guard rail.
With little effort, Adam hops over the rail
and turns himself around to face the rail.
He pushes himself backward.
Ronald screams, “Adam, don’t!”
But it’s too late. Ronald hears the
thud. He looks down to the highway
below and sees Adam’s body.
Ronald runs to the Exxon station
nearby and screams to the attendant to
call 911 — “My friend just jumped off
the overpass!”
The police and ambulance arrive
almost immediately, but little can be
done. Adam dies on the way to the
hospital.
Many of his friends still wonder why
Adam wanted to die. Many are still in
shock, others confused. They all ask the
same question — Adam, why did you
leave us?
Adam helped so many people to be
comfortable with their sexuality, says
Dawn Lacallade, co-president of the Gay,
Lesbian and Bisexual Aggies (GLBA).
Adam was the social chair of Gay &
Lesbian Student Services (former name of
GLBA).
“His life was caring for other
people,” says Dawn, a sophomore
environmental design major. “His
encouragement was the most important
thing in my coming out.”
Dawn “came out” when she was a
freshman and she immediately began
having problems with her roommate.
Adam overheard what was happening.
“He handed me the keys to his jnace
and told me to stay as long as I needed,”
Dawn says.
She explains that Adam’s generosity
See Struggle/Page 5
Strength in numbers
Student Bible
study grows to
600 members
By Traci Travis
The Battalion
What began as a small apart
ment Bible study in 1989 has
grown into a campus-wide min
istry.
Breakaway, a non-denomina-
tional, weekly Bible study, has
done away with the typical
“churchy” atmosphere and is in
stead reaching out to students in a
comfortable way, said Gregg Mat
te, Class of ‘92 and the leader of
Breakaway.
The group’s original purpose
was to provide an opportunity for
students to be in a small group
Bible study, Matte said.
“It was at an apartment where
people could come and hang out
and have fun,” he said. “They’d
talk about God and Christ and
how that was affecting their lives
as students.”
Originally consisting of 1 2
members, Breakaway now plays
host to over 600 students every
Tuesday at 9 p.m. at First Baptist
College Station.
Its staff consists of a five-stu
dent worship team that leads
songs, a three-member board of
directors who are not students, a
student in charge of finances and
speaker Gregg Matte.
Decked out in blue jeans, a T-
shirt and a cordless mike every
week, Matte takes the stage talking
about problems college students
face and relates them to the Bible.
“I’ll tell you exactly how I feel
about something and what I’m
struggling with,” he said. “A lot
of times people think Christians
are perfect and they’ve got it all
goin’ on, but really we just know
Christ and that we’re forgiven.”
Matte said Christians are strug
gling to find answers just like
everyone else. It would be fake
for the leadership team of Break
away to get up on stage and act
like they know what’s going on,
he said.
Instead, Jesus Christ is present
ed in a real and relevant way, Mat
te said.
Despite its large numbers, he
said he thinks the purpose of
Breakaway has been served.
“It’s changed from a group of
people who knew everything
about each other,” Matte said, “to
a Bible study where people we
didn’t know could come in, sit
and be affected.”
There is no way to be personal
with 600 people, he said. But
Breakaway tries to by planning
weekly lunches, prayer meetings,
retreats and providing a worship
team composed strictly of stu
dents.
In an effort to get away from
the church atmosphere, despite its
location, the staff uses an over
head displaying contemporary
songs unlike usual hymnal books.
There is no pulpit, no dress code
and no booming organ, Matte
said.
Traes Howard, a senior history
and English major and member of
the worship team, said when
you’re inside the church it looks
like a gym with pews in it.
Dr. Stephen McDaniel, a mar
keting professor and member of
the Breakaway board of directors,
said the staff members and stu
dents who attend have been an
encouragement to him and a role
model for his children.
“God’s hand is on Gregg’s
ministry,” McDaniel said. “He is
really in touch with the Lord.”
Without a model to follow,
Breakaway has had to. chart its
own course with prayer and faith,
Matte said.
“I’ve learned how to go from
being a student minister,” he said,
“to being a minister of students.”
Breakaway, in itself, is naturally
attractive to people, Howard said.
“I really believe it is God’s
deal,” he said. “You walk into a
place where God speaks to you
directly.”
Students say Breakaway gives
more to its audience than just a
discussion of a Bible verse or two.
Leah Schwarz, a junior ac
counting major, said Breakaway
has given her everything.
“Whether it’s through a song
or what Gregg says,” she said,
“God just gets to me every time.”
With its ever-growing popular
ity, Breakaway continues to chal
lenge its staff.
‘ I think that if we would have
known what was going to happen
to it,” Matte said, ‘we would have
been scared to death.”
Their purpose now is to give
students the choice to decide if
they want to give Jesus Christ a
chance in their lives, Matte said.
They don’t try to push it down
anybody’s throat.
“You can sit and listen for 10
years and never make a decision,
or you can give Him a chance in
your life and he will blow you
away,” Matte said. “It has
changed all of us. The choice is
up to you.”
Glass teaches the
art of body language
By Margaret Claughton
The Battalion
Students who enroll in Dr.
Beth Lepoire’s non-verbal com
munication class will soon learn
there is a lot more to body lan
guage than crossing your arms
and rolling your eyes.
Lepoire, an assistant professor
in speech communications, fo
cuses her class on the many as
pects of human behavior that
make up non-verbal communi
cation.
In the first half of her class,
Lepoire said, she begins by
showing the students all the as
pects that make up non-verbal
communication by dividing
them into seven different cate
gories.
The first category, Kinesics,
formed from the Greek word for
“movement”, refers to all forms
of body movements such as ges
tures or facial expressions.
“This is what you generally
think of as body language,” Lep
oire said. “Such as the move
ment of the eyes and hands.”
Vocalics, a second category, is
one of the richest channels in
non-verbal communication, ac
cording to Lepoire. Vocalics
Lepoire
refers to the aspects of the voice,
other than the spoken word, that
are used to affect the way we
communicate. The pitch of our
voice, the loudness, sighs and
the pauses in our voice are all
important indicators of how we
are really feeling, Lepoire said.
“In fact, kinesics and vocalics
together are stronger cues of
communication than verbal
communication is,” Lepoire said.
Physical appearance is another
See Body/Page 4
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