October 11
«• October 18, 1994
Aggielife
The Battalion • Page 3
Looking for love in all different places -
student's advertising attempt falls short
stance Parten
'ALTON
.i, love. Romeo and Juliet
(died for it. Othello killed
|for it. And Dave? Well,
out an ad in The Bat-
pus was abuzz Thurs-
Friday over a love adver-
it “earnestly seeking an
brunette,” by Dave, a
creation and parks ma-
wished to not have his
e published. Dave said
t know anything about
'"‘I' 1 nan saw a sma U
is station, but he had to
ie way to find her.
? riday, Oct. 7, Dave and a
were on their way to Dal
ai they stopped at a gas
iin Groesbeck.
walked up to the store
ewas standing there with
ither people,” Dave said,
ade eye contact and ex
pleasantries, and then
idy came out of the store
left.”
e said he couldn’t stop
about the “really cute
the gas station. Dave’s
' Browning/M®
during thetas
een cut don
anyone who i>
issue of Hlfi
1 be involve!
nk of anyone
ngly let
1 apple,” she s
have a con
t to take can
What is wii
buddy confirmed his
feelings by telling him she was
making “googly-eyes” at him.
Dave and his buddy devised a
plan to find her.
“We were driving along talking
and I said There’s got to be some
way I could get in touch with
her,”’ Dave said. “We made up
the ad in the truck.”
When Dave returned from
Dallas, he decided to place the
advertisement in The Battalion.
Dave wouldn’t disclose the cost of
the ad, but said “I paid a pretty
penny for it.”
“I’m a pretty crazy kind of
guy,” he said. “But I wouldn’t do
this for just any kind of girl. She
was really, really cute.”
The girl did respond to the ad,
but not quite the way Dave had
hoped. The dream-girl in Groes
beck, it turned out, has a
boyfriend.
Kayli Jackson, a junior com
munity health major, was on her
way to Dallas to perform with the
Aggie Wranglers at the state fair
when she and her friends stopped
in Groesbeck.
‘We stopped to get something
to eat and drink and use the re
stroom,” Jackson said. “And
while we were waiting, my
boyfriend noticed these two guys.
One of them had on an Aggie
ring. My boyfriend was the first
one to talk to them.”
Jackson said she didn’t think
anything unusual had taken
place. She and her friends had
just been talking to some fellow
Aggies.
“I smile a lot,” Jackson said.
“They were Ags. I didn’t think I
was being flirtatious.”
Jackson didn’t pick up a copy
of The Battalion on Thursday, the
first day the ad was published,
but her roommate saw her at the
mall and asked if she had seen it.
“She started telling me about
the ad,” Jackson said. “I was try
ing to figure out who the girl
could have been.”
That night, Jackson saw some
of her Aggie Wrangler friends
and realized the girl had to be
her.
“Of all the people he would re
member, I was surprised it would
be me,” Jackson said. “If I was a
guy, I’d have picked the other girl
with me. I was totally shocked.”
Jackson called Dave after the
Baylor game Saturday. Dave
said Jackson called to tell him
how flattered she was and to
thank him.
“She said she thought it was
really sweet, and she was re
ally flattered,” Dave said.
“But she had a boyfriend.”
Jackson said she would
have probably met Dave
for lunch or coffee if she
didn’t already have a
boyfriend, but she wasn’t
sure if she would date
him.
“I think the best way
to meet someone is
through a church orga
nization or something
— someone that has
similar beliefs” Jackson
said.
And as for Dave, well
he may not have won the
heart of the woman he had “f
hoped for, but the ad may still I
find him a date.
“There have been several
ladies that called to tell me how
nice they thought the ad was,”
Dave said. “A lot of them thought
it was really romantic.”
nion editor
’hoto editor
orts editor
life editor
ng the fall and spiir
University holida«i
;e Station, TX 778tt
University in the
irial offices are
phone number isl
■ment by The BattA
it'd advertising,cal
•e 8 a.m. to 5 pan
feiffer Brothers, a Western music duo, will perform at the MSC art gallery at 7:30 p.m.
jnel
d staff
c to any
't know
»r.
/lentors
Or call
il to a
listen.
)ices present Western diversity
eremy Keddie
BATTALION
merican Voices presents artists
who represent cultural diversity in
the West, and will feature the Pfeif
fer Brothers tonight at the art
7 in the Memorial Student Center
30 p.m.
)onsored by the English and speech
nunication departments, American
18 started seven years ago and was
fted to offer an opportunity for stu-
to experience art of non-main-
repertoire and that demonstrates
bility to bridge the gaps in the diver-
°f American culture,
usan Kouyomjian, American Voices
for, said the goal of the series is to
e nt artists who are able to bring to-
separate worlds through music,
7 and playwriting.
*00 people we are bringing in are the
who you cannot see from the road,”
yoinjian said. “They are people who
lived with ranching traditions and
'le who have lived in barrios who are
Mainstream.”
I 1 ® Pfeiffer Brothers are the western
l c duo of Wiley Jim and David Earl,
duo performs cowboy classics of the
r screen and original compositions of
swing, ballads and blues on the
U 1 and bass fiddle.
-d Steagall, cowboy poet and the
recipient of the Western Heritage
for “Outstanding Original Western
said the Pfeiffer Brothers are ex-
Mt presenters of cowboy and western
'g music and stated the significance of
jMusic’s genre.
me most important thing about the
e nt public acceptance of cowboy and
tern swing music is the fact that it
ler ves an art form that is a very im-
Mnt thread in the fabric of America’s
? c .’’ Steagall said.
l °uyomjian said there is a freedom in
Mrt of the West which has not been
Prized yet. She said the artists of the
culture are not restricted in
their works by institutions, such as the
National Endowment for the Arts, and
the art finds its roots in the land.
“Unlike the city, nature provides a
commonality for all Americans,” Kouy
omjian said.
Kouyomjian’s interest in the art of the
American West grew with the renais
sance of Western music, poetry and sto
ries about 10 years ago. She said the re
naissance began when cowboys realized
the representation of their culture in art
was dying as the turn of the century grew
closer.
“This music and these stories tell the
people who they are and urge the next
generation to grow in this rich soil and to
carry the torch of this world renown lega
cy of the American West,” she said.
One of the major events of the renais
sance is the annual poetry gathering of
the cowboys at the Buffalo Bill museum
in Cody, Wyo. Kouyomjian said she first
saw the Pfeiffer Brothers at the event.
But Kouyomjian’s interest in the cul
ture of the American West has also been
magnified by her husband, Charles E.
Gordone, a distinguished lecturer in
speech communication and theater arts
and of English at Texas A&M.
Gordone and Kouyomjian moved from
New York City to College Station seven
years ago after losing faith in the “urban
myth.” She said she and her husband
were tired of living in the city where life
was dangerous, expensive and quick
paced, and chose to leave.
“Texas increasingly restored hope be
cause of the people’s connection to the
land,” Kouyomjian said.
Gordone, recipient of a Pulitzer Prize
in 1970 for his play, “No Place to be
Somebody,” and his wife have been work
ing together to present the diversities in
American cultures to students.
Last April, Gordone presented a paper
on the studies of black cowboys at the
Buffalo Bill museum. He is currently
continuing research on the participation
of blacks in the West.
THE ORE AT OUMP
PHENOMENON
Unusual movie still making millions
thanks to loveable, naive character
Tom Hanks as the memorable and popular Forrest Gump.
By Haley Stavinoha
The Battalion
“Hello, my name is Forrest, For
rest Gump. You know, my momma
always said ‘You’re no different
than anybody else, Forrest.’”
Well, for those who have seen the
movie, “Forrest Gump,” the movie is
quite different.
The movie has quickly become one
of the successful movies of all time,
unlike the usual action-packed block
buster flicks.
And it’s still going strong.
Entertainment Weekly reports the
movie’s box office sales are up to $300
million.
So, why all the hype over a movie
that’s about a guy who is mentally
slow, but extremely fast when it
comes to running?
“It’s a movie for escapement,”
Texas A&M psychology professor Dr.
Arnold LeUnes said. “It was very en
joyable.”
LeUnes, who teaches abnormal
psychology, said it’s not probable for
someone with the same mentality as
Forrest to become a Vietnam hero,
ping-pong champion, and live
through a hurricane to become a mil
lionaire.
“Even though this all may not be
possible, the movie may to some, give
hope,” LeUnes said. “And through
hard work, you can achieve what ever
you put your mind to.”
“My momma always said, ‘Life
is like a box of chocolates, you nev
er know what your gonna get. ’”
Dr. John Lenihan, a Texas A&M
history professor said, “In reality,
things don’t fall into place as easy as
they did for Forrest.”
Lenihan, who researches American
films, said the producer was clever
with the way he added the history,
but it was not one of his favorite
movies.
Even though Hanks did a superb
job, Lenihan said it bothered him
that it was not true to life and was
afraid people may take home the
wrong message.
“You may be mentally slow and get by just fine,” Leni
han said. “Life is just not a bed of roses.”
“My momma always said, ‘Stupid is as stupid
does. ’”
In the movie, even though Forrest had a hard time
understanding everyday events, he knew the difference
between right and wrong and good and bad.
Forrest did have many heartaches with Jenny, the
death of his “best good friend,” Bubba, and when his
mother died. But otherwise, life for him was fairly easy.
The loyalty of friendship showed through several
times, such as when Forrest brought Bubba out of the
forest before it was blown up and when Forrest carried
out Bubba’s dream of starting a shrimping business.
“Personally, I liked this picture because of the loyalty
of friendship and the thought stimulation of the differ
ence between fate and destiny,” said Ginger Wilson, a
senior accounting major.
“The way Forrest carried out Bubba’s wishes, and the
way Forrest did not think of Bubba as a black guy, but
as an equal, should be highly commended, Ginger said.”
A movie like “Forrest Gump” is open for interpreta
tion. Whether it is watched for enjoyment or just to
pass the time, it is easy to find a message.
Teri Terni, a psychotherapist out of Houston, feels the
message is simplicity.
“We make the world out to be too complicated, and
these days we are also too materialistic,” Terni said.
“Why couldn’t we be more like Forrest — kind and
caring, loving, and more open minded?”
Terni also mentioned that viewers are able to relate
to the movie because everyone wants to be accepted as
individuals.
“There needs to be more respect for individuality, and
for each others values,” she said.
“In general, wouldn’t it be great if we all accepted
others for who they are? That way, we would all ‘fit to
gether like peas and carrots.’”