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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 1, 1994)
avember 1, 1994 t ; his bid for dis- ocrat Grady Bend County’s missioner, pre- nong black vot- jh as ever, re to lose” than said Prestage, ointed to the ity board of re ds. “I sense out ;e of excitement operation, that it may change 3 are heard.” a strong black tial to the elec- »f Richards, as ler Democratic odney Ellis, a from Houston, strategists are i 50 percent precincts. But he presidential e ballot, black y about 35 per- ence of about [arris County. >igger turnout o make up for ism that exists ’exas toward eneral,” Ellis to make up for : votes she got le polling data not have this Republican atic Party is 3 National As- Advancement : and clergy al- te Democratic gh community phoning and black leaders d to campaign mocrats. Celebrating a decade By Amy Lee The Battalion ith an eight count, a twist, a lift and a turn the Aggie Wranglers have been dancing their way into Aggies’ hearts for the past 10 years. Having started in 1984 by Kim Norris, the Aggie Wran glers are celebrating a decade of dancing. The Wranglers began when Norris put five couples together for a fair in Calvert. She adver tised, saying, “We need good dancers — those interested come and try out.” Since then, the Aggie Wran glers have grown, and now con sist of 12 couples who dance and perform. But becoming an Aggie Wran gler is no easy task. “It took a lot of practice with my partner,” said Russell Gra ham, president of Aggie Wran glers. “We would reserve a rac- quetball court three or four times a week (to dance on) plus we’d go dancing on the week ends.” The Wranglers’ schedule is a hectic one. Between practicing, performing three times a week and teaching dance lessons, the Wranglers spend an average of six to 15 hours a week being a Wrangler. “You know you’ll be busy, so you’re ready for it,” Smith said. “Nothing is sprung on you.” The Wranglers’ routines con sist of all the couples doing the same moves, unless it’s a jitter bug song and then couples do their own solos. “That’s what’s funny — you can look around and see if you’re messing up,” Smith said. The Aggie Wranglers perfor mances include appearances at Fish Camp, T-Camp, Howdy Camp, the Parents Weekend Bevo BBQ, Open House, The Big Event, the Tyler Texas Junior College Shrine Bowl and the Na tional Honors Conference. Smith said the group has be come extremely close. “It’s like a family,” Wrangler Leslie Smith said. “We all have our disagreements. When we watch each other and critique each other it can get frustrating. But when we all sit and talk or whenever we g^t together, we’re all friends.” “A lot of the moves we do usu ally come from us goofing off,” Graham said. “You learn (the moves) from friends. We make them up ourselves. That’s what’s unique about us. People don’t do what we do unless they mimic our moves.” The advice given to people who aspire to be Wranglers is to have fun and dance as a couple. “Practice on smoothness,” Smith said. “It’s not what you can do, but how well you can dance together as a couple,” Graham said. “We teach you a lot,” Smith said. “So don’t be worried if you don’t know a lot of moves.” of Aggie Wranglers Tim Moog / The Battalion Aggie Wranglers Russell Graham, a senior business analysis major, and Julie Blackburn, a senior Spanish major, demon strate a “drop dip” to dance class in G. Rollie White. The Battalion • Page 3 Muslim student programs to promote Islamic awareness By Constance Parten The Battalion The Muslim Students’ Association at Texas A&M is sponsor ing a series of programs this week in recognition of Islamic Awareness Week. The events are intended to educate non-Islamics in the histo ry and faith of Islam. The first program, a lecture on the beliefs of Muslims, was presented Monday night in the Memorial Stu dent Center. Zillur Rahim, president of the Islamic Community of Bryan- College Station, spoke to an audience of about 25 people on the religious practices and beliefs of Islam. “Islam is the only religion that has retained, in it’s entirety, it’s written word in the language in which it was written,” Rahim said. “This leaves little room for interpretive mistakes.” The Koran, the written teachings of Islam, was written in Arabic and is the basis of Islamic creeds, morality, worship, knowledge and the God- man relationship. The Islamic word for “God” is “Allah,” an Arabic word which is genderless and cannot be used in a plural sense. “Allah is the personal name of the one and only God,” Rahim said. “It can not be used to mean any thing other than God him self.” Rahim also discussed the Islamic view of the prophet known as Jesus. The Koran describes Jesus as the “son of many.” He said the Islamic religion believes there were five major prophets: Abra ham, Noah, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad. Rahim said Islam considers none of these prophets more im portant than the rest, nor were any capable of performing mira cles but through Allah. “All of the prophets in Islam have the utmost sublime charac ter and morals,” Rahim said. “God chose them himself and they were here to lead mankind.” A discussion on the role of women in Islam will take place tonight at 7 p.m. in Zachary 203, and a Muslim Cultural Dis play will be held in the MSC Flag Room at 3 p.m. on Wednes day. A lecture, entitled “Why Islam?,” will follow the display in room 226 of the MSC from 7 p.m. until 10 p.m. The week’s programs will end with a panel discussion “American Muslim Experiences” on Friday in room 201 of the MSC at 7 p.m. Village TUDENT KNMENT M UNIVI-HSITY TIAL NEEDS J/ editor 3 editor editor ■ditor Dube, Amanda hitley y Mooro, Stacy Hake Griggs, irtoha rt Doreen and derson, Erin Hill, ■, Elizabeth Preston, a during the fall essions (except I class postage laid Building, .&M University ilism. Editorial iMU.EDU. torsement by 5-2696. For McDonald and lents to pick up a emester, $40 per ver or American ‘Unplugged’ provides triumphant ending to Nirvana’s musical brilliance ''' ' ■ ■ m •* t' : t ' *' v: / - .• i' ■ wT,! il A ’ ■ ' V tl r Krist Novoselic, Dave Grohl and the late Kurt Cobain of Nirvana at their “MTV Unplugged” performance. By Rob Clark t The Battalion Nirvana “Unplugged in New York” Geffen Records (out of five) Kurt is gone. But the music of Nirvana lives on with the release of “Un plugged in New York,” per formed for MTV last November. But this isn’t just any live performance. The loose acoustic- format of the “Unplugged” series allows a whole new side of Nir vana to shine through. Without the usual distortion of the “Nev ermind” and “In Utero” albums, the acoustic guitar provides a perfect backing to Kurt Cobain’s moody vocals. Replacing the distortion is ex cellent musical accompaniment by a variety of instruments. Lori Goldston provides beautiful cello playing to “Dumb,” “Polly,” and “All Apologies.” And bass guitarist Krist Novoselic even brings out the old accordion for “Jesus Doesn’t Want Me For a Sunbeam.” The acoustic format allows for a more versatile Nirvana. Ver sions of hit songs “Come As You Are” and “Ml Apologies” are dif ferent, but a fresh change. But the songs on the album are not all Nirvana originals. Cobain sings David Bowie’s “The Man Who Shot the World,” and the Vaselines’ “Jesus Does n’t Want Me for a Sunbeam.” And the guest appearance by the Meat Puppets provide three of the strongest songs on the al bum — the Puppets’ “Lake of Fire,” “Plateau” and “Oh Me.” But ultimately it is Cobain’s immense talent that was every thing to Nirvana. His bold gui tar playing, his rough voice and his amazing lyrics made him one of the most talented per formers of our generation. And his “Unplugged” perfor mance is one of his best. Cobain’s vocals excel, especially on “About a Girl,” and “Where Did You Sleep Last Night.” If there is one thing missing, it is the conspicuous absence of Nirvana’s monster smash “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” Drummer Dave Grohl said in a news release that including the song wasn’t even considered. “We knew we didn’t want to do an acoustic version of ‘Teen Spirit,”’ he said. “That would’ve been horrendously stupid. We felt it would be bet ter if we found other songs.” Grohl added that the band wanted a relaxed feel to the acoustic performance. “We didn’t want to do ‘Un plugged’ the conventional way,” he said, “where bands show up with acoustic guitars and the drummers drum as hard as they usually do and it’s not dif ferent at all except it’s not elec tric. We wanted it more loungi- er.” Nirvana was widely consid ered to be the best band in the land before Cobain’s suicide in April. Cobain took himself away from us, and with him he took his incredible music talent. At least “Unplugged in New York” gives us just a little bit more. Yes/No People ready to bring unique rhythms of ‘Stomp’ to A&M 6y Jennifer Gressett The Battalion r he Yes/No People are about “to put the boot into contemporary culture.” Their performance tonight in Rudder Auditorium will be among the most unique that the Opera and Performing Arts Society will present this year. It is known simply as “Stomp.” OPAS Student Committee Chair Andi Stevenson said, “The most unique fting about ‘Stomp’ is that they don’t Use anything expensive or elaborate; ley find rhythm in the everyday.” “Found objects” is the term the British performers give their instru ments, which consist of oil drums, hub caps, broomsticks and lighters to name hst a few. Their performance helps you to he lm to see things in a different way,” Stevenson said. Founded in 1986 by lead performer Luke Cresswell and director Steve Mc- A’icholas of the British band Pookies- aackenburger, the Yes/No People have already managed to tour the world, Perform in several films and rack up a few awards for television commercials. In fact, you may have seen them stomping away at an ice block in last year’s Coca Cola commercial, or per forming on “The Late Show with David Letterman” earlier this year. “Stomp” can currently be seen in a series of commercials for Target stores, directed by Cresswell and Mc- Nicholas. Other ongoing projects in clude record, film and soundtrack pro duction, as well as a nine-piece band which involves several members of the cast. The six men and two women that make up the Yes/No People consist of musicians, actors, a tri-athlete and one trained dancer. Each is clad in a uniform that is not quite grunge, but somewhere along the lines of frustrated laborers: crewcuts, torn-off jeans, athletic vests and, of course, boots — also used as basic percussion items. Stevensen says this informality should make the performance a little more laid back than the previous OPAS events. “This is not a dress up and go to OPAS thing,” Stevenson explains. “You should wear blue jeans or what ever you would normally wear to class.” She added that while the perfor mances are expected to sell out, the majority of the audience will be stu dents. “This is just one of those things that we looked at and said, ‘This is for the students,” she said. “Stomp” can be seen tonight and Wednesday night in Rudder Auditori um at 8 p.m. For ticket information, call the MSC Box Office at 845-1234. Members of Yes/No People use unique percussion instruments in “Stomp.”