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.”