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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 3, 1995)
The Battalion • Page 3 Thursday • August 3, 1993 To the rescue tudents gain experience through Emergency Care Team Mike Friend, The Battalion lEmergency Care Team members Jennifer Powell, Kathy Miller and John Carson work together to restrain a patient before moving her. 11 By Amy Collier he Battalion l| n the basement of A.P. Beutel Health Gen ii ter, a group of students sit together chatting |l about their week’s adventures. They talk about saving a drunk diabetic, a person who did not look before he crossed the street and administering CPR to a heart at- ftack victim. For volunteers for the Texas A&M Univer sity Emergency Medical Services, these heroic iacts are all part of the job. Chris Gideon, a senior wildlife ecology ma jor and assistant chief of Texas A&M EMS, said people do not realize all of the emergency tedical technicians at A&M are students. ‘We try to keep it a student organization to show how dedicated the students are,” Gideon said. “It takes a lot of dedication. That’s how re’re able to be here. I believe that every sin gle person I work with here is very dedicated id true to their ideals.” To volunteer for EMS, students must be on the Emergency Care Team, which accepts new tembers each semester. The Emergency Care Team was started in 1976 by four students who used a sta- ,ion wagon as an ambulance. The organiza- don now has 130 members — 45 of which re volunteers for EMS — and has three ful- j ly equipped ambulances. Matt Seibert, a senior computer science major and president of the Emergency Care Team, said that when he looks at old scrap books of the Care Team, he realizes how much the organization has grown and improved. “It makes me just extremely proud when I look back,” he said. “Since then, we have ex panded from the University to the community at large. That’s extremely important.” The Emergency Care Team staffs first aid stations at football games, Bonfire and com munity events, such as the Special Olympics and horse shows. The tfeam offers classes to its members to help them achieve different state certifica tions, ranging from dispatcher to paramedic. Seibert said that although many of the team’s members are planning on going into the medical field, membership is not restricted to any academic discipline. “We get as many people that are interested in just helping people,” Seibert said. “We’re a purely service-oriented organization.” Seibert said the team members that are also part of EMs go beyond normal dedication. “The people on EMS are so gung-ho and dedicated to the Care Team to become an EMT,” Seibert said. Students who become EMTs must work a 14-hour night shift and several day shifts be tween classes each week. Seibert said that by responding to two or three emergency calls a night, workers gain and share medical knowledge with other students. “This is really good exposure to different in juries and illnesses,” he said. “We serve the students who join by broadening their hori zons. You can really trade information.” John Carson, a senior biomedical science major, said working for the A&M EMS gives him valuable experience he can use in medical school. “The best thing about this is I have a chance to do things,” Carson said. “I’ve worked in hospitals before, and they just don’t teach you as much. I like the responsibility that it allows you to have.” Christine Christ, a senior biomedical sci ence major, recently was certified as a paramedic after being on the Care Team for three years. “It feels very good,” she said. “It was every thing I’ve ever learned at A&M all in one class. It’s something I can put to use.” Christ said her efforts are not always ap preciated because many of the sick and hurt people she helps do not think they need med ical attention. “It’s a thankless job,” Christ said. “You get the gratitude from yourself.” Sometimes the EMTs do get recognized for their efforts. Carson said he was rewarded when he got a call from a girl thanking him for his help. “It just kind of made me drop my jaw and say, Thank you,”’ Carson said. “It made me feel that all of those hours I’ve worked were paid off just with one thank you.” Stew Milne, The Battalion The 5th Annual Brazos Balloon Classic and Hydro- |fest kicks off Friday evening at 6 p.m. with the release of about 30 balloons at Lake Bryan Park. The Rockafellas take the stage around the same time jwith Vince Vance and the Valiants performing at 9 p.m. The balloons will lift off early Saturday morning at 7 a.m. Boat and jet ski races start at 8 a.m. and last until 6 p.m. Ezra Charles and the Works will perform Saturday night. The balloons make their final appearance Sunday | morning at 7 a.m. followed by the boat races. The festival ends at 6 p.m. Thursday Rage and Eden, a cover band, is playing at The Tap. John Reyna, a progressive country artist, is playing at Fitzwilly's. Friday The Bounty Hunters, a country band, is at The Texas Hall of Fame. Bobby Hall and the Ice Cold Blues Band is performing at Sweet Eugene's House of Java. Miss Molly and the Whips, a blues rock performer from Louisiana, is playing at 3rd Floor Cantina. Miss Molly was voted "Best R&B Blues Band" and "Best Performer" by the Houston Press Music Awards in 1 992. Miss Molly is known for her daring shows and unique style of music which she describes as "that blues-influenced, rock-tinged thang." Peeping Tom, a local cover band with a few original songs, is playing at The Tap. Larry Stewart, a country performer from Nashville, is playing at Denim & Diamonds. After playing with country band Restless Heart, Stewart established a following when he released a self-titled debut last year. Stewart recently released another album titled Heart Like A Hurricane. Saturday Mike Cancellare, an acoustic performer, is playing at Sweet Eugene's House of Java. Eugene Eugene and the Solid Foundation Band,a rhythm and blues band, is playing at 3rd Floor Cantina. The Expense, a cover band, is playing at The Tap. country band, is playing at The Texas Hall of Fame. Television can offer sad truths Elizabeth * Preston Columnist I never used to watch televi sion, refusing to give in to the little box that controlled the life of so many of my friends. I fought it for years, protesting not only that it was inane and stupid, but that it hurt people more than it helped. Then I discovered Homer, Lisa, Bart, Marge, Maggie and the whole town of Springfield. I couldn’t resist such truth, such beauty and such humor. Homer, the dad — for those of you living under the same rock that I lived under for so long — is a true lug. He is a worthless lump of beer-belly who loves his wife and children only slightly less than he loves for bidden doughnuts. He is obviously representa tive of the slothful and spoiled “white male” in society. Homer, that lumbering, useless man who barely keeps his job at the local nuclear power plant, is clearly all that is wrong in soci ety. Without his ever-competent wife Marge to keep him togeth er, he would never leave the couch, except to get a beer. To balance him out within the television show is the perfect child, Lisa. She is the brainiest child to ever grace the halls of Spring- field Elementary School, and she loves to study and learn. She is socially ac tive, unpreju diced and very feminist — ob viously, the per fect person. Lisa is utterly embar rassed by her in ept father and weird family, but she loves them in spite of their obvi ous flaws. What the world needs is more Lisas and fewer Barts, the terrible older brother who haunts and torments everyone in the show - except, of course, the school bully, Nelson, who torments him. Bart is the rebel, the mean one, the book-dumb, people- smart brat who terrorizes his teacher and picks on anyone younger and weaker than him. He listens to no one, obeys no one, and respects no one — ex cept occasionally Marge. Bart lives a wild life, accompanied only by his nerdy and nice best friend, Millhouse. Bart represents the ultimate “boys will be boys” cliche that most of us were forced to grow up with. While girls were taught that they should be smart and quiet, like Lisa, many of the boys were learning how to be Bart — tricking and cheating their way through life. There is a seemingly limitless number of perfectly-drawn char acters, from the uptight and goofy fundamental Christian neighbors to the town drunk, Barney. All are grossly stereo typical, but each character sends an important message. Every character represents some part of society, and each show has a hidden point, teaching some moral or lesson that Bart invariably ignores. The Simpsons represent the prototypical American family — loud, dumb, obnoxious yet lov ing. Television finally captured every stereotype it perpetrated and delivered them all in “The Simpsons.” Most television is, if not evil, definitely detrimental to those who watch it. It regularly capti vates children, keeping them prisoners and teaching them about sex, violence and the hor rors of the world long before they need to learn about them. In addition, many college stu dents are caught almost nightly by the glare of the “boob tube” and forgo studies, friends and conversation to become minia ture Homer Simpsons. While de voting life to beer and watching television looks fun on televi sion, in reality it leaves a lot to be desired. Homer, Marge and the rest of the gang may be fun to watch on television, but Ameri can society is taking them a bit too seriously. A huge problem with televi sion is that watchers often be come couch potatoes, just like Homer Simpson, who never tear themselves away from it and often forget the differ ence between what is on their screen and the real world. Television certainly has its place in modem society, but it only deserves a minor role among a myriad of other interests. Watching television is not a substitute for life. A life where Homer Simpson is the ideal and Bart is seen as the ultimate “dude” is a sad life indeed. Tripping Daisy finds its lucky slot Tripping Daisy, an alternative band out of Dallas, recently struck it rich at Harrah’s Casino in Shreveport, LA, with band members taking home a grand total of $21,500. The biggest winner of the evening was bassist Mark Pirro who won a jackpot of $19,000 on a $1 slot machine. “$19,000 is a lot of money,” he said. “Some people can’t save that much money their entire life. I consider myself fortunate, and because I believe in good karma, I guess I should at least be jenerous with my winnings. That’s why I’ll be giving a third of it luitarist Wes Berggren took home a cool $2,000 from the black jack table and singer Tim DeLaughter walked away with a re spectable $500. Drummer Bryan Wakeland doesn’t gamble.