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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 28, 1995)
September j The Battalion hursday September 28, 1995 telife Tim MoogJrJ orist for speet 1 cars to mor; I 2 was a high ;;| lie city are se special paW Nagle andl ern city limits! \ bypass to less bin city limits, ire the areas itrating on,l) •ted to them, nselii ationships, Be id ness, hurt, ger. incommon or guilty mily members 2 of the impart; § lad on them. Ml ) counseling a lerstand ho* 3s and person; ir families of or; 3edom from gu; igs and contro: an be achiev reedom and® it the dysfuntl e to repeat it icration. ent Counselii ndividua! corns various counsei as “Adult Child] iult Children off] amilies" that! 1 family issues, can call the Siii| Service at I HT her i. 823-4)} Night News Edit* N, Night NewsEin^ •AUER, Accielife NDIS, Sports Editoi hoto Editor lavier Martinez, asie Byers,t Michelle l)'* Jan Higgenbolham, Sarry & ElizabethGJ ,f Philip Leone, Lisa Nan® Pamela Benson, Erin^ ckham, lason Brown, Pawlikowski & Lydia 'ITORIAL CaRIOONISK owning, Robyn Calln*’ 11 •Luca, Zach Estes ohin Greatbouse 3., John Lemon & Da't® Valerie Myers, Abbte <as A&M University Journalism. amu.edu ie clay's headlines P nl ■ endorsement by The® 1 ' all 845-2696. ForrI' 5 5 Reed McDonald a 1 845-2678. t student to pick up a , 40 per school year and’ an Express, call 845-2^ ! ay during the fall and Jmmcr sessions (exceP 1 iversity. Second das* aid Building, TexasA* The old Experience Artist's new album responds to media criticism with classic style Album I Artist formerly known The Gold Warner Bros./ t*r A By Rob Clark The Battalion N othing makes me feel older than to realize that Purple Rain came out 11 years ago. 11 years — can it be? Since the 1984 movie and musical masterpiece that put the artist formerly known as Prince on the map, I have followed His Royal Badness’ curious career with ea ger eyes and ears, sometimes annoyingly so. As these 11 years have shown, there is no one in music more eccentric, creative and, well, bizarre than Prince. Whether he hits (Sign O’ the Times) or misses (Diamonds and Pearls), Prince remains the most enigmatic artist of the past 20 years. So enigmatic that he even felt the need to change his name to a sort of morphed male-female sex symbol in 1993. And for such eccentricities comes criticism, as he has taken a royal beating in the press for his unpro nounceable title. And he hasn’t had a monster album in years, which could be attributed to a lack of anticipation due to his massive production output — 17 albums in his 16-year career. So now. Prince finds himself in a situa tion of near-desperation. He desper ately needs a hit. This comes in the form of The Gold Experience. It is Prince at his best — mixing his diverse styles into a cohesive unit full of funk, rock and blues. The album contains Prince’s strongest response to his critics for his name change in “Billy Jack Bitch,” a sort of open letter to biased reporters. “What if I called you silly names?,” he asks. “Just like the ones that you call me ... What distortion could you let your pen forget 2day ... Words intended 2 belittle or dismay / What if I say u lie?” Prince’s most ambitious response comes in “Dolphin,” a reincarnation story of appreciating artists when they’re dead. Combining an ethereal synthesized sound with screeching guitar, “Dolphin” is simply gorgeous, reminiscent of Prince’s strongest work from Sign O’ the Times and Lovesexy. “If I came back as a dolphin would you listen to me then?” he asks. “... U could cut off all my fins but to your ways I will not bend / I’d die before I let you tell me how to swim.” An interesting choice for the album’s first single is “I Hate U,” a smoldering ballad reminiscent of “Interna tional Lover” and “The Beautiful Ones.” Of course, funk is Prince’s forte. He finally lets loose with the grinding “319,” “Billy Jack Bitch” and “We March.” Even when Prince slips on the album, it is usually be cause of his extreme ambition. His continued attempts at rap just don’t work, making the raunchy “P. Control” and “Now” the only weak spots. But he more than makes up with it on “Shy,” the master piece of the bunch. With light guitar flowing, Prince’s vocals are stunning when tackling the the chorus and melody. In similar fashion is the album’s finale, “Gold,” with it’s “Purple Rain”-like bonfire ending. Prince finally gives a glimpse into his creative process, and his efforts to transcend. “Everybody wants to tell what’s already been told / What’s the use of money if u ain’t gonna break the mold?” he implores, suggesting quali ty over compensation (Are you listening Michael Jackson?). Ironically enough, .the songs on The Gold Experience were com pleted in 1993 or ’94 but due to record compa ny tangles, are just now being released. In a trail- blazing career like Prince’s, it’s mind boggling to think of how much he has probably evolved since these “new” songs were even made. He’s always one step ahead of the game, whether the pop charts accept him or not. "’Df £7 came back as a dolphin would you listen to me then? ...Lf could cut off all my fins but to your ways & will not bend! SJ'd die before SJ let you tell me how to swim." Tlhe artist formerly known as Prince has recorded 17 albums in his 16-year music career, which he started at age 19. He has produced 14 platinum albums. 3 Sf;' Hli' HT Rl I 1 •Ml • H Aggieland Post Office dispels disgruntled stereotypes Community involvement heightens positive attitudes By Rachel Barry The Battalion R eceiving a letter written on a wa termelon may not happen every day, but it has happened at the Aggieland Post Office in the MSC. Danny Davis, a clerk at the Ag gieland Post Office, said people have sent watermelons and coconuts through the mail. “Someone will go to Hawaii and send a coconut back as a souvenir,” he said. Being able to send fruit through the mail is not the only little-known fact about the post office and the people who work there. Faye Schoeman, a clerk at the Ag gieland Post Office, said people do not understand what goes on behind the wall of mail boxes at the post office. “They don’t have any concept of the volume here,” she said. “It’s hard to realize that there are 6,000 (P.O.) box es here.” Alvin Kucera, a clerk at the post of fice, said another common misconcep tion about postal workers is that they are overpaid and underworked. How ever, he said, that is not the case. “Everybody gives 100 percent,” he said. “You have to be dedicated. It would be that way with any job.” Davis said some students do not think the postal workers care about them, which he says is untrue. “Most of us here have kids this age,” he said. “And we are involved in the community in some way.” Tom McGrath, the postmaster for Bryan-College Station, said misun derstandings surrounding the post of fice stem from not knowing what goes on after a person puts their letter in the mailbox. “For most people, when they think of the post office, they think of the window clerk that sells them their stamps or the carrier that brings them their mail,” he said. “Most people don’t "They (people) don't have any concept of the volume here. It's hard to realize that there are 6,000 (P.O.) boxes here." — Faye Schoeman Aggieland Post Office clerk have any idea about the processing.” So what does happen to a letter once it leaves the hands of its sender? McGrath said that after the mail is collected and taken to the main office in Bryan, it is sent through a machine to have a bar code printed on it. The machine takes a picture of the address on the envelope and creates a bar code that corresponds to that address. If the address is handwritten and unreadable, the machine sends the pic ture through satellite to a computer where an operator reads it and manu ally creates a bar code for the address. The bar code is then sent back to the post office and is checked to make sure that it is a valid address. The letter is then sorted and sent to the post office of the destination city. There, the code is read, the letter is sort ed, and it is sent to its final destination. Kucera said postal workers arrive at the post office at 7 a.m. every day to begin sorting mail and placing it in the P.O. boxes. With five people work ing non-stop, the job takes three hours to complete. McGrath said one of the biggest problems facing the post office is stu dents who move several times during the year and neglect to turn in a change of address form. “Students need to let us know they are gone so we can hold their mail or temporarily forward it,” he said. McGrath said students are ready to leave town after finals and do not think to put in a change of address form. Working at the Aggieland Post Of fice has its advantages, and Kucera said he loves working there because of the students. “You can’t beat the Aggies,” he said. “I don’t think the job would be the same without them.”