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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 2, 1995)
J oberl The Battalion 31]; Monday October 2,1995 n relo G they !z sai are es; )oth th ! rmanet cessaiy, ud stt[ r stror dzed tli ical ini ts havf nt. itudentj i areas r a com this ini iumes, studs lerecn 1 a resu. i “T vhat y« iths w ier Bu; m 9 a.u a recei I. The ^ill nit willb !C frm .2. 3 Students take a stab at fencing club and classes By Amy Protas The Battalion sin ; cities )0, Pah: cent gr? ies wilt ost resi ty-twodi 1 are is nd six Ti JU t’s not every day that students get to practice their favorite sport with an Olympian. The A&M fencing club gets to practice every Tues day, however, with a member of the Egyptian Olympic team. Allison Williams, a junior architecture major, said the club was lucky to procure the coaching services of Mauro Hamza. “Most coaches of Hamza’s caliber can’t be found in the United States,” Williams said. “He’s making a name for himself and helping us be lli agr:f come a great team.” Many of the club’s 20 active members joined af ter taking fencing classes. Students usually enroll in the class because it is different than traditional kineseology courses. Christiana Baker, a junior elementary educa- | lion major, said she didn’t realize how much she was going to enjoy the class. “The class is so much fun,” Baker said. “Every move has to be calculated. It’s such a challenge, and you have to know exactly what your opponent is going to do.” Williams said her grade in the class improved after she joined the club. “There was a list of the top ten reasons to join the club,” Williams said. “One of the reasons was to make an A in the class. I went to a meeting, and I never left.” The club practices eight hours a week and competes on the weekends. Members are work ing toward the national competition at the end of the year. Steve Mazzucco, a senior computer science Louis: vVashif 1 ilationl* cst cits', on ii.3 odestgar 0 and I Mean« ation’stli major, said the constant travel has helped the members form friendships. “We really have a good atmos phere of camaraderie and fellow ship,” Mazzucco said. “You have to be friends with each other because you hit each other with large met al objects.” Last year, the team won na tionals for the first time in A&M history. The biggest surprise was beating the University of Texas, which traditionally has a stronger team. Mazzucco said beating the Longhorns was a sweet victory. “Texas came to the tournament expecting to win again,” Mazzucco said. “We stole their title, and it was wonderful completely demor alizing them.” Fencing may be considered a sport, but many fencers say it’s thrilling because it’s a mind game. Mickey Stratton, a senior lec turer in health and kineseology, said in order to be good, fencers must think of it as a game. “Fencing is a game of the mind,” Stratton said. “It’s a chess game with weapons. An old man can beat a young man in better shape if he has a better mind.” Shalyn Shourds, a senior microbiology major, said he became interested ip fencing because it was a sport he can succeed in. “I’m more attracted to the uniqueness of fenc ing,” Shourds said. Tm small, and I have found a Photos by Robyn Calloway, The Battalion Omar Rivera, a sophomore environmental design major, lunges at Jennifer Market, a junior physics major, during their fenc ing class. (Left) Market stands in the 'en garde' position. sport where you don’t have to be big.” Fencing offers many club members an outlet from the stress of school. The team practices Tues days and Thursdays for four hours. Williams said she looks forward to these prac tices as her weekly tension relievers. “As an architecture major, I spend most of my time bent over a desk at Langford,” Williams said. “I look forward to being able to blow off steam.” Ally son Breech, a freshman psychology major, said she started fencing in high school and was thrilled A&M had a team. She said people looking for something different should try fencing. “Fencing is really off the mainstream,” Breech said. “A lot of people don’t know about it. If you’re looking for something unique, you can do this.” Loeb shows she has staying power with thoughtful Tails mei services® Munte s local- luiel He ld fivef lity e practW jtionisu ervices • physio® ice. £ ation es servi" i. to 5 P® s by By Amy Uptmor The Battalion Lisa Loeb gained overnight stardom through the soundtrack to the movie Re ality Bites with “Stay(I Missed You),” the song that was so instantly captivating, it made people stick around to watch the movie credits as it played. And despite the apparent problems of “Stay” — such as one of the worst cases of overplay in the history of radio, along with one of the most irritating videos ever seen on MTV — for some reason people couldn’t take their eyes off Loeb. Okay, so maybe it was the glasses. But with her debut album, Tails, Loeb shows many more intriguing characteris tics than her trademark lenses. Namely, Loeb’s powerful voice and in credible knack for making beautiful melodies combine for a solid debut album. Sure, Loeb’s lyrics aren’t exactly philos ophy. The lines of “Stay” (which concludes this album) rarely surpassed six words and were characteristic of the rantings of a woman having a bad PMS day. But Loeb’s talent lies in her ability to almost create dialogue with her personal lyrics. The perfect example is “Lisa Listen,” Loeb’s self-encouragement song, with a chorus of “Lisa, won’t you listen? / The moon shines for you/You’re tipsy, you’re turning, you are alive, you are burning/ You’ve always wanted more.” But sometimes, Loeb takes the personal approach to lyrics too far. Aside from the fact that any listen er of Loeb will gather that she’s bitter, you pretty much have to be f-rMv Loeb to understand exactly where her songs are coming from. For example, her first release from Tails, “Do You Sleep?” is hard to understand. Those who can easily deci pher lyrics such as “You sat on the comer of my bed, and / You smoked with the ghost in the back of my head” must be on the same level as Loeb. The song is catchy, but it just doesn’t make a lot of sense. But every once in a while, lyrics come up that a listener can’t help but love. Take, for example, the first lines of “Sandalwood” — “She can’t tell me that all of the love songs have been written/ ’cause she’s never been in love with you before.” Sure, it’s cheesy, but that’s what love songs are all about. Then there’s one of the better songs on the album, “Hurricane.” Loeb’s songwrit ing outshines her voice, for once, on the single. With lyrics like “I’ve compassion for strangers, an affinity for danger — won’t you be my sacrifice?” and “I’ll twist you ’til you break,” Loeb proves she can be witty rather than just whiny. A large share of the credit for this al bum goes to Nine Stories, Loeb’s band. Every song has a wonderful, unique sound regardless of whether Loeb’s lyrics work. But Loeb’s talent should not be under estimated. She uses simple tricks in her writing and music, but those tricks work. Loeb has earned some respect. She’s a beautiful singer and songwriter, and if “Stay” wasn’t enough to prove that. Tails offers 12 more songs that are surpassing ly eloquent and thoughtful. SBliiiftJf) PH Mm ML. Ml; ilfeCi} iWl'Iplj! Mi iiM 1 ; Loeb , r Tara^" , Healhe' l ’ ,(f ibothaa'.^ achel Bafl ie, Lisa Na"® son, En 11 n Bro^f i & Lyd |J rooNists; byn Callo" ,, ' , Estes & )use Tiffe"' ■rs, Abbie iiversity' n ax: 8^ ntby^f '6. Lot Jot- lonalda^ 01 id spring i Unive(# dat Col teg® Texas THE FALL BUSINESS CAREER FAIR Starts Tonight! Scheduled Events: Monday, October 2, 7:00 p.m. Reception Tuesday, October 3, 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Recruiting Booths in Wehner Building 7:00 p.m. Banquet Wednesday, October 4, 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Recruiting Booths in Wehner Building Don’t miss this opportunity to meet with recruiters from these companies: Acxiom Corporation AeroTek, Inc. AIM Management Group AT&T Andersen Consulting Arthur Andersen Bank One, Texas Becker CPA Review Cintas Corporation City of Houston Color Tile Comptroller of Public Accounts Consolidated Graphics Coopers & Lybrand L.L.P. Delloitte & Touche L.L.P. Dillard’s Department Stores Eastman Kodak Co. Enterprise Rent-A-Car EDS Ernst & Young L.L.P. Exxon Company, U.S.A. Federal Bureau of Investigation Ferguson Enterprises, Inc. Foley’s Frost National Bank Girling Health Care, Inc. Grant Thornton L.L.P. Halliburton Energy Services Haverty Furniture Companies, Inc HEB Grocery Co. Jason’s Deli JCPenney Life Insurance Co. Joseph T. Ryerson & Son, Inc. Koch Industries Kraft Foods, Inc. Kurt Salmon Associates Lever Brothers Luby’s MJDesigns Mobil Oil National Tire Warehouse Nations Bank Neiman Marcus N.F. Smith& Associates Northwestern Mutual Life Olde Discount Stockbrokers Perot Systems Corporation Price Waterhouse Professional Data Solutions,Inc. Randall’s Food Markets, Inc. SBC Communications, Inc. Star Enterprise State Farm Insurance Taco Bell Target Stores Terminix International Texaco Texas Commerce Bank Tharaldson Enterprises The Home Depot The Kroger Company The Principal Financial Group Toys “R” Us Universal Computer Systems, Inc. USAA Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. Waste Management, Inc. For More Information Call 845-1320