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One for all
Schooling the critic
Unusual toys
A&M's win over TCU
sets up a SWC title
showdown with Texas.
Sports, Page 7
Stidvent: Students who write
hate letters need a bit of
coaching.
Opinion, Page 9
Barry: Toy Story is not
Disney's normal animated
feature.
Aggielife, Page 4
Bat tali
Established in 1893
Monday • November 27, 1995
on fire burns in
alveston tonight
Tent
Dlhe A&M-Galveston
bonfire is made of
discarded wooden
lallets and is about 36-
eet tall this year.
5y Lisa Johnson
The Battalion
The display of the “burning
desire” of Aggies everywhere
begins tonight in Galveston
with the third annual Texas
A&M at Galveston Bonfire on
the Bolivar Peninsula.
In 1993, the A&M-Galveston
student committee on inter
campus affairs began the Bon
fire when the University at
Galveston was brought into the
A&M System.
In an effort
to bring the
spirit of the Col
lege Station
campus to the
branch in
Galveston, stu
dent leaders
from both cam
puses met that
Tall to discuss
which A&M tra
ditions could be
effectively
transplanted.
Steve Wilson, A&M-Galve
ston student body president and
a senior maritime administra
tion major, said after the discus
sion a small Bonfire was thrown
together in about six days and
was burned a week before the
A&M-University of Texas foot
ball game. Last year, Galveston
Bonfire activities were taken
over by a Bonfire Committee of
more than 50 A&M-Galveston
students.
Instead of redpots, who su
pervise A&M’s Bonfire con
struction, the Galveston Bonfire
is overseen by six “blazers.”
Wooden pallets were collected
this year from maritime indus
tries at local ports and used to
build Bonfire.
Construction of the Bonfire
takes two days once the pallets
have been moved to the site.
Attendance at the first Galve
ston Bonfire was comparatively
small, but both participation
and Bonfire size have grown
over the last two years. The
Bonfire in 1993 was made out of
150 wooden pallets. Last year, if
was made of 400 pallets, and
this year’s has doubled to 800
pallets.
Todd Wolfe, general blazer
and a senior marine biology and
marine fisheries major, said
there are no height limits for the
Galveston Bonfire.
“This year, with the 800 pal
lets, we expect the height of the
Bonfire to reach about 36 or 37
feet,” Wolfe said. “Although we
haven’t set any height limits for
the future, I expect that this
year’s Bonfire will be the maxi
mum height possible because of
the danger of the sparks from
the fire causing a grass fire on
the peninsula.”
Like Bonfire held on main
campus. Bonfire at Galveston
symbolizes “the burning desire
to beat the hell outta t.u,,” Wil
son said.
The Bolivar
Peninsula is
half an hour
from campus,
and the A&M-
Galveston ju
nior yell leaders
traditional ly
hold their first
yell practice on
the second deck
of the ferry on
the way to Bon
fire site.
The event
site, an isolated stretch of
beach on the peninsula, adds to
the Galveston flavor of the
event, Wilson said.
The Bonfire at Galveston is
traditionally a week before Bon
fire in College Station so stu
dents from A&M-Galveston can
attend Bonfire in College Station .
“One of the best things about
going to school here at A&M-
Galveston is that we get to do
twice as much partying,” Wilson
said. “We get to participate in all
of our traditions here and. then
head to College Station to party
on the main campus.”
Andy Webb, a senior redpot
in College Station and a
wildlife and fisheries science
major, said Galveston Bonfire
is a good demonstration of in
ter-campus unity.
“I think that what they are
doing with Bonfire at Galveston
is very cool,” Webb said. “It’s
very important to build up spirit
for what you believe in, no mat
ter where you are. To me, this
really symbolizes a togetherness
and unity between campuses.”
Lecture series brings Bosnian,
Croatian officials to campus
□ The ambassadors
will focus on the
governmental rights of
those involved in the
European conflict.
By Kristin Homyk
The Batfalion
Bosnian and Croatian repre
sentatives will discuss foreign
conflicts and international
ideas with the Texas A&M
community tonight.
Petar A. Sarcevic, ambas
sador to the United States from
the Republic of Croatia, and H.
E. Alkalaj, ambassador to the
United States from the Repub
lic of Bosnia-Herzegrovina, will
speak at 7:30 p.m. in Rudder
Theatre during “A People Di
vided: A Discussion of Self-De
termination,” a presentation of
the MSC Wiley Lecture Series.
Dr. Betty Unterberger, mod
erator for the discussion and an
A&M history professor, said
the ambassadors will focus on
the governmental rights of the
people involved in the current
European conflict.
Unterberger said those gov
ernmental rights are key to
understanding the concept of
self-determination.
“The classic definition lof
self-determination] historically
is the right of peoples to deter
mine what kind of government
they want themselves,” Unter
berger said. “The criteria for
the determination really have
varied over time."
Unterberger said that
those criteria include common
languages, religions and eth
nic backgrounds.
“The single most important
criterion is historical experi
ence,” she said. “That is, the
kind of experience that people
have shared together, regard
less of what their language is
or their ethnic background is.”
The discussion by the Bosn
ian and Croatian natives will
provide better understanding
of the nature of the conflict
and the possible resolutions.
See Lecture, Page 5
Counting on a ticket
Sterling Haymnn, Tire Battalion
Eddie Gautier, a senior agricultural economics major, James Moody, a senior accounting major, and Elizabeth Whitley, a junior account
ing major, camp outside of G. Rollie White Sunday. The trio is aiming to get good tickets for the A&M-University of Texas football game.
By midnight, they could
hardly find a place to sit. But
that didn't stop hundreds of
eager Aggies who started lin
ing up Thursday for tickets to
Saturday's football game
against the University of
Texas. The crowd kept
swelling in anticipation of the
opening of the ticket office at
7:00 a.m. today.
Although most campers are
assured of tickets by having
sports passes, several students
said they were camping out
just for fun. Others said they
were worried that they would
not be able to get tickets for
their friends or parents who
want to attend the game that
will decide the Southwest
Conference title and possibly
See TICKET Trauma for the story, Page 3
a Sugar Bowl berth.
Julie Johnson, a senior edu
cation major who came back
early from Thanksgiving break
to camp out for tickets, said
her parents could not under
stand why she was going so
far out of her way for tickets.
"They thought I was nuts,"
she said. "I was like, 'Well,
I'm an Aggie.'"
Winter in^/fggielancl
MSC Hospitality celebrates holiday season
□ A tree-lighting ceremony, a Christian practice,
will take place at 12:30 p.m. today in the MSC
Flagroom. Students who recognize Kwanzaa and
Hanukkah will then explain their practices.
By Tara Wilkinson
The Batfalion
MSC Hospitality is spreading seasonal cheer and celebrating
the winter holidays this week on the Texas A&M campus with its
annual tree-lighting ceremony, Noonday Program performances
and craft fair.
“Winter in Aggieland” begins today in the Flagroom
with a tree-lighting ceremony and will continue with
Noonday Program performances each day and a
craft fair Thursday and Friday.
A gigantic spruce tree decorated with orna
ments representing more than 300 student or
ganizations will be lit at 12:30 p.m. during a
ceremony presided over by Dr. Malon Souther
land, vice president of student affairs.
Cari Pope, MSC Hospitality holiday and
cultures executive and a sophomore industrial
engineering major, said the Christmas tree is
typically recognized as a Christian symbol, but
the main purpose of the tree in the Flagroom is
to stir Aggie pride.
“It is important for people to realize what our
tree symbolizes,” Pope said. “It’s not representing
Christianity itself; it’s representing A&M.”
Students who celebrate Hanukkah, a Jewish holiday, and
Kwanzaa, an African-American holiday, will explain their prac
tices and beliefs after the tree-lighting ceremony, Pope said, in
an effort to make students aware “that it isn’t just Christmas
coming up.”
“We’re not emphasizing one particular holiday,” she said. “We
want to celebrate that it’s the winter break and recognize that
there are several cultures that celebrate in different ways.
Eric Curley, a sophomore chemistry major who celebrates
m _ ft
Kwanzaa, said he is glad Kwanzaa will be discussed during the
tree-lighting ceremony because many people are unfamiliar with
its meaning and purpose.
Kwanzaa, an African-American holiday since 1966, is celebrat
ed in addition to Christmas, not as a replacement.
Each day of Kwanzaa, from Dec. 26 to Jan. 1, has a theme, such
as unity, purpose or faith.
“The reason we celebrate Kwanzaa is to uplift our community,”
Curley said, “and to bond our community closer together through
the seven days of the holiday.”
In another attempt to diversify the winter holidays at A&M,
banners printed with the message “Happy Holidays” in 13 lan
guages are hung in the Flagroom.
The winter celebration will continue with Noonday programs, a
series of performances to be held Monday through Friday
from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Flagroom.
Noonday programs range from, performances by
the A&M Dance Arts Society on Monday and the
TAMU Flute Choir on Tuesday to a Christmas
skit performed by Bowen Elementary School
students on Friday.
More than 70 craft vendors will set up
stands in the MSC hallways for the week’s
grand finale craft fair.
The craft fair will be open from 10 a.m. to
5 p.m. Thursday and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Friday.
Trisha Fields, MSC Hospitality advertising
executive, said a wide variety of crafts will be
for sale at the fair, which has been a successful
Hospitality event for several years.
“They have blankets, pillows, clothes, jewelry,
miniature Bonfires ... anything you can imagine that is
Aggie,” Fields said.
Students have an extra incentive to visit the Flagroom this
week because they might run into Santa Claus.
A Hospitality member dressed up as Santa will be wandering
around the MSG handing out “Winter in Aggieland” information
al flyers.
Fields said Santa volunteers have a secret agenda.
“It’s typically a guy who uses his Santa suit as a way to flirt
with girls,” she said.