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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 7, 1996)
Februar The Battalion Wednesday February 7, 1996 Aggielife Page 3 of waste. 'o content of to store, Jess da. space,” he said. T researcher idj ijcal engineers 1 has obvious 1*. unique material: ng this problen n the applicatioi adioactivity prof ertising for AiS t yet been perfected this project is ed tuning it,” he said 'riment we learn i benefit the Ulj 2 most, but otfe the works. CS1 b 1 laboratories it s are assembled ate benefit to tki lid. "We will helj itonium in awaj errorists." ways to 2es, said the Un- at franchisings lo not guarantee 1 segments gota n market of cus- Roadhouse: Bar faces end of the road Continued from page 1 Todd Prewitt, co-owner of the Roadhouse, said he is meeting with a friend this afternoon to de termine if he is willing to take the risk and invest in the bar. “He is a friend from Dallas who is in the restaurant business,” Prewitt said. “There is no guarantee; the odds are up in the air. He will tell me whether we have a chance. He will at tract money from other sources. It will basically be an OK stamp for other investors to come in.” The financial problems stem from a combina tion of high operation costs and a lack of a lunch and afternoon crowd, Prewitt said. Operating a business on Northgate is more expensive than on other property in town be cause of rent and property taxes. However, Pre witt has confidence the food the Roadhouse serves is the best on Northgate and hopes to have a second chance to prove it. “If we get the go-ahead, it will not happen overnight,” Prewitt said. “We need help from everyone, especially with the purchase of food. “We need a lunch crowd. It is a volume issue. I believe if you take the menus of every place on Northgate and compare them, our food would win. We might switch the style, but it will be the same quality. We just need to get the ratios up.” A second problem that Prewitt, like most businessmen, has to face is the competition. With over 12 restaurants and bars on Northgate and in the vicinity, competition for any business on Northgate is vicious. “We figured it would take one-and-a-half-to- two years to get up and going,” Prewitt said. “We lost a little more this year. “We jumped in with two feet in the cement with the big boys. The competition is steeper on Northgate because we have to convince people to drink or eat here as opposed to where they usually go.” The King of the Roadhouse opened on Feb. 3, 1994. The Roadhouse is the only Aggie-owned and operated establishment on Northgate. The goal for co-owners, Prewitt and his brother, Ray, and Thom Bartkowski and his wife Jen, was not to become instantaneously rich but instead to create an environment in which Aggies would be comfortable. “This is not here for us, but everyone else,” Pre witt said. “You can walk in here and say, ‘It’s my bar.’ It is kind of the Cheers of College Station. “Everyone who hangs out here knows everyone else. It is the most friendly at mosphere that I have been in. It is rare that customers care about the bar they frequent and that the bar cares about the customer.” Exit 68, a local band, will play tonight at the Roadhouse benefit. The band will start playing at 10 p.m., and there will be a $3 cover charge. All proceeds will benefit the Roadhouse. “Our first gig was here,” Hans Betlen, a senior agricultural develop ment major, said. “They helped us out, so it is our turn. We put fliers up all over campus in hopes to get the word out. This was supposed to be an off week, but we want to help out.” Not only is the Roadhouse Aggie-owned and operated, but it was also built by Ag gies. No construction crews were brought in. Instead, the place was stripped down, and people volunteered to scavenge for the wood that panels the walls. “I’m a member of Alpha Phi Omega ,and we helped build it,” Marie Kuebel, a junior bio medical engineering major, said. “We have lunch there every Friday. The original owners were members of APO, and it would be a shame to see it shut down. It is kind of like our St. El mo’s Fire. “It is one of the places that plays country music that I can stand to be in for more than 20 minutes. I like the ambiance and friendliness. Everyone knows everyone else.” The decor has always been thought of as unique, and it fits no specific theme. Bartender John Wes- selmann, a senior business management major, describes the decor as an “airplane crash in the middle of a saloon.” Whether or not the Roadhouse closes, people will always remember it as the place where they spend the better part of their college career. “Where else would we go?” Diana Houghton, a junior environmental design major, said. “The atmosphere, the music and the fact that any thing goes makes it a great place to hang out. It will always hold a special place in my heart.” Exotic gifts, peaceful atmosphere make EarthArt distinct kriwan, The Battwio 1 oice among ?e Tag n. d Goodwin, Id" 1 CerndoQuezaJ vlandy Cater, A* University' 11 Journalism, , 845-3313; » Building, Te)< ‘ lS "/don't think there's another store like us in this whole area. We bring things from all over the world that are different and unusual." —Hazel Todd owner of EarthArt By Tab Dougherty The Battalion G alveston has The Strand. Austin has Sixth Street. Texas A&M has North- gate and, unknown to most, downtown Bryan. The revitalization of down town Bryan is in effect. With nu merous specialty shops and restaurants, Bryan has the po tential to be the next cultural mecca of the Brazos Valley. One of these speciality shops in downtown Bryan is EarthArt, owned and operated by Hazel and Eric Todd. “EarthArt is a store that spe cializes in jewelry and gifts from all over the world,” Hazel Todd said. She said EarthArt, which opened in October ’91, was start ed because her husband liked to collect rocks and minerals. “We found out that there was an opening for some artists in a co-op in downtown Bryan,” she said. “Then it just sort of grew from there.” She said downtown Bryan is a good place for the store. “I like it downtown,” she said. “I like the old buildings and the atmosphere down there. It’s qui et down there”. Hazel Todd said EarthArt has many unique art objects from countless countries. “Basically, what we do is buy things that are interesting to us and that we really like, and we just hope other people like them too,” she said. She said she hopes to bring something different to the Bryan-College Station area. “I don’t think there’s another store like us in this whole area,” she said. “We bring things from all over the world that are different and unusual. A lot of people say that they have to travel out of town or buy from catalogs to get the kind of things that we carry.” Marty Farrell, a sophomore chemistry major, comes to EarthArt for the atmosphere. “We really need a store like EarthArt here,” he said. “It’s like a breath of fresh air from the same old stuff.” See EarthArt, Page 4 Texas A&M Memorial Student Center Committee for the Awareness of Mexican American Culture Presents Rio Bravo Ballet The Rio Bravo Ballet tells us the stories of the inhabitants of both sides of the Rio Grande, from pre-Colombian times through the present. DATE: Friday February 9,1996 TIME: 7:00 p.m. PLACE: Rudder Auditorium COST: $7.00 students $9.00 non-students *For ticket information, contact the MSC Box Office at 845-1234. *For information concerning Rio Bravo contact Michelle Alvarado at the MSC Student Programs Office, 845-1515 Persons with disabilities please call 845-1515 to inform us of your special needs. We request notification three (3) working days prior to the event to enable us to assist you to the best of our abilities. YT mum STUDENT FOUNDATION presents lAfight < Zony ® arone Wednesday February 7, 1996 7:00 p.m. • 206 MSC EVERYONE IS WELCOME!!! Free giveaways include tickets to The Fightin’ Texas Aggie Basketball Games. Amy Browning, The Battalion EarthArt prides itself in having merchandise from all over the world. • frames • sweatshirts • boxers • calendars • cards • posters • t-shirts • caps ^ SWEATSHIRTS starting at $19.99 } LONO SLEEVE SHIRTS f • starting at $14.99 | X -ry -O 2 | *Come check out our new A&M T-Shirts f | phone 764-4444 at Post Oak Mall |j • frames • sweatshirts • boxers • calendars • cards • posters • t-shirts • caps • COLLEGE STATION SUMMER DAY CAMP JOBS AVAILABLE Positions available: Junior Camp: k, 1st, and 2nd graders. Eight positions, full-time. Senior Camp: 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th graders. Nine positions, full time. Full-time staff work 40 hours per week, M-F. lob Description: Staff is responsible for providing a safe and enjoyable atmosphere for the campers, required to plan activities that are creative and exciting, and must be positive role models. Staff is responsible for clean-up and care of site and equipment. Beginning pay is $5.35/hr. Camp will run June 3, 1996 thru August 9,1996 - 10 weeks total. Requirements: Fun personality, lots of energy, love and under standing of children, CPR and First Aid certification. Must be 16 years of age or older. Applications available at College Station Community office. Address: 1812 Welsh, Suite 120 College Station, TX Phone #: 764-5430 Applications must be turned in to the Community Ed. office by February 23.