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February 22, 1996
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Sterling Hayman, The Battalion
Becky Silloway is the speaker of the Student Senate.
By Tab Dougherty
The Battalion
B ecky Silloway, a senior polit
ical science major, is not a
typical student.
What sets her apart is she is
the first female speaker of the Stu-
4ent Senate.
Silloway has had a long history
of legislative experience, from being
in student council in high-school to
student senator for two years. She
said she was not shy about taking
on the task of speaker.
“Last year, I was external affairs
chair for the Senate, and that dealt a
lot with the Board of Reagents, city
councils and state legislatures,” Sil
loway said. “I really enjoyed doing
that. It was a lot of fun, and I learned
a whole lot about Senate and that
whole process.”
Silloway said she felt she could
have a positive effect on the Stu
dent Senate as speaker.
“There have been an incredible
number of changes in Senate this
year,” she said. “I’m very proud of
them.”
One of the changes Silloway has
brought to the Senate is fairness
due to her implementation of a
parliamentary procedure.
“A lot of the procedure is more fair
this year,” she said. “There are even
debates and both sides are heard. In
the past, it’s always been the majori
ty ruled and that’s it.”
Silloway said her main goal as
speaker was to make students more
aware of the Senate in general.
“I really wanted to see a lot of
things happen,” said Silloway.
“The No. 1 thing was to make sure
the students know why we have a
Student Senate — what’s the pur
pose of it. We’re not there just to
hear ourselves speak. The sena
tors who take the time to do this
really care about what’s going on
and care about the policies and
everything that affects the stu
dents. I think we really accom
plished that this year.”
"I want people to realize we're not doing this
for monetary compensation or praise. Aggies
do it because we care about what's going on."
— Becky Silloway
speaker. Student Senate
The Student Senate was created
to be the official form of the stu
dents’ voices on official policies.
The goal of the Senate is to make
sure that those voices are heard,
not ignored.
In addition to being speaker of the
Senate, Silloway is also chair of the
Chancellor Student Advisory Board,
the official advisory board to the
Chancellor, composed of two stu
dents from each of the eight campus
es in the A&M system.
Silloway said being speaker has
affected her life in very slight, sub
tle ways.
“I know I need to watch what I
do and how I handle myself,” she
said. “I realize I’m a student
leader on campus and leaders are
held to higher standards.
“It has helped me so much with
professionalism, and taught me
how powerful words really are.”
This professionalism is one of
the many things that motivates
students to become leaders on
campus. However, money is not.
“We’re the only school in the
state where the student govern-
ment lead
ers are not
paid,” Sil
loway said.
“That is
what’s in
credible
about be
ing an Ag-
gie leader.”
Silloway said the senators should
never get paid, because that should
not be their motivation.
“I want people to realize that
we’re not doing this for monetary
compensation or praise,” she said.
“Aggies do it because we care
about what’s going on.”
Silloway said hopefully, she will
get paid once she graduates. She said
that being involved in the Senate has
helped her prepare for her future in
the public service area.
However, she said she does not
want to be a politician.
“There’s a difference between
politics and public service,” Sil
loway said. “While there’s always
going to be politics involved in
public service, you cannot separate
the two.
“I’m not going into it for the po
litical campaign rallies and the
fundraising and things like that.
It’s more of the public service end
of it that I’m interested in.”
Because student leaders are put
in the spotlight, they often receive
criticism.
Silloway said she does not back
down from the pressures and wel
comes any input from the students.
“The criticism is wonderful be
cause I never want Senate to be
satisfied with how they are doing
or with what they are doing,” Sil
loway said. “Because if we are,
we’re stagnant.”
Silloway admits the Senate has
been accused of avoiding tough is
sues, but she feels they are taking
on more controversial topics.
“I’m very proud of the Senate for
not skirting the issues,” she said.
When it all boils down, Silloway
says she just wants to have fun
and do her best.
“You can’t take yourself too se
riously,” Silloway said. “I’m not
here to be the first female speaker,
I’m here to be the best speaker
that Texas A&M has ever seen.
And I’m going to be the best
speaker that I can be.”
Citizen Lane’s diverse style defies common labels
By Rachel Barry
The Battalion
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L ane Eubank, singer / songwriter
for Citizen Lane, said in all of
the band’s experiences touring,
the members have been able to finagle
their way into people’s houses and out
of renting hotel rooms.
“Every place we go, people offer us
their floors or couches,” he said.
Citizen Lane’s diverse style of music
has allowed them the luxury of escaping
ill-fated labels describing their music.
“People feel comfortable fitting
things into categories,” Eubank said.
“That works well for a lot of the music
that’s on the radio, but not for us.
“If people just listen to our music, they
might find that it might be kind of cool to
not be able to categorize our music.”
With the band’s resume covering a
school-trained classical percussionist, a
bassist whose forte is funk and another
member who brings the heritage of a
family full of musicians to the band, Eu
bank said finding one word to describe
the band’s music is almost impossible.
“We draw our influences from a lot
of different places so we’re not so easy
to categorize,” he said.
Eubank’s roots in music go back to
childhood performances of Welcome
Home Charlie Brown and other musicals
his mother put him in. The bug of per
forming wasn’t hard for Eubank to catch.
“There’s something very addictive
about (performing on stage),” he said.
“It’s even more addictive when it’s
something you have created yourself.”
Eubank said he can find no compar
ison to performing live.
“It’s very rewarding just to have
people singing along,” he said. “Here’s
this thing I created, and people are
getting it.”
Porfirio “Pain” D. Hernandez, Citi
zen Lane’s saxophone player, said per
forming gives him the chance to leave
behind the woes of his day.
“While I’m on stage I forget about
everything,” he said. “I’m totally hav
ing fun.”
Hernandez said he had an epiphany
about his love of performing while on
stage in Waco.
“I looked out and these people were
just just having fun and dancing,” he
said. “And for the two hours that I am
with them, they are having fun and I
was thinking, ‘This is what I want to do.’”
From a young age, any chance of a
having a legitimate job was shot, Eu
bank said.
“I had an addiction to be a writer
and a performer,” he said. “I quit my
last day job last summer. It was kind
of a leap of faith.
“I think the world would be a better
place if more people would listen to
what their muse is telling them and do
what is in their hearts.”
Eubank said he knows the assorted
style of the band’s music may create a
few disgruntled audience members.
“Hopefully, people will pay atten
tion to (the music) and appreciate the
diversity,” he said. “It keeps us from
getting bored, and we’d like to think it
keeps the audience from getting bored
as well. It’s good for people who want
to test the boundaries of their listen
ing comfort zones.”
A good bit of silence is a key ingre
dient to writing songs, he said. Eu
bank, who does not read or watch the
news, said Citizen Lane’s music is
about postivity and good energy.
“A lot of what the news has become
is about negativity,” he said. “I think
people get bombarded with enough
negativity as it is. I think music has
the potential to be an escape in itself.”
Bruce McDonald, co-owner of the
Brazos Brewing Company, where the
band is playing tonight, said he was
attracted to Citizen Lane when he
heard it at a local coffee shop. He said
the best way he can describe the
band’s style of music is “funky jazz.”
“Their music is professionally per
formed,” he said. “They don’t really fall
into a particular well-defined genre.”
McDonald said he wanted to bring
Citizen Lane to Brazos Brewing Com
pany in an effort to expand the range
of music in College Station.
Citizen Lane
“I’m trying to get away from what
everyone else is doing,” he said. “This
is music for a more mature crowd. It’s
more thought-provoking music.”
Stimulating the mind and creating
a dancing mood for the audience stems
from Eubank’s intertwining of person
al experiences with his music.
“If this wasn’t personal, if it wasn’t
coming from inside me, people would
n’t be able to relate to it,” he said.
“It wouldn’t have the momentum
that something would have if it was
personal. Of course, you have to re
member that you have to write and
perform for an audience, too, though.”
Cover bands exploit original songs
Friends is topic of 50 local parties
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P pople just don’t
seem to care
anymore. For
whatever bizarre
reasons, the world
we live in is content
and complacent —
drunk on mediocrity.
Art, which used
to be an overflow of
passion and the richness of life, has be
come tired, repetitive and sick. Artists
used to be the people who were touched
by something divine, people who were
given a talent for expression that burst
from their skin. These people were
slaves to their gifts, as hungry men are
slaves to food.
Today, an “artist” can range anywhere
from a member of a cover band to a top
less dancer.
In the hustling metropolis of College
Station, topless dancing is not much of a
threat to the purity of art because it is il
legal. And even though we are safe from
local bimbos referring to themselves as
thespian heroines, we are still plagued
with plagiarizing cover bands.
Morrissey said it best in his song
“Cemetery Gates”: “ ... and if you must
write prose and poetry — make sure the
words you use are your own.”
A friend of mine who is a musician
shares my view of the “don’t bother to
write your own song when you can rip off
an over-played radio hit” crowd. He tells
me he feels that “music is a gift that has
been abused.”
I cannot make myself understand why
people flock mindlessly in droves to hear
the live, unprofessional version of the ra
dio. My friend can’t understand why bar
owners cater to people who are only steal
ing someone else’s art.
The fact that a real musician writes to
deal with whatever moves his soul does
n’t seem to matter. The original musi
cian’s soul becomes bastardized
and tarnished every time some
hack with a guitar plucks out the
melody of someone else’s song.
I wonder how many cover
bands really even know what the
song they ruin is about. How can
someone be so bold as to assume
that they have felt the same
emotions as the artist who wrote
the song?
But there is a difference between pay
ing tribute to a favorite artist or learning
a song for the sake of practice. The main
difference is these things are usually
done by talented and dedicated people.
I remember when I went to see a lo
cal band almost two years ago. I didn’t
know what I was getting myself into. I
was forced to tag along to see it because
I had no car at the time and, for that
matter, no life.
The first song the band played was
from Pearl Jam’s second album,Vs. At the
time, I was an attentive Pearl Jam fan,
but even so, I didn’t recognize the version
of the song. It probably had something to
do with the fact that the lead singer had
confused Eddie Vedder’s vocals for ago
nized wailing. While it is true there is
agony in most Pearl Jam songs, Vedder
has a nack for muting his rage and tem
pering it with harmony. This guy just
knew how to scream.
Since then, I have avoided cover bands
like one might avoid a runaway train.
Once you’ve seen one, you’ve seem .
them all.
So why do people settle for less? Why
do people wallow in the muck like fat
tened pigs?
Life is suppose to be about finding
yourself, not making yourself into a
cheap imitation of someone else.
Alex Walters is a junior journalism
and theater major.
By Rachel Barry
The Battalion
T elevision has given A&M stu
dents one more reason to party.
Tonight, in 50 dorms, apart
ments, and households in Bryan-Col-
lege Station, students will be throwing
Friends parties in honor of the televi
sion show of the same name.
Diet Coke is sponsoring the 50
Friends parties on 50 college campus
es, supplying soda, snacks and posters
to some of the show’s biggest fans.
Jennifer Williams, a junior account
ing major, said her Christian sorority
was approached with the idea of hav
ing a Friends party at their house.
“We thought it would be a good way
to have extra people come over and
watch the show,” she said.
Williams said she watches the show
regularly and enjoys being able to
identify with some of the characters
and situations on the show.
“We all see the way they act,” she
said. “We are so much like them in
some ways.”
She said that sometimes, things get
a little silly, but they’re always fun.
“We like to make fun of the show
sometimes, too,” she said. “Because
sometimes, it gets out of hand.”
Mark Thompson, a Friends fan and
a junior industrial distribution major,
will be gathering in the hallway of
Dorm 2 around several television sets
to watch the show.
He said he expects over 60 people to
show up for the party.
“It’s always good to have people
come together with a common bond
and relax,” he said.
While many television shows in
the past have captivated audiences
and developed strong followings,
having parties that center complete
ly around a sitcom is something
unique for Friends.
“Its normal for TV shows to become
really popular,” Williams said. “You
don’t have to have it in ever aspect of
your life, but it’s just fun to watch.”
While Diet Coke may be sponsoring
nation-wide Friends parties, local
businesses have already discovered
how to tie the popularity of the show
in with gatherings of people.
Cheryl Bates of KHLR 103.9 Ex
press FM, came up with the idea of
having a Friends party every Thurs
day night at the Brazos Brewing
Company.
“I think being from Austin with so
many fun trendy places there and not
many trendy places around town here,
we wanted a hot spot for younger
adult crowds,” Bates said. “Brazos
Brewing Company lends itself to
watching Friends there.”
Cylinda Walker, sales manager for
the station, said DJ Johnny Maze will
be traveling with the Diet Coke
Friends Party Patrol and doing live
call-ins from the different parties.
Bates said that every week, the
turn out for the 103.9 Friends night at
Brazos Brewing Company has been
better and better.
“It’s been packed,” she
said.’’Even when there are reruns,
people enjoy it.”
Amy Morrison, a senior interna
tional studies major, helped book
Friends parties in Bryan-College
Station.
She said the popularity of the show
created a frenzy when people were
signing up for the parties.
“I had to book 50 parties,” she said.
“I could have booked 400 easily.
Friends is just a rage right now.”