Wednesday • March 6, 1996
Aggielife
Page 5 • The Battalion
Blowing Smoke
s 0 jr iiinoker's rights over-
ooked, unappreciated
Non-smokers get
butt-end of bad habit
Alex
Walters
Columnist
m
House, The Battalion
idoscope, a
io emph& size ®
project’s goal
nto the stage,
•ts department
the usual pro
ication and the
ect.
focusing on
s directed
d actors read
h, smoking.
The forgotten
Anrerican
[time.
The fabric of
lerican culture is
with the faint
a of cigarette
e, and yet we
leto ignore our
and mock the
ire. The cultural icons of a
[one era led the revolution,
[vertobe seen without a burn-
jember nestled snugly be-
t their fingers.
jHumphrey Bogart, Lauren
II. Bing Crosby, James
n,Duke Ellington and Sarah
lighn: what do these people
uncommon? They all en-
[ed the mild taste of an
Winner smoke
!, But today,
ks most
lto the Sur
jin Gener
al ranting
|d raving,
Mking is
i Nowa-
js it's
longer
to light
Instead,
the cool cats
on granola
id suck on water
ittleslike prema-
gazelles at the
Diego Zoo.
And whether it’s
ip or not, smoking
dangerous.
But, so is jay-
.ing, and thou-
imds of people on this campus
hit every day.
like my dad always says,
The amount of fun you’re hav-
igisdirectly proportional to the
mount of danger you’re in.”
It’s silly, but true.
Case in point: when I shat-
teredmy collar bone on a holi
day ski trip last January, I was
having the time of my life.
So,why the stigma against
smoking 1 ! Is it because of the ad-
ilictmnsture of tobacco? Nico
tine, despite what the tobacco
industry has to say, is addictive.
Maybe its the journalist in me,
but I somehow suspect that the
Philip Morris tobacco company
might be biased on the issue.
Dr Pepper is also addictive,
indsois Carmex (it’s true —
(heck it out). But those who
suffer from acute thirst or from
dry lips
aren’t forced
to stand in the
rain or forced
to sit by the
bathrooms in
restaurants
while they in
dulge.
The point is
that it’s never
good to rely on something as a
vice, just as it is never good to
condemn people because what
they enjoy is different from what
you enjoy.
Yes, some things are beyond
good taste, such as smoking in
non-smoking areas or grocery
shopping in the nude.
But for Pete’s sake, give us
smokers some
damn elbow
room.
Smok
ers have a
cama
raderie to
bacco teeto
talers can
never
» as a weddif
a year witl'
iOO cake and f
l the paper'
d to hopP in 8
my
smok
ing
broth
ers,
Scott
Neeman, a
junior math
major, attempts
to illustrate the
smoker’s bond:
“Last year, we’d al
ways sit outside
and smoke and talk — then we
decided to quit,” he said. “So we
bought popsicles and sat and ate
popsicles, but we didn’t have
anything to talk about — it just
wasn’t the same.”
Simply put, smoking has its
place. There is a certain panache
that comes with no extra charge
in every pack of Lucky Strikes.
Much like another well-
known and much-debated insti
tution, the feeling is hard to put
into words.
I guess I’ll just sum it up
with, “From the inside looking
out, you can’t explain it — from
the outside looking in, you can’t
understand it.”
Alex Walters is a junior jour
nalism and theater arts major.
D espite
health haz
ards and
advertising re
strictions, ciga
rette promotion is
booming. An on-
campus army is
continuously
working to not de
prive us of our right to second
hand smoke.
Outside of most major build
ings, a self-proclaimed tobacco
lobbyist carefully situates him
self. He stands smoking, forcing
all passers-by to catch a breath
of nicotine. Even when gone, he
makes sure to drop a newly lit
cigarette into the ash tray.
After all, smokers are forced
to fight their nicotine addiction
while inside. It would only be
fair that others hold in their de
sire for fresh air while outside.
And we need not forget
the wonderful odor.
With the popularity
of smoking, it’s
surprising
that Virginia
Slims and
Calvin
Klein
haven’t
teamed up to
make a new per
fume. It’d make a
great advertising
campaign: “Addiction:
the fragrance you’re al
ready hooked on.”
Tobacco companies
love to target youth.
Luckily, TV ads have
been prohibited for
years. If not, with to
day's in-ya-face adver
tising, we’d probably see
something like:
“Hey kids! Life’s short. Your
parents are old jerks. You want
to rebel. You want to take risks.
You don’t want to become a
geezer. Thinking all’s lost?
There is a solution. Smoking is
the No. 1 way to rebel. It’s bad.
It’s nasty. It’ll make you just like
Dennis Leary. And, if you smoke
enough, you’ll end you’re life
early, before you even have to
worry about getting old. Start
now! Cigarettes are available
everywhere. Have a smoke, but
don’t tell your parents.”
But why bother? They al
ready have hundreds of spokes
men out in the music industry.
Today, it’s become hard to find a
non-smoker roaming the high
school halls. You can’t even ride
Battle: Best band wins recording contract
Continued from page 3
lour bands will battle for the
[rand prize, a national recording
bntract with Orchard Lane Mu
sic, a label created by Sam Goody
idMusicland.
The opportunity is pretty
ige,” Tedford said. “The bands
ire pretty ecstatic because there
the added opportunity to play
ir Everclear. It is a springboard
young, unknown bands.”
The show in Vail will be head-
not only Everclear, but
The Jesus Lizard and the
Cowboy Junkies.
Tonight’s show will have a lit
tle local flavor to it. Kneegaskit, a
local band, sent a demo tape to
KANM 99.9 FM and was selected
as one of the top 16 bands in the
nation by the Musicland judges.
“We did not expect this,” lead
singer Adreon Henry, a sopho
more graphic design major, said.
“It is very weird, but it will be a
lot of fun.”
Kneegaskit has been together
for a year and a half, but the band
has been playing off and on.
Angie Vaughn, the band’s
bassist and a senior environmen
tal design major, was studying
abroad this past summer when
the band turned in a rough tape
of its music.
"We did not expect this. It is weird,
but it will be a lot of fun."
— Adreon Henry
lead singer of Kneegaskit
“It is a really random tape,”
Henry said. “Everyone is really
excited, but this was unexpected.
It has been a while since we have
played, so we had to get ahold of
everyone so we could practice.”
APPLY
YOURSELF!
Bryan/College Station's first and finest private
dormitories are looking for motivated individuals to
be a part of the 1996-1997 Resident Advisor Staff.
All applicants must have at least one year dormitory
resident experience from any residence hall.
Applications can be picked-up at the front desk in
the University Tower lobby and are due Friday,
March 22 by 5:00 p.m.
UNIVERSITY
TOWER
The Forum
FOR MORE INFORMATION CALL 846-4242
Bring us Yd
UR
Painting
Drawing
Phot
i
MSC
* ?
i I i ^ .
Visuais Arts
w /Jk
Committee
ArfcFesfc. is an art- competifcxon open
to all Texas A6M students. Winners*
work will be displayed in our gal
lery in the MSC, and winners recieve
art supplies to continue their work.
Entries will be accepted
from March 18 to March
29.^Up to tour works may
be ^entered per student.
Each entry bears a tee o
$5 and must be ready tor
presentation.
See the
otticial
rules on
our web
page
4r fllar&fv
by a junior high
without catching
a few people
smoking.
This is great
for the tobacco
company Phillip
Morris. An aver
age smoker
spends over $500
a year in cigarettes. The younger
they start smoking, the more they
pay over their lifetime.
Smokers seem to be oblivious
to the health hazards they pre
sent to themselves and others.
They don’t mind that every ciga
rette smoked shaves time off
their life.
It’s surprising the industry
hasn’t capitalized on smokers’
sadomasochistic tendencies.
They could advertise cigarettes
with a kick:
“Are you sick of
having to wait
years for lung
cancer to
build up?
Do you
find
yourself
spend
ing
thou
sands of
dollars on
cigarettes,
without any
major decreases
in your health?
Are you still wait
ing to get a bang
out of your ciga
rettes? Well, wait no
more. Try the new
unfiltered Camel kicks.
Loaded beyond the legal limit of
gunpowder, guaranteed to give
you more bang for the buck.”
But that could be a hard sell.
Smokers seem more interested
in perceived present pleasure in
exchange for future pain.
In a more economically sound
move, R. J. Reynolds, another to
bacco company, could go in to
the funeral home business:
“Death, embalming and burial:
all in this amazing package deal.
Call l-SOO-TOBACCO now to take
advantage of this special offer. Re
member, the sooner you start, the
sooner you can have your genuine
Marlboro coffin. And don’t forget
your family and friends. After all,
second-hand smoke is killing
them, too. Call today.”
Jeremy Hubble is a junior
civil engineering major
8-28
9-17
21
MSC Great Issues
Committee
“Generation At a Crossroad
Apathy in Action on the
American Campus”
7:30 P.M. MSC 212
MSC Film Society
Carrington
7 & 9:30 P.M. Rudder
MSC Film Society
Dreams
7 P.M. Academic 129
MSC Visual Arts
Committee
“Lone Star Dinosuars”
MSC Visual Arts Gallery
MSC MBA/Law Committee
“West Coast Trip”
Palo Alto, Berkley,
6 Los Angeles
MSC MBA/Law Committee
“London Trip”
London, UK
MSC Film Society
Leaving Las Vegas
7 & 9:30 P.M. Rudder
21-24
22
22-23
MSC Cepheid Variable
“Aggiecon XVII”
MSC and Rudder
MSC Town Hall Committee
“Music at Lunchtime”
Noon Rudder Fountain
MSC Town Hall Committee
“ C offeehouse”
8 P.M. Rudder Theater
MSC Film Society
Goldeneye
25
7 & 9:30 P.M. Rudder
MSC Black Awareness,
Great Issues, Literary
Arts, Pan-Hellenic
Council, Alpha Phi Alpha,
Alpha Kappa Alpha, Delta
Sigma Theta, Journalism
Dept., Women’s Studies,
Women’s Week, and Texas
A&M Bookstore
Terry McMillan talk and
Waiting to Exhale
7 P.M. Rudder Theater
co4t£ jhlMA*, ca/t £4S~
f5t5 t* UA IfAiCT AflCAbxt KCcUa
TUc tctpuAt CAacr (3) CWlAitty-
cUufA fvUon. (a- (Aa cvahC to chciSIa ua to aAAtAt
you to t/tc &€At o£ oust <z6tittCAA.
If you have any questions regarding these
events, please call 845-1515.
All tickets may be purchased at the MSC Box
Office (845-1234).
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Only tanning salon
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for more information call
Anthony at 268-1016
In Westgate Shopping Center
Let's
Talk
English ■
as a
Second ^
Language
Classes
Small group
lessons
■ •
| Students, wives
visiting faculty
welcome
•
New classes
begin
s’ March 18
Call or visit
1:00 to 5:00
Mon-Fri
696-6583
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Place Your Ad In
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Call 845-2696
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Advertising
let it work
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business
call
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i
1'
Although it will not com
pete, Head West, a local col
lege rock group, will headline
tonight’s show.
This is the first
time “Un Vailed”
has taken place,
but Marburger said
there has been a
huge response from
local bands.
“This gives new bands hope,”
Marburger said. “I have gotten
two to three new calls wondering
if they can still enter. This will
get more local bands to try out
next year.”
Or call
us at
845-9251
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