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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 7, 1996)
March 7,19% yths House, The Baitalhm I and discussed inesday night. L stay silent, dents are ignor- ice of personal 1 surrendering ■e Loeb, Page 6 asier he area. We an- pportunities in icm to places in office will coop- logical employ- ; a case where a ecturer in a de- it may not have lecturer,” Perry >rary funding to person’s salary, ves the depart- udget to include i professor, said e this program red in 1985. opening in the rogram, Paged N or the ider of •AID! eed nack Bar. 5-3313. Dloyer and tie of all tions are Night News Eorroii .iff. Editor >ports Editor d Enirort :h, Graphics Editor ’Hies Editor inela Benson, Eleanor r Pace, Danielle Pon- a Wiggins ^arry, Kristina Buffin, r, James Francis, Libe Alex Walters; PaO tephanie Christopher, C.ner: Jody Holley axter, Rob Clark, Erin , Elaine Mejia, Chrii & Kieran Watson ty Angkriwan, Amy Cory Willis & Evan DeLuca, Jody Holley, lohn Lemons, Jennifer rd & Chris Yung iy, Mandy Cater, An as A&M University in I of Journalism, one: 845-3313; Fax; r endorsement by 3^ g, call 845-2696. For in 01 5 Reed McDon- day. Fax: 845-2678. student to pick up a sin- er, $40 per school yn ar :r or American Express, Friday during the faff ae summer sessions &M University. laid Bgilding, Texas The Battalion Huirsday March 7, 1996 Aggielife Page 3 Burnam's reign marks the end of Miss TAMU By Amy Protas The Battalion A fter providing the female ambas sador of A&M for over a decade, the Miss Texas A&M University pro gram saw its last pageant last year. When the Memorial Student Center de cided to reprioritize and evaluate the cen ter’s committees, Miss TAMU was one of the programs it decided to cut. Patrick Conway, MSC president and a se nior genetics major, said the re-evaluation of committees was an effort to meet the needs of the students. “Basically, due to decreases in funding, the MSC was forced to prioritize its goals in relation to the needs of the student body,” Conway said. “Therefore, the MSC implemented an organizational review and assessment process, and one of the out comes of this process was that the organi zation determined to end the pageant as a program due to a lack of student support and fiscal responsibility.” For several years now, audiences at the pageant have been decreasing, and the com mittee was having trouble breaking even. Chris Williams, a senior political science and speech communications major, said the Organizational Review and Expansions Options (OREO) committee set up criteria for MSC committees based on financial stability and cultural, educational and en tertainment value. “The goal of the pageant was to select a goodwill ambassador and to give a scholar ship,” Williams said. “We didn’t feel this was a valid concept for an MSC program. We de cided the pageant didn’t meet the criteria of the OREO committee.” Although the Miss TAMU pageant origi nally started as a beauty pageant, the com mittee had tried to get away from that im age in the past few years. Nicole Thompson, a senior biomedical sci ence major who was supposed to be pageant chair this year, said the beauty pageant had become more of a scholarship pageant. “We used to be part of the Miss America system, and the winner went on to repre sent A&M at the Miss Texas Pageant,” Thompson said. “As we got away from the Miss America system, we tried to get away from being a beauty pageant. Beauty was n’t even judged.” Rachel Richert, a junior accounting ma jor who was going to be in charge of the program book, said people associate a neg ative connotation with the pageant. “Seventy percent of the pageant was based on talent and interview,” Richert said. “It went far away from being a beauty pageant. But it had ‘pageant’ in the title, and people associate that with a beauty pageant. People disagree with that.” The pageant consisted of an interview and talent portion, evening gown portion and sportswear/time-period dressing. When the committee was eliminated, of ficers for the pageant had already been se lected for the year. Thompson said she un derstood the reasons behind the commit tee’s elimination. “I felt really bad because I was sup posed to be chair this year,” Thompson said. “I see both sides of it now and I un derstand the reasons for canceling. It was probably the best decision. The council may decide it may be viable again, but that’s'up to future leaders.” Bethany Burnam, a senior marketing major, is the last Miss TAMU. Bum am said that when they held the pageant last year, everyone involved knew it was probably the last one. “I was a contestant while this was going on,” Bumam said. “We all knew it wasn’t going to happen again. I’m one of those people who can see both sides. It’s unfortu nate they didn’t allot money to provide an other scholarship.” Burnam said the scholarship was the most important aspect of the pageant. “I personally don’t think a pageant is what finds a female representative of A&M,” Burnam said. “We should work to raise funds and design a new process for choosing a quality female representative of A&M.” As Miss TAMU, Bumam has traveled to Aggie Moms’ Clubs around the state, done community service and worked with smaller local pageants. Bumam said despite how she feels about the pageant aspect, she enjoyed her time as the last Miss TAMU. “I’ve had a wonderful year as Miss TAMU,” Bumam said. “It has opened lots of doors for me. I’m sorry someone else can’t have the same opportunities by occupying this position, but I don’t think this is over. Whether she’s Miss TAMU or under some other title, I believe there’s enough support to continue this tradition.” Logan Brothers Band's alternative twist on folk rock adds depth to performances Logan Brothers Band By Tab Dougherty The Battalion I n a time when most bands are us ing electric guitars pumped up with heavy distortion, the Logan Brothers Band offers a refreshing acoustic alternative. The Logan Brothers Band was start- ad three years ago as an acoustic duo V Kevin Logan, a senior accounting and finance major, and Colby Logan, a senior mechanical engineering major. Last summer, they added new depth to the band with Lee Pool, a se nior kinesiology major and bassist, and Nate Newcomb, a senior history major and drummer. “We all went to high school togeth er, so we all pretty much grew up ydth each other, but we all went our separate ways, and then met up at 4e beginning of last summer,” Colby Bogan said. Kevin Logan said this friendship Between band members gives them an edge. He said they do not take disagreements personally and are able to take criticism well from fel low band members. This allows them to concentrate on performing and putting on the best show they can, he said. Colby Logan describes the band’s music as folk rock. “We’re probably more vocal driven,” he said. “We try to stick to the basics. In the music scene right now, a lot of people use electrics quite a bit. You don’t see very many acoustics.” Kevin Logan said the acoustic mu sic also helps the sound of the singers. “We like the lyrics to stick out and be clear,” Kevin Logan said. Colby said this is one of the rea sons the band is able to create a unique sound and apply it to many well-known cover songs. “When somebody comes to see us, they remember us for our John Cougar stuff; our Big Head Todd stuff; Jackopierce, Vertical Horizon and Tom Petty,” he said. The members said they play cover songs because they don’t have a lot of time to write originals. Kevin Logan is graduating this spring and Pool is training for the Olympic high jump. Pool said crowds like to hear cov er songs. Colby Logan said the Logan Broth ers Band loves audience interaction. If the crowd is into the music, it al lows the band members to give more back to them. “Our music caters to larger audi ences,” he said. “We’re not too heavy into the alternative image. We get up there and talk to the crowd, tell them what the song’s about.” When it comes to playing live mu sic, Colby Logan said, the Logan Brothers Band.loves College Station. “You have a consistent crowd every week,” he said. “A consistent crowd that you know is going to be behind you. The people here aren’t real moody. Out here, it’s pretty forgiving.” Convenience of Aggie Bucks causes wasteful spending habits Jonathan Faber Columnist I don’t know why I even have them. They are sup posedly the utmost in con venience and efficiency, but to me, they are a liability. Yes, I’m talking about the Aggie Bucks option on my student I.D. card. I started this semester with $50 credit on my card. Today, I am down to $.08. When I actually have them to spend, they are great. I can eat on campus when I want, and I can I buy things at the book store I normally wouldn’t need or even be able to afford with cash or a check. Over the past three years, Aggie Bucks have bought me several hats, a few shirts, many meals at Hullabaloo and the Ag Cafe, a 12th Man jersey and hundreds of scantrons. I don’t need more hats or T-shirts; cafeteria food tends to make me fat; and I’m not trying to get on the 12th Man suicide squad any time soon. Aggie Bucks are very handy, however, for buying small items such as scantrons or the occasional mechanical pencil. Jason Wallace, a sophomore business major, said he always uses Aggie Bucks. “If I get something to eat, it’s on Aggie Bucks,” he said. “If I buy a Coke, it’s on Aggie Bucks. If I buy a scant- ron, it’s on Aggie Bucks. Everything I buy on campus seems to be on Ag gie Bucks.” Wallace started the semester with $400 in Aggie Bucks, and he now has less than $50. I don’t feel so bad about the $50 I’ve spent. O. Joe Johnson, a senior business analysis major, doesn’t see Aggie Bucks as a convenience. “Why use Aggie Bucks when it’s just as easy to carry cash?” he said. What I need to curb my spending are Aggie Bucks alternatives or con trols. Maybe a motivational speaker should come to A&M for people like me with the need to spend money that’s al ready been spent. Johnson said a good alternative to Aggie Bucks would be Visa or Master card scanners alongside the Aggie Bucks scanner. What I need to curb my spend ing are Aggie Bucks alterna tives or controls. “I have a Mastercard, and it would be very convenient to just have to use that card when I buy things on credit,” he said. Many students with credit cards would be pleased with this idea, but their parents may not appreciate the convenience when they see the bill. A daily or weekly limit on spending would be a great idea. When ordering your options during registration, you could buy $100 in Aggie Bucks and set a weekly limit of $10. That way, when you feel the urge to splurge on the chicken and cheese que- sadilla at the Ag Cafe, you better make sure beforehand that you haven’t spent more than $5 that week. The embarrassment of denial at the cash register would probably be enough motivation to curb spending. Jonathan Faber is a junior finance major.
