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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.