On April 9th, Aggies must
choose a Congressman who will
abide by the “Code of Honor”
Gene Fontenot claims to be the However, the hospital Fontenot owned
ultimate advocate for Pro-Life, and managed routinely performed
opposing abortion even as a last resort elective abortions while he claimed to
to save the life of expectant mothers. be a “hands on” manager.
Gene Fontenot says he opposes all
gambling, saying he refuses to trade
with gas stations which sell Texas
lottery tickets.
However, Fontenot was a major owner
of stock in Circus Circus, one of the
largest casino operators in the Las
Vegas gambling industry.
Gene Fontenot claims to be a However, the federal government had
responsible business owner, paying to sue Fontenot to force him to pay the
taxes and obeying the rules and $2.4 million in taxes he withheld from
regulations that apply to all businesses, employees but failed to pay.
Kevin Brady
lives by the “Code of Honor.”
As a Texas State Representative he kept his word to
work to create jobs, reduce government interference
in our lives, protect victims rights, punish criminals,
stop the state income tax and allow for local control
of our schools. As our next Congressman you can
count on him to keep his word to fight for a balanced
budget, a Federal Sunset plan to eliminate agencies
which no longer serve the taxpayer, mandatory
criminal sentences and the protection of the Second
Amendment.
For more information call (409) 260-2805.
Paid for by Brady for Congress
Rock'^ Saloon
Tonight April 9th
Steve Green
from
Pete's Piano Bar
on 6th Street in Austin
$1 00 Bar Drinks and
$1 00 Long Necks
8-10 p.m.
Register to Win!!
This Tuesday’s give away at J.D. Wells
A Tag Heuer Watch
Courtesy of
John D. Huntley
313B South College Ave. • 846-8916
(located next to Hurricane Harry’s)
Sign up at entry, Tuesday night, must be present to win.
JFJ
Page 4 • The Battalion
Ac;c;ifi i ff
Tuesday • April 9,
Marijuana: Use divides students
Continued from Page 3
phere of A&M encourages peo
ple to stay away from smoking
weed. And when a joint hap
pens to come their way at a
party, non-marijuana smokers
simply avert their gaze.
Charley Perry, a junior biol
ogy major, said he looks the
other way when marijuana
makes the rounds at parties.
“I just
pass it on
and tell them
that’s the way
it is,” he said.
“If it’s too press
ing, I’ll just
leave the
party.”
Scott Blackwell,
a student affairs ad
ministration graduate stu
dent, said that as an under
graduate in Indiana, he avoided
the marijuana scene. He said it
was easy to avoid marijuana if
a person did not want to smoke.
“I would imagine it’s not
much different here,” he said.
He said he has never come
across the drug since he started
working on his masters at A&M.
Erin Chafin, a freshman ani
mal science major, has had a
few run-ins with people smok
ing pot. But she said marijuana
use here cannot compare to her
high school in Clear Lake.
Marijuana users in her
high school turned Chafin off
to the recreational drug.
She said
one student
she knew
started using
marijuana as a
freshman. By
the time he was a
senior, he had
lost all pas
sion for his
former loves. His
school and football tal
ents faded behind a cloud of
marijuana smoke.
“By his senior year, he didn’t
care about anything else,”
Chafin said.
Chafin strongly disagrees
with marijuana use.
“I don’t think it’s neces
sary,” she said. “It has noplace
in my life.”
Perry takes the same stance,
“I don’t believe in smoking or
using any type of drugs,”
“If any type of drugs are
be used, it should be alcohol.”
Blackwell said he cansee
both sides to smoking marijua
na, but he takes a strong stance
against marijuana use.
“If I had a kid andthekij
was a user, I would not be
py about that,” Blackwell i
“If they were using, I’d
them why they were smo
it, and I’d try to convince the®
that they were giving their bod
ies long-term damage.”
He said no matter whaten
cuses people can create loi
smoking the herb, the drug’s!
legal status serves as are
minder of the downsidesol
marijuana use.
“It’s illegal and dangerous
so is the mind-altering natrin
of legal substances like alco
hoi,” he said.
“I’m pretty much into natur
al highs myself.”
fuesday • Af
Continued
research un
jt&M.”
A large p
jenerated bj
rave been di
and staff sa
the GUF inc
there can be:
Faculty a
Fellow workers lend a helping hand
to give Spencer a new lease on life
By Amy Protas
The Bat talion
I n October 1993, Devi Spencer,
a former teacher in the Eng
lish Language Institute and
doctoral student in educational
and curriculum instruction, was
diagnosed with acute myloge-
nous leukemia.
She was told she had only three
months to live. Almost three years
later, Spencer is about to resume
her doctoral studies.
When Spencer was diagnosed,
the doctors gave her a slim
chance of survival.
“Because my disease is so life
threatening, I was told I had a
10 percent chance of survival,”
Spencer said, “which meant that
it had a 90 percent chance of re
occurring. Then, I was given the
option of hoping it wouldn’t come
back or 12 months of strong
chemotherapy. My husband and
I thought about it and decided I
would go through the chemo.”
Spencer’s cancer finally
went into remission, but it was
a hard road. For 12 months,
Spencer went through chemo
treatments five days a month
for 24 hours straight.
“Of course I got very sick,”
Spencer said. “I lost my hair
and lost weight. I was bald for
15 months. My chemo ran until
December of 1994. I needed a
lot of blood transfusions, which
is where the A&M campus
came in handy.”
People from the ELI and the
EDCI worked together to orga
nize a blood drive.
Deanna Wormuth, director of
the English Language Institute,
helped coordinate the drive.
“I was among a group of peo
ple who coordinated a blood drive
with people at the University of
Houston and A&M,” Wormuth
said. “She’s just a very dear
friend, and we knew we had to
do something to help her; any
thing we could do to help.”
Spencer said all the help she
received from people at A&M
helped lift her spirits and aided
significantly in her recovery.
“The two departments really
contributed to the blood drive,
which kept me alive,” Spencer
said. “I want to thank those peo
ple. I was also told many people
attempted to give blood and
couldn’t, and I want to thank
them. There were a lot of stu
dents who didn’t even know me
and stood in lines for hours.
There were a lot of unknowns
who gave blood.”
Wynell Biles, an instructor in
the ELI, said she has known
Spencer for many years and was
happy to see so many people turn
out in the effort to help her.
“I’ve known Devi since 1985,”
Biles said. “I wasn’t able to give
blood, but I can tell you that
many of the international stu
dents who were her students
when she taught English at Ko-
riama gave blood.”
Biles said that people at U.H.,
where Spencer also teaches,
helped significantly in Spencer’s
recovery as well.
“Mostly, I just got people in
formed about how she was do
ing,” Biles said. “Being here in
College Station, however, we
weren’t able to take food to
her. But her colleagues at the
Language and Culture Center
at U of H were able to take her
to her treatments.”
Everyone who knows Spencer
agrees that she has a
and determined spirit.
Dr. Frank Clark, a professor
of curriculum and instruction it
the college of education, said hi
admires Spencer’s endurance,
“She’s certainly a strong fora
and has a lot of determination,
Clark said. “She has the
turn things around and
things good. She has a lot of char
acter and is a very nice person. lit
very pleased she’s going to be con
tinning with her studies. I’ve
working with her on a li
things, and she’s been
to get back in the fold.”
Another person who
helping Spencer resume her doc
toral studies is her committer;
chair, Donna Wiseman, an associ
ate deem and professor in the 0)1
lege of Plducation.
“I touched base with henft
she was in Houston,” Wisent
said. “She tried to keep up w®
her studies, but it was
But she never seemed to j
She called me a year agoi
ary and told me she was starting
new lease on life and it
whole new world. Her percent#
for living will grow every monthJ
she makes it until next
she has as much a chance of IpJ
as you and I.”
Spencer said she has
plans for the future,
to the help of everyone.
“After being off for two
I’ve decided to resume mydet
toral studies,” Spencer said, "I
very optimistic because of®!
friends and family. I wanted
thank the donors andalld 1 ;
support and the cards I receive*
It’s why I recovered.”