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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 17, 1996)
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AGGIELIFE, PAGE 3 Battalion Vol. 102, No. 131 (14 pages) Serving Texas A&M University Since 1893 Wednesday • April 17, 1996 A&M remembers Holocaust ByMarissa Alanis The Battalion As part of an effort to recognize the survivors and the estimated 5.1 million Jews who died in the Holo caust, Israel has created an interna tional calendar day known as Holo caust Remembrance. Established in the 1950s, Yomha- Shoah, the Hebrew name for Holo caust Remembrance, takes place midway between Passover and Is rael Independence Day on April 16. In observance of Holocaust Re membrance, Texas A&M’s Campus Ministry Association and Interdisci plinary Academic program spon sored a two-part series Monday and Tuesday. The series included pre sentations about the Holocaust, a reading of victims’ names and a multi-denominational Holocaust ser vice at A&M Presbyterian Church. Emilio Rendon, an educational and instructional curriculum assistant lec turer, spoke at the presentation titled. Three Scholars Face the Holocaust,” Monday night at the MSC. While teaching at Harlandale High School in San Antonio, Rendon noticed that only half of a page of literature was devoted to the Holo caust in a history book. This triggered Rendon to focus on telling his students about the Holo caust in a way they would appreci ate and understand. Rendon said students think the Holocaust was a Jewish problem, but in essence, it was a human problem be cause human beings had judged them selves to be superior over others. Rendon recalled that at one Holo caust seminar at Harlandale, he no ticed students with swastikas drawn on their blue jeans and books be cause they thought it was cool. But, he said, they were ignorant of the fact that the symbol stood for op pression and murder. Jay Locey, a professor in the Bay lor English department and lecturer at the presentation, offered the viewpoints of four Holocaust sur vivors, such as Eli Wizzell. Locey said Wizzell treated his writings about his imprisonment at the Auschwitz concentration camp in a subjective manner with a raw emotional intensity that is devastat ing for the reader and Wizzell. Locey said the central concern in documenting the Holocaust experi ence is that a language barrier must be dealt with to accurately describe the experience. David Myers, an associate profes sor of English, spoke about the Holo caust Denial Movement that emerged in the late 1970s with pub lished books that claim the Holo caust was a hoax. “It is a deliberate misrepresenta tion of fact in order to deprive Jews a major portion of their history,” Myers said. In August 1994, Myers discovered at least a dozen Holocaust denial books at Sterling C. Evans Library and tried to have them removed. After negotiations, the library re classified the books into the catego ry of Holocaust Eras and Inventions. “No reputable library would hold books disputing the historical exis tence of slavery,” Myers said. “But when it turns to the question of de bate whether or not the Holocaust ex isted, some libraries think these books ought to be represented, which is due to latent anti-Semitism.” Myers said latent anti-Semitism is the secret suspicion that Jews are liars and are involved in a world conspiracy with their partner, the U.S. government. Myers said the intentions of the Holocaust Denial Movement is to call into justification the state of Israel. Holocaust victims who were de ported to the concentration camp of Terezin from Vienna had their names read Tuesday at noon in front of Rudder Fountain. Myers said that since a third gener ation has emerged since the Holocaust, people must attempt to fix the rupture in human values that it created. “Our responsibility as post-Holo- caust human beings is to somehow mend that rupture,” he said. Gwendolyn Struve The Battalion Karen Hild, a student from Hearne High School, plays a young Jewish survivor of a concentration camp during the Holocaust. Muster week arrives at iV&M DyCourtney Walker The Battalion Each year on April 21, Texas A&M current and former students pack themselves into a candle-lit G. Rollie White Coliseum to honor those who have died during the past year. This year’s Muster is the 50th year anniversary of the 1946 muster on Corregidor Island dur ing World War II. Members of the Student Gov ernment Muster Committee are already preparing for the sacred Muster tradition. Information tables will be set up this week in the Kleberg Cen ter, the Commons, Wehner Build ing, the MSC and the Zachry En gineering Center from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. for students who have ques tions about the Muster ceremony. Along with information tables throughout campus, an Aggie Muster Reception and slide show will be presented at 6 p.m. in 292B MSC. Muster Committee members are offering the reception this year to let people know more about the spirit of Muster. Dr. Lee Phillips, Class of ’53, will be the keynote speaker for the reception and was also the speak er at last year’s Muster ceremony. Phillips will talk about what cur rent students have in common with the Class of ’46. Susan Ayotte, a Muster Commit tee subchair and sophomore mar keting major, said she was amazed that many fifth-year seniors do not know what Muster is about. “They may know about it or may have heard about Muster through Pish Camp or T-camp, but are more concerned with academics and don’t See Muster, Page 7 Evan Zimmerman, The Battalion READY, AIM, FIRE Nicole Sitz, a senior history major, aims at a target in her archery class. GSC reviews day care decision By Lily Aguilar The Battalion The Graduate Student Coun cil voted Tuesday night to con tinue to seat members on the Day Care Advisory Committee, despite debate to remove gradu ate students from the committee to send a strong message to ad ministrators. The GSC voted two weeks ago to support University-spon sored child care, but the organi zation refused to support use of the Grenada Building located at 1 Research Park. Stephen! Moore, former GSC president and graduate meteo rology student, said her experi ence on the advisory committee has been frustrating. She said she has been chas tised by committee members for publicly stating her disapproval for measures the committee has made. Moore said she did not think the committee paid attention to her suggestions and that many decisions already seem to be made. Amy Kardell, a graduate so ciology major, said students need to let the University know they do not support the direc tion child care on campus is heading. She said participation on the advisory committee might be equated with support of all committee decisions. Kardell said the committee has ignored past graduate stu dent members and suggested students attend as vocal, non voting members. “I think this is an ill-fated idea that we will regret getting into,” Kardell said. “If you believe in something, you should act on it. “I think this is a good chance for the graduate student body to See GSC, Page 5 Ebola kills monkey The virus outbreak is not a threat to humans ALICE, Texas (AP) — Look ing to erase dramatic images of a widespread outbreak, health officials Tuesday said the Ebola virus that claimed two monkeys at a primate center posed virtu ally no threat to humans. “Nobody’s sick. There’s not a big outbreak of something,” said Dr. Pierre Rollin, chief of the special pathogens branch for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Rollin, a top Ebola expert who has studied the infection’s deadly strain in Africa, acknowledged human infection was not impossi ble but said it has never occurred with the particular strain that was diagnosed at the Texas Pri mate Center. The virus killed one monkey and caused another to be euth anized at the South Texas breeding facility, which pro vides primates to researchers worldwide. An additional 98 monkeys, which were among a shipment that arrived March 21 from the Philippines, re mained quarantined and were being tested. Federal, state and local offi cials stressed Tuesday that the Texas strain poses no similar threat to the more lethal strain of Ebola, which infected 316 people and killed 245 last year in the central African nation of Zaire. Earlier this year, at least 13 people died from Ebola in Gabon in western Africa. To make the case, state Health Commissioner David Smith said rabies and tuberculosis were more serious health threats. “These are issues that are far more concerning to us,” he said. Class travels tough course Permanent A&M courses must be thoroughly reviewed By Lisa johnson The Battalion The gay and lesbian literature course, currently a temporary course offering, will go before the Fac ulty Senate at its May meeting. If the Senate approves the course, the English Department would need only the approval of Dr. Ray Bowen, Texas A&M president, to become a permanent course offering. Linda Lacey, director of Academic Support Ser vices, said the course will be available as a perma nent course cross-listed as English 333 and Wom en’s Studies 333 for Fall 1997 if approved by the Faculty Senate and Bowen. Jeanette Phariss, assistant provost and acade mic vice president, said the selection process for permanent courses is detailed. She said each course is reviewed at several levels within its de- pgirtment and college before it is considered by the administration. “Any course that makes it through this selec tion process is thoroughly reviewed,” she said. “On each decision, there is lots of input by both faculty and students. “That’s one of the best things about A&M’s se lection process. We don’t just pick up a course and decide to teach it tomorrow.” Courses are first reviewed by the departments within the respective college. If it is deemed a vi able course at that level, it progresses to the de partment head and then on to the college’s cur riculum committee. The college dean must give approval before the course is given to Lacey's office, where the appro priate information is filed with the University’s curriculum committee. It then progresses to the Academic Programs Council and to the Faculty Senate. Before the course is presented to the Academic See Course, Page 7 Groovin ’ By Eleanor Colvin The Battalion As if Texas A&M students do not have enough to master in required English and for eign language courses, slang is another language that stu dents must stay on top of to show that they are all that. The resurgence of valley girl-type phrases, such as as if and hell-o, used in recent movies like Clueless, and more hip-hop sayings, such as all that, show that although slang varies among groups, its usage is fairly universal. A&M linguistics professors describe slang as a specialized vocabulary that students use to define groups and establish solidarity among peers. Noelle Newby, a senior Eng lish major, said she thinks slang unifies the individuals that use it. “Sometimes if groups of peo ple differ in terms of race, gen- with words /) der or where they’re from,” she said, “you may not understand what they’re talking about be cause of different ways they describe the same things.” The differences in ways A&M students refer to sexual intercourse, attractive mem bers of the opposite sex, or having fun illustrate the range of slang Newby describes. On the A&M campus attrac tive students, or those who have it going on, are thought to be tight, hot and all that, among other things. / / The multiple meaning of words such as tight, which can be good or bad, reflect the com plexity and evolution of slang. Dr. Barbara Johnstone, a professor of linguistics, said the unique uses of slang show that slang is not a mindless and sloppy choice of words, but a useful means of communication. “Lots of people think that since slang is not used in for mal settings, we could do with- out ^ it,” she safe “Those people tend to have for gotten that they had slang in their generation too. “There’s more use for slang as a youth, but even adults pick up jargon as they are socialized See Slang, Page 7