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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 4, 1996)
in an effort Department :ials said, people r the Labi other people .offered in il of 34. rapist to drug — The manj* s for raping f omen in Aui ethamphetai \ drugs during itors say. ed Dye, 33, .5 rapes in te was am 3ting*his pan ;tion and has one of the at it patrol oj ids, who was time three jvering throug h that the si fic comments description the suspect's, Ejhs & Lows ‘sterday's Hig: .At. ? » . Dave House, The Battalion ^ikki Willis said she wants to be a model 94°F 'sterday’s Lot 75°F days l.xpec High 94°F relay’s Expectfi Low 73°F Chapter of the " I never believed that I would be in a magazine — nude/' ' - Nikki Willis senior biomedical science major Showing More Than School Spirit By John LeBas The Battalion T exas A&M students perusing through Playboy’s “The Girls of the Big 12 v ’ pictorial in the October issue may notice two familiar faces among the featured women. Hillary Schatz, a senior biomedical engineering major, and Nikki Willis, a senior kinesiology major, were selected by Playboy to appear in the issue that hit newsstands Aug. 27. Last spring, Playboy held auditions for the pictor ial, and Schatz and Willis were among the A&M stu dents who were interested in participating. Schatz, “had tried earlier [to appear in Playboy], just for fun,” and was encouraged by her boyfriend to give it another shot. Willis saw the audition as an opportunity to get a “foot in the door,” and take a step toward her goal of becoming a professional model. Schatz, Willis and two other women from A&M, who will appear in the magazine, were selected from the preliminary audition to do May photo shoots for Playboy. When Willis learned she was one of the four final contestants, she said she “jumped up and down.” “I was the only one home — I was so excited," she said. Schatz said that at first, she did not know she had made the preliminary cut, but when she realized she was one of the four finalists, she was ecstatic. "It was almost like a cartoon feeling,” she said. “My jaw dropped.” The photo shoots were scheduled to be held at the ranch of The Dixie Chicken’s owner, Don Ganter. Willis said that during the shoot, she was a little nervous because it was her first time to pose nude, but said she eventually loosened up. “The photographers — I mean, this is their job, so they’re not saying, ‘Whoa, look at her,”’ she said. Schatz’s shoot was almost lost to the fickle Texas weather. The night before her shoot, it began to rain, making it impossible to use the ranch for the photo shoot. Schatz said some quick thinking helped solve the problem. “Playboy had a row of rooms at the Holiday Inn, so we built a dorm room,” Schatz said. She and the Playboy crew collected assorted A&M paraphernalia, books, stuffed animals and a laptop computer, and transformed a hotel room into a replica of an Aggie dorm room. Her shoot was done in her “dorm room.” . In July, Schatz and Willis were notified that their pictures had been chosen to appear in the issue. Willis said that when she heard the news, she felt “the adrenaline flowing.” But she did not see the magazine and picture until she did a radio interview in Houston. “I thought it looked kind of good," Willis said. “I was excited. I never believed that I would be in a magazine — nude — especially Playboy." Both women said their friends have been sup portive of their appearance in the magazine. The parental reaction, however, has been a little varied, they said. t Willis decided she should tell her dad about her Playboy debut before doing the radio interview — just in case he happened to hear her on the air. “He just sat there,” she said. “He was totally quiet. I think he’s OK with it.” Schatz said her mom was supportive, but was worried her dad might get kicked out of his church. “My dad has had a subscription ever since I can remember,” she said. “I called him and he said, The people who are going to kick me out shouldn’t be reading it anyway.’” Schatz and Willis said they have not noticed much reaction from students on campus. They think the student reaction may change as the semester progresses and as word of the pictorial gets around, but they do not anticipate any negative feedback. “My entire experience here as a female engi neering student has been completely pleasant up to this point," Schatz said. “I don’t think it should be any different.” Schatz said there is nothing wrong with appear ing in Playboy. “The country is at a state where things like this aren’t going to matter, especially for me,” she said. “I’m a college kid.” Willis said she does not believe her picture will affect her career plans. “I don’t think it’s going to hurt [my future], because this is what I want to do,” she said. “I want to go into modeling.” When friends ask Schatz why she decided to pose for the magazine, she said she tells them, “because I can.” “By that, I mean that this is the only time in my life when I can do something of this stature and not have as intense consequences as if I were older and in a career,” she said. Schatz said that later in life, when she has a fami ly and a career, she will show her children her picture in the magazine. “I saved one [copy of the issue], not to be touched until I have kids,” she said. And if her daughter should decide to follow in her mom’s footsteps, Schatz said she would be “perfect ly happy for her, but I would try to protect her from any aftermath.” Willis also said she would support her daughter in this situation. “You only live once,” she said. Page 3 Wednesday • September 4, 1996 "The country is in a state where things like this don't matter, especially for me." Hillary Schatz senior biomedical engineering major Dave House, The Battalion Hillary Schatz appears in Playboy this month 'r *y .0 £ ON t, City Editor Sports Editor Pace, Opinion E ng, Web Editor <man, Radio Edro* 3, Photo Editor \eber, Cartoon Ed' in Hausenfluck, Anne ^ iston, Erica Roy, Melaflii Former student records local artists’ music from her home aBas, Cecile Mazzola^if is&Tauma Wiggins; w| Jeremy Furtick, I i/id Boldt, Bryan Good»t| ir Howard, Mason Jact Redington, Gwendolyn 3rd; Cartoonists: Midiaf in the Division ofStudei* McDonald Building. Nev® 1 ' ss: http://bat-web.ta»i nent by The Battalion.^ id advertising, call 84J to 5 p.m. Monday tin pick up a single copyfl I per full year. To charge !!| nd spring semesters and .am periods) at Texas AS# nd address changes toW 7843. By April Towery The Battalion A Then Annie Chang kicks back to relax on the f\/weekend, chances are there are sounds of V Pakistani love songs in the air. hang, a Class of ’96 electronics engineering tech- ogy graduate, recently decided to take a break in her recording studio, Guinea Pig Studios, after ee years of recording local bands such as Jasmine e, Lewis, the A&M International Music Club and, nurse, Pakistani love songs. The was recording music in her home, but after a ent move, she decided there was no room in her if residence for the equipment. I was going to sell my stuff,” she said. “But I kind niss recording. I’ve already been approached by a bands who want me to record their demo tapes, definitely get back into it once I figure out where to up a studio.” Tang said she came to A&M to study veteri- ian medicine, but soon discovered she was irgic to animals. That kind of changed my plans,” Chang said. “I yed bass in high school, so I started playing in tie random bands and did some recording on a r-track on the side.” Vfter meeting local band members, Chang said she lized there was a need for a studio in the Bryan- lege Station area. A lot of the bands I talked to were wanting to 3rd a demo tape,” Chang said, “but they couldn’t trd to go somewhere out of town and pay $50 or an hour.” She mixed and produced tapes for the bands for $5 fhour, then later raised the fee to $7.50 an hour to for equipment. Most of the bands Chang worked with were used to playing live shows and had never recorded in a studio before. “The bands were enthusiastic and interested in their music, which made my job a lot of fun,” Chang said. “It’s a shame there isn’t much of a music scene here. The musicians don’t get paid well, and everyone is so conservative.” Chang started “gigging around” town with bands such as Dr. Love and Crossbone Butterfly, until she finally settled down as a bassist for Saltwater Llama in April 1996. “Saltwater Llama’s drummer, Baldy, had come in to record with his band Mister Ed, then later Knee Gaskit, so that’s how I started playing again after three years of not being in a band,” Chang said. Chang is a video editor at television station KBTX, the local news channel, but has high hopes for her future. “I want to be a recording engineer at a big studio,” Chang said. “That’s what I would like my career to be.” Chang said College Station has a diverse music scene that allows her to enjoy her job and learn about different types of music. “I don’t expect everyone to like every band in this town, but there is jazz, the college alternative, and there’s heavier stuff,” Chang said. Chang is working on a compilation album and expects it to be ready for release in late September or early October. “KANM, A&M’s public radio station, has raised a lot of money and is going to put out a compilation album of local bands to support the local music scene,” Chang said. “Kristen Palme is in charge of putting the album together. I had the recordings, so I put the songs in the right order on a master tape and Annie Chang has recorded albums and demo tapes made the changes, so now we’re just waiting on the artwork to be completed.” Chang said they plan to make 1,000 compact discs, which will take about one month to complete. “They’re going to sell enough to break even, then they plan to distribute some to radio stations in this area and in Austin and Houston, so that maybe the bands will get some radio coverage,” Chang said. The radio station also plans to give any leftover albums to the bands on the compact disk so they can Dave House, The Battalion for local bands for several years sell them at their shows. The album features 10 bands, some of who are no longer in existence, Chang said. “I think a few of the bands have broken up, but sev eral are still pretty popular around here, like Lewis, Half-Life, Barry Manifold and Not It,” Chang said. Chang said she set a goal for herself several years ago. “I wanted to make a difference,” Chang said. “I told myself that by the time I left A&M, there would be a music scene.” i] i nmmmmr Students! Get the whole nine yards all season long with a subscription toThe Eagle. Enjoy complete results every weekend. WeTl fill you in on the players behind the game and give you the latest in sports news. □Now thru Dec. 18, 1996: $23.00* DNow thru May 7, 1996: $52.00* □ Now thru Aug. 13, 1997: $76.00* Name Student ID# Address. 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