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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 5, 1997)
See the three most beautiful women in all of ballet. Giselle, Carmen and Paquita peformed by the Moscow Festival Ballet "jsgendary dancer Sergei Radchenko’s vision has brought together leading dancers from the famed Bolshoi and Kirov Ballet companies to form the Moscow Festival Ballet. This exciting independent company will be staging all-new, full- length productions of the timeless classics “Giselle,” “Car men” and “Paquita.” With grace and beauty to spare, this remarkable assemblage of talent is sure to astound even the most ardent ballet aficionado and make fans out of the unini tiated. Don't miss it! Rudder Auditorium February 13, 14 & 15, 1997 8:00 p.m. For tickets call 845-1234 f Persons with disabilities please tail S45-8903 to Inform us of your special needs. We request notification three (3) working days prior to the event to en- Cti . able us to assist you to the best of our ability. Now accepting Aggie Bucks Optra C'hrftnntttjf Am Sottny http://opas.tamu.edu Firs America] Bank li& s what t students V (you want it? you ijot it,) I want ci And not just any checking account. I want it here, in town, and not a million miles away. I’m going to A&M, the best #*%@ school in the country. I am tlie 12th Man! So I want the 12th Man Account. I want my bank close. I mean close like right across the street from campus. And just because I’m on campus a lot, doesn’t mean I’ll always be on campus. _ V6 things to do. So I want more banks all over town - at least eight. And if you can’t keep up with my hours, give me ATMs - at least 10. IgijR. I want a bank that can get me a student loan when I need it. No t hassles. No run-arounds. Quick. ft ISimple. Painless. F i r S t Am e r ic8.n B Anl- the 12th Man checking account, eight convenient locations, 10 ATMs, the University Center right across the street from campus, and lender of various student loans Visit us on the Internet at our home page - http://www.first-american-bank.com iir JP% FIRST . Awnencan Aggie Owned. Aggie Strong. Aggie Proud. First American Bank, SSB Member FDIC A The Battalion Aggielife Wednesday • February5,W ► Art appreciation Glass evokes chocolate memorie When I was 7 years old, the corner gas sta tion by my house had a special that lasted only a few weeks: With the purchase of eight gal lons of gas, its cus tomers would receive a free drinking glass. My mom ended up with the entire glass set. The thing I remem ber most about those glasses is the little cur sive “L” printed on the Columnist Brandon Truitt Sophomore English major bottom that even then I knew was the insignia for Libbey Glass. I always enjoyed seeing the let ter pop up out of the brown mess at the bottom of my chocolate milk when I was finished. I have had my share of choco late milk since I’ve been at Texas A&M, but try as I may, I still can’t find that little cursive “L” at the bottom of any cup at Sbisa. So naturally, I was excited when I heard about the touring Libbey Glass exhibit in the MSG Forsyth Center Galleries. I thought I might swing by and have a glass of the good stuff, just for old times’ sake, but the exhib it wasn’t quite what I expected. I walked into the Forsyth Gallery with an unopened gallon of whole milk (not that wimpy stuff) in one hand and my good old Nestle’s Quik in the other. Unfortunately, de spite much pleading on my part, the security guard at the front desk refused to unlock the display cases the glasses were in; he even insisted on holding my milk and Ag< RUITT intinued froi Some of the pie Quik so I could "look around.” I almost told him where he could put that gallon of milk, but he was pretty big and despite all the milk I drank as a child, 1 still haven’t grown into one of those 6- foot hard-bodies in the milk com mercials. When I finally started to look around, I realized that these weren’t actually glasses, they were works of art. I learned the company started in 1818 in East Cambridge, Mass., as the New England Glass Company. In 1888, the company moved to Toledo, Ohio to take advantage of cheaper natural gas costs, but their big break came at the 1893 Columbian Expedition, bettei known as the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. The Libbey Glass Company |n have passed f built their new factory insidei» )vvn hands, fairgrounds. Hlhere is a wine At first, the Chicago Libbey[Hh an eagle that Plant made a name for itselfliB 1 ' 16 House duri selling souvenirs and Fairmer |dRoosevelt adi rabilia, but it went on to mass | ere ls a ^ so a g* a produce everyday glasswares leestate of New well — this is how the compa: pnpera slai became a success. JHlf there is a the Libbey relies on the salesoiw § a P between I this glassware, through theltx gas station or otherwise, forit main source of income, butp™ odically the company has maw 1 ae 7 b |ret ! ()l ” factored a small amount ofliW^^; D ° u ^ as ^ end art glass. “iNash glasswan The exhibit in the MSCFoU^’mlimited Gallery is art glass madebythlB 11 ai 1 c ) 1 () ‘ Libbey Company between 18f d J m and nev and 1942 to commemoratetll 81 ? 5 s f ies ’f V£ Chicago World’s Fair in 1893J a1 / of cand,eSl the New York World’s Fairin'™ s •* st ,a P us - Most of the pieces in thet lection are unique and were handmade by nameless glasi blowers and workers in the Libbey company. idea of a clear llhis theme is s dern America [More evidence appears in th Trains Continued from Page 3 "In 1989, there was a vote on a ‘low track’ plan — a plan to put the track underground from the town of Wellborn to Villa Maria Road,” Basinger said. “The state had al ready put in money — all the voters had to do was approve it.” But voters did not approve the referendum, he said. It was defeat ed, leaving students and communi ty residents with a myriad of safety concerns. "The main issue now is safety in an emergency," Basinger said. “What if there’s a fire truck, an am bulance that has to get through?” Tarrant agreed there is a safety is sue to consider. “It’s endangering people’s lives,” she said. The safety issue was forced last year when A&M student Go Shiba- ta was struck by a train and killed. Shibata’s death was ruled an acci dent, police said. The death shocked the A&M campus, but incidents like it are by no means new. Texas leads the na tion in the number of highway-rail grade crossing deaths, Fischer said. “The campus railroad crossings at Bush Drive, Joe Routt Boulevard, and Old Main already have the highest available level of safety warning equipment in the form of flashing lights and automatic gates,” Fischer said. “Each pedestrian has a responsi bility to heed the warning devices at the crossings to protect their own safety. Most tragedies at railroad crossings are preventable.” Basinger said for the most part, the railroads have been safe. “With 40,000 students, it’s kind of surprising accidents don’t happen more often,” he said. The fact remains that none of this was a problem 125 years ago, when the A&M College ofTexas was fighting for its life, and no one an ticipated that the school might be come a university spanning acres, even reaching beyond the railroad tracks upon which it was built. Students today see the tracks that gave birth to this community as more of a nuisance than anything. And some, like junior accounting major Clay Collier, just do not want to see it anymore. “I’m sure there are safety issues, |yfluted in the: lAnother of the ries’ pieces is a Jss. The glass u ■d simple geom ■ to those Pablo See TRUITT, Pac*orge Braque rr fer paintings. but 40,000 college-educated pel ^' ven . dl 1 0 ^ d 1 are going to be careful e J ssswl ^ beca around a train,” Collier said. ■|'“icas sum w ly issues may not necesstatl,^ ." tracks beingmoved, but 40,0(l)| ent| he ^ a b pie trying to get from poini l shllt down in , point B does.” lAnother themi bs in the collec .... T IPMNG BtlAI Cancun from $349 Acapulco from $399 Holiday Express 21st Year 800"235''TRIP ce has the cha rsive “L” I was i lade me feel son out the confisc It would not h ■me drinking e> the little cursive 1 my milk before it headed back to n I I think 1 will g( alittlemore time 'Glass Company f time I’m going to and Nestle’s Qud he Libbey G '/? display ii alleries thrc ftafeea Stitt