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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 7, 1997)
a use said he iscoi hmen and acknowk ^ady to go. freshmen have ip and are playing id. "They are corapl dayers from last sent uys are ready to a/ coach, newguyso: everybody is excitf started. Hopefully, “v: iana will be a sign of; :ome." the three freshmen foung, said thefrest i. ;t as a challenge ai ’ow Wow to show ntertribal heritage uty to improve an nericanWeek. the team well,”it e definitely have ur level of play am By Laura Oliveira The Battalion Native American warrior danc- gcan be seen at the fifth annual iwWow on Friday and Saturday, arking the end of xas A&M Native The Pow Wow lich will demon- ate the Kiowa n the necessary pa )ur d Dance and vin. For nowweate tertribal dancing, determined to win. hosted by the Na- s the debut ofthe» e American Stu- ss expects a greatpelnt Association both Krause andTo:ld the American tely watch Robbieldian Science and do well for us, as rAgjneering Society, ayers,” Cass said.'* Sonny Spear- s that the youngguylan, president of I they will set thetonMe association and a sophomore lis weekend, but io»neral studies major, said the season." *ent will increase awareness of the d the Aggies will factljative American culture. Lheastern Louisiana* “This is a chance to learn that r step out onto dieiBe Native American people are the outcome is,wein( it extinct,” he said. “We keep the the guys to play wii heritage alive by putting these Pow i and be willing ti wows on.” s said. "Those are™ The PowWow will be from 7 p.m. ut historically the™ 10:30 p.m. on Friday and 2 p.m. t consistently aresu. to 11 p.m. on Saturday at the Louis is what I will lookat Pierce Pavilion in College Station, ve had the best prat* Sandra Medina, adviser for the match and I cansetfassociation and a student develop- ompetitionmodearilment specialist with multicultural tedtoseewhathapplservices, said interacting with the students has taught her about the pative American culture. She said she enjoys the the anec- “This is a chance to learn that the Native American people are not extinct.” Sonny Spearman President, Native American Student Association dotes behind everyday activities of Native American culture. “My favorite thing about the cul ture is that there is always a story behind why things are done,” she said. “Whether it is why they wear certain dresses or why they do certain dances, everything is done for a reason.” The Gourd dance is an example of sym bolism in the Native American culture. The dance origi nated after a Kiowa warrior saw a red wolf dancing and shaking a rattle on the side of a hill. The warrior took the dance back to his tribe. Spearman said the intertribal dancing is open to anyone who wants to learn. The dancers will be adorned in traditional Native American dress and accompanied by singers. The singers stand in the middle of the dance arena as the most respect ed participants. Spearman said the dances are physically demanding. “The first dance witnessed by a white man lasted six days and six nights,” he said. “As time has gone by we have gotten a little smarter. Our dances last about five or six minutes.” Traders will be selling Native American print art, pottery and oth er crafts at the PowWow. fhead_ . r , bordf“ oarc * Education questions program ■' and Wire Repoi ■xas A&M Men's,. have more ince 1 to stay away fron weekend, as theyfl ■rey, Mexico, for 3/Rice Intercollegb irnament, which wi re Campestre Co® nark the beginning^ ng season turns three starftl m last year’s NG#J ial Championship Brown, junior Migui 1 sophomore Ty Members say New Standards Project will bring 'kooky' ideas to the Texas school curriculum. AUSTIN (AP) —Texas is spend- ; $2.1 million without public xutiny on a national education foject that could inject radical eas into the school curriculum, Cox were namedhoK tate Board of Education members on preseason All-AiS acked by religious conservatives ilfweek. lid Thursday, aore transfers!!.' “Ifs public funds that have been i Matt Welch will® pent and given to a private entity... as the team heads moling a national agenda,” said card member Donna Ballard of pies will be joined!)! he Woodlands, s, including Rice Uni' Ballard and others said they’re >rd University, Brig! ancerned the so-called New Stan- rersityandthellnivfl ards Project is promoting “out- ee, the tournaments ame-based education,” a concept ampion. A&M will' latmay have different definitions look at Big 12 foes! epending on who’s describing it. Colorado, Universip As described by Ballard, out- nd Texas Tech Univet ame-based education is “a very mpestre Country 1 antroversial method of teaching robably known best la t emphasizes process rather lish. Iran content,” including such ideas- ntninearesomewhaijs doing away with honors pro- e back nine,” Ellis ; §rams anc i promoting group grad- oles are very challenge jig instead of individual grades. Backers of the project, however, :acus for the first [7 will be improvingt iid it’s aimed at strong academic ng fall. The team fail* r than eighth, occasions, in any of® andards. Several board members said they ere concerned that they didn’t have ments during thaiifsay on spending the money, r, there were someff “Public money is being spent ich they hopetobWjthout public scrutiny, and quite pies were able to plankly, this is abuse of the taxpay- in the top 10 at tlitfrs of Texas,” said board member ic. Palmer finished» c bard Neill of Fort Worth, who and Cox tied fortetimtencls a project leader has positive was ^Icooky” ideas, which was among* Texas Education Commissioner ike Moses said the state’s curricu- m rewrite isn’t being driven by the ew Standards Project, a joint effort ot the Washington-based, nonprof- iaid. “During the of jt National Center on Education and e worked to mamtai | | our short game antfj ntally stronger.” t. not play to our \ oiir short gamewaj ne of the best in t the Economy and the University of Pittsburgh’s Learning Research and Development Center. The state has spent $1.6 million on membership dues for the pro gram over several years, and is oblig ated to spend $500,000 more, said Texas Education Agency spokes woman Debbie Graves Ratcliffe. Moses and Senate Finance Committee Chair Bill Ratliff, R- Mount Pleasant and former Edu cation chair, are listed as govern ing board members of the project, as are officials from other states and from Fort Worth. Former Education Commission er Lionel “Skip” Meno originally en tered into the contract, Moses said. He said he also has some concerns about the project’s leadership, but he bristled at criticism he said was meant to “blindside” TEA. “At some point in time, we prob ably need to concentrate on what kids need to learn,” Moses said. Andy Plattner of the National Center on Education and the Economy said early criticism of outcome-based education fo cused on those who wanted to test such outcomes as students having self-esteem and abiding to working well in groups. “That is about the last thing we want. What we’re focused on is rig orous academics,” Plattner said. He said input has been sought from di verse groups of parents and others on standards. Neill said a 1993 state report by a Texas student learning committee shows that the curriculum rewrite is “part of the master plan to imple ment this radical, unproven, exper imental untried scheme of Marc Tucker,” a leader of the New Stan dards Project. Among other things, the 1993 document talks of developing “a global view of the future.” “Could it be that this board is the only thing standing in the way of Marc Tucker implementing his kooky ideas in this state?” Neill asked. mm dre Isrif tlan ™ M 2f ies S3 Best Pa< s E23 . rities Be$tPl press Inc. Guarafl' 1 The Battalion INSIDETODAY Sports Opinion Police Beat PageS Page? PageB RODEO TIME: The Houston Rodeo gives Aggie interns a behind- the-scenes look. Aggielife, Page 3 Council cancels Class Ball * Due to lack of par ticipation in previous Class Balls, the council will shift its focus to fund raising. By Joey Jeanette Schlueter The Battalion Lack of student participation in the past canceled the com bined Class of’98 and Class of’99 Ball which had been slated for tonight. Classes at Texas A&M have held class dances since the 1960s as a student social activity, but at tendance has declined recently. Nolan Barkhouse, Class of ’98 president and an international studies major, said the Class Ball attracted only 200 to 300 students out of the combined sophomore and junior classes in the past. “The focus of Class Ball is to get class participation,” Bark- house said. “Students were not participating enough.” Peggy Philpot, adviser for the class councils, said the Class Ball did not bring in enough money to make it worthwhile. The council could focus more on fund raising, she said. Stephanie Hayes, a sophomore journalism major, said she has never attended a class ball be cause she did not know about it. Barkhouse said the Class of ’98 will focus on Boot Dance, a junior tradition. “Right now we are working on having a bash before Boot Dance,” he said. “We want stu dents to know that Boot Dance is not just for Corps members. All Class of ’98 [members] are invited.” The senior class has Ring Dance, the junior class has Boot Dance and the freshman class will celebrate Fish Ball. Gregg Nichols, Class of ’99 President and an agricultural business major, said he would like to see a sophomore ball, but con sidered the idea unrealistic be cause of low student participa tion and profit. “Class activities have a goal to unify the class,” Nichols said. “It is hard to get students to go, es pecially when spring is so busy.” Nichols said the class council worked on ways to increase at tendance, but was unsuccessful. Class of ’99 has left a new tra dition to leave for the freshman class, Nichols said. The class council coordinated with the Association of Former Students to help host reunions in the fall, council meetings and general activities. Barbara Kasper, director of Cam pus Programs and Class of ’82, said the Class of ’99 has started a posi tive experience for students. “We’re excited about this,” Kasper said, “and we hope more students will get involved.” The sophomore and junior classes are concentrating on fund-raising to help pay for a class gift. The Class of ’98 will finish sell ing T-shirts and sweat shirts with in the next two weeks and begin selling baseball caps later in the month. The Class of ’99 will sell window stickers beginning March 19. Puppy Love Erin Witt, a freshman chemistry major, holds her canine friend Patches, a blue heeler puppy who is up for adoption at the Brazos Valley Animal Shelter. celebrate Chinese New Year Students By Melissa Nunnery and Laura Oliveira The Battalion The year of the Ox begins to day for students who observe the Chinese lunar calendar instead of the Western solar calendar. The Chinese follow the lunar calendar to bring prosperous crops to farmers. The New Year will be celebrat ed by members of Texas A&M Asian student organizations. The Taiwanese Student Associ ation will host a potluck supper Saturday at the Baptist Student Center. Chih-Hao Lu, president of the Chinese Student Association and a junior environmental design major, said preparing for the cel ebration is difficult because he is away from home. “If you want to prepare tradi tional Chinese food, it is hard,” he said. “You have to go to Houston’s Chinatown to get the materials.” In addition, the China Club will host a stage performance on Friday night in 201 MSC and a dance Saturday night at 7:30 in the MSC. Liu Duan, China Club vice president for coordination and a molecular biology graduate stu dent, said the stage performance will include singing, dancing and Chinese Kung-Fu. “You would be overwhelmed by the fine art presented,” Duan said. Duan said the traditional Chi nese New Year celebration con sists of large family dinners and a holiday from work or school. Lu said most A&M students from Asia will still attend class. “It is not a religious holiday,” he said. “We pay out-of state tuition, so most [students] will not take the day off.” Duan said families in China watch a popular television pro gram on New Year’s Eve. He compared it to the Times Square New Year’s Eve party in New York. The program usually lasts five or six hours and features per formers singing and dancing. “ [It is] the most popular televi sion program in the whole world,” he said. “There are one billion people who watch the pro gram every year.” Duan said he never misses the program. “Here we can see the broadcast tomorrow (Saturday) on the in ternational channel,” he said. “I have been here (in the U.S.) four or five years and always manage to watch it.” “I do not know any Chinese who do not do that (watch the program).” A&M president's housekeeper takes pride in job Dave House, The Battalion Onie Holmes has maintained the President's Mansion for almost 10 years. Holmes strives to make mansion a welcoming place By Brandon Hausenfluck and Laura Oliveira The Battalion * Onie Holmes has been the housekeeper at the Texas A&M President’s Mansion for almost 10 years and has never missed a day of work. Holmes said she is proud of the work she does for the University president’s home. “When people come to see the house, they are seeing a part of A&M,” she said. “I love for people to see how beautiful the house is.” Holmes got the job solely on the basis of a good recommendation and began working dur ing the presidency of Dr. William H. Mobley. Over the years, Holmes has been involved in the coordination of parties hosted by the Bowens. She also has assisted in tours of the home. * Holmes said the first time she experienced Parent’s weekend was overwhelming. Six hun dred site-seers tour the home during Parent’s Weekend. “I was at the back door and said goodbye to everyone when they left,” she said. “It was so great to see everyone smiling. It gave me a great feeling.” Holmes holds two other housekeeping jobs during the week and walks over seven miles a day. She said her positive outlook on her job is sometimes considered unbelievable. “My friends think I’m not telling the truth, but I honestly have not one negative thing to say about my job,” she said. “Every day I come to work with a great feeling.” She said happiness is the key to doing a job right. “I love my job,” Holmes said. “If you work at a place, you should enjoy it because you’ll pro duce better, and you’ll make the people around you happy.” She said she has developed a good relation ship with the Bowens, and although she only works part-time, she enjoys visiting with the president and his wife. “[The Bowens] and I have developed a great working relationship,” she said. One of her main goals, she said, is to make people feel welcome at the home. “I want people to feel that they can always come back,” she said.