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<
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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.