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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 11, 1997)
Page 3 Tuesday • February 11,1997 insion plan. Thedeckji ’s east side, schedufe ion in 1998, wouldaffc ews from the Lyndon B,)i ary. e expansion plans,#i ion date, would adda the north and Id interfere with anotliei p has noplai >roperty taxe IN (AP) — State Comp, arp says he is not writ atic alternative to N. Bush’s plan to replaci al property taxes. iOv. Bob Bullock and dler, both Democrats, ast week to draft twi f Bush’s plan to raisj ales tax and create a s tax. ew taxes are part of an Texans’ local school a, who is expected bym ,e Bush for the govemr d Monday that Bush’s rs. But the comptrolle’ t pushing an alternate Highs & Lows Today’s Expectedli 59°F Tonight’s Expected 50°F Tomorrow’s Expeci High 52°F Tomorrow Nijkt! Expected to 38°F rmation courtesy of It® Jne ClAL Sharing the joys of long life Student volunteers and elderly people find treasures in time spent together By Aaron Meier The Battalion T he video of the Elvis Costel lo song “Veronica” depicts an elderly woman sitting in a wheelchair remembering the past. Some students at Texas A&M spend time with people like Veron ica and listen to the stories they have to tell. Students in Alpha Phi Omega service fraternity volunteer at the Crestview Methodist Retire ment Community. Sean Lambert, chair of the Crestview project and a junior history major, said he started spending time at Crestview be cause he knew what the elderly had to offer. “My grandmother lives in a re tirement community,” Lambert said. “That got me interested be cause I knew they (senior citizens) have a lot of history and interest ing facts to share.” Bess Sprague, a 96-year-old res ident of Crestview, lived parts of Aggie history. Sprague’s husband worked as a trainer for the Aggie football team, and while her hus band worked on the field during football games, she sat next to E. King Gill, the originator of the “Our voices are not what they used to be. The Aggies help us re member what it was like when we did have voices.” Bess Sprague Crestview Methodist Retirement Community resident , Balloon jnts pif (Dali <D\l\oll bove: Bess Sprague entertains jllow Crestview Methodist Re- irement Community residents 'playing the piano. Ight: Gene Adam provides le music for weekly sing-a- Ing with other residents and ggie volunteers 'hotos by Amy Dunlap UON IIEF Lesley Poston, City Editoh ristina Buffin, Sports Et" lex Walters, Opinion E hris Stevens, Web Edit ivi Moog, Photo Editor rad Graeber, Cartoon EC Twelfth Man legend. Sprague said she likes to recount stories of A&M to the volunteers. "They sit patiently and listen to me prattle on,” Sprague said. “We talk and listen, and they do a won derful service here.” From pushing residents in wheelchairs to painting their fin gernails, the vol unteers perform a variety of services. Lambert start ed painting finger nails as a joke, and it grew into a week ly activity. “I painted one of the ' resident’s nails and the other women thought I did such a good job, they asked me to do theirs,” Lam bert said. Angie Garrett, a member of Alpha Phi Omega and a ju- nior biomedical science major, said painting fingernails is one of the most popular services the stu dents offer. “They are like little kids when it is time to paint their nails,” Garrett said. “They argue about who’s next in line and what col or they want.” Even though the service is free, Garrett said sometimes the resi dents settle for nothing less than the best. "Some of them can’t see a thing,” Garrett said. “But you mess up on one of their nails, and they let you know it. It is all in good fun, though.” Sprague said residents and vol unteers eagerly await Fridays, when they gather for sing-a-longs. Sprague plays the piano and is accompanied on the organ by Margaret Rudder, wife of James Earl Rudder, former president of the University. The two friends lead the music. “The first time we saw her (Rudder), it was totally amazing,” Garrett said. “You hear about her, but when you get to meet her and she remembers your name, it is amazing. She is amazing.” Sprague said the volunteers bring more than charity to the sing- a-longs — they bring their voices. "A lot of us old ladies used to sing, but age has caught up with us,” Sprague said. "Our voices are not what they used to be. The Ag gies help us remember what it was like when we did have voices.” Aaron Sugalski, a member of Alpha Phi Omega and a junior biomedical science major, said resi dents who cannot sing, participate in other ways. “One woman dances during the sing-a-longs,” Sug alski said. “She hides behind a wall and thinks no one sees her, but she has a great time.” Garrett said visits to Crestview have gone beyond a ser vice project for the veteran volunteers. “When you come week after week, you end up doing it less for the resi dents and more for yourself,” Garrett said. Sugalski said the most difficult part of volunteering was getting over nervous feelings about meet ing the residents. “I was really apprehensive about going at first,” Sugalski said. "Then I saw how their faces light up when the volunteers they know walk in, and I wanted to be a part of that.” Some of the Crestview resi dents do not have family close by, and visits by them are infrequent. Garrett said these residents adopt the volunteers as a part of their ex tended family. “The long distance makes see ing their families difficult,” Garrett said. “I go to Crestview and talk to them, and they are genuinely in terested in how I am doing. They ask questions and honestly care. It seems like they get to know us as their families.” Lambert said he hopes the volunteers have made a positive effect on the lives of the Crestview residents. “If they were to pass away that day, at least they knew they had a friend,” Lambert said. m a & t c r e u i e co indon Hausenfluck, KevinCumnfA min Cheng, Shikonya Cureton.Jofl Redd Kross loses with B-flick-esque tunes By Brandon Truitt The Battalion Lkriwan, Patrick James, Ryan RK rtoonists: Michael he latest Redd Kross al bum Show Wo rid proves :a Wiggins, Kimber Huff, Michael^ -L the 1980s was a great n; Page Designers: ArtieAlvaradoi ' ecac j e f or both movie and rock tg,Jeremy Furtick,MattMitctielt'T I industries. signer: Eric Proctor t. It was not until the ’80s that the idt, Mason jacksonjenne Han# art of the B-movie was perfected h°ma Studios ’ which released 3 wells & Michele chancellor Mmerous classics like Surf Nazis tt Weber ,, fust Die, Redneck Zombies and ™lass of Nuke ‘emHigh. It is from the ’80s and Troma novies that the album Show I niversity in the Division ofSti# 1 ’, World W3S born. Bed McDonald Building, Newsit» T ” When the first song on the al- ress: http://bat-web.tamu,ejo . )u Me ,” begins, sement by The Battalion. For w 1 ; I j ’ 0 . ’ . rtising, call 845-0569.Advert’ p mental picture created is simi- ay through Friday. Fax: 84 5-26 \ lar to the beginning scenes to a ,ent to pick cp a singteccpr^; fine TYoma “cult” film. Dpe, full year.To chaptyifis. -| sister . sounding uring the fall and springsemests' j guitar r iff s and the sexually frus- ■ Ndays and exam periods) atTetfTtr a ted lyrics try to persuade some ^ resschan8esl ° |oung woman to “please” lead jjinger Jeffrey McDonald. It is eant to get credits rolling and re- ★ (out of five) minds the listener of Corey Haim (or is it Feldman?) trying to get his hand up some vixen’s bra in the back of his dad’s car. The next song continues this saga as McDonald, backed by the same Twisted Sister guitar, now complains about how his girl is “always stoned,” thus ex plaining why he cannot get to third base. The timeless themes of pot, breast fondling, and how to get to third base run through Show World like all good ’80s films. For example, in Class of Nuke ’em High, an entire subplot is devoted to the “atomic weed” that grows under a radiation leak in the Tromaville nuclear power plant. Another subplot is devoted to the fantasies of one teenager who constantly daydreams about making out with his teacher. Unfortunately, his third base plans are thwarted when his teacher chooses to become a lesbian biker sadomasochist. The similarities between Show World and Class of Nuke ’em High are so striking that this album could be the long await ed Class of Nuke ’em High mo tion picture soundtrack. Show World even sounds like the annoyingly Beatlesque “Fol low the Leader” that plays in the background of the movie as a mob of crazed bikers (including the aforementioned lesbian teacher) rides down the halls of Tromaville High School on their motorcycles vandalizing the en tire school. The album’s infinitely giddy “Ugly Town” could have been playing when all the heroes and heroines hold hands and French kiss at the end of the movie, us ing an atomic joint to help laugh off their near-death experience with mutated sub-humanoids. The album cover even looks as though it was designed at about the same time as the filming of Nuke ‘em High, and perhaps the cover even was produced under the same measly budget condi tions as the film. The cover is designed in conflicting colors (reminiscent of the clashing wardrobe from the movie). The only thing the design re minds me of is the opening credits to Nuke ’em High which were done in a sick shade of yellow — probably by a kindergartner on a Big Chief tablet. In short, this album is nostal gic. It possesses the ability to transport its listener into the artis tic mecca of the ’80s with its time less themes and beautiful Twisted Sister undertones. Redd Kross