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Tuesday • February 11,1997
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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