The Battalion
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Page 3
Monday • February 24, 1997
i
ntemational students
rave a new world
t Texas A&M
By Michael Schaub
The Battalion
en Rajesh Kumar first came to
Texas A&M University, walking
across campus was an adventure.
"That ‘Howdy’ concept was new to me,”
imar, a business administration gradu-
estudent, said. “It’s good, but in India, we
don’tjustsay‘hi’ to strangers.”
The unofficial A&M greeting is one of
many cultural differences that students
pm other nations encounter when they
ive on campus.
Majed Azouqah, a freshman electrical
engineering major, said friends in his na-
e Jordan tease him about living in a real-
fe spaghetti western movie.
“All my friends keep cracking cowboy
kes at me because I live in Texas,” Azouqah
id. “It’s just what they see on TV”
“Howdys” and cowboys aside, the A&M
mpus is known for students who are
endly, open and willing to learn about in
ternational topics, he said.
“It’s a lot friendlier than I thought it
ould be,” he said. “People are very nice.
In happy here — so far, so good.”
■ Kumar, who is also president of the In-
mational Students Association, said stu-
lents from other nations often find them
selves overlooked by their native Texan
unterparts at A&M.
The goal of International Week,
hich begins today, is to promote
awareness of other cultures on the A&M
campus, he said.
I “We try to get students to interact with
people of different cultures, to enlighten
themselves and to dispel the myths and
ereotypes they may have,” he said.
Cristina Montero, a Uruguay native
and vice president for administration of
the ISA, said A&M harbors a diverse in
►
ternational community.
“1 like meeting people — that’s
what’s great about A&M,” Montero ,a ju
nior international studies and econom
ics major, said. “There’s a great amount
of international people here. It’s pretty
much an international center, and
that’s great for the community.”
Bolivian native Percy Prieto, a junior
international studies and management
major, said A&M is friendly to interna
tional students, despite the school’s po
litical climate.
“It’s kind of conservative here, but at the
same time, it’s very diverse,” Prieto said.
“You have students from all over the world
and from all over Texas — and Texas is like
another country, right?”
But Julian Trevino-Villarreal, a native of
Monterey, Mexico and a wildlife and fish
eries sciences graduate student, said Na-
tive-American students are often unaware
of international cultures.
“I don’t know if it’s because, as in
ternational students, we haven’t been
able to promote international cultures
sufficiently,” Trevino-Villarreal said. “I
still believe we have to focus more on
everybody. If I tell people I’m from Mexi
co, they think I’m from New Mexico.”
The University’s conservative cli
mate surprised students such as Mon
tero, who said A&M students have dif
ferent attitudes than citizens in her
native Uruguay.
“It was a little bit of a shock, but I got
used to it,” Montero said. “This place is very
traditional, very conservative, compared to
the way we are in Uruguay.”
Trevino-Villarreal lamented the lack of
soccer teams in Texas, but said he saw
more similarities than differences between
Texas and Mexico.
“I had trouble trying to absorb the
idea
of tra
ditions,”
he said. “A lot
of things are
alike, like the way
people dress in jeans.
The only thing really differ
ent is the amount of resources
this university has.”
But not all international students
consider A&M a friendly place.
German native Erich Reich (not his real
name), a physics graduate student, said he
finds the A&M climate “not very good but
not bad.”
The differences between German and
American cultures are complex, Reich said.
“I can’t explain that in a few words,”
he said. “America is more capitalistic,
more materialistic.”
But Azouqah said he is happy in Texas’
“twin cities.”
“I like
College
Station,”
Azouqah said.
“It’s very laid back.
“I think I made a good choice coming
to A&M.”
Erica Vidal, an oceanography graduate
student who hails from Sao Paulo, Brazil,
said A&M students are supportive of their
schoolmates from other countries.
“People try to help international stu
dents here,’’Vidal said. “I’ve been helped
by a lot of students. For me, it’s been a
very nice experience.”
At the movies
Singleton's /tosewooc/falls short
Mine story flick bolstered with dramatic shots, weakened by trite acting
An appeal: Shut mouths
and shoe all smelly feet
By Aaron Meier
The Battalion
‘n 1995, the Susan Smith inci
dent horrified the nation. The
.young mother murdered her
vo sons, but before she confessed
to the murders, she claimed an
African-American man carjacked
her and took her children.
After the truth emerged, many
leaders of the African-American
community asked if America was
so eager to believe her because it
isewood stars Ving Rhames as Mann, a roaming World War I veteran.
saw a young mother sobbing on
television — or because she
claimed a black man did it?
In Rosewood, a similar accusa
tion causes the massacre of a town
and a racial witch hunt.
Based on a true story, Rosewood
dramatizes the incidents that oc
curred in the small predominantly
black town of Rosewood, Fla., in
January 1923.
The plot revolves around ac
cusations made by Fannie Tay
lor, a resident of the nearby
white town of Sumner. Taylor
spends a lust-filled afternoon
with her white lover, who beats
her savagely and flees town.
Taylor realizes she cannot hide
the wounds from her husband.
She walks onto the front porch of
her home and screams frantical
ly. As the neighbors run to help
the battered woman, she sobs
that a black
man raped and
beat her.
Soon, the
white residents
of Sumner are
in an uproar
and, under the
tenuous con
trol of the town
sheriff (Michael
Rooker), the misguided men of
the town proceed to destroy
Rosewood and kill at least 40
black citizens in search of this
nonexistent black rapist.
Director John Singleton uses
the camera powerfully to tell the
horrifying story of racism at the
dawn of the 20th century. After
directing a mediocre film such
as Higher Learning, Singleton is
returning to the quality of his
debut film, Boyz N the Hood.
The return appears to be a
rough journey. Although Single-
ton brings solid emotion to the
sweeping epic shots of the
town’s destruction, he cannot
elicit the same intensity of emo
tion from the actors in the film.
In the scenes where Rosewood
is being destroyed, Singleton un
flinchingly shows scenes of racial
atrocities. Singleton stands out as
one of Hollywood’s most promis
Rosewood
Starring Jjon Voight and Ving
Rhames
Directed by fohn Singleton
Rated R
Showing at Hollywood 16
*★1/2 (out of five)
ing young directors, but he
should motivate his actors better.
In Rosewood, Singleton could
have produced some moving
scenes, but the cast comes off as
trite and melodramatic.
Rosewood stars Jon Voight as
John Wright, the white owner of
Rosewood’s local grocery. Voight
delivers the film’s strongest per
formance as a man with divided
loyalties. Wright intimately
knows and trusts the residents of
Rosewood and doubts the accu
sations of Fannie Taylor. Howev
er, as a white businessman, he
must stay in good favor with the
whites of the neighboring town.
The character of John Wright
poses an interesting paradox to the
audience. He is a tolerant man in a
time where racism is the norm.
However, he does not crusade for
the residents of Rosewood; he ex
ists as a quiet
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm man wllO has dif
ficulty choosing
between the im
mense pressures
of society and his
beliefs in right
and wrong.
Voight plays
Wright deftly,
making him at
times a hero and at times a coward.
Ving Rhames plays Mann, a
roaming World War I vet who ac
cidentally gets caught in Rose
wood at the wrong time.
Rhames, who in other movies
has proven extremely charismatic,
seems uncomfortable in the role
of Mann. Physically and mentally,
Rhames is too rough and intimi
dating to play a character with
tender lines and a soft demeanor.
Watching a scene between
Mann and his love interest Scrap-
pie (Elise Neal), is like watching
Frankenstein trying to ballroom
dance with Ginger Rogers.
Rosewood powerfully demon
strates the continued oppression
of blacks after the end of slavery.
The memory of the residents of
Rosewood deserves to be told with
extreme respect and caring. Rose
wood attempts to achieve this goal
but falls short.
/ r
M ovie-goers of the
world unite!
Fight against the
aggression of screaming
babies and people step
ping on your toes. Sup
port the Movie-Goers of
America’s Manifesto and
stand up for your rights
as a theater patron.
Rise against the op
pression of the stranger
sitting next to you who
talks during the entire
film. Strike out against
the young teen-age couple who
chooses to publicly demonstrate
their ability to swallow each other’s
faces for two solid hours. Rise up
against the infidels and shout from
the projection booths of America,
“I’m mad a.s hell and I’m not
gonna take it anymore!”
The Movie-Goers of America’s
Manifesto
Article One
Anyone who becomes separated
from their group shall not attempt
to walk to the front of the theater
and shout the names of their
friends. This is grounds for summa
ry execution under the manifesto.
Any idiot who cannot follow the
buddy system deserves to sit by
themselves or worse yet be forced to
sit in the seat where a young boy de
cided he had to “go now.”
Article Two
Under the manifesto, any form
of GPDA (Gross Public Displays of
Affection) shall result in mandatory
sterilization. We, the Movie-Goers of
America, understand the hormonal
urges experienced by all teen-agers,
but the latest Disney movie is not
the time for the youth of America to
recreate a certain lyric from an Ala-
nis Morissette song.
Article Three
Maturity tests will be given to
all audience members. The re
cent releases of the The Star Wars
Trilogy and Scream have proven
to all decent movie-watchers that
some legal adults cannot handle
everyday excitement.
Anyone caught wearing a Yoda
mask or attempting to reproduce the
Aaron Meier
Junior political science
major
cinnamon roll hairstyle of
Princess Leah will be tak
en to a mental hospital for
further evaluation.
Spot checks will be
conducted to see if a po
tential horror movie-
viewer screams every
time a phone rings or
someone knocks on a
door. If the viewer fails
to react properly, they
will be escorted from the
theater and given a tat
too on the forehead de
claring them a coward.
Article Four
Any footwear brought into a
movie theater must stay on the feet
at all times. When acceptable, a
viewer may put his properly cov
ered feet on the chair in front of
him. But under no circumstances
are shoes (including sandals, loafers
and moccasins) to be removed.
Special odor detectors will be in
stalled in all theaters to ensure com
pliance with this article. If violators
are discovered, their toenails will be
painted with permanent Glow-in-
The-Dark polish to warn all future
audience members of the violation.
Article Five
This article is hereafter referred to
as “The Supreme Law of the The
ater.” There will be no talking during
the movie! The official talking em
bargo will start when the fat cat hops
in the car and the screen flashes,
“Warning! Annoying Talker!”
This includes all whooping and
hollering when such names as
Nicole Kidman and Brad Pitt appear
on the screen. All movie-goers are
aware of the stars of the picture —
tribal noises to alert other natives of
the presence of a sex symbol is
pointless and grounds for drawing
and quartering the violator.
We, the Movie-Goers of America,
respect the right of all Americans to
enjoy a movie. We simply demand
the rights the founding fathers
meant to imply when writing the
Constitution. We thank you for your
continued support and please enjoy
a mint on your way out of the the
ater. The mint bowl will be moni
tored to ensure compliance.