The Battalion
lume 103 • Issue 123 • 8 Pages
The Batt Online: http:// bat-web.tamu.edu
Monday, April 7, 1997
eel
gs give time, services
or Big Event project
r oby Boenig, former sta
lent body president, gave
me keynote speech Saturday
^morning.
By Laura Oliveira
The Battalion
jBhe Big Event provided a flood of service
5nc rojects for Bryan and College Station Saturday
alsinoon despite rainy weather early in the day
6,800 Texas A&M students did their part to
pH back to the community.
swHarticipants trimmed hedges, painted hous-
d |aml removed Christmas lights for residents
hc:|thearea.
■imie Hood, a sophomore chemical engi-
hu:jeering major and a member of the American
|cc; |Stitute of Chemical Engineers, worked with
jpther members at the event. The group
ited two sheds, cut trees and helped with
thcr odd jobs for a family in Bryan.
■They were so appreciative,” he said. ‘‘They
even cooked all of us a really good meal.”
Brooke Hybarger, Big Event director and a
senior accounting major, said the event is a
gesture of thanks to the community for
putting up with students for nine months
out of the year.
‘‘Big Event has gotten the misconception
over the years that it is just for the needy, but
that is not the case,” she said. “It is for the en
tire community.”
Former Student Body President Toby Boenig
gave the keynote speech at the kickoff, which be
gan at 9:30 a.m. in front of the Administration
Building. Boenig encouraged students to help
others. He expressed appreciation for the help he
has received from students after becoming par
tially paralyzed in a tubing accident last May.
Erica Flores, a junior community health ma
jor, participated with Sigma Phi Lambda in the
event and said Boenig’s speech was inspiring.
“When he stood up at the end it was so awe
some,” Flores said. “He is an incredible individ
ual. After his speech I felt really motivated to
work the service project.”
Participants were assigned to jobs at the Big
Event headquarters at Bonfire site.
Amy Dunlap, The Battalion
Jennifer Collet and Sherryl Smyer, sopho
more chemical engineering majors, plant flow
ers as part of Big Event Saturday.
Hybarger said rainy weather during the week
kept some participants from coming out to the
event, but overall the day was a success.
“A lot of jobs canceled on us because they
thought it was going to rain, but we could not
have asked for better weather,” she said.
► Gay Awareness Week
Events include
exhibit, speaker
By Rebecca Torrellas
The Battalion
Gay Awareness Week begins to
day, and events will focus on religion,
legislation, oppression and family.
Bradley, president of Gay, Les
bian and Bisexual Aggies and a se
nior political science major, said the
week’s activities are intended to cre
ate positive awareness.
“The idea behind having these
[programs] is to show we’re real peo
ple too,” Bradley said.
“Love Makes A Family,” a traveling
photograph-text exhibit, will be on dis
play this week in the MSG Flagroom.
Peggy Gillespie, interviewer and
administrator for Family Diversity
Projects in Massachusetts, said the
display portrays a variety of families
of all races with gay or lesbian moms,
dads, grandparents and teenagers.
“The purpose of this exhibit is to ed
ucate people,” Gillespie said. “We want
to get people to respect other people.”
Seven copies of the exhibit are cur
rently being displayed all over the country.
“The idea behind hav
ing these [programs]
is to show we’re real
people too.”
Bradley
Gay Lesbian and Bisexual Aggies
president
Gay Awareness Week officially be
gins Monday at 7:30 p.m. with a speech
by Rev. Michael Piazza of the Cathedral
of Hope in Dallas, the largest gay and
lesbian church in the world.
He will speak at Friends Congre
gational Church on the corner of FM
2818 and Southwood Drive.
See Awareness, Page 4
las
Endurance
Challenge
A&M's SEAL Platoon took
first place in the contest
m
By Jackie Vratil
The Battalion
C adets in camouflage and face paint
ran through mud Saturday for the
chance to take home the title of
champion of the Endurance Contest.
Sponsored by the Navy/Marine ROTC
and the Corps of Cadets, the contest
consisted of eight teams — five from
Texas A&M and teams from Rice Univer
sity, Oklahoma and Florida.
The contest was comprised of five
events: a 500-meter swim, a 3-mile run,
an obstacle course, a stamina event and
the finale, a 1.5 mile log-carrying run.
Will Hodge, 1 st sergeant of the SEAL Pla
toon and a junior business management
major, said the competition let participants
be involved in something related to what
they plan to do in the future.
“The contest is a fantastic opportuni
ty for [those of] us who plan on going
into any special operations later once we
are out of college,” he said.
John Ostermann, commanding officer
of the SEAL platoon and a senior exercise
technology major, said the contest was in
tended to motivate participants.
“It is useful later in life, whether you are
planning on going into the military or not,”
he said. "It’s a way to get all of us guys to
gether with fierce, friendly competition.”
Scott Hobbs, adviser for the team and a se
nior exercise technology major, said the con
test helps participants get their names out.
“We are hoping, somewhere down the
line, that high-ranking military officers
will come and watch the competition,”
he said. “Then, when a piece of paper
comes across the desk, (the officer) will
be able to put a face with a name.”
Ostermann said this competition is
orientated to what cadets are all about.
“For the most part, we are all wanting
to go into the Navy SEAL program,” he
said. “So when the selecting is done, this
makes us look better. It is providing a
way for our groups to to get noticed.
“It says, ‘We’re here and we have a
good program.’”
The contest started five years ago and
has been held at A&M each year.
Hobbs said he has seen the competi
tion grow and change.
“The competition is getting greater,
the quality of the athletes is better and
the times each year go down,” he said.
“Plus, we have made the run and the
swim longer.”
See Contest, Page 4
Tmm
Ryan Rogers, The Battalion
Mark McCauley, a member of the Bulldog Platoon and a freshman business administration major, climbs across one of the ob
stacles in Saturday's Endurance Contest.
Gymnastics Teams sweep championships
By Matt Weber
The Battalion
There is no place like home. Just ask the
cas A&M University Gymnastics Club.
This weekend, 154 competitors from 19
tnpuses, from junior colleges to universi-
s, converged at the Student Recreation
nter for the 1997 NAIGC National Colle-
te Championships, the largest gymnastics
jeet of the season.
|The Lady Aggies took the national title in
£)5, but their hopes of a repeat were spoiled
/ the University of Miami-Ohio, who
Udged A&M out for the title last year.
The Lady Aggies would not be denied again.
Both the men’s and women’s teams fin-
led on top of their respective divisions Sat-
day to take home the 1997 NAIGC cham-
mships. The men’s team tallied a
mposite score of 130.6 to defeat runners-
pTexas andVirginiaTech. The women took
e top spot over the University of Miami-
lio and Texas with a team total of 142.675.
This is the first time both the men’s and
omen’s squads have finished No. 1 in the
me season.
Shane Thompson, the men’s team cap-
in and a senior member, said A&M felt
nfident going into the meet despite facing
ost of the competition for the first time.
“We were prepared,” Thompson said. “We
ire totally prepared.”
The men’s squad was led by freshman
Neal Mansfield, who placed in the top 10
in five of six events to finish with a sev
enth-place all-around score of 45.500.
Mansfield finished third in the floor exer
cise, fifth on the horizontal bar, sixth on
the rings, seventh on the parallel bars and
10th on the vault.
Mansfield said he was happy with his per
formance in the floor exercise, although it
was not expected.
“Well, the floor exercise usually is not my
best event, but, I was happy with that,”
Mansfield said.
Also coming up big for the men’s squad
was senior John Sides, who placed fourth in
the vault, seventh on the horizontal bar and
eighth on the pommel horse and parallel
bars to finish with an all-around score of
42.550, good for 10th. Freshman Jeff
Schmulen also contributed with a third-
place effort in floor exercises.
On the women’s side, team captain Lori
Blakley and a junior member, brought the
Aggies’ their only first-place in an individ
ual event with a score of 9.400 on the bal
ance beam. She also added an eighth-
place finish on the uneven bars and a
ninth-place effort in the floor exercise for
an all-around total of 36.200, fourth-best
in the women’s division.
See Gymnastics, Page 8
♦
1
Robert McKay, The Battalion
The A&M Women's Gymnastics team celebrates after
winning first place in the NAIGC National Collegiate
Championships. The men's team also finished first.
Pageant's proceeds
to benefit charities
Participants were
nominated by their
sororities.
By Marissa Alanis
The Battalion
Mandy Jones, a member of the
Delta Delta Delta sorority and a se
nior marketing major, was crowned
Miss Greek A&M Thursday night at
Rudder Auditorium.
Delta Sigma Phi, an A&M fraterni
ty, sponsored the pageant, which fea
tured a formal wear category and a
question-and-answer segment. Nine
teen women from various sororities
participated in the pageant.
Jones said the event was her
first pageant and she was nervous
being onstage.
“I was a little surprised (about win
ning) , but I guess [I was] excited,” Jones
said. “All I wanted to do is get through
without making a fool of myself.”
Half of the $500 Jones won will go
to her sorority, while the remaining
half belongs to her. The makers of
the crowns for the Miss America,
Miss Universe and Miss USA
pageants designed her crown.
Jones has been a Fish Camp co
chair and an executive member of
the 1997 Conference on Student Gov
ernment Association. She currently is
a member of the CBA Fellows and the
A&M Ladies Leadership Society.
See Pageant, Page 4
The Battalion
INSIDETODAY
SWEB*: The Aggie
Baseball Team gath
ered its first sweep of
the season against ISU.
Sports, Page 5
i
Aggielife
Opinion
Page3
Page 7
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