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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 17, 1997)
& M University ouviem Derson: :rongei s?Yes,| that ar t ; eyareti re Cl ians id thein :s is not thebel dtatheij rnienti r*375 46 P JUtSL. TODAY TOMORROW 14 th YEAR • ISSUE 35 • 8 PACES COLLEGE STATION • TX FRIDAY •OCTOBER 17 • 1997 Krases on helmets prompt review indol going tj leliefsa t’s something pie trying to put end to. ,, JOHN GALLEMORE HEAD STACK By Robert Smith Senior staff writer i\ pare, | ( , xas a&M officials and student leaders have ex- ^ m y |i ressed concerns about profane language printed b raisicL Jp 0ts ” 0 f Bonfire participants, eamfof), j. Malon Southerland, vice president of stu- cestoWgrji a ffai rS) sa icj he does not approve of Bonfire par- 11 ^Wants writing obscene phrases on their pots. IcformJ] might not like for someone to put that on their hate otOr shirt, but I do not automatically have a rule ! anal aat prohibits it,” he said. “It depends on whether or choosfiLJjt i s legally or by rule obscene and if it is, people M° s ; an be asked not to do that. Obviously, we would reiigic jelcr for it to not be there.” dale and female Bonfire participants were pho tographed last week at stack wearing pots dec- o rated with phrases, such as “Girls with big tits do it better,” “Don’t want no short dick man,” and “68, I’ll owe you one.” John Gallemore, Head Stack and a se nior agricultural busi- >f beates.s major, said he wants to restore the positive im- ge (>f cut and stack. sagetolBit’s (obscene words) something that has always e to si pnr on since I’ve been here, he said. “It’s something ting: ye’re trying to put an end to.” strue: |?giudents must wear pots for protection when stop ;hey are working at cut or stack site. J mav*evin Jackson, Bonfire adviser, said he wants sooialfifire redpots take appropriate action to resolve yourojroblems. ’ a student-run organization and I want to see bleo! tutients take a lead on this,” he said, dwedtj Jackson said Bonfire activities should focus on usedoihe goals of Bonfire. ■‘We’ve got three goals at Bonfire: safety, unity nd spirit,” he said. “My question is: ‘How does this G Mate to accomplishing these goals?”’ gallemore said Bonfire workers should think of iV ,, iiMtner students before decorating their pots. ¥ U'Granted, they do have a freedom of speech,” he 1 I ■ ’ * wou ld like to see them use their own per- * onnl discretion.” ■Gallemore said he hopes everyone at A&M will pk together to promote a positive environment [Bonfire. ■‘We’d really like to have all of the students’ sup- jprt on this deal,” Gallemore said. Please see Profanity on Page 6. Shatte itidn ties h as dd 1 Students wear their pots while carrying their log to the stack site at the Polo Fields last week. B Please see editorial and related opinion columns, Page 7. LJ andlelight vigil honors victims of domestic violence By Amanda Smith Staff writer andles glowed in the dark last night at Brazos Valley Candlelight Vigil in honor |Eves lost due to domestic violence, dmmunity members, students and vic- s of domestic violence gathered at the an Municipal Building for the vigil, nsored by Phoebe’s Home. ■Vshley Peterson, the vigil coordinator and ie lead training specialist at Phoebe’s Home, people may gain a different perspective Bomestic violence by attending the vigil. jT want people to realize how serious ofnestic violence is,” Peterson said. ere were four people killed in the Bra- S Valley as a result of domestic violence It year.” & Joe Brown, the master of ceremonies at the vigil and a public information of ficer for the City of Bryan, said he be came interested in promoting awareness of domestic violence af ter attending a meeting of the Brazos Valley Domestic Vio lence task force. “Domestic violence is all too often something that we turn a blind eye towards,” he said. “I think that we need to make people aware that do mestic violence is some thing that goes on fre quently. This problem needs to be attacked community by community.” Peterson said that there tends to be a focus on spousal abuse. However, she said dating violence also is an issue that needs to be ad dressed. Debbie Emminger, a student as sistant at the A.R Beutel Health Cen ter and a senior community health major, spoke on dating violence and domestic violence, focusing on the Texas A&M campus. “I think that domestic and dat ing violence are silent prob lems,” Emminger said. “But it happens all the time. One out of every three young women becomes a victim of physical, sexual or emotional violence by age 21. A lot of college students do not really realize that they are in a bad relationship.” John Slack, a sophomore mechanical en gineering major and a member of the Aggie Band, volunteered with other cadets to dis tribute information to people attending the vigil. Slack said violence in relationships seems to go undetected. “I do not doubt that this violence has a large effect though,” Slack said. “I want peo ple to know that violence exists and to look out for signs.” Trisha Einkauf, director of Phoebe’s Home, said that Phoebe’s Home and other outreach programs have expanded in re cent years. “There are now social service agencies to help these victims,” Einkauf said. “If an abused woman reaches out to you, listen to her. Let her take the lead. She has to move according to her own table.” Brown said domestic violence outreach is strong in the Brazos Valley area. “We are fortunate to have a pro-active group here,” Brown said. “A lot of times in the rural areas, that is where the law en forcement agencies may not be equipped to handle situations. We have a dynamic group of people and organizations working to help the victims.” Phoebe’s Home provides a refuge for women and children victimized by abuse in the home. Since January 1996, Phoebe’s Home has provided a refuge for more than 870 bat tered women and children from the Brazos Valley area. Please see Vigil on Page 6. lifestyles Disabled students find the term ‘handicapped’ crippling. Unity in laughter Comedian brings close to Hispanic Heritage Month See Page 2 sports mior Miguel del Angel has icome a force for the A&M ;n’s Golf Team. See Page 5 opinion safer: Bonfire tradition loses aspect as students display bts decorated with profanity. See Page 7 online 1 http://bat-wcb.tamu.edu ook up with state and lational news through The /ire, AP’s 24-hour online news service. BRANDON BOLLOM/The Battalion Comedian Paul Rodriguez performs at Rudder Auditori um, marking the last event of Hispanic Heritage Month. By Jenara Kocks Staff writer T EXAS A&M students of all races put aside their differences last night to laugh at the comedy of Paul Rodriguez that wrapped up Hispanic Her itage Month. Carla Martinez, a MSG Town Hall member and a ju nior political science and speech communication ma jor, said comedy brings people together. “This is a really good turn out,” she said. “It was great how everyone came together to work on it like Town Hall, GAMAC and Hispanic President’s Council. We’re excited that Paul Rodriguez could bring this many people.” Rodriguez said that when he was driving up from Houston, he realized why he was asked to perform in College Station. “This place is in the middle of nowhere,” he said. “There is nothing to do here. I know your parents sent you here because they knew you wouldn’t have any thing to do but study.” Rodriguez said he is not used to performing in front of such an educated crowd. “I’m a little nervous about being in front of all these collegiate intellectuals,” he said “These intel lectuals wear glasses, go to the library and know what websites are. When someone asks me about websites, I tell them I have some in the corners of my garage.” Please see Comedian on Page 8. Cadets accept duty as Ross Volunteers By Colleen Kavanagh Staff writer The juniors for the 1997-98 Ross Volunteer Company were chosen this week to continue Lawrence Sullivan Ross’ tradi tion of being “Soldiers, States men and Knightly Gentlemen.” The Ross Volunteer Company, made up of juniors and seniors in the Corps of Cadets,serves as the Honor Guard for the Gover nor of Texas. Jeff Luna, a junior accounting major, was one of the juniors se lected to be a RV. He said he al ways has admired the company. “Ever since my freshman year, I have had so much respect for the Ross Volunteers, Luna said. “Being chosen is a great honor, and I look forward to be ing a part of the company.” Branson Washburn, comman der of the RV Company and a senior kinesiology major, said that every year 72 juniors are selected by the senior members of the company. The Ross Volunteer Company is the oldest student organization in Texas. The unit, first called the Scott Volunteers, was organized during the school year of 1887-88. In 1891, the name of the compa ny was changed to Ross Volunteers, in honor of Texas A&M President Lawrence Sullivan Ross, former governor of the State of Texas. Washburn said the volunteers perform saber arches for digni taries that come to A&M and the governor at his request. The vol unteers also shoot 21-gun salutes at Muster and Silver Taps, lead the King Rex parade at Mar- di Gras and perform drills. Chris Zorich, public relations officer for the RV company and a senior psychology major, said RVs represent the Corps of Cadets, Texas A&M and the State of Texas. “RVs are expected to uphold themselves to a high stature in everything they do on and off the Quad,” Zorich said. Members should exemplify the traits of Ross, “Soldier, States man and Knightly Gentlemen.” Washburn said he finds service to be the common theme in all of the traits. “A soldier serves his country,” he said, “a statesman serves the gov erning authority and knightly gen tlemen serve each other. Someone who posesses these traits puts oth ers above himself in everything.”