The Battalion
ober28 Tuesday • October 28, 1997
E S T Y L E S
HELPING
HAND
ByjA&M students find hel
e Station
Acting saving grace of Playing God
elementary school students a rewarding experience
By Marium Mohiuddin
Staff writer
5 X5 = 25, To Aggies, this equation
should be easy to solve. To elementary
school students, this equation can be
the cause of sleepless nights and stressful
weeks of math. Simply helping a child
Plough the horror of multiplication tables
"will be received with a big toothy smile and
jning happy eyes.
A few A&M students encounter these
awards on a weekly basis by volunteering at
^elementary schools in Bryan-College Sta
tion and spending 30 minutes to an hour a
====»week with an elementary student.
GoT TJtTodd King, a senior marketing major, has
t>lt 'fe volunteered for two years with the Aggie
^Buddies program in elementary schools.
■“I got involved through my church,”
King said. “I would go (to the school) for a
couple of hours every week, and I would
sitlwith them in the classroom or in the
ha)l. I would read with them or go over
things they were having problems with
sufch as math.”
^■King said it is not always obvious he is
' J<j helping the children he mentors.
||||“I had two students to work with,” King
•said. “One showed no emotions and the
other always ran over and gave me a hug
J^i was always saying, ‘thank you.’ One
Ui'tilhe I could not come, so I called ahead
informed the teacher. When I went
back, the teacher told me the student
(who did not show emotions) had been
crying because I did not come. That just
killed me because I did not know I was
having such an effect.”
Ann Busch, the enrichment coordinator
at Rock Prairie Elementary School in Col
lege Station, has been involved with the Ag
gie Buddies program for two years and
finds it to be successful.
“The program started nine years ago
because we found there was a need for
some young students to have a positive
role model,” Busch said. “We have grown
from 14 volunteers to 100 volunteers in
the last year. The teachers request bud
dies for their students. They look at stu
dents who do not have siblings, who may
have lost parents, are very shy or who
need academic help.”
The students are nominated by their
teachers and need permission from their
parents to participate.
Busch said the program has been effec
tive. Some parents have called her and
asked if they can nominate their own child.
Six to seven A&M campus organizations
are involved with the Rock Prairie Elemen
tary School Aggie Buddies program. The
volunteers do not come exclusively from
campus organizations. Volunteers have
come from church groups and some inde
pendently volunteer because they heard
about die program dirough word of mouth.
Busch said she did a survey to discover
if the program is effective.
“The teachers felt this was a positive
influence and had made a difference on
the students,” Busch said. “The teachers
have noticed an increase in the students
self-esteem, their attitude and their
school work.”
Busch said some relationships be
tween the students and their mentors are
maintained outside of the elementary
school, also.
“The partners have developed real
friendships,” Busch said. “With permission
from the parents, some A&M students have
taken them bowling or to Putt-Putt. It is
very gratifying when you see them walking
down the hall holding hands with big
smiles on the children’s faces.”
Nicole Rodriguez, behavior manager at
Ross Elementary School in Bryan, co -co
ordinates Ross Buddies, a mentoring pro
gram at Ross Elementary School, because
she saw the impact it had on her daughter.
“Two years ago I had a baby,” Ro
driguez said. “I saw that my daughter was
facing issues about the new baby and that
‘we loved the baby more.’ We felt that a
buddy could help her through these is
sues. Her buddy helped to reassure her,
and I noticed a change in her attitude to
wards the baby.”
Please see Volunteers on Page 4.
Playing God
Starring David Duchovny and Timothy
Hutton
Directed by Andy Wilson
Playing at Hollywood 16
★ ★ ★ 1 / 2 (out of five)
"relaying God uses a nice cast and solid
JL-^/vriting to give the audience a heav-
JL enly time.
The action-thriller gives small screen
star David Duchovny another chance at
the big screen.
Duchovny plays Dr. Eugene Sands, a
gifted surgeon with a nasty drug habit.
When he loses a patient while under the
influence of drugs, he loses his license and
almost his sanity.
Sands is in a club one night looking for
some drugs, when a shooting occurs. A
man is left looking like a can ofV-8 at a fir
ing range.
Sands uses his considerable medical
skill to save the guy’s life. After a job well
done, Sands takes his drugs and heads
home to get high.
When the good doctor wakes up from a
narcotic nap, a couple of gun-toting thugs
are there to greet him. Apparently some
one with a lot of clout took notice of
Sands’ impromptu medical demonstra
tion and liked what he saw.
Sands’ new admirer is Raymond Blos
som (Timothy Hutton), a software pirate
who is nuttier than a squirrel on crack.
Blossom likes Sands so much, he wants
Sands as his own personal doctor.
He pokes and prods Sands until he
agrees to ‘Play God’ again, and start saving
the lives of criminals.
Blossom’s lady, Claire (Angelina Jolie)
is not as eager to see the surgeon start
practicing again. As Blossom’s gun han
dling moll, it is her job to be suspicious
of Sands.
Things get complicated when the FBI
gets involved, hoping to nail Blossom and
anyone close to him. Soon Sands is caught
between a large, jagged rock and a place
harder than diamonds.
The acting in Playing God is excellent.
David Duchovny uses his stoic nature
for great effect as Dr. Eugene Sands. Sands
is nothing but an emotional flat line, with
only a deadpan sense of humor to occa
sionally spice up his existence.
Timothy Hutton steals the show with
his portrayal of the new age guru-cum-
gangster Raymond Blossom. Hutton, a
skilled actor, makes Blossom a kind of
charismatic beach boy with a bad attitude.
His character is never boring.
Please see God on Page 4.
David Duchovney stars as Dr. Eugene Sands in the new movie Playing God.
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V 111
MEDICAL SCHOOL
TUESDAY OCT. 28
7:00 MSC 206
I Qyii • fm*2 -A+i* m. . •> ’Xia
im
Texas A&M University
Executive Council of Health Organizations
m
sses
C Box
ETY
3BI1
if
rertible .
Tuesday and Wednesday, November 4th and 5th, 1997
COLLEGE STATION HILTON
GRAND BALLROOM - 6:15 EM.
All December *97 graduating seniors and graduate students* are invited.
Complimentary tickets may be picked up in the MSC hallway,
October 28, 29 & 30 (9 a.m. - 3 p.m.)
TICKETS GIVEN ON A FIRSTCOME, FIRST-SERVED BASIS
Student l.D. Required to Pick Up Tickets
Compliments of The Association of Former Students
*Graduate students who are not already a member may attend either night.