iirsday • April 30, 1998
The Battalion
C 3 ELI. 'E
r he sound of a clock
ticking echoes off
the walls of the
ramped Moore Hall resi
lence. The hour hand lurch-
is toward 11 p.m., against
lie will of the room.
Sharing the uneasy si-
ence, three men sit
lunched over, partly in
'rustration, partly in
shame. Finally, one lifts his
lead and shouts, “Oh God!
He are not funny tonight!"
By Am her Benson
Special to The Battalion
J ohn Lemons, Ed Goodwin and David Hoff
man need to be funny. Tonight they are end
ing three years of what they like to call “Con-
iructive Criticism for Today’s Campus” by
uriting the final two weeks of their daily comic
snip, Ewe Hall.
Ewe Hall, known for its hilarious take on
campus issues and unlikely celebrity endorse
ments, will make its last appearance in The Bat-
talion on May 8.
The comic strip began its run in the fall of
1995 when Lemons, a graduate student in elec
trical engineering, teamed his own quirky sense
of humor with the wit of friend David Doyle and
ihe artistic talents of Goodwin, a senior man
agement information systems major. After
Doyle’s graduation in 1996, Hoffman, a junior
biomedical science major, joined the team. To
gether, they have led the student body through
a raucous journey of campus capers and pop
culture as seen through the eyes of their two
Odd Couple narrators, Todd and Neal.
Every Sunday night, Lemons, Goodwin and
Hoffman pile into Lemons’ residence hall and
begin the process of creating the comic. Inspira
tion, when not conspicuously absent, stems from
anything from current events to other cartoons.
“Love Is, Family Circus,” Hoffman said
with sarcasm, “that’s where we get our cut
ting-edge ideas.”
Actually, the three said they strive for one thing.
“To make ourselves laugh,” Lemons said.
The men share a symbiotic relationship
when it comes to a strip’s creation. Concepts
and punch lines ricochet off the walls like the
two-year-old Starburst that Hoffman found in
the couch. That free flow of ideas, Goodwin said,
is essential to writing a funny strip.
“It’s checks and balances, just like the govern
ment,” Goodwin said, “and about as effective.”
Some of their best comics, the trio agreed, are
the ones that got away.
“One time we tried to say we did the cartoon
in invisible ink,” Lemons said. “The editor did
n't think that was funny.”
But the Venus Corps Trap, Traditions th,at
Failed and Ewe Hall Cigarettes were funny
enough to see print and get some students see
ing red. So were the guest appearances from
johnny Cepheid, Dr. Ray Bowen, Student Body
President Curtis Childers and Board of Regents
Chair Mary Nan West. But even a casual reader
of Ewe Hall knows that nothing is sacred, espe
cially if you occupy the space below or above it
in the newspaper.
“The public loves the comic wars,” Lemons
said of Ewe Hall’s notorious habit of knocking
the other comic strips that run in The Battalion,
“but we only like to do it if they fight back.”
Their fellow cartoonists aren’t the only peo
ple the three encourage to avenge themselves.
The sincerest form of flattery for these men is
the angry Mail Call letter.
“I’ve been disappointed,” Hoffman said.
“We’ve only gotten four Mail Call letters our en
tire career. We must be doing something wrong.”
But judging from the number of Ewe Hall strips
posted on residence hall doors and pinned to bul
letin boards all over campus, it could be inferred
that the strip resonates with its audience, provid
ing a dose of well-needed humor on a campus
that is known for taking itself too seriously.
As they finish their reign as Kings of the
Comics, the three encourage aspiring cartoon
ists to try to tarnish their legacy.
“Hopefully, there will be a better comic strip
to replace us,” Goodwin said.
“Yeah, right,” Hoffman said. “What are the
chances of that?”
m
m
m
m
m
m
m
m
m
mque environment, good food;
make College Stations FreeLirds-
a traditional eaterg for all to enjog :
By Katy Lineberger
Staff writer
I t’s a weekday afternoon, and Inez Reyna is sitting on
a stool in Freebird’s World Burrito unwrapping the!
foil-covered concoction in front of her with sincere
pleasure. Graffiti covers the wall behind her, and the*
front end of a Harley-Davidson motorcycle bursts'
through the bricks, frozen in action. Yet, the Northgate*
restaurant’s unusual decor is not distracting the senior*
English major from the jumbo-sized burrito she's eating.’
Like many other Aggies, Reyna is a regular here, stop-*
ping in about once a week. “This place is so cool,” she,
said above the boisterous beat of popular music. “I love
the atmosphere and the food.”
For the hundreds each day who flock to Freebird’s,L
those qualities have helped establish the restaurant as*
a College Station landmark. General Manager Nema^-
Tatum said her eatery is always packed, and she sees’
some of the same faces up to four times a week.
“We’re unique, we’re different, we’re fun,” she said“
with a cheerful grin. Across the room, chicken and steak*'
sizzle invitingly on a grill, and a dozen customers in line^
anxiously await their turn to order burritos. For aroundr
$5, the patrons can feast on a large tortilla filled with,-
generous portions of meat, beans, rice, cheese and a va
riety of “freebies and extras” wrapped neatly in alu
minum foil and made to their specifications.
The offbeat restaurant’s story begins, fittingly, in Cal
ifornia. In the mid-1980s, Freebird’s founder, Pierre^
Dube, was a student at the University of California at
Santa Barbara. He opened a “hole-in-the-wall" stands
with his roommate to sell roasted chicken, said Dube’s
wife, Mary, Freebird’s controller and a 1994 Texas A&Mt
graduate. At night, the roommates began making burri
tos with the leftover meat pieces. The burritos became'
very popular and were soon the main product, she said.
The friends-turned-business-partners then con
ducted a marketing survey of the 20 biggest colleges in
the country and chose College Station as the site for
their next venture, which opened in 1990.
Freebird’s, which takes its name from the title of a
song by rockers Lynrd Skynrd, quickly established itself
in the local market. In fact, the restaurant owner’s wife
said the popularity soon became more than the small
store could handle, with up to 500 customers a day by
store manager Tatum’s estimation. A second location,
on Texas Avenue near Target, opened last year.
“We also wanted to reach another market, the commu
nity at large,” Dube said. “Northgate can be kind of intim
idating to non-students. There’s really not good parking.”.
If
Please see Freebird’s on Page 6.
Bryan Hospital
has changed its name
5 times in 67 years.
And now we are
changing it again.
For the last time.
Honest.
When our hospital was founded in 1931 at the corner of 27th and Regent Street in Bryan, it made
sense to call it Bryan Hospital. When we moved to Memorial Drive in 1974, we were called
“the NEW Bryan Hospital”. And later we adopted the name of our owners: Humana B-CS.
When we moved to Rock Prairie Road in College Station in 1987, we became
Humana-Brazos Valley. After we joined the Columbia system, we chose the name
Brazos Valley Medical Center and later, Columbia Medical Center.
Now, with new focus on local management and local involvement in the health of our community, we’ve
changed our name again to better identify us with our location. Most hospitals are named after their loca
tion, even those which serve multiple towns or counties. We asked lots of local people
(business leaders, members of the health care community and our employees) for recommendations.They
all said make it local, make it short and make it permanent. Our Board of Trustees selected
College Station Medical Center for obvious reasons: it was local, short and permanent.
We’re proud of the 67 years we’ve spent providing healthcare to families in this area. And we’re
proud of our state-of-the-art facility on Rock Prairie Road. And, after the new wears off, we think
you will agree that we finally found a name that will last.
MBn
COLLEGE STATION
MEDICALCENTER
1604 Rock Prairie Road • College Station,Texas 77842-3500 • 409-764-5100
live in Concert
Join us for an evening of fun and festivities as Brazos Bash
Celebrates Tradition with live performances by country’s hottest
rising stars Rick Trevino and The Lynns.
Saturday, May 2,1998
The new Reed Arena
ctct5f/?/iAsn=i=i (409) 268-0414
*** ’ www.ticketmaster.com
TEXAS A&M MSC BOX OFFICE • FOLEY'S
DISCOUNT COUPON
Graphic design fcy Ite Matthe«s Group
$2.00 Oil!
$12.00 Ticket Price
This coupon must be presented at MSC Box Office.
Not valid at other ticket locations.
Traditions show featuring the Aggie Wranglers, Singing Cadets, Texas A&M Symphonic Band and a laser light show.