Manisha Parekh
Staff Writer
I t is midday and the Texas sun is beating down on Joe Ag
gie as he trudges across campus. The temperature is soar
ing into the 100s as he makes it to his oven-like car.
As sweat pours down Joe's neck, the only thing on his
mind is figuring out how to beat the heat.
When the mercury starts to rise in Bryan-College Station,
students flock to area businesses in search of the ultimate
way to cool off and quench their thirsts.
From slushes to smoothies, everyone has a way to beat
the heat.
Mike Perry, a junior meteorology major, said he is not too
picky on how to cool down.
"I drink slushes and frozen drinks," Perry said
For those slush fans out there, refreshment is as close as
the corner convenience store.
The E-Z Mart on Northgate, which carries several differ
ent slush flavors, is a favorite of many students. Other pop
ular slush stops include Sonic, Texaco and Chill Out snow
cone stand.
Fresh fruit smoothies are extremely popular with the col
lege crowd.
Adam Demasellis, an A&M graduate who works at the
Zuka Juice on Texas Avenue, said since Zuka Juice just
opened up in town this year, he cannot compare the num
ber of customers during the summer season with the win
ter season.
However, he said he knew which flavors were the most
popular in town.
"The Cranberry Splash is the most popular smoothie we
sell," Demasellis said. "Most women seem to like the
Caribbean Passion."
Other smoothie shops in the area include Smoothie King
and Taste of the Tropics.
Chris Collins, a sophomore speech communications ma
jor and employee at Taste of the Tropics, said that business
shoots up during the summer.
"It's like a big, long event because all the kids are out of
school and it's hotter," Collins said.
According to Collins, most customers prefer the straw
berry-banana smoothie.
Many students prefer to cool off with a ice cream cone or
sundae from an area ice cream shop.
Swenson's, Marble Slab, TCBY and Dairy Queen are just
a few of the tempting options for overheated students.
For those afraid of the dreaded ice cream headache, there
are always non-traditional ways to keep cool in summer.
Shannon Baugh, a junior industrial distribution major,
said she likes to cool off several different ways.
"My favorite is popsicles. I have to eat popsicles," Baugh
said. "I also like to eat fruits and veggies straight from the
fridge."
Jonathan Osteen, a junior industrial distribution major,
prefers a different way to cool off.
"I drink cold beer because it tastes great and is less fill
ing," he said.
But when all else fails to keep a student cool, sometimes
the best ways are those from childhood.
"I saw the ice cream man the other day," Baugh said,
"and I almost ran after him."
Photo By Jake Schrickling/ The Battalion
College Station resident Mitzi Mills sweats out the hot afternoon sun with a cold smoothie.
By Marium Mohiuddin
StaffWriter
T he halls of Blocker are common to most students.
Whether it be the computer lab, the coffee shop or the
floors full of advisors, every student has seen their
share of the building and the classes. However, even though
masses of students have climbed the stairs, there is still a se
cret lurking around the second floor which is trying to be
kept hidden.
James Hannah, associate professor of English and coor
dinator of the creative writing program, has recently been
selected to receive the first Texas Writing Fellowship in Fic
tion. The fellowship is awarded by the Texas Commission on
the Arts for three categories including poetry, creative non
fiction and fiction. The judging was conducted by a panel
outside of Texas.
"When I was notified that I had won another state award,
I was pleased and humbled," Hannah said. "One is always
thankful that somewhere out there, one's work makes contact
with total strangers who understand and appreciate the effort.
"The three judges are out-of-state publishing writers, who
judged the submissions blindly and chose on the sole base
of literary merit."
Brian Vastag, graduate student in science technology and
journalism, said he has had the opportunity to read some of
Hannah's short stories.
"He talks about people who are in situations that are hard
to deal with," he said. "He could be pigeonholed as a real
ist, but it is more than that. He talks about people and how
they handle their lives. It is obvious that he puts a lot of ef
fort into his writing."
Hannah said he has been told that his stories are realistic
and dark, but believes his stories present hope and possibil
ities in small ways.
"My stories show characters seeing themselves in a new
way, or, in ways that enable then to find the possibility of
changing their lives," he said. "However, once they're out
of my hands, the reader get his turn. As for realism, it's sim
ply what I do best. My greatest influences have been realists:
Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Hemingway.
"But if the reader reads carefully, he'll see places where
I've given myself over to bits of fantasy, improbable situa
tion, impossible speculations," Hannah said. "I sometimes
find realism too constricting, too confining.
"I want to see my fiction become something different. Fic
tion takes the ingredients of life, adds the essential element
of artifice in plot and so makes life mean something."
Hannah said creative writing is a craft demanding time
and effort.
"Writers must be observers, they must be sharp," he said.
"Inspiration is everywhere, in overheard cafe conversations,
in newspaper obituaries, in history books, novels and short
stories by others. Too often students treat fiction as the per
fected outcome of some mystical system of inspiration."
"I often liken literature students and teachers to architects
who admire the form without appreciating the hammering
and nailing," Hannah said.
"I want young writers to understand the building as if
they were the carpenters," Hannah said. "Hammers, nails,
saws, phrases, tone, characterization. I believe strongly in
the process."
Hannah said many students have misconceptions about
English, the liberal arts department and A&M.
"A university this large lacks many of the attributes that
would make it the sort of place many students and admin
istrators already believe it, mistakenly, to be," Hannah said.
"With no art department, little emphasis on the fine arts,
and a small music program, the university can prove a dis
appointment to many," Hannah said.
"Fortunately, over the last five or so years, the growth in
our programs in creative writing has been rather amazing,"
Hannah said. "Many students come here thinking they be
long in one of the sciences, only to learn something amazing
about themselves."
Vastag said the award is merited and will give the liberal
arts department a well-deserved boost.
"This university is great with agriculture and engineer
ing, but the English department gets over looked," he said.
"The English department is one of the few departments that
has to service the whole university. This is not found in en
gineering," Hannah said.
"Everybody has to take an English class, and for a de
partment that does not have a lot of money, they do an amaz
ing job. There is so much quality."
Leanne South, communications coordinator for the Col
lege of Liberal Arts, said the fellowship is a great opportu
nity for the English department to get recognition.
"He is a wonderful writer and probably one of the best kept
secrets," she said. "We have several award winning professors.
Many of these treasures do not get much play because we have
a tradition of not having a strong liberal arts department."
Hannah said he has taught many students from various
degrees and has found talent not only among English majors.
"Many of my best students come from, say, landscape de
sign," he said. "They have gone on to prestigious M.F. A. pro
grams and have won national competitions. A large per
centage of my undergraduate classes are not English majors,
but students from across the whole spectrum. I'd say many
are starved for the delights liberal arts can offer them."
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