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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 13, 1998)
FRIDAY November 13, 1998 Volume 105 • Issue 56 • 8 Pages ?Ct of Cowboy as been re than 64,0(1 Dt for Dallas, e-field advan: in for a shoti) Cardinals aid e 1988, whet re losing ' third straiglu | lieir bye week ladelphia ao(| ;ainst East lea could pavetki division hist; ? against the me win each. IN BRIEF ity stalls on Munson decision BY BETH MILLER The Battalion ignS tflU The College Station City Council decided last II M'Sht to delay the decision to either open Munson ill recry r Avenue or call for a special election on the issue. .&M women™ The petition, received by city officials Nov. 6, re- tggie GillomsBortedly meets all requirements for validity and con- acts to natic r fti ns more than 1,200 signatures from registered Col- n t kge Station voters. The options offered to the Jouncil were to either approve the ordinance and ompletely open Munson Avenue to traffic, remov- ag all barricades and traffic-calming devices, or re ef the ordinance and call for a special election. The first available special election date is Jan. 16, nd the petition allows the council 60 days to make he decision. Gary Halter, a College Hills resident opposed to GiiJfOpening Munson Avenue, said he is not in favor of d Bidding the election in January because many stu- to them betidents and faculty will still be out of town, feet 4 inches! He said the election should be in May, which is , respective!;Ilhe next special election date available to the council, nore heralcfr Halter said he is opposed to opening the street un- ; Lara suffer e ligament' der the terms of the petition because it restricts the council from being able to protect College Hills res idents, and he said he is concerned about safety throughout the neighborhood. Kayla Glover, a College Hills resident and an ini tiator of the petition, said she is in favor of a Janu ary election. She said people who will be out of town for the election have the option of absentee voting. Roland Allen, a College Hills resident, compared the neighborhood’s current situation to a parachutist. Allen said the traffic-calming devices sent the neighborhood into free fall, and the council’s deci sion would determine what type of landing would result. He urged the council to “pass the ordinance and form a small, workable committee to investigate ways to shield the people from [unfavorable traffic conditions].” “Pull the rip cord, and bring the issue to a safe, comfortable landing,” Allen said. After hearing the arguments, the council decided to take the allowed 60 days to consider the argu ments. The issue will be readdressed in January, and the possibility of calling a special election in May will be considered. in, Gillom's Morel, Miss.l the state cl ;asons in a] expected to I forward po: J me that she’ (the Universt I that we fiac Horn said. “Mf called, juldgiveitai inless yoih' Aggie Band readies for reunion Page 9 isy spring $ seven event AA Central A Champion mningtof- BY MEGAN WRIGHT The Battalion An expected 1,000 members of he Aggie Band, past and present, ill gather on campus Friday and Saturday for the Texas Aggie Band Association’s annual reunion. Beau Voelkel, commander of the Aggie Band and a senior biomed ical science major, said the week end’s events are a chance for band members to reunite. "The reunion is set up by the Class of ’73,” he said. “Each year it is put on by the class that is having their 25 year anniversary. It re minds you that when you graduate, you are still thought of and re membered. You will always have their spriif i Feb.9-13" ikoia, Laylor J giate held J 1 Course Page 9 the NCAA with a touck 'eds one TD for the most ive seasons a school- wns over tins is rank® i rushing yards-perf yards-peh is 322 yard! place Big 1 f Missouri. ons is mired in ; ch the Co" 1 ' the band in your heart.” Activities will begin with regis tration Friday night and a buffet din ner at the Bush Presidential Confer ence Center. Saturday will begin with an instrument check-out at 7 a.m. at Adams Band Hall. Lt. Col. Ray Toler, director of bands for the Corps of Cadets, will speak at a brunch that follows in Duncan Din ing Hall at 8 a.m. At 9:15 a.m. the Reunion Band will form up behind Duncan Din ing Hall, stepping off for the Asso ciation of Former Students’ head quarters at 9:30 a.m. The Reunion Band will play at the association’s tailgate party located at the Clayton W. Williams Jr. Alumni Center at 9:45 a.m. before leaving for Kyle Field for the Texas A&M-Missouri football game. Following the game, the group will reconvene at Duncan Dining Hall for dinner. Voelkel said the reunions have a powerful impact on the alumni that attend. “The reunions have always been motivational for me,” Voelkel said. “We’ll be marching and sometimes have a former band member who is now 80 years old marching right be hind you. They get this sparkle in their eye and it seems like they feel that they are fish in the band all over again. When they come back, it is sometimes like a fountain of youth, and they get to experience a part of their college years again. ” Artistic endeavors JAKE SCHRICKLING/The Battalion Matt Stevens, a sophomore landscape architecture major, sketches the Academic Building for his LAND 489 class Thursday afternoon. Students Haas Hall IMNIONS 3 have n Th^ oil, so fort in 1 nd his Jebb is a * malism ^ celebrate Hindu holiday BY AMANDA STIRPE The Battalion Festive colors and intricate Indian clothes will surround Dandiya Nite, a festival sponsored by the Hindu Student Council and the India Asso ciation Saturday from 8 p.m. to mid night in the Student Recreation Cen ter Archery Room. Dandiya is a series of dances that celebrate Navratri, which means nine nights. Navratri is a religious cel ebration to honor good’s triumph over evil. However, no religious cer emonies will be involved in the Dandiya Nite at A&M because those ceremonies took place in the temple two weeks ago. In India the religious ceremonies take place on the morn ing of Navratri, and gift exchanges and dancing begin that night. Santhi Thotakura, secretary of HSC and a sophomore biology ma jor, said Navratri is a happy time. “It is a social way of celebrating the religious aspect of the holiday,” Thotakura said. Garba, a rhythmic circle dance, is the first dance of Dandiya Nite. The circle of people dance around an object, which is a lamp for this particular event. Raas is the second dance that uses dandiya sticks. Each person has either one or two sticks they use to hit their partner’s sticks. Each person rotates partners as the dance proceeds. Vijay Manyam, president of HSC and a senior electrical engineer- ing/pre-med major, said certain moves go with each dance. “It is kind of like line dancing,” Manyam said. “There will be peo ple there to teach the dances.” see Hindu on Page 2. hosts benefit BY MEGAN WRIGHT The Battalion The Haas Hall Council hosted the third annual Haas Hall Honey Hunt last night in the MSC Flagroom to benefit Habitat for Humanity. Eighteen men participated, bid ding for personal items they donat ed, and 50 women purchased pad dles to bid for the items. More than 200 people gathered in the MSC Flagroom to watch the event. Haas Hall Council President Rachel Robinson, a sophomore psychology major, said the event successfully raised money for a good cause. “The bidding was good tonight for the types of gifts that we were getting,” Robinson said. “We have been planning this for a while to make sure it ran well. We’ve really enjoyed it.” Participants included represen tatives from various athletic teams, including football and track, mem bers of the Residence Hall Associa- Professor: Ebonics really KATHY STEMPIEN/Thi: Battalion Texas A&M running back Ja’Maar Toombs auctions a football at Thursday night’s Haas Hall Honey Hunt in the MSC Flagroom. tion, two yell leaders and leaders from the MSC. John Bloss, junior yell leader and a junior agriculture business major, offered his 12th Man towel for the bidding. “I was invited to do this, and I think it was a great deal,” Bloss said. “It was a great opportunity to raise money for a good cause.” see Haas Hall on Page 2. BY ANDREA BROCKMAN The Battalion Dr. John Baugh, a professor of ed ucation and linguistics at Stanford University will present “Beyond Ebon ics: Race Relations and the Linguistic Legacy of American Slavery” today from 2 to 3 p.m. in 102 Blocker. The talk is presented by the Texas A&M University Department of Eng lish Linguistics Colloquium and Dis course Studies Circle and the Race and Ethnic Studies Institute. Dr. Kathleen Ferrara, an associ ate professor of linguistics, said ebonies is defined as a form of ver nacular English used by some African-Americans between inti mates such as family and friends. The common scholarly term for ebonies is African-American Ver nacular English (AAVE). Ferrara said AAVE was intro duced to America through African slaves in 1619, but the origin of the dialect is unknown. “We also do not know why it has persisted for centuries,” she said. Ferrara said many people mistake AAVE for slang, however, linguists have been studying it for years. “For a long time it (AAVE) has been considered a valid and interest ing variety of language with a long history of scholarly study,” she said. Ferrara said AAVE is rule-gov erned and internally consistent. “Surprisingly, it has language rules like any other dialect,” she said. She said one characteristic of AAVE is the two forms of “be. ” The first is the invariant, in which “be” is not conjugated. An example is “The post office be over there.” The second form is the copula dele tion in which “ be” does not link a person to an adjective or occupa tion. An example is “He doctor.” “These forms in AAVE are cam ouflaged to look like improper use of standard English,” Ferrara said, “but they are reflective instead of a rich aspectual system.” Ferrara said AAVE is regulated and people who speak it rarely make mistakes. “They are following a rule,” she said, “just not the [standard] Eng lish rule. ” NEWS IN BRIEF Profs to participate in book festival Two Texas A&M professors have been selected to participate in the 1998 Texas Book Festival which will be Nov. 13 to 15 in Austin. Dr. D. Gentry Steele, professor of anthropology, was chosen for his book of photos of Big Bend, “Land of the Desert Sun.” Dr. H. W. Brands, professor of history, was chosen for his book, “T.R.: The Last Romantic,” a biography of President Theodore Roosevelt. Steele’s book, recently published by Texas A&M University Press, is a portfolio of black and white pho tographs of Big Bend National Park. Steele will participate in a panel dis cussion on Big Bend with two other authors at the festival. Brands will participate in a round-table discussion at the festi val about writing biographies. Fun run to benefit Friends of Evans More than 150 participants will compete tomorrow in the 6th an nual Friends of the Sterling C. Evans Library Fun Run, which will begin in the parking lot of the FSIS National Training Center on West Campus. Adelle Hedleston, information representative for the Department of Public Relations at Evans Library, said the funds raised by the fun run will go to the Friends of the Sterling C. Evans Library organization, which provided funds to support the Cush ing Memorial Library renovations and also to aid Evans Library when needs arise. Packet and map pick-up, as well as registration for the fun run will be available today from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the MSC. The registration fee is $12 for students and $15 for non students. Registration is also avail able online at www.evansrun.com or at the race tomorrow morning. Teleconference addresses alcohol The Department of Student Life Alcohol and Drug Education Pro grams will be hosting a national teleconference titled “Alcohol Abuse & Campus Violence: Rights, Rebellion & Responsibilities” to ad dress issues of alcohol abuse and campus violence. The teleconference will be broad cast by satellite out of Washington State University and will feature a panel of representatives from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of Colorado-Boulder and Montclair State University. The teleconference will be from noon to 2 p.m. in 101 Wehner Build ing. It will be open to the public, and local hosts will fax questions to Washington State University to be answered by the panel. Students who attend are invited to bring a brown bag lunch. MSC galleries offer art lovers haven from class BY AMANDA SMITH The Battalion Art permeates the Texas A&M campus, from the art galleries in the MSC to the sculptures adorn ing its landscape. The last day of Arts Awareness Week, Nov. 9-13, marks only an end to the week, not the end of the tradition of art on the Texas A&M campus. The Texas A&M Forsyth Center, the J. Wayne Stark Gallery, the MSC Visual Arts Gallery, and the Office of University Art Collections and Exhibitions are a few of the es tablished art patrons on campus. Lalaine Little, the coordinator of marketing and gallery pro grams for the Forsyth Center, said Texas A&M offers a number of outlets to the arts, despite the ab sence of a fine arts degree pro gram. “We have some really good art collections on campus,” Little said. "If all the art on the campus were gone, I think people would miss it. But as far as people in the Texas A&M community planning their day around visiting an art gallery, I do not think that happens.” Little said Arts Awareness Week reminds people of the art within the Texas Community. Erin Petersen, chair of the MSC Visual Arts Committee and a ju nior international studies major, said she wants to educate indi viduals about art opportunities in the community. “We are concerned about in creasing awareness of Texas A&M and the surrounding community,” Petersen said. “Awareness is in creasing. The more awareness there is of art on campus, the bet ter it will be received.” The MSC Visual Arts Commit- JAKE SCHRICKLING/The Battalion Lindsay Waterfield, a sophomore elementary education major, and Dean Pickard, a senior bioenvironmental sciences major, look at sculpture on display at the MSC Visual Arts Gallery Thursday. 1
