FRIDAY
November 13, 1998
Volume 105 • Issue 56 • 8 Pages
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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-
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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.
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Aggie Band readies for reunion
Page 9
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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
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Page 9
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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
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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