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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 1, 1999)
he Battalion Aggielife Page 3 • Monday, February 1, 1999 > of recent* 3f humai de the X America-i nsorshipa act of tec diences;tf g of cowbo tore: Supf ness in l Holocaust. aving the Way -year-old 5"' zklebration ^honors -humanity i r • a • \jncan-Amencan 0 Accomplishments o IMMUI'I iblic semct aalth and p rnaay of theC serve as re its reseaf ationofst their effo complex f A 11 BY SCOTT HARRIS The Battalion F | or many people, February is more than a month of candy hearts and love let- iters. It brings with it the triumphs and itruggles of an entire people. Bebruary is Black History Month, a nonth dedicated to the remembrance of hose who helped pave the way for \frican-Americans in today’s society. Black History Month began as Negro His- ory Week in 1926. Started by Carter G. vVojodson, Negro History Week would not ae expanded to a full month until 1976. ^Jvoodson was born on December 19, 1875, to a poor family in New Canton, Va. Ble did not enroll in high school until he wah 20 years old and graduated in two /ears. ,Jj|After graduation, he eventually received his Ph.D. from Harvard University. [Woodson founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History in 1915, in anleffort to encourage people to study the history of African-Americans. jH-Ie would become the editor of the asso ciation’s publication, The Journal of Negro History, which would be published for the next 30 years. ■Woodson became the dean of the College ofLiberal Arts and head of the graduate fac ulty at Howard University in 1919. f! ®Woodson published several scholarly texts in his lifetime, including The Negro in Our History, The Education of the Negro Pri or to 1861 and A Century of Negro Migration. At the time of his death in 1950 he was working on the sixth volume of Ency clopaedia Africana. Woodson chose February as Black Histo ry Month because it was the month in which slaves heard news of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution of the Unit ed States. The 13th Amendment abolished slavery in all states. Throughout history, African-Americans have made significant contributions to so ciety. African-American inventors were re sponsible for inventing the rotary engine, the fire extinguisher, the typewriter, the traf fic signal and the fountain pen. African-American scientists have also made great strides in the medical field, cre ating equipment like the urinalysis machine and controls for the pacemaker. Theodore Sanders, president of Phi Beta MICHAEL WAGENER/The Battalion Sigma, said Black History Month is a time of reflection for African-Americans. “It embodies the legacy and memory of all African-Americans who have gone be fore myself and their contributions to the country and world to make it a better place,” Sanders said. Joel Garrett, president of the MSC Black Awareness Committee (BAC), said black history is American history. “It is an opportunity to reflect upon the past and those who came before us to pave the way for African-Americans,” Garrett said. “It is a story of a people and their struggle.” Garrett said the BAC will be holding a kickoff program in the MSC Flagroom this Wednesday. The BAC also holds an annual program in the last week of February called the Harambee Unity Festival. This festival brings together different campus groups and gives them the oppor tunity to reveal themselves to the Universi ty- Students express interests by forming organizations BY KYLE WHITACRE The Battalion T exas A&M offers hundreds of clubs for its students, but even so, not every group’s opinion are represented. Sometimes, students wish to start their own clubs to help spread their ideas and provide a way for others with the same ideas to express themselves. Lee Koehler, a sophomore philosophy and economics major, was one such student. Koehler said forming a club on campus requires only a few simple steps. “Basically, you only need three people to start a club — an adviser and two officers,” Koehler said. “The club also needs a constitution, but the University has a generic constitution form you can fill out with the pur pose of the group.” An adviser must be a faculty member or a graduate student who has worked for the University for one year. In Koehler’s case it was graduate student Bryan Thomlinson. “Bryan and I noticed there were no organizations on campus who dis cussed or promoted classical liberalism or liberty,” Koehler said. “We thought it could use one.” The two got together with a few friends and founded the Students for Individual Liberties. “We knew there was interest in promoting liberty, but it was all indi viduals acting on their own with no way of contacting each other,” Koehler said. “So we started a forum to discuss those ideas with University sup port.” Kohler said university support does not include financial backing, but does include the use of meeting rooms, organization e-mail accounts, cam pus advertising, use of MSC blue screens, a table at MSC Open House, a checking account to hold club fund-raising profits and other resources. “University support has given us the boost we needed to get our club going,” Koehler said. “At first it was just a few friends, but we got a table at Open House, and our membership has expanded 10-fold.” The Students for Individual Liberties supports such ideas as free mar ket, private property and individual rights. The discussion groups focus on specific issues that have interest to the members. Right now, the orga nization is working on raising funds to bring a speaker to Texas A&M lat er in the semester. Steuart Young, a sophomore political science and philosophy major, said he joined the group for a variety of reasons. “It’s an alternative to the two-party [political] system,” Young said. “I don’t associate myself with any party, including the Libertarian Party, and the club just sparked interest in me.” Organizations like Students for Individual Liberties are formed by en thusiastic and determined students every semester. Some organizations last and some do not, but all of them show the determination Aggies put into expressing themselves and their beliefs. The forms to start a new organization are available in Koldus at the Student Organizations Office and are now also available online at http://stuact.tamu.edu on the Web. m iary 2nd ;C orqe Busri Dj ; Til m &iiv« in RS/rV , campus. 17.50W* iesum padatCo*^ mg ■ i lilt ik. in + ramurals Fitness 7 Feature Programs Aquatics Golf Course I AMU Outdoors Sport Clubs Intramurals Outdoor Soccer Wallyball Team Bowling Slow-Pitc h Soltball Slam Dunk Valentine's Day Run Rac quetball Rl ( ,INI KM K IN Jan. 23 Feb. 2 Jan. 25-Feb. 2 Jan. 25-Feb. 2 Feb. 1-9 Feb. 1-9 Feb. 1-9 Feb. 1-9 TAMU Outdoors Evim Dam Riqsikauos Caving Day Trip Feb. 20 Feb. I 10 El Potrero Chico Load and Go fob. 27 2B Fob. I 2 5 Bac kpac king Trip Fob. 27-2B Fob. 1-2 5 Now available', Rock (limbing Orientation Clinics:' Sun.—Fri. at 5p.m. and 7p.m. and on Sat. at 1p.m. and 5p.m. Basketball Officials Orientation will be held TONIGHI in room 272 in the Rec Center at 7:()()p.m. Aquatics • Adult Learn to Swim Advanced Competitive I Jiving Pr< x ;kam Dai i Feb. 15-18 & Feb. 22-25 Feb. 15-18 & Mar. 1-4 Rl ( .ISIKAIK IN Jan. 19- ' Feb. 10 Feb. 3-17 For Information call 845-7826 or Visit our Ftomepage http://recsports.tamu.edu Check out our flyers for more details on our programs. Spring Break Trips Evim Dmi Sea Kayak the' Mar. 1.5-21 Everglades, Florida Horsebac k the Texas Frontier, Mar. 17-21 Big Bend May Break Trips Evim Dau Canoe the' Buffalo River, May 16-22 Arkansas Roc ky Mountain May. 23-30 Climbing Adventure', CO Rigisiraiic >\ Jan. 2.5- Mar. I |an. 25- Mar. 1 Rigisirai k )N Jan. 2.5- April 26 Jan. 25- April 26 TAMU Outdoors annual Clearance Sale Save from 20% to 45% off of selec ted items from now until Feb. Feature Programs • Personal Training—Pic k up a brochure and gel started TODAY! • NEW Personal Fitness Profile Assessment—Personal calorie expenditure and exerc ise information, Ixicly fat perc entage, blood pressure, cardiovascular, muscular strength and flexibility assessment. • NEW Partner Personal Training—sign up with a friend fora special price.. • NEW Weight Management Program—12 week food manage ment and exerc ise program. For more information contact Paula Opal at 845—3076. • Fresh Start Wellness Program is coming up in February. Contac t DeAun Woosley at 862-3995 for more information. Job Opportunities M \i<ki i inc ; Assisi ani The primary responsibility is to assist in market researc h, mar ket analysis and data management. A secondary responsibility is to work with the marketing team to develope new mar keting initiatives for the Department of Recreational Sports. Please complete an application in room 202 in the Student Rec Center. For more information please contact Judy Cook at 862-1856.
