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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 5, 1999)
FRIDAY March 5, 1999 Volume 105 • Issue 106 • 8 Pages College Station, Texas 105 YEARS AT TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY opinion • Professors who rely too heavily on textbooks harm both themselves and their students. PAGE 7 today’s issue Toons 2 Movie Reviews 4 Monday’s issue Aggielife focuses on Women's Week and influential women in the history of A&M. sports • Iowa State Cyclones travel to Olsen Field for weekend series against the Aggies. PAGES hack-a-Thon Charity event raises hundreds of dollars Xi r 7 : SALLIE TURNER/The Battalion transi; Ricky McGee, a senior wildlife and fisheries sci- f Team.^pces major, builds the frame of the Alpha Phi ■Mo’ - nOmega Shack Wednesday. The Aggie Habitat for Humanity’s Shack-a-Thon raised $600. BY AMANDA PALM The Battalion Aggie Habitat for Hu manity raised over $600 during the two-day Shack-a- Thon March 3-5 at Rudder Fountain. The organizations that participated in Shack-a- Thon built shacks out of cardboard, boards and plas tic tarps to serve as their temporary homes. Students who spent the night in the shacks slept on the ground in sleeping bags and used light from lanterns and flashlights. Stephen Fisher, Shack-a- Thon chair and a junior management information systems major, said the money raised will con tribute to Aggie Habitat for Humanity’s goal of $15,000. “We want to build a home on campus and then move it to a lot in Bryan,” he said. “That way visitors and students on campus can see what we are doing to help the community. But $15,000 is a lot of money, and we still have a long way to go.” Chris Lavery, a member of the Conference On Fresh man Leadership Organiza tions (COFLO) and a junior history major, spent both nights in COFLO’s shack. “It was really neat to be outside and work together to build the shack,” he said. “It gave me a small sense of the reality of not having a house or an apartment or a dorm to live in.” Shannon Soechting, a member of Alpha Phi Omega and a sophomore sociology major, said there were so many members who wanted to participate in Shack-a-Thon that peo ple had to sign up for shifts. “There were different blocks you could sign up for, so that gave more mem bers a chance to partici pate,” she said. Students stopped by Rudder Fountain to ques tion the students participat ing in Shack-a-Thon. “A lot of people came up to talk to us,” Soechting said. “Some people had no idea what Habitat for Hu manity was and that really surprised me.” Fisher said the purpose of Shack-a-Thon was to help people recognize Aggie Habitat for Humanity is working to help the com munity. “This wasn’t so much about experiencing home lessness; it was about awareness,” he said. “Liv ing in the shacks may have been a little cushy, but it still got the point across to students.” ne, bu' [Other 3,” Jodi mei (Talent show to end I-Week BY AMANDA STIRPE The Battalion at .me ■ After a week-long international nde awareness campaign to increase pinec« n sciousness in the community, ^ Te\a‘B e 20th annual talent show and - ; ’ uj pcg parade in Rudder Auditorium or TAv tonight will round out the events. dersW® The talent show and parade be- a at 7:30 p.m. and will be fol- ed by an awards ceremony and rty at the Ramada Inn from 10:30 a. to 2 a.m. International Week, a celebra- n including cultural displays, an ternational buffet and tonight’s fonts, concluded International areness Month, which was Feb ary. Cultural displays were in the ndows of Northgate businesses d at elementary schools during ,e month. Sombra Davis, international ident adviser and International udent Association (ISA) sec- pjidary adviser, said ISA made a conscious effort to make Interna- Ipnal Awareness Month and In ternational Week commu nity events. “This year, ISA coordinated a lot with local ele mentary schools and sponsored Neale Ele mentary School,” Davis said. “Elemen tary chil dren’s art work was on display at the [international] buffet, and some will be displayed at the talent show. ” Davis said between 50 and 60 international cultures and every re gion of the world have been repre sented during the week. The talent show will host 16 acts, and the dress parade will feature 18 cul tures. “Participants bring back to the United States items and costumes or have their families send special music and costumes to dis play,” Davis said. Mu sic, dancing and dra matic in terpretation will be the major elements of the talent show. Each group will have six minutes to demonstrate their tal ents and display their dress in the parade. Davis said some students have trained as dancers or musi cians in their native countries. Davis said groups will portray significant aspects of their cultures and cultural history in their pre sentations. “ [The presentations] appeal vi sually with the colors and textures of the costumes,” Davis said. “The music is very authentic, live or taped. It is neat to see how differ ent cultures celebrate. ” The awards ceremony and par ty will reward the top five clubs based on participation, products for the buffet, entries in cultural displays, performances at the talent show and performances in the dress parade. Davis said judging the groups is difficult because of differences in music and dances. “The clubs will be judged on how motivated they are along with excitement and participation,” Davis said. “It’s more willingness than how many participate.” Davis said the international clubs not only represent their cul tures, but many represent facets of their country, such as art or busi ness. “They take a proactive effort to let the community know about their cultures,” Davis said. K-2 TKO CARING CASAS/The Battalion Erik Reynolds, a freshman aerospace engineering major, lands a hit on the face of Leon Mitchell, a junior kinesiology major, on the Quad. Both Mitchell and Reynolds are members of outfit K-2. Symposium to address math, science topics BY SAMEH FAHMY The Battalion The history of science, the Y2K bug, ocean engineering and genetic cloning are among the topics to be discussed Saturday at the MSC. The Texas Alliance for Science, Technology, and Mathematics Edu cation will be sponsoring a youth symposium to encourage high school students to continue their studies of math and science. The 12th annual symposium will be held from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and is expected to draw 1,200 to 1,500 high- school students as well as science and math teachers. Meena Balgopal, project coordi nator for the Texas Alliance, a statewide consortium of businesses and educational institutions that works to improve science, technolo gy and mathematics education, said the symposium will promote greater interest in science and math among students. Dr. Robert James, professor of sci ence education in the Department of Educational Curriculum and In- SEE symposium on Page 2. orpS of Cadets to host Traditions Council to present ilitary Weekend, Ball program on history of a&m AVAILS Military institutes om across the hited States will ttend discussions nd other events. BY CARRIE BENNETT Tire Battalion Texas A&M’s Corps of Cadets will host the annual Military Weekend Horn Thursday until Sunday. Forty- si.' cadets and three visiting officers ■om different military institutes »ross the country will attend Mili- ■ry Weekend. f " The visitors will represent The itadel, Virginia Military Institute and irginia Tech Also, representatives om Prairie View A&M, Texas A&M niversity at Galveston and Virginia Women’s Institute for Leadership will attend the event. Roundtable discussions will ad dress gender integration, honor and ethics, and cadet vs. military training. Kathryn Jones, vice chair of Mili tary Weekend and a junior history major, said the issues and situations pertain to cadets attending military institutions. “We will be discussing these is sues and sharing ways to improve certain situations,” Jones said. “The weekend is also about camaraderie between the cadets at the military in stitutions.” Gordon Harwell, chair of Military Weekend and a senior history major, said weekend highlights will include a Military Review Friday at 5:30 p.m. at O.R. Simpson Drill Field and the Military Ball Thursday night at Peb ble Creek Country Club. Major Doc Mills, Class of ’72, said Military Weekend has grown and evolved since he was a cadet at A&M. “The character of Military Week end has changed since the early ’70s,” Mills said. “Back then it was centered more towards social events. ” He said the program lasted two days when he was a cadet. “We had a separate bash on Fri day night for the Army and Air Force divisions. On Saturday we had the federal inspection, which no longer takes place, and the review that still is a main event for the weekend,” Mills said. “Saturday night we had the Military Ball, which everyone at tended, and it is still held today.” Mills said cadets from other mili tary institutions were not invited when he was a cadet. “The original features remain, such as the review and the Military Ball, but other events have been added, such as the roundtable dis cussions,” Mills said. “The weekend has improved a great deal over the years.” BY MEREDITH HIGHT The Battalion The Texas A&M students will get a fresh perspective of the Universi ty’s history this Saturday night in Rudder Auditorium when Tradi tions Council holds its first annual Spring Traditions Helping Ignite New Generations (T.H.I.N.G.). Spring T.H.I.N.G. will be in Rudder Auditorium from 7-9 p.m. this Sat urday. Admission is $2. The program, designed to attract students who are not necessarily aware of the traditions and history of A&M, is in a storyline format. Events in A&M history will be re-en acted with the help of Freudian Slip, Alpha Phi Alpha, Aggie Wranglers, Ballet Folklorico, the Aggie Players and other performers. Between per formances, Traditions Council will give background and factual infor mation of the history of A&M. Dr. Ben Welch, director of Stu dent Activities, will emcee the event. September Smith, public rela tions chair for Traditions Council, said there are a lot of people who do not know much about the tradi tions. “We really want everyone to come,” she said. “Our purpose as a student government committee is to increase awareness about the tra ditions. ” All proceeds from Spring T.H.I.N.G. will go towards the Cushing Memorial Library, where A&M archives are kept. The event has the potential to raise $4,000 to $5,000 for the Library. Dr. David Chapman, University archivist, said he is grateful to Tra ditions Council for donating all of the proceeds to the library. “It goes to help us preserve a lot of archival material in Cushing,” he said. “Cushing houses all of the archives, which is manuscripts and photos and books that contain the history of the school. “The processing and preserving of these materials is expensive. It will allow us to have a certain amount of money on hand to help with that.” Chapman said this is the first time a student organization has held an event expressly for Cush ing. “I think it’s pretty incredible,” he said. “I don’t think anyone could ar gue that it is not important to pre serve A&M history. ” The Association of Former Stu dents is co-sponsoring Spring T.H.I.N.G. Patrick Williams, direc tor of campus programs for the As sociation of Former Students, said the event is a great opportunity for the Association of Former Students to build relationships with students. see T.H.I.N.G on Page 2.