FROM CONFERENCE RACE, FALL TO CORNHUSKERS 37-0, Pg. 9
lo day • November 8, 1999
AT TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY
ION
College Station, Texas
Volume 106 • Issue 51 • 14 Pages
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Rising spirit
CHAD ADAMS/Thk Baitalion
Students watch as Centerpole is raised Friday afternoon at the Bonfire site on the Polo Field.
Construction of Bonfire makes visible progress
with arrival, placement of Centerpole at site
and unity,” Wasko said. “It is
the base that keeps the entire
Bonfire standing. It is also the
first visible sign of all the work
we’ve put into Bonfire.”
Travis Johnson, head stack
and a senior finance major,
said centerpole is vital to the
Bonfire tradition.
“Centerpole is an important
part of Bonfire, because it is the
backbone on which Bonfire be
gins,” he said.
On Nov. 11, Push begins.
Push consists of residence halls
and Corps of Cadets units
working on Bonfire from 6 p.m.
until 6 a.m. every night until
BY RICHARD BRAY
The Battalion
The spirit of Aggieland stood
tall and proud on Friday when
it was symbolized by the raising
of the centerpole for Bonfire.
Centerpole was provided by
the Lufkin Cresote Company in
two pieces which were joined to
gether to create a final height of
more than 75 feet a week after it
was brought to campus.
Traditionally, the residence
hall or Corps of Cadets outfit
that has spent the most time and
worked the hardest on Bonfire to
this point has the honor of
putting its flag on top of center-
pole. This year, Squadron 17, an
airforce outfit in the Corps of
Cadets, has its flag flying on top
of centerpole.
Bonfire has been a tradition
at Texas A&M since 1909, and
the raising of centerpole is the
first step in this tradition which
embodies A&M’s burning de
sire to “beat the hell” out of the
University of Texas-Austin in
the Nov. 26 football game.
Sean Wasko, a freshman
chemical engineering major
who attended the raising of cen
terpole, said he came away from
the event with a better under
standing of the Aggie spirit and
how centerpole is symbolic of
that spirit.
“There was a lot of bonding
House built on campus
completed, dedicated
BY BRADY CREEL
The Battalion
The family of Mamie Ellis now has a house to call
home, thanks to the dedication, commitment and
hours of work put forth by Aggies and other members
of the Bryan-College Station community.
Officials from the Aggie Habitat for Humanity and
the Texas A&M student chapter of Habitat for Hu
manity, said building the house on campus was their
dream project because it allowed student volunteers
help with the construction.
The house was dedicated Saturday morning with
an official “board-cutting” instead of ribbon-cutting
ceremony.
Construction coordinators Dr. Jim Davis and Vince
Fratinardo, a civil engineering graduate student, pre
sented the Ellis family with keys to their new home.
Taylor Handley, Aggie Habitat for Humanity presi
dent and a junior genetics major, said recipients of a
home through the Habitat for Humanity program must
meet certain eligibility criteria and make a 100-hour
sweat-equity down-payment by working on other
Habitat projects.
Once the initial investment has been made, a can
didate family must work an additional 300 hours on
the house.
Handley said the Ellis family easily surpassed its •
300-hour quota.
“I think they put in over 500 or 600 hours,” he said.
“They have been waiting and working for the fun of it.”
The structure itself was built in its entirety on the
Polo Fields on campus. Once completed, it was relo
cated to Detroit Street. A small deck and wheelchair
ramp were added once the foundation was estab
lished, and the house has been permanently placed.
The Ellis family was presented with numerous
housewarming gifts, and a Bible. Mamie’s mother,
Luezia, a patient at St. Joseph’s Regional Health Cen
ter, is expected to come home to their new house soon.
Buddhist master reveals key
to finding true Buddha nature
ANTHONY DISALVO/Thf. Battalion
Jim Daviz, Bryan-College Station Habitat Construction
coordinator, and Vince Fratinardo, Aggie Habitat Con
struction coordinator, hold down a board as Mamie Ellis
cuts it, instead of a ribbon, at the dedication of her home.
The Ellis family had been living in a two-story
apartment. However, because of Luezias’ health con
ditions and her inability to get upstairs, she had to live
in a nursing home.
Handley said building a house on the A&M campus
was quite an accomplishment.
“Needless to say, it is pretty tough to build some
thing on the A&M campus,” Handley said. “You can’t
just decide to build something, and nonetheless on
Bonfire site.”
John J. Surovik, vice president in the Bryan office
of Norwest Banks, which sponsored the house, said
the Aggies have been a great support staff and thanked
them for their active participation.
“The Aggies built this house from the ground up,
and due to their hard work, the Ellis’ have a home
now,” Surovik said.
Lynn Mcllhaney, College Station mayor, commend
ed A&M students for caring enough to get involved.
“We always hear about the bad things the youth do
see Habitat on Page 2.
see Centerpole on Page 2.
BY JESSI HIGHFILL
The Battalion
Tibetan Buddhist master Tulku
Thubten Rinpoche said love is the
key to experiencing the Buddha
nature last night in a lecture,
“Buddha Nature,” sponsored by
the Texas A&M University Bud
dhist Association.
Rinpoche spoke to,his audi
ence about the difficulty in find
ing the true Buddha nature and
how elements of Buddha is inher
ent in everyday life.
Nathaniel Rich, A&M Buddhist
Association president and a senior
philosophy major, introduced Rin
poche and called for more than 15
minutes of meditation.
Rinpoche used the story “The
Ugly Duckling” to illustrate how
people are trapped in false identi
ties and are unable to look past
these identities to realize their
Buddha nature.
“The reason we are looking for
spiritual unity with God or with a
transcendental entity is because
we have forgotten who we really
are,” Rinpoche said. “God—Bud
dha—is already in each of us.”
Rinpoche said love is the high
est religious experience, and there
is no religious experience that is
supreme to love.
“But the Buddhist perspective
is not the poet’s perspective on
love,” he said.
“Love is acceptance of who we
are. The path to ultimate love is
to accept ourselves as who we
are—as God, as Buddha, as a di
vine entity.”
Rinpoche was born in the
Golok region of eastern Tibet. He
began formal Buddhist training at
13 and at 15 was recognized as
the reincarnation of Ahnam
Lama, an important 19th-century
Buddhist spiritual master in Tibet.
Rinpoche currently is director
of the Vajrayana Foundation Col
lege of Buddhist Studies in Santa
Cruz, Calif.
The A&M Buddhist Association
will host “An Evening with Tulku
Thubten Rinpoche” tonight at
RUBEN DELUNA/The Battalion
8:30 in Rudder 504. This will be
ah informal meeting for anyone
who is interested in meeting or
speaking with Rinpoche.
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Page 3
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Page 13
Batt
Listen to KAMU-FM 90.9 at
1:57 p.m. for details on the
closing of a center for teens.
Mini-Olympics end,
top winners named
BY JEANETTE SIMPSON
The Battalion
For the last three weeks the
Student Recreation Center, and
Reed Arena have been filled with
students from around the globe
competing in the International
Students Association (ISA) Mini-
Olympics. The games wrapped
up this weekend with the
African Students Association
(ASA) as Mini-Olympics overall
champion.
Noriko Yoshida, a member of
the coed Japan Club basketball
team that finished second over
all and senior sociology major,
said the Mini-Olympics were fun
and competitive.
“The games were fun, and it
gave me a chance to meet new
friends from many places,”
Yoshida said. “At times the
games became very competitive,
everyone wanted their team to
win, but even with the competi
tion was fun for all the players.”
Each event had first and sec
ond place awards, and there
were three all around best posi
tions. The African Student Asso
ciation finished first overall. The
China Club came in second, and
the Indonesian Student Associa
tion finished third. •
The ASA took home first
place in basketball, soccer and
track and field.
The China Club swept the
table tennis event winning both
first and second place in all cat
egories. It also took home the
first place in male and female
doubles, male singles and coed
doubles in the badminton event
and claimed the first place coed
volleyball medal.
The Indonesian Student As
sociation won first and second
place in team and male singles
bowling. They also took the first
place position in bowling in the
female singles division.
The Japan Club took the first
place medal in putt-putt golf.
INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS
ASSOCIATION
MINI
BRANDON HENDERSON/Thf. Battalion
The first place finishes for soft-
ball in both the male and coed
divisions were won by the Tai
wanese Student Association.
The second place finish for soft-
ball in the male division was
won by the Panamanian Student
Association. The second place
finish for softball in the coed di
vision was taken by the JSA.
The Indian Student Associa-
see ISA on Page 2.
A&M club hosts competition
for gymnasts to raise money
BY MATT LOFTIS
The Battalion
Sarah Childs, a sophomore nutri
tional science major, and Ann Ed
mond, a sophomore animal science
major, tied for first place in the inter
mediate division of the biannual Texas
A&M Gymnastics Club Aggieland Tltm-
ble-Off yesterday.
The tie was broken when Childs
won a handstand-endurance contest.
Childs and Edmond were two of
nine gymnasts who participated in
Sunday’s tumble-off competition. Ed
mond, who had completed before, said
she enjoyed the competition.
“It was just for fun,” she said. “It
was also a good chance to tumble.”
Jennifer Lim, Gymnastics Club
Women’s captain and a sophomore bio
medical science major, said the Tumble-
Off is a fund raiser held every semester
to help pay for uniforms, warm-ups and
club trips. Participants paid a $5 entry
fee and spectators paid $3.
John Shaffer, Gymnastics Club vice
president and a sophomore English
major, said the team is saving for a
<3§> Ann Edmond
* Sarah Childs
1 *- Won the handstand
competition to break the tie
Effie Hadley
Peter Korte
Intermediate
Advanced
TUMBLE-OFF
A4M GYMNASTICS CLUB
RUBEN DELUNA/The Battalion
trip to a national competition in
Philadelphia.
Competition in the Tlimble-Off was
divided into three categories accord
ing to skill level: beginner, intermedi
ate and advanced. Competitors partic
ipated in floor tumbling and were
judged on their execution of 15 sepa-
see Tumble on Page 2.