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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 3, 2000)
| 11 IBH The Big Event’s 547 jobs exceed previous record BY BROOKE HODGES The Battalion Lauren May, a Rock Prairie Elementary third grader, wanted a couple of rooms painted, so she sent her form to The Big Event office and on Sat urday five Texas A&M students showed up to do the job. “My mom really doesn't like to paint and she said if 1 wrote a letter they might do it for me.” she said. Students came out and painted her bedroom and playroom blue. May said. “They let me help and there were really, real ly nice to me.” After a short rain shower Saturday morning, 5,100 students showed up to participate in the 19th Annual Big Event. “The day was wonderful. We had a short scare with the rain from 8 to 8:30, but then everyone start ed s/iowing up,” said Bowie Hogg, The Big Event student involvement executive and a junior manage ment major. This year's 547 jobs were the largest number in the history of the single-day, student-run ser vice project, Hogg said. The day began at 9 a.m. with M. L. “Red” Cashion, retired National Football League ref eree and Class of '53, addressing the crowd of student volunteers. “The speaker was wonderful, he talked about how special [The Big Event] was and how it meant so much to everyone,” Hogg said. Cashion's speech consisted of a story about an elderly woman who had been signed up to receive help from The Big Event volunteers by a friend and did not know about it. “He really got everyone motivated to go out,” said Adam Sheedy, a Big Event volunteer and a junior business major. Volunteers then went to The Big Event Headquart-ers near the Bonfire site to. receive their job assignment and supplies and set out for their job sites. “Everyone was in and out of headquarters with their supplies in 22 minutes,” Hogg said. Sheedy said he got to his job site around 10 a.m. and was done in about two and a half hours. “Our job was about a four-to-six people load. We went to an elderly woman’s home,” he said. “We washed her windows, cleaned the porch, raked the yard and cleaned the front yard.” “Aou could tell she couldn’t do the job herself, and it felt good to do something we knew she couldn't do,” Sheedy said. “1 wish we could have done more for her, but the rain stopped us.” The jobs were all completed very quickly, Lisa Cassidy, director of The Big Event and a se nior marketing major, said. “We wrapped everything really, really early,” Cassidy said. “The students were really, really great.” ‘ STUART VILLANUEVA/The Battalion Dan Peek, a sophomore general studies major, and other students from Univer sity Towers (center and left) paint the porch of 90-year-old J. 0. Perkins as a part of Big Event on Saturday. College Station resident and former NFL official M. L.”Red” Cashion (left)address Big Eypnt volunteers at the opening ceremony. Men’s tennis tops No. 2 Pepperdine BY AL LAZARUS The Battalion Texas A&M was perfect at home. Pepperdine was just plain perfect. Something had to give Friday night, and a hometown hero, a scrappy sophomore and 610 fans at the A&M Varsity Tennis Center made sure it was not the Aggies. Buoyed by A&M Consolidated product Cody Hubbell’s come-from-behind win and aclutch, match-clinching performance from sophomore Jarin Skube, the llth-ranked Texas A&M men’s tennis team scored a 4-3 victory over previously undefeated No. 2 Pepperdine in front of the largest crowd ever at the Varsity Tennis Center. “The crowd was unbelievable,” A&M coach Tim Cass said. “Our kids really feel comfortable here, and there’s no doubt that this is a really tough place for a visiting team to come into.” The Aggies (10-5) proved it with Fri day’s win, which notched their home record this year to 8-0. It was also their second over a top-five team, the first coming Mar. 5 against No. 4 Florida. After losing the doubles point to the Waves (18-1), A&M quickly recovered in singles thanks to dominating performances from ju niors Shuon Madden and Dumitru Caradima. Madden, ranked No. 2 in the nation, beat 18th-ranked Robert Kendrick, 6-4, 6-0. Caradima then finished off No. 53 A1 Gar land, 6-2, 6-4. “1 was kind of concerned after doubles, because we usually don’t lose the doubles point here,” Caradima said. “1 knew then that we had to step up in singles and try to be on top from the beginning of the matches.” Needing two victories in the remaining four matches, A&M got the first from the 87th-ranked Hubbell, who dropped the first set to Pepperdine’s Sebastien Graeff before recovering to win, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3. That set the stage for Skube, who already had won the first set and was about to play a tiebreaker for the second. Leading 6-4 in the tiebreaker, Skube cranked a cross-court win ner by Pepperdine’s Anthony Ross to win the match, 6-3, 7-6 (4). Skube said he took his cue after seeing Hubbell clinch the Aggies’ third point. “I saw Cody run up to the net, and 1 knew I had to do it,” he said. “1 wanted to close it out then, because I had put so much energy into the first two sets that I wasn’t sure if I was really going to be able to win a third set.” In doubles play, Madden and Caradima scored the Aggies’ lone victory — an 8-5 win over the third-ranked duo of Graeff and Ross. COURTESY OF TEXAS A&M SPORTS INFORMATION 0 A crowd of 610, the largest ever at the A&M Varsity Tennis Center, celebrates the Aggies’ 4-3 victory over Pepperdine on Friday. Former students join foundation BY MAUREEN KANE The Battalion Kathryn Hughes, Class of ’86, Chad Wootton, Class of ’96 and Elizabeth McKee, Class of ’99, all have something in common — they were recently ap pointed as development professionals for the Texas A&M Foundation. The foundation is a private, nonprofit coiporation that directs major fund raising and manages gift as sets in support of educational excellence at Texas A&M University. The foundation currently employs 16 development directors, each of whom is assigned to one of A&M’s nine colleges, the Office of Student Affairs, or the Bush School of Government and Pub lic Service. “I’m raising money for student organizations as a whole. Each organization has their set pathways of fund raising — whatever area their group falls under. I’m involved in raising funds on a depart mental level,” said Hughes, the new director of de velopment for student affairs. Hughes’job includes visiting prospective donors interested in giving money to student organizations. Donors are often former students who were involved in specific student organizations during their A&M ca reers and want to ensure that these organizations will continue to be funded for the benefit of future students. Right now, Hughes is working with Vice President for Student Affairs Dr. J. Malon Southerland and his staff to determine fund raising goals for the Depart ment of Student Affairs. “One of our goals is to create endowments for some programs on campus. MSC Opera and Per forming Arts Society (OPAS) and Muster are two we’re working to get endowed,” Hughes said. “There has been talk of a student leadership retreat center — that’ll be something we’ll be working to fund as well.” Wootton is the new director of development for the Dwight Look College of Engineering, and works primarily with civil engineering, engineering tech nology and industrial distribution. Wootton said his direct interaction with the stu dent body is limited, but the engineering department as a whole has traditionally hosted banquets for stu dents receiving scholarships to meet their donors, providing an opportunity for students and donors to interact with the engineering’s development depart ment staff. “We work with department heads and faculty who work directly with students. They tell us what kind of general departmental support is necessary to meet the needs of our students,” said Wootton. “Our primary role is to provide contact with former students, industry and anyone else who wants to give money to higher education.” Wootton said that since public funding for the Uni versity is limited, the foundation works to increase pri vate ftinding and support in the form of scholarships, unrestricted funds and faculty fellowships. “Each year, public funds shrink. We’re lucky to have donors who make investments that will benefit our student body. Our job is to find donors and match them to the needs indicated by faculty and staff,” Wootton said. “Almost all of the fund raising that the' See Funds on Page 2. Senior Week celebrates final days of coUege life BY KIMBERLY OLSON The Battalion With graduation nearing, Class of 2000 Aggies are celebrating their last days at Texas A&M with Senior Week. Senior Week, this Monday through Friday, is packed full of events for seniors, like an ice cream social at Vice President for Student Affairs Dr. J. Mal on Southerland’s home Monday from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. and Awesome Blos som night at Chili’s Tues day from 5:00 to 9:00 p.m. Karaoke night is Wednesday from 9:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. at Shadow Canyon. “Senior week is a week of play days just for us,” said Stacey Hargrave, Class of 2000 gift chair and an industrial distribution major. A carnival will be held at the Clayton Williams Alumni Center on Thursday from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. The carnival includes a dunking booth and human bowling. Aggie rings can also be picked up at the Association of Former Students from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. Thursday. Senior Week concludes with Ring Dance. Ring Dance 2000: Millennium Dance Party will be Satur day in Rudder Complex and the Memorial Student Center from 9 p.m. to 1:00 a.m, “Ring Dance is the last preparation for seniors before they go out into the real world,” said Summer Harbert, Class of 2000 historian and a community health major. Ring Dance will feature entertainment in seven rooms, each with a different theme. “Country, Latin, swing, karaoke, eighties, top forties and a piano bar are the types of rooms which we will have at the dance,” said Kim Bai ley, Ring Dance director and a senior sociology major. Proceeds from the event will go towards the Class of 2000 gift for the University, which will be announced at the dance. Seniors had the opportunity to vote on several op tions for the class gift in last week’s elections: a Jum- botron at Olsen Field, Class of 2000 street clocks, YMCA building renovations and a Class of 2000 per petual fund. Seniors were also given the chance to vote on mak ing a donation to the Bonfire memorial in the name of the Class of 2000. "Country, Latin, swing, karaoke, eighties, top for ties and a piano bar are the types of rooms which we will have at the dance. ” — Kim Bailey Ring Dance director •NeoSwing Aggie dancers to make appear ance at 2000 Sum mer Olympics. Page 3 •NCAA tourney down to two teams. Page 9^ •This lane is closed. Texas ban on Internet car buying makes no sense. •Listen to KAMU-FM 90.9 at 1:57 p.m. for details about a drug bust in Bryan. 'Check out The Battalion online at battalion.tamu.edu