Thursday, July 13jj
Thursday, July 13,2000
layin|
oiner's shirt matched
ilood types of both worn.
“The state doesn't have
move motive, but obvioie
he sexual aspect looms la;;
n that regard," former L®
lock County District Attorn
mavis Ware, who prosecut
oiner, said this week. "fr t
umably they were objects
us fancy."
Joiner, in a recent deal
ow interview, said hespo
ed the bloody bodies we
re looked through a windo*
mt his fist through them
low to get the door ope:
hen called police.
He said blood on
shoes, which prosecute;
ised against him athistri;
>ot there when he and a
ice officer walked throui
he apartment.
Vews in Brief
rt lifts order
i Lufkin schools
KIN, Texas (AP) - The
school district has been re
from a 30-year desegre
order after a federal judge
y approved an agreement
:n the school system ani
;. Justice Department,
e court order, after 30
ras finally been lifted," said
itendent David Sharp ina
Dr Wednesday's edition of
fkin Daily News.
decision by U.S. District
John Hannah ends
ds that saw the district’s
)ns monitored by federal
s.
1 dumps waste
ouncil meeting
TA, Iowa (AP) — A man
over a problem with his |
line dumped a five-gallon
; of human wasteatac/ly j
I meeting, s
ers in the process,
hit everybody,"
.ourena Schrader. “Itwas
s.”
hael Joseph Murphy,42,
?d the a bucket filled with
and urine on a table where
I members were sitting.lt
;red onto a handful ofcitf
s sitting around the table
ggered immediate heal
ms.
ENIORS
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incements
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Page 3
There will be no Tagging
G raffiti is not common at Texas A&M, but the lack
of free expression saves students and the Universi
ty money.
"I don't think it is a problem, and I attribute that to the
quality of the students," said Charles Sippial, vice president
of administration. He said the campus is lucky to be able to
spend so little time and money on graffiti.
"It is not that bad," said Mike Goldwater, an associate
director of grounds maintenance. "We have five or six times
a year that somebody defaces public property. Considering
the size of this University, we are fortunate."
However, removal is not always cheap, despite the fact
there is little vandalism.
Goldwater said graffiti on a Texas A&M building could
• cost the school up to $600 to remove. In most cases, restora
tion is not this expensive, but it could still cost students in
the long run. Goldwater said graffiti removal using the
Physical Plant's chemicals costs less than $100 on average,
depending on the size of the graffiti.
"When the graffiti is absorbed into materials like
brick walls, it is more expensive to fix," Goldwater said.
In one recent incident, the plant's chemicals were not
working, so workers had to sandblast to remove the graf
fiti. The damage usually depends on which spray paint
was used, he said.
"Graffiti removal is done so infrequently that we do not
know how much money it costs the school," said Les Wick,
interim associate director for facilities. "A lot of what we take
off is chalk, so there's not a whole lot of cost there," he said.
"Occasionally someone is caught red-handed, and
we bill them for the removal," said Dan Mizer,
the director of operations for Residence
Life, about graffiti in residence halls.
Costs include $15.16 per hour of
labor and the aerosol removal
costs $3 to $4.
"If it is a small area, it
would cost the student
pay for graffiti removal. For example,"
Mizer said, "if graffiti is found on the
second floor of Moses Hall, the students
on that floor are group-billed for the
damage."
Mizer said he is pleased that graffiti
is a minimal problem at A&M when
compared to other schools.
"It's really more a nuisance and ag
gravation than anything," he said. "It
causes the custodial staff to stop their
jobs and remove the graffiti, which
causes them to get less done."
"It takes away from our real duties.
When we're maintaining the building
and grounds, other things need to be
done that do not get done," Goldwa
ter said.
This form of student vandalism caus
es school officials to stop doing a job that
benefits A&M and its students. Graffiti
does not occur often enough to cause too
much distraction.
Lack of graffiti
at Texas A&.
saves mon
demonstra
respect for
about $20," Mizer said.
"We have a group
billing process in the ,
residence halls to 4
X
DEUINA/lHtlUmuoN
The Patriot
Starring Mel Gibson and Heath
Ledger
Directed by Roland Emmerich
Rated R
The Patriot is a risky and almost un
believable account of the American
Revolution. The film's screenplay is
Mil GtBShN
THE PATRIOT
adapted from a novel that contradicts
the history of the United States. Creat
ing an enjoyable, historical film based
on a fictional novel is a challenge, but
taking chances in filmmaking can pay
off.
The Patriot's major flaw is its inac
curate and bizarre portrayal of the
American Revolution. Mel Gibson
plays Benjamin Martin, a war hero
who advocates American indepen
dence but strongly opposes conflict
with Great Britain. The unsuspecting
movie-goer would believe, Gibson's
character truly fought for national free
dom although Benjamin Martin is
purely fictional.
The movie is filled with historical
inaccuracies, but it does address the
unfair treatment of American colonists
that led to the U.S. rebellion.
The Patriot's focus on family loyal
ty during times of war saves the entire
film. Martin is completely against con
frontation with Great Britain, and he
does not agree to fight until a British
captain murders one of his younger
sons. Martin, a dedicated father, enters
the war to avenge his son's death, not
to uphold a strong belief in freedom or
nationalism. Martin's eldest son
Gabriel (Ledger) is an avid believer in
the independence cause and joins the
war against his father's wishes. This
creates tension between Benjamin and
Gabriel and becomes the focus of the
rest of the film.
Gibson's performance as a father
torn by losing his family to war is
memorable, but aside from Ledger, the
supporting cast is disappointing.
The film's dialogue is filled with too
much comic relief, taking away from
the seriousness of the movie. Howev
er, this sloppy script is someV/hat over
shadowed by superb art direction, cin
ematography and costumes which
paint a believable picture of an early
United States.
The Patriot is historically wrong, but
it is entertaining. The director took a
chance on a story that addresses family
values and obscures historic details, but
the movie's plot works. (Grade: B-)
— Dewey Badeaux
Scary Movie
Starring Marlon Wayans, Shannon
Elizabeth
Directed by Marlon Wayans
Rated R
Chief
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arson, Sci/Tech Editor
Photo Editor
eluna, Graphics Editor
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summer, possibly
of the decade, is
currently attracting
all the mangy teens
who love Scream, I
Know What You Did Last Summer and all
of their multiple, hideous sequels.
Granted, Scary Movie has some very
creative takes on these oh-so-scary
flicks. During two locker-room scenes,
one of the boys finds a surprise Po
laroid with "I Know..." written on it,
and in another scene Buffy Gilmore
(Elizabeth) antagonizes the killer like
Rose McGowen's character did in
Scream. At least in Scream, audiences
could expect characters to outrun the
killer, in traditional horror-movie style.
Scary Movie cannot even get this one
right. The director must have been aim
ing for repulsive and unrealistic scenes,
because that is what the escape, not to
mention the rest of this movie, is.
It was mildly amusing to see the
creative plays on the cheesy early '90s
horror flicks. For example, Wayans
makes fun of a scene from Scream, in
which Sydney's boyfriend Billy climbs
through her window, hoping for some
good sex, or "over the clothes stuff,"
and she tells him no. In Wayans'
warped world, Cindy's boyfriend is
shocked, literally, to find that she has
donned an electric chastity belt. As dis
gusting as it was, the play on the bath
room murder scene
from Scream 2 was
shockingly funny.
This spoof is as
badly written as the
movies it mocks. Di
alogue is reminiscent of
'80s valley girl chit-chat, and the
actors' poor attempts at humor are
fake and forced. Of course, taking
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■■ u n n ;
A = instant classic B = a cut above C = average
D = don't buy it F = burn in effigy
y
The most tasteless movie of the
into consideration the degree of stu
pidity necessary to make this movie
seem funny, one would'hope that they
are forcing this high school locker-
room humor.
The bottom line: sexual jokes are
funny, yes, but they do not make for a
good movie plot. (Grade: D)
— Maureen Kane
The Perfect Storm
Starring George Clooney and
Mark Wahlberg
Directed by Wolfgang Peterson
Rated R
In the tradition of Towering Inferno,
Twister and Dante's Peak, big-budget
disaster movies bring nothing more to
the big screen than great special effects.
The Perfect Storm does not fail to carry
on the tradition.
With creative German Wolfgang Pe
terson behind the camera and $100 mil
lion in his pocket. Storm should be the
blockbuster event of 2000; however, no
matter how much money the production
has, a decent script is still a necessity.
Hot off the success of Three Kings,
the teaming of Clooney and Wahlberg
was destined to please audiences. But
with forced dialogue and confronta
tion, the two boys lack the chemistry of
their previous collaboration.
Storm brought to life the bestselling
novel about the doomed fishing boat,
the Andrea Gale, that sank off the coast
of Massachusetts near New Found-
land. The courageous men aboard the
ship met their demise when 1991's
Hurricane Grace met and collided with
two other Atlantic storms, one from the
east and one off the Canadian coast,
creating waves in excels of 50 feet.
The movie is the adaptation of the
men's personal trials before they set
sail on that fatal October day. Who
cares?
For a good hour and 10 minutes,
nothing remotely entertaining hap
pens. The movie's formula may as well
have been etched across the ship, be
cause whenever the movie was reach
ing poke-your-eye-out boring, Peter
son cut to thrilling drama even a
10-year-old could pen.
The waves were beautifully crafted
and the ship was definitely tossed
about in a believable manner, but after
Hard Rain, someone should have told
Hollywood execs to steer clear of dis
asters like this one. (Grade: D)
— JeffKempf
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