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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 19, 2000)
Tuesday, September 19,. t Tuesday, September 19, 2000 News in Brief APSS creates tenter program Fhe Texas A&M Association Professional Support Staff PSS) mentor program wii; 'A Staff Helping Staff Net rking Event in 206 Memoo- Student Center at noon jrsday. The program, in its first year rying to create the first mer- program for new A&M staff, i j faculty. Mentors hel^ new staff arc I g v s puart Hutson ulty members adjust toIX, M culture and offer advice. | Laura Ampol-Hall, co-chairf man of the TAPSS mento igrain and the administrative sistant for the Academyfo vanced Telecommunications d Learning Technologies, id the meeting will include • mentor/mentee relation- ip among staff members,the portance of the mentoring >gram and the goals for the ganization. All mentors are TAPSS men rs. but mentees are not initially luired to be a part of the group lulticultural ^omel’hin % GGIE/ THE BATTALION ked Page 3 A corner IHalloween-loving patrons and stores dres^up eprly for the most ghoulish night of the year jll wind^ mark lt$ fearsome flight and offeri branches creek with fright and by fhe prickina of my fhumb^, na wicked fhk way oome^. ^omelhmj f nonymou^ srvices Dept, hosts rareness week The Multicultural ServicesDe irtment is hosting an Aware 'ss Week Sept. 18-22 to ede te students about the differed rvices and programs offeredd e department. The weekwilihe ghlighted by an open house id a silent auction Friday in the emorial Student Center. Resource tables will be set up Rudder Fountain and the ehner College of Business uilding this week. Trivia games id the auction will be held at e open house. « Information on severalstu- ent organizations associated ith the Multicultural Services epartment, includingMinotto A cold, shrill wind blew into Aggieland a few days ago, ushering in the crisp air of fall to bring relief from the fierce, blazing sun of summer. The air is now permeated with a smell unique to the season. The odor brings an expectation of the books and tests of the fall semester to many, but to others, it fosters anticipation of something much more wicked. Soon, jack-o’-lanterns will begin to mani fest on doorsteps and spider webs will accu- imulate in the most apparent of places. These webs will not be spun by big, hairy spiders of the kind that haunt an arachna- phobe’s nightmares; they vt ill instead be strewn by devotees of the one night a year that the veil between evil and good is lift ed — the halloweenie. These members of the darker side an ticipate Halloween like a 5-year-old antic ipates his or her birthday. It is for them that stores around the country began to stock shelves with plastic skeletons and sugary pumpkin candy almost a month ago. "On the first day we opened, we had peo ple waiting to get at all the Halloween items they had been waiting a year to see,” said Adam Artho, an assistant manager at the Hal- loweemBootique, a specialty Halloween store irichment and Developmer-;..,, , a \ -^u ■ ,u- irough Academic and Leadf 0 Pf. ne 1 d ^ ^ There ls 1 som ! th , ln 8 lip Skills (MEDALS) and tbI about this hollda y that g lves P e0 P le a fe e |m g outhwestern Black Stude | hat 110 other holiday can provide, aadership Conference “It gives them a chance to dress up dnd be LC), will be available at'f someone else that they otherwise wouldn’t be, pen house. yand it allows them to do things that they otherwise The or;’. .■ j/ations assoc couldn't do. Christmas is about family and giving, ith the department are f- thanksgiving is about being thankful for all that you have, ?ting to attract as many vis but Halloween is about indulging yourself.” It is a feeling some people want to hold onto as long as they can. hey start celebrating the holiday as soon as possible, because on ov. 1, the party is over. “We get people from all walks of life — bikers, goths, sorority iris, older men ... you name it,” Artho said. “Some don’t even wait the open house as possit ie organization that attracts lost visitors will win a prizefn ie department. iouthwest •arkway partial :losed today Southwest Parkway in Co 1 ?ge Station will be partial losed today as city crewsapp; seal coat to the road,Cre« rill apply a new layer of aspte: nd stone material from Wei orn Road to Welsh Avenue. Beginning at 9 a.m.,oneea$‘ ound and one westboundwj f Southwest Parkway will ^ losed while the seal isappfe 1 About noon, the crewi; iwitch sides and sealtlieir naining lanes. The repairs are expected 1 -- | >e finished by 4 p.m., and* ! anes will be reopened. Drivers are asked tobeca: : ious around the work areal ; >bey all traffic signs amf . vatch out for workers. GRAPHIC BY BRANDON HENDERSON/The Battalion to put on their costumes; they buy them so that they can wear them out to the bar or club the next night.” Artho said he has seen a continuous increase in interest in Halloween cel ebrations over the past few years. “Just judging from sales, we have seen a steady 10 percent increase year ly, but you can also tell by the number and attitude of the people coming in here,” he said. “More organizations are giving parties or hosting haunt ed houses — that contributes to early interest because you have to pre pare for those things.” Brandy Vacante, a sales supervisor at Spencer Gifts, said many halloweenies have been investing early in decorations. “Most people are buying decorations like spider webs and black lights right now and are just picking and choosing on costumes,” Vacante said. “I guess they are trying to build llr: that atmosphere that only really comes with Halloween. It’s the only time of the year where you can walk around in an outrageous costume and have people tell you, ‘Hey, that’s a cool costume,’ instead of just looking I at you like you are stupid.” Artho said that a large number of early sales re sult from college students investing in black lights and black-light-reactive materials to give an eerie effect that can only be projected by a properly lit t residence hall room. | The avid halloweenie will be satisfied only with the perfect costume. To attain such a lofty goal, the halloweenie must begin well in ad vance of the ghoulish date. “Probably the biggest reason we get people in early is so that they can get the right stuff for their costume before it gets sold out,” said Jeff Lowther, a sales associate for the Halloween Boo- tique. “People learn that some of the more popular items are not going to be around in late October.” Those popular items may not be the dark shrouds that one expects. Artho said the biggest sellers so far are scary only if one has a phobia of the ’50s or ’70s. “Poodle skirts are a big favorite for the gals, and some of the guys,” he said. “Pimp outfits are also popular.” If one must go toward the gruesome side of the wardrobe, Artho said movie monsters slaughter stereo typical zombies and vampires. “We get a lot of people asking for Jason, Freddy Krueger or Michael Myers, and we have a whole section dedicated to the Scream movies,” he said. “But one of the scariest was a guy who worked months to perfect his Richard Simmons costume.” Whatever costumed is donned, Artho said, a witch rather than a warlock will get to it first. “We find that the majority of people who buy costumes and other things ear ly are women,” he said. “I’m not sure why, but they tend to be the most prepared when it comes to preparing for Halloween night. Maybe it is because it lets them photos by chad adams/the battalion be a little more revealing than usual — whether it is a vampire or just a sexy nun.” BATTALIO.: Beth Miller, Editor in Chief lefTKeinpf, Managing Editor Marinin Mohiuddin, City Editor | Ruben DeLuna, Ciiaphics Editor Blaine Dionne, Sports Editor Jason Lincoln, Sports Editor | Noni Sridhara, Sci/ lech Editor i Jason BennyhofF, Aggiclife Editor ‘ Stuart Hutson, Aggielife Editor « David Lee, Opinion Editor Bradley Atchison, Photo Editor , Cody Wages, Photo Editor Jennifer Bales, Night News Editor Beth Ahlquist, Copy Chief t Eric Dickens, Radio Producer ‘ Brandon Payton, Web Master t THE BATTALION (ISSN #1055-4726) is publislm)*J through Friday during the fall and spring semesters 1 '', * through Thursday during the summer session (ewipty | t idays and exam periods) at Texas A&M UniverstV t Postage Paid at College Station, TX 77840. POSF j * address changes to The Batta/ion,Texas A&M Unwell'' 1 College Station,-0(77843-1111. News: The Battalion news department is managed bysF < * A&M University in the Division of Student Media, 1 * Department of Journalism. News offices are in 014 #«• * Building. Newsroom phone: 845-3313; Fax: 845-$ * Thebattalion@hotmail.com; Web site: tittp:/7battalion.!aA-D Advertising: Publication of advertising does not imply endorsement by The Battalion. For campus, local, and advertising, call 845-2696. For classified advertising, cal S’-" Advertising offices are in 015 Reed McDonald, and offal* 1 * a m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Fax: 845-2678. ' Subscriptions: A part of the Student Services Fee entitles® A&M student to pick up a single copy of The Batta/ixi.Flst#* additional copies254. Mail subscriptions are $60 persclnd^ for the fall or spring semester and $17.50 for the summer^ by Visa. 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