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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 13, 2000)
VARSITY FORD www.varsityfordlincolnmercury.com College Grad & Graduate Student Rebates & Interest Rates Pa fi e 4 AGGIELIFE THE BATTALION All 2000 Vehicles on SALE (all rate, rebate, and inventory information is updated weekly) PRE-OWNED SPECIALS ARE CHANGED WEEKLY College Grad and 1st Time Buyer Program for Internet Users Questions? - e-mail us at varsityflm.com orship Directory The Contender Starring Joan Allen and Gary Oldman Directed by Rod Lurie AssemBCy of Qod Christian Bethel Temple Assembly of God 2608 Villa Maria, Bryan 776-4835 Sunday Worship 10:15, 6:00 pm Sunday School 9:30 First Christian Church 900 South Ennis, Bryan 823-5451 Sunday School 9:30 a.m. Morning Worship 10:45 a.m. Robert D. Chandler, Minister ‘Baptist Church of Christ LMrtg Hop* Baptist Cfturch MflW HttM WMflt •JIM MM# INFIX 090-1911 MMmKWbMvi* Fellowship Free Will Baptist Church College & Career Class You are invited to a Bible study especially for students. Sunday mornings at 9:45 1228 W. Villa Maria 779-2297 For more information contact Marcus Brewer: 696-6558 m-brewer@tamu.edu http.7/Personal Webs, myriad, net/ffwb A&M Church of Christ 1901 Harvey Mitchell Pkwy. (979)693-0400 Sunday Morning Services: 8 a.m. & 10:30 Sunday Night: 6 p.m. Aggie Class: Sunday, 9:30 a.m. Wednesday Bible Study: 7 p.m. AGGIES FOR CHRIST Every so often, a film comes along that proves Hollywood can still make mature, intelligent movies. Boasting exceptional per formances and a compelling story,The Contender may be the best movie this year. Sen. Laine Hanson (Allen) has been nominated to fill the vacancy of the vice president, and the only thing standing in her way is her confirmation hearing. The confir mation committee chairman, Con gressman Runyon (Oldman), refus es to make things easy, as he sweeps events from Hanson’s past into a sea of national controversy. A remarkably realistic portrayal of po litical power follows as the presi dent (Jeff Bridges) fights for his nominee and the congressman fights to destroy her. Written and directed by Rod Lurie, ex-film critic. The Contender crackles with energy and authentic ity by taking an insider’s look at Washington-style politics. The conversations are harsh, the situa tions are realistic and the charac ters are well-written. Lurie’s best achievement as a director is his savvy casting of actors such as Sam Elliot, Christian Slater, Joan Allen and William Petersen. Each actor fits his or her role perfectly. Allen embodies dignity and class in her every move j and gesture. Bridges plays the presi dent perfectly. He is strong and forceful as well as smooth and sly. He manages to turn an obsession with catching the White House kitchen staff off-guard into a joke which runs the length of the film. Oldman turns in one of the most subtly mesmerizing performances of his career. Couple this with Elliot’s propensity for playing the cagey old-timer, and this film is one of the best-acted films in years. Powerful and stirring. The Con tender also manages to poke fun at politics. Each dramatic scene is beautifully balanced with a joke, which shows the director’s keen sense of comedic timing. The Contender is one of the few recent films that have lived up: the legacy left by Hollywoodp such as Frank Capra and Alfre; Hitchcock. This movie makes: clear distinction between a goo: movie and one that deserves t called a classic. (Grade: A) — Matt McQt ‘Episcopal BiBCe St. Thomas Episcopal 906 George Bush Dr. • College Station, TX 696-1726 Sunday services at 8:00, 9:00 and especially for late rising Ags, 11:15 a.m. Next door to Canterbury House, the Episopal Student Center Nobel Prize for literature given to Chinese writer for first time 25 Grace Bible Church 700 Anderson, College Station 693-2911 Services: 9:15 a.m., 11:00 a.m., 6:00 p.m. College Sunday School Class 9:15 & 11 a.m. (Presbyterian Cathode St. Mary’s Catholic Center 603 Church Avenue in Northgate (979)846-5717 www.aaaiecatholic.org Pastoral Team Rev. Michael J. Sis, Pastor Rev. David A. Konderla, Associate Pastor Campus Ministers - Deacon Bill Scott, Deacon David Reed, Martha Tonn, Lillian Smith, Maureen Murray, Jill Bludau Daily Masses Mon.-Fri.: 5:30 p.m. in the Church Tues. & Thurs. 12:05 p.m. in the All Faiths Chapel Sat.: 10:30 a.m. (Korean) Weekend Masses Sat.: 5:30 p.m. (English), 7:00 p.m. (Spanish) Sun.: 9:00 am., 11.00 a.m., 5:30 p.m., 7:00 p.m. Confessions Wed. 8:30-9:30 p.m., Sat. 4:00-5:15 p.m. or by appointment. Covenant Presbyterian Church “A welcoming community of faith who reaches out, cares for one another & proclaims the love of Jesus Christ to all” Thomas W. Estes & G. Thomas Huser - Ministers Currently Meeting at Pebble Creek Elementary Sunday Service: 8:30 & 11 a.m. Sunday School: 9:45 a.m. Coming Soon (2001) to Rock Prarie & Wellborn Office: 3404 South College Ave., Bryan, TX 77802 (979) 846-5631, www.covenantpresbyterian.org To advertise on this page call The Battalion today! 845-2696 BAGNOLET, France (AP) — Gao Xingjian burned his early writings to save himself from communist zealots, was denounced by his own wife and eventually went into exile. On Thursday, the 60-year-old survivor of Chi na’s upheaval and oppression became its first Nobel Prize laureate for lit erature. The Swedish Academy cited the novelist and play wright for the “bitter insights and linguistic ingenuity” in his writings about the “struggle for individuality in mass culture.” Gao, “very, very surprised” at the honor, declared writing to have been his salvation, even during Mao Tse- tung’s brutal 1966-76 Cultural Revolution, when intel lectuals were silenced and he had to burn “kilos and ki los” of his writings lest they fall into the wrong hands. “In China, I could not trust anyone, not even my fam ily. The atmosphere was so poisoned, people were so brainwashed that even someone from your own family could turn you in,” he told The Associated Press. That actually happened, according to his friend and fellow Chinese exile, poet Bei Ling. “His wife told peo ple from the government that he had been writing liter ary things at home, and writing literature then was very dangerous,” said Bei “When you use words, you 're able to keep your mind alive. Writing is my way of reaf firming my own existence” Gao did not go into specifics in the interview, but it was not uncommon during the Cultural Revolution for people, driven to extremes to save them selves, to divorce loved ones targeted by the zealots. Gao went on to become a leading cultural figure in China but fled in 1987 after one of his plays was banned and he was put under police surveillance. After the 1989 blood bath at Tiananmen Square in Beijing, he wrote Fugi tives, set against the background of. the slayings. The Communist regime declared him “persona non grata” and banned his works. Gao’s novel, Soul Mountain, a complex narrative based on his travels in China, was published in English translation last year and was singled out by the Swedish Academy as “one of those singular literary creations that seem impossible to compare with anything but themselves.” Gao has lived in France for 12 years, speaks flawless .French and hoi* French citizenship. He is an authority on modern French drama but lead 1 : spartan life. After the Nobel announcement, he received visitors at Ms apa ment in a blue-collar Paris suburb wearing a sweat shirt and slippers. Gao said he started keeping a diary when he'^^i now writes or paints up to 16 hours a day on a glasT the only furniture in the room. “Writing eases my suffering,” he said. “When yot^| words, you’re able to keep your mind alive. WritiiU my way of reaffirming my own existence.” Having survived the Cultural Revolution, hesawif dramas fall victim in the 1980s to a government camp* against what it called “spiritual pollution.” Bus' (1983) and The Other Shore (1986) were banned. All leaving China he wrote Between Life and Death (195i| and Weekend Quartet (1995) which critics say grace# ly combines poetry, comedy and tragedy to portray li grim realities. Gao said the prize, worth $915,000, “really is thing, especially for a Chinese man because the N a very heated issue in China.” China has been suspicious of the Nobel instituti) un thf — Gao Xingjian Nobel Prize winner since it awarded the 1989 Peace Prize to the Dalai Lama, spiritual of Tibet’s struggle to throw of Chinese rule. Gao said he would not try to make political capital out of his award, am not a politician,” he said. “I’m not involved in politics, but that dot not prevent me from criticizing the policies of Communist China. Is; what I want to say. If I have chosen to live in exile, it is to be able toes press myself freely without constraints.” Gao said that he has broken all ties to China “so that I can express it) self freely without endangering my family and those close to me.” Poet Bei, who lives in Boston, called the prize “an affirmation ofhiscifj ati vity and a great show of support for all of us independent writers andei panel di- sites at you need to get to the top. Our On Campus channel gives you an for college students. Including the best jobs, company research. And Mega dob Search* allows you to search over 50 career with just one click. All so you can be what you want, where you want, right from the start. Is Mu C Shai Aqs accc thou This ofth Islar led t dem in tu supp milit Pale: inclu were weel andi were