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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 3, 2002)
the ;n sd frompjj ; °f the rapid P 0 P u la!ion of 65, awareness Unity’s netj lore impona lid. really g rea | P le trying i 0 'eeds of tlie dJ j. Aggielife The Battalion Page 3 • Tuesday, December 3, 2 osf of Christmas presents hme gifts would be better if the receipt was included in the packaging By Lyndsey Sage THE BATTALION ‘d from fe.’ it W j|, JOne can only wonder what presents lay in the Jifomia prfijpped-and-ribboned boxes piled high under und t n tlie Christmas tree. For children and students tation cases Jb 6 - waitin g until Christmas morning to find an appeal fa I what Santa brought can be overwhelming, charged wife. iHowever, as many students discover wo family me-'! [ristmas morning, some of those presents are ier. (t left unopened. As students reflect on the ve action Christmas gifts they have received over the at withoutpfArs, there are always one or two presents that ige diverse > to mind they hope never to find packaged l0 P puWk , :;ind labeled, with their name IIr y would e : frier the tree again. jlErika Pasquel, a junior s contendtliaia jpgineering major, said the -criminate a |rst Christmas present she ‘)»er received was a troll doll ftm her brother when she was years old. |“lt was ugly and it had pink |r,” she said. But it’s the thought that |ints, right? My brother told me he got (forme because it reminded in of me,” Pasquel said. Even though many people ■counter the embarrassing Us. giving I minoritie c tothisuj lation becaisi n his been J Theodor; the NAACP d. which e :view the, isn't going I b he SupteffiCa question.' a lawyetcs Individu : .i esentingiife I black eM hen race ait' rutlawed e :;i filiform H shingion SiieUt mbersareuw race does not As though that was not traumatic enough, J in admissions. Boland said the situation got even worse. 1 appeals ..§ “My mom and my grandmother made me iw school’spuBtually wear the underwear because they didn’t ay, saying pant to disappoint my aunt and hurt her feel- I lows colleges ings,” Noland said. ools to seek?. Caitlin Melia, a sophomore general studies iother ofMEjla/ori said the worst present she has ever I long as these* quota system. >. Circuit Comti incinnati has s companion ■ school's U! Cy, Whidl "my same dayasiBLu u My morn and my grandmother made me actually wear the underwear because they didn y t want to disappoint my aunt — Jeff Noland junior speech communications major of underwear, Jeff Noland, a junior speech communications major, said his experience with underwear ranks among the worst (jiristmas gifts he has ever gotten. “1 was eight years old and my aunt bought tmy Christmas present at a garage sale,” he d. “That’s not the worst part though. It was |ow-in-the-dark. My Little Pony underwear.” received she got from her brother last year. She said her brother usually gives gag gifts to fami ly members, but she was not prepared for what she saw when she opened the box. “He flooded me with all kinds of t.u. stuff,” she said. Included in the present was an assortment of University of Texas paraphernalia such as a UT T-shirt and a stuffed Bevo. “He’s older than I am and he’s always picked on me, so he knew it would upset me because I don’t go there,” Melia said. As much of a disappointment these presents may be, most students wake up Christmas morning to discover the good presents usually outweigh the bad. In fact, as Melia found, some of the best Christmas presents are those that aren’t even on any Christmas list. The best Christmas present Melia said she has ever gotten was a scrapbook from her best friend. “She gave it to me our senior year in high school and it had pictures of us mostly through out high school,” she said. According to Melia, the thought behind the gift was what made it so special. “She wrote a note at the beginning of it, which was very meaningful,” Melia said. “It was such a good gift because it was thoughtful and it is something I can keep and I will always remember.” For Alicia Benson, a sophomore biology major, a car was the best Christmas present she has ever gotten. “I got a little red car when I was five. It was the plastic. Little Tykes kind with a hole in the bottom,” she said. “I liked the car so much that I would walk into the living room where the Christmas tree was, pick up a present and then go get back in the car to open the present.” Benson said all of the years worth of play she got from the car made it one of the most enjoy- c the unusual s ise anyway,® •uling. ttomey Jona^lfi chool wasn'iC Supreme W| x the cases, _ ity believes ^1 ias worked •’jl jy to defendf of the court in has passed' n cases W lestionsata^l $ gher educaii® | assure ft ' ate fortlie cl an exaggert lUrt’sdecis'C , irectly affect®| ■ t (,j s general' f generation* j )W /' Shaw id ig on behoff 1 j c students -e higher^ | ic ^ Jakke. a acini® 101 il school ivvertest^ pecial p^' [voteoif slice jparately ^ consider ^ not user w 0 0 ■I A Reminder... Sell your books back at BOOKSTORES "A Tradition of Friendly Service Since 1932 and reserve books early for spring semester. www.loupols.coin NORTHGATE VV-u 335 University Dr. VSollege Station, IX 77840 l iy (979)846-6312 FAX: (979) 846-0748 WOLF PEN PLAZA 1907 Texas Ave. S. SOUTHGATE 308 George Bush Dr. College Station, TX 77840 College Station, TX 77840 (979) 693-0838 (979) 693-2278 XI FAX: (979) 764-7355 FAX: (979) 764-7273 able Christmas presents she has ever received. “Later we even got a gas station for it,” she said. “You would drive the car across this strip and a bell would ring. There was a gas pump, and you could really put it in the gas tank.” Even though that pres ent was memorable, it could not com pare to what was to come. Eleven years later, during her junior year in high school, Benson received a real car for Christmas. “It was on Christmas Eve and my parents took the car up to church and hid it,” Benson said. “Then, after the service, they gave JEFF SMITH • THE BATTALION LEARN TO FLY NOW. United Flight Systems, Inc. Voted #1 Flight School According To Best Of Brazos www.unitedflight.com Eastervvood Airport, College Station, TX 979 209-6322 A Textron Company LEARN TO FLY with the experienced flight school. We use the Cessna Pilot Center Exclusive Intergrated Flight Training System. Cessna Pilot Center Easily approved student loans (24hrs.) F.A.A. approved 141/61 school VA eligible benefits Private thru advanced training Pilot supply shop Aircraft rental Saturday, December 14 2:00 PM and 7:30 PM Rudder Auditorium TICKETS: 845-1234 or www.MSCOPAS.org Thre* Decades of Performing Arts HO! HO! HO! ALL TAMU STUDENT TICKETS ONLY $15!