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THE BATTALlt
Aggielite
among top
Is for Hispa
c Magazine
i/l No. 21 among its
es and universities
in its annual
ssue.
fexas schools on
de Rice Universits
2 University of TeiaJ
Southern
i at No. 24 and Iir
i at No. 25.
gazine said thetoj
'offer students a0
ckage: superiors It’s hard to believe Chester A. Nimitz is
a Hispanic preser still alive.
all-around exemp t Chester lives on the Quadrangle with his
:e." roommates. Tony and Russell, and endures var-
for students Vi. ous uncomfortable situations on a daily basis,
ssionate college tii n the last month alone, Chester has been
ool pride and car stuffed to the gills with food and has turned
according to Hispi ;reen. Chester A. Nimitz isn’t your ordinary
The Battalion
Page 3 • Monday, April 14, 2003
i. Benefits includes
environment
mi network, as we
nerit scholarships,
ts of the yes
/ and Janice Ke
D4 school year
jple moved toG
om Barlett, Tenn,
year-old son Tiir
i injuries sustaine:
3 Aggie Bonfire
Welcome to the jungle
-loving students share experiences of life with pets
By Kim Katopodis
THE BATTALION
tudent. In fact, while his
■oommates are in class,
Chester is content swimming
aps in his aquarium.
Chester A. Nimitz is just
)ne of the many pets owned
‘S named A& } y Texas A&M students. His
)wner, Russell Hurst, pur-
hased him at Wal-Mart
tbout a month ago.
Hurst, a junior history
tored as Texas Ai fnajor, said he wanted a pet
of the Year" for ^ut dorm rules specify that
fish are the only pets
illowed. Hurst said he is
appy with the fish, but his
fiends in the dorm often
verfeed Chester. Once, he
eturned to find that
hester’s whole tank had
urned green.
After a few drinks, my
girlfriend likes to slyly open
his cage in hopes that the
snake will be stepped on
and killed. Mr. T doesn’t
seem to mind this abuse; he
is an emotionally strong
snake.
—Ryan Mikus
owner of Mr. T,
a California kingsnake
Duple opened
several A&M slur
of assisting stud:
ransition from
ms to College Sti:
i Parents' Weelij
26.
g to College Sir:
ing with student'!
the greatest ble
es," Janice Kerlee
! that we would
r son, we nowgt\
; of others, anil®
that love is reciptf
, times over. Wei
and humbled bfE
dees organize a bi
n dance, an aim
and in Noveml
:y pioneered a “wfl
idy to help stuif
i the Bonfire traje
cook "welcomed
r students each I
"fish Fridays" in
)r freshmen in
Cadets.
;ks, told of being fe
iterrogated while ft
ir treatment impn*
ent on. As U.S.
d, they said they*
• to keep ahead ofi
whole thing collapsil
fleer Young, one off
nong the prisoners.
‘It turns out someone had decided it would
ne a good idea to see what would happen if a
Skittle was dropped in the water,” he said. “Of
eourse it turned really nasty but surprisingly
lidn’t kill anything. We recovered from the
fiasco well.”
While fish are the only option for those who
|ive on campus, many off-campus students pre
fer dogs and cats.
Steve Troy, a sophomore finance major, sur
prised his roommates by showing up with his
pew dog, Chevy, on move-in day. Troy
describes Chevy as “a dog with a lot of puppy
in him.”
“One of the things I love the best about him
is that he knows when you are about to leave to
go somewhere,” he said. “So he tries to take
your shoes out of your hand when you are put
ting them on.”
While students love their pets, the animals
often do things that annoy and frustrate their
owners. Troy said that Chevy likes to bark at
trains as they go by, but only when they go by at
four or five in the morning.
Some students prefer a
more exotic pet than the
usual dog or cat.
Ryan Mikus, a junior
accounting major, owns a
California King snake
named Mr. T. Almost every
aspect of pet ownership
changes when the pet is
exotic, Mikus said.
Feeding the snake is more
irregular, but if Mikus for
gets, Mr. T tends to snap at
him when he takes him out
of his terrarium.
Mr. T doesn’t just eat
store-bought bagged food,
however. Every week or two,
Mikus goes in search of a live
mouse to feed Mr. T and then watches as natural
selection takes its course in his living room.
Snakes are not always popular with every
one, however. Mikus said he sometimes has
problems keeping people from harassing Mr. T.
“My roommate, Kevin, enjoys holding the
snake while informing him Tf you bite me, I
will rip your head off,’” he said.”Also, after a
few drinks, my girlfriend likes to slyly open his
cage in hopes that the snake will be stepped on
and killed. Mr.T doesn’t seem to mind this
abuse; he is an emotionally strong snake.”
Many students adopt their pets from local
animal shelters, because pets there aren’t as
expensive as buying them from a breeder. The
Brazos Valley Animal Shelter offers dogs
and cats for adoption. The adoption price
includes all shots and spaying or neuter
ing of the animal. The shelter’s Web site,
www.ipt.com/bas, features photographs
of the pets up for adoption, and users can
request to be contacted if a specific breed
becomes available.
Woodstock Animal Foundation also offers
animals for adoption and foster care. Its
adoption fee of $85 also includes
the shots and spaying or neu
tering of the animal.
Jeannie Skalsky, a
Woodstock volunteer and
botany graduate student.
Fosters for animals must
be 21 years old and be able to
bring the animal to Petco
every Saturday to help find a
permanent home for the pet.
Skalsky describes A&M’s
student population as “an
untapped market for fosters.”
She said fostering animals is
flexible, which is good for stu
dents who often move ^
around a lot. If at some
point a student is no Oj
longer able to foster an ^
animal, they need to contact
Woodstock and the animal
will be placed in another
foster home.
Fostering is good for the budget-conscious
but animal-loving students because Woodstock
incurs all the food costs and medical expenses
so that the financial burden does not fall upon
the foster parents.
Brazos Valley Golden Retriever Rescue also
offers a fostering and adoption program similar
to Woodstock’s; however, its adoption fee is
RUBEN DELUNA* THE BATTALION
$150 and there is no age limit for fosters.
Leigh Ann Clark, a Brazos Valley Golden
Retriever Rescue volunteer, said fosters are
their biggest need right now.
For information on adopting or fostering,
interested students should refer to the Woodstock
Web site at www.woodstocktexas.org, or the
Brazos Valley Golden Retriever Rescue site at
www.brazosvalleygoldens.com.
ef
orter,' Opinion Editor
son, Asst. Opinion Ediwi
ow, Sports Editor
nlaub, Asst. Sports Edit®
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imon, Asst. Photo Edit®
.una, Graphics Editor
i, Radio Producer
rbusch, Webmaster
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