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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 5, 2003)
Y A(J(ilELIf day, Septembers,' I by at The l T30 p.m. at na, for more info ' 1! ah Kyle Field. Yell Cook to Yell Leaders Rudder Fountain .Ttainment from Hy will pertorr r items pitas cbattalion.Di eetl Me Dona 3-year-old Lute: i-old twins Isai: :e — were wttK Paris on July l his Tour victory'- together and s ; a family vac<' lurmng to Ausbrt Ih have (legal) rtf and we re doing* y," the cyclist s lay. "The era: 1 ; ve're closer now: nds than ever be*:: y committed to irar good relationship : riage." ^ost on House Jnique isine if the urants ) n, TX STATE _5A THE BATTALION Friday, September 5, 2003 Cosby pep rally for Baylor draws 20,000 By Bobby Ross Jr. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WACO, Texas — Baylor University’s marching band and a crowd of an estimated 20,000 greeted comedian Bill Cosby with loud cheers Thursday night at a “pep rally” designed to boost morale at a university shak en by scandal. Cosby aimed to replace beleaguered Baylor’s tears with laughs during a free per- fonnance at Floyd Casey Stadium, home of the university’s football team. “Tonight, it’s about you,” Cosby told the crowd, which tilled the west side of the stadi um facing the stage. “It’s about the fact that you were left out of all this. It’s about how tragedy came, but nobody really remembered that you were coming and you were a part of this as well.” Cosby, sporting a yellow “Baylor Track & Field” T-shirt, said he wanted to “build up” Baylor’s students following basketball player Patrick Dennehy’s death. Since Dennehy’s death and the arrest of former teammate Carlton Dotson on murder charges, revelations of secretly paid players, failed drug tests and a tape-recorded plot by former coach Dave Bliss to cover up wrong doing have shaken the world’s largest Baptist university. “We’re going to have fun,” Cosby prom ised, drawing huge applause. He didn’t disappoint, keeping the audience laughing throughout a 90-minute comedy routine that made light of his “C average” daughter’s college experience. He told of call ing a college president in an attempt to gain his daughter’s admission. “Mr. President, I was just wondering if your college needed a hospital,” Cosby said. “He said, ‘How low is the SAT score?’ I said, ‘Oh, it’s in the high 840s.’ He said, ‘We’re going to need housing for the doctors.”’ But Cosby brought a seri ous message too, urging stu dents to rise above average grades and not to disappoint their parents. “You’ve got to love your self and you’ve got to have the strength with in yourself,” he said. • Before Cosby spoke, Baylor President Robert Sloan presented him with an honorary doctorate of human letters, while noting that he was already “Dr. Cosby” by virtue of his earned doctorate in education. “He is really the icon of American come dy,” Sloan said. The rally was part inspirational, part pro motional. A half-hour video played on the big screen before Cosby arrived, recalling friends’ memories of Dennehy but also tout ing new basketball coach Scott Drew and Sloan’s con troversial 10-year plan for making Baylor a top-tier university while strengthen ing its Christian mission. Instructing the marching band before it played Baylor’s fight song, Cosby reminded them the rally was not about a sports team but about the students — and the faculty. “These are people who are here to teach — and give everyone an ‘A!’” Cosby said of the faculty members. From his favorite jazz station to the tele vision sports report, Cosby said news of the Baylor case kept coming at him. He said he felt compassion for Baylor students dealing with the constant flood and called Sloan to offer to host the rally. u It’s about how tragedy came, but nobody really remembered that you... were a part of this as well. — Bill Cosby to Baylor crowd THE AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL FOR INQUIRY AND CREATIVITY Local School. Global Education. For Grades 6-12 In the Texas A&M University Research Park www.theamericanschool.org 979-777-4075 buffet lust 5.99 Beverage Included! Beat the hell ffuth Utah! ‘10% to students with nEE a valid college ID. ■ ■ LIMITED TIME. DINE-IN ONLY. Back to whiter on sc ignite the white', fighter I i O Lv- I whiten your teeth in about an hour! take your first Step to feeling good, looking great and making a memorable impression every time you smile. VOu owe it to yourself! Find out more about Zoom! in-office tooth whitening. Call today! Robert A. Hall, DDS J. Craig Scasta, DDS, Class of ‘92 1615 Barak Fane Bryan, TX 77802 (979) 260-2626 ES2&.I TNTAI While supplies l?st. -<< FRIDAY OCTOBER 17 ON SALE SATURDAY lOAM ID Reed Arena TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY rm. *J*r\ h mi itfl i it iwa: iM- . L 'mu u\)\D ticketmaster Tickets available at the Reed Arena Box Office, MSC Box Office, and all Ticketmaster outlets including Foley’s. Also, by phone at 979.268.0414 or online at ticketmaster.com 11X1 9lrj&vlAll lllfl*%ll«} wmw Alffv ■IP Mji JRh ■Rh Ma curv TAM an&ifl ■ um Uk^i PRODUCED BY
