THE BATTALION imic d from page 1A t minorities to come hange the perception ties are not welcome nply unacceptable for l’s student body to tie white,” Gates said, also discussed tlie of building spaceii ersity’s goal of nt. Wehner’s new Cot the new Chemical building, but said develop a way to specially with tlie acuity members, plained his new ini- he creation of the uncil and Honor enforce the Aggie ion e James, senior engineering major, greed with Gates' thinks the Honor cessary. es is definitely tab he right direction," ‘‘I commend Dr. return of the Aggie tor.” ocation recognized ired tenure and c professors along ors who had been the past year. of Michigan meritus James J. ho keynoted A&M's )” kickoff program o, spoke on current er education, ising. Gates referred as an “agent for is ready for the the state of the Gates said. “It is in dramatic change, transfonn A&Mfor al years.” Fication isday’s page 1 ison delays jour ;ion,” Texas AM er offer income? the option ol ournalism. Dean Arts Charles still considering faculty commit- he makes a rec- )n for the of Journalism's te provost and ice president’s 1 eet Signs 003 form at our .tamu.edu ^ Editor Editor Tech Editor y Chief phics Editor litor idio Producer /ebmaster Dugh Friday dur ing the summer A&M University. 1: Send address ege Station, TC at Texas A&M t of Journalism. 845-3313; Fax: attalion.net indorsement by 845-2696. For eed McDonald, 5-2678. A&M student to 25$. Mail sub- $17.50 for tbe r, or American Aggielife The Battalion Page 3A • Fhursday, October 2. 2003 Around the world A&M senior Mary Beth Decker’s takes on MTV’s “Road Rules: South Pacific” By Lauren Smith THE BATTALION John Livas • THE BATTALION Mary Beth Decker, a senior agricultural journalism major and cast member of "Road Rules: South Pacific," hangs out at The Tap, where she bartends at night. When she arrived at Shadow Canyon for MTV’s “Road Rules/Real Word” auditions, Mary Beth Decker was number 700 inline, so she did what any bartender in a hurry would do: she walked right up to the front of the two hour line, telling everyone who was waiting that she worked at Shadow Canyon bar. Whoever said cheaters never win was mistaken, because of the 35,000 coeds who flooded auditions across the country for MTV’s Real World/Road Rules auditions, Decker was selected. After an intense interview process. Decker, a senior agricultural journalism major, went from bartending at The Tap in College Station to sit ting on a flight headed for “Road Rules: South Pacific.” When Decker decided to attend the RR/RW auditions at Shadow Canyon, she saw the show as “an excuse to take a break from reali ty,” no pun intended. “I wanted to get away,” Decker said. “Life is short, and I am all about the now since I am pretty spontaneous. I am always looking to dosomething different because I get bored really easily.” The first stage of the interview process is all luck because you just sit at a round table giving your opinion on everything from gun control to interracial relationships. Decker said. “It worked really well for me because I have something to say about everything,” she said. Decker was the single person from her group of 20 at the round table who was asked to stay and fill out an eight-page application that took four-and-a-half hours to complete. “It was open bar, so that was nice,” Decker said. “1 guess they dothatsoyou will be open and really honest on the application.” After receiving a call from MTV that same night, she began a series of videotaped interviews. “They would call me at night and want a video tape the next day,” Decker said. “I am pretty sure that I spent $250 on making tapes and missed two tests throughout the process.” Two short weeks and one phone call later, it became clear that she would not be registering for next semester courses because she was headed for the South Pacific to meet her fellow cast members. “You sign a contract saying you will do either Road Rules or Real World and when I got called, I thought 1 was going to Paris for Real World,” Decker said. “I remember getting really scared aboutJlie ifaii of Road Rules because I knew I would be faced witbmy.biggest fears.”. The six cast members of “Road Rules” live in a Winnebago with three cameramen, one sound technician and one microphone tech nician who are constantly present for the 10 weeks the show filmed in Fiji, New Zealand and Australia. “At first, the cameras were so overwhelming because they are inches from your face all of the time,” Decker said. “You get used to them by the third day, and I cannot imagine living being worried about them because that would be miserable.” Every cast member had to have his microphones on at all times, from the time the first person woke up until the last went to bed. “If you are in the middle of a conversation and a battery goes dead, the mic guy would come up behind you, lift your shirt up and put a new battery in,” Decker said. “You felt almost like a human robot.” One of the more awkward situations Decker encountered in front of the cameras was being out at a club and having cameras on her. The cast, however, did not get to reap any special benefits from its MTV affiliation. “When you are in Fiji, you cannot say ‘we are with MTV — hook it up’ because they do not know what it is ” Decker said. There was not much frivolous spending for the cast because they were on a budget of 15 American dollars per day, although they would occasionally trade a meal for a night of drinking on the town. Keeping in touch with loved ones was also virtually impossible because they each had only 10 minutes of cell phone time per week. Many speculate on whether the drama on reality television shows is real or just crafted through editing and encouragement by produc ers. This reality star said all the drama on this past season’s “Road Rules” was natural and completely self-created. See Decker on page 4A 'Os-peA, be- -bUese 'bhe bUorJi yi 0 one CMsS ujcSn-S -to 'pcuVxivl uoords ney V '° K ‘~?C> '-Ik oni\j /yiore bsist /z-p*-- ■ \ | # f ic, not dbfVT re. A Spe.«lc. up. Spe«i. oiH~. 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