Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 22, 2004)
$1 (gfrOi^I? MARGARITAS BUY ONE MEXICAN PLATTER GET A SECOND HALF-OFF (OF EQUAL OR LESSER VALUE) OTHER DRINK SPECIALS HSZZD $ 1 ® @ H ^ IT 0 (g © $1 £\t[L WitLO, ©©DMCSg THURSDAY DON'T FORGET ABOUT OUR WEEKEND BRUNCH 520 HARVEY RD. 979-694-461 8 ozonagrill.com 11W wishNOmore You can score big when you visit any Camden community to win one of five sweet prizes: One year’s free rent Nine months free rent Six months free rent Maid service Personal chef service 8 Monday, March 22, 2004 STAll \K THK BATTAUt (HI Texas singer uses own struggle with MS to reach out to others By Bobby Ross Jr. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS DALLAS — The title cut from country singer Clay Walker’s seventh studio album, “A Few Questions,” looks to the one who hung the stars to explain: ‘‘How in this world can we put a man on the moon and still have a need for a place like St. Jude’s?” The Beaumont-bred crooner with the black cowboy hat did n’t write the recent Top 10 coun try hit, whose opening line refers to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., which treats children with cancer. But the First time Walker heard the song and its Job-like quandaries, he said, “1 got it immediately. There was no mistaking that the song would belong to my life.” No mistaking it because the 34-year-old Walker — who has sold 8 million albums, with 11 No. 1 singles, since his 1993 debut — was diagnosed in 1996 with multiple sclerosis. No one would ever guess it, though, by looking at the strap ping Texan, who takes a daily injection of Copaxone to keep his MS in check. ‘‘When I was First diagnosed, it was the most broken that I’ve ever been. You know, I don’t think faith is faith until you have to lest it,” said Walker, a Christian who will kick off a nationwide, 15-city ‘“MS Road Tour” April 1 in Dallas. “It was like, my faith lit on Fire at that point,” said the Houston resident, who is married with two daughters, ages 4 and 8. “I went home and I got on my knees and I prayed. I don’t know how long I prayed and cried. I got my guitar and I played hymns I learned as a child.” The tour — an effort to call attention to the disease and raise money for research to Find a cure — marks a remarkable transformation for a singer who First experienced facial spasms and numbness in his right leg and arm eight years ago. For a long time. Walker preferred not to talk about the disease. He didn’t try to hide it, he said. But he didn’t bring it up either. El ■ate inj When I was first diagnosed, it was the most broken that I've ever been. You know, I don't think faith is faith until you have to test it. ir: — Clay Walker country singer After meeting people with MS at many of his concerts, though. Walker’s outlook changed. They wanted to know about his experience so they could relate it to their own lives, he said. At the same time, he was surprised to learn that many people with MS don’t treat the condition, either out of fear Sclerosis Society recogms, Walker in November “Ambassador of the Year” — only the fourth time in organization’s 58-year hisi that it has bestowed that hot, “There are many Celebris that will lend their names organizations such as ours,s., that’s very important and sin ’ helpful,” said Amey the MS society’s spokeswonii “But sometimes th that point and they giveoffe selves as well. That is even deeply appreciated.” About 400,000 Americ® 1 have MS, which starts withsai r ' symptoms as numbness, tinglij and fatigue but progresses toi Ficulty walking and seeing in some cases, paralysis. It ns ally strikes people ages20tol Some patients, Walker, have “relapsing-reni ting MS,” periods of seva symptoms after which patiem > ne almost totally recover until lit id- next attack. Other MS have the worse “secondary^ gressive” fomi, where theflara bun become more frequent, and te tain don’t recover from thedamaa each one causes. MS occurs when leji p/ lelrn 1 Th “T or ignorance. “It’s a serious disease and the worst thing you can do about it is nothing,” said Walker, whose No. 1 hits include “If I Could Make a Living,” “This Woman and This Man” and “Then What.” Last year. Walker decided to do something to help the cause. He started the nonproFit Band Against MS Foundation to raise money for research. The founda tion recently awarded its First grant, for $150,000, to the University of Texas at Houston. The National Multiple immune systems go awry attack the fatty layer of ins tion, called myelin, that protelyrc nerve Fibers in the brain airs, b spine, thus damaging or ev destroying nerves. In Walker 's case, the dised brought him face to face wi his own mortality. “I think a lot of little to that bothered me before rolld of me like water off a back,” he said. Now. he hopes he can prow “a small ray of hope”topeopl like him, who suffer from MS. “It’s much more thananw opening experience," he saidl just look out of a different»»' dow now. The window is mi bigger now. and it’s also nsl up so l can smell the flowers' act NEWS IN BRIEF American Indian cocaine addict ed baby returned to mother DALLAS — A mother who admitted using cocaine the day she gave birth has regained cus tody of her baby after a judge cited a law designed to prevent American Indian children against being removed from their homes. Most mothers of cocaine-addicted babies would face termination of their parental rights, but the 18-year-old Alaska native was reunited with the infant. The child had been taken by social workers six months ago, shortly after its birth in September, when they discovered the child tested positive for drugs. The federal Indian Child Welfare Act makes it tougher to remove American Indian children from their homes even when neglect and abuse may be obvious. Congress passed the law in 1978 because American Indian children had been removed from their homes at higher rates — 35 percent in some states — and required to live with non- Indian parents. Despite the fact that American Indians Alaska natives make up less than 1 percenlof Dallas-Fort Worth population, welfare c; involving Indian children are starting to sui more often, posing significant challenges tool care workers and attorneys. The trend has caused more attorneys andcij care workers in the Dallas area to learn aboi 1978 law, which trumps all state child-care when it comes to removing a child fromap tially abusive situation. In Friday’s case, the Texas Department Family and Protective Services failed to offeii I lac expert on the mother’s tribe — the TlingitaH Haida Indian tribes of Alaska — to testify ontliti ficial customs qnd culture. "We Geoff Wool, a spokesman for the Test Department of Family and Protective Services,9 the lack of a tribal expert to testify about the tl was a factor in Sholden’s ruling. He saidthedept ment also had failed to offer rehabilitation servis The woman’s lawyer said she is m 1 undergoing rehabilitation. Other prizes will also be offered. For more information, visit www.camdenliving.com or call 866.808.1820 NO PURCHASE, PAYMENT OR RENTAL OF ANY KIND IS NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN THIS SWEEPSTAKES CONTEST RUNS FROM MARCH 1 - APRIL 30. £> & Camden. Living Excellence fTf ,■ | MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDA* 2 MEDIUM 2-TOPPINGS $| 2 » I Medium up to 3-Toppings or Specialty Pizza’S.’ Get a second Medium I-Topping for only *5.” I LARGE 2-TOPPING & Breadsticks $ | 2.9V 2 LARGE 2-TOPPINGS & 2 liter drink $20.°° I LARGE I-TOPPING $ 8.99 I LAR l-TOPPPl or up to 5 Toppings ’11.99 oruptoSTo ’ll.#. Northgate Post Oak Square Center 601 University Dr. 100 Harvey Rd. r Suite D 979-846-3600 979-764-7272 Rock Prairie 1700 Rock Prairie! 979-680-050$ Aggie Bucks Sunday: 11 a.m. - midnight Monday - Wednesday: 11 a.m. - 1 a.m. Thursday: 1 1 a.m. - 2 a.m. Friday & Saturday: 1 1 a.m. - 3 a.m.