The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, April 26, 2004, Image 10

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    10
Monday, April 26, 2004
Heart ofTexas
GOODWILL IND.
WE NEED YOUR DONATIONS
FOR CHARITABLE TAX DONATIONS!
2600 SOUTH TEXAS AVENUE, BRYAN
COLLEGE STATION STORE
OPENING SOON!
2704 TEXAS AVE., SUITE *3 (near Tractor Supply)
the
Hod Nighds. Cool Trips.
Advisors widh Piercings.
Why Grandpa doesn't book hisCTTnliifljHrawith us
with us.
Cancun $398
San Jose $423
Paris $496
Going to Europe?
Euraii patsas issuad on Via spot! No itiippmg or
booking faas means you gal I ha lowest price possible!
toriDon unocROROuno
From:
$24
GURO/inR
From:
RRIT $78
Uni I RAIL PR//
From: GURRIL pa//e/
$142 --
round trip from Mouoton and p«ic««
DOT poraon. SutoUct to Lhmn\tm ai d availatxM .
T«a not mciudod Maotncfiona and blackouts
appfy Faraa are vmltd for ctudanta. faculty and
youtn urxfar 76
One stop. No hassles.
We've got everything you
need for your next tnp.
721 Texas Ave. S
College SCaCion
(979) 696.5077
STA
TRAVEL
| www.statravel.com ^
STUDENT TRAVEL
& BEYOND
Cameron Reynolds
Attorney At l-aw
Licensed by the Texas Supreme Court
Not Board Certified
Class of ‘91
Jim James
Attorney At Law
Board Certified Criminal
Class of ‘75
.aw
SPECIALIZING IN THE DEFENSE OK CRIMINAL
CHARGES INCLL DING;
• Driving While Intoxicated
• All Alcohol and Drug Offenses
A
Records of deferred adiuicution arc not
automatically off vour record. However, a new state
V
law allows them to now be sealed in many instances.
979-846-1934
e-mail: jimt^jimwjames.com
website: http://jimwjames.wld.com
»At1,
Sand’s up
Sandboarders are drawn to West Texas di
By Aline McKenzie
KRT CAMPUS
MONAHANS, Texas — In
the early morning, it's as if
humans had never set foot here.
Pristine sand dunes rise to 70
feet high amid the scrubby West
Texas vegetation. Damp with
dew, they're marked with the
tracks of nightly visitors—
insects, birds of various sizes,
the resident mammals: skunks,
jackrabbits, coyotes, deer.
But new tracks are about to
take over.
Every day, the dunes at
Monahans Sandhills State Park,
near Midland, Texas, are open as
a playground for people. Both
locals and out-of-towners come
to “sandboard” down their
slopes, riding rented plastic
disks, wheelless skateboards,
and sandboards both homemade
and professionally constructed.
The first people arrive short
ly after the park opens at 8 a.m.,
to enjoy the cool before the
afternoon heat strikes.
The Massey family, from
Bangs in Brown County. Texas,
is enjoying the chance for its
three children to frolic in the
sand. Brandon, 8. and Keelan. 3.
are riding disks, leaving long
gouges down the dune.
Logan. 18 months, is doing
things his own way. He crawls
down the dune backward, leav
ing a smooth track punctuated
w ith handprints.
“I think we've got a big prob
lem." said Brandon, who's dow n
the dune w ith Logan.
"1 think you’ve got a big
problem." said his father. Chad.
30. a lead operator for 3M. Chad
is enjoying his spot at the top of
the dune.
One of the downsides of the
sport is that for every slip-slid
ing trip down a dune, which
Jennifer Jimenez, 18 of Odessa, Texas, surfs the sand
at Monahans Sandhills State Park in West Texas.
Boarding on the sand dunes is a popular per
sport m the deserts of West Texas.
takes only a tew seconds, there's
a slogging, slippery hike back
up. Over a stay of a tew hours,
that can add up to a lot of strain
on the legs.
I his is really tun except
when you come back up." said
Rebecca Anderholm, 15. a
ninth-grader from College
Station, Fexas, who is visiting
w ith her Girl Scout troop.
"I think you notice it more
as an adult than as a kid. the
going-uphill pan.” said Duane
McVay. 45. associate professor
of petroleum engineering at
Texas A&M. whose wife is the
troop leader.
As the morning progresses,
the sands are showing the wear.
Dunes that are farther from the
parking lot are still relatively
pristine, but the ones nearby are
pockmarked with footprints and
gouged w ith the marks of disks.
There are pits w here children
have dug holes and finger-
shaped trenches where people
have taken breaks, stretching out
their legs and scooping sand
over them.
By early afternoon, the sand
is hot and dry. w ith a texture like
Hour, and the dozens of people
who were on the slopes have
largely thinned out.
It's more difficult to slide
when the sand’s like this. The
visitor center even has posted a
notice that it's not responsible for
sliding conditions after I p.m.
Tanner Cash and Craig
Shelton, both 13 and visiting
with a Boy Scout troop from
Lone Oak. Texas, lake a break
from sliding, instead digging
holes 2 to 3 feet deepiJ
the layer where thesaii
cool, and burying then-1
to their waists.
Finally, sunset app J
People have almost
the dunes, either b:J
park or following ottaJ
at the edge of the sani-1
kites, barbecuing.
Suddenly, the wind pal
and nature begins to liJ
its own. The strong »ml*
sheets of sand that bare J
the surface, erasing tka
footprints and filling ik I
that people have dug
Make a new footprl
within a minute itvaribfcl
the leeward side, atk-J
beetle emerges and k
walking around, leas
perl ike track.
Cigarette tax increase eyed for school moi
By Kelley Shannon
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
AUSTIN — It takes smoker Linda
Martinez only a split second to voice her
opinion about the governor’s proposed $1-
per-pack cigarette tax increase.
‘‘I’ll pay it.” said Martinez, a 54-year-old
Austin woman who has smoked for 35
years. "Plain and simple — nicotine is an
addictive drug, and just like any addict on
the street, we are addicted."
"I’d rather pay it on the cigarettes than
on the house taxes." Martinez added.
Those views may resonate with some
Texas legislators who returned to the Capitol
last week for a special legislative session.
Republican Gov. Rick Perry called the ses-
sion. he said, to reduce Texans’ property
taxes while eliminating the state’s share-the-
wealth education funding system, known to
some as Robin Ihxxl.
One Perry proposal to replace lost prop
erty tax revenue is a $1 increase in the
state's cigarette tax. to $1.41 per pack.
Health advocates applaud the plan.
Along with generating revenue, they say, it
could help control health care costs by
reducing smoking.
“People don’t like taxes, but this is one
that does have a gtxxl public health benefit
and certainly fits well with some of the state’s
goals, certainly on education and on health,"
said Kelly Headrick, a lobbyist for the
American Cancer Society’s Texas division.
But the tobacco industry claims raising
the tax would send smokers to nei^
states, Mexico or onto the Internet ’
to illegal cigarette smuggling.
"That obviously threatens lej
retailers and wholesalers in the^
Texas,” said Jamie Drogin, spokes*!
for Philip Morris USA.
"As the cigarettes get moreei[
consumers seek out alternative sec. 1
w hich to buy cigarettes.’ I
Opponents say the increase I
impose a larger burden on the [Wj
also say it would be a dwindlingmt
dictable revenue source because of^
ing declines in the number of smo ft
as education costs rise.
Perry' estimates his cigarette t»[4
would generate $2.4 billion overt ^
three fiscal years.
Personal Pizzas AVm’ Available!
All Day Every Day Only
Better /nt>redienis!
I p to 3 Topping 1 * each!
BETTER PIZZA!
Monday Madness
Store
601 University I>rive
Large / Topping Pizza
(.Carrv-oix Only)
Hours
Sun Wed
MAM
846-3600
1 100 Harvey Road
$5.99
Midnight
Thttrsdnv
I TAM-2 AM
Kri& Set
II AM-3 AM
764-7272
1740 Rock Prairie
680-0508
Late Night
Special
We Take Aggie Bucks. Cash. Checks
Large I Topping Pizza
(After 10 PM Cans-out or Delivery’)
and Most
Major Credit Cards
$6.99
IX'livery Available For 3 or More
You Cal! It Specials!
A vai!able Everyday!
MEDIUM 3 TOPPING PIZZA
Sfi.99
Large 3 Topping Pizza
$10. 99
2 Medium 2 Toppings
$12.99
2 Larg? 1 Topping Pizzas
575.9.9
AND FOR I HI BIG PARTY!
4 I arg* 1 Topping
$24.99
Enjoy comfort, convenience and value at....
M Wilbwick Apartments
We have exceptional service, great neighbors,
convenient location, and the best value in town.
Up to I [ h months
FREE RENT
■ Hurry -
Open till 7pm Monday-Friday
Saturday till 6pm & Sunday till 5pm
(979) 693-1325
Check us out at:
www.willowickaDartments.com
502 Southwest Parkway • College Station, TX 77840
Texas A&M HeaLdvcuui Kinesiology
Vance' Programs Presents...
2^ Annual “Moving Images” Vance, Concert
featuring the, Vance, Minor Students
and the, Etusa Co.
May 1, 2004 7:30[>.m. Rudder Auditorium
~ Free, Admission ~
Sponsored by Health, and Kinesiology Vepar
and Nu, Delta Alpha Dance Honor Socle
tvnent
ciety
Student Counseling
elptin
Are you a good listener? Do you like to help others?
Are you a responsible & committed person?
Volunteers Heeded!
All majors are welcome!
Interviewing now to begin service in the Fall.
Training is August 23-28, 2004.
For more information, contact
Susan Vavra at 845-4470 x133
or Susan-Vavra@tamu edu.
The Helpline it sponsored A supervised by the
[ll
| iDil ,
Ag Appre**'"
Nights
on Wtd * Ihurs Nighti:*®*' I
. New times for 2004 ^
. Open Tuesday thru Sti* ^
• 1/2 price paper
.»|0 1/2 price Binj
Machines
• BY0B , ..Ljg
. '2500 package pniee^,
~ZarcfWwij®j5i|
Great Food[j^^^Ji
f%hoieso;
I Dian' 01 ' 4
§! gia&eglc."*
j Largest |
I Stock
in the
Br^