University Press (Beaumont, Tex.), Vol. 69, No. 11, Ed. 1 Wednesday, October 7, 1992 Page: 2 of 6
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Page 2
University Press
Wednesday, October 7, 1992
LU Briefs
Cap and Gown deadline Oct. 22
Applications for Cap and Gown Senior Honor Society are cur-
rently available at the Office of Student Development, 115C
Wimberly Student Services.
The deadline for application is Oct. 22 at 4:30 p.m.
Selection criteria and membership requirements include a 3.0 or
better cumulative GPA and full-time standing with the university.
Lamarissimo! tickets now on sale
Season tickets are on sale now for “Lamarissimo! The Third
Season,” presented by the Lamar University department of music
and theater.
James Simmons, dean of Fine Arts and Communication,
announced that the 1992-93 season will be expanded to include six
performances.
The series will continue with the Faculty Artist and Chamber
Orchestra presentation on Nov. 12; A Cappella Choirs holiday con-
cert, Dec. 1; Lamar Theater, Feb. 16; Jazz Bands, March 9; and
Cardinal Singers, April 27.
All performances will begin at 8 p.m. in the Julie Rogers Theater.
Tickets are $20 for adults and $8 for students for all six concerts.
To order season tickets, call the Lamar University department of
music and theater at 880-8144.
Blood drive to go through Thursday
The Louisiana Blood Center and the Blood Center of Southeast
Texas will sponsor a blood drive Monday through Thursday in the
Setzer Student Center Ballroom.
Donations will be taken each day between 8 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.
Every donor will receive a free T-shirt.
Staff day scheduled for Friday
There will be a staff appreciation day Friday from 12:15 p.m. to
2 p.m. in the Montagne Center. The event will be sponsored by the
faculty of the Institute of Technology.
All staff and faculty are invited.
Newman to speak Monday
Jerry Newman, regents’ professor of art, will present “Our
Visual Heritage: From Cave Walls to Modem Museums,” Monday
at 8 p.m. in the auditorium of the John Gray Institute.
A reception will follow the lecture.
1992 Fall Clean Sweep planned
Keep Beaumont Beautiful will sponsor the 1992 Fall Clean
Sweep Saturday from 7 a.m. to noon. Volunteers are needed to
help by picking up litter, mowing grass and doing other yard work.
Those interested in participating should call the Keep Beaumont
Beautiful office at 842-6959 for more information or to register.
All participants should meet in front of the Beaumont City Hall
on Saturday at 7 a.m. Litter bags, litter sticks and gloves will be
provided.
Book sale scheduled for Oct. 23-25
Friends of the Beaumont Public Libraries and Friends of the
Lamar University Library will hold a book sale Oct. 23 through
Oct. 25 on the eighth floor of the Gray Library. Hours for the sale
will be from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Oct. 23 and 24 and from 1 p.m. to
5 p.m. Oct. 25.
Parking will be available in front of the library after 10 a.m. Oct.
23.
Elderhostel program pending
An Elderhostel Program is scheduled for Oct. 18 through Oct.
24. The program is being sponsored by the division of public ser-
vices and continuing education.
The program, for persons over 60, will include a class in migra-
tory birds on the Texas Gulf Coast and a field trip to High Island.
The residential fee is $340 and includes accommodations, course
and activity fees, and meals. The commuter fee of $175 includes
the course and activity fees and meals.
No textbooks are necessary. For more information and to regis-
ter, contact Nel Jennings at 880-2233.
Flu shots soon to be available
Flu vaccine will be available starting Monday at the Student
Health Center. The vaccine will be available from 11 a.m. to noon
and 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays and from 8 a.m.
to 5:30 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Deadline for submitting announcements for LU Briefs is noon of
the day one week prior to publication. Announcements are run as
space allows, no exceptions. Press release forms are available for
organization reporters in the Unjversity Press office, 200 Setzer
Center. Information may also be mailed directly to the University
Press, Lamar University, P.O. Box 10055, Beaumont, Texas 77710.
JQiejjspieC
tPhying at wargaining mw popularity
By Anthony Flowers
UP contributing writer
The troops stand upon the battle-
field awaiting the orders to advance.
Suddenly, the order comes. As it
spreads through the ranks like wild-
fire, the army moves forward. Over
the next ridge, an enemy unit
appears, weapons fire, smoke fills
the area. As men fall, they are mirac-
ulously snatched from the field by
giant hands.
Sound strange? It really isn’t.
This is an example of wargaming, a
phenomenon that has increased in
popularity again after decades of
dormancy and spread throughout the
American population.
Wargaming comes in many forms,
and each has its own group of enthu-
siasts. But where did this game origi-
nate and what makes it so appealing?
Wargaming actually traces its
beginnings to 1824 and Prussia. At
that time, the Prussian general’s staff
was looking for a method to teach
officers the art of small unit tactics
without having them sent into the
field untrained.
They developed a system called
“Kriegspiel” or war play. This sys-
tem used wooden blocks as individ-
ual units. Each candidate was given
a military objective that he had to
play out on a sandboard table.
Candidates were then judged on
how well their tactics worked and
their ability to adapt to unexpected
events.
It was not until the early 20th
century that the system caught on as
a game.
“Wargaming as a hobby was first
popularized by H.G. Wells in his
book ‘Little War,’ which he wrote in
1912,” said Brian Weathersby, Lamar
University history graduate and avid
wargamer. “In it, he set down a sys-
tem of rules for fighting out mock
wars on a tabletop. The game caught
on from there.”
In the game’s infancy, reenact-
ments of historical battles were all
that were available. But, as time has
passed and the hobby has become
more popular, new dimensions have
been added.
For example, in the current list of
genres, there are more than 100
known forms of wargaming in the
world. Topics range from fantasy to
science fiction and beyond.
The three forms that have gained
the largest following at Lamar and
the surrounding area are
Warhammer, Battletech and Johnny
Reb.
“Warhammer is a multi-genre
game. It covers both science fiction
and fantasy,” sophomore Gerall
Kahla said. “Within it you can fight
with guns or swords. It is the univer-
sal game in a group of specialized
games.”
Kahla has been playing for a year
and admits to being hooked on the
system.
“It’s fun. It is a good way to relax
and it offers you a chance to exercise
your imagination,” he said.
The game uses 25 millimeter
lead miniatures that are organized
into squads. A detailed set of rules
dictates the uses and maneuvering
of opposing forces. A successful
game is determined by either the
elimination of the opposition or the
obtaining of a predetermined objec-
tive.
Because of the number of minia-
tures involved per side, usually only
two people are involved in any given
game.
Battletech is another science fic-
tion game, but it allows for a larger
group of players. In Battletech, play-
ers “pilot” a huge humanoid tank on
a battle-scarred field. One game can
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Confederate soldiers prepare to dispute a river crossing by Federal troops.
A farmhouse sits beside a dirt road on the battlefield.
Encounters are set to scale complete with buildings.
Extra-terrestrial battles are also a possibility with the right figurines.
accommodate as many as 10 or more
people.
“Battletech teaches you team-
work because you work in four-man
teams,” junior Jeff VanGundy said.
“You learn to depend on your team-
mates and you learn to work within a
group.”
The members of VanGundy’s
team have been playing together for
several years and recently progressed
to the semifinal rounds of the annual
competition held in Beaumont.
Johnny Reb is neither fantasy nor
science fiction. It is a historical
recreation of the Civil War and is
older than both Battletech and
Warhammer.
In this game players can be the
Union or Confederate forces in
cither a recreation of an actual battle
or an enactment of a hypothetical
engagement.
The game uses a table measuring
8 feet by 4 feet, just as the other two
games do, but the Johnny Reb
miniatures are 12 to 15 millimeters
in height. This game also requires a
considerable amount of time for
preparation. Units must be painted
to match either authentic units or at
least the period uniforms. Either
way, a great deal of time must be
spent researching the necessary
material.
“I love it, it’s one way to-see
where Lee failed or Grant might
have taken a different approach,”
senior John White said. “For me, it’s
not only a game, but a new way to
study parts of history.”
All of the games require some
time for setup and preparation. Most
require some form of color scheme
to be used so forces can be recog-
nized and not mistaken for the oppo-
nent’s forces.
“It’s very time consuming, and it
requires some money,” Weathersby
said. “If a person doesn’t have some
of both, I don’t recommend getting
into it But it is fun to watch regard-
less.”
Weathersby, who is an avid
Johnny Reb player, says the time for
painting a unit can vary from as little
as a day to as much as two weeks,
depending on how much detail is
involved. He also points out that ter-
rain for the tabletop must also be
manufactured — a process that is
another time-consuming chore.
“They don’t make very much in
the way of properly sized terrain, so
you have to get inventive and make
it yourself,” he said. “More time,
more money. But it’s worth it in the
long run.”
Painting does hold a few rewards,
however. Each year one of the com-
panies that manufactures the minia-
tures holds a convention in London.
One of the competitions the compa-
ny sponsors is a miniatures painting
contest. Last year’s winner went
home with more than $75,000 in
cash and prizes for painting one 25
millimeter Figurine. Not many hob-
bies offer their participants that kind
of payoff.
Wargaming is spreading fast with
no end to its growth in sight. Those
who play are even developing their
own language and culture.
“Greenies,” for example, are new
players who have not yet bought
their first set of miniatures.
This is the final aspect of the
game that makes it popular — it is a
very social event.
“It allows you to get together
with people who have the same
interests and spend some time doing
something besides watching televi-
sion,” Weathersby said. “In the pre-
sent media-ruled society, maybe this
is the alternative we have been look-
ing for.”
Wang addresses academic struggle, responsibility
By Nedone Brantley
UP staff writer
The city of Kunming, capital of Yunnan
Province in Southwest China, has almost
everything Professor Ralph Wang Kun could
ever want. The climate is “Californian,” a
McDonald’s and a Kentucky Fried Chicken
are down the street and his house is stocked
with a refrigerator, a microwave, a television
and a radio.
But over the last 46 years, Wang has made
five trips to America in search of one thing
more important than all the material wealth
of any nation: education.
“Education is fundamental in any country
to upgrade the quality of the people," Wang
said. “So many in China are still illiterate.”
Wang’s feelings about education were just
as strong 46 years ago when he enrolled at the
University of Southern California to get his
master’s degree. At the time, the Chinese
government refused to give passports to his
family forcing him to leave his wife and fami-
ly behind for two years.
Since that first trip, he has been back to
...I feel that it is
my responsibility
to promote a cul-
tural and academ-
ic exchange.
— Ralph Wang Kun
America to promote academic relations with
institutions of higher learning such as
Columbia, Cornell, Rutgers, USC, Lamar
and Baylor. In 1979 the president of Lamar
invited him to visit the English language
department, and in 1985 Wang taught a
course at Baylor in Chinese.
Though he retired from his position as
dean of the English department at Yunnan
University in 1988, Wang still felt a need to
do more for the younger generation in his
country.
“For a person like me who has received an
education in another country, I feel that it is
my responsibility to promote a cultural and
academic exchange,” Wang said.
That responsibility helped Wang to estab-
lish the Yunnan Center of Foreign Languages
in Kunming, where language workers and
qualified teachers cater to the nation’s need
to attain its goal of modernization.
“That is why I am here in America again.
I want to recruit young teachers for the
school, and I have hopes that Lamar will
send a group of students to Kunming in a
study abroad program,” Wang said.
“Academic relations with Lamar would help,
the schools and students in both countries.”
Wang encourages teachers to come to*
Kunming and teach students who want toj'
learn. j-
“The advantage of teaching at a private *
school is that the students have to pay to getC,
an education,” he said. “They aren’t in ay
Chinese government school where they
know they will get a job when they graduate.'
These want to learn.” f
Some of Wang’s students are already reap-
ing the benefits of learning English from
American teachers. They are employed in*
places like New York and Boston as lawyers?
and science technicians.
A
“Any language is a tool, especially for an .
intellectual society,” Wang said. “The world'’
is getting smaller and English seems to bef"
the universal language now.”
/
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Bankston, Mark. University Press (Beaumont, Tex.), Vol. 69, No. 11, Ed. 1 Wednesday, October 7, 1992, newspaper, October 7, 1992; Beaumont, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth499995/m1/2/?q=%22~1%22~1&rotate=270: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Lamar University.