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monday, march 17, 2014 serving texas a&m since 1893 first paper free – additional copies $1 © 2014 student media the battalion A ‘THANK YOU’ FOR ALL T housands of students will dis- perse to job sites all over Bry- an-College Station on March 29 as part of the annual Big Event in an effort to serve the commu- nity. The perceived socioeconomic status of some of the residents who request student workers, however, has caused some students to question how the Big Event operates. Courtney Wiederkehr, senior telecommunication media studies major, said after being assigned to an individual who did not seem in need of assistance, she feels student services can be taken advantage of. “I feel like sometimes there are people who just see it as free maid service for a day,” Wiederkehr said. “It shouldn’t be that, it should be for those people that really do need help.” Wiederkehr said she enjoys vol- unteering for The Big Event, but said there should be a way to deter- mine which job sites are in greater need of assistance, in essence distin- guishing between a want and a need. The Big Event’s website includes a message which reads “Our mission is to say ‘Thank You’ to the com- munity, regardless of a resident’s sta- tus or socioeconomic status.” Kevin Brooks, senior manage- ment major and outreach executive for The Big Event, said this message is included because it is not The Big Event’s mission to provide assistance to families in need, but to give back to the entire community. “We do not do jobs for those who need the help,” Brooks said. “We are here purely just to say ‘thank you’ to residents of the Col- lege Station-Bryan community for everything they do for us through- out the year.” Brooks said he has heard student input similar to Wiederkehr’s be- fore and addressed it by reminding students what The Big Event is all about. “We do hear that complaint, but at the same time we look at it as a teaching moment, as a way to say ‘you know what, everyone deserves a thank you for things that they do,’” Brooks said. “Everyone deserves to feel appreciated.” Though there is no separation of Festival to promote A&M sciences Homer Segovia The Battalion stem Photo feature by David Cohen — THE BATTALION “I went snowboarding at the Wolf Creek Ski area. My roommate let me come along this year, and I’m a bit of an adrenaline junkie so it seemed like a good idea.” Gill Lipton, freshman mechanical engineering major What did you do over Spring Break that you’ve never done before? Q: thebatt asks “The first four days I went to South Padre Island, to experience the stereotypical spring break and hang out with my friends.” Kendra Emerson, freshman communication major “I actually went home and stayed with my family. I usually try to get away from my hometown, so it was good to be with them.” Brittany Witt, freshman biomedical sciences major P ersonal achievements and com- munity service can sometimes go unnoticed, but a certain on-campus program will soon recognize students who are highly regarded by their peers and reward them for their ac- complishments. Class Stars is a university-wide awards program organized by Class Councils that recognizes members of each class who excel in academics, athletics, leadership, service or spirit. Award recipients must be nominated by their peers to be considered for the award. Neil Rabroker, senior account- ing major and head director of Class Stars, said the entire program is stu- dent run. “Instead of having adults pick the winners, we wanted it all to be stu- dent run and student focused, so it is actually a committee of about eight Class Councils members,” Rabroker said. “So it is really interesting be- cause not only is it students nomi- nating students, it is other students picking these students too.” Caroline Janssen, senior business honors major, won the award for spirit last year for the Class of 2014. “It meant a lot to me to win that because obviously you win by anon- ymous nominations,” Janssen said. “I knew that one or more of my peers respected that in me, and I think that respect from your peers is one of the biggest compliments you can get in college.” Winners in each category are hon- ored at a reception and receive a per- sonalized award for their merit. “The ceremony itself was really cool because you are at a table from all of the winners from your class,” Janssen said. “It is very, very hum- bling because at my table was an Olympic gold medalist and someone Class Stars recognizes shining students Annabelle Hutchinson The Battalion See Class Stars on page 2 class councils Nominations still open for student awards T he Mitchell Physics building will play host Friday and Saturday to Texas A&M’s annual Physics and En- gineering Festival. The event will feature more than 100 interactive physics demonstrations and public lectures throughout the Mitch- ell building. The lectures will be given by Texas A&M faculty, including two Nobel laureates and a NASA astronaut, on topics such as superconductivity and the International Space Station. Cristian Cernov, senior physics ma- jor and director of outreach for the So- ciety of Physics Students, said the festival is an incredible opportunity for physics undergraduates to connect with physics professors and graduate students. “First of all you get to build the dem- os with graduate students and become familiar with some of the graduate stu- dents,” Cernov said. “At the same time, when you are working at the physics festival sometimes you have professors, other students, graduate students near you so you are going to get to network with people in the department.” The annual festival draws a crowd of children and their parents, to high school and college students. Jacob Gay- les, physics graduate student, said this mix of demographics presents an in- teresting group of people at the festival who have different perspectives and ideas. “There are very small kids who do not know much about physics, then there are older kids from high school who don’t really care about science, but then they come and have fun,” Gayles said. “That gets them thinking about what they will study in college. Then you also have people that are older who are … experiencing the science and seeing things that they wouldn’t see in their everyday lives.” Potential graduate students who are thinking about studying at A&M will also be attending. Dawson Nodurft, Alexander Nelowet The Battalion Physics, engineering demonstrations to be displayed PROVIDED Sean Wu, physics graduate student (left), demonstrates that square wheels can roll smoothly at last year’s festival. T housands flocked to Austin over Spring Break to participate in the annual South by Southwest festival, but the festival drew attention for more than just its music and entertainment events. Early Thursday morning, an alleged drunk driver hit a crowd and killed two people and injured 23 outside The Mohawk on Red River Street. The suspect was charged with capital murder. Meagan Marwitz, fresh- man anthropology major, was waiting for a show to play at The Mohawk two hours before the incident. She said it was crazy know- ing she was in the same spot where the incident eventu- ally took place. Marwitz, who has at- tended SXSW for the last three years and noticed an increase in attendees this year, said she was impressed with the SXSW response to the incident. “I honestly think the fes- tival handled it really well,” Marwitz said. “SXSW has created an organization where people can donate, online or at venues, to fami- lies of those affected. I think it was a good idea to keep the shows going, because if they would have cancelled shows, there would be more people out on the streets and it could be a safety hazard. SXSW has also created a fund to prepare for anything else that may occur in the future.” The festival consists of three sectors — interactive, film and music. Each sec- tor features celebrities, films and bands to promote for the festival audience. Kayla Abney, freshman general engineering major, said she spent a lot of time attending events that were part of the interactive sector of SXSW. “The interactive por- tion felt really laid back to me,” Abney said. “I went to the SXSubway Square and they had set up a park- ing lot into a lounge with amazing chairs and plenty of stations to charge your phone. There was tons of free food, drinks and free- bies. I didn’t walk a single block where I wasn’t hand- ed free stuff.” Abney said the interac- tive portion was a lot less crowded than the majority of music events. “For the most part, the interactive portion was cheaper and a lot easier to participate in,” Abney said. “All you had to do was RSVP online and most of the events were free. The only struggle was that some events were 21 and over and weren’t advertised a lot, which is good because the Tragedy, art mingle at Austin festival Katie Canales The Battalion sxsw See SXSW on page 2 See Festival on page 5 William Guerra — THE BATTALION Big Event staff member: purpose is to serve community See Big Event on page 5 “I went windsurfing in South Padre Island. It’s one of those things that looks really cool, but it’s a lot harder than people think, so I wanted to try it.” Chris Johnston, freshman education major FILE BAT_03-17-14_A1.indd 1 3/16/14 8:05 PM

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● monday, march 17, 2014 ● serving texas a&m since 1893 ● first paper free – additional copies $1 ● © 2014 student media

thebattalion

A ‘THANK YOU’ FOR ALL

Thousands of students will dis-perse to job sites all over Bry-an-College Station on March

29 as part of the annual Big Event in an effort to serve the commu-nity. The perceived socioeconomic status of some of the residents who request student workers, however, has caused some students to question how the Big Event operates.

Courtney Wiederkehr, senior telecommunication media studies major, said after being assigned to an individual who did not seem in

need of assistance, she feels student services can be taken advantage of.

“I feel like sometimes there are people who just see it as free maid service for a day,” Wiederkehr said. “It shouldn’t be that, it should be for those people that really do need help.”

Wiederkehr said she enjoys vol-unteering for The Big Event, but said there should be a way to deter-mine which job sites are in greater need of assistance, in essence distin-guishing between a want and a need.

The Big Event’s website includes a message which reads “Our mission

is to say ‘Thank You’ to the com-munity, regardless of a resident’s sta-tus or socioeconomic status.”

Kevin Brooks, senior manage-ment major and outreach executive for The Big Event, said this message is included because it is not The Big Event’s mission to provide assistance to families in need, but to give back to the entire community.

“We do not do jobs for those who need the help,” Brooks said. “We are here purely just to say ‘thank you’ to residents of the Col-lege Station-Bryan community for everything they do for us through-

out the year.”Brooks said he has heard student

input similar to Wiederkehr’s be-fore and addressed it by reminding students what The Big Event is all about.

“We do hear that complaint, but at the same time we look at it as a teaching moment, as a way to say ‘you know what, everyone deserves a thank you for things that they do,’” Brooks said. “Everyone deserves to feel appreciated.”

Though there is no separation of

Festival to promote A&M sciences

Homer SegoviaThe Battalion

stem

Photo feature by David Cohen — THE BATTALION

“I went snowboarding at the Wolf Creek Ski area.

My roommate let me come along this year, and I’m a bit of an adrenaline junkie so it

seemed like a good idea.”Gill Lipton, freshman mechanical

engineering major

What did you do over Spring

Break that you’ve never done before?

Q:thebattasks

“The fi rst four days I went to South Padre Island, to

experience the stereotypical spring break and hang out

with my friends.”Kendra Emerson, freshman

communication major

“I actually went home and stayed with my family. I usually try to get away

from my hometown, so it was good to be with them.”

Brittany Witt, freshman biomedical sciences major

Personal achievements and com-munity service can sometimes go

unnoticed, but a certain on-campus program will soon recognize students who are highly regarded by their peers and reward them for their ac-complishments.

Class Stars is a university-wide awards program organized by Class Councils that recognizes members of each class who excel in academics, athletics, leadership, service or spirit.

Award recipients must be nominated by their peers to be considered for the award.

Neil Rabroker, senior account-ing major and head director of Class Stars, said the entire program is stu-dent run.

“Instead of having adults pick the winners, we wanted it all to be stu-dent run and student focused, so it is actually a committee of about eight Class Councils members,” Rabroker said. “So it is really interesting be-cause not only is it students nomi-nating students, it is other students picking these students too.”

Caroline Janssen, senior business honors major, won the award for spirit last year for the Class of 2014.

“It meant a lot to me to win that because obviously you win by anon-ymous nominations,” Janssen said. “I knew that one or more of my peers respected that in me, and I think that respect from your peers is one of the biggest compliments you can get in college.”

Winners in each category are hon-ored at a reception and receive a per-sonalized award for their merit.

“The ceremony itself was really cool because you are at a table from all of the winners from your class,” Janssen said. “It is very, very hum-bling because at my table was an Olympic gold medalist and someone

Class Stars recognizes shining students

Annabelle HutchinsonThe Battalion

See Class Stars on page 2

class councils

Nominations still open for student awards

The Mitchell Physics building will play host Friday and Saturday to

Texas A&M’s annual Physics and En-gineering Festival.

The event will feature more than 100 interactive physics demonstrations and public lectures throughout the Mitch-ell building. The lectures will be given by Texas A&M faculty, including two Nobel laureates and a NASA astronaut, on topics such as superconductivity and the International Space Station.

Cristian Cernov, senior physics ma-jor and director of outreach for the So-ciety of Physics Students, said the festival is an incredible opportunity for physics undergraduates to connect with physics professors and graduate students.

“First of all you get to build the dem-os with graduate students and become familiar with some of the graduate stu-dents,” Cernov said. “At the same time,

when you are working at the physics festival sometimes you have professors, other students, graduate students near you so you are going to get to network with people in the department.”

The annual festival draws a crowd of children and their parents, to high school and college students. Jacob Gay-les, physics graduate student, said this mix of demographics presents an in-teresting group of people at the festival who have different perspectives and ideas.

“There are very small kids who do not know much about physics, then there are older kids from high school who don’t really care about science, but then they come and have fun,” Gayles said. “That gets them thinking about what they will study in college. Then you also have people that are older who are … experiencing the science and seeing things that they wouldn’t see in their everyday lives.”

Potential graduate students who are thinking about studying at A&M will also be attending. Dawson Nodurft,

Alexander NelowetThe Battalion

Physics, engineering demonstrations to be displayed

PROVIDED

Sean Wu, physics

graduate student (left), demonstrates

that square wheels can

roll smoothly at last year’s

festival. Thousands flocked to Austin over Spring

Break to participate in the annual South by Southwest festival, but the festival drew attention for more than just its music and entertainment events.

Early Thursday morning, an alleged drunk driver hit a crowd and killed two people and injured 23 outside The Mohawk on Red River Street. The suspect was charged with capital murder.

Meagan Marwitz, fresh-man anthropology major, was waiting for a show to play at The Mohawk two hours before the incident. She said it was crazy know-ing she was in the same spot where the incident eventu-ally took place.

Marwitz, who has at-tended SXSW for the last three years and noticed an increase in attendees this year, said she was impressed with the SXSW response to the incident.

“I honestly think the fes-tival handled it really well,” Marwitz said. “SXSW has created an organization where people can donate, online or at venues, to fami-lies of those affected. I think it was a good idea to keep the shows going, because if they would have cancelled shows, there would be more people out on the streets and

it could be a safety hazard. SXSW has also created a fund to prepare for anything else that may occur in the future.”

The festival consists of three sectors — interactive, film and music. Each sec-tor features celebrities, films and bands to promote for the festival audience. Kayla Abney, freshman general engineering major, said she spent a lot of time attending events that were part of the interactive sector of SXSW.

“The interactive por-tion felt really laid back to me,” Abney said. “I went to the SXSubway Square and they had set up a park-ing lot into a lounge with amazing chairs and plenty of stations to charge your phone. There was tons of free food, drinks and free-bies. I didn’t walk a single block where I wasn’t hand-ed free stuff.”

Abney said the interac-tive portion was a lot less crowded than the majority of music events.

“For the most part, the interactive portion was cheaper and a lot easier to participate in,” Abney said. “All you had to do was RSVP online and most of the events were free. The only struggle was that some events were 21 and over and weren’t advertised a lot, which is good because the

Tragedy, art mingle at Austin festivalKatie CanalesThe Battalion

sxsw

See SXSW on page 2See Festival on page 5

William Guerra — THE BATTALION

Big Event staff member:

purpose is to serve

communitySee Big Event on page 5

“I went windsurfi ng in South Padre Island. It’s one of those things that looks really cool, but it’s a lot

harder than people think, so I wanted to try it.”

Chris Johnston, freshman education major

FILE

BAT_03-17-14_A1.indd 1 3/16/14 8:05 PM

who served hours a week, almost like a full-time job, at a soup kitchen — peo-ple that were really giving back so much and really do great things with their lives. It was a huge honor to be in their company and to be recognized in the same manner as them.”

Janssen said she was particularly honored to re-ceive the award.

“I think that a lot of times in college, you can build up a good resume, you can hold some good leadership positions on campus,” Janssen said. “And that can mean a lot, but ultimately, to me, what meant the most was know-ing that my peers had seen something in me that they respected and that they thought was worth recog-nizing.”

Jessica Champion, se-nior kinesiology major and Class Stars committee member, said students are encouraged to nominate peers who they think have made an impact on cam-pus.

“We want students to be recognized for what they’re passionate about and what they put their time toward — whether it be athletics, academics, spirit, service or leader-ship,” Champion said. “We look for students who have gone above and beyond in these cat-egories, and their friends and peers have noticed. It doesn’t necessarily have to be someone well-known, but if they give gener-ous amounts of time to whatever they’re passion-ate about, we believe they deserve to be recognized for it.”

Rabroker said the nom-ination process is simple and involves writing a paragraph on the nomi-nee’s qualifications.

“The nomination may-be will take less than five minutes for the whole thing,” Rabroker said. “It is not like you are taking the time to write a resume for this person. You are literally just writing a para-graph to describe them.”

Nominations close March 19 and can be made online at classcouncils.tamu.edu/classstars.

crowds are small, unlike the majority of music events.”

Abney said she attended a movie promo for the upcom-ing movie “Neighbors,” which she found out about through actor Zac Efron’s Facebook page.

“My friend and I had wait-ed in line since 9 a.m., but we ended up making some friends with other Aggies in line so the time went by fast,” Abney said. “Around noon, a staff member handed out VIP cards for the first 30 people in line, which my friend and I received. I was totally freaking out. The stars of the movie did a Q-and-A, and then the lucky VIP people — all girls, by the way — got to go on stage and receive a movie poster to have them sign. I got to grab a picture of Dave Franco and a selfie with Zac Efron. It was really quick, but definitely worth the wait.”

Abney said the free mer-chandise offered to festival-go-ers is generally what prompts them to attend events.

“People will hand out differ-ent things advertising different bands or films and they’re like, ‘Oh free food,’ or, ‘No badge

required,’ and people will defi-nitely attend the event,” Abney said. “I hadn’t planned on go-ing to some events, but because of the free stuff I got handed I went to go check it out.”

Bands, both locally and widely known, seek popularity during SXSW. Chandler Hol-loway, freshman philosophy major and SXSW volunteer, said the festival is a good way for unknown or rising bands to gain popularity.

“SXSW is great for smaller bands to start getting recog-nized outside of the local music scene,” Holloway said. “Un-like ACL, where you have to be booked on a major stage to get any significant airtime at all, SXSW can attract audiences to shows that are not booked of-ficially by the festival.”

Marwitz said another reason SXSW produces so much pub-licity for bands and films is be-cause of the free events offered during the festival.

“There are so many music lovers in Austin during SXSW who are always looking for new artists or films,” Marwitz said. “Many artists who no one knew of previously surface at SXSW just because there are so many people willing to hear their music.”

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ANSWERSto todays puzzles

THE BATTALION is published daily, Monday through Friday during the fall and spring semesters and Tuesday and Thursday during the summer session (except University holidays and exam periods) at Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843. Offices are in Suite L400 of the Memorial Student Center.

News: The Battalion news department is managed by students at Texas A&M University in Student Media, a unit of the Division of Student Affairs. Newsroom phone: 979-845-3315; E-mail: [email protected]; website: http://www.thebatt.com.

Advertising: Publication of advertising does not imply sponsorship or endorsement by The Battalion. For campus, local, and national display advertising, call 979-845-2687. For classified advertising, call 979-845-0569. Office hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Email: [email protected].

Subscriptions: A part of the Student Services Fee entitles each Texas A&M student to pick up a single copy of The Battalion. First copy free, additional copies $1.

thebattalion THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT VOICE OF TEXAS A&M SINCE 1893

Jake Walker, Editor in Chief

thebattalion

newspage 2

monday 3.17.2014

JOB FAIRGetting ready for the busy season!

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Traditions Club will be interviewing for positions in all areas of Club operations, entry level to experienced positions are available. Job seekers should apply in person, dress for success and bring references and resumes.

Tuesday, March 18, 2014 3:00 – 6:00 pm

3131 Club Dr., Bryan, Texas 77807 Follow the signs off of Villa Maria

and Traditions Blvd.Those wishing to pre-register can fill out an application online at www.traditionsclub.com, under the Discover

Traditions tab. No phone calls please.

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More than 20,000 attendees packed the George R. Brown Convention

Center in Houston Friday through Sunday for Anime Matsuri 2014, an annual three-day anime convention featuring fan panels, celebrity guests and merchandise galore.

Several Aggies attended, including Spring Garcia, freshman biomedical sci-ences major, who said the event is a per-sonal tradition.

“Anime Matsuri 2011 was my first con,” Garcia said. “Matsuri is my baby and it’s tradition to come every year.”

Garcia said she went to meet one of the featured celebrity guests, Reika, a famous Japanese cosplayer.

“It was a very astounding experience,” Garcia said. “She’s internationally and In-ternet famous and making her U.S. debut at Matsuri, so I was flabbergasted coming out of the autograph session with her.”

For some, the event was their first-ever convention, including Peter Hutchings, sophomore political science major, who at-tended as part of a ‘Star Wars’ cosplay group with his fellow Corps of Cadets members.

“This is my first con and so far so good,” Hutchings said. “I like all the people dressed in costumes and the atmosphere. We’re getting more attention in our cosplays than in our Corps uniforms.”

Hutchings and his group, which in-cluded sophomore general studies major, Juan Santibanez; sophomore landscape ar-chitecture major, Francisco Campos; and sophomore industrial distribution major, Nash Levan, said they were fairly popular with convention-goers.

“It got to where sometimes it took half an hour to get upstairs because everyone wanted to get pictures with us,” Campos said.

Santibanez said the group chose ‘Star Wars’ because they were all fans and thought it would be a fun experience.

“We ended up watching all six episodes

after early badge pickup,” Santibanez said.Conventions are nothing new for San-

tibanez and Levan, but for the rest of the group the convention was their first experi-ence with Anime Matsuri.

“I went to Ottacon back in Baltimore, Md., and I kind of expected Matsuri to be the same,” Levan said. “The setup is the same.”

Levan said he didn’t attend Matsuri for the panels. Instead, he was mainly there for the cosplays.

“We’ve had little kids coming up and asking to hold our lightsabers and to see Darth Vader,” Levan said.

The convention was not without its problems, however.

Andy Brown, junior history major, said he was disappointed by the cancellations, delays and postponements of panels.

Garcia said she found Matsuri to be very disorganized this year, but what she was

most upset about was Matsuri’s decision to make one-day passes unavailable.

“It’s a big disadvantage to people,” Gar-cia said. “My high school friends were re-ally upset that they couldn’t buy a one-day pass and had to spend $65 to get in.”

Brown said he still enjoyed Matsuri and that the best experience for him was meet-ing the celebrity guests.

“The best part was being able to meet and get a picture with Caitlin Glass,” Brown said. “She’s one of my all-time fa-vorite voice actresses.”

Agatha Molski, sophomore biomedi-cal sciences major, was a participant of the “This Panel is Supernatural” fan panel on Saturday, answering questions as the angel Castiel.

“It was a lot of fun,” Molski said. “I got a lot more questions than I expected, but it went well and people laughed like I was hoping for, so it all went smoothly.”

Con draws costumed Aggies

Elizabeth EvansThe Battalion

cosplay

Anime Matsuri 2014 brings thousands to Houston over break

A group from the Corps of Cadets display their Star Wars cosplay costumes at Anime Matsuri 2014.

Elizabeth Evans — THE BATTALION

Class StarsContinued from page 1

SXSWContinued from page 1

BAT_03-17-14_A2.indd 1 3/16/14 7:01 PM

thebattalion

news page 3

monday 3.17.2014

the ultimate gift.PERFECT FOR ANY AGGIE.

The 111th edition of Texas A&M University’s o�cial yearbook chronicles the 2012-2013 school year — traditions, academics, the

other education, sports, the Corps, Greeks, campus organizations and seniors and graduate students. The 2013 Aggieland is on sale at the

Student Media o�ce, Suite L400 of the Memorial Student Center. Hours: 8:30 A.M.–4:30 P.M. Monday–Friday. Cash, check,

VISA, MasterCard, Discover and American Express accepted.

Jenna Rabel — THE BATTALION

The Tea Merchants perform Sunday at the St. Patrick’s Day celebration outside of O’Bannon’s Taphouse.

ST. PATTY’S COMES EARLY

Texas A&M University’s Residence Hall Association is working to place a bid to host the 2015 Southwest

Affiliate of College and University Residence Halls confer-ence.

The conference is an annual event for RHAs across the southwest and includes universities from Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Mexico.

Kasey Kram, senior agribusiness major and RHA presi-dent, said the three-day conference brings together about 600 students from universities in the region, allowing them to participate in activities as well as attend a number of workshops that educate them on programs to implement on their respective campuses.

“It’s a good way to gain leadership experience and gain boardroom experience with parliamentary procedure,” Kram said. “It’s a great time to learn programs to bring back to your hall as well as give recognition to the residence halls that are performing in those areas. It’s a culmination of dif-ferent things and it’s just a great time.”

Kram said through these programs, he and the Texas A&M RHA have learned methods for improving com-munication — all while in an upbeat environment where “rivalries cease to exist.”

“Being able to hear [from other schools] allows for di-versity of ideas and inputs, which even allows for more of the ideas to be implemented here,” Kram said. “[The con-ference] really gives a whole bank of knowledge and ideas, goals that Texas A&M can accomplish.”

Tim Broderick, RHA executive vice president and RHA president-elect for 2014-2015, said the idea to place a bid to host the event for fall 2015 came after attending the fall 2013 conference at Texas Tech University.

“Our experience [at the Texas Tech conference] started making us think, ‘Why can’t we host this conference?’” Broderick said. “We thought about it and there really isn’t a reason, so we looked at it and said, ‘Hey, go ahead.’”

Chase Shelton, freshman agricultural communications and journalism major and RHA’s conference coordinator, said he began drafting the bid and organizing plans for all of its components in December. He considered it an honor to have all of his work validated with the acceptance by ResLife.

“I found out I got my RHA position before Christmas and I took up my whole break to put together the bid,” Shelton said. “To uphold the traditions of A&M and show others would just be great.”

Kram said RHA will refine the bid before sending it to the regional committee in October and will find out in Novem-ber if their bid is accepted for the 2015 conference. Kram said he believes talking to other schools that will vote on the bids in October, and the fact that the University has never hosted the conference before, will aid in increasing the likelihood that hosting the conference will become a reality.

“[We have to] continue to talk with other universities and kind of lobby, ‘This is what our conference is,’ to the students who will be voting on it so that they can kind of get the overall image of what we’re really trying to do,” Kram said. “We really want to establish those connections now and make sure our relationships with other schools in the region are solid.”

Shelton said the conference timing gives members of RHA the ability to showcase a changing campus that will have projects such as Kyle Field completed by the time the conference comes around.

“Being one of the largest schools in Texas means we’ll be one of the largest delegations,” Shelton said. “Being such a great school, it’s kind of weird for us not to host. With [all of the changes on campus], it just shows we’re always moving forward and blazing that new trail.”

Broderick said that in all RHA does and whether or not the bid is accepted in the fall, their focus is on the students they serve.

“RHA is something very student-driven and that’s one of my favorite things about it,” Broderick said. “We give a lot of students the opportunity to take those leadership positions and see what it’s like to go and put on events and create camaraderie within the halls. People you meet in halls, you won’t meet anywhere else because there is so much diversity with students from a large variety of majors and backgrounds.”

RHA bids to host conferenceKadie McDougaldThe Battalion

residence hall association

As a public university and a hub for an array of research, Texas A&M

relies on funding from a multitude of sources. While tuition paid by students offers some of the money necessary to run the university, federal and state funding provide a significant portion. The Government Relations team, made of members from Texas A&M and the branch campuses, works to ensure con-tinued government support for much of the research taking place across the Texas A&M System.

Tommy Williams, vice chancellor for Federal and State Relations, said one of the team’s main goals is to inform legisla-tors of the impact policy decisions have on the Texas A&M University System. Michael O’Quinn, vice president for Government Relations at A&M, said the team works on a regular basis to keep members of the Texas Congress up to date with A&M.

“Legislators make laws and they want to know how those laws affect A&M,” O’Quinn said.” That could be anything from regulations, laws relating to cur-riculum. Think of Texas A&M as kind of like a city. There are a lot of things from utilities that relate to us, a whole gamut of things. We also have A&M fac-ulty that want to help solve some of the nation’s problems through research and it’s our job to let them know what those opportunities are, and to let members of

Congress know how we can help.”Texas A&M is a major research uni-

versity, and a majority of funding for research flows from the federal govern-ment, with faculty competing for re-search grants from various agencies such as the NIH and NSF. The federal budget determines the money these agencies ini-tially receive. Scott Sudduth, director of federal relations, said the team attempts to inform members of Congress of the impact research funding has on reality.

“A large part of our job is making the case for why they should invest in the re-search and development portfolio of the different agencies,” Sudduth said. “Re-search funding at the federal level doesn’t come from just one place. It comes from across the gamut of the federal agencies. There are some that have more, a big-ger slice of the pie, such as the National Institutes of Health. There’s a lot of research in universities throughout the country from improving the equipment that men and women wear in battlefield to the technology in the airplanes. By far the majority of the research and the breakthroughs in those areas have come from university-based research funded by the federal government.”

As the Texas legislature only meets every two years, Government Relations must plan ahead in order to maximize the work they are able to do at the state level. State Relations director Sarah Hicks said Government Relations is working now to ensure that the next legislative session is a productive one.

“The legislature only has five months to write a budget that is going to affect the next two years,” Hicks said. “That’s not really a lot of time to absorb the in-

formation. So right now, we’re spending time with our schools, planning and talk-ing to the presidents, and their talking to their folks about what do they think we need in fiscal year 2016 and 2017. We’re talking about what it is, how much mon-ey is it and what it would do. Then we’ll begin to meet with members’ staff about where we think we’re going. There’s so little time and so much going on in ses-sion, that if we don’t start on building those relationships and informing them now, then it’s lost.”

O’Quinn said even though Govern-ment Relations must juggle the many as-pects involved with the federal and state governments, they work as a unit at the benefit of not just the College Station campus, but the entire system.

“One thing to remember is we op-erate as a team,” O’Quinn said. “Even though I’m in the president’s office on the A&M campus, we operate as a team through the Vice Chancellor for Gov-ernment Relations and all the other A&M System components have Gov-ernment Relations components, which makes a very coordinated effort.”

Williams said the team attempts to ensure government understanding of the impact their decisions have on the re-search taking place across the state.

“What we have to remind the legisla-ture is that they’ve given us a mission,” Williams said. “We have to show them how the things we talk about fit into the mission they’ve handed to our university system. The federal dollars that come in for research have a tremendous impact on our state.”

Government Relations bridges gap between A&M, legislature

Bradley D’SouzaThe Battalion

state

A&M staff represents system interests, seeks research funds

BAT_03-17-14_A3.indd 1 3/16/14 8:04 PM

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THE TEXAS A&M STUDENT MEDIA BOARD INVITES APPLICATIONS FOR

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EditorAggieland 2015Qualifications for editor-in-chief of the Aggieland yearbook are:

REQUIRED• BeaTexasA&MstudentingoodstandingwiththeUniversity

andenrolledinatleastsixcredithours(4ifagraduatestudent)duringthetermofoffice(unlessfewercreditsarerequiredtograduate);

• Haveatleasta2.25cumulativegradepointratio(3.25ifagraduatestudent)andatleasta2.25gradepointratio(3.25ifagraduatestudent)inthesemesterimmediatelypriortotheappointment, the semester of appointment and semester during thetermofoffice.Inorderforthisprovisiontobemet,atleastsixhours(4ifagraduatestudent)musthavebeentakenfor

thatsemester;

PREFERRED• HavecompletedJOUR301orCOMM307(MassCommunication,

Law,andSociety);• Havedemonstratedabilityinwriting,editingandgraphicdesign

throughuniversitycourseworkorequivalentexperience;• Haveatleastoneyearexperienceinaresponsiblepositionon the Aggieland or comparable college yearbook.

THE TEXAS A&M STUDENT MEDIA BOARDINVITES APPLICATIONS FOR

thebattalion

Application forms should be picked up and returned to Sandi Jones, Student Media business coordinator, in Suite L406 of the MSC. Deadline for submitting application: 5 p.m. Tuesday, April 1, 2014.

Editor

Qualifications for editor-in-chief of The Battalion are:

REQUIRED• BeaTexasA&MstudentingoodstandingwiththeUniversityand

enrolledinatleastsixcredithours(4ifagraduatestudent)duringthetermofoffice(unlessfewercreditsarerequiredtograduate);

• Haveatleasta2.25cumulativegradepointratio(3.25ifagraduatestudent)andatleasta2.25gradepointratio(3.25ifagraduatestudent)inthesemesterimmediatelypriortotheappointment,thesemester of appointment and semester during the term of office. In orderforthisprovisiontobemet,atleastsixhours(4ifagraduatestudent)musthavebeentakenforthatsemester.

PREFERRED• HavecompletedJOUR301orCOMM307(MassCommunication, Law,andSociety)orequivalent;

• Haveatleastoneyearexperienceinaresponsibleeditorialpositionon The Battalionorcomparabledailycollegenewspaper,

– OR – Haveatleastoneyeareditorialexperienceonacommercial

newspaper, – OR – Havecompletedatleast12hoursinjournalism,includingJOUR203

(MediaWritingI)andJOUR303(MediaWritingII) orJOUR304(EditingfortheMassMedia),orequivalent.

SERVING TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY SINCE 1893

Summer 2014(The summer editor will serve

May 11 through Aug. 15, 2014)

Fall 2014 –Spring 2015(The fall and spring editor will serve

Aug. 16, 2014, through May 16, 2015)

The 2014 NCAA Indoor National Championships came to a close

Saturday at the Albuquerque Conven-tion Center with Oregon sweeping both team titles. The Ducks men captured the title with a total of 62 points while the women finished with 44.

The No. 3 A&M women placed fifth with 35 points, while the No. 4 men came in with 18 points — tying UTEP and LSU for eighth place.

“We had a good day, but we didn’t have a day that we are happy with,” said head coach Pat Henry. “We are not happy with being fifth and eighth. We’re better than that and just had a few un-fortunate situations happen. Tomorrow is a new day and we start getting ready to compete outdoors.”

The Aggies entered the champion-ships with four collegiate leaders in their respective events — juniors Kamaria Brown (200-meter), Deon Lendore (400-meter) and Brea Garrett (weight throw) and senior Prezel Hardy Jr. (60-meter).

After winning five conference titles in his specialty race, the 400, Lendore

posted a winning time of 45.21 seconds — the second-fastest winning time in the history of the event at the Indoor Championships — to take home the in-dividual NCAA title.

“Being a national champion is the best feeling there is,” Lendore said. “You work so hard to reach the top. When you get there you have to work twice as hard to stay on top, because staying on top is the hardest thing to do. I’m willing to work and do all that needs to be done to be an outdoor national champion as well.”

Lendore set the world leading and school record time of 45.03 in the 400 to defend his SEC Indoor title earlier this year, and Henry said this solidifies Lend-ore as the best in the event.

“It’s a great accomplishment for Deon,” Henry said. “He’s the best quar-ter-miler in the country and he proved that tonight. Any time you’re a national champion in the NCAA then you are big time. I’m extremely proud of Deon.”

The individual success continued for the Aggies as Brea Garrett took home the NCAA Championship in the weight throw with a mark of 72-8 (22.15) in her first appearance at a national champion-

ship meet. “I think it was good for her, espe-

cially with her confidence,” said assis-tant coach Juan De La Garza. “The fact that she came in as the leading thrower and finished as the winner shows a lot of poise on her part.”

Garrett faced adversity after her best mark in the first round was called a foul. After A&M coaches protested the foul and video evidence confirmed that the attempt was not a foul in the fifth round of competition, Garrett moved back into the lead where she would claim the na-tional title.

“It was fun to see her become the champion, and the way it turned out was a lot of fun,” De La Garza said. “We knew it was unlikely for her to foul the way they called it on her first throw. She never comes off that side of the ring when she throws. The film showed it wasn’t even close.”

Kamaria Brown qualified for the fi-nal in the 200, but was unable to finish the race after pulling up halfway through with hamstring issues.

Texas A&M will begin its outdoor track and field competition March 21 in San Antonio at the UTSA Invitational.

Garrett, Lendore claim indoor titlestrack & fi eld

Clay Koepke The Battalion

BAT_03_17_14_A4.indd 1 3/16/14 7:14 PM

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physics graduate student, said attending the fes-tival convinced him that A&M was the right place to continue his studies.

“Generally as part of grad-student orienta-tion and tour you go through the labs and talk to the professors there, a standard sort of meet and greet,” Nodurft said. “What I really wasn’t expecting when I came down here was to be thrown in on a Saturday to see all this huge event going on, which was so over the top for me and so much fun. I was leaning toward coming here to A&M in the first place, but the festival really helped sell me on it because everyone was so passionate.”

Tatiana Erukhimova, physics professor and outreach coordinator of the festival, said the main focus is getting children interested in sci-ence and introducing them to the world of sci-ence and engineering. In comparison to other science festivals in the country, Erukhimova said the A&M festival, while small, stands out because of its quality.

“We are relatively small compared with other science festivals such as San Francisco Bay area or Philadelphia festivals,” Erukhimova said. “What is special about our festival is qual-ity. We have over 50 professors and over 200 students and staff who present their demos and ideas to the attendees. People really appreciate it because they can talk to these top-notch re-searchers — and not only about the demos that they present, but about anything.”

Most of the demonstrations are constructed and presented by Texas A&M students. Grad-

uate students help undergraduates design and build the demos, including a hovercraft built from a lawn mower and superconducting mag-nets.

Many of the demos are showcased every year because people like them so much. This year, there will also be new demos that have not been seen before, said Kevin Hernandez, an aerospace engineering graduate student who is presenting a demo on computer vision re-search at this year’s festival.

“Some have become a tradition — they are simply great and people like them,” Hernandez said. “There will be new demos as well for sure, people coming and going, kids playing with the demos that allow for it, people learning about things they wanted to know and things they had no clue about. It’s hectic and great. It’s a unique experience and I definitely encourage everyone to go, no matter your age or back-ground.”

The festival will open at 7 p.m. Friday in Hawking Auditorium — with a lecture on mapping the universe — and will continue until 5 p.m. Saturday. Attendance is free.

FestivalContinued from page 1

I was leaning toward coming here to A&M in the first place, but

the [Physics and Engineering Festival] really helped sell me on it because everyone was so passionate.”

— Dawson Nodurft, physics graduate student

jobs depending on need, Brooks said there is a process to assess whether or not the assignment is safe, what tools will be needed for the job and how many students would be appropriate for it.

Part of the process is ensuring that the job is within the range that A&M can send students. Despite the increasing number of students par-ticipating, Brooks said A&M cannot send stu-dents to areas outside of that range.

“We have extended, however with our stu-dents here at Texas A&M, we cannot go any further because of liability,” Brooks said. “That is something that we thought about, but it’s

purely up to other communities to start their own big events now.”

Elizabeth Hernandez, senior English major, said she has participated in The Big Event for the past three years and has been assigned to households of varying economic status. Her-nandez said she has no preference where she is assigned to work.

“The whole point of Big Event is helping the community, so whether you’re rich, poor, middle class, high class — you’re still part of the community,” Hernandez said. “So if you sign up for it, you’re going to be a part of Big Event. That’s the whole point of Big Event, saying, ‘Thanks College Station for putting up with all the college kids.’”

Big EventContinued from page 1

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