l thursday, october 17, 2013 l serving texas a&m since 1893 l first paper free – additional copies $1 l © 2013 student media

thebattalion

The U.S. Congress marked the short-term end to a stalemate over differing positions on

the 2013-2014 fiscal year during 11th-hour talks Wednesday, ending the shutdown that deadlocked Washington for more than two weeks.

The Senate and House agreed to a deal that would lift both the partial shutdown and raise the U.S. debt ceiling for the next several months, averting possible wide-spread economic implica-tions from a U.S. loan default.

However, damage has already been done for many research institutions across the United States, including those at Texas A&M.

Nicholas Suntzeff, professor of physics and as-tronomy, said it will be a difficult process for the University staff to bring the system back to normal.

“There is a lot of work that will have to be done

here at the University to re-establish the funding flows and the submission of new grants,” Suntzeff said. “This will add a new burden to the University staff who is already overworked.”

Doug Woods, department head of psychology, said some federal agencies such as the National In-stitutes of Health and the National Science Foun-dation were unable to process his department’s grants and award money during the government shutdown, which caused a startup delay.

“Many of the grants that were supposed to be viewed at this time of year didn’t get viewed,” Woods said.

Thomas McKnight, professor and interim de-partment head of biology, said several professors and scientists from other countries were unable to travel to the U.S. to aid in research during the shutdown, because they were having trouble obtaining visas.

Woods said he and his colleagues had become increasingly frustrated with the inability to move forward in research.

McKnight said the University instructed pro-

fessors and research officials to continue sub-mitting grant proposals until the government shutdown ended, but newer projects were halted.

“In situations like that, research starts to lose people and expertise,” McKnight said.

Suntzeff said science at Texas A&M and around the country still faces the sequestration of discre-tionary funding, which hits science hard.

“Congress, both the GOP and the Democrats, see the need for government support of basic re-search because private industry, except in a few cases, is not able to fund such research given the short term economic goals demanded by the way our financial system works,” Suntzeff said. “There is bipartisan support for continued strong funding of science, but understanding that given the eco-nomic crisis in the U.S., science funding too must share some of the budget slowdowns.”

The congressional deal agreed upon late last night provides funding for the U.S. government until Jan. 15.

The search for someone to fill University Presi-dent R. Bowen Loftin’s bow tie has reached

another landmark as the Board of Regents created a website to provide information on the search and allow students and community members to provide nominations.

The Texas A&M Presidential Search Advisory Committee, the group facilitating the process, is made up of seven A&M faculty voting members along with two non-voting members, including Stu-dent Body President Reid Joseph.

Voting member John Gladysz, professor and Dow Chair in Chemical Invention at Texas A&M, said he advised the student body to remain engaged with the next University administration, particularly through the Student Government Association.

“I think student government is very important, and I hope that student government will always be engaged with our University administration,” Gladysz said.

President Loftin will leave his position as the 24th president of Texas A&M on Jan. 13, 2014. Loftin said he will not be an active part in helping decide the

next Texas A&M President, but will continue at A&M as a physics professor in the Dwight Look College of Engineering.

“I am looking forward to resuming a very long career in higher education,” Loftin said. “I’ve been working almost 40 years in universities and the bulk of my time has been spent as a regular faculty member who mentored and taught students and did research and I’ll go back to that, presumably next year.”

Joseph will be the only student member on the Texas A&M Presidential Search Advisory Commit-tee, and as such he said he is currently preparing a way to represent the voices of the students directly to the committee.

“I am actually in the middle of formulating a way of [hearing the student voice],” Joseph said. “I’m considering creating some type of form for students to say, ‘Hey, this is what we are looking for in our president. These are the qualities we would really like to see,’ and then I’ll voice that [to the rest of the committee].”

The applications and nominations for the 25th Tex-as A&M University President will be accepted until a new president is selected. For more information, see presidentialsearch.tamu.edu.

Nominations for 25th A&M president open to community

campus

“Upset because we, as freshman, are not going to experience what it feels like when he’s around. He brings the spirit to the school.”

Yuvani Ochoa, freshman biology major

thebattasks

Q: How do you feel about University President

R. Bowen Loftin leaving?

Lindsey Gawlik The Battalion

“I’m going to miss his bow ties.”

Seneida Canan, freshman forensics investigative sciences major

“I’m not sure. He’s a great president so I think he’ll

be a great teacher.”

Paige Achten, freshman forensics investigative sciences major

inside | 5Free pancakesBaptist Student Ministry offers free pancakes and prayer to Northgate crowd from midnight Friday to 3 a.m. Saturday.

Loftin gives state of the school addressgraduate student council

Wafi Alzawad — THE BATTALION

President Loftin answers the questions of graduate students Wednesday evening at the MSC.

President R. Bowin Loftin gave a State of the University address

and answered questions from stu-dents at the second annual Town Hall

meeting presented by the Graduate Student Council.

While Loftin was the key speaker, Vice President for Student Affairs Gen. Joe Weber, Provost Karen Watson and Associate Provost for Graduate and Professional Studies Karen Butler-Purry also discussed campus-related topics.

In his address, Loftin spoke to the expansion of the University in size and influence with the addition of a law

school and the start of the designing stage for the re-opening of the Health Science Center.

Loftin said growth brings both chal-lenges and opportunities. The most difficult challenge the University faces is dealing with the increase of 1,500 students in this year’s freshman class as compared to last year’s.

University president answers student questions at meetingCaroline Corrigan The Battalion

See Town Hall on page 3

Page 2: What should

Johnny Manziel be for

Halloween?

Q:thebattalion asks

Two-week shutdown delayed A&M researchKaty Stapp & Jennifer ReileyThe Battalion

Photos by Matthew Wong — THE BATTALION

Cadets help restore Blocker after flooding damage

CALL TOSERVICE

Blocker received some unex-pected visitors Tuesday.

Members of the Corps of Cadets joined workers from SERVPRO, a company specializing cleanup and restoration, late Tues-day to clean out much of the John R. Blocker Building’s first floor water damage. The crew worked from 9 a.m. to midnight to meet the University’s deadline to reopen the building by Friday morning.

Greg Owens, Class of 1995 and owner of the Brazos Valley SERVPRO, said his staff was in need of a helping hand after several days of non-stop cleaning. After a request for

help was posted online, Corps volun-teers assisted by stripping walls, clean-ing up debris and carrying equipment.

“[The cadets’ assistance] means we won’t be here all night,” Owens said. “We expected to work straight until 8 a.m. They don’t know what a favor they’ve done us.”

Owens and his staff have worked in Blocker with a staff of about 30 people from 7 a.m. to 1 a.m. every day since Sunday. As the Friday deadline was fast approaching, he posted a request through Facebook for paid workers and a friend advised him to contact the Corps.

Lauren Simic The Battalion

(Top) Timothy Erb, senior construction science major, carries in heavy-duty fans to dry the first floor of Blocker. (Left) Landon Ellis, junior civil engineering major, clears insulation affected by water damage.

See Blocker on page 2

Congress avoids default, reopens governmentfederal government

Wafi Alzaward — THE BATTALION

BAT_10-17-13_A1.indd 1 10/16/13 11:27 PM

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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: editor@thebatt.com; 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: battads@thebatt.com.

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

aggieland 2014

Save $10 by pre-ordering (if you haven’t) the

2014 Aggieland yearbook. Price is $81.19 (including shipping & sales tax).Go to http://aggieland.tamu.edu or call 979.845.2696 to order by credit card.

Or drop by the Student Media office, Suite L400 in the MSC, 8:30 a.m.– 4:30 p.m.

page 2

“Himself.”Elizabeth Ramsey, freshman environmental

geosciences major

Q:thebattasks What should Johnny Manziel be

for Halloween?

Photo feature by Wafi Alzawad — THE BATTALION

Owens said he was sur-prised when the cadets of-fered to contribute their time for free.

“These volunteers are ac-tually saving money for the University,” Owens said. “We are paid by the hour, so the quicker we get done tonight, the less A&M has to reimburse us.”

Members from 12 Corps outfits responded. Mike Powell, senior construction science major and member of Company A-2, said some outfits assembled volunteers within 20 minutes. He es-timated that 30 cadets gath-ered in Blocker, matching SERVPRO staff man-for-man.

“Each outfit is well repre-sented and these guys busted

their tails from start to fin-ish,” Powell said.

Several cadet volunteers requested confidentiality in interviews to avoid receiving recognition for their work.

“Selfless service, humil-ity — that’s what being an Aggie is about,” Powell said.

Other Corps members like senior construction sci-ence major and A-2 mem-ber, Timothy Erb, said they contributed out of a sense of stewardship.

“I feel that it’s our job to take care of what we own,” Erb said. “A&M is our home. We have been gifted with these buildings and ought to take care of them.”

Some volunteers felt the urgency of reopening Block-er for academic reasons. David Alfano, sophomore computer engineering major and member of A-Company, said he is concerned about

cancelled classes because he has a test next week.

“The test is for differen-tial equations,” Alfano said. “I want to be learning the information in a classroom, because once you get behind in [differential equations], you stay behind.”

Most of the cadets volun-teering had no tests or home-work due the following day.

“We are mainly sacrific-ing sleep, since we still have to be up at 5:30 tomorrow morning,” Erb said.

Powell stressed the impor-tance of finding ways to give back to the University.

“The Corps gives time and effort to the University but gains so much more,” Powell said. “What I’m try-ing to say is you can’t give back enough to this Univer-sity.”

BlockerContinued from page 1

“Scooby Doo.”Kirbie Ermler-Gonzalez, sophomore

interdisciplinary studies major

“A banana, so he can drive the media nuts.”Peter Lee, freshman business

administration major

“Adonis.”Zack Maril, junior applied mathematical

sciences major

“A regular student.”Elizondo Ugarte, geology

graduate student

“A ‘Despicable Me’ minion or Gru.”Rachel Luschen, sophomore nutritional science major

correctionsIn an article published Tuesday, The Battalion misclassified Caleb Tate as a sophomore, consistent with the Texas A&M directory. Tate was a junior, Class of 2015.

The Battalion welcomes readers’ comments about published information that may require correction. We will pursue your concern to determine whether a correction needs to be published. Please contact us at editor@thebatt.com.

BAT_10-17-13_A2.indd 1 10/16/13 7:44 PM

thebattalion

news page 3

thursday 10.17.2013

battalionClassifieds

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Call 845-0569 To Place Your Ad

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Senate stands against grad wildcat

Tanner Garza — THE BATTALION

John Goertz, civil engineering graduate student, speaks to Student Senate on Wednesday about the possibility of creating a graduate student wildcat.

In hopes of engineering better futures for students, “Noche de

Ciencias” will be held by the Tex-as A&M chapter of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers on Thursday at Bryan High School.

Citllali Gomez, director of ex-ternal affairs for the society, said her organization is holding the event to reach out to the Bryan community in a way that will leave a lasting impres-

sion, especially in a school of mostly minority students.

“Many [society] members that come from high schools like this that are majorly composed of minority students,” Gomez said. “We know what it is like to be in their shoes and that’s why we want to give back to our community and help them over-come the endeavors that we have had to face.”

“Noche de Ciencias,” or Night of Science, is a national initiative established in 2008 by the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers Foundation to promote knowledge and interest in science, technology, engineering and math among the

Hispanic community. The event is for both students and

parents. Parents will attend panel dis-cussions in both English and Spanish on the college application and finan-cial aid processes and the benefits of encouraging their children to pursue a STEM career while students will participate in hands-on events.

Gomez said the goal is to help students apply what they learn in the classroom to real life.

“This opportunity will open doors for students that had never thought about going to college,” Gomez said. “I have visited the school before and many students have an idea of what college is, but not a true definition.

By having [the Texas A&M chapter] host this event, we as college students can help inspire them to pursue not only a college degree but a degree in the STEM fields.”

Bryan High School students will be able to compete in a variety of design competitions to demonstrate different aspects of engineering. Ja-son Cordes, teacher coordinator for the program, said the competitions are designed to pique student inter-est and showcase the practical side of academia. Cordes said students last year designed paper “pencil” rockets and flew their rockets in a friendly contest.

“I have not previously hosted this

event, but I did attend last year’s ‘Noche de Ciencias,’” Cordes said. “I was so taken by the response of the students who did attend that I knew I needed to be a part of it. To see the connection of understanding from academic to the practical is pretty magical.”

Caitlin Haskett, freshman math-ematics major, said she understood first hand how such programs can better equip prospective students as they decide on majors.

“I had really good math teachers who not only encouraged me toward the STEM subjects but helped me understand them,” Haskett said.

Hispanic engineers to foster STEM future

Pallavi KaushikSpecial to The Battalion

community

Group to promote science to high school students

Student Senate convened Wednesday and passed a resolution against the creation of

a graduate student wildcat with 37 senators in favor of the resolution, eight against and one abstention.

John Goertz, civil engineering graduate student, said the tradition of the wildcat has changed since he was a freshman in 2003 and that the creation of the graduate wildcat should not be viewed as a break with tradi-tions. Bill author, Cary Cheshire, amended the bill to explicitly invite graduate students to take part in the senior wildcat.

The Flags in Every Classroom Bill, which supports the placement of American flags in every classroom, also passed Wednesday.

During committee last week, the bill was amended to remove a clause which included the reciting of the Pledge of Allegiance dur-ing the first period of every academic day. The bill authors said it would cost an esti-mated $500 to place flags in every classroom.

Bills that were introduced for a vote in later meetings included the ROACHES bill, which asks Dining Services to refund students four meal trades because of the clo-sure of dining facilities Oct. 3-4 for health violations.

Annabelle Hutchinson, city reporter

For the full story, visit thebatt.com

“With the enrollment of Texas A&M approaching up to 59,000 in size, this makes us the third or fourth biggest in the country,” Loftin said. “This comes with many difficult challenges as well as oppor-tunities, good and bad.”

In addition to the growing pains asso-ciated with the freshman class, Loftin said the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences has been limited in enrollment due to lack of space, but a new facility is set to open on West Campus in May 2014 to help alleviate the problem of limited enrollment.

Loftin briefly addressed the topic of the Kyle Field renovation project and said the project will take 27 months to complete and will seat up to 110,000 people.

The floor was given to the audience to ask Loftin questions. The first question, posed by Ryan Beemer, civil engineering graduate student, regarded the administra-tion’s view of graduate students as profes-sionals or students.

In response, Loftin drew on his own ex-perience as a graduate student and said he felt graduate school is a time to engage in scholarship.

Adding to this, Weber said graduate students have a lot of needs and are more mature and focused than undergraduates. Weber said it is easy for graduate students to not get a lot of attention with 36,000 undergraduates on campus and asked the

Graduate Student Council to keep on the just-as-important graduate student issues.

When asked what the toughest obsta-cles he had faced as president were, Loftin brought up the Tuesday death of junior university studies major, Caleb Tate.

“Well, there are many [obstacles] I can name,” Loftin said. “One that is on my mind today is the loss of students. I have lost 71 in my years as president of Texas A&M ... so that is always tough, tougher on the families than me, but this is my family.”

On the topic of his presidential resigna-tion, Loftin said the qualities he expects in the next president would be his or her abil-ity and willingness to make students a high priority.

“To me, students come first,” Loftin said. “I know there is always disagreement over what that means exactly, but I do in-tentionally love students. I hope the next president has that same level of love I have for you.”

When asked how many bow ties he owned, Loftin said he has almost 400 and that there were too many to name a fa-vorite.

“I have several favorites and those have stories,” Loftin said. “They are tied to peo-ple who gave them to me. I probably have a few dozen that have very special stories. They are all tied to people, who are spe-cial to me in one way or another, some I haven’t even met, but the bow tie is the connector.”

Town hallContinued from page 1

BAT_10-17-13_A3.indd 1 10/16/13 11:03 PM

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thebatt.com

Not many undergraduates get the chance to apply

what they’re learning in class to their daily lives. However, the members A&M’s chapter of Engineers without Borders take their skills around the globe, with projects both lo-cally and internationally.

Founded in 2005, the A&M chapter of Engineers Without Borders uses en-gineering skills to complete sustainable projects for com-munities. The organization has several local projects and a larger ongoing project in Costa Rica.

“It’s a practical application of what you’re doing in class,” said Ryan Skinner, junior electrical engineering major who serves as one of the leads of the Costa Rica project. “We get to work with the en-gineering practice, work with the mentors, do the reports, work on all that. It’s just good experience.”

For international projects, EWB sends a team of seven students and a mentor. The Costa Rican project seeks to assist a small community near the Texas A&M Soltis Research Center by provid-ing learning facilities and an

efficient water system. In the past, teams built a computer center for everyone in com-munity and installed a septic system. In 2012, EWB in-stalled a stretch of pipeline to aid water supply to local households. In the summer, EWB installed three water tanks to supply the commu-nity with water throughout the day.

Ryan Priest, junior civil engineering major and one of the leads for the Costa Rica Project, said the EWB’s cur-rent focus is finding ways to create sustainability among their previous projects.

“We are still going to be looking at helping the wa-ter system out,” Priest said. “Right now we are looking at a few problem areas that have low pressure. We’re also looking into ways that can fix the pressure problem, but also create a very long term solu-tion. For our next project we are looking into ways that can really solve all these issues for 20-30 years.”

Some of EWB’s past local projects include construct-ing a playground for Scotty’s House and going to com-munity schools to educate children about engineering principles. Recently, the EWB proposal for changing the shower heads in Mosher Hall to conserve water was approved.

Tyler Buffington, junior aerospace engineering major and local projects coordina-

tor, said they are currently constructing a wheelchair ramp.

“We are designing a wheelchair ramp for a wom-an in the community who is an amputee, and her current wheelchair ramp is too steep for her to use very often, so she’s essentially trapped in her home at times,” Buffington said.

While EWB receives some funding from the University, the vast majority of its funds come from corporate spon-sors.

“On the usual trip, the stu-dents who travel won’t have to pay for much of anything,” Priest said. “They maybe will have to pay for their insurance going down there, maybe a piece of their plane ticket, but for going down there, it’s not much at all.”

Receiving money from sponsors requires EWB to generate grant reports, which make up a large amount of the preparatory work for any international project.

Skinner also said the work that EWB does in Costa Rica continues to impress its cor-porate sponsors, allowing the organization to repeatedly re-new its funding.

“You kind of build a rep-utation with these donors, and you get invited again,” Skinner said. “You’ll use the money, you give them the grant report, and they’ll say, ‘Hey we really liked that project. We’d like to invite

The search continues

Tanner Garza — THE BATTALION

Senior wildlife and fisheries sciences majors Travis Benden (left), Sheldon Jackson and Juliet Vallejo use a radio telemetry receiver to search for a hidden transmitter Wednesday afternoon in Academic Plaza for their Techniques of Wildlife Management class.

Volunteers apply education to help abroadGroup seeks sustainable Costa Rica water system

engineers without borders

you to apply again.’”Freshman biomedical en-

gineering major, Shannon Voyles, said EWB helps en-gineering students develop their skills while also making a positive global impact.

“It allows us to help out others and keep the quality of life of the world improving,” Voyles said. “This also helps

develop the engineering skills of the undergraduate students by giving hands-on experi-ence and the opportunity to apply what we are learning in the classroom.”

EWB members don’t have to be engineering majors, and the experiences gained from participating are valuable no matter the degree. Skinner

said the time he spent in Cos-ta Rica deeply impacted him.

“We were there for 13 days and we lived with the local families, spent our time with them, played soccer with them, ate three meals a day with all the local host families,” Skinner said. “It was probably one of the most rewarding ex-periences of my life.”

Bradley D’SouzaThe Battalion

BAT_10_17_13_A4.indd 1 10/16/13 10:33 PM

thebattalion

lifestyles page 5

thursday 10.17.2013

aggieland 2014

Freshmen, Sophomores, Juniors, Seniors,Grad Students:walk in or schedule your free yearbook portrait sitting now

Just walk in to have your portrait made for Texas A&M’s 2014 Aggieland yearbook. 10 a.m – 4:30 p.m. Mon. – Thurs. in the Student Media office, Suite L400 of the MSC. Or, for appointment email arphototamu@gmail.com or call 979.846.9690. December grads: have portraits made right away to have pictures for your graduation announcements.

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In the fall of 1996, a group of five Aggies formed what be-

came one of the most popular student bands in College Sta-tion — Haywood.

Nearly two decades later, four of the five former students reunited to arrange two ben-efit concerts — the second of which will take place Friday as the band returns to the area to perform at the Grand Stafford theater in Downtown Bryan.

The proceeds from the concert will benefit Survivor Summit, an event that part-ners with the LIVESTRONG foundation to allow individu-als to raise funds and aware-ness for cancer research and climb Mt. Kilimanjaro. The money raised will be applied to the $20,000 individual goal of Stephen Sandlin, Class of 1996 and band member, and his wife Bree, Class of 1997.

The Sandlins will climb Mt. Kilimanjaro with Survi-vor Summit in February 2014 to recognize the support their family received during Bree’s fight with cancer and celebrate her remission.

“It really does feel like a cel-ebration that we came through all the stuff that we did,” Ste-phen said. “We’d like to enjoy that with our friends and ev-eryone else. A lot of this is just really about Bree and I saying

thank you.”Stephen said the last time

Haywood performed together was for the 50th anniversary of Fish Camp in 2004.

Brandon Elam, Class of 1997 and band member, said he is anticipating an energetic performance on Friday.

“It feels like we’re going to play another show, just like it was yesterday,” Elam said. “I think what is cool about the show is picking out our favor-ites and picking out the ones we know the crowd loved. It’s almost like a ‘Haywood’s greatest hits’ kind of show.”

During the band’s time at A&M, Haywood made its mark on Bryan-College Sta-tion by playing shows on and off campus, gaining popularity with their original lyrics and engaging performances.

“We wanted to be fun and just really for people to have a good time,” Sandlin said. “And it turned out to not be too serious — basically just not to take ourselves too seri-ously.”

All of the band members were invested in different fac-ets of student life at A&M, as Haywood boasted representa-tives from organizations such as Town Hall, Fish Camp and MSC Hospitality. These campus ties helped the band land its Bryan venue, as Jose Arredondo, former member

of Town Hall and managing partner with the Grand Staf-ford Theater, said the “Town Hall network” helped Hay-wood contact and secure the theater for a performance.

“When I heard about them — that they were old Ags — that they used to be in Town Hall and I thought, ‘This would be the perfect venue for you to come back,’” said Ar-redondo, Class of 2011. “I just thought it was kind of fate.”

Kris Arnold, Class of 1997 and band member, said some of the best parts of Haywood were the band members’ friendships and the “party at-mosphere” the shows created throughout the audience.

“Being able to get that back together and come back to College Station and do an-other show like that is pretty exciting,” Arnold said.

Elam said the band could have held a reunion concert for a number of reasons, but he was glad that the concert was being held under celebratory circumstances.

“We always said we would pick a special situation to bring us back together and do a show,” Elam said. “We always kind of joked about it. This is a great reason to get back to-gether and one I’m excited about.”

Allison RubenakThe Battalion

Band reunites for cancer benefit concert to give thanks to supporters

CELEBRATE RECOVERY

COURTESY

Students pass out free pancakes on Northgate for the Baptist Student Ministry.

COURTESY

Kris Arnold, Class of 1997 and bassist for Haywood, will play at The Grand Stafford on Friday.

A typical midnight on Northgate doesn’t often feature a kitchen full of sizzling

griddles, hundreds of students talking over free pancakes and students praying on the side of the streets, but this weekend will include all of that — with just enough syrup on the side.

Continuing its biannual event, the A&M Baptist Student Ministry will host a compli-mentary pancake breakfast in the back parking lot of its building from midnight on Friday to 3 a.m. Saturday.

The Baptist Student Ministry has been a stu-dent organization at Texas A&M since 1921 and has been active in the community and the University through various events. The pan-cake breakfast has been held twice a year for the past 10 years outside of the Baptist Student Ministry’s building on Northgate.

Joel Bratcher, the director of the Ministry for the last 12 years, said he is excited for the event, as it is an opportunity to interact with the community.

“The breakfast is a lot of fun, it’s an incred-

ibly diverse event,” Bratcher said. “Students from all over College Station come to join. Cooking for these hundreds of students and serving them are our main goals as a ministry.”

Rebecca Hernandez, Class of 1999 and as-sistant director, said there will be plenty of food for people interested in stopping by.

“We have been doing this for awhile,” Hernandez said. “Last year, we served roughly 2,000 pancakes, with two or three going to each person.”

Around 150 volunteers participate in the event, assisting with set up, cooking and serv-ing pancakes and hot chocolate.

Among the volunteers is Jeff Smith, Class of 2013 and Baptist Student Ministry intern, who will be serving pancakes. Smith said the loca-tion of the Baptist Student Ministry building is a blessing for their ministry.

“We want to serve the people around us,” Smith said. “With the Baptist Student Ministry being at Northgate, it gives us an opportunity for thousands of students to know that we want to reach out to them personally.”

Smith said the breakfast is not just about serving pancakes, but about caring for the peo-ple of the community.

“We ask the students specific ways we could be praying for them,” Smith said. “We want them to know we care.”

Pancakes, served with prayer

Alexandra SmithSpecial to The Battalion

student ministry

The pancake breakfast is also paired with “36 hours of prayer,” an event where students at the Baptist Student Ministry take hourlong shifts for 36 hours to pray continuously in the front of the building.

“The continuous prayer gives volunteers a chance to ask students if they have anything they would like to be prayed for,” Bratcher said. “We have had an incredible amount of students with prayer requests on Northgate. Even police officers have spoken on prayer needs or any kind of needs.”

The “36 Hours of Prayer” begins on Thurs-day and will run until Saturday. Couches and coffee will be set up for the students who sign up for one-hour slots. Students will continue praying during the pancake breakfast.

The ministry will offer chocolate chip, cin-namon and buttermilk pancakes.

“We love doing this, ” Hernandez said. “This event gives us the chance to have great conversation over great pancakes.”

Group to offer free food on Northgate

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