thebattalion ● wednesday,
march 31, 2010
● serving
texas a&m since 1893
● first paper free – additional copies $1 ● © 2010 student media
Rebuilding from
Camp burns Camp of the Hills is a nonprofit Christian summer camp in Marble Falls, Texas, for underprivileged children who would not otherwise have the chance to attend. The camp’s main structure burned down at approximately 2:30 p.m. on March 24.
RUBBLE Camp of the Hills catches fire, Aggies reflect on time there.
A&M impact Every summer, dozens of members of Aggies for Christ volunteer time to children of Camp of the Hills. When the structure burned, a group of counselor Aggies and other contributors to the camp met to discuss the upcoming summer camp plans. Everyone agreed they would still proceed. “We will make whatever kind of sacrifices we need to. The work that we do at Camp of the Hills is worth it,” said head male counselor and junior biology major, Kyle Westbrook. Donations can be made at http://www. campofthehills.org through the eGive icon. Courtesy photo
Damage and future plans
Mission of camp
The structure that collapsed was home to the dining hall, commercial kitchen, main offices, counselor area and nurse’s station. There were no injuries and a cause of the fire has not been determined. All cabins and water systems remained intact. This summer more than 400 registered campers will attend under a 10,000-square-foot tent in the parking lot of the camp. “By the end of this week, we will establish a schedule on what individuals and groups can do. We’ll have a big day of erecting the tent and have cleanup days,” said executive director of the camp, Mel Bowman, class of 1976. Plans to reconstruct a metal facility will begin Sept. 1. Bowman said the building should be completed by February 2011.
“We realized that it was just a building, I don’t know the reason for it, but I just know God is going to use this summer in better ways that He’s ever been used before,” Kyle Westbrook said. “We’re all really excited about what we’re going to be able to do. Camp of the Hills is not about the building, it’s about the love of Jesus Christ and getting to share this with kids who haven’t been able to experience that acceptance and love before.” Laura Sanchez, staff writer
Restaurant advertises alternatively
Professor’s legacy lives on
Megan Ryan
After the death of Texas A&M University marketing professor Jeffrey Conant past summer, the Conant family and Concert s t u d e n t s touched info by his ◗ The concert is at teaching 6:30 p.m. Thursday are comConant at Wolf Pen Creek. ing together in his honor. ◗ Tickets for Students, faculty and the concert family formeed Project Conant, a group looking and a T-shirt to raise money and create are available at Spoons Yogurt, On a scholarship in his name. “Jeff Conant was an inthe Border and spiring classroom teacher, Cavender’s for $10. one of the best teachers ◗ Tickets at the ever at Texas A&M. He gate are $15. taught his students to do
The Battalion With today’s economy, it’s not surprising people are finding different ways to advertise. The owners of Shipwreck Grill, Wade and Mary Beckman, both class of 1990, thought it best to use YouTube. com to advertise the restaurant. “Someone mentioned early on that we should do a commercial using the Saturday Night Live skit ‘I’m on a Boat,’” Wade said. After asking his staff about the video, he decided to watch the video. Wade said he found the video hilarious, and got to work putting the ideas together. “We had at least 100 folks, almost all of them college students, involved in the process and at the shoot,” Wade said. “It totally exceeded our expectations and was a blast to film.” The video has more than 2,000 views. Wade and Mary said the video has been an excellent source of advertising. “We debuted it on Mardi Gras,” Mary said. ”We packed more people in this place than we could possibly fit. Every seat was taken,
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Travis Lawson
The Battalion
Courtesy photo
Screenshot of YouTube video, “Shipwreck BCS I’m on a Boat” shows Aggies dancing on restaurant. and people were standing. Everybody was screaming and yelling and laughing.” With such racy language and themes, Wade said he did have some concerns about reactions to the video. However, the couple said there was little negative commentary and a great deal of positive reactions. “We’ve had people in their 70s and 80s come in here and ask to buy a copy,” Mary said. Though the form of advertising may seem less professional than a standard commercial, they said the video took time and effort.
“We hired a professional videographer and it took several weeks to plan,” Wade said. “It was 34 to 36 degrees outside when we shot the video. Many of the folks were actually singing, ‘I want a coat’ versus ‘I’m on a boat.’ It was so very cool to have so many folks braving it to be in the video.” Though the commercial had not aired on television, Wade said it has managed to generate a tremendous amount of business. “We have had numerous folks coming into the restaurant See Shipwreck on page 4
good and to give back,” said Leonard Berry, a professor at Mays Business School. “Project Conant is a way to honor his memory and celebrate his life’s work.” Granger Smith will be performing and the proceeds will go to the endowment of a Conant scholarship fund for marketing students. A video, uncovered after Conant’s death, of him and a few of his students dancing will be shown. See Conant on page 8
this day in
rld wohistory
March 31, 1853
Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890) was born in Groot Zundert, Holland. He was a Postimpressionist painter, generally considered the greatest Dutch painter after Rembrandt. During his short (10 year) painting career he produced over 800 oil paintings and 700 drawings, but sold only one during his lifetime. In 1987, the sale of his painting Irises brought $53.9 million, the highest price ever paid for a work of art up to that time. During his life, Van Gogh suffered from despair and bouts of mental illness. He committed suicide in 1890 by gunshot.
3/30/10 8:43 PM