The Battalion: June 14, 2010

thebattalion

news for you texas New PE program targets obesity Roger Rodriguez of the San Antonio Independent School District developed a new physical fitness course for public schools called PE 3: PE for the Mind, Body and Spirit, which targets students with a BMI of 40 or greater.

The students work out while wearing heart monitors. The program has been approved by the state.

● monday,

june 14, 2010

● serving

texas a&m since 1893

● first paper free – additional copies $1 ● © 2010 student media

thebattalion asks

Q:

track & field

Bling, bling

What would you give former President George H.W. Bush for his birthday?

Delegates push to enforce legal residency Republican activists are pushing for a crackdown on illegal immigration similar to Arizona’s new law. Delegates voted Saturday to include a plank advocating for a state law that would bar illegal immigrants from “intentionally or knowingly” living in Texas. The proposal would require local police to verify U.S. residency when making arrests.

lowest gas price

$2.52 Kroger at 2412 at Texas Ave. and Southwest Pkwy. www.texasgasprices.com

nation &world Deputies raid Sizzlers in Phoenix Sheriff’s deputies raided two Sizzler steak house restaurants in Phoenix on Saturday, arresting nine employees who were suspected of being illegal immigrants and using fraudulent documents to get jobs. The raids were part of a yearlong investigation into whether the operators of the two Sizzler locations broke a civil law by knowingly hiring illegal immigrants.

Indonesia struggles with sex-tape scandal Indonesians grappled with the nation’s first celebrity sextape scandal, allegedly showing Nazril Irham, a pop star, with two girlfriends. The story dominated chatter on socialnetworking sites.

Police threatened to charge the “stars” under a strict antipornography law.

Staff and wire reports

Pg. 1-06.14.10.indd 1

A tie.

Andrea Ortega, sophomore civil engineering major

Above, Texas A&M 400 meter relay team members, from left, Porsche Lucas, Jessica Beard, Jenobah Tarmoh and Dominique Duncan celebrate after winning the race in 42.82 seconds during the championships. Right, Tabarie Henry, hits the finish line in the anchor leg to win the 1,600 meter relay in 3 minutes, 0.66 seconds.

A new fishing lure.

Jonathan Reivenspies, sophomore history major

women & men win second straight national championships Kyle Cunningham | The Battalion

T

exas A&M’s track and field teams won the second straight outdoor national title, although the two teams took different routes to get there.

The Aggie women won 72 points over the weekend, defeating second place Oregon by 15 points.

With 72 points, the women’s team scored the most points at an NCAA meet since South Carolina scored 82 in 2002.

With 55 points, the Aggies were just able to edge the Florida Gators, who scored 54. Oregon finished third with 45 points in the three-day event.

“Our program is where we want it to be right now,” Texas A&M Head Coach Pat Henry said. “Next year we hope we have another season where we are in the mix. As long as we are in this top group, that’s really important for us in the development of our program.”

This is not the first time that a team has claimed back-toback national championships in men’s and women’s track and field. The first team to do it was Louisiana State University in 1989-1990. The two teams share one common denominator: Henry at the helm.

see Championships on page 2

A parachute.

Seth Watson, sophomore kinesiology major

A nice suit.

Kyle Tierling, junior mechanical engineering

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Members of the Texas A&M men’s track team hold the National Champions trophy at the end of the NCAA Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Ore.

An island, so he can go relax.

campus

Professor writes about service in Vietnam Caroline Ward

April Baltensperger — THE BATTALION

Larry Heinemann, professor of creative writing, has written two novels and a memoir inspired by his experiences in Vietnam combat.

Special to The Battalion About 40 years ago, many young people experienced Vietnam combat first-hand. One of these servicemen was Larry Curtiss Heinemann, who said the war gave him something that he would not have had otherwise. In addition to being an esteemed author and professor, Heinemann served one life-changing year in Vietnam, which inspired him to write about his ex-

periences, painting vivid pictures for the reader.

“There is no such thing as a short story,” Heinemann said.

Heinemann is a visiting writer in residence in the Department of English at Texas A&M. Not only is he an author, but he also knows how to teach others to improve writing skills by emphasizing the use of imagery. He is finished writing about the Vietnam See Heinemann on page 2

Pamela Prew, senior psychology major

A horse.

Leah Stocksdale, junior international studies and scoiology major

Matt Young THE BATTALION

presidential library

Aggies celebrate Bush’s 86th birthday Rebecca Bennett The Battalion Aggies and non-Aggies alike gathered Thursday to celebrate the birthdays of former President George H.W. Bush and wife Barbara at the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum. In honor of George’s 86th year and Barbara’s 85th, visitors were served refreshments in the lobby.

Although the Bushes were not

present for the library’s annual party, several families came from out-of-town to attend the event.

“I figured if we can’t celebrate with them, we can still eat cake and ice cream,” said Geri Pegg of Justin, Texas. “We can still have a party without them and tell them how good it was.”

Pegg said she and her husband, Charles, had read about the party in Texas Highways magazine and while neither are Aggies, both

thought it would be enjoyable to attend because they love the former president.

Kara Kunschick, class of 1996, said she was also a big fan of Bush and was happy to bring her mother and 3-year-old daughter along with her.

“He came once when I was going to school here,” she said. “I hung around the MSC all day when he came, just so I could see him.”

See Birthday on page 2

Tyler Hosea — THE BATTALION

Visitors at the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum enjoyed birthday cake for the occasion.

6/13/10 6:36 PM

Y L L U F PED P I U Q E

2

Summer night of Vienna music

1

A musical exploration of Vienna in the twilight of Romanticism through the chamber music of its composers is from 7:30 to 9 p.m. Monday at Annenberg Presidential Conference Center.

3

Science Cafe

Gil Rosenthal from the Department of Biology will speak on “Females desire the impossible: mate choices and evolution in Mexican stream fish.” The lecture will be from 7 to 8 p.m. Tuesday in Revolution Cafe & Bar in downtown Bryan, 211 B South Main St.

The Lincoln Recreation Center will have its annual historic celebration of independence for AfricanAmericans. Body Blast Low Impact Aerobics will be from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.Tuesday. The Freedom Walk begins at 9 a.m. Thursday, the carnival from 4 to 6:30 p.m. and the Jam session from 7 to 9 p.m.

Thursday.

corrections 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 e-mail at editor@thebatt.com.

For daily updates go to thebatt.com ●

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Birthday Continued from page 1

Matt Young — THE BATTALION

Academic Building

Heinemann Continued from page 1

War, and is currently working on a mystery novel, dated just before the Great Chicago Fire.

“We listened to some outrageous stories—he’s the best storyteller you’ll ever find, as well as listening to excerpts from really great writers that inspired us to write better,” said Glenda Dennison, a recent graduate and a student of Heinemann.

Heinemann said no matter the major or desired career path, developing writing skills is essential.

“Eventually, when my first book is published, I will be able to thank him for getting me to that point,” said Lindsay Huffines, former student of Heinemann and aspiring author. His solid advice, his love for literature and his faith in the budding writer are unparalleled, and Texas A&M is lucky to have him,” Huffines said.

Heinemann, a native of Chicago and a closet Cubs fan, is the father of two and grandfather of one. He said he likes classical music, C.S.I. Las Vegas, baseball and Vietnamese culture.

Before being drafted, he was

a bus driver for the city of Chicago. He said the war gave him a story to tell, and after his year of service in Vietnam, he enrolled in English classes at Columbia College in Chicago for the “easy A’s.”

He said writing classes introduced him to a passion he never knew he had. With the assistance and support of his first English professor, he earned his degree in creative writing and taught for 14 years at Columbia College.

“I came to writing because I had a story to tell,” Heinemann said.

Published works ◗ Close Quarters - fictious depiction of a soldier’s experience in Vietnam

◗ Paco’s Story - winner of the National Book Award in 1987, also about a soldier in Vietnam ◗ Cooler by the Lake- the story of a con artist attempting to return a wallet to its original owner

◗ Black Virgin Mountain- a memoir of Heinemann’s life, with emphasis on his journey back to Vietnam in the 1990s

Double Quick Daiquiris to Go

Flavors Include: Strawberry • Blue Hawaiian Pina Colada • Kiwi Strawberry Margaritas • 40 other Åavors to choose from

Would you like to suggest a Where on Campus for the staff photographers to consider?

Send your suggestion with your name, contact information, class and major to photo@thebatt.com.

Championships Continued from page 1

“This is a pretty special group,” Henry said. “They didn’t stop or quit until the whole thing was over.

That’s how you get it done at this kind of meet.”

The men needed some events to go a certain way to take a second title. With two events left to complete, the Aggies were square with Oregon as both teams had 45 points. Florida sat in third with 43 points.

With a time of 3:00.89 in the 4x400 meter relay, the Aggies were finally able to take first place, ending a streak of three straight years in the second spot.

“I had my doubts [about winning the meet],” senior Tabarie Henry said. “In my head I was doing calculations that they still had someone in the shot put and long jump still and we messed up on the 4x100. All we had left was the 4x400.

“In my mind I thought let’s just go win this 4x4 for the team, not knowing we were still in the hunt.

Then, Coach Henry told us before the race to go out and win it, if we do then we have a shot to win the team title.”

With Christian Taylor of Florida needing to complete the long jump, the Aggies waited, holding a 55-49 lead over the Gators.

Taylor fouled on his first two at-

tempts, but ended his fourth attempt with a jump of 25 feet, 6 inches. The distance was good enough for fourth place, giving the Gators five points.

Taylor was 6 inches way from finishing in third place, which would have given the Gators a tie with the Aggies at the top.

The Aggie women controlled the final day from beginning to end, scoring 46 of the 72 points on Saturday. Nearly half the points on the day, 22, came from one event– the 200 meters.

Senior Porscha Lucas won the event with a time of 22.83, while teammate Jeneba Tarmoh finished in second place with a time of 22.92.

Dominique Duncan rounded out the points for the Aggies, finishing with 23.48. It was the Aggies’ third straight 200 meters title, with Lucas winning in 2009 and Simone Facey winning in 2008.

Lucas had another major accomplishment earlier in the day, as she, Tarmoh, Duncan and Jessica Beard won the 4x100 meter relay. With the victory, Lucas became the first female sprinter in NCAA history to be part of four consecutive 4x100 winning relays.

“To win the 4x100 for the fourth consecutive year, a 200 title for a second time and then to add a second place in the 100, I feel so blessed right now,” Lucas said. “I couldn’t be happier with how I ended the meet and we were able to win another team championship.”

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Pg. 2-06.14.10.indd 1

see him.”

William King, public relations director for the presidential library, said Bush became involved with Texas A&M after being invited to give a commencement speech in May1989, when some friends suggested the University as a potential location for his library.

“A&M was very proactive about it,” King said. “The thing he really liked about the library plans was the connection with the Bush School.”

Bush, or “41” as his devotees have nicknamed him, has made multiple visits to the campus, attending football games and giving the opening address at Big Event in 2009. In addition to the presidential library and museum, his prominence at A&M is apparent in the campus bus route, major streets and the school of government and public service that bear his name.

“He’s done a lot for our country, not only as president, but all of his life, from what I’ve seen in this museum,” Kunschick said. “I think A&M is honored to have the museum dedicated to him on our campus.”

In explanation of the party’s date, which does not fall on either of the Bushes’ actual date of birth, library volunteer John Gilbert said that the 10th was between Barbara’s June 8 birthday and George’s June 12 birthday, so it seemed appropriate.

In 1999, the former president brought in his 75th birthday with a 12,500 foot parachute jump onto the lawn of the presidential library.

Although CNN reported that Barbara said you could bet it would be her husband’s last skydiving stint, he jumped again for his 80th birthday, marking his second landing in College Station.

It appears this time around, however, Bush stayed grounded for his celebrations. No rumors of further skydiving plans were reported.

According to King, the Bushes spent their birthday week with family.

Tyler Hosea — THE BATTALION

Hannah, age 3, enjoys cake and Bluebell ice cream at the Bushes’ birthday party.

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

Vicky Flores, Editor in Chief THE BATTALION (ISSN #1055-4726) is published daily, Monday through Friday during the fall and spring semesters and Monday through Thursday during the summer session (except University holidays and exam periods) at Texas A&M University. Periodicals Postage Paid at College Station, TX 77840. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Battalion, Texas A&M University, 1111 TAMU, College Station, TX 77843-1111.

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. News offices are in The Grove, Bldg. 8901. Newsroom phone: 979-845-3313; Fax: 979-845-2647; E-mail: metro@thebatt.com; website: http://www.thebatt.com.

Convenient Quick Drive Thru Check out our specials online at www.daiquiribarn.com

Spend the weekend walking through historic downtown Bryan, enjoying steak, music, art and wine. Numerous wine exhibitions will be available. Live music performances will feature Midnight Express, the Big Otis Show Band, Earl Thomas Conley and Robert Earl Keen.

The festival will be from noon Friday to midnight Saturday in downtown Bryan.

thebattalion 06.14.2010

The Battalion welcomes any Texas A&M student interested in writing for the arts, campus, metro or sports staffs to try out.

We particularly encourage freshmen and sophomores to apply, but students may try out regardless of semester standing or major. No previous journalism experience is necessary.

Think you know every nook and cranny at Texas A&M? The first people to get the answer correct will have their names published. Send your response with your name, class and major to photo@ thebatt.com.

Texas Reds Steak & Grape Festival

pagetwo

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4

Tuesday 20% chance of storms high: 94 low: 75 Wednesday 20% chance of storms high: 94 low: 75 Thursday mostly sunny high: 94 low: 75

Today mostly sunny High: 95 | Low: 75

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For campus, local, and national display advertising, call 979-845-2696. For classified advertising, call 979-845-0569. Advertising offices are in The Grove, Bldg. 8901, and office hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

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6/13/10 6:37 PM

b!

Robert Earl Keen returns home

thebattalion 06.14.2010 page3

April Baltensperger — THE BATTALION

Country-music star and former student Robert Earl Keen, class of 1978 performed his hits and reminisced with stories from his college life Friday at the Texas Hall of Fame.

April Baltensperger The Battalion

C

ountry music legend and fellow Aggie Robert Earl Keen performed Friday night at the Texas Hall of Fame.

“It’s a homecoming,” Keen said. “I have good memories of A&M and College Station and Bryan. There are places we play, where I have no connection to at all, so it’s always better if you have some kind of connection.”

Keen has a unique sound, having not conformed to the popinfluenced country artists emerging today; he has stayed true to his alternative country and folk style. Graduating from college in 1980, he debuted his first album nationally in 1989. The fact that decades later Keen can pack a dance hall shows his genuine musical ability that reaches all ages.

“I’m a longtime musician, a longtime Aggie,” Keen said.

Keen recently came out with a new album called “The Rose Hotel,” which contains songs such as “10,000 Chinese Walk into a Bar” and “The Rose Hotel.” Keen admits that he is gifted in writing lyrics, and anyone who has listened to his music can agree.

“Inspired by true life experiences, the song ‘Rose Hotel’ is inspired by the fact that I like to have good ‘story’ songs that leave a mystery.” Keen said. “That comes from my enjoyment of short stories and literature, I like to have something that has not all the answers.”

His connection with fans comes from the stories he tells during his live performances, stories that college students can relate to. And Keen is a great storyteller, while performing his hit song “Front Porch” he embedded personal tales from his years in Aggieland playing music with good friend Lyle Lovett.

“We’d sit out there and play music and people would park over there and come by and visit, and listen because it was close to campus, others would sit up and play music with us,” Keen said.

“It was just one of those houses that you see around campus, where

there’s always something going on there.”

When describing his time at Texas A&M Keen focused on the friendships and traditions that meant the most to him.

“I was always just surprised by the camaraderie, you thought you were just going to walk around and get through classes but there was always the football season and Muster stuff and I was always impressed,” Keen said. “Stories, I wouldn’t know where to start and finish.”

As heard in his lyrics, with Robert Earl Keen “the road goes on forever and the party never ends,” and his music is no exception.

His show lasted more than two hours on Friday. In response to a roaring audience calling him back onstage for an encore, he gave it his all on stage until the early hours of the morning.

During the show, the fans chanted the lyrics and cheered loudly, drinks in hand, for the beloved country star. Standing in the crowd you could feel the bond between Keen and his audience, one that began back in the day when Keen was a college student in Aggieland, like any of us, jamming with his friends on his front porch on Church street.

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EDITORIALBOARD

Blame Obama

For information, call 1-800-866-0492

The Battalion’s editorial opinion is determined by its Board of Opinion, with the editor in chief having final responsibility.

Editor in Chief Vicky Flores editor@thebatt.com

Managing Editor Megan Ryan battcopy@thebatt.com Opinion Editor Ian McPhail opinion@thebatt.com

EDITORIAL

ASSOCIATED PRESS

President Obama makes a statement to reporters Thursday at the White House.

T

TAKE A PIECE OF A&M HISTORY WITH YOU ¡ Reserve your 2011 Aggieland The 109th edition of Texas A&M University’s official yearbook will chronicle traditions, academics, the other education, sports, the Corps, Greeks, campus organizations and seniors and graduate students.

Distribution will be during Fall 2011.

Cost is $64.90, including shipping and sales tax. Go to the optional services box in Howdy when you register for fall. For info, call 845-2613.

here are two things that the Obama administration has been very good at: blindly throwing money at problems and handcuffing big business. The first time Barack Obama actually needs to do this, he has failed miserably.

This president has been willing to spend billions on bailing out companies, a health care overhaul package and stimulating the economy. His first federal budget for 2010 is $3.5 trillion. He is spending $9.5 billion Up to a day. Yet Obama has been silent about how he date can spend his way out of Obama will the oil spill. visit the Gulf The federal governstates affected ment begins and ends by the oil spill with Obama. Just as today and 9/11 and Hurricane Tuesday and Katrina were tied to George W. Bush, so then address is the Gulf oil spill. the nation Someone has to be in on Tuesday charge; and in the face of night on the a national disaster, it has next steps in to be the president. Yet, responding Obama has only been to the to the Gulf Coast three catastrophe, times during this disaster.

CNN reports.

It took him 12 days to get there the first time.

George W. Bush was ridiculed for arriving to New Orleans four days after Hurricane Katrina. Why hasn’t Obama been ridiculed for his sense of urgency?

Take the containment strategy of sand barriers requested by Bobby Jindal, governor of Louisiana, to block the flow of oil into fragile wetlands and marshes. This construction requires approval from the Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Louisiana officials asked

permission on May 11, but the proposal took three weeks to be approved. The barriers are being funded by the limited funds of British Petroleum, John not the government.

Fernandez Why isn’t the Obama senior petroleum administration spendengineering major ing as much money and special to The as possible to fix this Battalion problem?

British Petroleum has organized the largest environmental response in history. But BP is still just a company without the resources the federal government has. They don’t have the authority that the federal government does.

Obama should be organizing the largest environmental response in history, not BP. It’s day 55 into the spill, and the only thing I’ve heard from Obama is “plug the hole.� Over fifty days into the disaster, and yet this past weekend BP’s CEO Tony Hayward told the BBC that the two men haven’t spoken directly since the rig exploded on April 20. The man who is in charge of this country hasn’t even communicated with the man who is in charge of fixing the spill. Unbelievable. Unprofessional. Unpresidential. Unacceptable.

Obama has yet to pledge a dime to the effort. He has yet to offer any solutions to the problem. Instead, he opted to ensure BP is completely responsible for the situation. The president is placing all the blame, all the costs and all the solutions on a company that is incapable of handling the disaster. Obama has effectively washed his hands of the situation. Unfortunately Mr. President, the rest of the country can’t do the same.

EDITOR’SNOTE

Better clinic.

Better medicine.

Better world.

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At PPD, we count on healthy volunteers to help evaluate medications being developed – maybe like you. You must meet certain requirements to qualify, including a free medical exam and screening tests. Many different study lengths are available and you’ll ďŹ nd current studies listed here weekly.

The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the various authors and forum participants in this paper do not necessarily reect those of Texas A&M University, The Battalion or its staff.

MAILCALL GUESTCOLUMNS Make your opinion known by submitting Mail Call or guest columns to The Battalion. Mail call must be fewer than 200 words and include the author’s name, classification, major and phone number. Guest columns must be fewer than 700 words. All submissions should focus on issues not personalities, become property of The Battalion and are subject to editing for style, clarity and space concerns. No mail call will appear in The Battalion’s print or online editions before it is veriďŹ ed.

Direct all correspondence to: Editor in chief of The Battalion (979) 845-3315 | mailcall@thebatt.com

Pick the Pac-10

I

t is the ultimate question: Pac-10 or SEC? With the Big 12 on its deathbed, Texas A&M sits in a rare position of power. Both money-driven conferences desperately want the attention the huge Dallas and Houston television markets provide. They want the loyal A&M alumni who consistently sell out Kyle Field despite the onfield product. They want the prestigious academic A&M institution. should join They want a Texas in top-20 athletic the Pac-10. department.

Now, it’s up to the A&M Board of Regents to decide the University’s fate. On one hand, A&M can escape longtime rival Texas’ shadow and bolt for unknown territory and potentially greener pastures in the SEC. On the other hand, A&M can take the road more traveled and stay with the hated Austin brethren and the longtime Big 12 South opponents in a move to the Pac-10.

Texas has let it be known that if A&M does, in fact, SECede, they will end the storied rivalry that dates back 100 years. No longer will the annual Thanksgiving game be annual. Sawing ‘em off will become irrelevant. And the Aggie War Hymn will turn obsolete.

It would truly be “Goodbye to Texas University.�

During an off-season full of unpredictability and ambiguity, one thing is certain: A&M should make the safer of the two decisions in going to the Pac-10. The conference’s football is less competitive. The winning will be more plentiful.

The money will be otherworldly. And the 100-year rivalry will be sustained.

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