thebattalion ● thursday,
july 9, 2009
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Walk this way Orientation leaders prepare incoming students for conferences
Pointing out important buildings and sharing information about the New Student Conferences, Orientation leaders offer walking tours that depart every 15 minutes from the The Zone Club during check-in for freshman conferences and from Rudder for transfer conferences. Orientation leaders narrate and lead the tours on Pre-Conference Day and Conference Day 1. By Alex Worsham | The Battalion
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n wake of the University’s largest recorded freshman class, Aggie Orientation Leadership Program, AOLP, co-directors senior biomedical sciences major Megan Higginbotham and senior philosophy major Daniel Springer aren’t sweating it.
Photos by Patrick Clayton— THE BATTALION
Aggie Orientation Leaders Program co-directors Daniel Springer and Megan Higginbotham prepare a presentation for the student dinner Tuesday, one of the many events organized by AOLP.
Aggie grad fights malaria with music Laura Sanchez Special to The Battalion Christina Roberts has two passions in life: songwriting and helping a good cause. Roberts works for Malaria No More, a nonprofit organization that strives to eliminate deaths caused by malaria in Africa. Roberts’ song, “A Closer Far,” joins these two passions by donating some of the proceeds to Malaria No More. “She was sort of inspired by a lot of the things that she saw in Africa and how interconnected everything is. She was working with a lot of kids over there who were affected by malaria and she saw the difference she was able to make with Malaria No More by being able to set bed nets to help these kids lead healthier and longer lives,” said Malaria No More communications officer Emily Bergantino. Roberts is originally from Houston and graduated from Texas A&M in 2001. In 2006, she met the founders of the newly formed organization and decided to work full time for them. “Working and traveling for Malaria No More has not
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allowed a ton of time for music, so this is an opportunity for me to bring together two passions I have: one being songwriting and the other being working here at Malaria No More,” Roberts said. The song lyrics address her experience in Africa and what she learned, Roberts said. “It’s more out of the work from Africa and a new perspective,” Roberts said. “The song is inspired by my experiences of the last three years working with Malaria No More.” The organization strives to eliminate malaria deaths by 2015, said Malaria No More chairman Peter Chernin. “It’s an approach as bold as our ambitions and as audacious as our name,” Chernin said. “It’s just what’s required to make Malaria No More.” Approximately 1 million people every year die of malaria, and most are under 5 years old, Bergantino said. “The main thing to know about malaria is that it is a preventable and treatable disease,” Bergantino said. “It can be prevented with a simple mosquito bed net and it can be treated with See Malaria on page 2
As co-directors, the pair is in charge of overseeing 18 New Student Conferences this summer. They organize check-in, give campus tours and help new students interact with one another, Higginbotham said. “The co-directors help coordinate, organize and train the executive committee and orientation leaders,” she said. “We also … serve as support for our amazing executive committee.” The responsibilities could be overwhelming, but not for Higginbotham and Springer, said assistant new student programs coordinator Meredith Malnar. “With 18 New Student Conferences spread over May, June and July, it can be easy to lose steam and grow complacent,” Malnar said. “Megan and Daniel have not done this. They have remained motivated, goal-oriented and committed to providing the best possible
Aggie Orientation Leaders Program AOLP hosts new student conferences, NSC, for freshmen and transfer students. NSC programs include check-in, tours, trailblazing, parent track, student track, energizer and Gig ‘Em Week. Find out more information online at http://aolp.tamu. edu/about.htm.
See AOLP on page 2
Snakes on a page
Jeremy Northum — THE BATTALION
Assistant director of Environmental Health Services of the Brazos County Health Department Don Plitt shows off a Great Plains Rat Snake at the Bryan Public Library Wednesday morning. inside | 5
Shuttle set to launch Saturday AggieSAT2 and BEVO-1, satellites created by students from Texas A&M University and the University of Texas at Austin, will launch Saturday from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on Space Shuttle Endeavour. The launch had previously been scheduled to launch June 17. “The launch was delayed from last time because of a fuel leak,” said AggieSAT lab principal investigator and aerospace engineering professor Helen Reed. The leak occurred in the Ground Umbilical Carrier Plate on the external fuel tank system, which carries hydrogen away from the shuttle during countdown. A fueling test this week confirmed the success of recent repairs. “I’m taking a team of students to Kennedy Space Center and we’re going to watch it again,” Reed said. The launch countdown began at 9 p.m. Wednesday. Officials said they are hoping for good weather. “If there are storms, for safety reasons, then NASA would delay launching,” Reed said. “I believe, in looking at the forecast, that the weather is supposed to improve.” If Saturday’s launch is postponed, the launch could still take place through Tuesday, Reed said. Julie Rambin
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