Patrick Clayton — THE BATTALION
thebattalion ● thursday,
july 16, 2009
● serving
texas a&m since 1893
● first paper free – additional copies $1 ● © 2009 student media
Blood center opens doors To celebrate the June 2 opening of The Blood Center of Brazos Valley’s Neighborhood Donor Center in College Station, a ribbon-cutting ceremony followed by a tour of the facility was at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday. “We really wanted to create a convenient place for donors to come,” said public relations associate Sheena Abraham. The center, on Rock Prairie Road, includes four donor-screening rooms, six collection beds, a large donor relaxation area with fresh-baked cookies and a children’s play area, according to giveblood.org. The mission of the Blood Center of Brazos Valley is to partner with the community to help save and sustain lives by providing a safe supply of blood, blood components and related services. In 2008 in the Brazos Valley, hospitals needed about 14,000 donations. The College Station Neighborhood Donor Center opens at a good time, because donations typically decline in the summer, according to giveblood.org. Abraham said the opening of the College Station Neighborhood Donor Center, the first blood center in College Station with a permanent location, is a testament to cooperation with local hospitals. In order to donate blood, a person must be 17, at least 110 pounds and in good health. Commit for Life, the Texas Gulf Coast blood donation program, encourages everyone to donate once every three months. The blood donation process takes one hour. The No. 1 reason a person is not allowed to donate is for a low iron count. Blood from volunteer donors is used to treat patients with trauma, fractures, cancer, burns and heart disease, as well as other ailments. Kalee Bumguardner, editor in chief
Shuttle launches with AggieSAT-2 Space Shuttle Endeavour launched at 5:03 p.m. Wednesday from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The launch has been postponed five times. The first and second launches were canceled due to a hydrogen leak on the external fuel tank. The third, fourth and fifth launches were canceled due to unsafe weather conditions. Shuttle Endeavour carries two small satellites, AggieSAT2 and BEVO-1, which were designed and constructed by students from Texas A&M University and the University of Texas at Austin. The satellites will collect flight data on a Global Positioning System receiver and analyze the data. “We’re just full of anticipation of seeing our satellite go into space — it’s a oncein-a-lifetime opportunity,” said AggieSAT lab principal investigator Helen Reed. Endeavour’s mission is slated to last for 16 days, which will include docking and repair of the International Space Station and five spacewalks. Julie Rambin, staff writer
Costumes from top left: Snitch, Ron Weasley, Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom, Dobby, Moaning Myrtle, Hermione Granger, Death Eater, Luna Lovegood, Voldemort and Harry Potter, Slytherin student, and Hogwarts student. Stephen Fogg — THE BATTALION
Halloween in July By Laura Sanchez | The Battalion
M
ovie fans around the globe awaited the sixth Harry Potter movie, released Wednesday. Tickets were available many in advance and accommodations had to be made in theaters in College Station and Bryan because of its popularity. Audiences for midnight showings were the first to see “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” in theaters Tuesday. Potter premieres had attendees dressed in wizard or schoolgirl outfits to fit the part of their favorite character from the movie. “I’ve been to every midnight showing of Harry Potter and they always have this kind of turnout. It’s always full of people and there
Farm town
A&M researchers look for causes of dead zones ■ Low oxygen body of water harmful to marine life Patrique Ludan
Brazos County resident Lois Vaughn sells locally grown produce Wednesday at the Brazos Valley Farmers Market in Central Park, which is from 4 to 7 p.m. every Wednesday through August.
Pg. 1-07.16.09.indd 1
Being wizardly : See more costumes from the movie premiere. battalion asks | 5
See Harry Potter on page 2
Jeremy Northum — THE BATTALION
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Catching the snitch: Learn about the Texas A&M Quidditch team and game played against ‘The Battalion’ staff. sports | 3
The Battalion Low oxygen levels have returned to the Gulf of Mexico along the coast of Texas, indicating the return of a dead zone, according to Texas A&M researchers. A dead zone is an area in an ocean, lake, bay or estuary, where hypoxia, or an oxygen concentration of less than 2 milligrams per liter, is found. In 2007, a research group, including Steve Dimarco, associate professor of oceanography, found a dead zone off the coast of Freeport, Texas. The dead zone is off the coast of south Galveston. The hypoxia contained within the water is already below levels that are considered harmful to marine life. The researchers used a waterquality monitoring system to detect the dead zone. The system provides hourly updates on water salinity, temperature, oxygen and other data. The research is funded by the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, Center for Sponsored Coastal Ocean Research, CSCOR. There are an estimated 200 dead zones located throughout the world as of 2006, according to a 2008 UN Environmental Program report titled “In Dead Water.” One of the largest dead zones predicted this year is off the coast of Louisiana, separate from the Texas dead zone, according to NOAA-CSCOR. The Louisiana dead zone is predicted to measure around 7,450 to 8,456 square miles, or an area roughly the size of New Jersey. The largest dead zone recorded in the Gulf occurred in 2002 off the coast of Louisiana. NOAA has not estimated the size of the dead zone near the coast of Texas. The first observations of a dead zone near the Texas coast were made in 1970 by Don Harper, a professor at Texas A&M University-Galveston. “Those observations did not allow us to determine how long it lasted, how big of an area it covered, or what definitively caused it,” Dimarco said. See Dead zone on page 2
7/15/09 10:18 PM