thebattalion ● tuesday,
september 14, 2010
● serving
texas a&m since 1893
● first paper free – additional copies $1 ● © 2010 student media
Photo illustration by J.D. Swiger— THE BATTALION
Get ready, just in case The strengths and weaknesses of he popular Humans vs. Zombies game happening on campus as a highly preparation for an actual zombie apocalypse are presented. Although such an outbreak is highly unlikely, students should not be uninformed.
Voices, page 6
Travis Lawson
The Battalion The Fightin’ Texas Aggies Humans vs. Zombies organization kicked off the fall semester with mission Monday at Texas A&M. The mission marked the beginning of the first of many missions that will take place through out the school year on campus. The humans were equipped with Nerf guns and started on the southside of campus, while the zombies began their hunt at the Sbisa Dinning Hall. Humans were assigned with the task of killing a certain number of zombies within a certain time limit. The zombie’s mission was simple; stay alive until the time runs out. At the start of each mission,
each side is given a certain objective and the humans must complete the mission without being tagged by a zombie. The zombie’s mission is to stop the humans from completing their objective without “starving,” not recording a kill over a 48-hour period. “The humans will have some type of a goal and there is usually a story line behind it,” said Nick Webster, senior aerospace engineering major. “The zombies get to hear their mission and then they just say ‘Go.’” Moderators serve as referees to make sure that both sides are playing fairly and by therules. Webster served as a moderator for the first mission and said there are eight other students who take turns overseeing missions.
Freshman gerneral studies major Erik Maki crosses through a busy part of campus with his eye pealed and Nerf revolver ready for a zombie player.
“We referee the game and make sure people are being honest and fair,” Webster said. “We go and give the humans a pep talk and make sure the zombies know what’s going on.” Mason Kuzmich, sophomore pols major created the A&M chapter and said he never expected the game to take off like it did. “We kind of toyed with idea and didn’t realize take it seriously until about a month later,” Kuzmich said. “Our first game we thought we would be lucky if 50 people played and ended up with about 350 people.” Kuzmich also said he initially heard of the game when a friend who attended Texas Tech See Zombies on page 2
Matt Woolbright — THE BATTALION
A&M preclinical studies receives grant to aid injured soldiers Katie White
Matt Young — THE BATTALION
Roberta Short gives creative advice Megan Ryan
The Battalion Roberta Short is a professor in the English department at Texas A&M who teaches creative writing and editing classes. Short gives students advice on finding their creative side and letting it out for the world to see.
Katie White The Battalion
Q: What do you do if you get writer’s block? A: If I am working on something and I hit a snag, I often will take a break. I’ll just go away from it. Sometimes I garden. People have joked that when my garden looks really good you can tell I’m stumped in the area of art or writing or design, but I will do something else, and while I am doing something else, solutions surface.
See Q&A on page 9
Day one
troops for four to six hours and so what we’re trying to find is a way that we can preserve their life for an extended period of time “Our aim to give medics extra is to develop time to evacuate something a a wounded solsoldier could dier for treathold in his or her ment,” Miller backpack that could said. “[The] prevent massive classical way to blood loss.” save someone -Dr. Matthew suffering from Miller blood loss is to stop the bleeding and give them fluids.” The problem facing medics in battle is carrying the weight of the fluids necessary to treat an injured soldier in their See Grant on page 2
Transportion Services to increase parking patrols
Q: What would you suggest to someone looking to find his or her own creativity? A: I think that people, all people, have multiple creative resources. I don’t think of it as creative people being separate from other people. We all have some elements of creativity. The question is whether or not we permit ourselves to enter that space. For some people, the resource is a dream state, or a state of relaxation. It depends on the work and the person. For me, the sources for inspiration vary.
Q: What advice do you have for someone who wants to write a book? A: I don’t think I entered into the space of writing a book with the intention of writing a book. What happened was I was working and I just gave myself the perk of doing some creative
Dr. Paul Carlton, former Air Force surgeon general and director to the Office of Homeland Security for The Texas A&M University System Health Science Center, said “the most critical intervention after a soldier is injured is the self-aid and buddy care administered in the field.” This primary medical treatment serves to keep a soldier alive until they can reach salvage surgery in another location, Carlton said. If a wounded soldier suffering from blood loss is treated within the first hour, the golden hour, of receiving his or her injury, he or she stands a higher chance of survival. The Institute aims to prolong the golden hour, so a wounded soldier has a higher chance of living. “Medics may not be able to evacuate
Matt Young — THE BATTALION
The number of citations written to students are increasing; this is due to lack of knowledge of parking regulations.
For the Texas A&M Transportation Services, the beginning of a school year promises a spike in the number of parking citations given to students who do not know where or how to park on campus. Transportation Services is monitoring parking lots on campus to discover which have higher occupancy levels. “We already offered some customers the opportunity to move to a lot from their wait lists,” said Debbie Hoffman, manager of customer service for transportation services. “This helps to fill in lots where there is some available space and to move some customers out of lots that are
more full.” Students who do not have parking permits but need to drive cars to campus for the day have two options for parking without violating University rules. The first option is to log on to the transportation website and buy a day pass to park in any lot on campus with the designated sign reading “ANY,” for any valid permit. The second option is to pay the price to park in a garage or paid parking space for the day. Students who have a permit should be aware of how to properly display the parking permits in their cars. Hanging tags must hang from the rearview mirror at all times with the picture side facing outward.
and you’re in the know
Text EY Edge to 58592 for insights into who we are, what we do and how you can get in on the fun.
See Parking on page 9
© 2010 Ernst & Young LLP
Q&A
The Battalion The Texas A&M Institute for Preclinical Studies received a $9.9 million grant from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to produce treatments for soldiers severely injured in battle and especially suffering from massive blood loss. “Our aim is to develop something a soldier could hold in his or her backpack that could prevent massive blood loss,” said Dr. Matthew Miller, professor of veterinary cardiology, senior research scientist at the Institute and leader of the study. More than half of theU.S. military who die in action do so because of blood loss sustained from a gunshot wound or improvised explosive devices.
Up to 2 msgs/mo. Message and Data Rates May Apply. Text HELP for questions or STOP to quit. Visit mms.us/ey for full terms. =jfkl Qgmf_ j]^]jk lg Y _dgZYd gj_YfarYlagf g^ e]eZ]j Õjek g^ =jfkl Qgmf_ ?dgZYd Daeal]\$ ]Y[` g^ o`a[` ak Y k]hYjYl] d]_Yd ]flalq& =jfkl Qgmf_ DDH ak Y [da]fl%k]jnaf_ e]eZ]j Õje dg[Yl]\ af l`] MK&
Pg. 1-09.14.10.indd 1
9/13/10 11:11 PM