thebatt.com
thebattalion
Res Life announces winners Winners from the Res Life sustainability challenge Spence, Appelt and Moore were announced.
● tuesday,
october 26, 2010
● Serving
Texas A&M since 1893
● first paper free – additional copies $1 ● © 2010 Student Media
Festival fosters interest Engineering and Science Festival fosters interest in science and engineering programs.
Library honors artists Poet and dramatist honored for establishing endowment for south Texas culture at Cushing Library.
Rock the Republic recap Highlights and disappointments of Rock the Republic are featured online.
inside
Parking changes to be finalized The College Station City Council will make the final consideration for the purposed parking restrictions in the Southside Historic Area at the meeting Thursday.
news | 2
Sherman discusses switch Following Ryan Tannehill’s performance in A&M’s 45-10 rout of Kansas, the Aggies may have a quarterback controversy. Sherman and his quarterbacks discuss the current situation.
sports | 5
‘Burn the Floor’ recap MSC OPAS will present “Burn the Floor,” a high-energy ballroom performance featuring a variety of dance styles as seen on popular television programs like “Dancing with the Stars” and “So You Think You Can Dance.”
lifestyles | 3 Wednesday
What can you do for me This week we will be featuring transportation services.
Daniel Crump and Jeremy Northum— THE BATTALION
Chet Edwards
Bill Flores
Democrat strives to keep seat in House
Republican candidate challenges incumbent
Ty Petty The Battalion One would never expect to shake hands with Thomas Chester Edwards, the Democratic congressman born in Corpus Christi, Texas, in 1951 who represents District 17 in the U.S. House. As the representative walks into a room to spend three hours with college students on a Friday afternoon, the personable and outgoing Edwards introduces himself as such and extends his right hand. On this hand is a battered chunk of gold, barely recognizable as a traditional symbol of a university. When asked, an unassuming look comes over his face as he moves his ring and reveals the pale white skin underneath. “My wedding ring and my Aggie ring don’t come off,” Edwards said. “I’m very grateful for what A&M did for me in my life, I feel I’m standing on the shoulders of Aggies of previous generations.” The Aggie ring isn’t the only device he never takes off; however, Texas A&M is a significant part of his past. Edwards graduated from A&M with a bachelor’s
degree in economics in 1974. After graduation, he spent three years working for the man who would groom and mentor him into the congressman he is today. Edwards said the legendary William “Tiger” Teague prepared him well. Teague taught the young Edwards how to continue the legacy of “Mr. Veteran” from central Texas. Edwards often reminiscences about how Teague inspired him to champion veterans’ causes. After three years, Edwards ran for Teague’s seat and lost a close contest to an up-and-coming politician named Phil Graham. He was one of Edward’s economics professors at A&M. After this loss, Edwards attended Harvard Business School where he obtained an master’s of business administration. After the Ivy League, he returned to Texas where he ran a small communications company and worked in real estate until winning the election to the Texas Senate in 1983. Much like his ring, Edwards never takes off his nice guy persona. His aides bemoan having to keep him on schedSee Edwards on page 7
Ty Petty The Battalion The “Bill Flores for Congress” campaign’s “war-room” is a long darkbrown conference room with a long dark wood conference table as its centerpiece. Papers, files, laptop computers and the cables required for all the technology litter the tabletop. At the end of this table sits Bill Flores. Upon approach, his hefty, glistening and almost flawless Aggie ring catches your attention. After two hours with Flores, you can tell a lot about a candidate. Flores is an energy industry heavy weight. He values tradition but wants to take a new direction. He believes that his execution of a hard fought election battle has been nearly flawless. He is ready for the payout: a win on Election Day. Bill Flores is the Republican challenger in the longtime Democratic 17th congressional district. This district encompasses a swath of central Texas. It runs from just south of Dallas, to Waco, through Bryan-College Station and
ends southeast of Navasota. The district is competitive for a Republican challenger. Flores is riding a wave of what appears to be voter discontent with the Washington establishment. Incumbents all over the country are in a fight for their political lives. Groups such as the Taxed Enough Already (TEA) activists are exerting political pressure on incumbents and candidates whom they deem as not conservative enough. The discontented, TEA activists, Republicans and independents, and students in the district are looking to Flores for ideas on issues such as the economy, taxes, government spending through earmarks, veterans issues and higher education costs. These issues are at the center of Flores’ campaign, but he was not always concerned about such issues. Flores is the fourth-generation in his family from the grassy windswept plains of the Panhandle and a ninth-generation Texan. He grew up in the town of Stratford, about 80 miles north of Amarillo. See Flores on page 6
EDITORIAL
Vote in the election the nation is watching Texas A&M is situated in the hotbed of a congressional race with the nation’s eyes peeled. While incumbents typically have the advantage going into races, this year the tide is turned, and your vote will decide how extreme the turn is. Experts across the nation are laboring to determine the exact culprit, but many say a general dissatisfaction with the current administration will spell trouble for incumbents, and the Democrat party as a whole, next week. Early polls nationally are telling a grim tale for the blue faithful – Republicans
EDITORIALBOARD
appear to be on the verge of a convincing take-over of Capitol Hill. Congress will be gridlocked for at least the next two years. In District 17, there are two candidates that will do very different things in the predicted Congress. Incumbent Chet Edwards will continue the course he has trekked for years; he is a conservative democrat who does not blindly vote with the party. Edwards has the backing of the National Rifles Association, Veteran’s of Foreign Wars and Texas Farm Bureau. As a democrat, Edwards opposed bills con-
cerning financial services and health care. Edward’s independence in a divided congress may help alleviate the paralyzing effects of stubborn partisanship. Bill Flores brings something new to the table. He is a strong Republican who started from humble beginnings to rise to the elite ranks of the energy business world. Flores wants to strengthen the private sector, so it will, in turn, rebuild the economy. He proposes that, if elected, ideas he shares with others could balance the national budget in the next four to eight years.
The Battalion’s editorial opinion is determined by its Board of Opinion, with the editor in chief having final responsibility.
Editor in Chief Matt Woolbright
Perhaps it is the fresh, staunch Republican that Central Texans need representing them in Congress. Regardless of this particular race, it is highly unlikely anything outside a shellacking by the Republican party nationwide will happen next week. The question is simple, do Aggies want someone who will strongly stand against the current standards, or do Aggies desire someone who will cross party lines as a potential swing vote? Let your stance be clearly evident and go vote next Tuesday.
Managing Editor Megan Ryan
editor@thebatt.com
Ten years later, Replant Day lives on Haley Lawson The Battalion It has been 10 years since the idea of Replant budded from the imagination of Scott Hantman, the Chairman of the Environmental Issues Committee. Aware of the effects that bonfire has on the environment, spring 1991 he and a group of 40 volunteers planted trees in the Bryan-College Station community. The following fall, Replant was officially named an Aggie tradition. Ten years later, the tradition still lives on.
Untitled-10 1
Replant Day was on Saturday. Aggie Replant is a student-run organization on campus. “Replant is an SGA organization dedicated to environmentally giving back to the BryanCollege Station community, be it by planting trees, working with [Keep Brazos Beautiful] or educating young Bryan-College Station elementary students on the importance of trees to our environment,” said Kathryn Murphy, a junior educational psychology major and member of Aggie Replant. Replant Day is the main event put on by Aggie Replant. It is an annual event where
hundreds of student volunteers go to sites in Brazos Valley to plant trees. “Around 1,500 Aggie student volunteers from all different organizations and majors get together and plant trees,” said Taylor A. Paine, a senior horticulture major and Aggie Replant director. “We plant trees at various locations including on campus, for Habitat for Humanity, and residentially. The goal of Replant Day is to give back to our community in an environmentally responsible and beneficial way.” The event started at Spence Park and then See Replant on page 7
Photo Illustration Tyler Hosea — THE BATTALION
10/25/10 9:50 PM