H1N1 vaccine begins distribution today The Brazos County Health Department will be distributing free H1N1 vaccines to the first 100 people who fall into priority groups beginning at 2 p.m. today. Priority groups include pregnant women, caregivers for children younger than six months of age, healthcare and emergency medical services personnel, all people 6 months through 24 and people 25 to 64 years of age who have health conditions associated with higher risk of medical complications from influenza. These are the first vaccines that have become available in Brazos County. The H1N1 vaccine will be offered at a cost to priority groups at the clinic Wednesday during normal hours 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on a limited basis as well. “We received a limited supply so we are starting with 100 tomorrow,” said Sara Mendez of the Brazos County Health Department. “The limited number of shots also has to do with a limited staff to administer them.” The health department is expecting to receive more vaccines each week. Mendez said college students should also be on the lookout for vaccines on campus sometime soon. “A&M should be getting them, I just don’t know when,” Mendez said. “Health departments have been getting them before others.”
thebattalion ● tuesday,
october 27, 2009
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● first paper free – additional copies $1 ● © 2009 student media
A&M works to keep fees low Melissa Appel The Battalion As college students, most Aggies are concerned about keeping costs down during their undergraduate careers. One of the largest proportions of living costs, the tuition and fees paid at the beginning of each semester, is at the forefront of these concerns. Texas A&M University is similarly concerned about minimizing costs and maximizing value for students. “Each year the University scrubs the existing budget for cost reduction opportunities, considers other potential funding sources [aside from tuition and fees], and prioritizes incremental expenditures in order to keep tuition and fee increases to a minimum,” said Deborah Wright, assistant vice president for budget and planning. The tuition amount students pay is split into two portions: statutory tuition, which is set by the state government, and designated tuition, which is set by the Board of Regents. For the 2009-2010 school year, instate students paid $2,576.10 in tuition. Texas A&M applies a flat rate tuition policy, where fulltime undergraduate students are charged tuition and fees based on a course load of 15 semester credit hours. This rule does not apply to part-time students taking 11 or less semester credit hours or to graduate and professional students.
Evan Andrews — THE BATTALION
Fall 2009 Student Fees
Katy Ralston, staff writer
See Fees on page 8
MSC Hospitality puts on Halloween party Memorial Student Center Hospitality will have a Halloween party for Aggie families for free Wednesday. The event will be from 6 to 8 p.m. at the University Apartments Community Center. The event aims to provide a safe place to celebrate Halloween. “The event is open to anyone who wants their kids to have a fun Halloween,” said Danielle Morgan, Holidays and Culture executive for MSC Hospitality. “There are going to be a wide variety of activities, such as pie tosses, puppet shows and a haunted house for the little children. Also, there will be prizes for the kids that win contests,” she said. The University Apartments is an on-campus location that provides easier access for the families, Morgan said. “The University Apartments were really generous to provide us with the Community Center, because they offered the facilities for free,” she said. “Also, they gave us access to other valuable resources for free.” Though the event is meant for families affiliated with Texas A&M, everyone in the community is welcome to attend, Morgan said. “We are not going to turn anyone away.” Joaquin Villegas, staff writer
Evan Andrews — THE BATTALION
Pg. 1-10.27.09.indd 1
AgsForKyle raises money to relight Kyle Field Luz Moreno-Lozano Special to The Battalion What began as a simple discussion on TexAgs.com, has developed into a major project for Texas A&M University. AgsForKyle is a nonprofit organization affiliated with the oncampus organization No Freshman Left Out to help renovate the Kyle Field lights. Mary Alice and Bob Frymire donated the Kyle Field lights in the 1981 football season. During the mid-1990s the lights were nonoperational and have not been lit since. These lights served as a beacon at night to identify Kyle Field. “I think it would be really cool for students who haven’t seen it, to see them light up,” said Andrew Pfister, AgsForKyle president and former student. The replacement will cost
$150,000. After a few weeks of effort AgsForKyle has raised $2,000. AgsForKyle is accepting donations; they will be selling T-shirts for $10 at the Iowa State game on Saturday and will also have an auction for two football tickets for the Baylor or Texas game to help reach the goal. Donations and proceeds will be used to remove the letters, repaint the Aggie maroon, replace the lights with LED lights and the reinstallation. The 18-foot tall, 10-foot wide lights are expected to be relit by the home opener in the 2010 football season. Efforts are supported by Texas A&M Athletic Director Bill Byrne; however, this is not a fundraiser for Aggie Athletics or any of its affiliates, Byrne said. Any unused funds will be endowed into a fund to help maintain the operation of the lights, Pfister said.
Sam Smith — THE BATTALION
The $150,000 light replacement is expected to be completed by the 2010 football season.
‘Beatlemania’ comes to campus ■ RAIN to perform in Rudder Wednesday and Thursday
Vicky Flores
Christina Francisco The Battalion “Beatlemania” will be landing in College Station this week. On Wednesday and Thursday the nationally famous “RAIN: A Tribute to The Beatles” will be performing in Rudder Auditorium. RAIN fuses a blend of costume changes, video screens and historical footage to bring the Beatles to life onstage. The cover band takes the audience from early days of the “Ed Sullivan Show” all the way to Abbey Road. The group has spent years perfecting the show to hit notes and chords as the Beatles did. That includes performing songs the Beatles never performed live. “It’s really good for old music to come back to this generation,” said MSC OPAS Director
Blinn, A&M combine forces in the health science center
Courtesy Photo
Joey Curatolo (Paul McCartney), Joe Bithorn (George Harrison), Ralph Castelli (Ringo Starr), Steve Landes (John Lennon) and Mark Lewis (keyboards, percussion) have performed together for more than two decades. of Operations Morgan White. “It was such a big part of our parents’ culture. This show is a sort of homage to that.” MSC OPAS looks to bring a diverse schedule of acts to the A&M campus. “One thing we looked at was what audiences here at A&M would want,” said Director of Public Relations for MSC
OPAS Sam Hughes. “RAIN, being a Beatles cover band, worked really well with our demographic here in the Bryan area. It’s also been a really big hit across college campuses.” Tickets are still available for purchase in the MSC Box Office in Rudder Tower, or call (979) 845-1234.
The Battalion Blinn College and Texas A&M University are in a collaborative effort to bring students together in the expanding Health Science Center on the A&M campus. “Our programs are ever-evolving, and we are always trying to strengthen our relationship with A&M,” said Cathy Boeker, executive administrator for external affairs at Blinn College, “and most recently we are trying to build our relationship with the Health Science Center.” Boeker said Blinn wants to take the opportunities of the new facilities as A&M’s health science center is expanding. Because of the ever-expanding population at Blinn and the need for state of the art facilities, Blinn has decided to take the opportunity for their students to learn on the A&M campus. A building is to be built on the health science center campus by a private contractor and will be rented to three parties — Texas A&M, Blinn College and a private physicians group. The concept is to have these students work closely and to learn from each other, while being able to share expensive resources, Boeker said. See Blinn on page 8
10/26/09 10:06 PM
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Wednesday mostly sunny high: 79 low: 70 Thursday 70% chance storms high: 78 low: 57 Friday 30% chance storms high: 71 low: 51
pagetwo thebattalion 10.27.2009
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Natasha Sankovich — THE BATTALION
Puddles collect Monday on campus after showers came to the Bryan-College Station area. Storms hit the Brazos Valley early Monday causing brief power outages in south College Station and dropping more than 2.5 inches of rain through the day.
We particularly encourage freshmen and sophomores to apply.
Cop pulls gun after scare in haunted house BALTIMORE — Authorities say a city police ofďŹ cer pulled his gun on a chain-saw-wielding haunted house worker who was trying to get “one last screamâ€? out of him on Sunday. Baltimore County police said Sgt. Eric Janik has been charged with assault for pulling his service weapon on the worker, who was dressed up as the killer from “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.â€? Police say Janik pulled his service weapon and pointed it at the man’s chest. The man dropped the chain saw which had no chain. Janik has been suspended with pay, pending a formal suspension hearing.
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voices Holding back the hate EDITOR’SNOTE
The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the various authors and forum participants in this paper do not necessarily reflect those of Texas A&M University, The Battalion or its staff.
thebattalion 10.27.2008 page3
T
he Matthew Sheppard Hate Crimes Act, named after a college student who was brutally beaten and killed in 1998 because of his sexual orientation, has finally passed Congress. This protection has been a long time coming, as proponents have been trying to add sexual orientation to the original hate crimes act passed after Martin Luther King Jr. was killed, which already included race, color, religion and national origin. For 10 years the bill has been stymied and filibustered by Christians, the people specifically called to stand up for the abused and marginalized members of society. Barring total bottom-feeders like Fred Phelps, I am going to assume most of the Christians opposing the bill weren’t doing it in the hopes that they could continue to indiscriminately beat up gay people. Opponents standing on slightly more legitimate grounds have two points. For one, they feel that the whole category of specially designated hate crimes is unnecessary because people don’t commit crimes against people they like, so it serves only to afford certain groups’ special protection. Secondly, they’re afraid that the legislation will be misused to prosecute Christians who speak their minds and denounce homosexuality as a sin. It’s true in some ways all crimes are hate crimes, but the difference is to what extent the hate is personal or global. An ordinary crime would be violence against a cheating spouse or against someone in order to take a car or money. These are crimes that have individual motives, specific to the victim. A hate crime is violence motivated by the hatred of an entire social group. A perpetrator does not need to know more about a person than they’re gay (or black, or foreign or whatever it is) in order to hate them and, in their mind, justify being violent toward them. In this way hate crimes are fundamentally different than crimes against individuals motivated by jealousy or anger. It is important to pay special attention to this kind of crime because it is a symptom of pervasive social disease, the kind that fosters abuse on a massive scale, or even genocide. As Americans, we cannot allow that kind of moral decay to take hold in our country. Christians should be wholly in favor of the laws that protect minorities, or for that
Kat Drinkwater
The hate crimes act finally passed after 10 years, but not without Christian opposition. matter, any law that condemns violence. As for the worry the law will be abused to prosecute those who speak out against homosexuality; this is a fine line we have always, and will always have to walk with the justice system. There is nothing in this bill that pertains to speech, it only addresses violent actions. That’s no guarantee that somewhere, someday a protestor or a preacher with a particularly venomous sign or scathing message might not be arrested, but we have to trust in our justice system to free them if no crime has been committed. For my part, I think spreading hatred should never be on the agenda for Christians and should be condemned from within the church, even if it is legal. So for now a victory against bigotry has been won, against the best efforts of some Christians instead of with their support. Christians need to reexamine their personal stance on civil rights issues, and then take a look at who they’re standing beside. Leaders of the church who urge congressmen to vote against measures like this because they fear the humanization and the protection of homosexuals have no place in the clergy. By continuing to support their organizations, to patronize their churches and generally to listen to their crap, we support them and allow the kind of hatred that killed Matthew Sheppard to survive within our country. Kat Drinkwater is a senior university psychology and neuroscience major.
Evan Andrews — THE BATTALION
Freshmen: The great escape to freedom
F
or most students, college is the first escape from confines of home, finally getting away from parents to live out on their own. Escaping an adult-enforced super-ego, students are free to indulge the id to their limits, often leading to an explosive increase in underage drinking and promiscuous sexual activities. Freshmen initially view parents and their rules as repressive behavioral restrictors, and chaos can ensue when a student is removed from their parents and hometown. But rather than eccentric fish behavior being just a simple reaction to former rules, deviance also furthers self-discovery. “While parents do factor into the reason, they are part of a much larger, broader reason for this reaction,” said April Plemons, a sociology of deviance professor. “The student moves from a highly structured and supervised environment, to one where the boundaries of behavior are much less certain. Students are in a new environment and situation where they are unsure where the new boundaries are. So, they keep ‘pushing’ farther and farther in their behavior until they find these new boundaries of acceptable behavior.” But moving to college comes with its own behavioral restrictions. As a student living on campus, I can assure you there is nowhere to hide
Steven Laxton
Saying goodbye to parents introduces a new set of boundaries and brings fun but challenging concepts. from your roommate in a dorm room that often bears an uncanny resemblance to a prison cell. If the dorm rooms were soundproof, or you could hide your roommate’s key, condom company stocks would rocket. Roommates can work for or against the super-ego. They tend to either be the person reminding you what something means or intentionally coming in while you’re involved with someone, attempting to make it awkward enough to make you stop. Or they could be the one bringing back the “guests” and lining the
doors with thick blankets. “[Roommates] help socialize the new student to these new expectations of behavior,” Plemons said. “For example, roommates or friends may teach the new student how to get drunk quicker, avoid hangovers, or study more efficiently to allow more time for these new activities.” Furthermore, the endless strains on a student’s time often create schedules with more spaces, making for a rough combination. “Changing class structures, irregular schedules and adjusting to the new academic environment only continue to add more uncertainties in students’ life,” Plemons said. “It is only through testing and pushing these new boundaries that will help the student learn the boundaries of expected behavior, and in turn, help the student eventually adjust to college life and meet those expected academic achievements.” It’s not that all Aggies are drunken, sex-starved lunatics, but college often is about expanding experiences. While students often experiment with deviance their first semester away, if you are patient perhaps your roommate will try and keep it down. Steven Laxton is a freshman general studies major.
MAILCALL From Nina Rodriguez, senior animal science major I attended the Student Senate meeting this past Wednesday night and would like to thank Sen. Jess Alan Fields for fighting for the student’s right to free speech. Speaker Michele Breaux purposely changed the time allotted for open forum. Students are normally granted 2 minutes to speak but were only granted 1 minute to speak at this past meeting. Together the time allotted for open forum was 20 minutes when normally every student who attends an SGA meeting is allowed to speak. No matter how the senators felt about the opinions that were going to be expressed that night, the senators should not have changed the rules. So once again, thank you Fields, you are good bull and I hope your fellow senators follow your lead and continue to do what they have been elected for— to represent the student voice. Direct all correspondence to: Editor in chief of The Battalion (979) 845-3315 | mailcall@thebatt.com
TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY - 2009 LAW SCHOOL CARAVAN
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thebattalion
Jay-Z to perform at World Series NEW YORK — The New York Yankees have been blasting Jay-Z’s “Empire State of Mind” during their playoff run. Now, the team is having the rap king perform the song live to kick off Game 1 of the World Series. Jay-Z and fellow New Yorker Alicia Keys are set to perform the hit on Wednesday, as the Yankees take on defending World Series champs, the Philadelphia Phillies. “Thank the good Lord for making me a Yan-
kee,” the Brooklyn native said in an interview Monday. He calls the opportunity a “once in a lifetime experience” and says though the jam has become an unofficial New York anthem, he’s not pushing for it to be the city’s JAY-Z theme song. “I’m not pitching it for anything, it’s just a song I made for New York City,” he said. Associated Press
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Small plane crashes
Mass. man says Brazilian husband denied US asylum BOSTON — A gay Brazilian man has been denied asylum by the Obama administration and won’t be reunited with his American husband in the U.S., the husband said Monday. Tim Coco said Attorney General Eric Holder did not act on a Friday deadline in the case of Genesio “Junior” Oliveira, effectively denying the 30-yearold Brazilian man’s request for asylum in the U.S. on humanitarian grounds. “We needed the Attorney General to make a decision on whether Junior could come home,” said Coco, 48, of Haverhill. “He didn’t take this request seriously.” The Justice Department did not immediately return messages. In 2002, Oliveira had sought asylum in the U.S. because he said he was raped as a teenager in Brazil. But an immigration judge denied his request, and Assistant Attorney General Ronald Weich said in a letter that Oliveira repeatedly remarked at his hearing that he “was never physically harmed” by anyone in Brazil. The Associated Press does not typically name rape victims, but Oliveira speaks openly about his case and allows his name to be used. Oliveira returned to Brazil in 2007 after losing an appeal. Before he left, he and Coco married in Massachusetts in 2005 and bought a house together. According to federal immigration law, immigrants also can apply for residency if they marry U.S. citizens. But the federal government does not recognize gay marriages under the Defense
McALLEN, Texas — A small plane with four people aboard crashed in rural south Texas on Monday after the pilot reported encountering turbulence that was making it difficult for him to maintain the plane’s altitude, authorities said. The wreckage was found on a private ranch less than four miles northwest of Benavides in Duval County in an area with mesquite trees and mud, said Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Lynn Lunsford. “Law enforcement officials reported that the crash was unsurvivable,” Lunsford said. Texas Department of Public Safety spokesman Manuel Garza said he had no other details because the plane was still smoldering.
WARRANT ROUND-UP OCT. 26 - NOV. 6 COLLEGE STATION MUNICIPAL COURT College Station Municipal Court and the surrounding Justice of the Peace of¿ces will conduct a warrant round-up from Oct. 26 - Nov. 6th. If you have a warrant out of College Station Municipal Court please contact the court to avoid being arrested at your home, school, or job. The Court will be open Monday from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. and the remainder of the week from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. To contact the court please call 979-764-3683. Warrants are available on the web at www.cstx.gov/warrants
Student shoots himself Associated Press
TEMPE, Ariz. — Arizona State University police say a graduate student fatally shot himself in a professor’s office. ASU police commander James Hardina says the shooting occurred about 11:40 a.m. Monday. Police say the student was apparently talking with a professor when he pulled out a gun and shot himself once on ASU’s main campus in Tempe. The name of the student has not been released.
Tim Coco, right, poses in his Haverhill, Mass. office with his husband, Genesio “Junior” Januario Oliveira Jr., left, seen in Brazil via a video conference call. of Marriage Act, and Oliveira’s request to remain in the United States based on his relationship with Coco was denied this year. In March, Sen. John Kerry asked Attorney General Eric Holder to grant Oliveira asylum on humanitarian grounds. Kerry spokeswoman Brigid O’Rourke said Monday that the senator will continue to work toward a solution that would reunite the couple for good. “The fact is that if Tim and Junior were a heterosexual married couple, they would never have suffered through more than
two years of separation,” said O’Rourke. Coco said he thought there was “no way” the Obama Administration would deny Oliveira’s asylum request after Kerry made his plea to Holder. The case comes as Obama tries to smooth a rocky relationship with gay activists, who want him to end the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy on gays, which he has pledged to do but hasn’t given a timeline.
4LTVYPLZ MHKL @LHYIVVRZ SHZ[ H 3PML[PTL Reserve your 2010 Aggieland yearbook (chronicling the 2009-2010 school year). Go to http://aggieland.tamu.edu or call 979.845.2613 to order by credit card.
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Pg. 5-10.27.09.indd 1
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10/26/09 7:34 PM
Vote for Peterson Senior A&M soccer player Emily Peterson is in the running for the 2009 senior CLASS award. The award focuses on the total student athlete and encourages athletes to use their statuses to influence their community positively. You can find the link to vote for Peterson daily on Aggieathletics.com or just text W9 to 74567.
Peterson
sports thebattalion 10.27.2009 page6
Turned in the right direction David Harris
After a convincing win in Lubbock, Texas, against Texas Tech, A&M must keep playing to its full potential.
A
vious week. Despite the negativity and the calls for Sherman’s job preceding the game, Aggie fans were more than excited Saturday night when A&M knocked off the Red Raiders in Lubbock for the first time in 16 years. “I don’t know after watching the K-State game if I would have made that trip out to Lubbock myself,” Sherman said. “I might have said ‘Hey listen, we’ll pass this week on the Aggies.’ There were quite a few people out
midst projectile ice cubes and water cups, I sat, maroon clad, in the Texas Tech student section. Violence was threatened and bestiality was encouraged through the mouths of the Red Raiders around me. But on Saturday night in Lubbock, the classlessness of the Tech students didn’t even register following a long overdue 52-30 Aggie victory in Lubbock. I stared at the score in the paper on Sunday morning for a good 10 minutes. Was this the same team as last week at Kansas State? Am I dreaming? And if so, why am I in Lubbock of all places? Turns out I wasn’t dreaming. Turns out Texas A&M walked into Jones Stadium in front of a record crowd and owned the rival Red Raiders. It turns out, after calling for Head Coach Mike Sherman’s job in this spot last week, I get to eat a little crow. I thought the team had quit on Sherman in the 62-14 embarrassment in Manhattan last weekend. Instead, the loss had the team looking to him more than ever. In the past week, Sherman challenged his team’s pride. He worked their tails off all week in practice. And he let it be known that results such as last week were unacceptable at Texas A&M.
See Football on page 7
See Direction on page 7
Brad Cox — THE BATTALION
Texas A&M sophomore running back Bradley Stephens celebrates in the end zone after the Aggies’ 52-30 victory against the Texas Tech Red Raiders Saturday in Lubbock, Texas.
Aggies celebrate big win Brad Cox The Battalion The luster of a 52-30 win at Texas Tech had yet to wear off on Monday when Texas A&M coaches and players met with media members at the Bright Football Complex. “People outside this room might not have believed in us,” said senior offensive lineman Michael Shumard. “We knew how hard we had worked, and we knew what we had, and we knew we would get going in the right direction eventually.” Aggie Head Coach Mike Sherman said the
offensive line’s performance Saturday was one of the best he had seen. The line was one of the most criticized positions during A&M’s threegame losing streak as Sherman shuffled players around to find a winning combination. Shumard has defended the line in the past and called out some of the critics Monday. “I have friends that don’t play football, and I heard a lot of them talking about ‘Oh, we need a miracle’ and stuff like that,” he said. “They don’t know what’s been going on.” Few expected to see A&M play the way it did after losing to Kansas State 62-14 the pre-
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sports
page 7
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Football Continued from page 6
there to support us, and I take my hat off to them; they’re great Aggies to be out there after the showing the week before.” After the game the players and coaching staff rushed to the north end zone, where the Aggie Band was sitting, and sang the “War Hymn.” The players then ran to the stadium walls and exchanged high fives with the fans. The Aggie celebration was far from over though. When the team arrived in College Station later that night, a group of A&M fans were gathered at the Bright Football Complex to
Direction Continued from page 6
It looked like it was going to be a long night after Tech, on its first possession, methodically drove 80 yards to take a 7-0 lead. Following an Uzoma Nwachuwku fumble on the Aggies’ first offensive play from scrimmage, I’m sure Leach and the more than 57,000 pirates in attendance smelled blood in the water. However, the Aggie defense muscled up and forced a three and out. And when Jerrod Johnson and company came onto the field for a second time, the game took a complete 180. They drove it 86 yards and rammed it down Tech’s throat. The Aggie offensive line established a presence during the drive that resonated throughout the rest of the game. The anemic running game woke up and 321 rushing yards later, A&M was celebrating in the Tech end zone after Cyrus Gray’s fourth touchdown of the night made the score 52-30. In defeating No. 21 Texas Tech, Sherman earned his first win against a ranked opponent. Heck, he notched his first win over a team with a winning record. In defeating a Big 12 South team for the first time in seven tries, Sherman and the Aggies
congratulate the team. “There were 450 to 500 people out here waiting for us at 1 o’clock in the morning,” Sherman said. “Totally unexpected — didn’t even imagine that would happen.” Before leaving Easterwood Airport, Sherman gathered the team on the tarmac and told them to celebrate and enjoy the next 24 hours because they had to prepare for Iowa State Monday. “We got a little heads up that there would be a couple people out there,” said sophomore safety Trent Hunter. “I didn’t know there were going to be so many. It was a good time. I’m happy to see we had a lot of supporters when we got back.”
restored hope in what was written off as another lost season. That restored hope, however, hinges on the team playing up to its collective talent level. Yes, it’s again time to temper optimism. Saturday night showed this team is full of talent capable of competing in the Big 12. It may be young. Talent is, nonetheless, present. It is the coaching staff’s job to keep these 18- and 19-yearolds balanced. Sherman must point out to the team that in the Big 12, you can’t just go out and play (see 62-14 at Kansas State). He must let it be known that in order to win in the Big 12, you must prepare and play focused football for 60 minutes. With up to 16 underclassmen playing significant time, this, not X’s and O’s, will be Sherman’s biggest challenge. Will the team come out this week at home against Iowa State with the same swagger that was so evident in Lubbock? Will they play up to their capability and defeat the teams they are better than (Iowa State, Colorado and Baylor)? Will they, gasp, welcome in Texas to Kyle Field on Thanksgiving with a record of 7-4? If we are to call this season a success, the answers to those questions will be “yes.” Sherman is not, by any means, off the hook. All of these
A&M changed the focus Monday morning at practice to Iowa State, which upset Nebraska on Saturday in Lincoln with a 9-7 win. Early in the season fans had declared Iowa State an easy win, but after the game at Kansas State, few are ready to declare victors, especially not the coaches or players. “I look at every week very similar,” Sherman said. “Just like last week I told them ‘You got to put that behind you,’ at the Monday morning meeting, ‘you have to put K-State behind you.’ We did the same thing this morning, ‘you put Texas Tech behind you.’” “That’s how the Aggies have always done it,” Sherman said.
newfound good vibes will be forgotten if the team comes out and lays another egg against an inferior opponent. Simply put, the overall perception and direction of A&M’s program rests squarely on Sherman’s shoulders and how his team performs in these next five games. As for me, I couldn’t stop smiling as I drove back to College Station on Sunday morning. Was it because I had all my limbs intact? Was the sheer act of leaving Lubbock able to bring about such glee? Partly, yes. But this smile wasn’t just one of relief. It was gratitude from the realization that the 2009 football season has been restored. It was a sense of satisfaction from knowing this program, under Sherman, could be headed in the right direction. David Harris is a junior economics major.
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ANNOUNCEMENTS
AUTO
Texas A&M junior “jack” Von Miller and freshman running back Christine Michael participate in a yell after defeating Texas Tech 52-30 Saturday in Lubbock, Texas.
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Brad Cox — THE BATTALION
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2/1.5 with W/D connection, great location, with backyard. Near bus-stop. Water , lawn, & pest paid. $600/mo. 422-4296. 2bdrm/2ba. duplex with huge back yard, privacy fencing, pets welcomed, ceramic tile floors, lawn care provided, 7min from campus. $700/mo. Available Now! 979-739-7717. 2bdrm/3ba duplexes. Great floorplans, fenced yards, w/d, tile floors, icemakers, alarm systems. 979-776-6079, www.aggielandleasing.com 3/2 House w/study-Wolf Pen Area! Close to shuttle, w/d conn, fenced w/ lawn care, www.twincityproperties.com 979-775-2291. 3/3 Duplexes, 1400sqft, fenced backyard, all appliances new, excellent specials, 979-694-0320. office@luxormanagement.com 3bd/2ba great floorplan, on shuttle route. Washer and dryer. Fans, stainless appliances. New, new, new. www.aggielandleasing.com www.southwoodplace.com 3bdrm/3ba duplexes. Great floorplans, fenced yards, w/d, tile floors, icemakers, alarm systems. 979-776-6079. www.aggielandleasing.com 4/3, 3/3 &3/2 Townhouses, Duplexes &Fourplexes, 1250-1700sqft. Very spacious, ethernet, large kitchen, extra storage, great amenities, on bus route, now pre-leasing for 2010, excellent specials. 694-0320. office@luxormanagement.com Available now. Large 2bd/2ba condo. New carpet, paint, and wood miniblinds. Pool, water paid. Doubletree Condos. 979-777-9933. $700/mo.
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Healthcare technology firm MEMdata now hiring part time IT Systems Analyst. Local, just minutes from campus. Flexible hours. Pay based on qualifications. Email resumes to careers@memdata.com or fax to 979.695.1954.
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page 8 tuesday 10.27.2009
thebattalion
Fees Continued from page 1
Fees for the 2009-2010 year totaled $1,512.21. There are 15 required fees, as well as various optional fees including parking permits and sports passes. Fee amounts ranged from the identification card fee at $3, to the library access fee at $381.75. “Fee increases are considered on an individual basis depending on the need of a particular area. They are increased to fund particular needs or initiatives within each individual area,” Wright said. “The important point is that fees must be used for the purpose for which they are collected.” Student input is important throughout the process to increase any student fee. The Student Service Fee Advisory Board is a committee of students with the purpose of making suggestions and recommendations to the Student Service Fee. For the recommendations, the board weighs many factors including the proportion of students who use the service, the reserve funding of the department and the availability of department funds from sources other than student fees. “Everything that we do, we have to think of in terms of the entire student population,” said Student Service Fee Advisory Board chairwoman Beth Michel, a senior biomedical sciences major. “We have to make sure that it’s for the benefit of the student body on the whole, not just for a group of people. Even if it’s a large group, the whole student body pays for it.”
Blinn Continued from page 1
“Whether students are on the A&M campus or the Blinn campus, the need for resources is still the same,” Boeker said. “This way we are hoping that students will be able to share the more expensive resources and get little more out of the public dollar.” The Blinn campus will focus on sending students from the allied health care field including students who are training to be technicians in the field of radiology and LVNs.
Students can apply to be on the nine-member board or comment on the individual department fees on the Web site, ssfab.tamu. edu. In addition, an open forum for undergraduate students concerning revised fees will take place at 7 p.m. Wednesday. “We do want the student body opinion,” Michel said. She said board members consider online postings and comments when debating the fee increases. “If we have an overwhelming response from the student body that says ‘No,’ as a board, we won’t recommend that the fee gets increased.” Student input is also gathered concerning tuition. Whenever an increase in designated tuition has been proposed, a designated tuition hearing is during the spring semester so students can come and voice opinions. The cost of attending Texas A&M is similar to that of other Big 12 schools. At the University of Texas, undergraduate students pay a flat rate that covers tuition and fees. This cost varies per college, but the average total cost for resident undergraduates is $4,465. On a 30-semester credit hour basis, Texas resident undergraduates at Texas Tech University pay $4,875 for tuition and $2,610 for mandatory fees. Recent years have seen an increase in tuition and fees at all three schools. For some students, attending Texas A&M is a less expensive and more welcome alternative. Caitlin Vanasse, a junior animal science major, is from “Blinn students will focus on their technicians degrees while A&M students will focus on the higher fields with bachelors degrees,” Boeker said. The students enrolled at Blinn and A&M will be able to benefit from the experience of working together in a healthrelated environment. “The development of the new building that will host the Blinn students will not begin construction, until after Christmas, so it will probably be another year or so before the partnership begins,” said Dan Holt, president of Blinn College.
“
“Everything that we do, we have to think of in terms of the entire student population. We have to make sure that it’s for the benefit of the student body on the whole, not just for a group of people. Even if it’s a large group, the whole student body pays for it.” — Beth Michel Student Service Fee Advisory Board chairwoman and senior biomedical science major
Minnesota but pays in-state tuition due to a scholarship. “I’m just glad in-state tuition in Texas is less than in-state tuition in Minnesota,” Vanasse said. When considering the cost of an education, however, it is also important to recognize the return for money paid. “It is important to note that TAMU was rated by Smart Money magazine as the top university among public schools in the nation for ‘payback ratio,’ the earnings level of an institution’s graduates compared to the amount a student paid in tuition, fees and other costs related to a student’s undergraduate education,” Wright said. Although A&M might not be the most inexpensive school in Texas, Wright said, students must keep all aspects of their future and how a good education will impact it, in mind. “It is imperative that students receive an excellent education at an affordable price,” Wright said.
Holt said that campuses are negotiating the leasing arrangements of the new buildings with the third party contractor. Lee Ann Ray, chief of staff to the president of A&M University, said the building will be called the Texas Brain and Spine Institute and will be owned by a group of private physicians. “Residents will be sent over there and the plan is to also be able to include Blinn students,” Ray said. The leasing of the building to Blinn College has not been approved by its board of directors.
Diamonds and Pearls And things for girls
SALE CELEBRATING OUR 34TH ANNIVERSARY
Beautiful Engagement Rings AG OWNED Robby Colwell ‘81
3601 East 29th Street, Suite 7 Bryan 979.846.3898 In-store financing available
Pg. 8-10.27.09.indd 1
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Show us your pumpkin Send in a photo of your best jack-o-lantern to aggielife@thebatt.com. We will feature our favorites in the Halloween issue on Oct. 30.
science thebattalion 10.27.2009 page9
Expensive addiction H
alo 3: ODST” started as a mere spinoff from the critically acclaimed “Halo 3” but turned into quite a bit more. Included in Bungie’s package is a shorter campaign mode, a “Firefight” mode similar to “Horde” mode in “Gears of War 2” and a disc containing the complete “Halo 3” multiplayer experience. That being said, “Halo 3: ODST”’s shorter campaign and copied competitive multiplayer mode will run you the same price as any new Xbox 360 game — $60. There’s no question regarding whether or not the game is fun; the Halo formula is a proven one. However, the real debate concerns the price and whether or not what you get is worthy of your hard-earned $60.
Halo 3: ODST Facts Price: $60 Campaign length: six hours New mode: Fireflight As you may know, the campaign does not follow Master Chief this time around. It tells the story of a group of skilled, highly-trained soldiers known as Orbital Drop Shock Troopers, or ODSTs. ODSTs will take fall damage and receive noticeable recoil from almost all weapons. They’re unable to dualwield or carry gear such as power drains or bubble shields. Gone is the regenerating health bar from “Halo 3”; instead your character has a regenerating stamina meter that will diminish after taking gunfire. Avoiding further gunfire will give you the time that refills your stamina meter, but taking more damage will deplete your health meter, which can only be refilled by finding health packs throughout the map — a nod to the first Halo installment.
Anthony Gerhart
Halo installment is a pricey “must-play” for Halo fans While your character is noticeably weaker, he has a distinct advantage over the Chief in the form of his visor. An ODST’s visor is equipped with “VISR” which will keep track of your objectives and map out the city of New Mombasa complete with a compass, customizable Navpoints and enemy locations. The “X “button, instead of deploying gear, will activate a mode in the VISR that illuminates dark areas and outlines objects, enemies and friends in yellow, red and green, respectively. The campaign is split into two different sections — the exploration of the hub city at night and the linear action and battle missions during the day. “Halo,” like most shooters, has typically been very linear in its past installments, so the implementation of a hub world is brand new to the series, but Bungie has done a good job with it. The night sections focus less on action and more on the moody atmosphere. The disposition emitted by these night sections can best be described as the mix of unsettling isolation and curious wonder that made the atmosphere of the “Metroid Prime” series so memorable. The feel is accomplished by the use of a darker, less vibrant art pallet than that seen in previous Halo games as well as a new score by returning composer Martin O’Donnell. The hub world’s style of play
consists primarily of exploration to find Video clues that activate day Check out missions. You will find the video New Mombasa large, of Halo 3: daunting and captivating at first, as it subtly ODST at thebatt. tells of the Covenant com takeover. However, the more you return to the twilit hub world from the thrilling action-packed day levels, the more you find yourself ignoring your surroundings with the sole intent of treading on to activate your next day mission. What Bungie offers here is an aesthetically pleasing, atmospheric hub world that ties into the story and connects the events witnessed in the daytime levels. You’ll find the daytime missions reminiscent of the classic “Halo” gameplay you’ve come to love over the last three versions. Firefights, explosions and vehicles are abundant and in adequate variety. The ‘run n’ gun,’ vehicle and sniper missions are all present and well-designed, but in the end, thrilling as they may be, you’ll feel as though you’ve played these levels before. Overall, ODST’s campaign is a satisfying one, but there’s no denying it’s a bit shorter than one would come to expect from a full project. Depending on the difficulty you play on, your story will last from four to six hours. Even so, the campaign will appeal to players if only for its atmosphere and compelling characterdriven story, and it’s best experienced by avoiding the co-op option. What really shines in this package is the Firefight mode, in which you and three others will choose from 10 selectable maps and defend it from relentless waves of Covenant. Bungie makes their survival mode unique with the use of the handicapping conditions known as “skulls.” Each round includes a more dangerous
Evan Andrews — THE BATTALION
combination of skulls than the previous one, which makes for a variable experience. The game ends only when you run out of lives, making this mode a throwback to classic high-score chasers seen in arcades. “Halo 3: ODST” is a well-polished package and an absolute must-play for any Halo fan. The campaign provides a gripping story with fantastic voiceacting, and Firefight will have you glued to the TV for hours. However, the $60 price point is a steep investment considering that half the package (online multiplayer) has been available to everyone two years now. Bungie hasn’t included enough for
me to recommend a purchase at the premium price. At the very least, give this installment a rental, and if you like it, pick up a pre-owned copy a little later down the road.
Anthony Gerhart is a sophomore computer science major.
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