The batt 06 13 13

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thebattalion l thursday,

june 13, 2013

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texas a&m since 1893

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4-H Roundup Nation’s largest youth service organization holds annual event at A&M Jessica Smarr The Battalion

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his week, 4-H members from around the state converged on Texas A&M for what they term their premier event of the year — Texas 4-H Roundup. Kyle Merten, the Roundup coordinator for Texas 4-H, said approximately 4,000 of Texas 4-H’s 60,000 members were expected to attend this years’ event. 4-H is the largest youth servicing organization in the country, Merten said, with Texas boasting the largest state membership. 4-H Roundup is a four-day event, which began Monday, and features workshops, presentations and competitions. Many of the competitions held must be qualified for, and members spend much of the year practicing. Competitions cover topics such as livestock, nutrition, health, leadership, speaking and even singing and acting. One of the newest and fastest growing competitions, Merten said, was Food Challenge, which is modeled after the Iron Chef competition. Teams are presented with “mystery ingredients” and must prepare a dish and presentation under a time limit. “The one [event] that stands

out from the ‘fun’ standpoint is definitely the Food Challenge,” Merten said. “If you watch kids, how creative they can be, how much fun they’re having, and they’re all dressed up in all of their cooking gear. They just take it really seriously and they’re just having a really good time with it.” The week begins with the presentation of scholarships to graduating high school seniors who are attending college. “We start off the week by giving over 200 scholarships, which equal 2 million dollars to 4-H’ers that will go on into higher education,” Merten said. “About 75 percent of those will attend Texas A&M as their college of choice in various fields from agriculture to business to engineering.” This is the 65th year 4-H Roundup has taken place, and it has been held on the A&M campus all but one year. As an extension of the University, Merten said the 4-H program considers Texas A&M and College Station to be its home. He said there has been a marked increase in the support from the University and the community this year, and the See 4-H Roundup on page 4

Photos by Jessica Smarr — THE BATTALION

(Top) Callie Herring and Brianna Brumfield, members of the Texas 4-H technology team, demonstrate how the “Banana piano”works to two younger members. (Bottom) 4-H council members kick off Tuesday night’s general assembly with a card throwing competition at watermelons in Read Arena.

bush library

A&M celebrates Bush Sr.’s birthday with socks, cake Mackenzie Mullis The Battalion

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Courtesy of The George Bush Library

University President R. Bowen Loftin and his chief of staff Matt Fry sport their crazy socks in honor of former President George H.W. Bush’s 89th birthday Wednesday.

ednesday was a day for cake, ice cream and a celebration at the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum. George H.W. Bush, the 41st president of the United States, celebrated his 89th birthday at his summer vacation spot in Kennebunkport, Maine. There he donned his signature crazy socks, this time sporting the Superman emblem. All across the nation, people dressed in their crazy socks in honor of the 41st president. The George Bush Presidential Library held a birthday party in his honor, handing out cake, ice cream, popcorn, punch and coffee. “There has been a great turnout,” said Warren Finch, director of the Bush library. “We had a few buses come in from Houston with people. We actually had so many people that we ran out of cake and ice cream and had to go get more.” The hype surrounding the crazy socks seemed to be responsible for the influx of birthday partygoers, Finch said. “I think the crazy sock publicity brought in so many people,” Finch said. Finch was wearing his crazy socks for the video and pictures that were taken to send to Bush.

“We also videoed all the kids that came from schools around College Station and Bryan singing happy birthday to him and we’ll send that,” he said. Ann Hays, a volunteer at the library, said this year was the biggest turn out the library ever had for Bush’s birthday. “We have way more people than ever before,” Hays said. “In some ways we are delighted, but also shocked. We ran out of ice cream and that has never happened before.” The Bush family is are very family-oriented, Hays said, and the entire Bush family was probably celebrating in Kennebunkport on Wednesday. Hays said the video the library is sending to the Bush family would also wish a happy birthday to Barbara Bush, who turned 88 on June 8. Zane Drummond, senior construction science major, said he feels honored that A&M takes such pride in their relationship with George H.W. Bush. “I think it is good to be connected to someone that was a great leader of our country,” Drummond said. “The fact that he wants to be affiliated with A&M says a lot and creates a prestigious environment. I also think it means a lot that A&M wants to have a close relationship with him.”

energy systems laboratory

Researchers develop technology to reduce energy consumption Mackenzie Mullis The Battalion

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nergy conservation is on the rise, and new software and technology at Texas A&M is making energy reduction an easier, more common practice than ever before. Instrumental in this process is the Energy Systems Laboratory at A&M, where researchers work toward reducing a building’s energy use, maintaining current equipment quality, and improving the quality of life for others. Charles Culp is a professor in the Department of

Architecture and teaches energy efficiency courses. He also is an associate director of the ESL, a division of the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station. The ESL is a large university lab, Culp said, with 50 full-time staff members. The lab also employed more than 88 students last year. Here Culp works, along with his colleague David Claridge, the director of the Energy Systems Lab, and many other employees and students, on reducing energy consumption in large-scale buildings through the Continuous Commissioning® process, or CC®. See Energy on page 2

Mackenzie Mullis — THE BATTALION

Charles Culp, associate director of the Energy Systems Laboratory and one of the creators of Continuous Commissioning®, shows how the software operates on an energy-inefficient building.

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