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february 1, 2014
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w. basketball
UConn spoils NCAA run Undefeated Huskies stop A&M in Elite 8 Tyler Stafford
The Battalion he season came to a halt for the Texas A&M women’s basketball team Monday night as it became the 38th team to fall to the undefeated Connecticut Huskies, losing 69-54 in the fourth round of the NCAA
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Division I Tournament in Lincoln, Neb. Seniors Karla Gilbert and Kristen Grant — the two remaining members from the 2011 National Championship team — finished their collegiate careers 12-3 in NCAA tournament play. The 15-point defeat was UConn’s second closest game of the season. UConn, the No. 1 overall seed, has won its matchups by an average of 28.2 points this season.
guard Courtney Walker for the most at the break. Playing in her last collegiate game, senior center Karla Gilbert was held scoreless in the first half and ended the game with one point to go along with her five rebounds and two blocked shots. Gilbert’s 68 blocks in the 201314 season set a single-season record for A&M. The Aggies pulled down See Basketball on page 4
Jennifer Reiley
The Battalion rom wildfires to hurricanes and floods, the Hazard Reduction and Recovery Center has spent the last quarter century preparing communities to better respond to disasters. Phil Berke, professor in the Department of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning, founded the HRRC when he was a new assistant professor at A&M. He said the center’s research addresses the two main issues surrounding natural disasters — city design and climate change. “The biggest reasons the [hazard] risks are growing is because of the way we design our communities and cities,” Berke said. “We locate them in riskier and dangerous areas and the population and urbanization is expanding dramatically throughout the world in dangerous locations. That’s why we see the geometrical rise in damage impacts.” Adding to this trend of locat-
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Bradley D’Souza The Battalion
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ith rings, yell leaders and Silver Taps, the traditions of Texas A&M shape student experiences from the inside, as well as the outside world’s perception of the University. Traditions Week, conducted by Traditions Council, will celebrate some of the traditions at Texas A&M. Each day during the week of April 7-11 will have a different tradition assigned to it, with Traditions Council members handing out buttons with pictures and slogans relating to the tradition of the day. Andrew Sibal, Traditions Council outreach and awareness executive chair and senior industrial distribution major, said these traditions have shaped the culture of Texas A&M and fostered a welcoming atmosphere for generations of Aggies. “I think it’s changed the Texas A&M culture,” Sibal said. “We wouldn’t be recognized as the friendliest campus on earth if we didn’t ‘Howdy.’ We wouldn’t be as respectful if we didn’t have Muster
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ing cities in riskier areas, Berke said climate change is making climate-related hazards all the more dangerous. Berke said this climate shift is manifested in changes in the intensity of rainfall and the movement of hurricanes further north because of the warming of the ocean. Walter Peacock, director of the HRRC, said the research performed by the center goes beyond purely academic studies by delving into practical plans for developing city layouts. “We are and remain probably one of the most unique natural hazard or disaster centers at a university in this country in that we do focus on how our communities should be developing to increase sustainability and reduce our vulnerabilities to disasters as well as longterm recovery issues,” Peacock said. “In that way, we are very unique in the academic world in terms of the kinds of target areas we do research on.” Peacock said he has seen real changes as a result of the See Hazard on page 3
William Guerra — THE BATTALION
i-week
History event ushers in international perspective Speaking points range from food to war Duncan Rankin
— Kelsey McKechnie, Traditions Council executive chair and senior business major
See Traditions week on page 2
Travis Shafer — NEBRASKA MEDIA RELATIONS
Group marks 25 years of disaster research
Council to involve students in campus history
or Silver Taps. It really distinguishes us from other universities because who else stands out at 10:30 at night to honor their fallen Aggies? Traditions signify what Texas A&M stands for and you can’t explain it, as cliche as that sounds.” Traditions Council is a 60-member committee of the Student Government Association. Sibal said the council participates in a variety of activities meant to honor and preserve what makes Texas A&M unique. “Our mission is to promote and protect the traditions of Texas A&M through education and awareness,” Sibal said. “We do this mainly through speaking engagements throughout the state of Texas and on campus — to student organizations, Aggie Mothers’ Club.” A tradition that holds special
Sophomore guard Jordan Jones scored 12 points and gathered seven rebounds in a loss Monday against UConn.
DESIGNED FOR DISASTER
Week to observe Aggie traditions
Texas A&M is growing and it’s important that we do keep knowledge of where we’ve come from. It’s important to help keep the spirit that we have at A&M, but also keep the culture, because that is what makes A&M so unique. That’s why I came to A&M, because of the culture that we have here.”
A&M jumped out to an 11-4 advantage early in the game. The seven-point lead was the largest deficit UConn has faced this season. The Huskies would go on a 9-0 run to take a 13-11 lead on the strength of junior forward Kaleena MosquedaLewis. Mosqueda-Lewis hit 2-of4 three-pointers in the first half and finished 3-of-9. Her 12 points in the first half were tied with Aggie sophomore
The Battalion small MSC meeting room was overflowing Monday evening as international students provided attendees with information and perspectives on their own cultures at the International Student Association’s IHistory event. As part of I-Week, presenters did their best to sum up one aspect of their culture for the audience. Bowen Pan, atmospheric sciences graduate student, explained the history behind several common items of Chinese cuisine. Beginning with the dumpling, Pan said the dough covered meatveggie mixtures that have long been a staple of the American-Chi-
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Jenna Rabel — THE BATTALION
Azhi Qaradaghi dresses in traditional Iraqi-Kurdish garb at the I-History event Monday.
nese restaurant actually got their start as a more appealing means of consuming medicine in ancient China. “For around 500 years it was actually medicine placed in the dumpling,” Pan said. “These were boiled into a soup and [the patient] would eat the soup.” In Chinese culture, Pan said the dumpling has a romantic meaning of family, fortune and the New Year. “It is a symbol of change and fortune,” Pan said. “We have a willingness in saying goodbye to the old year and looking forward to the switch into the new year. That’s why [in China] we eat them exactly at midnight.” I-Week will continue until Friday. The next event, I-Henna, will be from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday at Rudder Fountain. Full story at thebatt.com
inside baseball | 4 A&M to host Houston Matt Kent will take the mound for the Aggies as they host the No. 10 Houston Cougars in a mid-week matchup Tuesday.
city | 2 Search and rescue Tx-TF1, an urban search and rescue team, will host a workshop with first responders from across the nation.
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3/31/14 11:59 PM