thebattalion l tuesday,
april 2, 2014
l serving
texas a&m since 1893
l first paper free – additional copies $1 l © 2014 student media
PROCEED TO SAFETY Meredith Collier — THE BATTALION
Condaleezza Rice speaks Tuesday at Rudder Auditorium.
wiley lecture series
Rice talks political ‘shocks’ Former secretary of state visits campus Tuesday
A&M site of helicopter rescue training
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he Brayton Training Field hosted two Texas Air National Guard helicopters Tuesday for a two-day helicopter search-and-rescue workshop. The workshop, held by Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service and Texas Task Force 1, included team members from the guard and civilian-side response teams from states across the country. Trevor Stokes, helicopter safety and rescue trainer, said Tuesday’s events were meant to provide teams with a common ground on which to share knowledge. “Today, we got all of our
equipment out,” Stokes said. “There’s a lot of different agencies that are interfacing, seeing what they can learn from the program. Today, it’s a lot of that knowledge sharing, ‘How do you do this, how do you that?’ We do this, we do that and just trying to find some best practices.” Brent Dixon, Texas Task Force 1 Helicopter Search and Rescue program manager, said the teams will attend presentations about emergency procedure and a standards briefing from the Texas Army National Guard.
Jenna Rabel — THE BATTALION
Trevor Stokes (in blue) participates in an exercise Tuesday at the rescue training.
Jennifer Reiley, city editor
Bradley D’Souza The Battalion
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arrying her expertise and experience with her to the podium, former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice spoke on the state of politics at home and abroad Tuesday. As a part of the MSC Wiley Lecture series, Rice’s lecture, “The Impacts of Modern American Politics,” centered on the development of current international relationships, recent developments in foreign politics and America’s responsibility to its citizens and the world at large. Rice, now a professor of political science at Stanford University, first addressed what she called the three shocks that have radically altered the U.S. and the global community: the events surrounding the Sept. 11 attack, the jolt to economic security that resulted from the economic crisis of 2008 and the actions of countries around the world seeking to overthrow autocratic governments and establish a system based on the will of the people. Moving to recent international developments, Rice discussed the seriousness of Russia’s annexation of Crimea and said it was a symptom of Vladimir Putin’s desire to reclaim what he believes are the glory days of the Soviet Union. “[Putin] has said that the collapse of the Soviet Union is the greatest tragedy of the 20th century, and given the chance he will redress what he considers to be the greatest tragedy of the 20th century,” Rice said. “He will steadily expand westward through intimidation, through military power, through energy politics and energy intimidation to try and make sure that countries in the Russian periphery will never be a part of the West.” Rice also stressed the critical role that education plays in American society, detailing her own father’s journey to obtain a college education. After saying America’s greatest tool is the aspirations of its citizens, Rice said students should make the most of their opportunities and seize the educational experience that many do not have access to. “I hope that while you’re here at this great University, you’ll reach out and recognize your responsibility to those who didn’t get this great opportunity,” Rice said. “Make sure that the kid who did not have the opportunity to learn how to read will one day have that opportunity. That is the foundation of America essentialism — taking responsibility for one another and insisting that men and women have inalienable rights and heavy responsibilities to one another here and around the world.”
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nascar
Aggie car to race onto campus Replica to be revealed during Race Day Samantha Latta The Battalion
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porting the A&M logo, the No. 24 Axalta Racing Chevrolet SS of Hendrick Motorsports will be painted in a custom shade of Aggie maroon with Jeff Gordon behind the wheel next week at the NASCAR Sprint Cup race. Aggie Race Day will feature the on-campus unveiling of the maroon show car — a replica of the one Gordon will be driving Sunday — and a visit from Gordon himself. Along with Gordon, the Yell Leaders, Reveille and the 12th Man pit crew will all be in attendance for the day. The pit crew is made up of 28 Aggie engineering
students that will attend Sunday’s race and get a behind-the-scenes look at the work NASCAR engineers do, according to a press release by the Dwight Look College of Engineering. Pamela Green, director of communications for the college of engineering, said the members of the 12th Man pit crew had to submit an
essay and go through an interview process to explain why they would like to be involved and how the experience would positively impact their education. “This event is extremely important to me as an avid race fan and engineering student,” said Ezekiel Bowden, crew member and sophomore aerospace engineering major.
See NASCAR on page 2
PROVIDED
An artist’s rendition of the Aggie car, which will be displayed on campus Thursday and Friday.
evans library
Contest asks: Who says you can’t play with your food? A&M holds inaugural edible book festival
Contest winners
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William Hayes’ entry “The College Student’s Library,” won the edible book festival’s people choice award. were able to win under one of several categories — “punniest” entry, grossest entry, best student entry, best staff entry and the people’s choice award. The people’s choice award was chosen through a voting system in which anyone passing by could send in a text or vote online for their favorite entry. Five local judges — David Carlson, dean of Libraries; Tai Lee, Veritas executive chef; Kyle Kelly, student body president-elect; Gina Flores, wife of U.S. Rep. Bill Flores; and Shel Win-
kley, KBTX meteorologist — chose the other winners. Winners of the judgebased categories received a $100 gift card for Barnes and Noble and the people’s choice award winner won a $250 gift card to Barnes and Noble. Graves said “celebrity” judges were used to make the event more welcoming and fun. “It’s like having our own type of ‘Dancing with the Stars’ by having celebrity judges,” Graves said. See Edible books on page 4
After a combined 31 hits and over four hours of play, the Aggies fell to No. 12 Houston at home.
Punniest
Grossest
Texas A&M theatre arts will perform “Lysistrata,” a translated Greek play about gender, sex and war, beginning April 9.
Tanya R. Carter’s “Death by Chocolate” Lindsey Gawlik — THE BATTALION
inside sports | 2 Baseball
fine arts | 3 Theater to adapt Greek comedy
Clayton Mulvihill’s “Lord of the (Onion) Rings: The Two Towers”
Lindsey Gawlik ith 65 pun-inspired entries like “Harry Pot-pie,” “Game of Scones,” “Julius Caesar (Salad)” and “The Maize Runner,” Evans Library’s first annual edible book festival offered something for both book and food lovers. The festival on Tuesday featured food sculptures of the favorite books, authors or book characters made by students, faculty and staff members. The edible book festival was implemented at Texas A&M by Stephanie Graves, coordinator of learning and outreach for University Libraries, and other librarians as a way to celebrate books. Graves said the premiere contest was a huge success and was even larger than the edible book festivals she had helped host at her previous library. Entries for the contest
“I will be able to witness the raw power and brute force of these machines first hand. I will also have the chance to meet with race engineers and learn what it takes to be able to engineer a race-winning car.” Gill Lipton, crew member and freshman mechanical engineering
Best Student Nicole Bernard’s “Watermelon Moby Dick”
Best Staff
Stephanie Walker’s “Bonfire of the Canopies”
People’s Choice
William Hayes’ “The College Student’s Library”
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4/1/14 10:53 PM