@battsports — follow us on Twitter
Begining tonight, up-to-the-minute coverage and analysis of all campus sports.
thebattalion l Thursday,
january 17, 2013
l serving
texas a&m since 1893
l first paper free – additional copies $1 l © 2013 student media
Funding for Kyle Field renovation gains clarity B-CS hotels expected to share cost, benefits Jennifer Keith
The Battalion Texas A&M administrators and B-CS community leaders announced an agreement in principle to financially support the Kyle Field Redevelopment Project. Such an agreement would generate $36 million of the $420 million needed to renovate and expand Kyle Field, as well as keep football games in College Station. The administration has been working with Brazos Valley community leaders over the past year to develop a “mutually beneficial solution,” according to A&M System Chancellor John Sharp. University President R. Bowen Loftin said from the Wednesday press conference at The Zone Club in Kyle
Field that he was grateful for the support from “our community.” “Texas A&M is a close partner with our local community, and it has been important to us from the beginning to ensure that the Kyle Field renovations do not impair the local economy nor our ongoing operations during the construction process,” Loftin said. The A&M System Twitter account tweeted a quote from Sharp about the expected location where A&M football games will be played in College Station during Kyle Field renovations. “@Aggiechancellor: ‘Kyle Field games will be played here and not anywhere else,’” the tweet read. “It is definitely a good thing that [football] is staying. I know the possibility of playing in Houston was being discussed, and honestly that would be awful for Aggies everywhere,” said exercise physiology graduate student See Kyle field on page 2
David Cohen — THE BATTALION
A Brazos County-wide hotel tax will generate $36 million to partially fund the Kyle Field Redevelopment Project.
You want to see people with an eating disorder? Look around you, because it could be anyone. — Caitlyn Moore, Ag. Comm. Journalism major
Miss-measure Students wage war against self-perceived body image Jessica Smarr
People struggle to fit the idealized female image that is represented by media, such as the image of the manufactured children’s doll, Barbie.
The Battalion She was holding it all together with a smile. As long as she kept her lips perfectly curved, they would never suspect a thing. They would never know the girl with the perfect life was dying by her own hand. They would never know the person they saw was not the same person she saw in the mirror. “I was living a double life,” said Caitlyn Moore, a sophomore agriculture communications and journalism major. “One was filled with this ‘perfect’ girl who had the good grades, the boyfriend, the friends — life was great. And then there was the other part of me who was crying herself to sleep every night and would spend nights throwing up in the toilet.” Eating disorders affect up to 24 million people in the U.S. and particularly affect college-aged individuals. Students at colleges nationwide fight with their reflections in the mirror every morning, waging war with what they should look like. Body image research Marisol Perez, a professor in Texas A&M’s psychology department, focuses her research on eating disorders and body image. She said within American culture it is common, to a certain degree, for a woman to be dissatisfied with her physical body. Within
the academic community this “certain degree” of dissatisfaction with ones’ self has been termed “normative discontent.” Those with body image disorders experience a dissatisfaction that surpasses normative discontent. “When we’re working with individuals with body image ismillion people in the U.S. sues or eating disorder issues, are affected by eating disorders the goal is not to get them to zero, because that’s not possible,” Perez said. “The goal is to get them to normative discontent.” Though the battle against negative body image is most impactful on a personal level, Perez said the problem exists on a societal level. “Our current society is contributing to women’s poor body image,” Perez said. “The weight loss, plastic surgery, pharmaceutical, cosmetic and media industries all profit from women being dissatisfied with the way they look. They are the ones driving the constant pressure to look a certain way.”
24
See Body image on page 4
arza
rG nne
H
—T
N
LIO
TTA
A EB
Ta
campus
sports
Pair of SEC leaders clash in Reed Men’s basketball hosts No. 10 Florida Thursday
Mark Doré
The Battalion Texas A&M basketball players have taken to Twitter to sound off on a high-profile Aggie who will be in Reed Arena for Thursday’s matchup of Southeastern Conference leaders A&M and No. 10 Florida: “Johnny Basketball.” Johnny Manziel will be on hand to watch the follow-up to the defining win of secondyear head coach Billy Kennedy’s stint with the men’s basketball team — an 83-71 win over defending national champion Kentucky in Lexington, Ky. He’ll look to top it at home against Florida, the top-ranked team in the SEC. Senior guard Elston Turner hit Kentucky with every facet of his game, making six three-pointers on 14-19 shooting for 40 points. His team’s game-ending 11-0 run sealed the win. The performance garnered him national attention as the ESPN.com National Player of the Week and in-conference respect with an SEC Player of the Week nod. Elston said he valued the win more than his own performance. “It didn’t feel as good as coming away with the win,” Elston said. “It was a team win, and fortunately, I was able to contrib-
0117_barbie.indd 1
Conference advances student leadership, celebrates 25 years Joseph Puente
and tell you that these habits just changed all of a sudden. Our energy level has been better.”
Special to The Battalion For some Aggies, leadership is an important characteristic — not only because it is an Aggie core value, but because it is a way of life. Leadership conferences are held at many universities every year, but in Aggieland, a particular conference has allowed many students to develop leadership skills through stimulating workshops, career-fair networking opportunities and motivational speakers. This year, the Southwestern Black Student Leadership Conference will celebrate 25 years of service as they hold their annual conference, beginning Thursday and continuing through Sunday in the Memorial Student Center. This will be the first time the conference has visited the MSC since the building’s renovations. “This year is our 25th anniversary,” said Kerry Omughelli, senior electrical engineering major and conference chair. “As we fearlessly approach the future armed with lessons from the past, we want to challenge our participants to use their past experiences as a blueprint for success in an uncertain future.” The conference was formed as a yearly forum where black students across the coun-
See Flordia on page 3
See Conference on page 2
David Cohen — THE BATTALION
Senior guard Elston Turner leads a fast break in the home opener against Louisiana Tech that the Aggies won by a margin of 71-59. ute some shots. My teammates do a great job of looking for me. All in all, it was a great team win.” The Kentucky win followed a 69-51 thumping of former Southwest Conference rival Arkansas. Kennedy said the beginning of conference games played a role in his team’s effort and focus during the previous two wins. “I think it was just the urgency of conference play,” Kennedy said. “I can’t sit here
By the numbers
40
points by Elston Turner at Kentucky, the most by an Aggie basketball player since 1985
1/17/13 12:56 AM