news for you texas Company brings 300 jobs
thebattalion ● tuesday,
july 19, 2011
● serving
texas a&m since 1893
● first paper free – additional copies $1 ● © 2011 student media
AUSTIN — Video game company Electronic Arts is expanding its EA Sports division and adding 300 jobs in Central Texas. Gov. Rick Perry on Monday joined company officials for the announcement in Austin. EA currently employs about 450 people in the Austin area.
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nation &world Woman gropes TSA agent DENVER — A Colorado woman accused of groping a female Transportation Security Administration agent in Phoenix is getting some support from people unhappy about airport security procedures. A Facebook page supporting Yukari Miyamae had more than 900 backers Monday afternoon, with some praising her for her bravery and others offering to donate money to her defense.
Oil spill not reported HELENA, Mont.— A newly discovered oil spill in northwestern Montana went unreported for a month before a neighboring landowner complained to the Blackfeet Indian Tribe, federal regulators said Monday. FX Drilling Co. never reported the spill, estimated to be between 420 and 840 gallons, to the tribe or to the Environmental Protection Agency. The amount spilled at the FX Drilling Co. oil field in a remote corner of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation is much less than the estimated amount that emptied into the Yellowstone River earlier this month.
Courtesy Photo
Charles Gordone directs his Pulitzer winning drama,No Place to Be Somebody at Joe Papp’s Public Theatre in New York City.
Life after death Visionary writer, director and actor leaves behind color-blind legacy Taylor Wolken The Battalion Long before the “post-racial” America heralded by the election of President Barack Obama, and when the country was more deeply divided on ideas of culture and race, Charles Gordone, a Texas A&M educator, actor, director and Pulitzer Prize winner said, “I write out of an American experience. I don’t write out of a black or white experience. It’s American.” During some of the most turbulent times for racial politics, Gordone lived a colorblind life. Gordone succumbed to cancer in 1995 but his legacy lives on. The Charles Gordone awards were established by A&M’s creative writing program. His life was featured this summer in the Wright Gallery with a series of paintings done by Robert Schiffhauer, assistant professor of architecture. His Hometown of Elkhart, Indiana recently added a historical marker touting Gordone’s achievements. His spirit is captured in a sculpture designed by John Walker. The African-American Smithsonian in Washington D.C. will feature Charles and his contribution starting in 2014, and most importantly his legacy is carried on by his courageous wife, Susan Gordone, who will be conducting a stage design workshop with the visualization department January 9-13 to help
bring to life her husbands final and unfinished play, The Fugitive. From an early age Gordone eschewed race explaining, “As a child, it didn’t matter to me what race Gene Autry or Tom Mix or Roy Rogers were. And by the time somebody told me, it was too late.” Early on Gordone was fascinated by the western theme. He said, “As a teenager, I was made fun of because I liked cowboy hats and western clothes. It was then that somebody informed me that there was no such thing as a ‘black cowboy.’ And I remember saying ‘Well there is now.’” From humble beginnings in Elkhart, Indiana, Gordone rose to prominence as the first African-American to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama with No Place to Be Somebody which Gordone said, “centered on rural country folk who migrated to the big city seeking the urban myth of success only to find disappointment, despair and death.” Gordone began writing No Place to Be Somebody while acting in Jean Genet’s The Blacks where his character sat at the knee of Maya Angelou and acted with James Earl Jones. From humble beginnings, No Place to Be Somebody went on to Berlin, Venice and played on Broadway for six years.
The spirit of Charles Gordone crafted by John Walker uses the raven from American-Indian mythology, which spreads light across See Gordone on page 6 the world.
Associated Press
tradition
football
Century Tree continues to bind past with future
Players on national awards watch lists
O’Dell Harmon Jr. The Battalion There is one thing on campus that has been rooted in its ways and hasn’t changed since its birth over a century ago, the Century Tree. The seasons come and go and buildings are demolished and rebuilt, but the Century Tree stands tall through all the changes connecting the past,
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present and future. “The branches of the Century Tree reach from Aggie past to present. Being an aggie is about togetherness and the tree fits that idea perfectly,” said Lane Fobbs, a senior communication major. The Century Tree is one of the University’s most iconic figures connecting every living See Tree on page 6
Adrian O’Hanlon III
Stephanie Leichtle — THE BATTALION
The Century Tree is a staple in Aggie tradition and has bound students together in spirit for decades.
The Battalion Daily temperatures are still hitting triple digits in Aggieland, and the Texas A&M football team is still adding to its list of athletes on award watch lists. This time running backs Cyrus Gray and Christine Michael headline the list of six Aggies placed on award watch with their nominations for the Doak Walker Award. A trio of Aggies also made the watch list for the Lombardi Award
Award winners ◗ The winners to be chosen for the College Football Performance award from three finalists to be named in November and will be announced at The Home Depot College Football Awards in December.
See Awards on page 6
7/18/11 9:18 PM