news for you texas Thriller jacket on tour AUSTIN— The red-and-black calfskin jacket Michael Jackson wore in his 1983 Thriller video is going on tour. The new owner, an Austin commodities broker, said Tuesday he plans to take the jacket around the world to raise money for charities that help sick children. Verret already has an agreement with the auction house to give $100,000 from the sale of the jacket to the Superhero Kids Fund at Dell Children’s Medical Center in Austin.
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nation &world Mexican prison break MEXICO CITY — Mexican prosecutors say a prison director and six others officials have been detained in connection with a jail break that left seven prisoners dead and allowed the escape of 61 others. A statement Tuesday from the Attorney General’s Office says that Nuevo Laredo prison director Alfonso Daniel Ramirez Garza and security coordinator Juan Lorenzo de la Cruz Rodriguez are among those being questioned.
Obama urges congress WASHINGTON — The all-consuming negotiations in Washington on the nation’s debt and deficit may not leave any time this summer for Congress to finalize a trio of free trade agreements backed by most lawmakers and billed by the White House as job creators. President Barack Obama has been urging Congress to pass the trade deals as soon as possible, but the administration has yet to send final legislation on the agreements to Capitol Hill. The White House wants to ensure that a package of retraining assistance for American workers displaced by trade deals is alongside the three agreements. Associated Press
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COURTESY PHOTOS
Texas A&M students paint a mural for Las Lomas residents as part of an initiative to help improve overall life in the community.
Aggies help struggling community back to its feet Erin McAllister Special to The Battalion
D
uring the past year, students of Peter Lang’s Architecture Design V course have developed a program with the town of Las Lomas to help the town residents rebuild their struggling community. “My work since the days when I was writing my Ph.D. focused on what role cities play in producing new forms of culture, and I found that it’s in the cities’ newest peripheries and outskirts where the most interesting things emerge,” said Lang, an architecture professor. Lang researched contemporary cities, urban suburbs and the outer limits of various cities. When he moved to College Station in
2008, he began looking for towns where he could continue his research. He then found Las Lomas and began what is now a program between the town’s community and Texas A&M students, to help the lower-income residents get back on their feet. When Lang and his students approached Las Lomas, they had no idea what was going to hap-
The mural in Las Lomas continues to be a hallmark of the town.
See Architecture on page 4
women’s basketball
track&field
Announcer gives her take on championship
Beard in race to win the Bowerman Award Adrian O’Hanlon III
Adrian O’Hanlon III The Battalion They were an underdog to Baylor in the Big 12 title game. A Cinderella in the NCAA Final Four. Even after making the 2011 Women’s NCAA Championship, few watched the Texas A&M women’s basketball team in a classic title game because Dancing With The Stars was on. The 2011 NCAA National Champion Texas A&M Aggies struggled against the underdog tag on a nightly basis throughout the season, but Agnes Green, an 11year public address announcer for the 2011 NCAA Women’s Final Four, said the Aggies had an unseen advantage in their historic tournament run. “The Aggies appeared to be the fan favorite and that could be for many reasons,” Green said. “The whole team, the staff and the [head] coach [Gary Blair], everybody was very congenial.” Green said she was impressed by the authenticity of A&M Head Coach Gary Blair during an open practice on the Saturday before the championship game. Green said Blair made a connection with the fans in attendance by revealing some of his strategies with his usual warm and friendly demeanor. “Coach [Blair] gave the fans tips and advice and he literally did a clinic for the fans,” Green said. “He would tell the fans what he was running and why he was running that particular play or routine. That really made a difference to the fans
to hear the coach talk about why he ran certain plays.” Blair’s southern hospitality was contagious as Green said the athletes and fans showed the same compassion and enthusiasm for the sport and its fans. Green said although it was the first trip to the Final Four for A&M, everyone from the coaches to the fans carried themselves with grace and confidence. “They really did not take for granted that they were in the Final Four,” Green said. “They were very excited, they were curious and the Aggie fans were so gracious and nice. They were very spirited and had these big, head pictures of the players and that was a huge hit among the fans.”
The Battalion The Bowerman Award, the track version of the Heisman trophy, narrowed its list of contenders to the final three, and A&M senior sprinter Jessica Beard made the cut. Beard stands with LSU sophomore Kimberlyn Duncan and Arkansas junior Tina Sutej as the three finalists for the highest honor in collegiate track and field. The ten-person Bowerman Advisory Board chose its finalists based on their performances during the 2011 NCAA Division I indoor and outdoor track seasons. Beard’s selection makes her the second Aggie to receive women’s Bowerman finalist honors after Porsha Lucas was named a finalist in 2009. Beard said she worked diligently to rank among the best in the nation and is thankful to have that work noticed. “Right now I’m just really speechless and humbled,” said Beard. “I’m just really grateful that all the work we’ve done this past year has been noticed and I have an opportunity to be a finalist for this outstanding award. I thank God, my family and friends, as well as the Texas A&M coaching staff and all the supporters of Aggie track and field.” In her senior season, Beard swept the NCAA titles in the women’s 400-meters and anchored the A&M 4x400 relay teams that took gold in both indoors and
See Basketball on page 4
See Beard on page 4
FILE PHOTO
The lady Aggies celebrate their women’s basketball championship.
Beard
Vote
◗ The Bowerman award will be presented in a ceremony at the USTFCCCA Convention December 14 at the JW Marriot Hill Country in San Antonio, Texas. Fans can vote for Jessica Beard beginning August 1 on the USTFCCCA website, www. ustfccca.org.
7/19/11 8:37 PM