thebattalion ● wednesday,
september 19, 2012
● serving
texas a&m since 1893
● first paper free – additional copies $1 ● © 2012 student media
Colo. shooting suspect applied to A&M University ‘very impressed’ by application Jake Walker
The growing fields of genomics and biotechnology are instrumental in continuing to cultivate new discoveries in agriculture. Phillips, who served as chief scientist for the USDA and is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, spoke of how important these advancements are to certain countries in the world. “I was invited to a meeting of the ministers of agriculture of rice producing countries,” Phillips said. “The minister from Bangladesh made the comment that rice is life. He went on to say that, without rice, there is no life.”
The Battalion Open records obtained by The Battalion revealed that Colo. shooting suspect James Holmes was a strong candidate for the neuroscience graduate program at Texas A&M University. Jacob Holmes is the suspected perpetrator of the July 20 mass shooting at a movie theater in Aurora, Colo. The massacre left 12 people dead and 58 injured. It is considered the largest mass shooting in U.S. history and the most deadly shooting in Colo. since the Columbine High School massacre. Included in Holmes’ application are a handful of letters of recommendation from Holmes’ professors at the University of California, Riverside; email exchanges between Holmes and the Texas A&M Institute for Neuroscience faculty members; an ApplyTexas application; an essay Holmes submitted to A&M and Holmes’s resume. In Holmes’ application essay, he wrote he was passionate about neuroscience, which he said likely stemmed from his interest in puzzles as an adolescent. “Rational people act based on incentives for self-fulfillment, including fulfilling needs of self-development and needs of feeling useful and helpful to others,” Holmes wrote. “I have always been fascinated by the complexities of a long lost thought seemingly arising out of nowhere into a stream of awareness.” The neuroscience graduate recruiting committee at A&M invited Holmes to campus for an interview and social events. The committee said they were very impressed with his application and wanted to schedule a visit for March 6, 2011. According to emails exchanged between A&M faculty and Holmes, Holmes withdrew from the application process March 1, only five days before he was scheduled to visit campus. In the final email, Holmes apologized to the faculty and said he would be pursuing other interests and wouldn’t be coming [to A&M] for a visit. One neuroscience staff member at A&M said in an email it was too bad and Holmes should have been acted on sooner. Holmes graduated from the University of California, Riverside, in June 2010 with a cumulative 3.949 GPA and a bachelor’s of science degree in neuroscience. Holmes scored a
See Phillips on page 4
See Holmes on page 6
David Cohen — THE BATTALION
Ron Phillips addresses the crowd during his speech concerning genomics as a representative of the Norman Borlaug Institute Tuesday evening at the George Bush Library.
Future revolution Phillips talks Borlaug vision, biotechnology outlook Jessica Smarr Special to The Battalion While one 50-minute class is held at Texas A&M, more than five thousand people will die from hunger and poverty. These people are not statistics, they are not numbers. They are humans. Ron Phillips, regents professor emeritus and former McKnight presidential chair in genomics at the University of Minnesota, gave a presentation on Norman Borlaug and the future of the green revolution Tuesday evening. The program focused not only on the legacy left by Nobel Peace Prize Laureate
inside lifestyles | 4 Run and gun A not-your-everyday gun club has come to campus, featuring three guns, targets, tactical gear and more. Aggie 3-Gunners are ready to compete and looking for eager competitors. A&M is the first school in the country with a collegiate 3-Gun competition team.
sports | 3 Across the pond Although not popular in the U.S., the sport of cricket has managed to make its way to the A&M campus. The University boasts a nationally recognized cricket team, the Aggie Cricket Club.
Borlaug but also on the future of genomics and crops, which utilize biotechnology. Borlaug was noted for his humanitarian work, and Phillips said that he was one of his idols. Borlaug used his scientific achievements within agriculture to create a world with less hunger and pain. “Never think for a minute that we are going to build permanent peace in this world on empty stomachs and human misery,” Philips said, quoting Borlaug. “It won’t happen, and the sooner our leaders at all levels of society reflect on that, the better.” Borlaug was able to combat human suffering with his research in wheat production.
sports
campus
Dollar dispute sparks outcry
Aggies look toward South Carolina State Michael Rodriguez The Battalion The Texas A&M football program is coming off a win against the SMU Mustangs. With a 1-1 overall record, the Aggies have seen improvements in key areas but the coaches acknowledge there is room for improvement as the season continues Saturday against FCS opponent South Carolina State. “After the first game, we needed to improve our effort on special teams and that happened,” said head coach Kevin Sumlin. “Our defense was consistent. Our special teams changed field position with returns, and that gave us an opportunity to kick it in offensively and get rolling and close out the game.” Redshirt freshman quarterback Johnny Manziel earned SEC Freshman of the Week honors and led the Aggies to the 48-3 victory over the Mustangs. Manziel has been working on becoming more of a pocket quarterback and facilitating the offense by reading through his progressions. “I think that Johnny’s improvement from Saturday to Saturday was his ability to throw the ball from the pocket and keep his eyes down the field,” See Football on page 3
Tanner Garza — THE BATTALION
Freshman political science major Matt Valentin is forced to pay with cash at the Rattlers in the MSC after a division of Compass Group USA decided not to honor dining dollars.
Luz Moreno-Lozano The Battalion Change has reverberated throughout the campus since the issue of outsourcing first hit the stage last spring. None received an outcry from the student body until dining dollars were no longer going to be accepted at campus convenience stores. It was announced Wednesday by Dining Services that the convenience stores on campus — also known as C-Stores — would no longer be accepting dining dollars.
The issue stems from the initial outsourcing of dining services to Compass Group USA, which has assumed responsibility for dining services, building maintenance and landscaping custodial services on the A&M campus. Chartwells, a division of Compass, was tasked with awarding a contract to either University Dining Services or Rattlers — which had been previously running the C-Stores. Rattlers was chosen, detaching whatever association the University had See Dining on page 4
Grow your own way Find out how you can grow your own way at www.pwc.com/campus
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9/19/12 12:29 AM