TheBattalion11092012

Page 1

thebattalion ● friday,

november 9, 2012

● serving

texas a&m since 1893

● first paper free – additional copies $1 ● © 2012 student media

Back to the paint

inside m. basketball | 3 The Turners

inside w. basketball | 4 Matching a standard

Seniors Elston and Ray Turner look to lead their team in year two of the Billy Kennedy era.

Junior Kelsey Bone works to lead a youthful team to A&M’s championship standard.

inside

b!

trends | 6 Mic check Slam poets from across Texas will compete in a two-day event for the title of Texas Grand Slam Poetry Champion.

culture | 6 In hell The Department of Performance Studies executes an existential play by Jean-Paul Sartre called No Exit.

thebatt.com

Ratatouille Battalion food blogger Sheila de Guzman offers a vegetable-rich meal inspired by her parents.

Ode to Mexican food Julie Blanco finishes her first week of a vegan challenge and lives to tell about it. Read about her experience and what she ate at thebatt.com.

Pg. 1-11.9.12.indd 1

ymca

nation&world

Ceremony rededicates historical building A&M named Sarah Gibson The Battalion The year was 1915. America was in the middle of a world war, Babe Ruth hit his first major league home run, and the YMCA building opened its doors for the students of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas. Ninety-seven years later — after renovations, a flood that destroyed the lower level and more renovations

— the YMCA buiding renovation is complete. A rededication ceremony was held Thursday, concluding with a traditional Fightin’ Texas Aggie yell practice. “My fish year, when Bear Bryant was coach and John David Crow was a senior, I remember having yell practice on the steps of the YMCA,” said Richard Box, chairman of the A&M System Board of Regents. The YMCA building was origi-

nally an area for students to relax, play pool or even swim. However, in 1995, these attractions were replaced with offices. Over the years these changes weakened the centrality of the building, causing it to be vacated in 2003 and extensively renovated eight years later. “One of the biggest renovations to the YMCA was the removal of the See YMCA on page 5

football

A&M braces for Alabama brawl Drew Chambers The Battalion The No. 15 A&M football team travels to Tuscaloosa, Ala., Saturday to knock heads with the No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide for the Aggies’ toughest challenge to date. Alabama rolls into the top 15 contest on a 13-game win streak but remains wary of a rising SEC power in Texas A&M. Alabama head coach Nick Saban said this A&M team shouldn’t be overlooked despite the Crimson Tide winning an emotionally and physically draining game against LSU on the road. “We’ve got to forget about this last game,” Saban said on Monday. “We’ve got to move on. I told the players that right after the game. I think they have a lot of respect for this team. It’d be pretty difficult not to respect this team based on their body of work and

what they’ve accomplished this season.” The Aggies have attained national relevance this year with a 7-2 (4-2) record and freshman quarterback Johnny Manziel breaking team and SEC records. Manziel leads the SEC in rushing yards (922), scoring (90 points) and total offense (3,449). Junior defensive end Damontre Moore leads the SEC in sacks with 11.5. Sumlin said this game is exactly what they expected since the beginning of the season but noted the Aggies’ crescendo in momentum after winning two pivotal SEC road contests. “We’ve played a lot of places,” Sumlin said. “This game has been on the schedule for weeks. We’re not going to change our approach this week in any way. I’ll be more excited Saturday than I am now. For us [this game] couldn’t

COURTESY PHOTO

Alabama quarterback A.J. McCarron prepares to defend his team’s national championship hopes. come at a better time.” The Aggies are riding a five-game road winning streak and face the toughest competition in the nation for the first time since the 2003-2004 season when A&M faced Oklahoma in

Norman, Okla. The Texas A&M defense is ranked 46th nationally while Alabama’s offense is ranked 48th. Still, Moore said that there See Football on page 5

partner in global network Katie Norton The Battalion The U.S. Agency for International Development announced its partnership with seven universities in the U.S. and around the globe — including Texas A&M — to help create new solutions to global development challenges. The partnership, called the Higher Education Solutions Network, was designed with the purpose of using science and technology to address global development challenges. Texas A&M and six other U.S. and foreign universities were selected as lead HESN partners in a five-year program following what has been called a “rigorous process.” About 500 institutions were under consideration and each of the seven lead universities will receive multimillion dollar funding. “This national award is a tremendous recognition of our unique talents and ability to collaborate toward meaningful solutions to today’s challenges,” said A&M System Chancellor John Sharp. Other institutions selected in this partnership include Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of California at Berkley, Michigan State University, Duke University, the College of William & Mary and Makerere University in Uganda. The areas of development the partnership will focus on include global health, food security and chronic conflict. The goal is for each of the seven universities to work with USAID experts and Washington staff to create a development lab that will be used to study and solve key problems in these areas. The main role of the development labs will be to establish technology and knowledge centers across all geographic regions to enhance global research and development. See USAID on page 2

11/9/12 1:11 AM


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