Issuu

thebatt.com

‘Do a barrel roll!’ Wonder where all the popular Internet trends and memes originate? O’Dell Harmon Jr., tech blogger for The Battalion, says chances are the creation involved video games.

thebattalion ● friday,

november 11, 2011

● serving

texas a&m since 1893

campus

Students to honor fallen veterans Emily Davis The Battalion The Texas A&M community honors fallen Aggies during Muster every year with the Roll Call for the Absent. On Friday, students and community members will honor fallen veterans with the National Roll Call. A&M is one of approximately 180 schools participating in National Roll Call this Veterans Day. Students and volunteers will read the names of the 6,200 U.S. casualties of the wars of the last decade. The roll call starts at 8 a.m. and will continue un-

til 5 p.m., located at the end of Military Walk near Rudder Tower. At 1 p.m., A&M will join other universities in a moment of silence. Otis McGresham, student assistance services coordinator in the Division of Student Affairs, organized A&M’s participation in the event. “I’d like to have a pretty consistent crowd for the roll call,” McGresham said. “The purpose is to have people be there to hear the roll call.” McGresham said 25 Aggies’ names will be called. Most of the veterans on the list served in Afghanistan with Operation Enduring Freedom and in Iraq

with Operation Iraqi Freedom and, more recently, Operation New Dawn. “It’s a way to honor those who have sacrificed all for our freedoms,” McGresham said. “We should show a little bit of respect for what they have given us.” Madeleine Faubert, junior political science major, is volunteering to read names during the roll call. She said it’s important for students to actively honor veterans. “It’s a great opportunity to remember and, in some little way, give back See Veterans on page 4

COURTESY PHOTO

A cadet and service member place a wreath in front of the Spanish American War Memorial on campus Sept. 11.

Olsen overhaul Jay Kapadia — THE BATTALION

The Aggie baseball team will open its 2012 season on Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park. Construction began immediately following A&M’s final 2011 home game.

Blue Bell funds sweet upgrades for Aggie baseball Austin Meek The Battalion

reparing for Texas A&M’s newest athletic facility — Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park — has been a team effort. “The team took the visiting locker room and made that into a weight room,” A&M athletic director Bill Byrne.

“The head coach’s wife designed and upgraded the locker room and the kids went in and painted it.” Spearheaded by a $7 million pledge from Blue Bell Creameries in nearby Brenham, Texas, baseball sports information director Adam Quisenberry called the $24 million stadium “one of the sweetest spots in all of college athletics.” “It’s going to give us a first-class facility to showcase the tradition of our program,” Quisenberry said. “We’ve always had rich tradition here and now we’re going to have the facilities to match it.” Olsen Field housed many conference champions

and All-Americans since it was built in 1978, but has reached the end of its useful life, Byrne said. “We were just way behind,” Byrne said. Byrne said the old Olsen Field stadium needed to upgrade concourses, add additional restrooms and install vertical lifts, to name a few of Blue Bell Park’s additions. “When it was built, it met code,” Byrne said. “Now it doesn’t come close.” A&M’s baseball team has won the Big 12 conference tournament the past two seasons. Associate athletic director of facilities Kevin Hurley said the upgraded stadium befits a champion squad.

“We believe we are adding tremendously better event venues,” Hurley said. “There will be a club that will serve both the baseball team while it’s having a game and then will also serve outside functions, much like the Zone Club.” The stadium includes features that Hurley said recruits will not be able to ignore. “It really gives baseball an upgrade to be able to recruit, to be able to compete with any stadium at any university in the country,” Hurley said. After the renovations, only the stadiums of Louisiana State and Arkansas will offer more seating See Olsen on page 2

Olsen Field facts, stats ◗ Olsen Field was built in 1978 ◗ The Blue Bell Park project costs $24 million ◗ Blue Bell Creameries contributed $7 million to the renovation project ◗ Seating capacity at Olsen was 7,053 before the upgrades ◗ The largest crowd in Olsen history was 11,052 versus Texas in 1999

soccer

research

Big 12 champs begin NCAA Tournament run

Students, faculty address climate issues with politicians in D.C.

James Solano The Battalion The No. 11 Texas A&M soccer team (15-5-2) plays in the first round of the NCAA tournament at 6:30 p.m. Friday at Ellis Field. The No. 3 seeded Aggies head into their seventh-straight NCAA Tournament appearance against Louisiana State (13-7-1). Head coach G Guerrieri said LSU is a tough Free game opening opponent that has established Friday itself with big wins A&M students get this season. “This is the third in free at Friday’s year in a row that home match against LSU. If the we have probably the hardest firstAggies win, they and-second round will play the winner possibilities, as far of West Virginia as games,” Guerand Virginia Tech rieri said. “[LSU at a time and has] beaten some of location to be the teams that are announced Nov. 18. seeded in this tournament. It’s a game that, for us, has to be circled and really studied. We played them two years ago and prevailed in penalty kicks.” The Aggies enter the NCAA Tournament with the top scoring offense in the nation — averaging 3.23 goals a game — led by a pair of freshmen forwards. Kelley Monogue has scored 18 goals, 45 points and nine assists, while Annie Kunz has scored 13 goals, 33 points and seven assists. LSU was the runner-up in the Southeastern Conference this season, advancing to its fourth NCAA appearance. The Aggies and Tigers will meet for only the

Pg. 1-11.11.11.indd 1

second time ever, with the last meeting resulting in a narrow 4-2 penalty kick decision in A&M’s favor. The Tigers ended the regular season with a 3–0 shutout against Arkansas but are coming off a 0–3 blanking in their last outing against Auburn in the SEC Championship game. LSU is led offensively by its Canadian senior midfielder Taryne Boudreau’s 12 goals, 30 points and six assists on the season. At goal, LSU’s Mo Isom has compiled 57 saves and eight shutouts, allowing 20 goals in route to a 13-5 record. With a young team comprised of 10 freshmen, the Aggies are poised for the

NCAA Tournament with a healthy roster. A&M received an automatic bid to the tournament after beating Oklahoma State to win its 12th Big 12 Tournament on Sunday, and finished second in the conference at the end of the regular season. In the first round of the 2010 NCAA Tournament, A&M traveled to Minneapolis, Minn., where the team played through snow and freezing temperatures to tie North Dakota State, 1–1, in double overtime. The Aggies were then eliminated by Minnesota in a 2–0 shutout. The Aggies will look for a different result this year at home with favorable weather conditions against the Tigers.

Roger Zhang — THE BATTALION

Freshman midfielder Meghan Streight winds up for a pass across field. A&M’s record is 15-5-2 for the 2011 season.

Robby Smith The Battalion Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale. For most, breathing is a simple, subconscious function of the body occurring every moment of every day. Seldom do people contemplate the air that flows in and out of the body, or the other contaminants along for the ride. A Texas A&M professor brought students, scientists and politicians together in Washington D.C. this week to address environmental issues. Renyi Zhang, professor of atmospheric sciences, was responsible for the 2011 International Year of Chemistry Symposium on Stratospheric Ozone and Climate. Students and professors from the College of Geosciences and the George Bush School of Government and Public Service also contributed to and attended the symposium. “Because this is the International Year of Chemistry, we hope to raise public awareness of how clean-air issues affect atmospheric conditions all over the world, and how billions of people can be adversely impacted,” Zhang said in a media release. One theme of the event was the impact of the 1987 Montreal Protocol, an international treaty during the Ronald Reagan administration that addressed ozonedepleting substances in the atmosphere. Fittingly, the symposium was held at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center. Yuan Wang, atmospheric sciences doctoral student, presented research at the Young Scientist Forum during the symposium. She said the diversity of backgrounds in the group made the event valuable. “Without talking to policy-makers and congressSee Clean air on page 2

11/11/11 12:38 AM