thebattalion ● wednesday,
november 14, 2012
● serving
Divine calling Missionaries offer students chances to travel, share gospel Sarah Gibson Special to The Battalion Kyle Field is home to the Texas A&M football team on Saturdays, but Tuesday night it belonged to the thousands of students gathered for Breakaway Ministries’ annual “Go! Missions” conference. Thirty-nine mission agencies from around the world arrived
in College Station for the two-day event to provide students with various mission opportunities. Mission organizations from across the globe set up tables inside the stadium and presented a variety of overseas and domestic opportunities to students interested in volunteering overseas. Students could narrow down their choices by
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Photographs by Tanner Garza, Jenna Rabel and Joe Terrell
Thousands of students poured into Kyle Field Tuesday night for Breakaway Ministries’ “Go! Missions” conference.
“We thought it would be an awesome opportunity to get students who are already really excited about God and to talk to them about joining the mission field short- or long-term.” Mission organizations had trips for all maexcited about God.” jors, and some agencies offered internships. — Ashleigh Beckmann The purpose of “Go! Missions” is to give stuof Send International dents the chance to utilize their degrees to help spread the gospel across the globe. “I want to know what a day in the life of a choosing short- or long-term trips. The gates opened at 7 p.m. and remained crowded with missionary is like and what it is like evangelizing in a country where the gospel isn’t widely students long after Breakaway ended. “We heard about A&M and have had sev- heard,” said Bernine Gaona, junior psychology eral students help,” said Ashleigh Beckmann See Go Missions on page 4 from Send International, one of the missions.
We thought it would be an awesome opportunity to get students who are already really
basketball
Women prep for No. 8 Penn State Mark Doré The Battalion For head coach Gary Blair and the No. 12 Texas Aggies, the opening stretch of the season is a gauntlet. A&M scheduled three Top-10 teams in a row in hopes of jolting itself into the form that brought a Sweet Sixteen banner to Reed Arena last season and a National Championship the season before. A&M fell to No. 9 Louisville on the road by a bucket, 45-47 and will host No. 8 Penn State on Wednesday in the second leg of a stretch that will conclude Sunday at home against No. 2 Connecticut. Blair said his motivation in creating the schedule wasn’t rooted in wins and losses. “When we made this schedule, we
felt like our program was at a point to play this type of schedule and not have to worry about winning and losing, but more or less, competing and trying to become a better team against Top-10 teams,” Blair said. Blair compared the scheduling to that of the football team. “I think it’s very similar to the football team having to open up against Florida,” Blair said. “You get better. Competition makes you better.” Against Louisville, A&M used a 21-4 run to work its way back into the game on the road but ultimately fell short. Blair said the game was in A&M’s hands at the end. “We should’ve won it,” Blair said. “Did we deserve it? No. We didn’t deserve to win because of the mistakes.”
Ready or not
Blair said Penn State’s style differs from Louisville’s in key ways. “I expect Penn State is a transition team where Louisville was not,” Blair said. “Louisville was more of a half-court team. Penn State is going to run the ball. They’re very well coached and they’re very athletic at the wing position and particularly at the guard position.” Last season’s senior class — hailed by Blair as among the best in school history — has graduated and there are holes to be filled. Just two years removed from a National Championship, none of the main contributors from that team remain. Much of the scoring and interior presence Blair seeks will fall on senior center See Basketball on page 3
Tanner Garza — THE BATTALION
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Freshman guard Jordan Jones squares up against an Arkansas-Fort Smith player in the Aggies’ first game.
holidays
Bus shuttle provides holiday transit to University students Jennifer Keith
Cadets run laps around Simpson Drill field Tuesday afternoon as part of the Navy ROTC’s PRT, an assessment of each cadet’s physical ability.
Tanner Garza — THE BATTALION
The Battalion Just in time for Thanksgiving break, A&M Transportation Services is offering students an effortless alternative to filling up a tank of gas for a long drive home for holiday breaks: Campus Connector’s break shuttles. For the first time, A&M is partnering with Campus Connector to give students the option of taking “break shuttles” from A&M’s Campus to San Antonio, Dallas, Austin and Houston for Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks. “We didn’t have a service in place to help Aggies who don’t bring a vehicle to get home during semester breaks,” said Ron Steedly, alternative transportation manager at Texas A&M. “Campus Connector fills this gap.” During the 2012-2013 school year, Cam-
pus Connector will serve up to 20 college campuses across the nation for Thanksgiving, winter and spring breaks. June Broughton, communications manager for transportation services, said she is excited to offer these services to students who simply don’t want to drive and also to those without vehicles. “The first shuttle service offered is for this Thanksgiving, so we don’t have data yet,” Broughton said. “But we have had numerous inquiries from students regarding the service and all were very excited that it is offered.” To take the break shuttle from A&M, students must sign up on Campus Connector’s website, pay the fee of $35 for one way — or $65 for round trip — and meet at Reed Arena at the time designated for the desired city with a ticket in hand.
Get your ticket ◗ The deadline to sign up for the upcoming Thanksgiving break shuttle is Friday. ◗ To sign up, visit http://www. breakshuttle.com/ collections/allschools/products/ texas-a-muniversity-breakshuttle. ◗ The cost is $35 one-way, $65 round trip.
11/13/12 11:55 PM