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New era began as A&M walked off field Jared Baxter The Battalion Thirty seconds: the span of absolute football euphoria after senior receiver Jeff Fuller barreled into the end zone for a 16-yard touchdown, giving A&M a 25-24 lead with 1:48 remaining against Texas on Thursday. During those thirty seconds, I yelled louder, smiled wider and wanted to dish out more hugs to complete strangers than I ever had in my entire life. Here was an A&M offense that stumbled along for the better part of three-and-a-half quarters, scoring when it mattered most. Fuller, who had seemed almost non-existent all season with injuries, came through in the
clutch and made the play of his career. All of the mistakes — those costly second-half daggers to the heart that Aggie fans came to know this season — were avenged. This was it. The Aggies were going to walk away triumphant in the Lone Star Showdown. But then a certain preemptive chant started making its way through the crowd, and suddenly I snapped out of it. “S-E-C! S-E-C! S-E-C! S-E-C!” No, no, no, no. Not now, not until the clock hits zero. The A&M defense still needed to hold its ground, so the Twelfth Man gathered itself and came alive. You could see it in the yell leaders’ eyes — in everyone’s eyes. This didn’t just feel like the last game against
Texas, it felt like a part of each us would either live forever or die on Kyle Field that chilly Thanksgiving night. But you know what happened next. With an egregious penalty here and a Case McCoy scramble there, UT kicker Justin Tucker sealed the win for his team. There was no saying goodbye to texas university, just a herd of Longhorns celebrating on our field. As I jumped over the concrete wall in front of first deck and onto the sideline, my roommate pointed out that we should make our way out through the south side of Kyle. I was numb, unable to really notice what lay ahead as I strolled past the UT bench. See Goodbye on page 7
thebattalion ● monday,
november 28, 2011
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Photo courtesy of Grayson Graves
The bitter end, 27-25 Adrian O’Hanlon III: Toughest loss of the season
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alking down the tunnel with fists and jaw clenched, the end of the Lone Star Showdown was the end of my allegiance to A&M football.
Jay Kapadia — THE BATTALION
Top: Texas football players rush the field after the game-winning field goal sailed through the uprights as time expired. Above: A&M head coach Mike Sherman walks off the field with his team after losing to Texas.
Or so I thought. After you put your heart, soul and voice into a game trying to will your team to victory, a last-second loss seems like the end of the world. But fans raised to hate that school from Austin had to put all their energy into that game. Sending the Longhorns off with a loss would have given the entire Twelfth Man a lone bright spot for an otherwise trashed season. Instead, the third quarter woes, another McCoy quarterback and an erroneous personal foul call led t.u. to victory and Aggie fans to Northgate. The pumpkin shriveled, the horses turned to mice, Cinderella couldn’t find her prince and the fairy tale ending never happened. See Football on page 5
System report details financial hardship Kelly Tucker The Battalion In the current economic climate, many students have been chilled by financial concerns. John Sharp, Class of 1972 and newlyappointed A&M System chancellor, received a report last month detailing just how cold the latest cuts to state funding for Texas A&M have been. Acting on warnings from state leaders, the administration planned for a $39 million reduction in state funding, the report said, a prediction that came very close to the actual $35.8 million in cuts. The cuts affected faculty and staff across
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University cuts: ◗ 253 faculty positions, including 141 tenuretrack positions ◗ 317 staff positions, along with student worker positions ◗ 152 course sections the board: 253 faculty positions, including 141 tenure-track positions, were eliminated from fall 2010 to fall 2011; 317 staff positions were cut, as well as a number of student worker positions and graduate assistantships. Students may have felt these reductions when signing up for fall or spring classes,
as 152 course sections were reduced, resulting in a 3.5 percent increase in average section size. Tanner Wilson, senior applied mathematics major and speaker of the Student Senate, said the reductions may save the University money while costing students more by delaying graduation. “The Senate’s primary concern is that we have enough enthusiastic educators to provide a full course offering to our students,” Wilson said. “While decreased course offerings are at best inconvenient, they can result in setbacks to a degree plan and, at worst, delayed graduation. This is obviously a situation we want to avoid.”
Computing and library resources were also dealt a $6 million blow. Other unspecified reductions were made to programs including study abroad, laboratory resources, field trips, directed electives and specialty topics and departmental operating budgets. Faculty members meeting certain criteria were given the option of participating in the Voluntary Separation Plan, a program that offered a “buyout” to participating faculty members. “Utilizing the [Voluntary Separation Plan] gave the institution, and the individual collegSee Finances on page 4
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