The Battalion 01.20.2011

● thursday, january 20, 2011 ● serving texas a&m since 1893 ● first paper free – additional copies $1 ● © 2011 student media

thebattalion

‘This will not stand’20 years since the Gulf War

campus newsBlack Student Leadership conference to meet at A&MApproximately 1,000 African-American college students along with advisers and presenters from throughout the nation will meet at Texas A&M Thursday through Sunday for the 23rd annual Southwestern Black Student Leadership Conference, SBSLC, one of the largest student-led conferences in the nation. The theme for this year’s conference is “The Image of Impact: A Refl ection of a Leader.” Each January since 1989, African-American students and advisers gather at A&M to address issues facing the black community, hear speakers and attend workshops that focus on developing leadership skills as well as networking opportunities. The conference will include more than 50 workshops, a career fair featuring diverse companies that do business on virtually every continent, a vendor fair supporting small business entrepreneurs and a spiritual charge that planners said will send participants away spiritually driven.

A&M Faculty share 24 grantsTwenty-fi ve Texas A&M faculty members received grants totaling $240,982 through an initiative sponsored by the University’s Division of Research and Graduate Studies. Those awarded represented four University colleges. The Program to Enhance Scholarly and Creative Activities, PESCA, accepted proposals this past fall to endow monetary awards for noteworthy research projects, artistic presentations and scholarly publications.“The PESCA awards deliver institutional support toward faculty engaged in scholarship that is helping build Texas A&M’s top-tier status as a truly comprehensive research University,” reported Texas A&M News and Information Services.

Texas A&M Newswire

and staff reports

“This will not stand, this aggression against Kuwait,” said President George H.W. Bush in remarks to reporters in Au-gust of 1990 about the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. The invasion ignited international outrage and developed into the defining issue of Bush’s presidency.

The fall of the Soviet Union, the emergence of rap music and the Gulf War are all memories of the early ’90s. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Gulf War and the President George H.W. Bush Library is planning a celebration to honor and remember the leaders, the heroes and the conflict.

In the evening hours of Jan. 17, 1991, U.S. military forces launched Operation Desert Storm with a massive airborne bombing campaign. The purpose of the operation was to liber-ate the people of Kuwait from the invading Iraqi army belong-ing to Saddam Hussein.

On Feb. 23, the ground war started as coalition forces moved towards Kuwait City and ended in a 100-hour push across the desert, destroying what was at the time the fourth largest army in the world. This victory was one of the most one-sided mili-tary victories in world history. Hostilities ceased on Feb. 28 when Bush ordered a cease-fire and declared Kuwait liberated.

Today the President George H.W. Bush Library, the Scow-croft Institute and the Bush School of Government and Public Policy will present a 20th anniversary event at Reed Arena commemorating the conflict.

The event will have numerous dignitaries in attendance, in-cluding key Kuwaiti representatives such as His Royal High-ness, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, The Amir of the State of Kuwait, His Excellency the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the State of Kuwait, Sheikh Mohammad Sabah Al-Salim Al-Sabah.

Top U.S. officials who were in office during this historic period will also attend the commemoration, including former Vice Presidents Richard B. Cheney and J. Danforth Quayle and former secretaries of state James A. Baker III and Gen. Colin Powell. Brent Scowcroft, former national security adviser to

Story by Ty Petty | The Battalion

Howdy! Welcome — or wel-

come back — to Aggieland.

It’s nice to see our campus

once again buzzing with the activ-

ity of our students and faculty.

I’d like to share some thoughts

with you as we embark on a new

semester with many significant

milestones ahead.82nd Legislative Session Much of our focus

this semester is on the Legislative Session that opened last week. Comptroller Susan Combs has projected that the state will receive $77.3 billion in general revenue during the two-year budget cycle, with about $72.2 available to spend. The state’s total 2012-2013 budget short-fall is projected to be between $15 billion and $27 billion.

At Texas A&M we have been proactive in our budget preparation, planning for a reduction of up to $39 million (plus a strategic reallocation of another $21 million). We believe we are in a rela-tively good position and are still making progress toward our Vision 2020 goal of being known as one of the top public uni-

versities in the country by 2020. At this stage, I do not foresee any future budget reductions on campus in response to the Legislative Session other than what has been previously directed.

UT-Austin President Bill Powers and I have been meeting with constituents across the state as part of our Together for Texans initiative to help spread the message of the importance of

Loftin welcomes students

R. Bowen

Loftin

Texas A&M president

See Retrospective on page 4

See Loftin on page 4

Cushing Library Archives

Fire burns car in Thompson

Code Maroon alerts buzzed, the sirens from fire engines wailed, and security offi-cers and the campus police ushered onlook-ers to move to the other side of the Har-rington Building or H2O fountain as smoke

poured out of Thompson Hall Wednesday night.

The College Station Fire Department an-swered a 911 call to Thompson Hall about 8 p.m. yesterday to find a burning engineering project in one of the bays on the south side

Ty PettyThe Battalion

Samantha Virnau — THE BATTALION

Wednesday night, an electrical charge in this car in caused it to catch fire.

See Fire on page 7

Revisiting Desert StormEditor’s note These images from 1991 issues of The Battalion chronicle the effect the Gulf War had on the campus at that time. Over the coming month, The Battalion enterprise desk will examine those issues surrounding the confl ict.

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THE BATTALION (ISSN #1055-4726) is published daily, Monday through Friday during the fall and spring semesters and Monday through Thursday during the summer session (except University holidays and exam periods) at Texas A&M University. Periodicals Postage Paid at College Station, TX 77840. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Battalion, Texas A&M University, 1111 TAMU, College Station, TX 77843-1111.News: The Battalion news department is managed by students at Texas A&M University in Student Media, a unit of the Division of Student Affairs. News offices are in The Grove, Bldg. 8901. Newsroom phone: 979-845-3313; Fax: 979-845-2647; E-mail: [email protected]; website: http://www.thebatt.com.Advertising: Publication of advertising does not imply sponsorship or endorsement by The Battalion. For campus, local, and national display advertising, call 979-845-2696. For classified advertising, call 979-845-0569. Advertising offices are in The Grove, Bldg. 8901, and office hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Fax: 979-845-2678.Subscriptions: A part of the Student Services Fee entitles each Texas A&M student to pick up a single copy of The Battalion. First copy free, additional copies $1. Mail subscriptions are $125 per school year. To charge by Visa, MasterCard, Discover, or American Express, call 979-845-2613.

Matt Woolbright, Editor in ChiefMegan Ryan, Managing Editor Gayle Gabriel, City Editor Jill Beathard, Enterprise EditorRebecca Bennett, Lifestyles EditorDavid Harris, Sports EditorEvan Andrews, Graphics ChiefTyler Hosea, Video/Photo Chief

thebattalion THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT VOICE OF TEXAS A&M SINCE 1893

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fully equipped

2 Transit service

Regular transit service operates from 7 a.m. to midnight Monday through Friday. Weekend service runs off-campus routes from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Service does not run on holidays. For more information, visit http://transport.tamu.edu/transit/service.aspx.

1 Gulf War event

A Gulf War commemorative event will be from 5 to 7 p.m. today at Reed Arena. For more information,

visit http://bush.tamu.edu/

scowcroft/events/.

3 Resumé reviews

Bring your resumés from 1 to 4 p.m. today to the Zachry Engineering Center and a Career Center professional will critique it and answer questions. For more information, call the Career Center at 845-5139.

New and improved

Stephanie Leichtle — THE BATTALION

While students were away on winter break, the Grassy Knoll was demolished, and construction began on the new liberal arts and humanities building.

nation&worldMan who fought gay adoption ban adopts two boys MIAMI — A homosexual Miami man has offi cially adopted two brothers in a case that overturned Florida’s three-decade ban on gay adoptions. Martin Gill and his partner were the boys’ foster parents for six years. He offi cially adopted the two boys Wednesday. Gill and the American Civil Liberties Union fi led a lawsuit against the state, calling the ban unconstitutional. The 3rd District Court of Appeal agreed in a ruling last year. The state decided not to appeal. Gill said he is thrilled they are “offi cially a family in the eyes of the law.” The prohibition was enacted in 1977 and court records indicate it’s the only law of its kind in the United States. The Department of Children and Families changed its forms so adoptive parents aren’t asked if they’re homosexuals.

Associated Press

Giffords will move to Houston rehab center

TUCSON, Ariz. — U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords will be moved Friday to a rehabilitation hospital in Houston to begin the next phase of her recovery from a gunshot wound, barring medical issues that would delay the trans-fer, her family said Wednesday.

Giffords’ husband said his wife’s care will continue at TIRR Memorial Hermann Rehabilitation Hospital in Houston, where he lives and works as an astronaut. Doctors say the exact day of the move will depend on Giffords’ health.

“I am extremely hopeful at the signs of recovery that my wife has made since the shoot-ing,” Mark Kelly said in a statement released by Giffords’ congressional office. “The team of doctors and nurses at UMC has stabilized her to the point of being ready to move to the rehabilitation phase.”

Kelly is scheduled to com-mand NASA’s last space shuttle flight in April, but that’s un-

certain now. He has been a constant presence at Giffords’ bedside since rushing to Tuc-son after first getting word of the attack.

Giffords was gravely wound-ed by a gunshot to the forehead on Jan. 8 as she was meeting with constituents outside a gro-cery store in Tucson. The gun-man shot 18 other people, kill-ing six and wounding 12 more.

Since then, Giffords has been at University Medical Center in Tucson where her condition has improved almost daily, doc-tors have said.

Word of the move was met with elation from Giffords’ friends and others who have been visiting the three-term Democrat at the hospital.

“It’s good news for all of us and for all the people who have been praying for wisdom and strength for the surgeons and others who have been help-ing her,” said Stephanie Aaron, Giffords’ rabbi at Congrega-tion Chaverim in Tucson. “It’s nothing short of a miracle, but it’s also Gabby’s will to fight.

It’s her strength of spirit.”Giffords’ neurosurgeon said

the family considered hospitals around the country, including in Washington, D.C., New York and Chicago.

“The congresswoman’s fam-ily wants to ensure she receives the best rehabilitative care pos-sible for her type of serious pen-etrating brain injury,” said Dr. Michael Lemole.

TIRR Memorial Hermann is a 116-bed rehab facility af-filiated with the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston. It claims to have the largest research program on recovery from traumatic brain injury in the world, and gets

federal funding for long-term research on such patients.

One of its success stories is Buffalo Bills’ tight end Kevin Everett, treated after a life-threat-ening spinal cord injury in 2007. Everett was paralyzed from the neck down when he arrived at the rehab center in September 2007; now he can walk.

Dr. Jonathan Fellus, director of the brain injury program at the Kessler Institute for Rehabilita-tion in West Orange, N.J., said it’s not surprising that Giffords could enter rehabilitation as early as two weeks after the injury.

“It’s not unusual as long as she’s been medically and neu-rologically stabilized,” he said. “The sooner the better.”

Susan Montoya BryanAssociated Press

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Mark Kelly, husband of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, talks about his life with Gabby Tuesday, at the University Medical Center in Tucson, Az.


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page301.20.2011thebattalion

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5 Freudian Slip

improv showTickets are available for the Freudian Slip comedy show at the MSC Box Offi ce. The show is from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Sunday at the Rudder Forum. For more information, check the event out on Facebook.

4 Coff ee talk on

genderProfessors and experts in such areas of neuroscience, history, feminism and women’s studies will lead a discussion on gender differences, sexism and feminism from 3 to 5 p.m. Saturday at The Village Café in Bryan.

3 Career fair

The Southwestern Black Student Leadership Conference will have the Campuswide Career and Graduate School Fair from noon to 5 p.m. today in the Rudder Exhibit Hall. Representatives from major companies, graduate schools and professional schools will be present.

1 Job search

workshopThe Career Center will have a workshop on fi nding full-time, co-op and internship opportunities from 4 to 5 p.m. today in Rudder Tower, Room 510. Students can learn how to use networking techniques and other resources.

2 MLK breakfast

The MSC Carter G. Woodson Black Awareness Committee will present the annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast from 10 a.m. to noon today in the Clayton Williams Jr. Alumni Center to honor the civil rights leader’s legacy. Tickets are available at the MSC Box Offi ce.

Soul food for thought“People have been talking about these ques-

tions since the ancient Greeks,” said actor Rainn Wilson of The Office, talking about his New York Times bestseller: SoulPancake. “We’re continu-ing the conversation that is thousands of years old.”

The book — a colorful, soul-probing com-pilation of art and philosophy — is meant to be a guide to help us explore the deeper, more meaningful questions in life, but without solely using words.

“We wrote it for all of the thinkers, innova-tors, misfits, creators, artists and writers, as a tool for all of us to dig into life’s big questions in cre-ative and innovative ways,” said Devon Gundry, a co-author of SoulPancake, along with Golriz Lucina and Shabnam Mogharabi.

The book is inspired by the blog SoulPan-cake.com, a place where everyone can engage in or pose insightful questions about a number of things such as the soul, identity, creativity and living. But it’s not dull at all, considering that a lot of members answer with postings of paint-ings, sculptures, poetry and videos. In addition, the website provides hope of there being any-thing mentally and spiritually productive on the Web. (See Snooki’s Twitter page.) Naturally, I was ecstatic to participate in a Q&A session with both Wilson and Gundry about the brain-child of the online intellectual endeavor: the book, SoulPancake.

Q: The first few pages of the book say that SoulPancake is meant to redefine what it means to be human. What would “being human” be

before reading SoulPancake, and what would it be after?

Wilson: I think that obviously our little book and Website does not redefine what it means to be a human being. But I think that a lot of people in our culture don’t really dig into life’s big ques-tions. Take death. When is the last time you had a conversation with someone about death? But it happens every day, all the time, and it’ll happen to us. It’s a much more real part of life than the Kardashians. Hopefully, by engaging and looking at the intersection of creativity and spirituality, you’ll have a renewed perspective on what it is to be a human being, what is important to you and what you might want to focus on.

Q: What first sparked your interest in getting people engaged in these discussions?

W: I always talk about this stuff — people look at me so weird. Why are deep conversa-tions only for when you’re stoned? Why can’t you have substantial conversations with people in the real world? I just noticed that these conver-sations weren’t happening when I would bring them up, especially with young people; they just looked at me and didn’t know how to answer. I was like, I bet you if we had a safe place where people could do it, where they could come to-gether and grapple with the stuff of life, that it would work. And it has been working.

Q: What is one of the most interesting ques-tions you’ve seen in SoulPancake?

Gundry: “How do you determine truth?” It’s kind of the catalyst for all of SoulPancake. What we believe and what we take in from the world around us is going to shape every action we make every day. I think a really important part of that is understanding where information comes from.

Q: You have a son, Walter. Has he ever come up with a “life’s big question”?

W: “Where do we go when we die, and what is God?” So, he’s six years old and already full of life’s big questions.

Q: What is your favorite aspect of SoulPancake?W: Interaction and collaboration. In the book,

I’m most proud of the “Soul Scribble.’’Q: The book itself has lots of color, pop art and

just a whole bunch of images. What were some of the main reasons for creating the book this way?

W: Artistic expression is vital to what SoulPan-cake is. So, having a book filled with art and vi-brant colors and interactivity is what we’re about — we couldn’t really have a book that was just dry text.

Q: What was the process for creating each page and how did you find artistic contributors?

G: The task in this book was figuring out what sort of questions to include. We have enough questions for about 10,000 more books so, get

ready. For the art, we scoured the Internet and many different art communities for pieces that fit the questions. We wanted to focus on artists that had not been discovered yet so that we could share a bunch of new creative minds with all the readers.

Q: Who is a musical artist who has influenced you in terms of your philosophy and general out-look on life?

W: For me, Bob Dylan is probably the biggest musical influence on my life. I discovered him when I was about 18 and I’ve been listening to him ever since.

G: There’s an artist that I’ve been absolutely loving lately: Jonsi. He doesn’t really like words. He tries to convey emotion as much as he can

solely with the music, melody and sounds, then

he uses the words to supplement it.

Q: What advice would you give to young col-

lege students trying to figure their own spirituality?

W: I would say to young students wanting to

purge their spirituality that they look at life as

a spiritual journey and that spirituality is part of

everyday life; it’s not a concept, it’s something

we all live. It’s not to be found when looking at

a crystal or in a yoga class.

Yearning to express your being? Wilson and

Gundry’s question for college students is “What is

one thing that blew your mind?” Feel free to answer

this on SoulPancake.com. Words not required.

Jennifer DuBoseThe Battalion

Rainn Wilson answers questions about his new book

Courtesy photos


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thebattalion

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thursday 1.20.2011

Presidents Bush and Gerald R. Ford and retired Gen. Walter E. Boomer, United States Marine Corps. Texas A&M President R. Bowen Loftin will open with remarks. The 41st president will present the occasion.

The event is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. today in Reed Arena. Doors will open at 3:30 p.m., and attendees are urged to be in their seats by 4:45 p.m. The Bush School of Government and Pub-lic Service at Texas A&M and the Shell Oil Company are sponsoring the event.The event will air live on KAMU.

the state’s two flagship public universities, and in particular, the fact that every dollar spent on our campuses generates about $16 back into the Texas economy. I also have been emphasiz-ing our three main priorities for the Legislative Session: (1) no disproportionate cuts to higher education funding; (2) support for the Research University Development Fund (previously the Competitive Knowledge Fund); and (3) Tuition Revenue Bonds for a new building for the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences to address our state’s critical shortage of veterinarians.

How can you get involved? Aggies and Longhorns are collaborating in the Together For Texans campaign, which will once again culminate with Orange and Maroon Legisla-tive Day at the State Capitol on Feb. 15. You can find more information and a schedule of the day’s events at http://orange-maroon.com/.

Provost Search We have identified two finalists for the position of Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs. This key position — in essence,

our second-in-command — oversees all matters related to teaching, research and related academic activities and acts on my behalf in my absence. You are invited to participate in the campuswide interview sessions for the two finalists, James Coleman (currently Vice Provost for Research at Rice University) and Karan Watson (Interim Provost and Execu-tive Vice President for Aca-demic Affairs at Texas A&M). The session with Coleman was Wednesday afternoon, and the session for Watson will be Jan. 28, with time and location to be announced. You can find information about the candi-dates and leave feedback about them at http://provostsearch.tamu.edu.

Aggie Athletics After an exciting football season, we are now in the midst of an equally exciting basketball season, with our women’s team in the top five and our men’s first top-10 ranking in more than three years (and only the fifth time in our history that we have broken the top 10 in a season). I hope you’ll join Karan and me to help our Aggie men’s and women’s teams BTHO our opponents at Reed Arena and on the road this season.

Construction Construction has begun on the new Arts and Humanities building, the first at Texas A&M devoted strictly

to the humanities. The YMCA Building — site of the first Midnight Yell Practice — is undergoing extensive remodel-ing and expansion and is set to reopen later this year, and the MSC renovation is progress-ing according to schedule for reopening next year. New construction slated to open this year includes the agriculture program headquarters and the Emerging Technologies and Economic Development Inter-disciplinary Building.

Staying connected As your president, I pledge to commu-nicate with the entire campus community in a timely man-ner on issues of importance to all Aggies through special columns in The Battalion and through the e-mails I send every Tuesday afternoon (which are archived under the News tab on my Facebook fan page at http://www.facebook.com/bowen.loftin?ref=search). You can keep up with campus news through our Twitter feed (TAMUTalk) and through our website at http://www.tamu.edu/. I’d also like to hear from you. Please let me know what’s on your mind by e-mailing me at [email protected].

By working together, we can continue to expand the culture of excellence that already exists at Texas A&M. I am confident that we are up to the challenge. Gig ’em, Aggies!

LoftinContinued from page 1

Cushing Library Archives

Gulf WarContinued from page 1

Pg. 4-1.20.11.idml 1Pg. 4-1.20.11.idml 1 1/19/11 11:51 PM1/19/11 11:51 PM

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‘voicespage601.20.2011thebattalion

Students benefit from taking easy classes

Making the grAde

Caleb Wilson

senior history major

During the first

week of school,

as students sit

in class wondering when

exactly the break disap-

peared and how much

money professors make

by assigning their own

books, one thought that

crosses everyone’s mind

is how difficult courses

will be. With professor

rating websites by com-

panies such as MyEdu,

that question can be

easily answered before

the semester begins.

The readily accessible infor-mation results in many students simply seeking to pad their GPR. Those against in-tentionally taking fluff courses con-tend that they are a waste of time and money and

ill prepare students for future profes-sions. However, registering for easier classes can turn out to be beneficial in each of these areas.

“Gimme” grades mostly come from electives so it’s impossible to entirely avoid wickedly difficult courses. Even if someone takes all kinesiology and introductory classes one semester, he or she will eventually have to face those black mamba 400 level beasts. Easy A’s can’t offer a complete escape, but they do lighten students’ workloads. Tak-

ing an easy class isn’t so much a time waster as it is a time saver. They free up students’ time and allow them to concentrate on more difficult, impor-tant courses, which can result in better grades all around.

Cupcake courses aren’t necessarily a waste of money either. One argu-ment against taking no-sweat classes is that they don’t give you the best bang for your buck, especially with rising tuition costs. Some students want to get their money’s worth by enrolling in “beneficial” courses instead of blow-offs. They believe that there’s little learning to be done in classes where a very large amount of students receive excellent grades.

While this can be true, it isn’t always the case. I admit, I once registered for a linguistics course for no other reason than that 60 percent of the students made A’s in it. Although the class wasn’t exactly daunting, I learned more from that professor than I did in all my

other classes combined that semester. Particu-larly with electives, what’s worse than taking an easy course that doesn’t involve a boatload of effort is failing a demanding class and having to pay more money for another one.

A chief consideration when choos-ing courses is how well they will pre-pare you for a future job, or graduate or professional school. Classes can help to equip students with the knowledge and skills they need to succeed at the next level. A complaint about easy-A courses is that they fail to do this. Al-though easier classes might not provide the best preparation for future endeav-ors, they are certainly not worthless. A few better grades to improve your GPR might be the difference between getting hired or being admitted to grad school and living in your parent’s base-ment. Once you receive your degree, the courses you take in college are going to matter less and less to future

employers as the years go on.Cupcake courses aren’t going to

make you, but they aren’t going to break you either. Everyone still has to take challenging and invaluable classes, but a few “gimmes” won’t hurt. It’s said that “you don’t learn anything in easy classes,” but I’ve learned just how helpful they can be.

+

Evan Andrews — THE BATTALION


Critics pondered how Texas

A&M would fare in its first real road

environment.

Wednesday night, No. 10 Texas

A&M dropped an 83-57 decision to

No. 11 Texas in the Frank Erwin

Center. The Aggies’ 13-game win-

ning streak — third best in school his-

tory — crashed just after it brought

the program’s first top-10 ranking in

three seasons.

The Longhorns (15-3, 3-0 Big 12)

jumped ahead early, romping to a 20-8

lead behind freshman forward Tristan

Thompson A bizarre span of eight

Aggie fouls from the 14:56 to 13:05 marks, followed by a technical assessed to Turgeon, spurred Texas’ stretch of dominance. A brief 11-4 Aggie run brought the deficit down to five, but Longhorn forward Gary Johnson’s dunk set the fans off with 8:03 remain-ing and the team took it from there. Texas led 39-27 at halftime.

“It was our first true tough road game, and I’m still shocked,” Turgeon said. “I had to make an absolute fool out of myself just to try and get us go-ing. I don’t like acting that way, but that worked for about four minutes. You have to give Texas a lot of cred-it. They were really good. They did a great job on the boards. They had

a great game plan and it worked, and ours didn’t.”

The climb grew steeper for the Ag-gies (16-2, 3-1) in the second half. Sophomore swingman and Longhorns leading scorer Jordan Hamilton came alive with 18 in the second half; he finished with 27 and sat while Texas played its reserves near the game’s end. Thompson’s final mark rested at 18. Johnson also contributed 14 points for the Longhorns.

A&M sophomore forward Khris Middleton had 12 points at halftime, then failed to score another point be-tween the 17:48 and 5:19 marks of the second half, finishing with 16. No other Aggie scored in double figures;

senior forward Nathan Walkup added

eight, junior forward David Loubeau

seven and sophomore guard Naji Hib-

bert seven as well.

“We just got out-toughed,” Walk-

up said. “Whether the officials call

fouls or not they just out-toughed

us tonight. They were more physical

than we were tonight and that can’t

happen. Our program is built on

toughness and defense.”

The Longhorns out-rebounded the

Aggies 34-25 and outscored them 42-

33 in the second half. It marked the

first time this season the Aggies — sec-

ond nationally in rebounding margin

— lost the battle on the boards. Texas

shot 58 percent from the field and 86

percent from the free throw line.

“We got whipped,” Turgeon con-

cluded. “From the first possession

to the last possession, that was just a

whipping. Tristan Thompson was off

the charts. It was a six-point game

before the half and Jordan Hamilton

started doing his thing. It felt like we

never stopped them. It felt like they

scored every time they had the ball.

They played in the comfort zone all

night; we never stopped them. They

just whipped us.”

A&M last beat Texas in Austin in

2002; the loss was its ninth straight in

the Frank Erwin Center.

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Beatdowns

ASSOCIATED PRESS

In one of their hardest fought games thus far in the 2010-11 season, the No. 5 Texas A&M women’s basketball team pulled out an 80 - 65 win over archrival Texas Wednesday at Reed Arena.

A&M (16-1, 4-0) remains undefeat-ed in Big 12 play despite trailing the Longhorns by nine in the second half.

“We hadn’t had a close game since Duke when we lost,” said A&M senior guard Sydney Colson. “This was finally a test for us. Usually we’re up on Texas by at least double digits. This was a different scenario and we realized it was time to buckle down and get the victory.”

Scoring a career-high 34 points in 39 minutes, senior center Danielle Adams led the way for the Aggies with a dominant second half performance. Adams picked up a double-double with 12 rebounds and added three blocks to her effort.

“Danielle Adams, we had no answer for her,” said Texas Head Coach Gail Goestenkors. “On the inside and on the outside she did pretty much what she wanted to do.”

The Aggies fell behind with 4:22 left in the first half and went into the locker room at halftime trailing 33-29. Texas continued to pile on the pressure after the break by jumping out to a 43-34 lead with 14:52 remaining.

“We finally realized that we were letting them get too far ahead and get-ting a little too much confidence,”

A&M senior guard Maryann Baker said. “We had to start playing our game. We had to find a way to bear down and with the pressure on we knocked down some shots.”

Gaining a sense of urgency, the crowd got behind the Aggies and lift-ed them out to a 9-0 run that tied the game with 13:21 remaining. Adams hit a three-pointer that gave A&M a 48-45 lead and sent the 6,557 fans in atten-dance into a frenzy.

“Our crowd was tremendous,” Blair said. “That is what a basketball

crowd is supposed to do. That’s how you can make such a difference in basketball. Reed Arena is one of the top three in the conference because of what we can bring.”

The Aggies went on to outscore Texas 29-18 in the final 10 minutes of the game, clinching their ninth straight win over their arch-rivals.

A&M will try to remain undefeated in Big 12 play Saturday at Iowa State. The game will be televised by FSN and tip-off is set for 11:00 a.m. CST.

Michael TeagueThe Battalion

sports Lone Starthebattalion

01.20.2011 page5

Junior forward David Loubeau and sophomore forward Khris Middleton get their hands up in defense of Texas’ Jordan Hamilton. Hamilton combined with Texas forward Gary Johnson led an attack that A&M could not seem to stop.

Women hoops get the win despite and early Texas lead

Junior guard Sydney Carter defends against Texas guard Ashleigh Fontenette. Carter finished the game with six points in 38 minutes.

Beau HolderThe Battalion

Aggies get dominated on each end of the court, fall to No. 11 Texas



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thebattalion

news page 7

thursday 1.20.2011


FireContinued from page 1

of the building. The project, referred to by

students in the mechanical en-gineering department as the “Ten Car,” is a hybrid formula car designed and built by senior mechanical engineering stu-dents on the SAE formula hy-brid team. Students from the Class of 2010 completed the car that burned. This particular car debuted on the packaging and posters for 3D design software called “Solid Works” accord-ing to a student familiar with the project.

Sergeant Mike Johnson of the University Police Depart-ment said no injuries and no serious damage occurred other than to the racecar. He said the front of the building was opened to ventilate the hall, but classes and other activities in the building were not affected.

“We’re not going to have it closed for any extended pe-riod,” Johnson said.

Johnson also said that at the time, there was no investigation for criminal charges.

Professor Make McDermott,

the faculty adviser for the proj-ect, said it was an oversight in design.

“We didn’t have the ap-propriate battery management system in there that would turn off the charging system if a cell overheated,” McDermott said. “We’d been checking them manually, but this year we’ve got an electronic system.”

However, McDermott was optimistic about the continu-ation of the project and said the team could quickly resume work.

“However long it takes to get the lab cleaned up, we’re back in business,” McDermott said. “Our lab is a mess, it’ll be a day or two. It’s not a major impact.”

McDermott pointed out that it is a $1 million project in terms of man-hours, and he was hap-py there was more than 5,000 dollars in salvageable parts on the car.

According to a student famil-iar with the project, there were no students present when the accident took place. There were no faculty members working with the students at the time of the accident. According to the student, it is not uncommon for

students to work on the project unsupervised by faculty.

“It’s just a routine thing done on the car; totally safe,” the stu-dent said. “[It’s] just a routine thing that went wrong. A huge accident and not a huge mis-take.”

The “Ten Car” was sup-posed to attend a conference this weekend. However, the team will send one of the team’s other older cars in its place.


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The Battalion 01.20.2011