thebattalion l tuesday,
september 24, 2013
l serving
texas a&m since 1893
l first paper free – additional copies $1 l © 2013 student media
From mice to men Organ Biotech Center to provide regenerative medicine Bradley D’Souza The Battalion
W
ith the announcement earlier this month that the Texas Emerging Technologies Fund, TETF, will invest $3 million to support the creation of the Center for Cell and Organ Biotechnology, Texas A&M is poised to explore the potential of regenerative medicine. The Center for Cell and Organ Biotechnology, CCOB, will be a joint venture between the Houston-based Texas Heart Institute and Texas A&M’s College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences with labs in both Houston and College Station that will conduct research on chronic medical conditions found in humans and animals. Frank Michel, director of public relations at the THI, said the CCOB’s main goal is to research the potential of regenerative medicine. “The CCOB is a collaboration between the Texas Heart Institute and Texas A&M’s College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences to, among other things, look at the possibilities for regenerative medicine in addressing some of the chronic diseases that both human and animals face, and try to meet this huge, unmet medical need,” Michel said. See Biotechnology on page 2
William Guerra — THE BATTALION
campus news
b-cs
City council to discuss rent houses, parking South Knoll Neighborhood Plan to impact student residents Bradley D’Souza The Battalion
T
he issue of permanent residents and student residents coexisting in College Station will be discussed at the College Station City Council meeting Thursday, as major changes to parking and housing regulations in the South Knoll area may soon be on the way. The South Knoll Neighborhood Plan includes changes to parking and the number of unrelated residents renting a house, both of which will impact temporary student residents in the area surrounded by Holleman Drive, Texas Avenue, Harvey Mitchell Parkway, Wellborn Road, Southwest Parkway and Welsh Avenue. The South Knoll Neighborhood Plan is the last topic on the agenda and will include a public presentation of the plan, and its possible implementation. The plan allows for the regulation of the number of unrelated persons living in one house. If approved by a majority of homeowners, this change would result in houses that previously held four to five students only being allowed to house two unrelated persons. The plan would also prohibit street parking between 2 and 6 a.m., allowing residents to only park on their property between these hours
with an option for the majority of residents to remove on-street parking entirely. Councilwoman Blanche Brick said the plan stems from the fact that the neighborhood, which surrounds South Knoll Elementary School, was not originally constructed with college students in mind. “We’re trying to work with the fact that the neighborhood was built as a single-family neighborhood back in the ’70s,” Brick said. “The homes were designed for one family, and probably two cars at most, and they didn’t anticipate the kind of issues that would arise as A&M grew and more students began to move off campus.” Brick said that with the influx of college renters, residences originally meant to house a family with a maximum of two cars suddenly had to accomodate four or five cars per household. The ensuing street parking has led to congestion on the street to the point where navigation has become difficult. Additionally, Brick said homeowners in the neighborhood feel the lifestyle attached to a family-oriented area has deteriorated with the influx of renters in the area. “We’ve had huge amounts of correspondents saying that many people who had bought into that neighborhood had felt that they had lost their investment,” Brick said. Work on what has become the South Knoll Neighborhood Plan began in the fall of 2012, with the meetings of Neighborhood Resource Teams to address issues such as neighborhood
integrity and character, mobility and public facilities and services. Salim Malik, junior biology major, said price is a huge draw in renting a house with four to five roommates. “It’s money better spent,” Malik said. “You end up spending less for the same utilities.” When asked if the proposed regulations would affect her decision to rent a house in the future, freshman biochemistry major Hyunjin Lee said that the ability to spread out and the level of comfort that comes with that is worth the increased cost. “While the increase in the amount of money it would take to rent is not a positive, I feel like my personal preference would outweigh the costs,” Lee said. College Station City Council will take action on the plan at 7 p.m. Thursday at College Station City Hall.
inside
thebattalion asks
Q:
Page 2: What’s your favorite thing about fantasy football?
Let’s be friends
@thebattonline
Band Votary blends devotion to faith, music Shelbi Polk The Battalion
T
Jennifer Reiley The Battalion
T
he Residence Hall Association, RHA, will host a meeting with the University Dining Services 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Hullabaloo Hall Multipurpose Room to express student concerns about the current meal plans on campus. At the meeting, a University Dining Services representative will be present to respond to concerns from students about the dining plan changes for the 2013-2014 school year. Amanda Woodrow, secretary for the Clements Hall RHA and junior mechanical engineering major, said a representative from Dining Services would attend the meeting to explain the meal plan and answer questions. “We want not only information for our residents, [but] to voice complaints commonly brought up by students,” Woodrow said. Collin Lamar, president of Clements Hall and freshman business major, said the RHA hopes to walk away from the meeting with more insight for its residents on the status of the meal plan and to See Dining on page 4
BAT_09-24-13_A1.indd 1
— Blanche Brick, College Station councilwoman
Campaigns for the vacant seats in the 66th session of Student Senate continue Tuesday and end Wednesday. Voting will be Thursday and results will be announced Friday.
What’s in a name?
university dining services
RHA to host forum for student dining concerns
We’re trying to work with the fact that the neighborhood was built as a single-family neighborhood back in the seventies.
Student senate voting week
hey had been playing together most of their sophomore year, but Jack Thweatt, lead vocals and guitar, and Travis Thompson, pianist and keyboardist, never could settle on a name. With their first official gig quickly approaching, they needed to decide fast. “We had about a billion ideas, some good, some bad, and some really bad. I decided that if we couldn’t think of one an hour before the application was due, we would go to Dictionary.com and name our band the word of the day,” said Travis Thompson, senior mechanical engineering major. The word of the day happened to be “votary.” “A votary is a passionate or devout follower of someone or something,” Thompson said. “We were like, ‘Well, it’s a nice word and it has a cool meaning. Let’s do it.’ And it kind of pertains to us because we’re all followers of Jesus.” Now, this Votary is not to be confused with the Russian melodic, death-metal
Josh McKenna — THE BATTALION
(From left) Jack Thweatt, Travis Thompson, Conner Wright, and Michael Burgess form the band Votary, a blend of pop and indie music. band that recently took the same name. And the name is not “The Votary,” “The Voltary” or “Jack Thweatt and the Votary,” though they have been mistakenly listed as each. “It had a cool double meaning for us because it reflects that we’re really passionate about everything that we do with this band,” said Thweatt, senior aerospace
engineering major. “It’s about the music and that’s why we’re doing it. And on the other side it reflects who we are and what our character is. What’s important to us is our relationships with Christ and how we’re passionate about that.” Thweatt and Thompson met in the Commons Lobby, and even though See Votary on page 3
9/23/13 8:29 PM