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Pro Day and Big 12 The A&M women took on Texas Wednesday in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament, while six Aggies participated in Pro Day Wednesday for 14 NFL teams.
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march 10, 2011
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campus news
Military officer dies in car accident Master Sgt. Jeffrey Campbell died Saturday in a single-car accident in Parker Heights, Texas while traveling back to Texas A&M. He was an active duty non-commissioned officer at A&M teaching military science. During Campbell’s tenure as a military officer, he served as a platoon sergeant, Bradley commander and first sergeant. He has also been in deployments for combat in Iraq. “Master Sgt. Campbell was very passionate about instructing and developing cadets to serve the U.S. Army in the future,” said Major Hazard, Campbell’s direct supervisor. “It’s a frustrating and unfortunate event for me and the entire Corps of Cadets.” The Corps of Cadets performed an Echo Taps Tuesday night in Campbell’s honor. During the Echo Taps, cadets assemble to formation at the quad. There will be a memorial ceremony to honor Campbell at 3 p.m. today in Rudder Theatre. The ceremony will feature a 21-gun salute. Between 2 p.m. and 4:30 p.m., there will be multiple occasions where the guns will be fired during the ceremony. Roland Ruiz, special to The Battalion
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music | 6 Rockin’ on the air guitar An air guitar competition and fundraiser will be Friday at the Skyy Bar on Northgate.
sports | 3 On the road The No. 5 A&M women’s basketball team traveled to Austin to face off with the archrivals. Reporter Mike Teague went along for the ride.
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Jorge Montalvo — THE BATTALION
Springing into break Aggies celebrate the coming of spring in variety of ways Trevor Stevens Special to The Battalion Flowers bloom, birds migrate north, temperatures rise and beachside hotels overflow with vacationing college students to mark the end of winter and the arrival of spring break. The celebration of spring is a long-standing tradition, and with a week off from classes, many A&M students are hitting the road. Since ancient Greece, people all over the world celebrate the arrival of spring. However, spring break did not become what it is today until its inadvertent creation in 1936, when collegiate swimming coach Sam Ingram
traveled to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., from Colgate University in New York with his swim team to train at Florida’s first Olympic-size pool, the Casino Pool. Two years later, to take advantage of the market opportunity for the local economy, Fort Lauderdale presented the first College Coaches’ Swim Forum at the Casino Pool, bringing droves of college students to the city. By the 1960s, with thousands of college students flooding the city at the end of winter, Fort Lauderdale established itself as the spring break capitol of the country. This spurred neighboring cities, such as Daytona Beach, to create collegiate attraction with advertisement and cinematic propaganda.
Today, apart from the connection to beach and beer, the concept of spring break varies from person to person. “It depends on who you are asking. If you were to ask the University, you would probably hear that it is a break from school mid-semester from academic responsibilities. If you were to ask a typical college student, you would most likely hear it’s a break to relax and have a week-long party,” said Kate Fuller, a junior recreational parks and tourism major. “Ultimately it’s a break in the routine of school to spend however one wants, whether it’s traveling, spending time with family or serving.”
There are many possibilities for college students to utilize the week of vacation from school. Some A&M students will take to the road to celebrate the break from classes. Kait Sampson, a sophomore political science major, is planning a road trip with friends to New Braunfels and Galveston. “Spring break is necessary for college students to have a chance to stop from going absolutely crazy from the stress of school. It definitely gives me enough of a breather to power through the rest of the semester,” Sampson said. A&M students are also using the time during the break to serve comSee History on page 2
UPD gives safety tips Students mix up plans Alex Lotz The Battalion As students count down the days to spring break, many do not think to lock up their belongings or plan ahead to ensure their safety during the break. The Texas A&M University Police Department is making safety the number one priority to remind students of ways to keep them safe. Officials emphasized the importance of making sure all windows and doors are locked in student’s houses, apartments and dorms. They encourage students to make arrangements, if possible, to have a neighbor or friend pick up mail and newspapers to make it look like the house is occupied. This will make burglars less inclined to break in.
Violence updates Updates and maps about the recent violence in popular Mexico vacation spots can be found at http://travel. state.gov/travel/travel_1744.html “Do not pack your car the night before. It only makes a more attractive target for a thief,” said Sgt. H. Allan Baron of the University Police Department. Taking precautions to maintain safety during spring break might seem overly cautious to some students, but it is a priority nonetheless. “I am planning every aspect of my trip in advance,” said Alexa ArmSee Safety on page 4
Rebecca Hutchinson The Battalion For many students, spring break is a time to take a brief respite from the stress of classes, or for some graduating seniors, it is the chance to make the last college vacation count. Students will be on spring break March 14 – 19. Some are taking the typical route partying on South Padre Island, while some plan to catch up on sleep. There are other Aggies, however, who have alternative plans for this upcoming hiatus from classes. “I’m just going to Dallas,” said Meagan Klinkenberg,a sophomore international studies major. “There’s this music festival thing there, but I don’t know if I’m going.”
Several students replied with the standard response of uncertainty. Plans for spring break are not always concrete, but the general answers were home, Austin, Dallas, sleeping and concerts. A few students said they were going out of state. With the weather warming up, spring break is a popular time for students to branch off and explore other parts of the U.S. or other parts of the world. “I’m headed to California; abandoning all responsibility,” said Amy Polglase, a senior international studies major. This will be her first time on the West Coast, and Polglase said she is See Alternative on page 4
campus
Preacher sparks debates, attracts crowd Emily Villani The Battalion Christina Cedillo, an English graduate student, was one in the crowd of students who gathered around Tom Short, a man who has been debating with students about issues concerning Christianity in Academic Plaza since the beginning of the week. “Who is this weirdo?” Cedillo said. “I guess I just don’t understand who invited this extremist to come and try
to cause problems on our campus,” Cedillo said. “I’m assuming he considers himself a Christian and just by the fact that he’s doing this seems to me that he has no idea what it means to be a real Christian.” The First Amendment states: “Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech.” Short is affiliated with the Fellowship Church in Bryan and an A&M group, the A&M Christian Fellow-
ship. “He’s a campus evangelist,” said Christina Kroger from the Fellowship Church in Bryan, which sponsors the University organization. “Our church is part of an organization of churches that are campus-focused, and it’s called Great Commission Ministries.” Kroger surveyed students in the crowd about their reaction to Short on Wednesday. “We bring Tom in every once in
a while, and so we’re taking a survey of students just to see what they think about Short and about his message and what they believe, stuff like that,” Kroger said. Some students, such as Colin Breedlove, a freshman mechanical engineering major and Luis Fayad, a freshman political science and history major, from the Agnostic Atheist StuSee Short on page 2
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