thebattalion ● thursday,
march 25, 2010
● serving
texas a&m since 1893
● first paper free – additional copies $1 ● © 2010 student media
Martin faces five felony counts
Employee embezzles funds Matt Woolbright The Battalion A former Texas A&M employee is facing five felony charges for misusing University resources. Shortly after 5 p.m. Nov. 13, Adrienne Martin walked into Cash America Pawn of College Station, Texas, and pawned a 46-inch Samsung LED television. At 10:28 that morning she
purchased an identical model television from Best Buy in College Station with the Texas A&M Oceanography Department credit card, according to a Martin probable cause statement from the Brazos County District Attorney’s office.
Video surveillance images, the TV and a signed pawn slip confirming Martin was the suspect were taken into custody as evidence. Martin’s employment with A&M was terminated six days later and on March 14 she was arrested in Robertson County. Martin, 36, is facing three felony counts of credit card abuse and two counts of theft by a public servant. She
Adrienne Martin faces charges for embezzlement of more than $36,000 over two years as an A&M employee.
faces a maximum combined sentence of $50,000 in fines and 36 years in prison for abuse of University resources totaling more than $36,000. No defense attorney had yet been appointed for Martin. On Dec. 14, University Police Detective Justin Vykukal was notified of a review of allegations of misuse of Uni-
Felony
Amount
Theft by a public servant
$27,053.85
Theft by a public servant
$3,698.00
Credit card abuse
$2,099.98
Credit card abuse
$2,020.98
Credit card abuse
$1,204.45
See Embezzlement on page 8
SOURCE: Brazos County District Attorney
this day in
rld wohistory
March 25, 1807 The English Parliament abolished the slave trade following a long campaign against it by Quakers and others.
Textbook Romance
inside
b!
trends | 3
Windows open up Members of the Fort Worth band Words in Windows talk about their debut EP “Balloons” and the upcoming April 17 concert in College Station, and their sources of inspiration.
voices | 5
Eating up the bill
Obesity is America’s greatest health concern. With the new health care act, taking care of your country also means taking care of yourself.
sports | 9
Adjusting to A&M Junior swimmer Balasz Makany talks about his experience after moving from Hungary to swim at A&M.
W
Story by Vicky Flores | Photo by Nicholas Badger |
HILE SOME Texas A&M students are reciting
Shakespeare or the quadratic formula, a few utter words that ring with a little more commitment: “til death do us part.” As senior aerospace engineering major Andrew Benson was coming home late one night, he called his girlfriend Amber and asked if he could take her out to dinner. After dinner, Andrew took her strolling across campus. At twilight, he mentioned how they had yet to walk under the century tree together. As Amber and Andrew walked handin-hand underneath the tree, Andrew knelt amid rose petals and asked, “Will you marry me?” “I was so happy,” Amber said. Andrew and Amber met toward the end of high school at a mutual
The Battalion
Editor’s note “Textbook Romance” is the second of a three-part series in which The Battalion examines the effect of college studies and life on different kinds of relationships.
See Romance on page 4
Physics festival aims to educate, entertain children Saturday Travis Lawson The Battalion The new Mitchell Physics Buildings will house a physics festival Saturday in an effort to spark scientific interests among members of the community. Edward Fry, professor and head of the department of physics and astronomy at A&M, has been planning the event since its inception in 2003. The most important aspect of the festival is its introduction of
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intriguing aspects of science to children. “The reason we started this whole thing was to stimulate the interest of kids in science,” Fry said. “I think we have a terrible problem in the whole country with kids not going into science careers and the major reason is they just don’t get the stimulation and interest.” Fry expects more than 4,000 to attend. One of the lecturers who will be speaking at the event is an astronomy professor from the University of Arizona. Chris Impey will
be discussing the question of whether or not life is unique to the planet Earth. “I’m very pleased to be talking about the search for life in the universe at the festival,” Impey said. The event does not only include academic lecturers and scientists. Tom Noddy, otherwise known as “The Bubble Guy,” will be giving his internationally famous performance of bubble tricks. “I’m not a physicist and I’m not a teacher; I’m an entertainer,” Noddy said. “I came
to this subject not through the pursuit of education or even knowledge but simply as a result of an interest in the beauty of soap bubbles.” While Noddy may not have a physics background, his tricks with bubbles have intrigued physicists across the nation. “After a while I did develop a number of ‘tricks’ I could do with bubbles and occasionally people who knew something about physics would try to explain to me what they knew,” Noddy said.
If you go The event will take place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information about the festival visit http:// physicsfestival. tamu.edu.
3/24/10 10:05 PM