thebattalion ● thursday,
december 3, 2009
● serving
texas a&m since 1893
● first paper free – additional copies $1 ● © 2009 student media
sports | 5
No. 10 A&M rolls over SFA, 106-56 Tanisha Smith scored 30 points and No. 10 Texas A&M cruised past Stephen F. Austin 106-56 on Wednesday. Tyra White added 17 points and Sydney Carter had 16 as the Aggies (4-0) shot 58 percent from the field.
Bryan police sponsor toy drive Santa will be wearing blue this Christmas. The Bryan Police Officer’s Association is playing the role of Santa Claus as they work to give toys to more than 1,000 students in the Bryan community. Jason James, public information officer, is one of the many officers who looks to give back to Bryan. “We see what’s going on in the neighborhoods and we want to help out when we can,” James said. “We want to give back to the community we serve.” The toy drive started in the 1990s on a single street and has expanded to the whole city. Toys and other donations will be taken through Friday at the police department. Donations also will be accepted from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. today at Holiday Magic at Sue Haswell Memorial Park. For more information, go to the Bryan Police Department Web site or the Facebook page. Travis Lawson, staff writer
One
among many
Jonny Green — THE BATTALION
Senior accounting and finance major Hunter Bollman serves as Student Regent for the Texas A&M University System.
Student regent represents Aggies across the state Rebekah Skelton | The Battalion
Student leader profile series Every other week, The Battalion profiled a student leader to gain insight into their lives and what it takes to do their job.
The Aggie values are defined by service and spirit, and perhaps no student embodies these ideals more than Hunter Bollman. A senior accounting and finance major, Bollman is the student regent for the Texas A&M University System, and A&M would be hard pressed to find a more fitting student for the position. “I don’t know if I’ve met someone on campus that works harder than Hunter,” said former student body president Mark Gold, a class of ’09 biomedical sciences major. “He has spent countless hours doing things that students might not even
recognize. He doesn’t always get the thanks he deserves for the time he’s spent serving A&M but he doesn’t mind because he loves A&M and the students so much.” The first in his family to attend A&M, Bollman said he knew after going to an Aggie football game that he was definitely interested in the school. “My second experience was my junior year [of high school],” Bollman said. “I did the tour of campus and I got goosebumps. I just knew it was
Graduate team works on anti-cancer agent Travis Lawson The Battalion The concept of protein synthesis is old news for fighting bacteria, but the idea of using it to fight cancer is fairly new. A team of graduate students headed by Texas A&M University chemistry professor Daniel Romo has synthesized a compound from marine sponges which causes tumor cells to shut down. Romo collaborated with researchers at Johns Hopkins University and developed a synthetic derivative that he said might one day be used as an anti-cancer agent. The compound was first isolated by a group in New Zealand and Romo’s team synthesized it in 1998 to produce larger quantities to study its stability and biological activity. “We also synthesized a compound that allowed our collaborators at Johns Hopkins to basically find out why this compound was exerting anti-cancer activity,” he said.
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“What they found was that it inhibits protein synthesis in mammalian cells.” Texas A&M patented the discovery named by the team as DMDAPatA, and Romo said it seems to have the same potency as the comRomo pound found in the marine sponges. “That is exciting from the standpoint that we were able to find a compound that is very close in structure,” he said. “As a result, we now have a compound that is easier to synthesize reasonable quantities.” Though, two pharmaceutical companies have shown interest in the studies, Romo said the agent was far from being put on the market. “There are always possibilities about how we would push this along but it is still a long road,” he said. “It can take 10 to 15 years for a drug to reach the market and we are about two or three years in.”
Meet the student regent Find out what Hunter loves most about being an Aggie and his plans after graduation. Hear from him Read his guest column to students. student leader | 7
See Bollman on page 4
Aggie fundraisers honor president Rebekah Skelton
Courtesy photo
A group of 15 architecture students design renovations for a New Orleans hospital.
Students design real-world project Luz Moreno The Battalion Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, on Aug. 29, 2005, leaving many residents without homes, grocery stores and hospitals. Floodwaters from the broken levees poured into New Orleans’ 9th Ward, causing massive damage to the area. A group of 15 students in the Architecture For Health studio at Texas A&M University split up into seven groups to build models to design renovations of the hospital. “We want to reconnect the 9th Ward with the heart of New Orleans,” said Rebecca Carranza, a senior architecture major. Students created designs for a 90- to 100-bed facility with an emergency center, surgery unit, intensive care units for adults and children, a post-anesthesia care See Design on page 4
The Battalion Since its formation in the summer of 2008, the Maroon Coats have made a name for themselves in the Aggie community. A branch of the Texas A&M Foundation, Maroon Coats was created to help with major gift fundraising. Members act as event hosts for donors and the University, traveling with development officers in the Foundation to thank donors and reinforce their confidence in Texas A&M University. “The original vision of the Maroon Coats is beginning to take shape,” said Strategy Intern Taylor Bradshaw, a senior accounting major. “The confidence that has been placed in our group is truly humbling, and we are honored to be the student representatives of such a thriving nonprofit operation.” With more than 450 hours of service under their coats, the organization has been able to make an impact on A&M. “The impact I’ve personally seen has come from the donor relations that we’ve built,” said
Maroon Coats President John Kovach, a senior agricultural economics major. “It’s good to see donors come back on campus and have them request to see a Maroon Coat so they can see what they’re doing on campus. By them showing their excitement it motivates the Maroon Coats to keep serving A&M.” One of the initiatives Maroon Coats are working on involves traveling with development officers to secure financing for the Memorial Student Center. Last year the Maroon Coats started with 12 members and put on one event a month. This year, with 20 members, the group has two or three events a month, and most recently held an event paying tribute to the newest honorary Maroon Coat, former President George H.W. Bush. “He’s displayed leadership not only for our University but also for the nation,” Bradshaw said. “He embodies the Aggie core values.” Selections for Maroon Coat members will begin in the See Maroon on page 4
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