weather
thebattalion
Unique winter storm causes trouble
● thursday,
february 3, 2011
● serving
texas a&m since 1893
● first paper free – additional copies $1 ● © 2011 student media
Christine Perrenot and Alex Lotz The Battalion Ice, blackouts and traffic have made for a hectic week in Bryan-College Station. Salt and sand cover pavements and roadways while freezing temperatures and winter weather continue to sweep across much of the nation. Strangely enough, temperatures in Texas were colder than temperatures in Chicago at 4 a.m. when it was 21 degrees in Illinois and 19 degrees in College Station. Power outages continued throughout Wednesday and affected citizens’ ability to stay warm, and traffic and intersection conditions. “The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) has reported that severe weather led to the loss of more than 50 generation units — a loss of more than 7,000 MW, due to the extreme cold temperatures across the state,” said Allen Bruggman for the city of Bryan. “As a result, ERCOT Grid Operations asked the utilities and transmission providers, including Bryan Texas Utilities, to implement rotating outages.” Crockett, Milam, Jones and Sam Houston elementaries are a few of the schools that experienced time periods with no electricity. Residents that experienced more than an hour of power outages were urged to report the em, Updates pbutr o b lmany ◗ Continue to people failed check thebatt. to call the com and the appropriate howdy portal for number and updated weather called 9-1-1 conditions and instead. This school closure crowded the local emerstatuses. gency phone lines that could have prevented people with actual emergency situations from getting help. Those who work in Cain Hall at Texas A&M University understand the severity of the power outages. There was no heat in the building until 3:30 p.m. Wednesday. It will take
Stephanie Leichtle — THE BATTALION
Dancers at the Chinese New Year Variety Show perform to the Chinese Classical Dance “Tage.” The Chinese Students Association put on the Rabbit Year Spring Festival performance on Saturday.
Year of the Rabbit Chinese New Year begins today Austin Burgart The Battalion A mass migration takes place all over the world as Chinese friends and family come together to celebrate the advent of the new year on the Chinese calendar. The 15-day-long celebration commemorates numerous traditional myths and legends. The festivities marking the Year of the Rabbit begin on Feb. 3 this year. During the festival, which is celebrated in conjunction with the new moon, people celebrate the new year and the new opportunities
and challenges it brings. While it is a time to retrospectively look back at the past year, many clean out their homes to get rid of evil spirits and start fresh. “On the Eve of Chinese New Year, supper is a feast with families. Food will include such items as pigs, ducks, chicken and sweet delicacies,” said Alan Zhang, a graduate student and president of the Chinese Students and Scholars Association. “The Chinese New Year tradition is a great way to reconcile, forget all grudges and sincerely wish peace and hap-
piness for everyone.” For many, Chinese New Year is a time to reunite with relatives and friends during the Chunyun. Chunyun, the traveling period leading up to the Spring Festival, is one of the largest human migrations. The Chinese New Year is widely regarded as the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. At the Chinese New Year celebration at Texas A&M there are more than 2,500 Asian-American students. “My family likes to watch See New Year on page 8
Year of the Rabbit ◗ 1915, 1927, 1939, 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011, 2023
◗ People born in the year of the rabbit are known for being: Good listeners Kind by nature Good friends Enjoy art, design and fashion Peacemakers Slow to anger Articulate Talented Ambitious
See Power on page 4
sports
Raven says nevermore to Ole Miss, hello A&M David Harris The Battalion It never disappoints. National Signing Day doesn’t tend to ever be short on drama, surprises, twists and turns. Wednesday, the A&M football program got a pleasant, yet shocking, surprise when highlytouted defensive Floyd Raven committed to the Aggies.
Raven, a native of Louisiana where he attended East St. John High School, has had a dramatic recruiting process. He committed, first, to Mississippi University. He then changed his commitment to A&M. After a day as an Aggie, he decided that he would recommit to Ole Miss where, today, he was expected to sign a Letter of Intent. However, according to sources, the
Ole Miss program received Raven’s LOI and realized that his mother had, indeed, forged his signature. After realizing that, Head Coach Houston Nutt decided to void the LOI. “His mom. Mom really wanted him here,” Nutt said. “Mom wanted him here in the worst way. And so, [Ole Miss compliance director] David [Wells is] our expert on that, so the
bottom line is when they told us that we said ‘Hey, look, I want you to be here because you really want to be here.’ And he was so torn. It’s really hard, Raven it’s a hard, hard decision, but when mom told me that, ‘Hey, look, I want you to
do what’s in your heart.’ And I think at the time he wanted to go elsewhere and look, I want them to want to be here.” Raven, himself, sent a LOI to Head Coach Mike Sherman and the Aggies and is, now, a member of A&M’s recruiting class of 2011. See Raven on page 4
tradition
community
Miss Rev. is eighth dog in A&M mascot tradition
Health clinic receives robust grant
Luz Moreno-Lozano
Tradition features
April Baltensperger
Each day this week, a Battalion reporter will delve into the history of one of the A&M traditions students recognize.
The Battalion
The Battalion Reveille is known as the first lady and official mascot of Texas A&M University. As the highest ranked member of the Corps of Cadets, she holds the position of a five-star general. “Students love Reveille,” said Andrew Sibal, a freshman general studies major and traditions council member. Her story dates back to 1931 when a group of Corps members were hunting in Navasota and hit a black and white dog. They brought her back to campus to take care of her and the next morning to the sound of
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the bugle call “Reveille” she began to bark, hence her name. In the fall of the next football season she was named the official mascot of Texas A&M when she led the band onto the field during half-time. When Reveille I died on Jan. 18, 1944, she was given a formal military funeral on Kyle Field. She was buried at the See Reveille on page 4
File photo
The current Miss Rev., Reveille VIII, is sixth in a long line of pure-bred collies that started with Reveille III in 1966.
The Health for All clinic in Bryan received $104,150 from the largest health insurer in Texas. With this money the clinic plans to hire a physician assistant. The addition will help the clinic see more patients and reach out to more of the community. “One more person on staff will double the amount of people they can see,” said Kristen Clancy, a pharmacy graduate student and volunteer at the clinic. “At any moment, there is usually only one doctor on staff; that doctor is a volunteer provided by the A&M Medical school. It will be really helpful for the clinic to bring
in someone else to see more patients; one more person on staff will double the amount of people they can see.” The clinic has been around for more than 20 years, serving the community by providing free health care to those without insurance or Medicaid. The staff has a passion for reaching out to the low income families who need care in the area but cannot afford it. “If the clinic did not exist, these patients would end up in the emergency room or would simply go without treatment, and that has a huge social and economic impact to the community,” said Stephanie Wehring, depSee Health on page 4
2/2/11 9:34 PM