Issuu

pages six & seven

thebattalion battalion

HOW RINGS ARE BORN

RING DAY IN

AGGIELAND

● friday,

april 11, 2014

● serving

texas a&m since 1893

tradition

The Ring: gold connects generations

page five Three generations of Aggies dunk their rings

Aggie Ring Day marks record number of orders Jennifer Reiley The Battalion

page five Friends band together to help cadet get his ring

page eight Man earned Aggie Ring at age 60, but was an Aggie for life

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he excitement and glimmer of Aggie Ring Day encircles the past, present and future of the Aggie legacy. Ryan Johnson, senior mechanical engineering major and campus relations sub-committee chair for Traditions Council, said the first Aggie Ring was designed by the Class of 1889, although the original design was different from the one now seen on Ring Day. “The ring we know today was designed by E.C. Jonas, Class of 1894,” Johnson said. “Jonas’s design was very similar to the design today.” Kathryn Greenwade, Class of 1988 and vice president for communications and human resources at The Association of Former Students, said for about 40 years, the Aggie Ring design was determined by each class. “Up until 1930, each class designed a ring that was personal to them,” Greenwade said. “In 1930, a committee was formed to establish consistency and uniformity.” Greenwade said in 2013, 12,085 rings were ordered overall, an increase from 2012. She said for 2014, A&M is expected to meet or exceed that number. “So far in 2014, there have been 4,861 rings ordered which exceeds the same ring order from last

year by almost 400,” Greenwade said. “4,327 rings will stay here for Ring Day. The rest are shipped to the campuses in Galveston and Qatar as well as the Law School.” Currently, Greenwade said there are several reasons the Aggie Ring orders are increasing every semester. “The increase in the number of rings ordered is due to several factors,” Greenwade said. “Our student population is growing, there is financial assistance available through scholarships and you’re starting to see more stories where students have helped each other to get a ring.” Even with the number of students receiving their Aggie Ring increasing, Greenwade said The Association is planning to continue to host Ring Day at the The Association as long as students are able to stay safe and have fun. “We’re looking at keeping Ring Day here,” Greenwade said. “It’s important to have that connection between the ring and the The Association. The ring is the first stepping stone to becoming a former student.” Greenwade said the Aggie Ring symbolizes belonging to A&M and the Aggie network, connecting Aggies across generations. “The ring is just as treasured by the Class of 2014 as it was by the Class of 1941, for example,” Greenwade said. “Even though Texas A&M has changed, the foundation of Aggie values remains the same [and] the Aggie Ring remains constant.”

THE RING AND ITS SYMBOLS Eagle & shield

13 stripes “There are the 13 stripes for the 13 original colonies. That is significant because our country’s history is within the ring.”

“I think it’s good to have agility and power on the Aggie ring because it shows strength and the fact that the eagle is with the shield. Putting those together, the eagle and shield, they work together. Having that’s important because as Aggies we’re a strong University, we’re strong and rich in tradition.” Eric Gil, Corps of Cadets commander

Kyle Kelly, student body president-elect

Cannon & rifle “There has always been a strong connection between Texas A&M and military service. I think that is both a tribute to our past and an honor to those who serve today.” Kathryn Greenwade, vice president of communications and human resources at The Association of Former Students, Class of 1988

Saber “A saber is important because it does represent the quality of young men and women that we produce as leaders for our community, our state and our nation.” Brig. Gen. Joe Ramirez, Corps of Cadets Commandant, Class of 1979

Olive & laurel

Live oak

Star

“The live oak symbolizes someone who is strong enough to stand by what they believe in.”

“Our students have a rich history of development into leaders who do change the world while serving the greater good.”

Ryan Crawford, head yell leader

John Sharp, A&M system chancellor, Class of 1972

Compiled by Jennifer Reiley, graphic by William Guerra — THE BATTALION

“Striving for peace is a great balance to draw between our other symbols on the ring of the cannon and the saber, that although we are always ready to defend our freedom and the land we love, we also are striving for peace.” Reid Joseph, student body president

4/10/14 11:11 PM

ANSWERS

to todays puzzles

friday 4.11.2014

The following Aggies have been selected as the recipients of the Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges Award for 2013-2014: UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS Katie T. Heinrich ‘13 Alyssa C. Hoover ‘14 Misty R. Jackson ‘14 Caroline M. Janssen ‘14 Michael G. Jaska ‘14 Wesley S. Johnston ‘14 T. Reid Joseph Jr. ‘14 Abigail D. Kemp ’14 Kasey W. Kram ‘15 Mollie P. Lastovica ‘14 Andrew T. Ligon ‘15 Nicholas C. Madere ‘14 Cyrenea Millberry ‘13 Michelle A. Mitchell ‘14

Mehna Nawal ‘14 Mason R. Parish ‘14 Christopher L. Powell ‘14 Caitlin M. Powers ‘14 Shelby C. Rhodes ‘14 Zulema Rios ‘14 Abigail R. Ritchey ‘14 Jaime L. Rodriguez ‘14 Hayley K. Rogers ‘15 Alice A. Schneider ‘14 Janelle E. Shen ‘14 Samantha N. Vargas ‘14 Brittany N. Watson ‘13 Travis W. Welwood ‘13

GRADUATE STUDENTS Anuj Chaudhry ‘14 Amanda N. Rutherford ‘15 Vahid Tajeddini ‘14

Online Permit Registration April 9 - July 8 r you ith e & w n n Scaartpho now! sm gister re

transport.tamu.edu

thebattalion

LONG OVERDUE

2013-2014 WHO’S WHO AMONG STUDENTS IN AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES AND COLLEGES ~TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY~

Sara K. Bates ‘14 William J. Brooke ‘14 Sarah E. Byrne ‘14 Patrick Casey ’14 Samantha B. Chalupa ’14 Jeffrey C. Covell ‘14 Ryan D. Crawford ‘14 Megan N. Davis ‘14 Michael Dror ‘14 Scott G. Evetts ‘15 Lesli L. Garrett ‘14 Mitchel R. Grams ‘14 Brent D. Hale ‘14 Amanda E. Hatheway ‘14

baseball

page 2

Jenna Rabel — THE BATTALION

Sophomore finds solace in hunting, fishing and getting outs Tyler Stafford The Battalion

rowing up in Mont Belvieu, Texas, sophomore pitcher Grayson Long didn’t have much to do besides hunt, fish and pitch. Lucky for him, one of those hobbies propelled him to the mound on Olsen Field. A graduate of Barbers Hill High School, Long impressed baseball scouts enough to be drafted by the Seattle Mariners straight out of high school. Long chose to table his professional aspirations to come to Texas A&M. “I came on a recruiting visit and walked through the new place and went to a football game,” Long said. “I was sold by all of the traditions and how much the fans get into the game.” During his freshman year, Long appeared mainly as the Aggies’ Tuesday night starter, compiling a 4-0 record with a 2.28 ERA in six starts. However, head coach Rob Childress thought Long had the potential to perform much better. “He came in as a very highly recruited and highly regarded kid out of high school,” Childress said. “He really struggled as a freshman and it wasn’t so much the physical part, it was just about his work habits and his routine and his personal discipline.” Long said he came back in Fall 2013 with a new attitude, recognizing his position as a key player on the team. The change in attitude did not go unnoticed by his coach. “As a sophomore, I don’t know that he’s changed an awful lot, physically,” Childress said. “He’s just grown up an awful lot. His attention to detail is very, very good and his work is very, very good. When you take care of your business off the field, you usually see results on the field. I think that’s what we’re seeing with him as a sophomore. He has really

grown up.” When he is not on the mound, Long said he can be found doing one of two things — hunting or fishing. He said it has been a great way to bond with fellow teammates. “We have a lot of people on the team that duck hunt,” Long said. “It’s just kind of an escape from here, especially in the fall. It’s such a grind here in the fall. It’s just nice to be able to get away and have fun with each other outside of baseball.” When he takes the mound, the Olsen Field PA system blares the same song it has since his freshman year, much to his parents’ discontent. “My walk-up song is ‘Party Up’ by DMX,” Long said. “It was that last year and the crowd does a little dance thing that they do, so I just kept it. My parents — they hate it.” A university studies major and business and economics minor, Long said he loves his leadership courses. Long said he takes the leadership skills he has learned in the classroom onto the field and tries not to over think any one particular game. “I try to look at every start the same way,” Long said. “It’s the same game I’ve been playing since I was four. I try not to pump myself up or build the game up so I don’t get too nervous.” This season, Long leads his team in earned run average (2.49), wins (3) and has yet to give up a home run. As the Aggies march into the final half of the season, Long will be important if the team hopes to find success against SEC schools with potent offenses. “From his freshman year, you could always tell he had talent,” said junior pitcher Gandy Stubblefield. “This year, he’s put in the work and it’s obviously showing for him.”

Aggies seek win No. 2,500 Brandon Wheeland The Battalion

awkins Field in Nashville, Tenn., will host another SEC matchup as the Texas A&M Aggies (20-14, 5-7 SEC) clash with the No. 7 Vanderbilt Commodores (26-8, 6-6 SEC) in a three-game series beginning Friday. The Aggies won Tuesday night against Prairie View A&M, 8-2. The next win will be the 2,500th victory for the program. The Aggies will be the first SEC team and the 12th team in NCAA Division I history to reach the 2,500-win mark. Head coach Rob Childress is shaking up the weekend rotation once again, opting for senior Jason Jester to take the mound Friday night as the starter, rather than filling his typical closer role. Friday’s start will be the first of Jester’s career and the 49th appearance for the senior. He owns a record of 2-2 on the year. Usual Friday starter Daniel Mengden has been pushed back to Saturday for the weekend series with sophomore Grayson Long taking the ball Sunday. Mengden ranks third in the SEC in innings pitched, with 57. In his last outing, he struck out the 200th batter of his career. Mengden leads A&M with 65 strikeouts so far this season. Full story at thebatt.com

thebattalion THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT VOICE OF TEXAS A&M SINCE 1893

Jake Walker, Editor in Chief Mark Doré, Managing Editor Aimee Breaux, City Editor Jennifer Reiley, City Editor John Rangel, City Asst. Lindsey Gawlik, City Asst. Clay Koepke, Sports Editor Tyler Stafford, Sports Asst.

Jessica Smarr, Copy Chief Luis Cavazos, Page Designer Meredith Collier, Page Designer Allison Rubenak, Lifestyles Editor William Guerra, Graphics Chief Jenna Rabel, Photo Chief David Cohen, Photo Asst.

THE BATTALION is published daily, Monday through Friday during the fall and spring semesters and Tuesday and Thursday during the summer session (except University holidays and exam periods) at Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843. Offices are in Suite L400 of the Memorial Student Center. News: The Battalion news department is managed by students at Texas A&M University in Student Media, a unit within the Division of Student Affairs. Newsroom phone: 979-845-3315; E-mail: editor@thebatt.com; website: http://www.thebatt.com. Advertising: Publication of advertising does not imply sponsorship or endorsement by The Battalion. For campus, local, and national display advertising, call 979-845-2687. For classified advertising, call 979-845-0569. Office hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Email: battads@thebatt.com. Subscriptions: A part of the Student Services Fee entitles each Texas A&M student to pick up a single copy of The Battalion. First copy free, additional copies $1.

BAT_04-11-14_A2.indd 1

4/10/14 9:52 PM

news

page 3 friday 4.11.2014

thebattalion

POLITICAL PULL ON SCIENCE Aimee Breaux, city desk editor, sat down with Neal Lane, former director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy under the Clinton administration, during his visit to campus Thursday. While here, Lane gave a lecture titled “Giving Science Advice to the President — and Why It’s Getting Harder.” THE BATTALION: You have a background in physics, what drew you to this field? LANE: I don’t know that I know really. I decided when I was 11-12 years old that physics was going to be my thing, but I don’t really know why. I think it was something about the mystery, about the stars and I read a little bit about astronomy. I guess I thought I was going to be an astrophysicist. So my idea was, I’ll learn all about this and I’ll try to learn how things work, how the universe works and teach at a university and that’s about as much as I thought about it. So, I wasn’t a terribly enthusiastic student in school, I would say. I figured I did need to learn something so I could get my degree as a physicist. Neither of my parents were college educated, they grew up in the Depression era. They couldn’t afford college education, but they were very supportive of everything I wanted to do. So if I wanted to be a physicist, they said, ‘Fine, why not?’ THE BATTALION: What is the biggest barrier to funding research that we face in the U.S. today? LANE: It’s a culmination of things, one problem that we have funding research is that the politics right now, especially on the Republican side, is to downsize government, make government smaller. And most research is funded by the federal government. So, if we are going to make the federal government smaller, then the question is do you fund less research or does it emerge as being something more important

than everything else. So far it’s been treated fairly relative to everything else, but it hasn’t jumped out, I don’t think, as something that is so much a higher priority that we are going to grow funding for research no matter what the federal budget is. This is a position that the country is in right now, the politics are not one of cooperative spirit. The parties are very divided and have been now for a number of years. It’s been very difficult to find any common ground to work together on setting priorities, so there really aren’t any serious discussions about how should our priorities be set. Everything just sort of gets chopped, and we’re right now still under the sequester that started in fiscal year 2013, and we got some relief from it for a couple of years, but if we don’t figure out how to set our priorities and get the country moving again, then I think we are likely to see more budget cuts down the road. THE BATTALION: Why should people outside of scientific research be concerned with the size of budget cuts? LANE: So the debate about how much to cut and how soon is a serious matter and right now I think the parties have not come to agreement. We‘re sort of cutting across the board and that includes cutting science. Now, if you cut science back — those budgets back — it means scientists on this campus and all over the country are not getting the money to fund their research and their laboratories and that research is for purposes of planting better crops, curing disease, inventing new technology in industries, creating new jobs and items people want and need. All of that comes out of science. It takes a long time, and we aren’t so patient these days, we want to see immediate returns. Science is really not that way, but you can trace all these extraordinary advances in

medicine and agriculture and materials and engineering and other fields of science can be traced back to some discoveries made in a scientific laboratory. THE BATTALION: Is there a field of scientific research in particular that should have the highest priority for funding? LANE: Not really. I think it is so difficult to predict where the payoff is going to be. It’s very difficult to pick a field and say, ‘That’s more important.’ What is clear is you want to fund the best people with the best ideas in all these different areas of science and then discoveries are going to be made, breakthroughs will be made, frontiers will be pioneered and applications will come out of that. It’s very difficult to know in advance what those will be and that includes the social sciences, where discoveries that have been made in the past have been extremely important in helping us know how to deal with social problems and those are all our problems that have to deal with poverty and crime and health, how people respond to health information is really a social science issue, not a medical research issue.

THE BATTALION: What was your mentality toward advising President Clinton on scientific policy? LANE: It’s about balance. One thing you have to keep in mind if you are working directly for the president, and reporting to the president, your job is to help the president do his job, so the president has his own priorities and agendas. There is generally not more chemistry and less physics and anything like that, there are larger issues that are politically important and that the president thinks are important to the people. So they are going to be things related to education and health, the environment, energy, national security, those kinds of things. So then your job is to make sure that you understand the president’s priorities as well as you possibly can and then be sure the president gets the technical and scientific advice to make those decisions when it comes time to divide up the money or support a bill or encourage legislation or whatever it is.

Tanner Garza — THE BATTALION

Neal Lane discusses his initiative to encourage funding for science-related projects.

Annual

Spring Concert

April 12, 2014

Saturday Night of Parent’s Weekend 7:30pm Rudder Auditorium

Tickets $5 at MSC Box Office

Purchase tickets online: http://boxoffice.tamu.edu

CONGRATULATIONS! Join the celebration as 4,800 shiny new Aggie Rings are to be delivered at the Clayton W. Williams, Jr. Alumni Center.

April 11 • Aggie Ring Day 12:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.

Ring Tickets will be distributed online at AggieNetwork.com beginning at 7 AM on April 4th through Ring Day. Approximate Schedule for Groups to Enter the Ring Delivery Area Group #1 Group #2 Group #3 Group #4 Groups #1-4 Group #5 Group #6 Group #7 Groups #1-7 Group #8 Group #9

12:00 12:15 12:30 12:45 1:00 1:15 1:30 1:45 2:00 2:15 2:30

Group #10 Groups #1-10 Group #11 Group #12 Group #13 Groups #1-13 Group #14 Group #15 Group #16 Groups #1-16 Group #17

2:45 3:00 3:15 3:30 3:45 4:00 4:15 4:30 4:45 5:00 5:15

Group #18 Group #19 Groups #1-19 Group #20 Group #21 Group #22 Groups #1-22 Group #23 Group #24 Group #25 Group #1-25

5:30 5:45 6:00 6:15 6:30 6:45 7:00 7:15 7:30 7:45 8:00

If your group’s time has already passed, please wait until the top of the hour when your group will be called once again. Entry into the Ring Delivery Area will only be allowed if it is either your group’s approximated time slot or when your grouping is called at the top of the hour (see schedule for clarification). Parking is available with a valid parking permit in PA 100. Those without valid permits may park at the University Center Garage, as available, and the West Campus Garage (WCG). All garage parking is based on an hourly rate.

BAT_04-11-14_A3.indd 1

AggieNetwork.com

4/10/14 10:16 PM

news

page 4 friday 4.11.2014

thebattalion

Aggie moms take on Parents’ Weekend The Battalion

nstead of humming with the sounds of students walking to and from class, the MSC will be buzzing with the sounds of the Aggie Moms’ Clubs annual Aggie Moms’ Boutique. Jeanne Harrell, president of The Federation of Texas A&M University Mothers’ Clubs, said contributions from clubs in Texas, Arizona and Louisiana will make this year’s boutique the biggest yet. “There’s 61 clubs and over 200 tables,” Harrell said. “They will fill all the ballrooms on the second floor.

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2014 Parents’ Weekend April 11th-13th Check out the official list of events at parentsweekend.tamu.edu

There will also be 47 raffle tables filling the halls. There’s an auction for a car, a golf cart and a trip to Arizona from the new Aggie Moms’ Club in Arizona.” Harrell said the tables will offer a variety of Aggiethemed items, including signature ones, like the El Paso Aggie Moms’ Club’s etched glass. “Jewelry, clothes, diploma frames, boots — everything you can imagine that’s Aggie themed and maroon and white,” Harrell said. “We will also have artwork from Benjamin Knox that he will sign.” Ginger Morton, fifth vice president of The Federa-

WHEN

tion of Texas A&M University Mothers’ Clubs, was in charge of organizing the 2014 boutique. It takes all year to organize the event, but Morton said her passion for A&M makes it all worth it. “You have to have commitment, dedication and passion,” Morton said. “You have to want to do it. Being from Bryan-College Station,

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I have it in my bones. I love helping the students. We do a lot of good.” The proceeds of the boutique will directly benefit the students of A&M, Morton said. “Our proceeds benefit student scholarships, financial aid for books and donations to student organizations at Texas A&M University,” Morton said. “The Aggie Moms’ Clubs

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HELP WANTED Athletic men for calendars, books, etc. $100-$200/hr, up to $1000/day. No experience. aggieresponse@gmail.com Cheddar’s and Fish Daddy’s now accepting applications. Apply within, University Dr. CiCi’s Pizza Now Hiring! Counter Staff/ Register/ Drive-thru personnel needed. No experience necessary, Evenings &weekends a must. Starting Pay up to $9.00 hour. Apply in person at CS location. City of Bryan now hiring Camp Counselors, Recreation Assistants, Lifeguards and Water Safety Instructors, do not have to be certified. Apply online bryantxjobs.com, call (979)209-5528 for more information. Cleaning commercial buildings at night, M-F. Call 979-823-5031 for interview. Cotton Patch, College Station 979-695-9707, now hiring servers, hosts, cashiers. Apply between 2-4pm at Rock Prairie Rd and Hwy 6. Dairy Queen is seeking a part-time IT Support/POS Help Desk Technician to work in our Bryan corporate office. 20hrs/wk, $17/hr. Submit resume to alexis.alexander@smithdq.com or call 979-220-5142. Full-time medical technician for growing allergy practice wanted. 4-year degree and 1-year commitment required. We are looking for an intelligent, positive, friendly person to join our team. We teach skills that are an asset for anyone interested in a career in healthcare and can help a candidate get into medical school. E-mail resume to docmgr@yahoo.com

the battalion Classified Advertising • Easy • Affordable • Effective For information, call 845-0569 puzzle answers can be found on page 2

HELP WANTED Greetings Texas A&M Seniors! Here is your chance to land a great job and to begin a career in the oil and gas industry! An Industrial products distributor for the oil and gas industry that specializes in carbon, stainless and chrome pipe, pipe fittings, flanges and valves is currently looking for the right candidate to join their inside sales group for their growing Houston branch. The ideal candidate must be a self starter who is organized, can work with a diverse group of people, and is excited to learn. The ideal candidate would be graduating in May of this year with a degree in Industrial Distribution or with a degree in Business Marketing, Finance or Accounting. This position is an entry level sales position and only people that are motivated to succeed and willing to learn our business from the ground up should apply. This person must be proficient in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Lotus and also needs excellent written and oral communication skills. Company offers a compensation package that includes a very competitive base salary, 401K plan, medical, dental, and vision insurance, as well as (2) weeks paid vacation after (6) months. Company will start interviewing immediately and would like to hire this candidate for work beginning June of this year. Please submit resume to: Derek Jones at djones@ipipes.com. Howdy Aggies! SSC Grounds Management Department at TAMU is hiring students. Part-time opportunities and Full-time summer employment are available, we also offer internships for horticulture, turf (including athletic turf), greenhouse operations, entomology, and irrigation management. SCC provides flexible schedules including 4/10 schedules during the summer and highly competitive pay, training, and continuing career opportunities after graduation. Please apply in-person at the facilities services location at 600 Agronomy Rd in College Station for more information please call: (979)458-5533 Gig ‘EM! J. Cody’s hiring at all positions, apply within, 3610 S. College. No experience necessary just common sense! Lifeguards and Water Safety Instructors for Briarcrest Country Club and Castlegate Community. Fun working environment, flexible hours. To apply call 254-498-5315 or email mturner@phillipsevents.com Equal Opportunity Employer. Local business looking for help with website, call 956-244-5819 for more information. MEMdata, a local hospital equipment management company is seeking dependable and organized FULL & PART-TIME employees to be part of a growing team! Must be able to work a minimum of 24 hrs/wk, M-F 8-5. Good telephone communication and negotiation skills required. Must be self-motivated and able to multi-task while working within deadlines. Computer skills essential & knowledge of MS Excel a plus! Pay DOQ plus bonuses. Email resumes to careers@memdata.com or fax to 979-695-1954. Needed ASAP Math tutor for Aldebra1, great rapport with high school student, meet on daily bases from April 7th through April 27th, text 218-6114. Needed: Computer Guru that can help a barely computer literate Old Ag (Class of “64) determine the feasibility of converting all the files on my Microsoft XP computer to an Apple Macbook Pro or, alternatively, helping me purchase a new computer that will accept those files. I am hoping this guru will do the conversion and help me learn how to operate it. Patience will be required. If interested, please email qualifications, monetary expectations and contact information to jleigh842@gmail.com.

BAT_04_11_14_A4.indd 1

of new Aggies should join so they can be part of the camaraderie. “Come join us, be part of the Aggie family,” Harrell said. “It’s a great opportunity to have a support group who are going through the same things you are. It’s a new little family.” The Boutique will be open from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. Admission is free.

see ads at thebatt.com

SPECIAL

Cassidy Tyrone

together have contributed over $400,000 in scholarships and donations to student organizations at Texas A&M in the 2012-2013 academic year.” Aggie Mom’s Boutique isn’t the only big event for Aggie Moms’ Clubs taking place on Parents’ Weekend. “Parent’s Weekend is our big deal,” Harrell said. “It’s when we have boutique and we have federation meeting to elect officers.” Harrell said the mothers

HELP WANTED New Position: Part-time staff position needed ($10-$12/hr) for busy real estate office. Must be a detail-oriented people person with reliable transportation and have reasonable computer skills in MS Word and MS Excel. This staff position requires 20-25 hours per week with additional optional hours available from time to time. Start date available immediately. For job description and application, go to: www.coventryglenrealty.com and click on Employment Opportunities side bar. Part-time job helping handicapped. Male student preferred. $360/mo. 8-10hrs/wk. 979-846-3376. RA or entrepreneur? Wants to earn extra money? Premium energy drinks distributor opportunity! Call 9792090778 call for an appointment. Sitters On Call is a babysitter referral agency located in Katy, TX. We are currently hiring AWESOME babysitters and summer nannies to work in the Katy/West Houston area. Our member families are all prescreened and rates are all prearranged, we do all the work for you! You just provide amazing care for awesome kids! Work as much or as little as you want, all managed from your smart phone. $11-$14/hr take home! Requires 2 yrs previous experience babysitting, teaching or leading kids. Visit us online at www.MySittersOnCall.com to learn more and to submit an application! STUDENTPAYOUTS.COM Paid survey takers needed in College Station. 100% free to join. Click on surveys. SUMMER TRAINING FOR AWARD WINNING BRYAN EMPLOYER STARTS IN MAY... Penncro Associates, Inc. is looking to hire Texas A&M school students and alumni for its May and June training classes for multiple positions at their state-of-the-art call facility in Bryan. Penncro employees receive the same training that is delivered at prestigious Fortune 500 Financial Institutions. This provides a great start or next step for any business professional’s career. After full time training, the team will work with you to set a full-time or part-time schedule that fits into your Fall school schedule and business needs. Apply to day through Penncro’s Careers page at www.penncro.com. EOE/M/F/D/V. Texas Concrete Design, a decorative concrete company, is currently looking for full/ part-time installers. No experience is needed, but a good work ethic is required. Please forward inquiries to chris@texasconcretedesign.com VOLUNTEER COACHES NEEDED! The City of College Station is seeking positive, enthusiastic and motivational youth volleyball and basketball coaches. Programs begin early May and run through July. Learn more at cstx.gov/sports or apply today at cstx.gov/sportsvolunteer

MOTORCYCLE 2008 silver Honda Rebel with saddlebag, 4000 miles, $2500. 2-year TAMU student owner selling. TAMU motorcycle parking only $80/yr. Call or text 832-257-2577.

REAL ESTATE 8 CS 3/2 Duplexes, shuttle, $229,900, Town & Country Realty 979-777-6211, 979-739-2035 B/CS. Sell/Buy/Invest! Michael McGrann TAMU ‘93 Civil Engineering 979-739-2035, mike@aggierealtor.com Nadia McGrann 979-777-6211, Town & Country Realty.

4/10/14 8:28 PM

page five

RING DAY

thebattalion

FRIENDS MAKE CADET’S RING A REALITY Anonymous donor closes financial gap John Rangel The Battalion

n paper, junior economics major Noah Andersen is the public relations sergeant for the Corps of Cadets, a member of Parson’s Mounted Cavalry and will be the 2014-2015 Corps chief of staff. To his friends, Andersen exemplifies what it means to be a servant leader. “We need more Aggies like Noah Andersen, we do, because he embodies what selfless service means,” said David Trigg, 2014-2015 Corps Commander and Andersen’s friend. Andersen said a large portion of his college life is dedicated to Texas A&M, but one tradition seemed out of his reach — the Aggie Ring. “You obviously want to get your ring when you can, but it didn’t bother me too much because I knew that I would get my ring one day,” Andersen said. “I knew for the longest time, ever since coming to A&M, [that] money had always been tight, so I’d always accepted the fact that getting your Aggie Ring, or senior boots for the Corps or stuff like that, I was always going to have to find a way to either live without it or get it at a later time.” Andersen had accepted the fact that the ring would be out of his reach for some time to come, but his friends were determined to bring that date closer for Andersen. Eric Gil, 2013-2014 Corps commander and senior industrial distribution major, knew Andersen as a fellow Marine Corps scholarship recipient, a junior on the Corps Staff and as a friend. When he found out Andersen wouldn’t have the funds to get his ring immediately, Gil reached out to several sources without Andersen’s knowledge to see if there was a way to get it for him. “I knew that he was going to have trouble with it, so I went to the Corps of Cadets Association, which financially supports the Corps and went to Bill Gutierrez, [associate director of the Corps of Cadets Association],” Gil said. Gil said Gutierrez came back to him with an extraordinary offer — a full donation to give Andersen the Aggie Ring he was willing to go without. “Bill told us the donor wanted to remain anonymous, so we respected those wishes,” Gil said. With Andersen’s ring secured, Gil and other friends of Andersen decided to deliver the good news as a surprise. On Feb. 7, the last day to order an Aggie Ring for Friday’s

spring Ring Day, Trigg and around 20 other friends gathered at the Clayton Williams Jr. Alumni Center while Gil worked out a way to get Andersen there without revealing the secret. “We knew when his classes were out and we just kind of got a group together,” Trigg said. “We called his buddies in the Corps [from Company C-2] and we all met at the Clayton Williams Center on the steps.” Meanwhile, the Corps morning formation was just finishing up when Gil approached Andersen with an idea. “We got back from formation on Friday morning, and [Gil] said, ‘Hey, let’s go get something to eat,’” Andersen said. The two were passing the Alumni Center on their drive off campus when Gil asked Andersen if they could stop by the building to ask questions about fixing his Buck Weirus watch, an award given to students who receive the Buck Weirus Spirit Award. Still unaware, Andersen agreed. “I was still oblivious as to what was going on,” Andersen said. “We walk inside, and there’s probably 20 or so of my old buddies from my old outfit and a lot of my other friends. A lot of my really good friends were all there and were all [saying] ‘Surprise, surprise, surprise.’” Trigg said Andersen was completely overwhelmed by the scene. “Noah walks in and Noah’s like, ‘What are all you guys doing here?’ and he’s clueless, absolutely clueless, and Eric says, ‘Noah, you’re getting your Aggie Ring sized today,’” Trigg said. “His face just dropped. I think he was in shock for several days after that, no kidding. He just didn’t know how to comprehend that. He’s a man who does not ever expect anything in return. His heart is for service. He deserved it.” Andersen will receive his Aggie Ring Friday at the Alumni Center, along with 4,326 other students. Gil said it was important that Andersen received his ring, especially now, because it is a part of Texas A&M’s legacy. “[The ring] is what connects us all here at A&M in my opinion,” Gil said. “I’ve seen people who didn’t get their rings until as they were leaving A&M, maybe for financial reasons and things like that, and having your ring while you’re still here means a lot, while you’re still a current student. It’s the unchanging aspect that connects all Aggies no matter what organization you’re in or what you did or what you majored in. Everybody’s got their ring and it truly is something special.”

PROVIDED

Norman Dowdy and his date at Ring Dance, the only Aggie Ring celebration during their time on campus.

POUR ONE OUT Combined ring dunk unites 3 generations of Aggies

Homer Segovia The Battalion

hile his father and greatuncle will drink from mugs, Corbin Lawson, senior industrial distribution major, will be downing a pitcher with no prior practice. Formed before an A&M football game around a sizzling grill, the idea materialized at a most appropriate time. When Ring Day finally arrived, Corbin, his father and his great-uncle would all dunk their rings and drink until only the gold remained, capturing three generations of Aggie spirit in the process. “Growing up as a little kid, I would see my dad’s big ring and it was massive compared to my little fingers and I just always wanted that growing up,” Bruce Lawson said. “To actually be able to get one, it’s definitely a great feeling.” Norman Dowdy, Corbin’s great-uncle, experienced that same feeling 54 years ago. For Dowdy, having money to spend on a pitcher of beer as a college student in 1960 was unheard of, let alone dunking any sort of jewelry in it. Instead, he said Ring Day celebrations consisted of cadets proudly toting their new possession back to their dorm room as the ring-less members of the outfit crowded around in awe of the achievement. “When I was there, there was 60 freshmen in my outfit and they told us one-in-five

would come back,” Dowdy said. “The next year there was 12 of us back as sophomores and all of us graduated.” Jump to 1984, the year both Bruce and Peggy Lawson, Corbin’s parents, received their Aggie Rings and ring dunks were just beginning to root themselves as an unofficial tradition. “When I got my ring, there was absolutely no ceremony to it at all,” Peggy Lawson said. “We walked up to a window, we handed them our ID, they handed us our ring and four girls walked over to The Chicken. We dunked our rings and that was it.” Bruce Lawson, who was a defensive tackle under the reign of Tom Wilson and Jackie Sherrill, said he had heard of ring dunks but didn’t see much of a reason to partake in it. “I was on the football team so we never needed an excuse to dunk a ring — we were always drinking pitchers of beer anyway,” Bruce Lawson said with a laugh. “We figured we didn’t have to put our ring at the bottom of the pitcher to get to the bottom of it.” Since the ring dunk has strengthened its status among Aggies, but Bruce Lawson said they’re not the only part of Aggie culture that has been fortified — the 12th Man has also gained strength. “If you’re playing a Sam Houston State, or a game that’s not really a meaningful game, look at the student section today and it’s absolutely packed and it’s packed until the end of the game,” Bruce Lawson said. “Back when I played, if

we were playing a team that wasn’t very big, the student section wasn’t quite as full and around halftime a lot of them kind of filtered out of there.” Peggy Lawson said this wasn’t due to a lack of appreciation of A&M culture, but instead a sign of the modern student body’s increased desire to celebrate tradition. “I think people pay more attention now to the traditions and make a big presentation out of it, whereas we knew all the traditions, we respected the traditions, but there wasn’t always a ceremony to go along with the traditions,” Peggy Lawson said. Traditions may have changed over time, but Bruce Lawson said the significance of the Aggie Ring to its bearer remains the same. “There’s been a lot of schools that have made rings similar to what A&M’s looks like, but nobody can match it,” Bruce Lawson said. “Getting your ring from A&M and getting your degree from A&M is second to none.” As Corbin prepares to receive his ring, he said this is not only his milestone to claim. “I really think this ring means a lot to me, but it also means a great deal to my mom and my dad,” Lawson said. “I know they didn’t really push for this their whole life, they always let me do what I wanted but I know deep down inside, they would have only wanted to see me graduate from A&M.” And so Corbin, Bruce and Norman will dunk their rings at 7:14 Friday, welcoming any Aggie to join them on the condition they show up early and with an edible contribution.

PROVIDED

Noah Andersen orders his ring Feb. 7 after friends surprised him with a fully paid ring made possible through an anonymous donation.

William Guerra — THE BATTALION

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4/10/14 10:43 PM

page six

RING DAY

thebattalion

STARTTO

The Battalion made the trip to the Balfour factory in Austin to trace the Aggie gold to its source. Step into the process that forges your piece of Aggie history.

FINISH John Rangel

The Battalion

,327 students will receive their Aggie Ring this Friday at the Clayton W. Williams Jr. Alumni Center — the largest Aggie Ring Day in history. Before those rings are placed on student’s hands, they were molded and cast by over 50 craftsmen whose careers are dedicated to making the Aggie Ring possible. Its origin story is short — at times only two days — but the journey the Aggie Ring takes from the Balfour factory to the Texas A&M campus is as extraordinary as the men and women who proudly wear it.

The beginning

David Collier walked up the production line of Balfour’s Austin ring factory, introducing workers by name and by the piece of the Aggie Ring they specialized in. Molding, casting and polishing — each employee has applied their craft to countless Aggie Rings, and it was rare to come across someone who had worked there for less than a decade.

BAT_04-11-14_A6.indd 1

“[The Aggie Ring] is one of our most prestigious accounts and you can tell by the pride that the people take in making the rings how much it means to them,” Collier said. “We work very hard every day, and every day of the year there’s always Aggie Rings going through this factory.” Collier is the director of manufacturing at the Balfour ring factory in Austin. He and his team have collectively overseen the crafting of every Aggie Ring since 1997. Along with several craftsmen, the Texas factory inherited six small metal tools embossed with the original Aggie Ring design — the “master tools.” “Each mold is made from a master,” said Mike Goodwin, Class of 1985 and Balfour’s manager of master tooling and engineering, as he inspected the set of originals. “These are masters. The molds actually look like this, but this particular mold is called the master mold. All of these masters come from this master mold, it’s kind of like a double backup system.” Before it undergoes metal casting, each Aggie Ring is initially molded from wax. Employees at the start of the production line use hollow molds with the ring’s symbols etched along the interior surface.

The molds are vacuum pumped to remove any air bubbles that would mar the design before receiving an injection of hot wax. After several seconds the molds are split, revealing a wax ring whose designs are based off the master set. “These production masters were actually made in ’97 or ’98,” Collier

said. “The original master here was probably made in the 50s or 40s.” All excess wax around the ring is cleared with a sharp knife except for an extruded tip. Called a “gate,” this tip is essential to a process called “tree-up,” the first step in turning wax into gold.

From wax to gold

Olivia Martinez has worked at the factory for 15 years. Her job is to build a “tree” of wax rings by attaching the base of each mold to a wax stem with a heated tool. Women’s and men’s rings are separated at this point, with 24 women’s rings

4/10/14 10:43 PM

Photo essay by Shelby Knowles — THE BATTALION

1. Wax molds of 12 men’s Aggie Rings stand together as a “tree” before metal casting. Each wax mold traces its design to a set of “master tools” from the 1990s. 2. Gold alloy melts at 1,780 degrees Fahrenheit before being poured into an investment flask that previously contained a wax tree. The flasks spent the night melting their wax away in the oven before the gold is poured in. 3. After a 20-minute wait allows the gold alloy to harden, the investment flasks are power washed and sandblasted to reveal a set of grey, dull rings. A

long series of craftsmanship and polishing will bring them to their iconic luster. 4. Richard Hernandez “pebbles” the underside of a woman’s Aggie Ring. Each Aggie Ring has a unique pebbling design because each underside is handcrafted individually. 5. An Aggie Ring is smoothed and polished at a station on the production floor. Aggie Rings can get hot enough to burn a craftsman’s fingers throughout this process, making finger guards and gloves necessary. 6. Completed rings are placed in their boxes prior to shipment after a final quality assurance check. Balfour is also responsible for many other university ring orders, but A&M maintains the largest contract. 7. Balfour employees work on a new batch of Aggie Rings at the Austin factory. Each ring goes through a minimum of 35 handcrafted operations during its production cycle.

3 4

4 5 6 and 12 men’s rings making up separate trees. Mike Goodwin, Class of 1985 and Balfour’s manager of master tooling and engineering, said this is the only place in the factory where the rings do not receive individual attention. “This is the only point in the process where any of the rings are handled as a batch,” Goodwin said. “Everywhere else, everything is handled as an individual unit, as an individual order.” The trees are placed in flasks that are filled with a pasty white plaster mixture of water and crushed gypsum. Called “investment,” the paste is allowed to dry for around two hours before moving to the ovens. Lee Zapata, the man in charge of mixing the investment and prepping the ring trees for casting, walked into Balfour’s factory when he was 18 and never left. “[I’ve been working] for maybe 35 years,” Lee said with a laugh. “I’ve seen some people wearing the ring and I ask them about it and they’re real proud of the ring. I tell them that I work here and I tell the little story behind it, and they’re all excited, they’re proud to wear their ring.” After the ring flasks have set into a solid plaster, they are placed in ovens

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where they spend the night at temperatures ranging up to 1,200 degrees Fahrenheit. The wax melts out of the hardened investment, leaving internal “branches” with hollow ring spaces at each end. These hollow spaces contain negatives of the ring designs and are now ready to be filled with molten gold.

Pouring the ring

Henry Alvarez, production floor and casting supervisor, and employee Eric Amaya enter the factory every day at 5 a.m. to begin the casting process. When large orders such as the one for Texas A&M’s Ring Days come in, Henry will often work close to 12 hours a day, following each batch as it moves from casting to completion. “I’ve been doing this for 20 years and when you go over [to A&M] and see the students getting a ring and you see tears in their eyes, it’s priceless,” Henry said. A precise amount of gold alloy that corresponds to each individual tree flask is melted at 1,780 degrees Fahrenheit. The ring flask is attached to a gasket beneath the molten metal and is vacuum sealed before the metal is poured into the space previously occupied by the wax tree. After the metal cools for at least

20 minutes, the flask is power washed, broken with a hammer, and sand blasted to reveal a tree of dull, off-grey rings worth upwards of $10,000. The rings are then cut off the branches and moved back to the production line. Here, they will be pebbled, polished and inspected individually by a series of increasingly fine tools and craftsmanship to gain the gold luster they are known for.

The final touches

While each Aggie Ring carries the same design, they each have individual characteristics because handcraftsmanship still plays a large role at Balfour’s factory. Nowhere else is this more apparent than the “pebbling” along the bottom of each ring. Richard Hernandez stands out among the other factory workers, and not just because he has worked there for 38 years — a staunch Longhorn fan, he wears an orange and black baseball cap with the Horns’ insignia while working on the Aggie Ring at his desk. He is one of three craftsmen who etch the pebbles on every Aggie Ring. “We take great pride in doing A&M rings,” Hernandez said. “I’ve been here for 38 years and I’ve done thousands of them and I always put 100 percent effort into them. Every

time we get a group, we try to make them better and better and better.” After the pebbling, cleaning, polishing and other handcrafting, the inside of the ring is engraved with the name of the student by a fine-tuned machine before it passes through a final quality assurance point.

Pursuit of perfection

Donna Hebert’s family has a long history with Balfour and the rings they make. Her grandmother, two sisters and a brother worked at the original Massachusetts plant and she came to Texas with the factory when it moved in 1997. Hebert has the final word on every Aggie Ring the factory produces and personally inspected each of the 4,327 rings to be given out on Friday — twice. The inspection is exceptional. Every symbol on the ring is scrutinized and even the individual antiquing shades between the eagle and other symbols must be just right before receiving her approval. Hebert said preparing for this Ring Day held a surprise for her — during the inspections, she recognized a familiar name. “I go to church with a girl who is getting her ring this Friday … and I saw her ring and went, ‘Oh! This is Kellie’s ring!’ so that night I went

home and sent [her] a message on Facebook ‘I looked at your ring today!’” Hebert said. “Kellie said her heart just skipped a beat, she was so excited about getting her ring.” Once Hebert gives her approval, the rings are packaged and shipped to The Association of Former Students, where they again go through a quality inspection before finally resting on a student’s hand at Ring Day. For the Balfour team, the behindthe-scenes care that goes into making each Aggie Ring is more than worth it because of the unique place they hold in Texas A&M’s tradition. For Collier, making the rings can be personal — although he is a Texas State alumnus, his wife graduated with the Aggie Class of 1978 and his son is a freshman at A&M studying biomedical engineering. “It’s one thing to walk up and get your ring from the president of a university, but to have your mom, your dad, your grandfather, your great-grandfather give your ring to you right there,” Collier said. “I can’t wait to give my son his. To be able to walk his ring through this factory and then to give it to him, it’s going to be a very special ring.”

4/10/14 10:50 PM

page eight

RING DAY

LEGACY LIVES ON Father influences Aggie family

Allison Rubenak

The Battalion f you ask Pat Brunner what her late husband Richard “Dick” Brunner, Class of 1993, would compare his Ring Day experience to, he would have said that receiving his Aggie Ring was ranked “right up there” with having children. Throughout their children’s college education and beyond, Pat and Dick fully immersed themselves in the spirit of Aggieland. Home and away football games, a “Parents of Year” recognition, watching their children graduate and finally, fulfilling a dream as Dick finished his undergraduate degree and received his Aggie Ring at the age of 60. Pat said Texas A&M was a way of life for her family, even before her husband went back to school. All three of their children attended and were active on campus, each winning The Buck Weirus Award their freshman year of college. “We [Dick and I] just fell in love with A&M because we didn’t grow up in Texas,” Pat said. “We really didn’t know that much about the universities in the state, so our connection with A&M just skyrocketed.” Barbara Brunner Pereira, Class of 1984, said initially her parents didn’t really know much about A&M until they visited for the first football game. “After Fish Camp, I was so pumped up,” Barbara said. “I remember when they brought the motor home up, I began teaching them all the yells and all the things Aggies do and my mom, dad, younger brother and sister just really got into it and enjoyed it.” From then on, Barbara said her parents’ experience of A&M was drastically different. “By the end of the fall of my freshman year all my friends actually thought that my parents, my dad, had gone to A&M, because they knew all the yells, they knew all the traditions and they were bringing their friends up and teaching all our Aggie traditions to their friends,” Barbara said. The drive to College Station to Houston was short, Pat said,

and they would park their motor home near the Commons and tailgate before Aggie football games. “We attended everything,” Pat said. “I was involved in Aggie Moms’ club. We would tailgate, we had season tickets [to football games], my husband donated two endowed football scholarships and we’ve had baseball tickets, women’s basketball tickets and soccer throughout the years.” Karen Brown, Class of 1984, was a childhood friend of Barbara’s. Brown introduced A&M to the Brunner family after inviting Pereira to a football game with her father, who was a student. She said the family was personable and that Pat and Dick invested heavily in the lives of their children and others. “They’re just the kind of people who know no strangers,” Brown said. “They would meet somebody, chat up one conversation and then become friends. They were very outgoing, very friendly.” During Parents’ Weekend of 1990, their youngest daughter Sharon von Rosenberg, along with the rest of their children, nominated Dick and Pat for the “Parents of the Year” award. Michael Brunner, Class of 1987, said his parents lived with purpose, always seeking to take advantage of the opportunities that life presented. “They were always a big proponent of what I would call, ‘the other education,’” Michael said. “Not just the academic learning, but the personal development and the training that comes with being involved in campus organizations. A big area of their interest was in working with students that were involved in campus from SGA to MSC to the Corps.” Barbara said her parents were shocked when they walked onto the stage. She said she was equally shocked when she heard her father announce he did not have a college degree and wanted to make a commitment to finish his education. “About that time when they were interviewing us on stage my husband said, ‘Well, now I want to come back and finish my degree and get my Aggie Ring,’”

Pat said. “And that became his goal in 1990.” Barbara said she burst into tears when she realized the devotion her father had as a parent. “Right then I realized how much he placed the importance of a strong degree because he didn’t want the focus to be on him and what his challenges had been,” Barbara said. “When he said that on stage, I thought,

‘Oh my gosh, we are going to do everything we can to encourage and support emotionally and spiritually so that he can get his Aggie Ring.’” Education was important to Dick, Pat said, and as a result he took classes at both the University of Houston as well as Kent State University in Ohio, before he arrived at A&M. Dick enrolled in classes in the fall of 1991, and as Pat described — he “hit the ground running.” Pat said Dick commuted for almost two and a half years during school while working as a commercial real estate broker. “And I don’t think he would have done that at any other school,” Pat said. “Just the atmosphere at A&M and the prestige of earning your Aggie Ring — it’s just unlike any other school in the country.” In the summer of 1992, Dick checked into his dorm at Rudder Hall to fully experience A&M’s campus. Von Rosenberg, Class of 1990, went with Pat to drop off her father. As von Rosenberg said her goodbyes and watched her father walk off to his dorm, she said she became emotional thinking about the path her father

PROVIDED

felt proud to be on. “Here I was a 22-year-old A&M graduate who had been through endless times of my parents dropping me off at school,” von Rosenberg said. “And I flipped to the parental side of the equation with the mixed emotions of pride and concern for my dad as he started his journey for the summer.” Pat said Dick graduated from high school in 1951 and soon after began Catholic seminary to study to become a priest. “After four years he decided that was not what his calling was,” Pat said. “He returned home and was drafted into the United States Army for two years, right after the Korean War.” Pat and Dick were married in Ohio in 1960. After a brief stay in California, the Brunner family moved to Houston where they settled down. Michael said he and von Rosenberg were both graduating with graduate degrees at around the same time his father was receiving his degree from A&M. “We were excited about all three,” Michael said. “Ultimately, the only one that truly mattered to all of us was my dad’s undergraduate degree. He spent

association of former students

Aggie Ring collections immortalize memories

Lindsey Gawlik The Battalion

he Aggie Ring Collections stand in the Clayton Williams Jr. Alumni Center as living memorials to hundreds of Aggies who proudly attended Texas A&M University. As 4,327 Aggies prepare to get their Aggie Rings on Friday at Alumni Center, Kathryn Greenwade, vice president of The Texas A&M Association of Former Students, said The Association also is preparing to welcome the students and their family members. Greenwade said the collections most people are familiar with are the Sterns Collection and the Memorial Collection, which stand side by side and include an Aggie Ring from every year since 1889, with the exception of 10 empty years that The Association is still waiting for donations to fill in. “We prefer to wait for people to come to us rather than going to them for the rings for the empty years, since it is a difficult situation to lose a loved one,” Greenwade said. “This is a way many of [the owners of the rings] get to live on and inspire other Aggies.” Greenwade said many of the newer rings were from former students who died in car accidents, including football player Joseph Villavisencio, the representative for the Class of 2012 “Joey was returning home at the end of the fall semester,” Greenwade said. “The football team had just done a service project with Twin City Mis-

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sion, giving gifts to the children that were living there and then they [left] before the bowl game and he was heading home and was killed in a car accident.” There are two other collections available — the Rotating Ring Collection and the Rings of Special Significance Collection. The Rotating Ring Collection features other prominent Aggies’ rings for years already represented in the Sterns and Memorial Collection, and shows different rings every six to eight weeks. The Rings of Special Significance Collection holds the rings of momentous Aggies such as Gen. O.R. Simpson and Gen. James Earl Rudder. Greenwade said The Association felt honored to have Aggie Rings such as Rudder’s because of the impact he had on A&M. “[Rudder] has great significance to [A&M] for his service in World War II and his heroic actions there,” Greenwade said. “Also for his time as University president, and all female Aggies owe a lot to him because he was president when women were first allowed to attend Texas A&M.” Jennifer Fountain, ring program senior associate for The Association, said seeing Aggie families brought together by Aggie Ring Day and by the rings in the collections is a special sight to see. She said she once had a family center its family reunion around the Rotating Ring Collection. “This family reunion they wanted

centered around the ring because of the [history] behind this ring,” Fountain said. “[Tom] was Class of ’43, and because of him coming to A&M there are now 13 Aggie Rings in their family.” The Association’s displayed history tells the story of J.B. “Josh” Sterns, Class of 1899, who knew the Aggie Ring had been a symbol of success since 1889 and was a symbol that would change, but continue to be cherished. In 1963, Sterns was the original collector of the Aggie Rings for The Association. The Association said Sterns wrote more than 4,000 letters in three years, asking former students to donate their Aggie Rings to be a part of a permanent ring collection that could be enjoyed by Aggies for years to come. Sterns collected all the rings from 1889 to 1964, during which time the school was named the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas, and asked that The Association continue to collect a ring for each year afterward. Greenwade said the Memorial Collection, the collection maintained by The Association, received two new additions on March 8. Greenwade said the only class represented with more than one ring is the Class of 1995, which features rings from a husband and wife who were getting ready to graduate the spring before they were killed in a car crash.

so much time and had so much love for A&M. The only thing that was missing that was kind of completing him at A&M was that degree and that ring.” When Dick finally received his ring, it was the epitome of excitement, and for someone who took pride in traditions, he even dunked it at the Dixie Chicken, Pat said. “My husband shines — he, I mean he polished and kept that buffed every day and so he was just recognized throughout this lifetime by wearing the ring,” Pat said. “It was a visual icon.” In 2005, at the age of 72 and after 45 years of marriage, Dick passed away. Pat, who temporarily moved in with Barbara after knee surgery in February, is now states away from College Station, but she said she hopes to return soon. “[Dick and I] never stopped going back to the University,” Pat said. “And after he passed away, I moved up to College Station because that is what he always wanted to live [there]. Although scattered throughout the South, the Brunner family still gathers in Kyle Field and attends football games when fall rolls around. Gabriel Pereira, sophomore business major and Pat and Dick’s grandson, is a third generation Aggie. He said he appreciated his grandfather’s devotion to the University. “When they first told me the story that’s one of the things that kind of secured what it means to my family, just kind of the [Aggie] spirit,” Gabriel said. “I trusted [my grandfather’s] judgment — the fact that he just came in, made me realize that if I go to A&M it’s a lot of more than just a family tradition.”

Top: Michael Brunner (left) and Sharon von Rosenberg (right) celebrate with Dick Brunner at the Dixie Chicken upon receiving his Aggie Ring. Left: Pat Brunner helps her husband, Dick Brunner with putting on his Aggie Ring at his ring ceremony in 1993.

Police caution Aggie Ring dunkers Aimee Breaux

The Battalion olice advise those attending and participating in ring dunks to exercise caution if they consume alcohol this weekend. Lt. Chuck Fleeger, College Station Police Department public information officer, said while the CSPD will not be targeting ring dunks, officers will still respond to complaints of noise violations, underage drinking and excessive drunkenness.

Fleeger said he advises people who are going to consume alcohol to do so legally and in moderation. “We would encourage people to not over indulge in alcohol at any point in time,” Fleeger said. “Even if it is pertaining to a ring ceremony, because there are too many negative things that can happen, either legally or physically. So we certainly would discourage any activity like that.”

Remington May — THE BATTALION

Infograph shows the blood alcohol content after four beers, about equal to a pitcher, based on weight.

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softball

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SOFTBALL STAPLE Senior uses skill and smarts to excel in sport Milkyas Gashaw The Battalion

n her four years at Texas A&M, Cassie Tysarczyk has played in 214 games and started 196. For an Aggie softball team that has changed conferences from the Big 12 to the SEC, Tysarczyk has been a mark of consistency. Outfielder and team captain Tysarczyk said she was taken aback by the tradition and environment of Texas A&M on her first visit and immediately made a decision to commit to the University. “Texas A&M was the second school that I visited,” Tysarczyk said. “I was fortunate to come on a visit my junior year. I was on campus for one day and I fell in love with the campus the second I set foot on campus. I committed on campus the same day I visited.” Tysarczyk contributed quickly to her new club. She started 53 contests in right field as a freshman and hit five doubles, seven home runs and led the team with 13 sacrifice

hits. On defense, she logged the first of two straight seasons with a perfect fielding percentage. Tysarczyk has been a fixture on the diamond for the Aggies since seizing the starting role in right field. In her sophomore year, she belted eight home runs and 41 RBIs en route to a first team AllBig 12 selection. That season, she recorded a 1.000 fielding percentage. Tysarczyk said her development as a player and person can be directly attributed to her coaches. “I think that a lot of my [growth] is the coaching staff and our support staff here,” Tysarczyk said. “It’s been very consistent since I’ve been here. I think that our only change is the director of operations. You don’t just come to [Texas A&M] to play softball, you come to be a better person and be an active member in society. It’s really hard to put into words the values we learn by playing under Coach Evans and all of the staff.” By the end of her junior year, Tysarczyk completed her degree in psychology and is now working on her master’s in sports management. “Graduate school is really cool,” Tysarczyk said. “I get to make up my own degree plan and pretty much pick the classes that I’m interested in, as long as they’re approved.”

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A&M head coach Jo Evans said she admired both Tysarczyk’s talent and mental capacity. “[Tysarczyk] is very intellectual,” Evans said. “She’s really bright. She’s able to process things and put things together. I hope she becomes a coach because I think she can become a great coach. She has the intellectual capacity and the drive to be able to see what’s going on around her and analyze it to the point where she knows exactly what it is.” Senior third baseman Amber Garza said she has witnessed the growth of Tysarczyk on and off the field. “[Tysarczyk] is a hard worker,” Garza said. “She’s very selfless. She’s willing to do anything for you off the field. If you say ‘I need this or I need that,’ Cassie [Tysarczyk] is the first person to come and help. There’s really no other word to describe her but selfless.” Tysarczyk said the main thing she will miss about Aggie softball is the 12th Man. “Putting this jersey on every day is something I haven’t taken for granted,” Tysarczyk said. “I know that us seniors can only do it for another three months, so it’s definitely something that I’m going to miss.” Photo by Jenna Rabel

Aggies to host Volunteers in top-25 showdown No. 21 A&M to throw first pitch at 7 p.m. Milkyas Gashaw The Battalion

he No. 21 Texas A&M softball team will welcome the No. 4 Tennessee Volunteers to the Aggie Softball Complex starting Friday for a three-game weekend series. This will be the first visit to College Station for the Volunteers (33-5, 9-3 SEC), as the other five games played between the two teams were all held in Knoxville. The Vols are coming off a Wednesday win against Tennessee Tech, while the Aggies (27-12, 8-7 SEC) are heading home after a 5-3 loss against Kentucky. Head coach Jo Evans said her team understands what a tough conference schedule they have. “There’s no breaks [in the SEC],” Evans said. “If

you look at our RPI, we’re in a good place. Going into these last four weeks, we’re facing teams that are all high in RPI. That serves us well. The teams that we’re facing now prepare us for championship play and postseason play. We’re not going to see teams tougher than this heading into the postseason.” The Aggies have been led by senior center fielder Emily Albus, who is first among league hitters with 63 hits, third with a .450 batting average and tied for fifth with 15 stolen bases. Freshman pitcher Abby Donnell has finished more games (19) than any player in the SEC and is tied for first among all conference pitchers with five saves on the season. The Vols are led offensively by senior infielder Madison Shipman, who leads the team with 11 home runs and a .422 batting average. The pitching staff is led by senior Ellen Renfroe, who sports a 22-2 record and a 1.54 ERA. “We need to be aggressive at the plate against Renfroe,”

Evans said. “She’s tricky when she gets two strikes on you. She can move the ball and has a lot of weapons.” The Aggies will counter the Vols with junior pitcher Rachel Fox and sophomore pitcher Katie Marks. Fox said Tennessee’s balanced lineup will be a challenge. “No doubt about it, Tennessee’s a great team,” Fox said. “But they are coming into our house and our goal is to protect our house and do everything possible to do that.” Senior shortstop Taran Tyler said playing at home always provides the team with a sense of comfort. “It’s nice to be home,” Tyler said. “When we land, it’s the greatest feeling because College Station is home. Being home and playing one of the best teams in the nation should be fun.” The Aggies will begin the series at 7 p.m. Friday and conclude at noon Sunday. Friday and Sunday’s games will be televised on ESPNU.

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volleyball

A&M to take on Cougars in spring finale Conner Darland The Battalion

fter a come-frombehind win against Oklahoma on Saturday, the Aggie Volleyball team will close out its spring schedule with an exhibition matchup against the Houston Cougars at 4 p.m. Friday in the Reed Arena practice gym. Texas A&M has appeared in two tournaments this spring. The Aggies went undefeated in their first tournament, splitting the set with Rice and sweeping TCU and

Sam Houston State on March 29. A&M fell to Baylor and Texas on Saturday, but finished with a threeset win over Oklahoma in the F.A.S.T. Invitational Tournament at the Reliant Center. The Sooners jumped out to a 7-2 advantage over the Aggies in the first set. Although A&M tied the score six times and took an 11-10 advantage, Oklahoma still managed to get the 25-22 win and take the first set. The Aggies never trailed in the second set,

going on an 8-1 run with back-to-back kills by Stephanie Aiple and Angela Lowak, and finished with a 25-14 win. The lead changed four times in the third set, with Katelyn Labhart serving an ace to give the Aggies the lead at 12-11. Oklahoma would tie the game twice more before Shelby Sullivan posted the kill to bring A&M to set point. The following serve by the Sooners would sail wide, giving the Aggies the 15-13 win. A&M head coach Laurie Corbelli said she was

proud of the way her players competed and found a way to win after dropping the first set. “I challenged the team right away to go into the Oklahoma match and not let that happen again and find a way,” Corbelli said. “Figuring things out from a team perspective and handling things together, and to get that win. I hope that it is significant to them, because it really was significant to me.” Jonathan Sheen — THE BATTALION

Junior outside hitter Angela Lowak, No. 8, contributed to an 8-1 run against Oklahoma that led to a three-set win on Saturday.

Let the love of learning rule humanity.

The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi and the Ofﬁce of Undergraduate Studies Proudly Announces Our New Members for 2014 Induction Ceremony & Introduction of the Phi Kappa Phi Outstanding Juniors for Texas A&M University, Texas A&M at Galveston, Texas A&M University at Qatar, and Texas A&M University Law School Sunday, April 13, 2014 at 2:00 PM Rudder Theatre The mission of Phi Kappa Phi is to recognize and promote academic excellence in all ﬁelds of higher education & to engage the community of scholars in service to others. www.phikappaphi.org COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE AND LIFE SCIENCES

Kasey Kram, Outstanding Junior Jonathan Dawkins Kristin Jordan Bailey Morse Victor Blalack III Robert Crowe III Rosemary Everts Travis Farris Logan Hartson Spencer Landry Andre Loquercio Kaitlyn McCarty Everett Morrow Laura Sabin Bryan Sales Harrison Torres Whitney West Charlotte Barnhart Matthew Black Kristen Gavigan Ann Goodman Jason Gould Sarah Hurd Nicholas Kelley Ashley Miller Micah Mills Lorna Nissen Lindsay Porter Lauren Robinson Maritza Sirven Katherine St. Clair

COLLEGE OF ARCHITECTURE Melanie Jackson, Outstanding Junior Alyssa Adcock Daniel Brossart Lee Seok Chae Catherine Hervey Sean O’Keefe Mohammadreza Ostadalimakhmalbaf

MAYS BUSINESS SCHOOL

Alexander Garcia, Outstanding Junior Emily Austin Katherine Brand Payton Burns Hannah Chapman Evan Clayton Morgan Crawley David Dickey Allen Findley Caroline Fluke Katherine Harwood Amanda Hatheway George Heselton Caroline Janssen John Kovar Reno Marcotuli Ryan Moore Emily Neubert Allison O’Gorman Lauren Pellino Jonathan Perry Tucker Pope Robin Sacco Elisabeth Schmidt Grace Thomas Eugenia Young

COLLEGE OF EDUCATION AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT McKenna Breiner, Outstanding Junior Rebecca Copeland Viviana Barreiro Heather Bevly Katelyn Blasch

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Jiaqian Cao Kyndall Carter Sarah Christian Paige Clements Lauren DeLeon Brittany Hagan Shana Hailey Abbygayle Hess Choi Hicks Rosalyn Hidalgo Chelsea Holub Erick Hurtado Shelby Leger Carolyn Levert Amanda Lucas Collin Madison Kelsea Manning Kendall Mauterstock Tiffany Natale Mark New Jr. Tayler Newberry Gayle Parenica Erica Perez Amanda Phillips Morgan Rieger Susan Rogers Morgan Rotto Jared Schultz James Sciandra Jr. Crysta Sheridan Susan Skaggs Morgan Smith Michael Tull Sarah Truchard Lauren Wade Erica Wallingford Madison Ward Erin Wettergren Emily Xue

DWIGHT LOOK COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING Adam Alderson, Outstanding Junior Connor Aimone Thomas Arrington Mojdeh Asadollahi Pajouh Ritvik Bansal Caleb Basse Mitchell Bertsch Kyle Bowen Carlos Briseno-Vidrios Mark Crawford Ian De Vlaming Stanley Dietz III Charles Droddy Dee Ellis Jeffrey Erwin Matthew Faubel Shenwei Gao Matthew Giglio Travis Hall Marcela Hernandez Patrick Herrington Robert Hunt Britney Hunter Stephen Janak Aaron Kupferschmid William Lyles Sonia Mendiola Kevin Morgan Shannon Murray Gregory Neal Miranda Nelson Anirban Neog Jared Raabe Marshall Robert Timothy Rogers Evan Roth David Smith John Stansbury Jarrod Tallman

Jeremy Tucker Brett Walker

COLLEGE OF GEOSCIENCES Amelie Berger, Outstanding Junior Breanne Berrns Jennifer Blake Steven Chovanec Laura Harred Todd Martin Andrew Roark Amanda Walker Dariya Yelemanova

COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS

Madeline Keyser, Outstanding Junior David Adamik David Bath Whitney Bercaw Christopher Black Santiago Ceron Hannah Chavarria Erica Cottingham Christie Cowan William Farmer Jaclyn Fly David Frame IV Eduardo Garza III María Garzón-Ruiz Humberto Gonzalez Nunez Jacqueline Groves Rachel Gunter Anna Higheld Dylan Honza Eleanor Kolb Christoper Madsen Rebecca McDonough Judith Melton Rebecca Mentzer Ryan Modisette Jamie O’Toole Katie Oliver Jonathan Quick Megan Quinn Jean Rhoads Junkai Shi Anthony Skeen Shannon Smith Amanda Streetman Suzanne Stricker Kelsie Suter Timothy Todd Alexa Wheeler Kathryn Williams

COLLEGE OF SCIENCE

Hannah Frailey, Outstanding Junior Mikail Abbasov Kyle Bonar Jeffrey Carpenter Lorenzo Gordon Rebecca Grace Alden Hall Anthony Jennings Elijah Martin Steven Murray Jacob Oberrender Traci Trevino Katherine Turner Krishnamurthy Vaishnavi Nathaniel Wasson

COLLEGE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE & BIOMEDICAL SCIENCES

Adam Bowling Audrey Butts Luke Domas Paige Lackey David Morris Peter Nguyen Adriana Pantazis Thomas Peltier Caitlin Woody

TEXAS A&M AT GALVESTON

Edward Schendzelos, Outstanding Junior Sterling Adams Iris Cato Madeleine Crotteau Patricia Faulkner Katherine Gillis Garrett Goettee Daniel Gutierrez Jr. Derrick Hill Victoria Keeton Jessica Lauletta Sarah Morgan Ryan Murphy Allison Norris Diana Ramos Jacob Ransom Alexandria Rivard Charlotte Ruhl Joel Sauer Jr. Amanda Self Frederick Shopnitz Kathryn Smaus Alexis Sulik Anastasia Thomas Andrew Wyers Brett Yancey

TEXAS A&M AT QATAR

Mohammed Ayub, Outstanding Junior Abdelrahman Abdelghaffar Ayat Adbel-Rahman Mostafa Abouseada Shaik Afzal Faisal AlMutawa Abdulrahman Al-Malki Ahmad Amra Youseef Ftouni Hla Hassan Mohammad Hossein Ghamary Amro Kasht Abdual Saboor Khan Hanaa Loutfy Jitaditya Mondal Enas Othman

THE GEORGE BUSH SCHOOL OF GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC SERVICES Kathleen Karika

TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW Gabriel Arteaga Jason Bewley James Coleman James Johnson Shawn Johnson Stephen Krusemark Gabrielle Morales

Alumni Mohammed Abdul-Latif Venkat Goruganti

Marissa Forray, Outstanding Junior Joshua Beitchman

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