thebattalion l monday,march
31, 2014
l serving
texas a&m since 1893
l first paper free – additional copies $1 l © 2014 student media
w. basketball
Perfect UConn looms in Elite 8
Aggies put NCAA run on line Monday in Lincoln Patrick Crank
The Battalion or the third time since 2008, the Texas A&M women’s basketball team will play in the NCAA Elite Eight — this time against the defending national champion Connecticut Huskies. The Aggies (27-8, 13-3 SEC) are set to tip off in the Lincoln regional finals on Monday night. The winner will earn a ticket to the Final
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Four in Nashville, Tenn. UConn (37-0, 18-0 AAC) defeated BYU 71-52 in its last outing, earning the Huskies their ninthstraight Elite Eight appearance. Junior forward Kaleena MosquedaLewis, who comes off back-to-back triple-double and double-double performances against St. Joseph’s and BYU, has led UConn throughout the tournament. MosquedaLewis has averaged 15.5 points per game as well as 7.3 rebounds over the Huskies’ last seven games — a stretch where she has logged three of her season total four doubledoubles.
The Aggies also will be tasked with stopping sophomore UConn standout Breanna Stewart. Stewart leads the Huskies in scoring with 19.6 points per game on a squad with five players averaging in the double digits. At 6-foot-4, Stewart leads the Huskies in offensive rebounding and blocked shots. A&M is 0-2 all-time against UConn, but the Aggies are confident that they’re playing their best basketball of the season entering the contest. “If we follow our game plan, play hard and not worry about the fact it says UConn on their jersey, we’ll be
fine,” said sophomore point guard Jordan Jones. “So many get caught up in the hype of it being UConn. It’s that mental aspect of it.” The Aggies enter the matchup riding off an 84-65 rout of DePaul in the Sweet 16. A&M shot a season-high 60 percent from the field against the Blue Demons, marking the Aggies’ best ever performance in an NCAA tournament game. The Aggies held the Blue Demons to a season-low 65 points, while every A&M starter scored in double figures. “Yes, we can score points,” said head coach Gary Blair, “but we can
defend, too.” Sophomore guard Courtney Walker scored 25 points against DePaul and extended her streak of double-digit scoring to 12 games. Walker said she and the rest of the team will have to continue to elevate their play if they hope to keep their national championship hopes alive. “The competition goes up,” Walker said. “Your play has to go up.” The 3-seed Aggies will battle the 1-seed Huskies at 8:30 p.m. live on ESPN.
culture
April to honor Asian heritage Events take aim at dissolving stereotypes Caroline Corrigan
The Battalion exas A&M will play host to pan-Asian events this April as the Asian Presidents’ Council presents “Breaking Stereotypes,” a series of games, activities and free movie screenings that aim to bring Asian Heritage Month closer to students. Daniel Wong, junior business major and APC president-elect, said this year’s theme will contribute to the council’s overall message to Texas A&M. “Our whole theme for this month is breaking stereotypes, and we are really trying to push that there are so many different types of Asian cultures,” Wong said. “We shouldn’t be limited to just these stereotypes.” Ten events are scheduled throughout April that will cover different facets of Asian culture. Movie screenings will be open to the public, and comedians Hari Kondabolu and Howard Chen will visit campus to perform a stand-up routine called “Comedy and Inspiration” and answer questions on how to improve the cultural environment of the future.
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Photos by John Benson — THE BATTALION
Bisma Pradana, Brooke Herschbach and Bryce Anderson celebrate Holi, the festival of colors, Sunday on Simpson Drill Field.
HOLI:
Festivalgoers unite through dazzling color
Students participate in the Hindu tradition of Holi as part of I-Week with American music mixed with Indian dance songs at Simpson on Sunday.
inside service | 6 The Big Event breaks records The Big Event set new marks in job sites and student participants Saturday. International students gained new perspective on a Texas A&M culture of service.
sports | 5 Reaction to suspended QB reflects unfairness Following quarterback Kenny Hill’s arrest Friday, Sean Lester details the hypocrisy in the way people view athletes and alcohol.
people | 2 Replenish offers clean water A&M student donates water purification resources to those in need internationally.
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See Asian heritage on page 3
STROKES OF AGGIELAND
Q&A:
ArtFest winner’s work couples heritage, tradition
Cassidy Tyrone, lifestyles writer, sat down with Yashwant Prakash Vyas, senior electrical engineering major, who was awarded Best In Show in Thursday’s Artfest with a Warali painting of Aggie traditions. Artfest was hosted by the MSC Visual Arts Committee and showcased the diverse talents of student artists in an art competition.
THE BATTALION: Why did you name your piece the “Story of Aggieland in Maroon and White”?
THE BATTALION: Can you give me some background information about your winning piece?
THE BATTALION: Why did you choose to use the Warali painting style to depict the story of A&M?
VYAS: Warali paintings are a part of ancient Indian culture — ancient paintings done in a small town in India call Warali. These paintings are done to represent Indians’ culture and day-today activities. They are rudimentary paintings that use a very basic vocabulary like squares, triangles and straight lines. So what I did was take the Warali paintings, my culture, and used them to depict the A&M story — our core values, our traditions and a part of Texas A&M’s history.
VYAS: It’s very symbolic art, every little thing symbolizes something. It has eight frames. The first frame has sun and the last frame has moon. My purpose of putting them in the first and last frames was to represent the endless circle of life in Aggieland. The six frames in between those have our core values.
VYAS: Because originally these paintings are done inside huts. The walls are given a fresh coat of Indian red mud and cow dung, which kind of makes a maroon background. The original paintings are done with a white paste of rice and water.
THE BATTALION: How did you use symbolism in the Warali style to depict the core values? See Vyas on page 4
Tanner Garza — THE BATTALION
Yashwant Vyas, senior electrical engineering major, applauds fellow artists at the ArtFest awards reception on Thursday.
3/30/14 8:21 PM