The Battalion: November 21, 2013

thebattalion l thursday,

november 21, 2013

l serving

texas a&m since 1893

l first paper free – additional copies $1 l © 2013 student media

THE MAN WITH A CAN

On-campus food bank opens to provide for students, faculty Homer Segovia The Battalion

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exas Aggies Making Changes will strive to make sure fewer people aren’t going hungry this Thanksgiving when it opens The 12th Can, A&M’s first on-campus food pantry, Wednesday and Thursday.

A partner of Brazos Valley Food Bank, The 12th Can was created to serve students and faculty in need. This week marks the grand opening of the pantry and Texas Aggies Making Changes will hand out food from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in Room 119 of the Mail Services Building on Agronomy Road.

Whitney Pearson, facilities coordinator for Texas Aggies Making Changes and senior psychology major, said the food will be distributed in premade bundles, focusing as much on quality as on quantity.

“We sat down and went through a list of products and came up with what we thought would be a variety and also a nutritious,

The need for food for students is alarming. I never really looked at that side of campus that doesn’t have food.”

— Mary Gallander, senior communication major

healthy combination of things,” Pearson said.

“So they have a pretty standard bag that includes dry food, pastas and grains and things like that. We try to balance that with fruits and vegetables and proteins so they have a big variety.”

Because The 12th Can is intended for students and faculty only, visitors must present an A&M ID and fill out two client intake forms upon the first visit. Pearson said it is a quick and easy process.

“It’s really simple,” Pearson said. “If they See 12th Can on page 2

Shelby Knowles — THE BATTALION

Sophomore communication major Jessica Newman, junior psychology major Whitney Pearson and freshman spatial science major Jordan Beier help organize the 12th Can pantry to give back to the community.

religion

aggie business

Video competition expresses Muslim creativity

Students manage fund to benefit startups Bradley D’Souza The Battalion

Aimee Breaux

William Guerra — THE BATTALION

The Battalion

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n an effort to explore faith in a creative way, the Muslim Students’ Association will hold a video competition.

With four videos on the docket and $100 awaiting the winner, the “Muslim Voices Film Competition” will take place at 7 p.m. Thursday in Room 1400 of the MSC. “As the name suggests, we want to give our students a platform to express themselves,” said Ziad Syer, event coordinator and accounting graduate student. “People love movies, so we figured this would be a fun event.”

As this is the first video competition of its kind on campus, Syer said the guidelines were vague, but association members were given a month to create a film rang-

ing from five to 20 minutes.

In her month of filmmaking, Nimrah Riaz, association member and junior health major, combined efforts with a few friends to create “Hijab (Un)Veiled: An Aggie Perspective,” in which she asked various students on campus about their thoughts on Islam.

Riaz said the constant questions she gets asked as a Muslim woman prompted the film.

“Muslim women, such as myself, often get asked questions like, ‘Why do you wear that?’ ‘What is it called?’ ‘Who can see you with it off?’” Riaz said. “So we decided to turn the tables and ask the Aggies if they knew the answers to these questions.”

SEP 13

OCT 18 @

OCT 25 OPEN

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SEP 27

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NOV 22 OPEN

OCT 11

NOV 27

thebatt.com Addressing Education Luis Fraga explains the President’s Advisory Council on Educational Excellence

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Alex Slaughter & Mackenzie Mullis The Battalion

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NOV 1

SEP 20 @

See Maroon Fund on page 4

Midnight premier sparks hunger in adoring moviegoers

William Guerra — THE BATTALION

SEP 6

See MSA on page 3

esearch Valley Fund, an investment group based in Bryan-College Station, announced on Nov. 1 the creation of Maroon Fund I, an angel fund to be managed by students at Texas A&M. An angel fund, such as Maroon Fund I, provides venture capital for high risk, but high reward, startup businesses.

Texas A&M drew Research Valley Fund’s attention as the place to start Maroon Fund I because of the campus research environment and its focus on the medical, oil and technology fields, said Roberto Cepeda, senior finance major and a founding associate of Maroon Fund I. James Lancaster, fund manager at Research Valley Fund, said he looks forward to the energy that enthusiastic students will bring to the table.

“I may learn as much as the students in some ways because there’s different skills and techniques taught in schools than when I came out of school,”

entertainment

2014 Football Schedule AUG 28 @

While most people interviewed referred to Islam as a culture, not a religion, Raiz said she and her fellow film crew members were surprised by the knowledge the Aggie population had about Islam and the hijab. Raiz said some people even knew of more than one reason why Muslim women wear a hijab. “[One person we interviewed] went on stating that she doesn’t understand how women who wear American flags as bikinis is okay and a Hijab isn’t,” Raiz said. “Another person we interviewed, a member of the Corps [of Cadets], said since Texas A&M University is a multinational, diverse campus, everyone has the

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for Hispanics’s findings and proposed plans to enable the Hispanic population to succeed in higher education in the face of changing national demographics.

he fans, the costumes, the trivia games, sodas and popcorn — with tonight’s premiere of, “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire,” looming, fans are gearing up after a year and nine months of waiting.

With three popular novels and one successful feature film, “The Hunger Games” has become a cultural hit.

With the midnight premiere so near, frantic rereading of the books has taken precedence over studying for some students. Sarah Zimmerman, senior English and sociology major, said midnight showings bring back fond memories of her childhood experiences.

“To prepare, I reread the book and finished it in my sociology class,” Zimmerman said. “I decided to see it at midnight because I love midnight premiere experiences. They remind me of all the fun ‘Harry Potter’ premieres of my childhood.”

For others, the midnight movie-going experience has become a tradition.

“I went to the midnight premiere of ‘The Hunger Games’ my freshman year, so I am continuing the tradition,” said Hannah Watson, senior international studies major. “I’ve read all the books in the series and Jennifer Dee Huggan — THE BATTALION Lawrence is my home-girl, so I am really ex- Adrienne Fleck, junior international studies major and cited for this movie. I just hope I can still member of Kappa Alpha Theta, holds up the District See Hunger Games on page 3 12 salute.

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thebattalion

agriculture

Cotton comes to campus

Seasonal transportation cited as source Samantha Latta The Battalion

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lthough snow is at least 30 degrees from the forecast, Aggieland has had a white, downy layer of cotton blowing onto campus as farmers have their product hauled out of the field and onto the road.

After being harvested and baled, the cotton must be transported to gins and the cotton lost off of trucks could be what students are finding on campus, said Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service state cotton specialist Mark Kelley.

“The cause of cotton on campus is more than likely a result of transferring cotton through College Station as it’s transported from cotton fields to the cotton gins,” Kel-

ley said. “The last few cotton fields are currently being harvested and transport trucks are probably losing some cotton from the trucks.”

Several students have noticed the cotton on campus, especially while passing through areas around the MSC, Kyle Field, in between Main and West Campus and along George Bush and Wellborn.

“Lately, I’ve seen TAMU service workers picking it up around West Campus when I’m walking to class,” said Sadie Summerlin, freshman agriculture leadership and development major. “I’ve been wondering where all this cotton has been coming from.”

Since cotton harvesting is nothing new in the area, Kelley said the recent appearance of cotton on campus could be due to changes in transportation routes.

“These transport trucks usually take FM 2818 or By-

Jenna Rabel — THE BATTALION

Cotton lost off trucks falls to the side of Wellborn. pass 6 around Bryan-College Station,” Kelley said. “However, maybe some road construction or traffic delay made

12th Can

OPEN FORUM

Hopefully [12th Can] will be around forever to help our fellow Aggies.

We want it to have a good foundation so that it can grow and it can become this big part of A&M to help students.”

Continued from page 1

have families, like a graduate student that has a family, they can put down that they have dependents and they get more food.”

Mary Gallander, senior communication major, said she was not aware of the need for a food pantry until last year when then-Student Body President John Claybrook approached Texas Aggies Making Changes with the idea of creating one for A&M. “The need for food for students is alarming,” Gallander said. “I never really looked at that side of campus that doesn’t have food. It’s a really great thing we can do for our fellow Aggies so we’re really excited.”

A year of planning and logistics followed Claybrook’s request, which Gallander said will help establish The 12th Can for the long run.

“Hopefully it will be around forever to help our fellow Aggies,” Gallander said. “We took a lot of time to try to make sure everything was aligned before we opened. That’s why it’s taken us so long to open it. We want it to have a good foundation so that it can grow and it can become this big part of A&M to help students.”

Yashwant Yvas, public relations coordinator of Texas Aggies Making Changes and junior electrical engineering major, said a need was particularly seen with international students who may fall on hard times and not be able to benefit

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thebattalion The IndependenT STudenT VoIce of TexaS a&M SInce 1893

Jake Walker, Editor in Chief 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.

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the drivers to choose an alternative route through BryanCollege Station.”

— Mary Gallander, senior communication major

Shelby Knowles — THE BATTALION

Jordan Beier and Jessica Newman prepare food to be distributed Wednesday and Thursday. from one of the area food banks.

“Many international students do not qualify at the food banks here,” Vyas said.

“Unfortunate things happen in peoples’ lives. Something unexpected comes and that is what gives rise to this need for a food pantry like The 12th Can.” Vyas said The 12th Can follows a hierarchy that begins with the Houston Food Bank, which will ensure a certain level of quality.

“We have a contract that we have signed with Brazos Valley Food Bank and they operate under the main branch,

the Houston Food Bank,” Vyas said.

“Whatever standards the Brazos Food Bank follows, we are supposed to follow the same.”

The 12th Can will next be open Jan. 8-9 and then the first Wednesday and Thursday of each month after that, but Pearson said the grand opening will serve as a test run to see if the pantry can be open more often.

“We’re just going to see how this first time goes and then after that we’re hoping that we can be open two to three times a month, maybe once every other week or even once a week if we can handle taking in that much food and putting out that much food in that short amount of time,” Pearson said. “I’m just really excited to see how it goes and to contribute back to a community that’s given me so much.”

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thebattalion

Madeline Conrad (from left), Kathrine Weathers, Claire Metzger, Kelly McKeon and Adriana Nelson, members of Kappa Alpha Theta, attend a “Catching Fire” screening Wednesday.

Dee Huggan — THE BATTALION

Hunger Games Continued from page 1

make it to my 8 a.m. Friday morning.”

The midnight premiere is not the only option students have in seeing the movie early.

“I’m going to the double feature [on] Thursday at 5:20,” said Varvara Marmarinou, junior anthropology major. “I might have [dressed] up like a character. Probably Katniss or Johanna, but since the double feature is early we don’t really have time.”

Many sororities rented theaters Wednesday night for an early screening. Megan Davis, senior English major and member of Kappa Kappa Gamma, attended the screening.

She said the success of the books and movies is due in part to a plot that differs from other young adult novels.

“I just like how different they are — kind of the dystopian storyline that there is,” Davis said. “It’s kind of different from all the other teen novels that I’ve read. I liked how it was kind of a play on the government.”

MSA Continued from page 1

express themselves the way they would like. We were very pleased with these responses.”

Mixing comedy and drama, Pervez Agwan, senior petroleum engineering major, said he and his friends created a parody of Friday Night Lights called, “Jummah Night Lights.”

Agwan said the title comes from the word Jumu’ah, a congregational prayer Muslims hold every Friday just after noon instead of dhuhr,

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While fans await the film, movie theater workers express their own excitement for the midnight showing. Jimmy Dulke, Class of 2012, works at Cinemark Movies 18 and said midnight premieres are something he looks forward to. “[My favorite part is] the oncoming rush of people,” Dulke said. “It gets really exciting to see people all dressed up. The best part is just seeing people come out and have fun.”

Antonio Gusebio, freshman business major at Blinn and Cinemark employee, said the people make the midnight premieres enjoyable.

“There are so many people and there is a lot of socializing,” Gusebio said. “If I’m not working, I dress up for midnight premieres.”

With the release of the second film, the fear that it will be different from the novel is always present in the minds of fans.

“I think they’ll stick pretty close like they did with the first movie, but there will obviously have to be changes made,” Marmarinou said.

“The biggest addition will probably be during the games because there are limitations to what movies can bring to life.”

one of the five daily prayers of Islam.

“It’s a mixture of comedy and drama, but it’s mostly a situational comedy as we depict our MSA members and the struggles of their flag football team,” Agwan said.

Agwan said he was drawn into the competition by the fact that it gives him a chance to participate in one of his favorite pastimes.

“I’ve been making movies with my personal SLR camera because I enjoy making short films,” Agwan said.

“It’s a great way to get together with your friends and come up with something and

put it into film format. All of my films are very amateur and not professional at all, but it’s a hobby of mine.”

Syer said while the competition is new, it is in line with some other projects put on by the association.

“The MSA has been working on encouraging creative expressions among our members,” Syer said. “At the beginning of November, we had a Lyrical Art Night where we had a Muslim poet from Houston present his spoken word poetry and we had a couple of MSA members perform at this event as well.”

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Maroon Fund Continued from page 1

Lancaster said. “Also, I think that there are some entrepreneurs that will like the chance to work with young students as well. The student fund has that similar mindset of providing capital for local entrepreneurs.”

Cepeda said students will be responsible for doing research on possible startup investment opportunities for the studentmanaged fund. However, instead of making the actual investments, students will present viable investment opportunities to those providing capital for the fund.

“We can’t take the money and say, ‘Oh, this is a good deal, lets do it,’” Cepeda said. “Our principal investors are the ones who are going to have a vote and all agree upon a certain investment.

We’re doing the leg work.”

Cepeda said being able to manage a fund provides a unique opportunity for students, especially since those hoping to make a career in venture capitalism won’t be able to perform similar functions until many years after graduation.

“It is invaluable experience to the

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This is a longterm fund and we’re only going to be here for another year and a half at the most. We’re laying the ground for a long-term program at A&M.” — Luisa Davis, junior finance major

student to be able to do something like that,” Cepeda said. “That is something that doesn’t come to the students involved until five-plus years into their career if they’re looking to go into venture capital or private equity. It makes you more marketable.”

There are currently four associates managing Maroon Fund I, but Cepeda said they are looking to expand and include more than just finance students.

“Right now there’s only finance majors in there, but there’s not only going to be students from Mays Business School, there’s also going to be students from other majors,” Cepeda said. “We’re going to be investing primarily in tech, energy and

medical and those other students would be helping to perform the due diligence.”

As the fund is new, the main focus for the rest of the semester will be raising the money. Luisa Davis, junior finance major and a founding associate, said the process of raising capital requires reaching out to potential investors. In the spring they will begin to look for good investments.

“We’re responsible for raising capital,” Davis said. “That includes reaching out to alumni and any other possible investors [and] reaching out to our mentors for possible contacts. We’re responsible for raising those funds, the capital.”

Davis said her opportunity to help manage a fund as an undergraduate has two aspects. While the opportunity allows her to gain valuable experience, Davis said there is a large responsibility to make sure the program is sustainable.

“Since this is the first semester we’re doing this, and since it is such a new program, we’re also responsible for creating a program that can be repeatable,” Davis said. “This is a long-term fund and we’re only going to be here for another year and a half at the most. We’re laying the ground for a long-term program at A&M.”

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TUTORS Private tutoring available, $30/hr, flexible time and location, call 214-682-3776.

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