Issuu

thebattalion l thursday,

september 26, 2013

l serving

texas a&m since 1893

¡CALIENTE!

Cultural event celebrates Hispanic dance, music, food

Caroline Corrigan The Battalion

ith the smell of fajitas in the air and Hispanic music in the background, the night was one that Tadeo Huerta, the president of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, said was perfect. ALPFA, an association for Hispanic business students, hosted on Wednesday the seventh annual “Caliente,” a celebratory event for Hispanic Heritage Month. The Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers and the Mexican Student Association served as co-hosts for the event and provided support to ALPFA. Huerta, senior mechanical engineering major, said Caliente is important because it is the largest and most visible event the society helps host. The event celebrated Hispanic heritage and culture at Rudder Fountain with cultural reenactments, displays, dance performances, music and food. Local restaurants sponsored and donated food for the event. There was also a jalapeño eating contest, which featured volunteers from all of the organizations. Alex Almendarez, senior accounting major and president of ALPFA, said the Hispanic organizations have grown tremendously since he first joined his freshman year. “When I joined ALPFA as a freshman there were about 20 people in it,” Almendarez said. “Now I am a senior and we have about 80-plus members. This year, we are looking to grow even more.” See Caliente on page 2

thebattalion asks

Page 2: Why is it important to celebrate Hispanic heritage?

The dance group Ballet Folklorico performs in Rudder Plaza at the Caliente event hosted by various student groups to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month. Photos by Jenna Rabel — THE BATTALION

SGA seeks expansion with limited funds

research

William Guerra — THE BATTALION

Relaxation is the name of the game A&M researchers gear video game for stress relief Kadie McDougald The Battalion

exas A&M researchers are designing a video game to function as a tool to teach stress management skills, giving video games the potential to be more than just a hobby or a guilty pleasure.

With the help of students, the group of researchers created the game, “Chill-Out,” as part of a stressmanagement project. Ricardo Gutierrez-Osuna, computer science professor, is the creator of “Chill-Out.” The project, “Promoting Stress Self-Regulation with Physiological Training Games,” was first thought of by Gutierrez-Osuna about three years ago after he observed the many See Video games on page 4

Shelby Knowles — THE BATTALION

Cash Fields, senior university studies major, explains why Fish Aides should be allocated funds to provide an annual banquet for all custodial members at an SGA finance committee meeting.

t a time when Student Government Association committees are seeking to expand their impact across campus, the Student Senate finance committee is faced with the question of how to allocate the same annual $50,000 budget. In addressing this issue, the Student Senate finance committee convened Wednesday to hear appeals from various committees for a higher allocation of funds than those allotted in the current draft of the allocation bill. Among the committees present to explain why increased funding is imperative was the Muster committee, the Big Event committee,

Aggie Replant and Fish Aides. Finance chair and senior political science major, Cary Cheshire, said the meeting provided the committee with a better idea of how to fund these organizations. “It’s commendable that all of these committees want to grow,” Cheshire said. “However the amount we have to allocate does not grow every year, and we have to function under the basic rules of economics.” Aimee Breaux, city editor For the full story, go online at thebatt.com

grad students Let’s be friends

International students transition to American life Allison Rubenak

The Battalion hile many students will learn a foreign language or study abroad for a semester, few will spend their undergraduate or graduate years immersed in a university somewhere else on the globe. International graduate students make up approximately 4,000 of the more than 50,000 students at Texas A&M, said Bill Taylor, director of international student services. Having spent the majority

W @thebattonline

BAT_09-26-13_A1.indd 1

of their lives in another country, this small portion of the Texas A&M population faces a level of challenges not often experienced by the average graduate student. Taylor said international graduate students must take an English proficiency test for admittance into the University and that admitted students are able to communicate well in an academic setting. “They have the ability to come to another school, speak other languages — be able to pursue physics, mathematics, engineering — and do that

in a foreign language,” Taylor said. “So they are pretty smart.” Though they have mastered academic communication, international students often face an entirely different challenge in everyday conversation. Raj Shah, computer engineering graduate student, said even though he knew English when he arrived to Texas in fall 2010, he was not accustomed to idiomatic expressions frequently See International on page 3

9/25/13 10:20 PM

page 2

thebattasks

Why do you think it’s important to celebrate Hispanic heritage?

“Even as a non-Hispanic student at A&M I just really think it’s important for people to learn and appreciate different cultures of the world.”

“As a Hispanic community we promote culture, especially at a University like Texas A&M, to show where we come from and be proud of our roots.”

Harrison Boha, freshman mechanical engineering major

Erik Granados, junior landscape architecture major

“We are the largest minority in the country, but we still continue to face a lot of issues. So it’s important for us to continue to work as a community, to empower each other and to create a greater influence in our country.”

“To let other Hispanic Aggies know that we are here for them and to not forget where they come from.”

Joseph Puente, junior telecommunication media studies major

Yesenia Estrada, senior finance major

“It helps people become more aware of the different cultures, the different styles of dancing, the different food — it broadens everybody’s horizons more.”

“I think it’s important to let other Aggies know that this culture is alive and thriving here at Texas A&M and we like to share that with everybody else and give everybody a taste of our culture and our roots.”

Sarah Bermudez, junior nutritional science major

Jeoffrey Alvarado, senior management information systems major

Photo feature by Shelby Knowles — THE BATTALION

Caliente Continued from page 1

Erica Race, vice president of ALPFA, said the organizations are always trying to improve Caliente and draw more students to the event. “We’re always looking to make it bigger and better,” she said. “I was in charge of it last year, so this year I already

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knew what I was doing and I wanted to take it to the next level.” Race said she serves as a middleman for joint events with other Hispanic organizations, but her motivation to work reaches beyond her job description. “Some of my duties are social-awareness activities and community service,” Race said. “I also have a passion for my heritage and I want to spread it.” Huerta said members of these organizations look forward to Caliente and

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Hispanics all over the community await the event the entire year. “This event is a way to shine for at least one evening, show off what the Hispanic culture has to offer, show off the great things we have to offer here at Texas A&M,” Huerta said. “We want to make our presence known and continue to move on in the future with a very positive view on our culture.”

1805 Briarcrest Drive in Bryan Across from Bryan High Doors Open At 5:00 pm, 7 Days A Week (979)776-0999 www.brazosbingo.com Brazos Bingo supports the following charities: Brazos Valley Elks Lodge #859, Brazos Valley Council on Alcohol and Substance Abuse, St. Joseph Catholic Church St. Joseph Catholic School and Bubba Moore Memorial Group, Inc.

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. News: The Battalion news department is managed by students at Texas A&M University in Student Media, a unit of 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.

9/25/13 9:47 PM

news thebattalion

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ANSWERS

to todays puzzles

Raj Shah (left), pictured with Xuezhan Wang, said he has no driver’s license because of schedule constraints, and consequently has transportation problems. Photo illustration by Jonathan Sheen — THE BATTALION

International

Shah said transportation poses another challenge for international graduate students. Although Shah is approaching his third year at Continued from page 1 A&M, he said he still does not have a driver’s license and has to walk or ask friends for rides. used by Americans. “The city doesn’t really have any transpor“Nobody says, ‘Nice to meet you,’ in India,” Shah said. “My friend [here] once said tation besides the school buses,” Shah said. “It takes time and I’ve been ‘Nice to meet you,’ and I really busy, so that’s why I was like, ‘Cool.’ It’s just small haven’t gotten [a driver’s lithings, like ‘y’all.’ Those They cense] yet.” things that were colloquial The question of where have the didn’t make sense to me.” they will go after their gradXuezhen Wang, chemical ability to come uate programs is a frequent engineering graduate student concern. Yoo said graduate from China, said miscommu- to another students are given student nication is a problem she and school, speak visas to come to the Unisome graduate students share versity, and a green card or other languages even after four years in Colanother visa will ultimately lege Station. — be able to determine one’s stay in the “In China, we someU.S. after his or her program times don’t want to express pursue physics, is completed. too much,” Wang said. “So mathematics, “It’s hard because the probably for me right now, available green cards are it gives me some trouble, so engineering kind of limited per year,” I try to explain more. We — and do that Yoo said. “You can apply don’t have bad intentions, for green cards, but that does but other people might ask, in a foreign not guarantee you can get a ‘Why don’t you speak?’” green card because portions language. So Jaewook Yoo, computer are limited.” science graduate student they are pretty Yoo said international from South Korea, said even graduate students are given though there is an orientation smart.” a three-month grace period for A&M traditions, many — Bill Taylor, director of before their student visa is students feel uncomfortable international student services terminated. Yoo said unless a when asked to participate bestudent finds a way to be elicause of cultural reasons. gible for a green card prior to “Some people want to go graduation or finds a job that will support the to football games but don’t know how to do that, to find people or friends to go with,” green card process, or provide a work visa, the Yoo said. “Most of them don’t know any- opportunities after college could be difficult. “If I decide to stay here I will definitely one who tailgates. I very recently understood worry about that,” Yoo said. what it is. I still don’t know why they call it, ‘tailgate.’”

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news

page 4 thursday 9.26.2013

Ricardo GutierrezOsuna (left) explains “Chill-Out” to Avinash Parnandi (seated) and Eva Shipp.

thebattalion and work on a project. Although there are multiple groups assigned to a relaxationgeared project, Bell and his group’s focus is on a relaxation game. “One [aspect of the class] stressed is the ability to work in a team,” Bell said. “The main purpose of our project is relaxation techniques. Ours is a real-life situation, where a person is being stressed in an environment and has to learn to relax.” Bell said his group just finished the design phase of their experiment, where they have set a timeline for their tasks and ordered all of the supplies for the development of the game. Although he said their game might help reduce health risks, it is geared toward people in the programming environment. “Stress management in programming is good for clear thought,” Bell said. “The mind gets cluttered and it’s really hard to get through things. I’ll try to work through a bug or problem for hours but the next morning I can get through it in 10 minutes. The purpose is to get your mind in that COURTESY clear state all the time.” Avinash Parnandi, computer science graduate student, aided Gutierrez-Osuna with the development Continued from page 1 of “Chill-Out” and conducted experiments on the idea’s effectiveness. negative affects stress can have on a person. “The idea is to see if people can stay calm in other “Stress is becoming a big issue — it contributes to demanding situations,” Parnandi said. “Video games obesity and mental health,” Gutierrez-Osuna said. “Stress levels, if they’re sustained, become chronic. are already popular so [Gutierrez-Osuna] thought he Your body never learns to calm down and that has could take the idea into that path. With video games, you can do it whenever you are free.” implications for your cardiovascular health.” The game is meant for mobile smart phones or Although there are healthy, lifesaving stress responses such as the fight-or-flight response, Gutier- tablets, Gutierrez-Osuna said, and will look like rez-Osuna said constant stress on the body can lead to many games people already play. As the user plays the many negative consequences. He said the monetary game, respiration is monitored in order to determine effects of stress cost the American economy between stress level. The subject’s stress level, in turn, affects the difficulty of the game. $150-$300 billion a year. “You have to shoot balls and knock them off the Since its inception, Gutierrez-Osuna said the projceiling before the ceiling falls, so it’s very casual,” ect was not a one-man show. It went through several Gutierrez-Osuna said. “We measure respiration. If stages with many students developing prototypes and designing. Senior computer science major Brian Bell they breath normally, the game gets easier, if not, it is in Gutierrez-Osuna’s senior capstone design class. gets harder, so you have to keep your breathing slow The concept of the class is to be assigned to a group, to keep the game easy, training you to breathe in under one of Gutierrez-Osuna’s graduate students, high-stress situations.” Gutierrez-Osuna said he believes the games will

Video games

be more effective than traditional stress-management techniques, like meditation, because it is fun, does not require a lot of self-discipline and puts subjects in a stressful situation compared to a calm one, so they are equipped to manage real, everyday stress. He said he would compare the games to Olympians training for Olympic Games at a high-altitude location to prepare their bodies. “The idea we had was if we can get this in the concept of a game that is fun to play, more people will be willing to do the practice,” he said. “The relaxing game is more likely to transfer and help you maintain that skill when you are in a high-stress situation. By making the relaxing a game, you make it more likely to practice and, second, while they’re doing a task that is somewhat stressful, that skill is more likely to catch.” Eva Shipp, epidemiology and biostatics professor, said her role in the project was to validate findings of the tests using biomarkers and translate the findings to a larger, population-based research study. She said stress leads to preventable health problems, making management techniques essential. “Workers in some occupations must perform well, even when under highly stressful situations,” Shipp said. “Any tools that can help teach people to manage their stress response could be tremendously beneficial by ensuring good performance levels and reducing related negative health consequences.” Parnandi said the game will be very useful for students when school work becomes overwhelming. “It can be very effective right before exams when you are really stressed out,” Parnandi said. “If something can calm you down and it’s a video game, then that’s great.” Gutierrez-Osuna, along with Parnandi, Shipp and Beena Ahmed — electrical and computer engineering professor at Texas A&M at Qatar — wrote and submitted a research article to be considered for the MobiCASE, or Mobile Computing, Applications and Services conference. The article was accepted this week, and Gutierrez-Osuna and his team will present the game to scientific researchers at the conference in November.

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