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FATALITY
STUDENT VETERAN DIES IN MOTORCYCLE ACCIDENT College Station resident, veteran and electrical engineering sophomore Rex Jackson Leddy IV, 37, was transported to the hospital and later pronounced dead after a motorcycle accident on Monday. At around 2:30 p.m., College Station Police Department officers arrived at the area of Barron Road and Newport Lane where the accident took place. While driving eastbound on Barron, Leddy and his motorcycle struck the side of a Dodge Charger as it began to turn westbound. The driver of the Charger was taken to the hospital for non-incapacitating injuries and later cited for failure to yield the right of way. Leddy was a veteran of the United States Marine Corps and a member of the Texas A&M Veterans Association. “We at the Texas A&M Veterans Association extend our sincerest condolences to the Leddy family, as well as anyone else who may be affected by this tragic loss,” the Association wrote on facebook. Although Leddy will not be included in the March 7 Silver Taps ceremony, he will be honored in the following ceremony April 4. — Staff Report
COMMUNITY
Jenny Hollowell — THE BATTALION
Silvia Handeros (left) works on an assignment in her class at the Bryan Adult Learning Center.
COMMUNICATING BEYOND BARRIERS Local English as a Second Language programs offered for foreign residents By Ana Sevilla @AnaVSevilla
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Islam Mossaad is the new Imam, or mosque prayer leader, for the Islamic Community of Bryan-College Station.
New Imam joins B-CS Muslim community By Matthew Jacobs @MattJacobs3413 Muslim residents and students in the Bryan-College Station area have a new leader in Imam Islam Mossaad. Mossaad is the new full-time Imam, a prayer leader in a mosque, for the Islamic Community of Bryan-College Station (ICBCS), the local Muslim community center. In his short time in the area so far, Mossaad has already had many interactions with local religious leaders in efforts to bolster inter-faith dialogue. Mossaad said he felt his life led to this moment of leading the ICBCS. “I was born in Arlington, Virginia; my parents came from Egypt,” Mossaad said. “I was [in Austin] since I was two years old, so pretty much my whole life. And I graduated from UT, so I have to keep a low profile here with my Longhorn paraphernalia. [I came to Bryan College Station] about a month ago, so toward the beginning of January.” So far in his tenure at the ICBCS, Mossaad has attempted to humanize the Muslim community and educate the public on the true nature of the Islamic faith. “[On Feb. 22] we did a presentation called the ‘Myth of Radical Islam,’” Mossaad said. “So trying to clarify that extremism and radicalism do not have a place in Islam; it was in Rudder. We opened up an event for the whole community called ‘Meet your Muslim Neighbor;’ that was a couple of weeks ago. Basically it was a way to … talk to people, to get to know them, but also we gave a presentation on what Islam is. It was really successful, we had about 250 people come.” Mossaad said he has been welcomed warmly by other local religious leaders and his arrival has sparked many new efforts in inter-faith relations. He recently spoke at the Hillel Center. “That was good [speaking at Hillel],” Mossaad said. “I spoke on the Five Pillars of Islam. Just a basic introduction to what Islam was, so they were very gracious and hospitable. I’m working with Rabbi Matt [Rosenberg] and Pastor Dan De Leon from the IMAM ON PG. 3
hen traveling to a new country, a number of tasks can prove to be challenging, like adopting new customs and learning about a new culture. Perhaps one of the most difficult is mastering a new language. For many, learning a language comes after immigration, and English as a Second Language programs, or ESL, provide needed support to these individuals. The Bryan Adult Learning Center, or BALC, is the largest adult education program in Brazos County and it provides ESL classes for qualifying individuals year-round with morning classes
Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. and night classes Mondays and Thursdays from 6 to 8 p.m. Ambyr Weidner, coordinator for the BALC, said classes are filled with students from diverse backgrounds. “The ESL program serves anyone who would like to learn English and their first language wasn’t English,” Weidner said. “We have people from many different countries, where some languages are Spanish, Russian, Brazilian Portuguese — just all different languages.” While classes can vary from teacher to teacher, Weidner said the activities, typically done in groups, focus on writing, conversation, pronunciation and grammar. However, Weidner said language education goes beyond the classroom. “Some people seem to think they’re just going to sit there with a book
straight and the teacher is just going talk,” Weidner said. “But we do activities, we take field trips and everything — we take them to the library, the fire station, the grocery store because you learn vocabulary that way. We go to restaurant for dinner to practice silverware and practice ordering. I feel like it teaches daily life skills too.” Education junior and BALC volunteer Paola Boitel said some students may be afraid to apply for ESL programs because of stigmas toward adult education. “The older you get people believe you can’t learn languages, they think that you’re not able to retain knowledge because it’s not as easily done as when you’re younger,” Boitel said. “I think that’s a misconception, because at any age you can really learn.” ESL ON PG. 2
Undefeated A&M softball team to take on Cougars after victory over Florida State By Matt Koper @MattKoper After winning its first 15 games, the No. 5 Texas A&M softball team will attempt to build upon its momentum against the University of Houston Wednesday night at the Aggie Softball Complex. The undefeated Aggies (15-0) return home from a weekend series in the Mary Nutter Classic in California, where they won all five games they played, including a 2-0 victory over then-No. 1 Florida State. Following the weekend sweep which included wins over No. 14 Michigan, No. 21 Arizona State, No. 23 BYU and Long Beach State, A&M climbed to the No. 5 spot in the most recent ESPN Top-25 rankings. The Aggies have navigated through the early part of the season due to strong performances on both offensive and defensive sides of the diamond. “We found different ways to win, so what makes this team special is that we’re pretty balanced,” said A&M head coach Jo Evans. “We’re not just relying on hitting a bunch of home runs and scoring nine or 10 runs a game. We’re really relying on great pitching, great defense and timely hitting. And I’ll take that over having to score nine or 10 runs a game, so I’ve been really pleased with our team.” Offensively, multiple players are batting over the .300 mark and have driven in runs in the double digits. Juniors Tori Valde and Kristen Cuyos lead the team in home runs at 3, and sophomore Samantha Show joins them in the RBI category with 11 a piece. Sophomore Riley Sartain holds the highest batting average on the team at .429. Outfielder Sarah Hudek, who’s hitting .306 with a
FILE
Kaitlyn Alderink (left) greets Tori Vidales (right) after both crossing home plate in the Feb. 19 game against SFA.
home run and 9 RBI, said the team has been feeding off of each other and that, in turn, has translated to success so far. SOFTBALL ON PG. 4