David Cohen, lifestyles writer, sits down with Brett Cooke, professor of international studies
THE BATTALION: How would you tell a student that it’s worth their time to study a foreign language?
cOOkE: There’s a long list of reasons I always give when I’m promoting our program. The best argument I can give I actually got from people who study the classics. Foreign languages are one of the most intensive forms of education you can have in simple cognitive tasks like memory and creativity. It gives you a type of immersion
that makes all the functions really important. It also helps you deal with our world’s environmental change — in the sense of walking around and hearing chinese on the street, for example. I just think it’s a way of becoming more intelligent and therefore opening more opportunities.
THE BATTALION: What keeps you coming back to College Station?
cOOkE: My field is a small one, so coming up with an opportunity like the one I’m currently in is rather difficult. We’re very grateful to A&M for them allowing us to do all the things we do with basically no restrictions. It is also nice to be at a big, active and extremely busy campus. You have to work very hard here just to keep up. There’s a lot of pressure here, but it’s the life I opted for. college Station has been a nice place to raise our kids and all we need now is a Greek restaurant. How can we have a large college town without a Greek restaurant? We also finally have good coffee houses, but not second-hand movie theater — the other sign of higher
See Cooke on page 3
Professor Brett cooke shares his love for international studies, saying that there is a particular rise in student interest in Russian affairs.
David cohen — THE BATTALION
insideweddings | 2Popping the questionFor some current and former students, their time on campus influences more than their career goals.
lifestyles | 3Helmets save livesAfter his near-death experience from a traumatic brain injury during a ski accident in 2012, Caleb Jentsch promotes helmet safety through an online survey for students planning to ski over Christmas break.
inclusion | 4Past to PresentFormer students share stories of their experiences on campus when the University first began admitting women and black students.
Resources from the Howdy Farm Field are being moved to the smaller site behind the Horticulture Building in preparation for upcoming University construction projects.
Led by senior center Karla Gilbert’s 15 points and seven rebounds,
the No.13 Texas A&M women’s basketball team defeated Prairie View A&M 76-27 on Wednesday night at Reed Arena in front of a crowd of 4,053 for the team’s home opener.
A&M head coach Gary Blair laud-ed Gilbert’s patience the past three seasons as she jumped into a leader-ship role this year.
“[Gilbert] already has been a fan fa-
vorite for three years, she’s just been waiting her turn patiently,” Blair said. “She’s earned her opportunity. She’s been the 12th Man, waiting to come in for their turn, and now as a senior [Gilbert] is really producing.”
Tyler Stafford, special to The Battalion
Jonathan Sheen — THE BATTALION
For the full story, go online at thebatt.com
w. basketball
Aggie center Karla Gilbert (No. 34) led A&M with 15 points.
Worldfest gives residents taste of various nationalities
b-cs
Petting a camel or watching Honduran dancers perform is not often on the
typical College Station to-do list, but Bra-zos Valley Worldfest is offering residents the opportunity to check both things off this weekend. From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sat-urday, Wolf Pen Creek Amphitheater will be filled with the displays and performances from the various cultures represented in the community.
Alongside 50 displays set up by student and nonprofit organizations, the event will open its stage to a diverse array of musical
performances, including Celtic-Appala-chian, Tejano and Polish music. Indone-sian, Flamenco, Chinese, Indian classical and belly dancing will also be featured.
With both salsa dance lessons and a salsa tasting competition, Worldfest seeks to en-courage education and appreciation of the different cultures that make up the com-munity. Various student organizations will set up booths and displays to give attendees insight into their backgrounds or the cul-tures they appreciate.
Lori Elder, senior French and English major, said the event alerts residents to the
Shelbi Polk The Battalion
cOURTESY
Worldfest attendees browse themed booths during last year’s event.
See Worldfest on page 3
thebatt.comSenate convenesStudent senators passes an emergency piece of legislation requesting that the 12th Man Foundation not follow through with proposed plan to construct a parking garage.
PlAnS UProoT HowdY fArMExpansion to pave over sustainability project
West Campus will be getting more crowded in the next few years as the University plans for the con-struction of new dorms and a new parking garage.
However, the area designated to serve as the new home to these construction projects has been occupied by Howdy Farm for the last five years.
Howdy Farm was started by the Sustainable Agriculture Student Association, which seeks to provide hands-on ag-ricultural experience for students and members of the com-munity. Corey Wahl, agricultural research technician and staff advisor for Howdy Farm, said the farm provides Texas
Jennifer Reiley The Battalion
See Howdy Farm on page 5
Aggies dominate Prairie View A&M, 76-27
BAT_11-14-13_A1.indd 1 11/13/13 10:42 PM
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: [email protected]; 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: [email protected]: 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.
Jake Walker, Editor in ChiefMark Doré, Managing EditorAimee Breaux, City EditorJames Sullivan, Sports EditorMackenzie Mullis, Lifestyles Editor
thebattalion The IndependenT STudenT VoIce of TexaS a&M SInce 1893
UNDER THE CENTURY TREEJosh McKenna — THE BATTALION
Some Aggies leave cam-pus with more than one
ring.As boyfriends and girl-
friends become fiancés and fiancées after proposals un-der the Century Tree, at George Bush Library and even on Kyle Field, these Aggie couples reveal their love through campus cus-toms and traditions, falling more in love with one an-other and Texas A&M.
Christopher Adams, senior management in-formation systems major, proposed to his fiancée, Lauren Leiker, under the iconic Century Tree on Sept. 22. He said his fian-cée wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.
“Walking under the Century Tree means that traditionally you are go-ing to marry that person, and if you propose under it the marriage is supposed to last forever,” Adams said. “It was something that was really special to my fiancée and it was something that she had wanted to happen when I proposed to her, something I thought was really cool.”
Texas A&M has brought many couples together, but for some, such as Callie Horan, senior communi-cation major, and Michael Cozzi, senior marketing major, A&M brought to-gether something that had been there all along.
“We both grew up [in Plano, Texas], but went to different high schools,” Horan said. “It’s funny be-cause we met at A&M but we had lived 10 minutes away from each other all along.”
Horan said the most memorable moments in their relationship took place at Aggie landmarks. Horan said she met Cozzi through mutual friends at Fish Camp and got to
know him more in a psy-chology class they had to-gether freshman year.
The couple said the mo-ment they realized they were headed for something more than friendship oc-curred under a tree behind the George Bush Library while they were studying for psychology.
At the time, Horan was unaware he would propose to her three years later.
“After he proposed, he had set up a picnic where we had studied together our freshman year,” Horan said. “We got to enjoy the newness of the experience and I couldn’t have imag-ined it any other way. It was so perfect, so special.”
Cozzi said planning such a special event was very nerve-wracking.
“I was very nervous the day before when I was waiting [to ask her], I felt sick almost and couldn’t sleep,” Cozzi said. “Once I saw her, I wasn’t nervous at all.”
Cozzi and Horan said the Aggie Spirit is a com-mon bond they share and something they look for-ward to passing on to their future kids and the next generations.
As many couples stay tra-dition-based, other couples show their love for A&M in different ways.
Alex Garrett, senior ki-nesiology major, hit it off with Daniel Lumpee, who would one day become her fiancé, with a pickup line — “I lost my number, can I have yours?”
Garrett said she met Lumpee sophomore year when her sorority, Sigma Phi Lambda, was playing his fraternity, Brothers Un-der Christ, in softball. Gar-rett said she was out to find herself a Christian boy to call her own.
“I’m not really good at softball, but I really wanted to meet a cute Christian boy,” Garrett said. “So I
went to the softball game and there was my cute Christian boy.”
Lumpee ultimately pro-posed to Garrett at the Christ Methodist Church in College Station where they both worked. Lumpee said he played Garrett’s favorite worship song as she walked down the aisle, which was lined with rose petals, can-dles and memorabilia from the past two years. Lumpee said he considered other proposal ideas related to their time at Texas A&M but realized that proposing to her in a small way was just not an option.
“I had to convince her to marry me somehow, so extravagance was the only way,” Lumpee said.
The couple, which has been together a little more than two years, said they also plan to keep the Ag-gie Spirit alive when they tie the knot.
“At the wedding, we will play the War Hymn as well as many other Aggie songs,” Garrett said. “We just talked about how we want everyone to be wav-ing 12th Man towels when we leave the reception in-stead of throwing rice.”
Dana and Alan Artz, Class of 2011, met while playing flag football at A&M and were married earlier this year. The cou-ple, true to their relation-ship’s Aggie football roots, threw up the signature, “Cashin‘ Out,” right after they said, “I do.”
Dana said it was more of a spur-of-the moment de-cision between the couple.
“We had talked about it at the rehearsal dinner,” Dana said. “We thought it would be funny but we didn’t really plan on fol-lowing through with it. I didn’t think we were going to do it until I saw him at the altar, he gave me a wink and I knew exactly what he meant.”
Caroline CorriganThe Battalion
How do you feel about Century
Tree proposals?
Q:thebattalion asks
Jonathan Sheen — THE BATTALION
“I think it’s an awesome way to connect to
campus on a personal level. It’s cool that it’s such a big tradition.”
Laura Mixtacki, senior education major
“I hope I get proposed [to] under the Century
Tree because it symbolizes unity and
how you’re supposed to be together forever.”
Niki Longoria, freshman forensic sciences major
“I think it’s slightly overdone. There’s a lot of hype around it. It’s a
little daunting to not walk under the Century Tree.”
Chelsea Quidachay, senior English major
Colby Oates, Class of 2009, proposes to Amanda Westerhoff while visiting for the Sam Houston State game.
BAT_11-14-13_A2.indd 1 11/13/13 10:03 PM
thebattalion
lifestyles page 3
thursday 11.14.2013
As they cram the last coat into the SUV and slam the back hatch shut, students might be anticipating their first flight
down the mountain or the feel of fresh snow under their feet, but a skiing or snowboarding accident is likely not their first consideration.
After a near-fatal skiing accident, Caleb Jen-tsch is working to bring the thought of helmet safety forward from the back of their minds.
On Jan. 5, 2012, the senior university studies major smashed his head on a tree after his skis crossed with a friend’s in Keystone, Colo. He laid in a hospital bed in a coma for the next 13 days, suffering from a traumatic brain injury.
For months after, Jentsch moved between several inpatient centers and slowly regained his speech, his ability to walk and to eat and even-tually his memory. For some time, he remained in a “dream state,” not knowing if what he was experiencing was real.
When Jentsch was finally able to move back home, he was ready to reapply to A&M and get back to the school he loved so much. Af-ter a year and 10 months, Jentsch still struggles with slurred speech, memory loss and slower movement, but said it’s not holding him back too much.
“I have an Aggie Ring that I have waited
five years to get,” Jenstch said. “I have just seen why God let my accident happen, whether that be meeting someone at the REC and sharing a breakfast taco and then getting to talk about my story or whether that be just having an op-portunity to share with others and getting to have lunch with Dr. Loftin.”
Jentsch said he uses his story to encourage helmet safety while skiing. He believed he was a good enough skier to forgo a helmet, he said, and was not wearing one when the accident occurred.
Through social media, he has created a sur-vey for students to assess their opinions regard-ing skiing and snowboarding helmet safety. He said he has received mixed responses.
“One question I asked was, ‘Would you consider wearing a helmet?’ and someone said, ‘No,’ and that broke my heart,” Jentsch said. “And the next question is, ‘Why or why not?’ and they said, ‘Because I’m too good.’ And I was like, ‘I mean, I thought I was too good.’”
After his accident, University President R. Bowen Loftin reached out to Jentsch through a letter of encouragement that he said sparked a friendship.
“He had heard about my faith and how I was involved,” Jentsch said. “He was actually there and he presented me my Aggie Ring and I asked him if he wanted to just go get lunch.”
Loftin agreed and met with Jentsch to speak to him about his helmet campaign.
“I asked him if there is any way possible for him to just get [the link to my survey] out to someone,” Jentsch said. “He said, ‘Yeah I’ll put it on my Twitter and I’ll put it in the school email.’ He said it will reach a lot of people.”
State Rep. Geanie Morrison also reached out to Jentsch since his accident through letters.
“God just is putting all these people in my path to just share his story,” Jentsch said. “Like I tell people, it’s not my story — I’m just a part of God’s story. Then Geanie Morrison sent me a letter, I am realizing all of these people are hear-ing about my accident and it’s just confirmation that God wanted this to happen and for me to go out, with the Facebook page and survey, and let people have awareness that they are not immune to getting in an accident.”
Jentsch said he wants to reach more people and touch more lives.
“Definitely all of my friends have said they will [wear a helmet skiing], and I know my sto-ry has touched their lives, but it is about talking to other people on campus and hopefully with Loftin’s help that will work out,” Jentsch said.
Jentsch said eventually it is his life goal to make it unlawful to ski without a helmet.
Eric Johnson, senior biomedical sciences major and Jentsch’s friend, who was skiing with
him when the accident occurred, said he will move to Colorado in December to work as a ski lift operator for four months. He said he thinks wearing a helmet is becoming a more acceptable thing to do.
“I did not wear a helmet before [the acci-dent] and living through the tragedy that not wearing a helmet brings is the best eye opener that will make someone want to wear one,” Johnson said. “I have the sense that people are already wearing a lot of helmets. People from Colorado know you’re from Texas if you’re not wearing a helmet.”
In Loftin’s campus-wide email Wednesday, he mentioned Jentsch.
“[Jentsch] struggles with memory loss that he believes could have been prevented if he had been wearing a helmet when he had a skiing accident,” Loftin said. “He wants to spread the word about the importance of helmets and asks Aggies to answer a short questionnaire about helmets found at his Facebook page.”
Jentsch said he currently plans to go back to Colorado during Christmas break to speak at a convention held by his neurosurgeon, address-ing a group of “brain doctors” about his story.
“I may or may not be able to ski, but if I do I’m wearing a helmet,” Jentsch said. “I really would like to.”
Mackenzie MullisThe Battalion
COURTESY
Worldfest participants display one of many culturally themed dances during last year’s event.
Student advocates for ski helmets after near-death experience
HOW TO SAVE A LIFE
diversity that exists in College Station.“Lots of people see College Station as being
very homogenous,” Elder said. “But Worldfest is full of so many different countries coming to-gether that you can really see that College Station is very diverse.”
As a member of the French Club, Elder took part in preparing the booth promoting French culture. Members of the club will be stationed at their display handing out cards with French phrases they will teach to attendees.
The event is aimed to appeal to both students and families. Children will receive passport book-lets that can be stamped as they visit the different displays.
Kim Fox, festival coordinator, said Worldfest has been a successful opportunity for Texas A&M students to interact with the community.
“Student organizations are always looking for a way to connect with the community so this is a great thing for them to do,” Fox said. “And the community is always interested in things that are going on at Texas A&M or organized by A&M, but they don’t always hear about them.”
Fox said the passport program has been particu-larly successful in gaining the interest of families.
“A lot of kids collect [the passports] and take them back to school and share what they’ve learned with their classes,” Fox said.
The event was created in 2006 and the first
Worldfest was held in 2007 by Texas A&M’s In-ternational Programs in conjunction with Inter-national Education Week, Fox said.
The event has grown steadily since then and the University has developed a partnership with the city of College Station over the past five years. The city provides grant funding for the event to advertise the festival to tourists and bring in per-formers.
Chris Dyer, CEO of the Arts Council of Brazos Valley, said the event brings in people from many areas with its unique mixture of cultures.
“With the University being here, there’s so many cultures that are very well represented in the event,” Dyer said. “It’s a good tourism event. People come from all over, but also it’s a good event for locals to enjoy.”
As a nonprofit, the Arts Council will have a display encouraging members of the community to engage with art. The event mixes nonprofit groups with the cultural displays to show festival attendees what is happening in their own city.
“They encourage nonprofits to get out there and introduce themselves to the community along with a lot of the cultural groups,” Dyer said.
According to a survey held with every festi-val, Worldfest has succeeded in promoting un-derstanding and education about other cultures within the College Station community.
“Eighty-five percent of respondents say they learned something new about a culture that they didn’t know before and that’s definitely our goal,” Fox said.
WorldfestContinued from page 1
civilization. But in many ways, I enjoy having the opportunities I do here and it’s nice to see that there is so much support for cultural events. By having a lively cultural life, it’s how we get the best faculty to come to College Station. There’s always something going on. This is a place that is very ambitious and I very much respect my colleagues.
THE BATTALION: What has been your biggest accomplishment within the Russian program?
COOKE: We have the largest body of second-year students anywhere in America, with the exception of the U.S. Military Academy. Local conditions may affect this, such as having the Bush School. Another big benefit is that we’ve had quite a change in our military forces, where they want their officers to show some appreciation for local cultures and so the Department of Defense has greatly encouraged members of the Corps of Cadets to take
trips overseas. In our present classes, you’ll see a fair portion of them are wearing uniform. We also have the largest retention rate when compared against other schools, so we’re very pleased in that sense. We’re also conducting a Russian film festival, and we’ve had great attendance there.
THE BATTALION: How have you seen the students’ viewpoint toward Russia change through the years?
COOKE: As Russia is once again becoming a significant country, people are starting to take interest in it again. Now, I regard Moscow as the cultural capital of the world. You look at their listings for theaters, concert halls and nightclubs and they have many times what is available in New York. Not cheap to go to, mind you — for several years it has consistently been the most expensive city in the world. The big difference in Russia is that they always have looked to the arts for an alternative politics. Tolstoy once said that for a government to have a great writer is for them to have a second government.
CookeContinued from page 1
Jenna Rabel — THE BATTALION
Caleb Jenstch, senior university studies major, works to increase awareness of the benefits of helmet usage.
Russian professor Brett Cooke works with his wife, Olga, at A&M.David Cohen — THE BATTALION
BAT_11-14-13_A3.indd 1 11/13/13 10:36 PM
thebattalion
newspage 4
thursday 11.14.2013
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As students trekked across campus Wednesday, some took the time to
stop and gain a greater understanding and appreciation for the legacy that brought them to this University.
“Former Students’ Stories,” hosted by MSC LEAD in Rudder Plaza, featured Rozanna Mendoza and Leroy Sterling as they spoke with students about their experiences as minority members on this once all-white, all-male campus.
Mendoza, Class of 1986, said as a His-panic woman, her ethnic identity proved to be more of a hurdle than her gender. Mendoza said her experiences were of more subtle obstacles rather than targeted discrimination. Many people assumed that she didn’t speak fluent English and that because she was a woman, she would only get a basic degree, she said.
“When I was registering for classes, I had advisors tell me that I shouldn’t take certain courses because I was female and they thought I couldn’t speak very much English,” Mendoza said. “I went straight to the dean’s office and he was just so kind to me and he helped me register for the classes I wanted.”
Although he wasn’t a featured speak-er, John Groce, Class of 1980, appeared at the event with Mendoza and spoke about being one of the few black cadets in the Corps in his time at the University. Mendoza and Groce met at A&M and dated for about a year, Mendoza said, but had not seen each other in 30 years until Wednesday.
“About a month ago, I found Rozanna on LinkedIn and we decided to meet up at this event after 30 years of not seeing each other,” Groce said. “It was like we had never spent 30 years apart, we just
picked up right where we left off.”Groce said he chose to attend A&M
because it was the only school he applied to that didn’t accept him. After finally being accepted, he ended up being one of six black students in the Corps at that time.
“It was the challenge of getting into A&M that made me want to go here,” Groce said. “Many people told me I wouldn’t make it and that it wasn’t the place for me, but they were wrong. It was the place for me and the networks I have made by going here will always be worth choosing this school.”
Leroy Sterling, one of the first four African-Americans admitted to A&M in 1963, was admitted after the government found the University was not accepting African-Americans and threatened to take away the institution’s status if their admis-sion policies were not changed. Sterling said he was rejected at first but received a telegram later that said the University had reversed its decision.
“At first I thought I was accepted be-
cause of my grades,” Sterling said. “I later found out after my high school teacher, who also applied here, was rejected as well and then they allowed him to come and then they allowed me to attend as well.”
Though Sterling said most of his expe-riences at A&M were pleasant, he faced several discriminatory moments as a stu-dent. Though his classes were seated al-phabetically, he said they sat him in the back of the classroom and the women in the front to ensure he did not sit next to any female students.
During the summer of 1963, one of Sterling’s professors had an end-of-semes-ter party. When he arrived, the profes-sor’s mother answered the door, greeted them and asked Sterling and his date to go around to the back door. Sterling said this was a common indignity then and he re-ceived a harsh reality check that reminded him social change is a slow process.
Inclusivity pioneers share tales from early days
Ashe MatochaThe Battalion
50 years of inclusion
Speakers address gender, race obstacles
COURTESY
Leroy Sterling, one of the first four African-Americans admitted to A&M in 1963, answers students’ questions Wednesday in Rudder Plaza.
For the full story, visit thebatt.com
BAT_11_14_13_A4.indd 1 11/13/13 9:16 PM
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A&M wih a unique educational experience.“The farm provides hands-on experience to
students who wish to supplement their edu-cation with even more practical knowledge,” Wahl said. “We do this by offering internships, which are structured in a way that allows stu-dents to get experience with planting, harvest-ing and the marketing of vegetables while also allowing them to work on individual projects throughout the semester.”
Produce from the farm is sold at the Brazos Valley Farmers’ Market. David Smith, presi-dent of SASA and senior biology major, said Howdy Farm has valuable benefits for Bryan-College Station.
“It helps reconnect members of the com-munity with their food source and promotes organic farming methods,” Smith said.
For members of SASA, the University’s construction plans for a new dorm complex and parking garage on Howdy Farm could be damaging.
While the parking garage plans are still in development, Wahl said members of How-dy Farm have spoken with the University to try and integrate the farm into the West Campus dorms.
“While we can’t stop the construction from happening, we have been in contact with Resi-dence Life to talk about the possibility of in-corporating a garden into the construction of the new dorms,” Wahl said. “Whether or not this will be an official part of the Howdy Farm is still in discussion, but we at least hope that a community garden will be incorporated into the design.”
In preparation for the upcoming chang-es, SASA has begun to focus its resources on the garden behind the Horticulture Building. While keeping the farm open wherever pos-sible is a main goal of the move, Wahl said the relocation has its downsides, including the loss of greenhouse space along with the field.
Howdy FarmContinued from page 1
Jenna Rabel — THE BATTALION
University construction projects may replace the larger Howdy Farm.
A dip in the dunking booth
David Cohen — THE BATTALION
At the Delta Kappa Epsilon “Dunk-a-Deke”, students attempt to dunk Tyler Jones, junior bioenvironmental sciences major.
“The transition has really decreased our vegetable output dramatically while also forc-ing us to use a lot of our funds to make im-provements to our new garden area,” Wahl said. “We are currently seeking funding in the form of donations and grants so that we can get back to providing quality food to the community.”
Smith said the University has the final say in whether or not Howdy Farm will be included in the construction plans, but the farm will con-tinue to operate either way.
“Even if the dorms are built on the field, it doesn’t mean our existence is over,” Smith said. “We also have land behind the Horticul-ture Building. This is an opportunity to cen-tralize. We can build a foundation at a central location behind the Horticulture Building and expand again from there.”
