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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 27, 2003)
’WWaBUPiPiMI-J : tefiSSI): THE BATTALION striding ued from page 1A buquerque right away ban to attend the lay hearing. Sen. Leticia Putte of San Antonio, nan of the Senate lie Caucus, has said if / they are prepared to y another 30 days, the n length of a special of the Democrats rom Albuquerque on the as the Legislature L ally is sad to see the gislature so divided and ic time, we felt validated we accomplished what t to do,” said Sen. Judith D-Laredo. Democrats fled the on July 28, shortly erry called a second ive special session, ence denied the Senate , halting business in the >er chamber that wo-thirds of its mem- present for business to :ted. licans, led by U.S. lajority Leader Tom Sugar Land, have been or lawmakers to redraw issional districts, saying nds show Texas should ore Republicans in >n. Democrats have a ority in the delegation, emocrats contend the nap should not be and say proposals ; Legislature this year /e hurt minority repre- des, meanwhile, face a ednesday in Laredo on >crats’ federal lawsuit es that their constitu- ;hts as well as the ights Act have been irough the redistricting lated development, the partment in a letter to Secretary of State’s id that prior federal is not needed on s decision to do away ovision requiring of the Senate agree to I to be debated. said the Justice it letter was another lage to the Democrats e lawsuits they us.” LION lief Sports Editor Sports Editor sch, Sci|Tech Editor :h, Copy Chief tia, Graphics Editor hoto Editor ;ley , Radio Producer uscli, Webmaster nday through Friday dur- sday during the summer t Texas A&M University. tMASTER: Send address MU, College Station, TX itudents at Texas A&M partment of Journalism, phone: 845-3313; Fax: .thebatt.com rship or endorsement by sing, call 845-2696. For in 015 Reed McDonald, Fax: 845-2678. al copies 254. Mail sub- emester, $17.50 for the , Discover, or American linment" ders ecades" tgie football ith Aggie one f the Year anglers :e Team aha Psi Kane d Arena! AGGIELIFE The Battalion Page 3A» Wednesday, August 27, 2003 Live and learn: The freshman code By Rachel Hollon THE BATTALION Every year, a new crop of students enters Texas A&M. They are virtually free of parental control for the first time, free to choose whether logo to class or sleep in and free to make impor- lant decisions: they are the freshman class. Freshman year can be full of pitfalls for freshmen who do not learn from the mistakes of iliose who went before them. The trials, experiences and lessons of fresh man year are important parts of college life. Feeling invincible, enjoying newfound free dom and skipping classes are just some of the overwhelming sensations of entering college. However, there are many pitfalls that unsus pecting freshmen fall into. Buck Barner, a senior nuclear engineering major, fell into the trap of freshman mistakes. Barner had all early classes his freshman year in college. ‘It’s no wonder why most 8 a.m. classes are n to the young freshmen. The upperclassmen e been there and know better,” Barner said. They know the pain of going to bed at 3 a.m. waking up at 7:30 to get to their 8 a.m. class.” After two weeks of dragging himself out of J, Barner began skipping class. Foregoing class except for the review and test ^s seemed like a good plan while he was curled up in his sheets. However, when Barner received a ‘C for his 8 a.m. class, he realized he lad sacrificed his grade for sleep. Now, Barner said, he makes it to his early classes and has avoided the inevitable wrath of icholastic probation. Barner’s advice for the freshman class is that, while it is OK to take a day or two off every once in awhile, freshmen should go to class more times than they skip to avoid a 2.0 grade- int ratio or lower. Bret Beavers, a senior biomedical sciences ijor, found that sometimes freshman year can he lonely. Beavers said he regrets not joining any of A&M’s hundreds of organizations his freshman ear because he missed the opportunity to meet people. Beavers said he found it hard to meet new people when he came to A&M. “I come from a small town so I didn’t know a lot of people when I moved to College Station,” he said. “I didn’t live in the dorms either so that made it even harder to meet people. I mainly just hung out with a couple of my friends from high school.” He attributes his well-rounded personality and happiness to organizations he later joined. “I’m happier and less stressed now. I’ve learned to have a much better balance between school and fun,” Beavers said. Beavers’ advice for incoming fresh men is that it is a lot easier to join organizations to get to know peo pie, but keep your priorities in order. Now when he goes — out, Beaver said he always runs into some one he knows. Brandon Foster, a junior marketing major, found that living in the res idence halls isn’t always a dream come true. He went potluck to find a room mate his freshman year. Foster said he had an idea of what his col lege roommate would be like— like many people, he had a vision that his roommate would turn into his best friend, j Instead, Foster and his roommate had personality differences that made living together difficult. “It got to the point to where we got into a fist fight over a movie,” he said. Foster said that although he learned a lot from the experience, he wouldn’t recommend it. Daniel Antonio, a senior industrial engineer ing major, found out the hard way that long-dis tance relationships sometimes hinder the first year of college. Antonio began dating a girl at the end of his sen ior year of high school. They were attending differ ent colleges, so they decided not to put too much pressure on the relationship. “We had decided very early on that when it came time for us to head off to college, we would break it off,” Antonio said. “The only problem was we never expected to grow as close to each other as we did that summer.” When it came time to go to school, they did not want to break up, and tried to rectify the sit uation by agreeing to see each other as often as they could. The first semester proved to be difficult. They both shut themselves off from getting to know new people, and still talked to each other almost every night. “Neither of us joined any clubs or really went out to parties,” Antonio said. After a wonderful Christmas break with each other, they both headed off for their respective schools. Antonio said he stayed in his room and con tinued to shut himself away from a full college experience, while his girlfriend became more active in school and started making lie; friends. Antonio said he became jealous of his girlfriend’s new lifestyle and after one argument, the rela tionship, that had taken so many sacrifices was over. Antonio said his mistake was not pursuing the long distance relationship, but the sacrificing he made to keep it. He said he would have loved to have joined organizations and gotten to know new people, but he doesn’t regret the rela tionship. Antonio’s advice for the Class of 2007 is not to be afraid of new expe riences, especially during your fresh man year. Whether it is sleeping through classes, being on scholastic probation, difficult roommates or long-distance relation ships, the first year of college is never easy. Each student has his own perspective on college, and if there is one thing to be learned from others’ mistakes it is how to avoid them and get the most out of the first year of college. Fri, Aug 29 ll-3pm Rec Center Pool Free Pizza & Giveaways BacktoSchool Hundreds of Used Gaines to choose from les shown will be in every store. — ^Buy2 ' previously viewed movies or games and get the 3rd for Includes previously viewed VHS. DVDs 8 Video Games. 3rd previously viewed Hem must be ol euual or lesser value is die Uie lowest priced movie or game purchased. —. ■ BUY 4 USED CDS Get the 5th FREE http://careercenter.tamu.edu 209 Koldus 845-5139 Hundreds _ Used CDs Selection varies by store