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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 18, 2015)
NEWS The Battalion I 2.18.15 2 NEXT WEEK will be your last chance to have your free PORTRAIT made forTexas A&M's 2015 Aggie/and yearbook. Final round will be Feb. 23-March 13. ALL CLASSES: Just walk in to have your portrait taken Monday-Thursday in MSC Suite L400. It's your yearbook. ANSWERS to todays puzzles ASjOjfl 1 LU 2 SgaIiJeF N E | M< A 1 > RU l J : g i lice \ FIT S F a[y| A sllft \ A} |i 1 A 1 X Ul t- HlO Hess ui p< ■i DJ “ P 3 E 1 iTv r A < ; Hmc > L 1 1 iNEji Rl B C >t; r l> c > Eli a or i 61 its _J_JH :e| |Ei Ml m eMMn r i m Q V jyy !!! f i i N 1 rvfflj ms, 1 . E I . A l 1 n r L T THa^n ■ ASA mm oMu i nHr D 1 1 1 16 c >1011 IISITIY ■ eTukTsI pT T 6 3 5 1 4 2 T| 4 i 2 9 7 6 3 5 8 7 3 _5_ 2 8 4 9 6 9 8 1 6 4 5 2 7 3 3 5 4 7 1 2 6 8 9 2 6 7 ~8 3 9 1 4 5 5 4 9 1 6 7 8 3 2 1 2 8 5 9 3 7 6 4 6 7 3 4 2 8 5 9 1 l l rjl I TEXAS A&M * UNIVERSITY ssc SSC has joined twitter! Tweet d>SSC_TAMU custodial, grounds or maintenance issues that need fixin’ on campus. SSC is the premium provider of support services. With over 40 years of industry experience and highly trained skilled professionals, we specialize in enhancing learning environments through exceptional Custodial & Campus Services, Maintenance, and Grounds Management. erftr00ir orest latre Weekends Feb 7th - Mar 29th and Fri. Mar 20th Full Contact Jousting Tournaments _ ; , , Feb 28 - Mar 1 and Mar 28 - 29 Camping is Available! Save $3 at ll- Only 1 hour from Bryan - College Station ww w,Sherwood Forest Faire,com (512)222-6680 NEW DONORS EARN IN YOUR FIRST 2 DONATIONS nm TWO LOCATIONS TO DONATE AT! (979) 315-4101 4223 Wellborn Rd Bryan. TX 77801 (979) 314-3672 700 University Dr E., Ste 111 College Station, TX 77840 BXTT Mark Dore, Editor in Chief Aimee Breaux, Managing Editor Katie Canales, Life &Arts Editor Jennifer Reiley, Asst. Managing Editor Carter Karels, Sports Editor Lindsey Gawlik, News Editor Shelby Knowles, Photo Editor Samantha King, Asst. News Editor Allison Bradshaw, Asst. Photo Editor Katy Stapp, Asst. News Editor Meredith Collier, Page Designer John Rangel, SciTech Editor Claire Shepherd, Page Designer 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, Offices are in Suite L400 ' “ • liversity TX 77843. 30 of the Memorial Student Center. News: The Battalion news department is managed by students at Texas A&M University in Student -Medf ■n ph www.thebatt. Advertising: Publication of advertising does not imply sponsorship or end* Newsroom phone: 979-845-3315; E-ma [.corn. uni ail: editor@thebatt.com; website: http:// ;ement I 979- a.m. to Advertising: PuDlication or advertising does not imply sponsorship or endorse by The Battalion. For campus, local, and national display advertising, call 845-2687. For classified advertising, call 979-845-0569. Office hours are 8 a 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Email: battads@thebatt.com. Subscriptions: A part of the University Advancement Fee entitles each Texas A&M student to pick up a single copy of The Battalion. First copy free, additional copies $1. Program takes writing from page to stage New initiative aims to assist writing and performance skills By Lindsey Gawlik N. A new program within the Univer- sity Writing Center aims to further the arts at Texas A&M and create a fast- paced environment for writers to better learn their craft. This year, the Writing Center will hold its first “Black Box Residency Pro gram,” an initiative to teach selected participants how to create and perform original work. The residency — applications for which will be due Friday — will last five weeks, focusing first on writing im provement skills and then on performing in front of a public audience. Florence Davies, facilitator behind the residency and administrator at the Uni versity Writing Center, said the idea for the program came from two former stu dents who worked in the center. “This is the first year that we decided to go ahead and try it out,” Davies said. “It was actually a project idea brought to us, an idea of combining a workshop that focuses not only on the creative ma terial but also the performance of that material.” Since this is a pilot event, Davies said this year the planning was focused more on creating a small fast-paced residency program that would allow students to decide between writing fiction or po etry. “We are trying to figure out exacdy what that public performance is going to look like,” Davies said. “One of the ideas we had is to kind of, as the writers are reading their work and reading it to the Tanner Garza — THE BATTALION The University Writing Center's program will culminate in a performance at the black box theatre in Hullabaloo Hall. public, we were thinking, ‘Wouldn’t it be great to have that immediate feedback from the audience and maybe getting the audience to write comment cards or give the writers some feedback on the read ing itself?’” Davies said doctoral students will teach the writing workshops and Can dace Schaefer, associate director in the University Writing Center, will teach the performance workshops. Schaefer said she hopes to help the residency participants — with different styles and varying levels of experience — become comfortable presenting their work to the public. Schaefer said she’s always been inter ested in supporting the writing life and creative spirit at Texas A&M. “Fm hoping that the resident partici pants get a venue for their work, which I think is lacking in this community and I also hope they get a terrific audience for their work because the more enthu siastic the audiences become the bigger the enthusiasm grows for a program like this,” Schaefer said. One of the students behind the origi nal idea for the program, Madison Park er, Class of 2014 and president of Mic Check Poetry, said her original hope for the program was to grow the creative atmosphere at A&M. “We thought that it would be a really cool outlet for combining both of these to kind of give other A&M students the opportunity to engage in this and really enhance their craft as a whole,” Parker said. The final performance will be given at 7 p.m. April 11 in the black box theatre in Plullabaloo Hall. Judge’s stay of Obama immigration order a ‘shame for Texas,’ advocate says By Jennifer Reiley President Barack Obama’s execu- tive orders on immigration came to a halt with a federal judge ruling late Monday afternoon. Andrew Hanen, a U.S. district judge in Texas, blocked action on the execu tive orders, giving 26 states, including Texas, more time to build a lawsuit against the order. The states will claim the order to be unconstitutional. “It represents a massive change in im migration practice and will have a signif icant effect on, not only illegally present immigrants, but also the nation’s entire immigration scheme and the states who must bear the lion’s share of its conse quences,” Hanen wrote in the official ruling. The executive orders, announced by Obama in November, aim to shield from deportation four million immigrants, namely parents and families of children who are now citizens or permanent residents. Each person applying for the three-year deportation relief is required to have been in the U.S. for more than five years, undergo a criminal back ground check, register and pay taxes. Felipe Hinojosa, assistant professor of history, works with undocumented students at Texas A&M. He said he dis agrees with the judge’s ruling, which doesn’t address certain points about undocumented persons in the United States. “The judge’s ruling states that the executive order would essentially force states to invest in things like law enforce ment, education and healthcare,” Hino josa said. “And first of all I’d ask, What’s wrong with that?’ I think we need to do more of that as a state. But more impor tantly, what’s missing in that equation is the fact that undocumented immigrants do pay into the system.” Hinojosa said the mling feels tnore political than substance-based. Nery Guerrero, president of the Council for Minority Student Affairs, agreed, and said the mling came two days before applications for work permit renewals reopened. “It was meant to halt the renewals,” Guerrero said. “This is very sad because the politicians are continuing to play this game that’s not only affecting votes or parties — they’re affecting people, they’re affecting families. They’re using this as a strategy on their campaign but they’re playing with real people, real im migrants, and there are a lot of undocu mented Aggies whose hopes are being brought down, and this is a shame on Texas.” For now, CMSA is working with other organizations like United We Dream to reassure students who are wor ried about the judge’s decision. “We’re sending national information and national awareness to everyone,' and what we’re basically telling everyone who might be scared about this is that this decision is not permanent,” Guerre ro said. “While it’s delaying the process, this lawsuit is not permanent and we’re confident the higher courts will reject this lawsuit since it has no legal merit.” Rep. Bill Flores released a statement Tuesday congratulating Hanen on his mling. ‘The rule of law has prevailed over President Obama’s unconstitutional ex ecutive overreach,” Flores said in the statement. “The president’s unlawful amnesty plan has been stopped. Our Constitution has been preserved and the president has been put on notice that his unilateral actions will not go unchal lenged.” Guerrero said the idea of an amnesty plan is a misconception. “There’s no amnesty plan,” Guerrero said. “Obama relief is relief for parents of DACA [Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals] children — something that has been voted in before. It’s not an amnesty plan, there’s no granting of citizenship. It provides relief for the children, many of them students.” As of Tuesday, Flinojosa said the U.S. Justice Department will appeal the ml ing and the Homeland Security secretary has released a statement against Hanen’s decision. ' _ WALK CONTINUED Brown, an international studies and applied mathematics junior, and will meet at 3 p.m. at Jason’s Deli. They invite students and other community members to join them in their walk through B-CS. Brown, who has Ewing’s sarcoma, said she was told about the Cobb fam ily’s walk by her roommate, who sup ported the family’s walk in Huntsville, Texas last week. “She was with the Cobb family when they were walking,” Brown said. “She turned around and talked to them and told them about my sto ry. We are really excited to be able to meet them Wednesday.” Jennifer Cobb said one of the main goals of the walk is to promote aware ness of the gravity of pediatric cancer. The family started a foundation to continue their goal, called “JuCan,” remembering their daughter Julia’s nickname, Ju, and the inspiring mes sage she sought to give to all. “Unfortunately, pediatric cancer research is terribly underfunded,” Jen nifer Cobb said. “It is the number one cause of death by disease for children. ” Jennifer Cobb said the family want ed to use their faith and their love for Julia to continue to spread awareness to help other children and other fami- lies throughout the nation. “It’s just something that no parent ever wants to go through,” Jennifer Cobb said. “But we want to give our love and support to help everyone else that we possibly can. ” Jennifer Cobb said the family walks each day for a different person who is battling cancer to honor them and their fight. “We pretty much walk around 25 miles a day, and each day we walk for one specific person,” Jennifer Cobb said. “We’ve gotten so many different requests and people asked us, ‘Could you walk for my niece or my neph ew?’ And we always do.” Brown said it is a privilege to be honored in the walk. “I can personally speak to how underfunded childhood cancer is,” Brown said. “I think it would be amazing to bring more awareness to college students.” Brown said bringing awareness to college-aged students can help with finding a solution sooner rather than later. “I believe we’re in a position to make change,” Brown said. “We’re all getting degrees that will shape our lives and then to go out into the real world to hopefully make a difference. ” Logan Lester, a university studies junior, is a friend of the Cobb fam ily and helped to organize the College Station walk. Lester said the event is important to her because of Julia Cobb’s influence on her life. “She left a powerful legacy, I can’t even begin to put what she means to me into words,” Lester said. The walk through Aggieland will begin at Jason’s Deli in the parking lot and will last approximately three hours. The route follows Texas to University, along University to Wel- born and from Welborn to George Bush. THEBATT.COM SMfca Israeli soldiers share their personal accounts with students at Hillel. m msrn m .fjiSr It & A visiting Jewish studies prof talks French philosophy and current events. Takeaways from 'State of the State'