NEWS
The Battalion I 3.4.15
4
THEBATT.COM
(Left) Dominque Christina and (right) Denice Frohman perform slam poetry
pieces Tuesday night at an event in Rudder Theater.
SUMMIT CONTINUED
of the biggest inspirations for those of us
that work here at the institute and those
working in international agriculture
around the world has been Dr. Borlaug
himself,” Murano said. “The trigger that
he has been for all of us working in inter
national development in term of what it
means to be a leader, what it means to get
things done and pursu
ing your goals relent
lessly, basically action.
‘Do more talk less’ is
what he would say. ”
Murano said that
the traits exhibited by
Borlaug that made him
a great leader are cer
tainly imitable as long
as people are moved
by what they do.
“ His story is certain
ly simple. He wasn’t
Superman. He was a
regular person like the
rest of us. He would go
to these countries and
see the abject poverty
and malnutrition, he
knew as an agricultural
researcher could be
fixed,” Murano said.
Murano said she
hopes that her address
will help people to think about how to
look within themselves to find ideas and
inspiration, to continue to be leaders.
“Certainly a better understanding of the
impact one person can make, especially in,
agriculture. That one person can make a
difference when they follow these things,”
Murano said.
The Texas A&M University Hispanic
Network was established in 2006 with the
goal of increasing minority enrollment and
hearing the concerns of Hispanic Aggies.
The Network has many chapters across the
"Certainly a better
understanding
of the impact
one person can
make, especially in
agriculture. That
one person can
make a difference
when they follow
these things."
Elta Murano,
director of the Borlaug
Inatltute
nation that works with the university to
increase diversity on campus.
“We work with the university system
almost direcdy. The summit is the yearly
event where we all gather,” said Hispanic
Network President Perfecto Solis. “There’s
a lot of great work that Hispanic network
does... It’s a lot of community outreach and
getting the word out about Texas A&M.”
Included in the community outreach
are programs like
“Phone-a-Fish,” in
which the network
will call famihes of
students who have
been accepted to the
university but haven’t
accepted admission.
Solis said this allows
them to form a con
nection with the stu
dent and the families.
“We’ll call the fam
ilies and answer any
questions they might
have,” Solis said. “We
talk about the Spirit of
Aggieland, we answer
questions that the kids
might have. We form
that connection as
sociated with T exas
A&M and the Aggie
Spirit.”
Solis said the goal is
to both educate and inspire participants by
highlighting the work of a select group of
Hispanics.
“Its informational, and its also intended
to be inspirational,” Solis said. “A lot of
the awards are going to be given to very
special people who have done very special
things. It’s meant to refocus us on what the
next year is. It’s an opportunity for break
out meetings. We’re doing the best we can
to support the university and support the
Hispanic community.”
Shelby Knowles —THE BATTALION
Asit Biswas, the clerk who was ticketed for selling alcohol to a minor last month,
was able to pay off his fine with money raised by students and friends.
Students raise funds to pay
local gas station clerk's ticket
By Nikita Redkar
A group of students put
their Aggie spirit on dis
play Friday as the nine stu
dents paid off the city viola
tion ticket of a Shell station
clerk, Asit Biswas.
Biswas was charged one
month ago for providing al
cohol to a minor. He said he
strives to work hard every
day and follow the rules and
laws of the United States. The
night Biswas was ticketed, a
customer had been using a
fake ID and a police officer
happened to be standing out
side.
“I like it here very much
and I like the system,” Biswas
said. “But one day, I acciden
tally made a mistake. A guy
came in here and used one
ID, and when a police officer
stopped him he showed an
other ID. So the officer gave
me a ticket for selling to a
minor.”
Kevin Langford, agricul
tural economics senior, said
he has known Biswas for
three and a half years and the
whole incident was a misun
derstanding.
“We raised this money be
cause Asit has one of the most
amazing stories we have ever
heard,” Langford said. “We
knew the money we raised
was going to a man who more
than deserved it.”
Four years ago, Biswas
won the U.S. Department
of State’s Diversity Program
Lottery, a drawing of immi
grant visas available to indi
viduals from countries with
low rates of immigration to
the United States. Biswas said
he emigrated from Bangla
desh in 2009 and has been
working at a College Station
Shell to support his family
ever since.
“I got married four years
ago, but my wife could not
move to the U.S. because
[her visa] took a long time
to process and there wasn’t
enough money,” Biswas said.
“Six months ago my wife
finally arrived here. I have
been working four years for
her to come here.”
Industrial distribution se
nior Michael Paine said he
and his friends wanted to do
something to try to help him
out financially when they
heard about the incident.
“We ended up making a
Facebook group to spread
the word,” Paine said. “Af
ter a lot of people heard what
happened, one of our friends
set up a GoFundMe account
to make it easy for people to
donate money.”
In just 12 hours of the ac
count’s link being open, all
of the $2,000 needed to cov
er the fine had been raised,
Paine said.
“Everyone who donated
money knew Asit from times
they interacted with him at
Shell,” Paine said. “There
were even multiple donations
made by those that graduated
a year or two ago that re
member Asit.”
Biswas said the day he re
ceived the check from the
students was one of the hap
piest days of his life.
“I didn’t know how the
court works and I am so
thankful for everybody who
helped me,” Biswas said.
“They are such good guys
and all have big hearts. I am
so happy right now.”
Although the students do
not condone selling alcohol
to minors, they sided with
the man who had grown to
become their friend.
“He’s got a contagious
smile and he’s a very caring
man,” said finance senior Mi
chael Mullins. “He’s always
interested in what’s happen
ing in our lives, and we care
about his as well.”
Biswas said he loves Col
lege Station and feels he has
the friendliest customers.
“People in the U.S. and
students here are very friend
ly,” Biswas said. “I feel very
good working and living
here.”
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THIS WEEK V—
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get your picture taken
for Texas A&M's 2015
Aggieland yearbook,
if you didn't last fall. Your
portrait sitting is free.
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Just walk in 9 a.m.-5 f>.M. Monday through fhursday in thf* Sttidont Mr:duj office.
Suite* 1.400 of the MSC. March 12 will bo your la',t chance.
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