NEWS
The Battalion I 3.27.15
2
‘A World of Healthy Products
for Your family!”
Wide Selection
of 100% Pure
Essential Oils
* SNOW LOTUS
CERTIFIED ORGANIC
* Aura Cacia
*The Herb E3ar
4303 S. TEXAS AT ROSEMARY
BRYAN • 379-846-4459
MON-FRI 9 TO 6 • SAT 9 TO 4
CeSebtHtiog 26 tear* of Serving the B/aaras Valleylj
Mark Dore, Editor in Chief
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 depart
ment is managed by students at Texas
A&M University in Student Media, a unit
of the Division of Student Affairs. News
room phone: 979-845-3315; E-mail: edi-
tor@thebatt.com; website: http://www.
thebatt.com.
Advertising: Publication of advertising
does not imply sponsorship or endorse
ment 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:
battads@thebatt.com.
Subscriptions: A part of the Univer
sity Advancement Fee entitles each Texas
A&M student to pick up a single copy of
The Battalion. First copy free, addi
tional copies $1.
DONATE "
PLASMA i
TODAY! |
NEW DONORS EARN
IN YOUR FIRST 2 DONATIONS
TWO LOCATIONS TO DONATE AT!
(979) 315-4101 I {979} 314-3672
4223 Wellborn Rd 700 University Dr E., Ste 111
Bryan. TX 77801 | College Station. TX 77840
Hold onto a piece of
Aggieland
It S Hot tOO lato to order your copy of the
2015 Aggieland yearbook. The 113th edition of Texas A&M’s
official yearbook will chronicle the 2014-2015 school year
- traditions, academics, athletics, the other education, the
Corps, Greeks, residence halls, campus organizations, and
student portraits. Distribution will be in Fall 2015.
If yOU haven t, pick up a copy of the
award-winning 2014 Aggieland yearbook that is a 520-page
photojournalistic record of the 2013-2014 school year.
By credit card go online to
http://aggieland.tamu.edu or call
979-845-2613. Or drop by
the Student Media office in Suite
' L400 of the MSC.
STAFF APPRECIATION
As part of the
University's
Staff
Appreciation
Week, staff
participated
in activities at
Olsen Field,
such as bean
bag toss,
mini golf, and
eating cotton
candy.
Tim Lai —THE BATTALION
Peter Luft, Grant Hewitt, Joey Bowers, Reid Towart, Steve-o
Callaghan and Trent Jones discuss strategy for the competition.
LEAGUE OF LEGENDS
CONTINUED
Jones said if the A&M team wins
the South Division round robin, the
team would move on to another
round robin against the three teams
that won in the other divisions.
“We’re excited because we get to
represent A&M and I think it will
make a big splash,” Jones said. “Espe
cially if we get to final four, where ev
eryone will see A&M’s banner versus
these three other schools. It could be
pretty exciting.”
Reid Towart, engineering senior
and player on the team, said League of
Legends is a unique genre of a video
game.
“It’s a five-on-five game where
the objective is to destroy an enemy’s
base,” Towart said. “But in order to
do that you need to kill the opposing
team multiple times and kill objec
tives to make your team stronger and
win the game. It’s one of those games
where its only about 60 percent me
chanical skill and the rest is strategy,
which is where the team play comes
into it.”
Steve-O Callaghan, English senior
and the team’s coach, said Basketball
was a good analogy to describe the
game. Callaghan said there are five
members on the team, each with a
specific area of expertise.
Callaghan said that communica
tion, while vital, poses an interesting
problem because of the online com
ponent of the game.
“If you’re on a basketball court, and
I want to talk to you, I could look at
you and talk to you. And if I want to
talk to Trent, I could turn to him and
talk to him and there is less overlap,”
Callaghan said. “But when you are us
ing Skype or any other sort of voice
software it’s a flat plane and everyone
is on the same ground, it’s sort of a
challenging environment to commu
nicate in.”
Communication difficulties cou
pled with poor Internet connection
makes the game more difficult, said
Jones.
“Imagine you are at a basketball
practice and the team is practicing and
two guys shoes break and they don’t
have shoes,” Jones said. “It’s like, what
are we supposed to do? These two
guys, they aren’t going to play. They
are going to fall all over the place in
their socks, and they aren’t going to
practice. And the other guys lose out
because of it.”
Jones said professional teams have
shown interest in drafting him and his
teammates.
“I really want to perform in this
college tournament,’’Jones said. “And
if I do incredibly well and people actu
ally think I’m a prospect I’ll consider
it, but I’ve gotten offers from amateur
teams that I’ve turned down.”
While Jones said the attention is
great, the general consensus among
the team is that such offers are too time
consuming. Jones said the team values
their higher education too much.
For now, Towart said the team is
aiming to win the South Division first
and foremost.
“The biggest thing is to make it
there,” Towart said. “‘Cause if you
make it to the event, even if you come
4th place it’s $7.5 thousand per person,
so that’s our goal right now, just to
qualify. But once we make it there,
we’re going to shoot for first.”
DEBATE CONTINUED
To encourage the student body
to take an active part in the election
process, Bermudez said the university
will allow students to participate in
debate-related activities and program
ming organized by student groups and
academic colleges and departments.
The deadline for the bids is March
31 and requires the university provide
a full logistical plan for the political
circus that would arrive with the de
bate. The Commission requires that
all applicants are able to handle large
events, something Bermudez said the
university has historically done well.
To handle such an event, Bermu
dez said the university will need to
coordinate with city and emergency
services — something College Station
Mayor Nancy Berry said the city is
ready to help with.
“We would have our fire and EMS
people, as well as police officers and
communications people available to
the university on an as-needed basis,”
Berry said.
For the local community. Berry
agrees that increasing voter turnout is
the main hope. She said a major de
bate, which would be one of the most
covered events in an intense election
season, would also give national ex
posure to the area.
“I think that the exposure is im
measurable and unquantifiable,” Ber
ry said. “It would be really exciting.”
If the application is successful the
debate will be the first in Texas since
1976, a point that U.S. Rep. Bill
Flores made clear in his recommen
dation letter to the Commission.
“Hosting a debate would be an
outstanding opportunity for our
community and the state as a whole,”
Flores said. “The many partnerships
that exist between the university and
the two cities will contribute to mak
ing the debate an outstanding occa
sion for students and faculty at the
university along with the entire Bra
zos Valley region and state of Texas.”
The application process is heav
ily competitive, and in addition
to competitors who have not an
nounced their application, the cities
of Birmingham, Ala. and Charleston,
W.Va. have announced their inten
tions to apply.
Bermudez said if the A&M appli
cation is successful the payoffs for the
student body will be significant.
“It would be an opportunity for us
to show the entire world what Ag
gies can do when they put their mind
to it — and how committed we are
as a university to serving the public
good,” Bermudez said.
THE TEXAS A&M STUDENT MEDIA BOARD
INVITES APPLICATIONS FOR
Eclitor-in-Chief
BATT
The Independent Student Voice op Texas A&M since 1893
Fall 2015-Spring 2016
(The fall and spring editor will oversee print and digital editions,
and serve Aug. 16,2015, through May 14,2016)
Qualifications for editor-in-chief of The Battalion are:.
REQUIRED
• Be a Texas A&M student in good standing with the University and
enrolled in at least six credit hours (4 if a graduate student) during
the term of office (unless fewer credits are required to graduate);
• Have at least a 2.25 cumulative grade point ratio (3.25 if a graduate
student) and at least a 2.25 grade point ratio (3.25 if a graduate
student) in the semester immediately prior to the appointment, the
semester of appointment and semester during the term of office. In
order for this provision to be met, at least six hours (4 if a graduate
student) must have been taken for that semester.
PREFERRED
• Have completed JOUR 301 or COMM 307 (Mass Communication,
Law, and Society) or equivalent;
• Have at least one year experience in a responsible editorial position
on The Battalion or comparable daily college newspaper,
-OR-
Have at least one year editorial experience on a commercial
newspaper,
-OR-
Have completed at least 12 hours in journalism, including JOUR 203
(Media Writing I) and JOUR 303 (Media Writing li)
or JOUR 304 (Editing for the Mass Media), or equivalent.
Application forms should be picked up and returned to
Sandi Jones, Student Media business coordinator, in Suite
L406 of the MSC. Deadline for submitting application:
S p.m. Tuesday, April 7, 2015.
THE TEXAS A&M STUDENT MEDIA BOARD
INVITES APPLICATIONS FOR
Aggieland 2016
Qualifications for editor-in-chief of the Aggieland
yearbook are:
REQUIRED
• Be a Texas A&M student in good standing with the University
and enrolled in at least six credit hours (4 if a graduate student)
during the term of office (unless fewer credits are required to
graduate);
• Have at least a 2.25 cumulative grade point ratio (3.25 if a
graduate student) and at least a 2.25 grade point ratio (3.25 if
a graduate student) in the semester immediately prior to the
appointment, the semester of appointment and semester during
the term of office. In order for this provision to be met, at least
six hours (4 if a graduate student) must have been taken for
that semester;
PREFERRED
• Have completed JOUR 301 or COMM 307 (Mass Communication,
Law, and Society);
• Have demonstrated ability in writing, editing and graphic design
through university coursework or equivalent experience;
• Have at least one year experience in a responsible position on
the Aggieland or comparable college yearbook.
Application forms should be picked up and returned to
Sandi Jones, Student Media business coordinator, in Suite
L406 of the MSC. Deadline for submitting application:
5 p.m. Tuesday, April 7, 2015.
THE TEXAS A&M STUDENT MEDIA BOARD
INVITES APPLICATIONS FOR
Editor-in-Chie#
BATT
The Independent Student Voice of Texas A&M snce 1893
Summer 2015
(The summer editor will oversee print, digital and special editions,
and will sen/e May 17, 2015, through Aug. 15,2016)
Qualifications for editor-in-chief of The Battalion are:
REQUIRED
• Be a Texas A&M student in good standing with the University and
enrolled in at least six credit hours (4 if a graduate student) during
the term of office (unless fewer credits are required to graduate);
• Have at least a 2.25 cumulative grade point ratio (3.25 if a graduate
student) and at least a 2.25 grade point ratio (3.25 if a graduate
student) in the semester immediately prior to the appointment, the
semester of appointment and semester during the term of office. In
order for this provision to be met, at least six hours (4 if a graduate
student) must have been taken for that semester.
PREFERRED
• Have completed JOUR 301 or COMM 307 (Mass Communication,
Law, and Society) or equivalent;
• Have at least one year experience in a responsible editorial position
on The Battalion or comparable daily college newspaper,
-OR-
Have at least one year editorial experience on a commercial
newspaper,
-OR-
Have completed at least 12 hours in journalism, including JOUR 203
(Media Writing I) and JOUR 303 (Media Writing li)
or JOUR 304 (Editing for the Mass Media), or equivalent.
Application forms should be picked up and returned to
Sandi Jones, Student Media business coordinator, in Suite
L406 of the MSC. Deadline for submitting application:
5 p.m. Tuesday, April 7, 2015.