Bat 09 26 13
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l thursday, september 26, 2013 l serving texas a&m since 1893 l first paper free – additional copies $1 l © 2013 student media the battalion A t a time when Student Government As- sociation committees are seeking to ex- pand their impact across campus, the Student Senate finance committee is faced with the question of how to allocate the same annual $50,000 budget. In addressing this issue, the Student Senate finance committee convened Wednesday to hear appeals from various committees for a higher allocation of funds than those allotted in the current draft of the allocation bill. Among the committees present to explain why increased funding is imperative was the Muster committee, the Big Event committee, Aggie Replant and Fish Aides. Finance chair and senior political science major, Cary Cheshire, said the meeting pro- vided the committee with a better idea of how to fund these organizations. “It’s commendable that all of these com- mittees want to grow,” Cheshire said. “How- ever the amount we have to allocate does not grow every year, and we have to function under the basic rules of economics.” Aimee Breaux, city editor SGA seeks expansion with limited funds Shelby Knowles — THE BATTALION For the full story, go online at thebatt.com Relaxation is the name of the game research Let’s be friends @thebattonline Page 2: Why is it important to celebrate Hispanic heritage? Q: thebattalion asks ¡CALIENTE! Cultural event celebrates Hispanic dance, music, food Photos by Jenna Rabel — THE BATTALION The dance group Ballet Folklorico performs in Rudder Plaza at the Caliente event hosted by various student groups to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month. W ith the smell of fajitas in the air and His- panic music in the background, the night was one that Tadeo Huerta, the president of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, said was perfect. ALPFA, an association for Hispanic business students, hosted on Wednesday the seventh an- nual “Caliente,” a celebratory event for Hispanic Heritage Month. The Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers and the Mexican Student Association served as co-hosts for the event and provided support to ALPFA. Huerta, senior mechanical engineering major, said Caliente is important because it is the largest and most visible event the society helps host. The event celebrated Hispanic heritage and cul- ture at Rudder Fountain with cultural reenactments, displays, dance performances, music and food. Local restaurants sponsored and donated food for the event. There was also a jalapeño eating contest, which fea- tured volunteers from all of the organizations. Alex Almendarez, senior accounting major and president of ALPFA, said the Hispanic organizations have grown tremendously since he first joined his freshman year. “When I joined ALPFA as a freshman there were about 20 people in it,” Almendarez said. “Now I am a senior and we have about 80-plus members. This year, we are looking to grow even more.” Caroline Corrigan The Battalion See Caliente on page 2 T exas A&M researchers are designing a video game to function as a tool to teach stress management skills, giving video games the potential to be more than just a hobby or a guilty pleasure. With the help of students, the group of researchers created the game, “Chill-Out,” as part of a stress- management project. Ricardo Gutierrez-Osuna, com- puter science professor, is the creator of “Chill-Out.” The project, “Promoting Stress Self-Regulation with Physiologi- cal Training Games,” was first thought of by Gutierrez-Osuna about three years ago after he observed the many See Video games on page 4 International students transition to American life grad students W hile many students will learn a foreign lan- guage or study abroad for a semester, few will spend their undergraduate or graduate years immersed in a university somewhere else on the globe. International graduate students make up approx- imately 4,000 of the more than 50,000 students at Texas A&M, said Bill Taylor, director of interna- tional student services. Having spent the majority of their lives in another country, this small por- tion of the Texas A&M population faces a level of challenges not often experienced by the average graduate student. Taylor said international graduate students must take an English proficiency test for admittance into the University and that admitted students are able to communicate well in an academic setting. “They have the ability to come to another school, speak other languages — be able to pursue physics, mathematics, engineering — and do that in a foreign language,” Taylor said. “So they are pretty smart.” Though they have mastered academic com- munication, international students often face an entirely different challenge in everyday conver- sation. Raj Shah, computer engineering graduate student, said even though he knew English when he arrived to Texas in fall 2010, he was not ac- customed to idiomatic expressions frequently See International on page 3 William Guerra — THE BATTALION Kadie McDougald The Battalion A&M researchers gear video game for stress relief Allison Rubenak The Battalion Cash Fields, senior university studies major, explains why Fish Aides should be allocated funds to provide an annual banquet for all custodial members at an SGA finance committee meeting. BAT_09-26-13_A1.indd 1 9/25/13 10:20 PM
description
The Battalion print edition — 09 26 13
Transcript of Bat 09 26 13
l thursday, september 26, 2013 l serving texas a&m since 1893 l first paper free – additional copies $1 l © 2013 student media
thebattalion
At a time when Student Government As-sociation committees are seeking to ex-
pand their impact across campus, the Student Senate finance committee is faced with the question of how to allocate the same annual $50,000 budget.
In addressing this issue, the Student Senate finance committee convened Wednesday to hear appeals from various committees for a higher allocation of funds than those allotted in the current draft of the allocation bill.
Among the committees present to explain why increased funding is imperative was the Muster committee, the Big Event committee,
Aggie Replant and Fish Aides.Finance chair and senior political science
major, Cary Cheshire, said the meeting pro-vided the committee with a better idea of how to fund these organizations.
“It’s commendable that all of these com-mittees want to grow,” Cheshire said. “How-ever the amount we have to allocate does not grow every year, and we have to function under the basic rules of economics.”
Aimee Breaux, city editor
SGA seeks expansion with limited funds
Shelby Knowles — THE BATTALION
For the full story, go online at thebatt.com
Relaxation is the name of the game
research
Let’s be friends
@thebattonline
Page 2: Why is it important to celebrate
Hispanic heritage?
Q:thebattalion asks
¡CALIENTE!Cultural event
celebrates Hispanic dance,
music, food
Photos by Jenna Rabel — THE BATTALION
The dance group Ballet Folklorico performs in Rudder Plaza at the Caliente event hosted by various student groups to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month.
With the smell of fajitas in the air and His-panic music in the background, the night was one that Tadeo Huerta, the president
of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, said was perfect.
ALPFA, an association for Hispanic business students, hosted on Wednesday the seventh an-nual “Caliente,” a celebratory event for Hispanic Heritage Month.
The Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers and the Mexican Student Association served as co-hosts for the event and provided support to ALPFA.
Huerta, senior mechanical engineering major, said Caliente is important because it is the largest and most visible event the society helps host.
The event celebrated Hispanic heritage and cul-ture at Rudder Fountain with cultural reenactments, displays, dance performances, music and food. Local restaurants sponsored and donated food for the event. There was also a jalapeño eating contest, which fea-tured volunteers from all of the organizations.
Alex Almendarez, senior accounting major and president of ALPFA, said the Hispanic organizations have grown tremendously since he first joined his freshman year.
“When I joined ALPFA as a freshman there were about 20 people in it,” Almendarez said. “Now I am a senior and we have about 80-plus members. This year, we are looking to grow even more.”
Caroline CorriganThe Battalion
See Caliente on page 2
Texas A&M researchers are designing a video game to function as a tool
to teach stress management skills, giving video games the potential to be more than just a hobby or a guilty pleasure.
With the help of students, the group of researchers created the game, “Chill-Out,” as part of a stress- management project.
Ricardo Gutierrez-Osuna, com-puter science professor, is the creator of “Chill-Out.” The project, “Promoting Stress Self-Regulation with Physiologi-cal Training Games,” was first thought of by Gutierrez-Osuna about three years ago after he observed the many
See Video games on page 4
International students transition to American lifegrad students
While many students will learn a foreign lan-guage or study abroad for a semester, few
will spend their undergraduate or graduate years immersed in a university somewhere else on the globe.
International graduate students make up approx-imately 4,000 of the more than 50,000 students at Texas A&M, said Bill Taylor, director of interna-tional student services. Having spent the majority
of their lives in another country, this small por-tion of the Texas A&M population faces a level of challenges not often experienced by the average graduate student.
Taylor said international graduate students must take an English proficiency test for admittance into the University and that admitted students are able to communicate well in an academic setting.
“They have the ability to come to another school, speak other languages — be able to pursue physics, mathematics, engineering — and do that
in a foreign language,” Taylor said. “So they are pretty smart.”
Though they have mastered academic com-munication, international students often face an entirely different challenge in everyday conver-sation. Raj Shah, computer engineering graduate student, said even though he knew English when he arrived to Texas in fall 2010, he was not ac-customed to idiomatic expressions frequently
See International on page 3
William Guerra — THE BATTALION
Kadie McDougald The Battalion
A&M researchers gear video game for stress relief
Allison RubenakThe Battalion
Cash Fields, senior university studies major, explains why Fish Aides should be allocated funds to provide an annual banquet for all custodial members at an SGA finance committee meeting.
BAT_09-26-13_A1.indd 1 9/25/13 10:20 PM
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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 of 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.
thebattalion The IndependenT STudenT VoIce of TexaS a&M SInce 1893
Jake Walker, Editor in Chief
“As a Hispanic community we promote culture, especially at a University like Texas A&M, to show where
we come from and be proud of our roots.” Erik Granados, junior landscape architecture major
Q:thebattasks Why do you think it’s important to
celebrate Hispanic heritage?
“We are the largest minority in the country, but we still continue to face a lot of issues. So it’s important for us to continue to work as a
community, to empower each other and to create a greater influence in our country.”
Joseph Puente, junior telecommunication media studies major
“Even as a non-Hispanic student at A&M I just really think it’s important for people to learn and appreciate different cultures of
the world.”Harrison Boha, freshman mechanical engineering major
“To let other Hispanic Aggies know that we are here for them and to not forget where they come from.”
Yesenia Estrada, senior finance major
“It helps people become more aware of the
different cultures, the
different styles of dancing, the different food — it broadens everybody’s
horizons more.” Sarah Bermudez,
junior nutritional science major
“I think it’s important to let other Aggies know that this culture is alive and thriving here at Texas A&M and we like to share that with everybody else and
give everybody a taste of our culture and our roots.”Jeoffrey Alvarado, senior management information systems major
Photo feature by Shelby Knowles — THE BATTALION
page 2
Erica Race, vice president of ALPFA, said the organizations are always trying to improve Caliente and draw more stu-dents to the event.
“We’re always looking to make it bigger and better,” she said. “I was in charge of it last year, so this year I already
knew what I was doing and I wanted to take it to the next level.”
Race said she serves as a middleman for joint events with other Hispanic or-ganizations, but her motivation to work reaches beyond her job description.
“Some of my duties are social-aware-ness activities and community service,” Race said. “I also have a passion for my heritage and I want to spread it.”
Huerta said members of these orga-nizations look forward to Caliente and
Hispanics all over the community await the event the entire year.
“This event is a way to shine for at least one evening, show off what the Hispanic culture has to offer, show off the great things we have to offer here at Texas A&M,” Huerta said. “We want to make our presence known and continue to move on in the future with a very positive view on our culture.”
Caliente
Continued from page 1
BAT_09-26-13_A2.indd 1 9/25/13 9:47 PM
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ANSWERSto todays puzzles
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texas a&M’s 2014 aggieland yearbook.all ClaSSES: have your portrait taken
10 a.m – 4:30 p.m. today in MSC Suite l400,
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thebattalion
news page 3
thursday 9.26.2013
used by Americans.“Nobody says, ‘Nice to meet you,’ in In-
dia,” Shah said. “My friend [here] once said ‘Nice to meet you,’ and I was like, ‘Cool.’ It’s just small things, like ‘y’all.’ Those things that were colloquial didn’t make sense to me.”
Xuezhen Wang, chemical engineering graduate student from China, said miscommu-nication is a problem she and some graduate students share even after four years in Col-lege Station.
“In China, we some-times don’t want to express too much,” Wang said. “So probably for me right now, it gives me some trouble, so I try to explain more. We don’t have bad intentions, but other people might ask, ‘Why don’t you speak?’”
Jaewook Yoo, computer science graduate student from South Korea, said even though there is an orientation for A&M traditions, many students feel uncomfortable when asked to participate be-cause of cultural reasons.
“Some people want to go to football games but don’t know how to do that, to find people or friends to go with,” Yoo said. “Most of them don’t know any-one who tailgates. I very recently understood what it is. I still don’t know why they call it, ‘tailgate.’”
Shah said transportation poses another chal-lenge for international graduate students. Al-though Shah is approaching his third year at A&M, he said he still does not have a driver’s license and has to walk or ask friends for rides.
“The city doesn’t really have any transpor-tation besides the school buses,” Shah said.
“It takes time and I’ve been really busy, so that’s why I haven’t gotten [a driver’s li-cense] yet.”
The question of where they will go after their grad-uate programs is a frequent concern. Yoo said graduate students are given student visas to come to the Uni-versity, and a green card or another visa will ultimately determine one’s stay in the U.S. after his or her program is completed.
“It’s hard because the available green cards are kind of limited per year,” Yoo said. “You can apply for green cards, but that does not guarantee you can get a green card because portions are limited.”
Yoo said international graduate students are given a three-month grace period before their student visa is terminated. Yoo said unless a student finds a way to be eli-gible for a green card prior to
graduation or finds a job that will support the green card process, or provide a work visa, the opportunities after college could be difficult.
“If I decide to stay here I will definitely worry about that,” Yoo said.
InternationalContinued from page 1
Photo illustration by Jonathan Sheen — THE BATTALION
They have the
ability to come to another school, speak other languages — be able to pursue physics, mathematics, engineering — and do that in a foreign language. So they are pretty smart.”
— Bill Taylor, director of
international student services
Raj Shah (left), pictured with Xuezhan Wang, said he has no driver’s license because of schedule constraints, and consequently has transportation problems.
BAT_09-26-13_A3.indd 1 9/25/13 8:50 PM
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Place an adPhone 845-0569 Suite L400,Memorial Student CenterTexas A&M University
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negative affects stress can have on a person.“Stress is becoming a big issue — it contributes to
obesity and mental health,” Gutierrez-Osuna said. “Stress levels, if they’re sustained, become chronic. Your body never learns to calm down and that has implications for your cardiovascular health.”
Although there are healthy, lifesaving stress re-sponses such as the fight-or-flight response, Gutier-rez-Osuna said constant stress on the body can lead to many negative consequences. He said the monetary effects of stress cost the American economy between $150-$300 billion a year.
Since its inception, Gutierrez-Osuna said the proj-ect was not a one-man show. It went through several stages with many students developing prototypes and designing. Senior computer science major Brian Bell is in Gutierrez-Osuna’s senior capstone design class. The concept of the class is to be assigned to a group, under one of Gutierrez-Osuna’s graduate students,
and work on a project. Although there are multiple groups assigned to a relaxation-geared project, Bell and his group’s focus is on a relaxation game.
“One [aspect of the class] stressed is the ability to work in a team,” Bell said. “The main purpose of our project is relaxation techniques. Ours is a real-life situation, where a person is being stressed in an envi-ronment and has to learn to relax.”
Bell said his group just finished the design phase of their experiment, where they have set a timeline for their tasks and ordered all of the supplies for the development of the game. Although he said their game might help reduce health risks, it is geared toward people in the programming environment.
“Stress management in programming is good for clear thought,” Bell said. “The mind gets cluttered and it’s really hard to get through things. I’ll try to work through a bug or problem for hours but the next morning I can get through it in 10 minutes. The purpose is to get your mind in that clear state all the time.”
Avinash Parnandi, computer science graduate stu-dent, aided Gutierrez-Osuna with the development of “Chill-Out” and conducted experiments on the idea’s effectiveness.
“The idea is to see if people can stay calm in other demanding situations,” Parnandi said. “Video games are already popular so [Gutierrez-Osuna] thought he could take the idea into that path. With video games, you can do it whenever you are free.”
The game is meant for mobile smart phones or tablets, Gutierrez-Osuna said, and will look like many games people already play. As the user plays the game, respiration is monitored in order to determine stress level. The subject’s stress level, in turn, affects the difficulty of the game.
“You have to shoot balls and knock them off the ceiling before the ceiling falls, so it’s very casual,” Gutierrez-Osuna said. “We measure respiration. If they breath normally, the game gets easier, if not, it gets harder, so you have to keep your breathing slow to keep the game easy, training you to breathe in high-stress situations.”
Gutierrez-Osuna said he believes the games will
be more effective than traditional stress-management techniques, like meditation, because it is fun, does not require a lot of self-discipline and puts subjects in a stressful situation compared to a calm one, so they are equipped to manage real, everyday stress. He said he would compare the games to Olympians train-ing for Olympic Games at a high-altitude location to prepare their bodies.
“The idea we had was if we can get this in the concept of a game that is fun to play, more people will be willing to do the practice,” he said. “The relaxing game is more likely to transfer and help you maintain that skill when you are in a high-stress situ-ation. By making the relaxing a game, you make it more likely to practice and, second, while they’re doing a task that is somewhat stressful, that skill is more likely to catch.”
Eva Shipp, epidemiology and biostatics professor, said her role in the project was to validate findings of the tests using biomarkers and translate the findings to a larger, population-based research study. She said stress leads to preventable health problems, making management techniques essential.
“Workers in some occupations must perform well, even when under highly stressful situations,” Shipp said. “Any tools that can help teach people to manage their stress response could be tremendously beneficial by ensuring good performance levels and reducing related negative health consequences.”
Parnandi said the game will be very useful for stu-dents when school work becomes overwhelming.
“It can be very effective right before exams when you are really stressed out,” Parnandi said. “If some-thing can calm you down and it’s a video game, then that’s great.”
Gutierrez-Osuna, along with Parnandi, Shipp and Beena Ahmed — electrical and computer engineer-ing professor at Texas A&M at Qatar — wrote and submitted a research article to be considered for the MobiCASE, or Mobile Computing, Applications and Services conference. The article was accepted this week, and Gutierrez-Osuna and his team will present the game to scientific researchers at the con-ference in November.
Video gamesContinued from page 1
Ricardo Gutierrez-Osuna (left)
explains “Chill-Out” to Avinash Parnandi
(seated) and Eva Shipp.
COURTESY
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