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thebattalion

thebatt.com

Northgate project The College Station City Council approved a $2 million Northgate construction project Thursday. See more details online.

● friday,

march 25, 2011

● serving

texas a&m since 1893

thebattalion asks

Stephanie Leichtle — THE BATTALION

How effective is The Big Event in serving the community?

It is effective for a short time, but because it is only once a year, it doesn’t ﬁx anything longterm. Kristi Broerman, junior wildlife and ﬁshery sciences major

Elizabeth Brooks and her children Josh, Jacob and Madison stand outside their home where A&M students will help paint and create a walkway Saturday.

RAKING IN THE HOPE

I think it is pretty effective because you have hundreds of people going out and helping just ‘cuz, just for fun.

B-CS resident finds a blessing in disguise

Sam Taylor, freshman biology major

Sarah Smith The Battalion Six weeks ago, Elizabeth Brooks discovered a lump in her breast — a frightening moment shared by millions of women across the globe. Prayer, countless medical visits and a double mastectomy followed as Brooks persevered through an uncontrollable reality. However, amidst the sea of chaos, Brooks’ home will remain a stronghold, thanks to The Big Event. Brooks and her family purchased a house in June, situated on two acres of land in the College Station countryside. While repairs and renovations remained on the “to-do” list, time was another matter completely. “With a devoted, working husband and raising three kids, we never seemed to find the time to fix our home,” Brooks said. “I saw that anyone could apply for Big Event, so I decided to take a chance. It wasn’t until the cancer that I realized what a true blessing this was. There was no way possible we could have gotten around to all our plans.” Brooks applied for The Big Event and subsequently received the news of her breast cancer. “The Big Event team came out to verify the job the day after I came home from my surgery,” Brooks said. “I couldn’t believe it.”

We help shape up the city that we tear down. Amy Maletta, freshman nutrional sciences major

It’s effective because it is helping people that are in need sometimes. Emre Yurttas, sophomore general studies major

‘American Idol’ contestant performs free concert

Get involved Students may register Saturday in Lot 100c of Reed Arena during kick-off ceremonies. Email questions about registration to signups@bigevent.tamu.edu Afterward, The Big Event assigned The Wells Project, a service-based organization, to the Brooks’ home. Former executive committee member Brittany Goetzinger was particularly excited to learn about the Brooks family and said she couldn’t wait to make a difference with her fellow Wells Project members. “It’s amazing to work with these people, knowing they have heart behind their service,” said Goetzinger, a senior communication major. Brooks, her children and family friends plan to be right alongside the participants of The Big Event. After tremendous healing and faith, Brooks said she can’t wait to meet those willing to give their time and assistance. “Honestly, the breast cancer was a blessing,” Brooks said. “The diagnosis wasn’t a blessing but many blessings, such as The Big Event, came out of it.”

GUESTCOLUMN

Zachary Papas: Nuclear

nuclear situation in Japan

power remains safe source

The reactors that are experiencing difficulties are at the Fukushima Dai-ichi site, located along Japan’s eastern coast. There are six reactors at the site. At a separate site, Fukushima Daini, four plants safely reached cold shutdown conditions.

the decay of radioactive material inside the fueled region of When the earthquake the reactor — the reactor hit, the reactors were shut core. Cooling of the core down, or “scrammed,” is necessary to remove this which took them down to residual heat. approximately 8 percent This cooling is provided power production. Reactor by operating water circulapower cannot be turned off tion pumps that move immediately because heat cooling water through the is still being produced from reactor core. The electrical

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CRAWFISH BROIL Text GatewayCS to 47464 Call 888.698.5330

Pg. 1-03.25.11.indd 1

— Roland Ruiz, special to The Battalion

voices

William Sames: Summarizing

n March 11, Japan suffered a 9.0 magnitude earthquake followed by a tsunami. The occurrence of these natural disasters led to death and destruction across the country, and it also led to problems at some of Japan’s older nuclear reactors.

Due to the support of more than 15,000 Texas A&M students expected to volunteer in this year’s Big Event, PepsiCo and A&M are teaming up to sponsor a free concert at 6 p.m. Sunday in Reed Arena featuring season nine winner of American Idol Lee DeWyze. “Pepsi has been extremely generous to The Big Event this year DeWyze in their partnership to help serve the Bryan-College Station community,” said Ryan Byrne, the 2011 Big Event director. “In addition to the concert, they are donating free beverages to students at our kickoff ceremonies at 8:30 a.m. Saturday and sampling groups dubbed the Pepsi Patrol will go out into the community to pass out free samples of Pepsi products to participating student groups and community residents.” Doors open at 4:30 p.m. for the ﬁrst 9,500 people that arrive. Free parking will be available in lots 61, 74, 100 A, B and C at Reed Arena. Lots 100 E, F, and G are reserved for baseball and softball parking. “Pepsi also is providing each participant with a free T-shirt to wear on the day of our event. The shirts will show that we are united in serving our community,” Byrne said.

nei.org

power necessary to operate these circulation pumps needs to be provided from another source — it cannot come from the reactor after it is shut down. This power must come from backup generators or offsite sources. According to Japan’s See Japan on page 6

uclear power is among the cleanest, safest and most efficient energy sources in the world. For nearly half a century, nuclear power has been an integral part of the United States’ energy plan. Twenty percent of the electricity in our country comes from nuclear power. Despite the tragedy in Japan, its presence in America should remain prominent. The safety of nuclear power has come to the forefront of public concern since the events in Japan. While the situation at the nuclear plants at Fukushima Diiachi has yet to be fully resolved, so far there have been no deaths directly See Nuclear on page 6

Saturday March 26, 2011 12pm - 5pm 117 Holleman Drive West, College Station, 77840

3/24/11 8:19 PM