Whitney Martin -The Battalion A fire in the University Commons apartments damaged building N at 9:23 p.m. Wednesday night. Twenty-four people lived in the building and no one was injured.

Twenty-four local students must prepare for finals away from their homes after an apartment fire forced them out of their rooms Wednesday night.

The College Station Fire Department is still investigating the cause of the fire that burned a hole in the roof of the N building of the University Commons apartments on Colgate Drive. The fire forced the residents of the 12 two-bedroom apartments out of their rooms. No one was injured from the fire.

"I have no idea what caused it," said Lt. Greg Rodgers of the College Station Fire Department at the scene of the fire.

On Thursday evening, a member of the fire department said the investigation was still underway and had no new information to report.

The fire was called in to the fire department at 9:23 p.m. and required the service of eight fire trucks to extinguish it.

"We put out the fire in a timely manner," Rodgers said.

There has been no official report of how much damage the fire caused. Residents of the building said they have smoke and water damage.

The fire began in the top floor and spread to the attic and through the roof, Rodgers said. Firefighters used a ladder to spray the fire from atop to control it and entered the building to put it out completely.

Fire damage was visible from the street in the top apartment where the fire started, the roof and the second story apartment below.

Jamie Bauknight, who lived in the second floor apartment on the other side of the room that caught fire, said she was having a party with 10 of her friends in her apartment when the fire occurred.

"We were having our dessert party for our organization, GALS, and someone knocked on the door and said 'There is a fire on the roof. Get out.' I ran into my room to get some things and tripped and fell flat on my face," Bauknight said. "I got my computer and my paintings and then we got outside and started praying."

Jeremy Delgado, an employee of the University Commons Apartments, said the students would be put up in residence halls on campus if they need a place to stay.

"I have no idea (where I am going to go)," said Bauknight, a sophomore environmental design major. "All 10 of the girls who were here from the party offered to let me and my roommate stay with them, though."

Tommy Garcia likes to drive fast; he enjoys it so much he wants to do it for a living. Garcia, who works at Key Energy Services in Bryan, spends his weekends at a dirt track racing his sprint and stock cars with aspirations of being a NASCAR driver.

In February, Garcia applied to be on a reality racing show and was chosen out of the 4,000 people by JVI Productions to compete in an online votes battle.

The competition began March 28 and will end July 31. Garcia needs to be one of the top 15 in vote count to be on the show.

"I'm 31st right now, and I have three months to move up at least 15 spots, and I can do it," said Garcia, the only Hispanic competitor and one of two racers from Texas.

The 15 competitors with the most votes will go on to a reality television show to compete for seven sponsored races in the NASCAR Busch Series. The American people will choose the winner, Garcia said.

Dana Zachary, Garcia's wife and magistrate judge for Brazos County, said Garcia jumped up and down when he found out he was in the running.

"Racing is all I hear about," she said. "We don't ever sit down and have a conversation without talking about it."

Garcia said he always loved racing, but that it was unrealistic because of the cost to pursue the sport. Garcia said left high school early and worked at a supermarket to support his young family.

"I never raced because it was never in my budget to pursue a hobby that would take finances away from the family," he said.

When Garcia turned 30, Hot Rod Hill opened.

"I purchased my first racecar for $500 and got it out there, and it's been a whirlwind ever since," he said.

Garcia said his first car was a piece of junk and that it was totaled by a rookie driver. That same night, an acquaintance from the track offered to buy Garcia a new car.

"It was built right, and before I knew it I was up front winning races," he said.

Garcia, now 37, knows that he is different from the other racers he is competing against. There are racers from the Arca Series, Legends and other big racing teams who have multimillion-dollar sponsors helping them to win this competition, he said.

"I just have an allowance every week to go race, but you put me in a car that can win and I'll win," Garcia said.

Garcia said racing is his passion.

"It's what I love doing more than any hobby I've ever done," Garcia said. "You can't duplicate the feeling of the adrenaline rush or the excitement of racing 25 other cars on a quarter-mile track. My ultimate goal is to race for a living, but right now I live to race. I've been ready all my life for this."

Wade Barker - The Battalion Acie Law IV shoots an off-balance layup over Texas' Daniel Gibson.

Wade Barker - The Battalion A'quonesia Franklin drives in for two points against Texas.

Wade Barker - The Battalion Josh Carter shoots a jump shot. A&M basketball went 3-1 against UT in 2006.

Former English Prime Minister Harold Macmillan put it best when he said, "The wind of change is blowing through the continent, whether we like it or not."

Those "winds of change" aren't the new renovations going on at various A&M athletic sites, but rather the changing of a new guard at Texas A&M from a football school to a basketball school.

While some people might not want to believe it, the men's and women's basketball teams might become a bigger draw than the football team after the squad's poor performance this past season.

A&M basketball introduced current men's and women's basketball head coaches Billy Gillispie and Gary Blair to the Aggie athletic scene just two and three seasons ago.

Gary Blair took a women's basketball team that hadn't been to a post-season tournament in more than seven years, and quickly took the Aggies to the Women's National Invitation Tournament in 2004-05, and the NCAA Tournament in 2005-06 in his first three years as head coach. Before this season, the women's basketball team hadn't been invited back to the NCAA tournament since the 1993-94 season.

A&M men's basketball coach Billy Gillispie took a men's basketball team that was in shambles before he became head coach, and turned the team around in one season from 7-21 to 21-10 with an NIT tournament berth. The team enjoyed its best season this year, as they made their first visit to the NCAA tournament since the 1986-87 season. The team also came within one bucket of advancing to the Sweet 16.

In the past two seasons, the men's and women's basketball teams have been able to do something the football team hasn't been able to do - win consistently and improve.

Dennis Franchione is 16-19 in three seasons as head coach of Texas A&M's football team. While it can be contested that he has led the Aggies to a bowl game in the 2004-05 season, the squad has battled through two of the worst seasons in school history under his watch.

Before last season's 5-6 record and the 2003-04 campaign that saw the A&M go 4-8, the last time the Aggies had a losing record was back in 1982, when the team went 5-6 under former head coach Jackie Sherrill.

The goal of any major athletic program is to win games, but if the team can't win consistently, the athletic department and the fans always expect one thing - improvement. Football has shown very little in that area.

While Aggie football may always reign supreme as the top sport around campus, men's and women's basketball, which many used to consider just another sport to watch before spring football practice, could become the next big thing in the Big 12 conference for years to come.

During the 2005 season, fans were ready to watch Aggie basketball long before the football season was over. Most may not want to admit it, but there are many football fans that are already looking past the upcoming A&M football season for basketball season.

Debate all you want about football having a couple of down seasons, but until it wakes up and beats Texas or wins a bowl game, Texas A&M has, for now, become "Basketball U."

Ivan Flores - The Battalion

Emily Barnby, a sophomore English major, has her regular cup of coffee each morning instead of a balanced meal.

"I used to eat breakfast in college, and I haven't noticed much of a difference since I've been drinking coffee alone," Barnby said. "If I ate breakfast, I'd get really hungry at work or school. If I don't eat breakfast, I don't get hungry until later in the day. Actually, coffee will get me through the day 'til 3 or 4 in the afternoon."

Breakfast skippers like Barnby have conditioned their bodies over time to not be hungry in the morning. According to Evelyn Tribole's "Eating on the Run, 3rd Edition," even though you may not feel hunger, your body still needs to be fed. It wants to be energized when it's awakened.

A study conducted by British researchers was displayed in the journal "Physiological Behavior" in 1999. A group of 144 adults were told to fast overnight and separate into three groups in the morning - the first group ate an average sized breakfast, the second group ate nothing and the third group had only coffee. A few hours later, each group was tested.

The second group did the worst on memory tests, and it had the highest level of fatigue at noon. The third group had slightly lower scores on the mental skills test than the first group had.

Though the group that only had coffee to drink did noticeably weaker on the mental performance test, many college students fall in to that category.

Mark Mattson, a neuroscientist at the National Institute on Aging in Baltimore, challenges the traditional views of breakfast. He argues that skipping meals might be beneficial, even if overall calorie consumption remains unchanged.

"A meal-skipping diet … is good for cells throughout the body," Mattson said. He contends that the effect it has is to periodically reduce the amount of glucose from digested food available and helps cells prepare to cope with major stresses later on.

"It reduces blood pressure and reduces heart rate, similar to what's seen with regular exercise," Mattson said.

The majority of nutritionists and health scientists do not support Mattson's views. They believe that the consequences of skipping breakfast vary from individual to individual but are ultimately detrimental to one's health.

One consequence of skipping breakfast will reverse the effects of the calories saved - not by cells storing more fat, but by the strong influences that hunger has on self control.

Nathan Menboza, a senior sports management major, has been eating breakfast regularly since childhood because his parents always encouraged him to eat a good breakfast. Because of this routine, missing breakfast has undesirable effects on him.

"If I skip breakfast, I get hungry a lot earlier and eat a lot more than I need to for lunch, which isn't good," Menboza said.

Many people believe that skipping a meal here or there will aid in weight loss, but not eating tells your body, "I'm starving - do something," and it will respond by lowering metabolism and energy output to store more fat - exactly what you were avoiding.

According to a review in "The Journal of the American Dietetic Association," nutritionists say that breakfast-eaters, even though they consumed more calories, were less likely to be overweight than breakfast skippers.

In short, breakfast resupplies glucose levels that diminish overnight, and it recharges nerve cells to increase alertness and productivity so the body functions at its optimal level.

Christ Rosenblood, a registered dietician and associate professor of nutrition at Georgia State University in Atlanta, advises others to get a steady release of energy all morning long by eating a meal that combines both protein and carbohydrates.

"You'll burn the carbs quickly - you'll feel a surge of energy in a short period of time. And protein, which stays in your stomach longer, gives you staying power," Rosenblood said.

A mini-meal such as a piece of whole grain toast, a banana or drink a glass of skim milk can help college students short on time meet their nutritional needs, according to Tribole. With the store of glycogen being nearly depleted in the morning, you must eat something to function up to your potential energy levels. Gropple says that breakfast can be small and quick, but not eating anything at all will severely weaken your morning's productivity.

Walking around campus, Aggies have learned that it's important to keep their eyes open and their ears alert. From the ever-present bus to cell phone-wielding drivers and out-of-control bicyclists, potential vehicular manslaughter is around every corner. But what happens after that fateful encounter with everybody's friendly neighborhood scythe-wielding robe wearer? Quite a few filmmakers have attempted to answer the mysteries of the afterlife. Here are a few potential glimpses into what life has in store for you after death.

Defending Your Life (1991)

Who bites the dust?: Albert Brooks via bus accident

Where does he go?: Judgment City is a processing center for all recently deceased. During your stay in Judgment City, your life will be examined, and your worthiness judged. While on Earth, many men suffered from penis envy. Brooks' character, Daniel, finds himself experiencing brain envy in a system where the smarter you are, the more chance you have to become a full-fledged member of the universe instead of being sent back to Earth to try again.

Is it pleasant?: If you like white, middle-class suburbia. Brook's vision of the afterlife is a biting satire of, among other things, America's increasing proclivity towards standardization and groupthink. The recently deceased wear matching tunics and stay in relatively identical rooms while they await judgment. To pass the time you can visit mini-malls, comedy clubs and any number of ethnic restaurants. The opening credits are a beautifully shot collection of scenes featuring Daniel's initiation into the bureaucracy that is Judgment City.

What Dreams May Come (1998)

Who bites the dust?: Robin Williams via car accident

Where does he go?: After dying, Chris (Williams) awakens in his own personal heaven, a kaleidoscope of oil-based painting-inspired landscapes and colors. Connected with his wife's own paintings, Chris' afterlife is a continuously changing thing of beauty where heaven can be anything or anyone you want it to be.

Is it pleasant?: "What Dreams May Come" gets the award for coolest idea for what heaven is like. The notion of a personal heaven where anyone can build what ever tickles their fancy will appeal to the auteur in us all. But for every cloud's silver lining, there's a bucket full of rain waiting to pour down on you. Director Vincent Ward also receives the award for most nightmare-inducing hell. His vision of a sea of faces where suicide victims cry out in pain and frustration will stick with audiences long after the movie has ended.

Fluke (1995)

Who bites the dust?: Matthew Modine via car accident

Where does he go?: To the dog house. After dying in a violent accident, Modine's character, Thomas, is reincarnated into the body of a newborn puppy, Fluke. Thomas begins to relearn all of life's basic lessons, but this time through the eyes of a dog. But soon Fluke begins to have dreams of another life with a wife and children. Under the watchful eye of Rumbo (voiced by Samuel "Snakes on a Plane" Jackson), Fluke begins a quest to reclaim some aspect of his former life.

Is it pleasant?: While it may seem neat to be reincarnated into someone new and still retain all prior life knowledge, using your last life's lessons to make a better future for yourself, "Fluke" proves that sometimes remembering isn't all that it's cracked up to be. After living a full and somewhat rewarding life as a man, Thomas finds he can't settle for his new life as Fluke. After finding his old family, he begins to insert himself into his old life in any way he can - to disastrous results. There's a reason ignorance is bliss.

United 93" is a film that all directors should strive to create. Difficult to produce due to the amount of emotion and chaos portrayed, viewers are placed in heightened suspense from the beginning. Not once is there a dull moment, thanks to the amount of research and interviewing director Paul Greengrass conducted prior to making the film.

All of the characters go about their daily routines. The co-pilot does a preflight check of the aircraft, the director of the F.A.A. and his staff monitors early morning air traffic, and the military personnel at NORAD (North American Air Defense Command) prepare for simulation training. The director goes into pristine detail to illustrate to the viewer what a normal day it truly is for the characters without ever allowing the film to become boring.

One of the most chilling aspects of the film is of the message received by the pilots of Flight 93 only moments before the cockpit is broken into. "Beware of cockpit entry" and "Two planes hit the World Trade Center" come up on the pilots' information screen. Only minutes later the pilots are lying dead on the floor as the cockpit is taken by the terrorists.

Most of the film seems to have been shot with a handheld camera, giving rigid and often jerky camera movements, instilling a sense of fear and chaos. The majority of the movie was filmed using eye-level shots, giving the effect that each viewer was on the same level as the character.

Combined with the beautifully written screenplay, it almost seems as if the events were actually being filmed as they occurred. Not once is the audience made to think that this is simply a movie. No character ever has the floor for too long. The focus of the film stays on the plot instead of establishing any main characters.

The cast includes no major Hollywood actors. It seemed as if the characters were everyday people - a much better touch than having a couple of multi-million dollar actors save the day. Several air traffic controllers and military personnel actually played themselves, adding an even greater emotional effect to the film.

The only drawback is the placing of Muslims, or perhaps even the Islamic faith as a whole, in a bad light. It in no way instills patriotism within the viewer's heart, and instead places a shroud of anger over the viewer, worthy of a Michael Moore documentary, in turn blinding one from the true themes of the film - heroism and sacrifice. One scene features Muslim prayers being trumped by the passengers praying "The Lord's Prayer." Greengrass is blatantly taking a stab at the Islamic faith, as there is no disclaimer at the end of the film mentioning that the terrorists were religious zealots and that Islam does not teach the murdering of thousands through martyrdom.

The tone set by the film created the wrong effect in the audience. Viewers hollered and clapped as the passengers of the flight began savagely assaulting the terrorists. One can only beg the question as to whether or not this is the emotion that the American public should leave the theater with.

To put it simply, "United 93" serves as salt in a re-opened wound. If you want to be entertained, do not go see this film. But if you wish to see a well-crafted masterpiece exhibiting all the elements of human chaos combined with experiencing the raw emotion and heroism as demonstrated by all those involved in the 9/11 tragedy, you will not be let down.

Arijit Dutta - The Battalion

Rain is one of the most important aspects of life on this planet, and humans must constantly cope with its absence. Every year, droughts cause damage, famine and even death. Some enterprising researchers have attempted to alleviate the problem by "seeding" clouds to produce more rain. Unfortunately, this technique is neither economical nor helpful in any way other than allaying the public's fears.

The Chinese government has recently proposed one of the largest implementations of this technology. Every year, dust storms sweep across China from the nation's northern plains. This year has been particularly bad, and the Chinese Central Meteorological Bureau has stated that it plans to seed clouds in an effort to dampen the dry areas that produce the dust.

Similar implementations have been attempted and studied in Texas. Currently, the state has nine cloud seeding projects covering a total of 37,000,000 acres, according to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation's Summary of Rain Enhancement Operations in Texas. There is hope that these projects will alleviate droughts in Texas, but the research behind these operations is inconclusive at best.

The National Academy of Science has officially stated that there is no evidence of success of the technology in Critical Issues in Weather Modification Research in 2003. Similarly, the American Meteorological Society's Planned and Inadvertent Weather Modification policy recognizes that there is "statistical evidence that precipitation has been increased about 10%" in seeded clouds but that "the physical cause-and-effect relationships have not been fully documented."

The AMS's weather modification policy also states "precipitation, either increases or decreases, can occur at some distance beyond intended target areas." That is, even if the technology does work, it would also alter the rainfall of areas that have no need for it, which could cause collateral damage. Technologies that alleviate drought and dust storms are of little use if they cause drought and dust storms in neighboring areas.

This means that neither organization recognizes that seeded clouds produce any more rain than unseeded. Unfortunately, cloud seeding is not a technology that can be undertaken cheaply. The Edwards Aquifer Authority, which supplies water to San Antonio and the surrounding areas, requested $500,000 per year for cloud seeding in 1999. This has since been reduced to $153,520 due to a lack of scientific support according to the authority's 2005 budget. This money would be more productive being spent on research into improving the theories and technology supporting cloud seeding.

Though the technology may be interesting and even a worthwhile area of research, its deleterious effects far exceed its benefits. If government agencies wish to adopt a cloud seeding policy, they should first invest money in research for it.

"Precipitation augmentation is unlikely to achieve higher scientific credibility until more complete understanding of the physical processes involved," advises the AMS.

Once reliable and inexpensive methods are found, then national governments can implement seeding, but to do so beforehand is an exercise in futility if not outright damage. Cloud seeding exemplifies the idea that policy making without scientific evidence supporting the theory is nothing but wishful thinking.

Every semester at the West Campus Library, the visitor parking lot is filled to the brim with students' vehicles. When spaces are no longer available, some students opt to park along the curbs that enclose the parking lot.

Parking along these curbs is illegal and will not be condoned, but the way in which Transportation Services deals with the situation is wrong.

Cars parked along the curb at the WCL are towed. The reasoning TS bases their judgment on is justified; cars are parked there illegally.

However, the fact that this lot is so packed that people choose to park on the curb, knowing the risk of being towed, is evidence that a large number of students use the WCL during finals and that the library is inaccessible.

Towing every car along the curb may clear out the parking lot and uphold the law, but does not solve the ultimate issue here: accessibility.

The visitor lot behind WCL is the closest parking lot to the library. All other lots require a trek through the very dimly lit west campus. At night, this may not be a safe walk.

Rather than waiting until the curbs are lined with cars and then sending out the hounds, TS should take steps this semester to prevent the problem.

First, TS should send an employee to patrol the parking lot and stop students from parking along the curb. This obviously is not happening now, at least not effectively, because if there were TS employees monitoring the lot, the curbs would not be lined with cars.

Second, TS should run a night bus route to the surrounding parking lots of WCL during finals. If students know they don't have to walk, perhaps they will be less likely to risk parking illegally and getting towed.

These students are just trying to study. Rather than tacking on the stress of dealing with a towed car, TS should take these simple steps to make the WCL more accessible. Give students a break during finals.

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