thebattalion l wednesday,
march 5, 2014
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NO PLACE LIKE HOME Center raised in College Station follows championship pedigree
Patrick Crank
The Battalion ver the last few years, the Aggie women’s basketball team has been known for its dominant centers. First was Danielle Adams, who led the team to its first National Championship in 2011 while taking home All-American honors. Then came Kelsey Bone, another All-American who carried her squad to an SEC tournament championship while earning tournament MVP honors in A&M’s first year in the league. This year’s starting center is unique in her own right, having been born and raised in College Station. Senior Karla Gilbert’s basketball roots run deep along with her connection to her hometown. “I loved it,” Gilbert said. “Believe it or not, a lot of times I still didn’t get to see my parents, so I still was away from home being at home. But when you always needed that shoulder [to lean on] or something like that, I could just drive down the road and there my parents are.” Gilbert comes from an athletic lineage. Her mother Nelda played basketball at the University of North Texas. Her brother Jimmie is a defensive lineman for the University
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Senior center Karla Gilbert, raised in College Station, played behind two All-American centers before finding a leading role with the team this season.
Tanner Garza — THE BATTALION
of Colorado. Her father, also named Jimmie, is an Aggie who played basketball from 1983-1986 and earned Southwest Conference Newcomer honors. Gilbert’s mother coached Karla during her days at A&M Consolidated High School. Gilbert said her parents have always had a influence on her growth as a player. “I don’t even think about it. I’m used to it,” Gilbert said. “My parents have been coaching me since I was in elementary school. With city league all-star teams and AAU tournaments, my parents have always been around coaching me. It’s just life.” Gilbert was rated as the No. 1 post player in the country by ESPN for the Class of 2010 coming out of high school. She was also a McDonald’s High School All-American and chose to stay at home and play for A&M over a number of successful women’s basketball programs including Duke, Baylor and Connecticut. “Being a part of the Aggie family, we always came to the games, both men and women,” Gilbert said. “Just seeing the crowds and the family atmosphere, it feels good to actually be a part of it. It means a lot to be home.” See Gilbert on page 4
football
traditions
inside sports | 3 SEC Awards
Maroon Out T-shirt design contest opens
Entries available to current, former students Kali Denton
Special to The Battalion
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n the spirit of unifying all Aggies, Class Councils will be accepting T-shirt design submissions for next year’s Maroon Out game from both current students and former students for the first time. With Maroon Out being an event for Aggies of all ages, Emily Canales, marketing director of Maroon Out, said T-shirt design submissions are the largest way for individuals to contribute. “The purpose of doing the T-shirt design contest is to get the student body as well as Ag community’s input on exactly what they want for Maroon Out this year,” Canales said. Canales said the Maroon Out tradition means more than just a T-shirt — it’s about unifying Aggies. Canales said changes in the Maroon Out design
contest are not at the expense of this primary purpose. “It’s one of the most unifying traditions on campus, uniting both the present student as well as the former students,” Canales said. “It’s really one of the most powerfully policy led student traditions on campus, if not the most unifying tradition. I’m an advocate for change, as long as we stick to true tradition.” Another first for Maroon Out is this year’s partnership with Aggieland Outfitters. Dallas Shipp, Aggieland Outfitters director of marketing and communications, said the company is grateful for the opportunity to work with students who are passionate about tradition. “I know how passionate the kids are to be a part of this and we want to support students who do a lot to enhance the atmosphere of Kyle Field Saturdays,” Shipp said. “The other thing that’s very rewarding to us is the students have done all their own marketing, and they’ll still be doing that, but we can See T-shirt on page 2
Johnny Manziel
Mike Evans
Jake Matthews
A&M to host annual Pro Day Twelve players from 2013 class are scheduled to participate Tyler Stafford The Battalion
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welve players from the 2013 Texas A&M football team will participate in their annual Pro Day on Wednesday at the McFerrin Athletic Center. Among the 12 participants will be Johnny Manziel, Mike Evans and Jake Matthews, all of whom have already participated in the NFL Combine. Manziel, who opted not to throw at the combine, will not throw at A&M’s Pro Day either, according to his agent Erik Burkhardt, who tweeted, “[Manziel] will do all of his throwing at his March 27th Pro Day & private workouts. Teams will have all the time & access they want.” Manziel is scheduled
to participate in every other drill with his 11 teammates. The Pro Day is slated to start at 9:30 a.m. and will test the participants vertical jump, 40-yard dash, 5-10-5 short shuttle, long shuttle, broad jump, 225-pound bench press and the L-drill after they are measured for official heights and weights. The 2013 senior class will leave with 36 wins, including three bowl victories, making them one of the most successful classes in A&M history. Every player at Pro Day started at least two games during their careers: Matthews (46), Jenkins (27), Evans (26), Manziel (25), Malena (24), Hurd Jr. (19), Hicks (18), Ennis (15), Walker (13), Jacobs (9), Labhart (6) and Askew (2). Scouts and various player personnel officials from every NFL team are expected to attend the Pro Day, according to an Aggie Athletics news release.
Also participating in Aggies’ annual Pro Day Nate Askew (LB), Kirby Ennis (DL), Nehemiah Hicks (TE), Toney Hurd Jr. (DB), Tramain Jacobs (DB), Steven Jenkins (LB), Travis Labhart (WR), Ben Malena (RB), Derel Walker (WR).
A trio of sophomores earn honors for women’s basketball team.
faculty | 6 Koldus Awards In an age of university expansion, the Koldus award recognizes faculty who connect with students. Let’s be friends
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academics
Research week caters beyond hard sciences
Event offers valuable project feedback Lindsey Gawlik The Battalion
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exas A&M’s Student Research Week was created in 1994 to offer aspiring Aggie researchers access to feedback both from experts and fellow students. This year, the 17th annual research week will be held March 24-28 and will feature undergraduate and graduate student research. Samarpita Roy, event coordinator
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and civil engineering graduate student, said she is excited to see the research students have undertaken and that this year’s student research week is looking to showcase research outside of the hard sciences. “This year that is what we are trying to encourage, that we don’t want this to be just about science students collaborating and using this resource,” Roy said, “We also want people from other colleges to come in and participate.” Last year, 1,100 students, 500 judges and around 200 volunteers participated in the event, Roy said, numbers that represent a substantial growth in
participation since the event’s conception. Omid Kazemi, sponsorship and logistics coordinator for the event and civil engineering graduate student, said student research week is a great way for student researchers to receive feedback and judge whether a career in research is a good fit for them. “Maybe someone has doubts and doesn’t know if they want to do research, doesn’t know what [research presentations] are like, probably, and they can come and share,” Kazemi said. “For graduate students, they are looking for productive feedback from professors and professionals and it’s
kind of like a practice event for a professional conference.” Kazemi said the event is good practice for students and judges looking to attend larger research conventions. Laurel Christ, sophomore biomedical science and engineering major and student researcher, said at this stage of education getting feedback on research is vital. “I think it’s one of the most important parts of doing research,” Christ said. “It allows the student to understand what they are doing correctly or what they need to change and it will help them in the long run if they end up doing research.”
Students will have the opportunity to give an oral presentation or a poster presentation, and will be given a time allotment of 12 minutes to present their research to the judges and three minutes to answer questions. Awards will be given in each field of research. First- and second-place winners will receive monetary prizes. The opening ceremonies for student research week will take place from 5:30-7 p.m. March 24 in the MSC. Presentations will take place from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. the following three days and winners will be announced in the closing ceremony from 1-3 p.m. March 28.
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