inside Kyle Field | 5
The A&M System Board of Regents approved the renovation for Kyle Field, which will be the largest stadium in Texas.
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may 6, 2013
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“[Swimming] isn’t everything I am, but it certainly is a big part of who I am. Much like being gay.”
Aggie athlete, openly gay
Rep. Flores to speak at May graduation Julie Blanco The Battalion
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Olympian swimmer defends his University, identity Jessica Smarr & Mark Doré The Battalion
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mini Fonua holds many titles. He is a former team captain for the Texas A&M swimming team. He was the 2012 Big 12 Champion in the 100-meter breaststroke. He represented Tonga at the 2012 London Olympics. He is an athlete, student and teammate. And he is gay. Fonua came to Texas A&M with dual citizenship in New Zealand and Tonga with little knowledge about College Station or the campus. He came to swim, but he will leave with an Aggie Ring and a love for his University. Fonua, a senior telecommunications and media studies major, said many assume maintaining his identity as an Aggie athlete and a gay man would be difficult and controversial. Yet the Olympian said
his story has been a “fairy tale” in terms of what others have experienced and not the trial many perceive it would be. Fonua said problems tend to arise when one must hide his or her true identity. The Aggie honor code, he said, is not compatible with dishonesty about one’s nature. “An Aggie does not lie, cheat or steal,” Fonua said. “And if you’re living in the closet, you’re living a lie.” From his personal experiences, he has felt the need to defend the school against accusations of homophobia. Fonua’s openness about his status as perhaps the only openly gay male athlete at A&M comes amid a tumultuous time for the LGBT community, both locally and nationally. There has been an increased national discourse on the topic of gay rights with See Fonua on page 4
Photos by Roger Zhang — THE BATTALION
Amini Fonua, senior telecommunications and media studies major, was the 2012 Big 12 Champion in the 100-meter breaststroke.
west, texas
bout 7,100 students will walk the stage Friday and Saturday and shake hands with University President R. Bowen Loftin for the May commencement ceremonies, marking a milestone in their lives. Rep. Bill Flores, Class of 1976, will give the commencement convocation speech Thursday and will also speak at the Mays Business School graduation ceremony. Flores said he is excited to speak at the graduation ceremonies because he thought the speech from his graduation ceremony was significant and he hopes to inspire current graduates with his own words. “It was pretty meaningful to me because the speaker had gone through some difficult times of their own in their life,” Flores said. “So to watch how they overcame adversity was something that I think helped me in terms of knowing that life can be difficult sometimes and that the key to success is how you deal with those difficulties.” Flores said he wants to encourage the graduates to attend the commencement convocation. “I think it’s something they shouldn’t miss,” he said. “I think it’s something that can be meaningful to them if they’ll come and listen to what the speakers have to say.” Flores said there are specific points in his convocation speech that he’d like to share with graduates, the first being to congratulate them on their accomplishments. “The second thing I’d like to do is talk about the state of the world that they’re entering,” Flores said. “They are entering a difficult economic and fiscal environment. I just want to make sure everyone knows what that’s like. They’re going to have greater challenges than graduates have had in prior decades.” Third, Flores said he wanted to challenge the graduates as they move forward in life to help make the world a better place. Andrew MacDonald, senior molecular and cell biology and Spanish double major, said he plans to make a difference in people’s lives after graduation and he will begin medical school in the fall. See Graduation on page 7
OPINIONCOLUMN
Tales from a disaster zone Robert Carpenter: The people of West begin long, slow recovery
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t’s a curious experience, using a shovel to remove the shattered remains of a grandmother’s possessions from her devastated living room.
COURTESY
Debris remains scattered around the destroyed homes and buildings that surround the fertilizer plant in West, Texas.
A&M-led relief effort assists West residents Jennifer Keith
The Battalion group of more than 100 Aggies caravanned to West, Texas, on Saturday to shovel debris, load trash bags and be a source of comfort to residents still experiencing the effects of devastation caused by the fertilizer plant explosion. From a supply drive organized by Aggieland Outfitters to a profit share called “A Night Out in B-CS,” Aggies have sacrificed time and resources to show support for their fellow Texans. Laura Terrell, senior community health major, participated in Saturday’s service project and said her volunteer group worked in the residential area closest to the plant’s explosion. “We went from house to house and threw
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trash bags, insulation and drywall into these ginormous dumpsters,” Terrell said. “We went in one guy’s house and shoveled insulation out so he could make a walkway. His 84-year-old mom was there trying to help.” In less than a week, a group of around 10 Aggies organized the trip, which included raising money, renting buses and recruiting volunteers. In addition to providing manual labor, the Aggies’ 337 hours of community service will result in additional financial support for the city’s renovation. Tyler Stewart, former president of the Memorial Student Center and senior biomedical science major, contributed to the trip’s planning and said the gathering of See West on page 3
Dust coated every inch of the 10-or-so students with whom I labored Saturday. We used yard equipment to clear a path through the inside of the house so a family could walk from the front of the house to the car port without wading through feet of debris. When a fertilizer plant exploded more than a quarter mile away last month, killing 11 first responders and three more civilians, the force of the blast stripped entire walls of brick from the building’s exterior and collapsed the living room ceiling. Grimy heaps of drywall and insulation tumbled from above, blanketing furniture, clothes, picture frames and fine china. The disturbing part of this scene was that, from the outside at least, this ruined house appeared lucky. The East side of the neighbor’s twostory home, which faced the fertilizer plant, was little more than a flimsy wall of jagged splinters. Plywood sheets plugged holes in the wall, protecting what little remained of the owners’ privacy from rubbernecking “tourists” (the label locals used for sightseers cruising through central Texas’ ground zero, camera phones at the ready). No one lives in these homes anymore. Still, most of the families’ possessions and plenty of their memories remain inside, wanting for electricity 17 days after the fact. On April 17, this orderly, established neighborhood was rendered utterly uninhab-
itable in the blink of an eye. The front doors to most buildings are nailed shut, bearing colorful notices boldly declaring “UNSAFE: KEEP OUT” — a calling card of one of the many state or federal agencies that descended on the community of 2,800 after the tragedy. West was a quiet, one-exit town nestled in the serene rolling hills around Interstate 35. Sitting south of Dallas and north of Waco, it was famous for delectable pastries and a proud Czech heritage. But that was before the evening of April 17. Of course, “West” is now synonymous with one of the most violent industrial disasters in recent memory — one that shook the community and state at their foundation. A mental-health volunteer from Baylor explained that most government agencies had already cleared out of town, as had the majority of non-governmental organizations. “That’s just the way it works. NGOs flock to disaster in the immediate aftermath and leave when the media departs,” she muttered, masking annoyance with a kind of “Well, what can you do?” attitude. The Red Cross remained, as did a volunteer group from Austin, several ambassadors from the Church of Scientology and plenty of locals. A car with “Billy Graham Ministries” painted on the front-passenger door could be See Devastation on page 10
EDITOR’SNOTE This is the final print edition of The Battalion for the spring semester. Check thebatt.com for news updates. The Batt will continue print editions Tuesdays and Thursdays, starting June 4.
5/6/13 1:06 AM