The Battalion: November 13, 2017 by The Battalion

‘CHRISTIAN KIRK BEING CHRISTIAN KIRK’ Junior wide receiver’s performance against UNM exceeds expectations By Angel Franco @angelmadison_ In what might have been the last home game of his career, Texas A&M junior wide receiver Christian Kirk gave A&M fans a dazzling performance. Kirk helped the Aggies soundly defeat New Mexico 55-14. In the second play from scrimmage, redshirt freshman quarterback Nick Starkel connected with Kirk for a 60-yard touchdown to give A&M an early lead over the Lobos. “Nick just gave me an opportunity,” Kirk said. “I was able to go out there and make a play, but it was there all night and I thought we did a great job.” Kirk continued to dazzle in front of the home crowd during the first half of the game as the Aggies built a commanding 48-7 lead heading into the half, prompting A&M head coach Kevin Sumlin to pull the starting lineup to start the third quarter. However, before Sumlin could take Kirk off the field, there was one thing Kirk was able to do — return a punt 90 yards for a touchdown. As he ran down the sideline after finding an opening in the coverage, a penalty flag flew, causing the majority of those in attendance to hold their breath. Kirk noted in the postgame press conference that he was nervous while he waited for the officials to announce the infraction that caused the flag to be thrown. “I was pretty heartbroken when I saw a penalty flag on the field,” Kirk said. “Just because we’ve been waiting for so long for an opportunity.” Nevertheless, much to Kirk’s — and the Aggie Fans’ — delight, his return was not

wiped off the board. According to Kirk, he knew the moment the ball came off New Mexico punter Corey Bojorquez’s foot he was going to return it. “It was good,” Kirk said. “He’s a left-footed punter so we knew he was going to be kicking to our right the whole entire game. Right when it came off the foot — that’s usually when I’m able to know — then he kicked it and I knew that we were going to be able to return it. After that it was just reading the blocks and setting them up and going ahead and finishing it.” Kirk’s best friend, roommate and teammate, senior Armani Watts, said he was not surprised to see him have the game he did. “Christian Kirk being Christian Kirk,” Watts said. “He has the ability to do that every time he touches the ball. You never know when it’s going to happen.” Although Kirk gave no indication whether or not he would declare for the NFL Draft at the conclusion of the season, it is certainly possible for the standout receiver. Kirk burst onto the scene in 2015 as a true freshman and has since cemented himself as one of best players in the country. During his debut season, Kirk caught 80 passes for 1,009 yards and had two punt returns for touchdowns with 341 yards. In his sophomore season, Kirk remained one of the leaders on the A&M offense, hauling in nine touchdowns on the season with 928 receiving yards. As the only wide receiver to have a significant amount of playing time, the A&M coaching staff turned to Kirk in 2017 to lead a young wide receiving corps — and Kirk has done just that. Through 10 games this season, Kirk leads the team in every statistical figure. KIRK ON PG. 2

Kevin Chou — THE BATTALION

Preparing for political progress The Elect Her Initiative has been training women who are interested in running for political office for the past seven years. MS Business students create companies for Integrated Business Experience courses. Annie Lui — THE BATTALION Annie Lui — THE BATTALION

Elect Her gives women tools needed for future campaigns By Kenya Robinson @_KenyaJ Featuring thoughts from Texas Representative Donna Howard and interactive campaign workshops, The Elect Her conference provided participants with hands on training for women interested in being political leaders. Running Start, a national program focused on training women for political office, launched the Elect Her initiative in 2010: A day-long conference that includes campaign simulation, networking and a mock election. Partnering with the Texas A&M Women’s Resource Center in 2014, the Elect Her program allows women to improve skills for leadership in office. Jessica Kelly, national director of the Elect Her program, said the interactive workshops allow women to think

about the issues they are passionate about. From public speaking practice to campaign simulation, Kelly said introducing the idea of competition is good experience for the program participants. “Our philosophy is that it’s still beneficial to run for an office even if you’re not sure you’re going to win, because it’s still building skills, expanding your network, so it’s win-win no matter what the outcome of the elections is,” Kelly said. As a first generation college student, Kelly said she didn’t understand the importance of holding a leadership position. She said she wants to show young women that running for office is an opportunity they should not pass up. “One of the reasons I really love working with this program is because when I was an undergrad I didn’t run for student government and I wasn’t really involved,” Kelly said. “It took me longer than I would have like to realized, so I really like being a part of a program that helps young women to

make that discovery earlier than I did, so that they have a leg up.” Speaker of the Texas A&M Student Senate Jasmine Wang was featured on the student leader panel at the conference. Wang said although she was aware of her own passion for running for an elected office, she wants to encourage other women around campus to take that chance as well. “Elect Her is a great opportunity for women to get that experience and to ensure that their voices are heard,” Wang said. “Being in student government here at A&M I feel has really prepared me for my future aspirations and I want other women to have that same feeling.” Toward the end of the event, participants, including international studies sophomore Melissa Rodriguez, were excited to share their campaign ideas with students throughout the MSC. Rodriguez said it is important for women to be involved in politics so issues can be communicated more ELECT HER ON PG. 3

In good company Students gain practical experience creating their own companies for master’s program By Mariah Colón @MariahColon18 Many students juggle the expectations of class and a full workload, but only around 40 current graduate students add on the pressure of managing their own functioning company through A&M’s Master of Science Business program. The program which launched in 2016, aims to facilitate the business learning process to students who did not earn their undergraduate degrees in business areas. Marketing itself as a track that focuses on “learning business by doing business,” the program integrates teambased learning and practical application, according to their website. One way the program strives to achieve this goal is through the mandatory enrollment of their students in Integrated Business Experience Courses. These classes throw students into the process of creating, marketing COMPANY ON PG. 4

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The Battalion | 11.13.17

Redshirt freshman quarterback Nick Starkel threw for 4 touchdowns in the first half of Saturday’s game against New Mexico.

Nick Starkel shines in first start since UCLA

Paul Burke — THE BATTALION

Starkel ignites offense, throws for 416 yards in Aggies’ 55-14 win over UNM By Alex Miller @AlexMill20 With redshirt freshman Nick Starkel making his first start since Texas A&M’s season-opener against UCLA, the Aggies’ game plan for their pocket-passing quarterback was simple: Throw deep and throw often. That’s exactly what Starkel did to New Mexico’s secondary Saturday night at Kyle Field in the Aggies’ 55-14 win over the Lobos. Underneath Starkel’s jersey was a Justin Bieber t-shirt, and indeed, he played like a rockstar. “It was important for the style of play, the type of defense we were going to face to be able to execute our passing game the way we did,” Texas A&M head coach Kevin Sumlin said. “Nick played well, but I thought our perimeter guys played well too.” New Mexico’s secondary scheme gave A&M numerous chances to try the downfield pass, primarily playing zero-man coverage and sometimes having one high safety. “We knew we were going to have opportunities all night, especially the drop-back

KIRK CONTINUED However, according to Sumlin, Kirk’s leadership isn’t restricted to the field during games. Kirk’s off the field practices are what allow him to be a leader for the younger players in terms of health and mental preparation. “His off the field routine, that is a real example to these guys,” Sumlin said.

pass game,” junior wide receiver Christian Kirk said. “Usually they had seven in the box and weren’t going to let you run the ball … that means there’s one-on-one opportunities outside.” New Mexico head coach Bob Davie said the Aggies’ ability to spread the field with various formations caused the Lobo defenders trouble in the open field. “We couldn’t really cover them and couldn’t really tackle in space,” Davie said. “They did a good job isolating their guys on our guys … there was no question what they were going to do — throw the ball. They were going to try to exploit our guys covering their guys and they did.” Once the Aggies began to build a substantial lead, Sumlin said he was sure Davie’s defense would shift more to defend the pass. The scheme change never came, and the Aggies continued to dial up the deep ball, scoring on their first six offensive possessions of the first half. “The thought process was to throw early and make plays and hopefully they would change, but they didn’t change and we had to keep doing what we were doing,” Sumlin said. In just one half of action, Starkel was 21of-30 passing for a career-high 416 yards and

“How he takes care of himself, what he eats — I’m not into the liver smoothie deal, that’s a little rough for me — but he’s looking for everything that he can do to be the best he can be, because he wants to be the best at what he does.” Sumlin said Kirk is the one player on the team the freshmen in particular can relate to the most, given Kirk’s experience.

four touchdowns. The majority of Starkel’s yardage came on huge passing plays, completing 10 passes of 15-plus yards and five for 35 yards or more. He averaged 19.8 yards per completion. With his exceptional performance, Starkel became the first Aggie to surpass the 400-yard passing mark since Kenny Hill threw for 401 yards against Ole Miss in 2014. For the first time in school history, Texas A&M had three 100-yard receivers. Freshman Roshauud Paul led the way with 129 yards on seven receptions. Kirk followed close behind with 120 yards on four receptions and freshman Jhamon Ausbon recorded 105 yards on seven catches. Kirk said he was pleased with Paul’s performance, as the rookie had more opportunities on the field serving as Kirk’s back-up in a more open contest. “I definitely know he’s been waiting for his time. I’m not the best at coming off the field, so he doesn’t really get to come in as much, especially when it’s a tight game,” Kirk said. “It was good to see him go out there and make a bunch of big plays... He’s shifty, he’s hard to tackle and he’s going to do that for a long time during his career here at Texas A&M.” Senior Damion Ratley caught two of Starkel’s touchdowns, and his final reception

on Kyle Field was an exceptional one, hauling in a 36-yard pass with his left hand while being pressed in the end zone by a New Mexico defender. “It’s always fun to be able to touch the end zone anywhere,” Ratley said. “But for my last catch in Kyle Field to be a touchdown, that’s just something I’ve always dreamed of.” Making a handful of competitive plays was one thing Kirk said he was pleased to see the receiving corps accomplish, something they’ve struggled to do previously. “I think the difference this week was us receivers going up there and making those contested catches,” Kirk said. “We’ve had throws and opportunities like that all season where we didn’t make those catches and tonight I think we took that step forward in making those catches.” Kirk said the success was due to more reps with Starkel in practice, allowing receivers to become acquainted with his style. “We’re really starting to click with Nick in, the timing is getting down, preparation throughout the week and really making sure our reps during practice,” Kirk said. “A lot of those deep balls that we hit in the game today, we hit all of those during practice.”

“As a leader, as a guy who has been through everything as a true freshman,” Sumlin said. “A guy who had expectations that were off the charts when he got here and has lived up to them. He is the ultimate team guy.” Kirk and the Aggies will be back in action Saturday, Nov. 18 as they travel to Oxford, Mississippi to take on the Ole Miss Rebels.

Junior Christian Kirk holds the A&M record for most punt returns in a single career. Cassie Stricker — THE BATTALION

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Texas A&M professor advises Congress on windstorm issues Committee comprised of scientists and engineers gathers weather information By Alex Sein @AlexandrSein Walter Peacock, architecture professor and director of the Hazard Reduction and Recovery Center at Texas A&M served for about eight months on a committee that recently submitted a proposal to Congress regarding windstorms and how to mitigate the losses they often cause. “Windstorm risk includes tornados, hurricanes, when it includes hurricanes, it also then includes surge and inland flooding and also coastal flooding of a great variety of different types,” Peacock said. According to Peacock, the Wind Risk Reduction program, created in 2015, drafted a plan with proposed changes to federal agencies like National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) in order to reduce losses from windstorms. “There was a committee that was also created to actually evaluate that plan and to make suggestions on changes to that plan, and that’s the committee that I served on,” Peacock said. According to Peacock, his committee, the Advisory Committee of the National Windstorm Impact Reduction Program, was comprised of top scientists, engineers and social scientists from across the US. Their main goal is to promote cooperation between the various federal agencies involved in disaster relief and prevention. Peacock said there was a consensus on what had to change. “We cannot look at natural hazards as if they are a physical process only,” Peacock said. According to Peacock, the physical and environmental costs of devastating windstorms are intertwined with human and social costs, and to analyze one without considering the other would be incomplete and incorrect. For that reason, Peacock said the committee strongly supported direct collaboration between NOAA, NSF and agencies like the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

ELECT HER CONTINUED more effectively. “Being a minority and a woman can be discomforting at times,” Rodriguez said. “Seeing the polarization amongst us throughout this

Jesse Everett — THE BATTALION

Walter Peacock, the Sea Grant Program Coordinator, explains how the buoy system protects the Gulf.

Peacock also said the committee stressed the importance of engineering, and how scientists must work together to provide stable, safe housing in high-risk areas. “It’s not just how we build, it’s where we build and it’s what we build where and everything else that’s involved in that,” Peacock said. John Nielsen-Gammon, Texas state climatologist and regents professor at A&M said there is an urgency to the situation as well. “We expect that the strongest hurricanes will become even stronger, so we’ll see more of the strong Category 4 and Category 5, and probably fewer of the weak ones,” Nielsen-Gammon said. According to Peacock, the amended proposal was submitted several months ago, but Congress did not specify when they would look at it or take action on the suggestions within. However, on the state level, there are agencies and groups trying to accomplish the same goals. According to Steven Dimarco, oceanography professor and team leader for ocean observing at the Geochemical and Environmental Research Group (GERG) at A&M, accurate information about a hurricane is cru-

cial to scientists and engineers, and that is a large part of what the researchers at GERG are trying to do. “You have satellites in the air, and you have wind monitors and sensors all over the land, but it’s really hard to put stuff in the ocean,” Dimarco said. “We have a system that’s designed from its very onset to measure currents in the oceanographic environment that could pick up data during a hurricane.” Dimarco, along with the team at GERG, operate the Texas Automated Buoy System (TABS), which consists of nine buoys off the coast of Texas that measure temperature, salinity and the velocity of currents in the Gulf of Mexico. During Hurricane Harvey, TABS was the only source of accurate measurements of wind and current speeds in the hurricane while it was still over the ocean. The data, updated online in intervals ranging from a few minutes to an hour depending on the measurement, was available to meteorologists and scientists across the US. Ali Mostafavi, civil engineering assistant professor, said Harvey inflicted so much damage on Houston in part because of the city’s aging infrastructure – namely the flood con-

country, I think it’s important for us to come together to solve issues regardless of what you identify with because these issues will not be resolved unless we learn to get along with one another.” With so many issues she is passionate about,

Rodriguez said participating in Elect Her has increased her confidence for running for an elected position on campus in the future. “This conference is definitely encouraging us,” Rodriguez said. “I feel like it’s helping me learn a lot more about these things and

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trol reservoirs that were supposed to collect floodwater from other parts of the city. “Since these reservoirs were old, the operators needed to release water in order to eliminate a breach in the reservoirs which could have a more catastrophic impact,” Mostafavi said. “As a result, about four thousand homes got flooded just because of the water release from the reservoirs.” According to Mostafavi, this was just one example of how Houston’s old infrastructure affected the city’s ability to handle the volume of water. Peacock said Harvey’s distruction and how to handle it was a point of emphasis for the committee. The committee’s suggestions, however, were not for hurricanes alone. According to Peacock, one of the scientists on the committee was a stormchaser who actively pursued tornados in the hopes of learning more about them. Maria Koliou, civil engineering assistant professor at A&M, has been working on tornado recovery simulations as well. “What I have been working on is on the physics-based numerical models to identify the performance in built infrastructure under tornado loads,” Koliou said. Koliou’s work focuses on determining how long repairs take after a tornado destroys a town, and how costly they are. As a trial for the simulations, Koliou said she used the 2011 tornado that hit Joplin, Missouri, the costliest tornado in US history.` Koliou said she chose Joplin both because it was an extreme event and because the community’s recovery has been documented fairly well. “It’s more like a blind prediction because we are already six years after the event,” Koliou said. “We know how the community has recovered, and I have been to Joplin, I have gathered data, but now I want to blindly predict how the community will recover.” By assuming that only the initial damage reports are available, Koliou said she can tweak the simulation until it accurately resembles what actually happened in Joplin after the tornado. Such a simulation, according to Koliou, could then be applied to other communities to predict what areas would take the longest to recover.

push myself. I’m out here talking to random strangers. I’m an international studies major and I want to get into politics someday, so I thought to myself ‘I should probably get involved with more of this stuff,’ so I applied, and I’m glad because I’m learning a lot.”

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As Justin Wiley stood behind the mic for the last time in Bryan-College Station as a student, he couldn’t help but think about all of the support he’s had throughout the years. On Nov. 9, Wiley participated in the ‘Tell Your Story’ Project, where students can showcase their talent in front of their peers. Wiley, a self-taught musician, not only sings, but plays the guitar, piano and produces his own music. As a freshman in high school, Wiley began to take interest in creating his own music. What started out with the creation of simple beats, rhythms and rhymes soon developed into a passion that would drive his future endeavors. By his junior year of high school, Wiley decided to enhance his musical abilities by joining the school’s choir and taking vocal lessons. “I wanted to create music,” Wiley said. “I enjoyed the creation of music and just the entire process, and I hope that the music can speak for itself in the end.” During his freshman year, Wiley continued his music career as a member of the band Othello. Wiley said

Othello was inspired by a mixture of genres, including alternative music and R&B. However, Othello came to an end when members became too busy with school. Wanting to continue to pursue music, Wiley transitioned into performing as a solo artist. Since then, Wiley has continued to work on his music by diving into a wide range of genres. Wiley also has gone through a rebranding period by changing his stage name to Jay Wile and making his music more available. Although Wiley is taking large steps towards seeing his dreams as an artist come true, he said he couldn’t have done it without support from family and friends. “They are talking to people for me,” Wiley says. “My close friends have all invested themselves, but even my general friends here and abroad have really shown that they care.” Jake Bracher, Class of 2016, has helped Wiley create a fan base in Chicago. Bracher said Wiley’s music is soulful and more than just singing. “The first time I heard him sing I felt it,” Bracher said. “There’s singing, and there’s sanging. And that man can sang.” According to Bracher, he and Wiley are close friends and have been working together musically for a few years now. Bracher said Wiley is unlike other artists he’s worked with, standing out from the rest with his drive and talent.

“A passion and knowledge for music are two of his strengths,” Bracher said. “A hunger to learn, mixed with natural talent are the keys to success within the industry and you can definitely see both in Justin.” According to Wiley, his family has now seen the true passion he has for his music and encourages him to chase after his dreams after he graduates from A&M. “My parents, they have definitely been more supportive this time around,” Wiley said. “They have always heard of me making music, but for them to actually see the party we made, they were very happy. My dad always stressed finishing school, but the last time I saw him he said, ‘After you finish school you chase that dream and ambition you have.’” Though he plans to stay independent to retain creative freedom, Wiley said he would consider working with a label if he felt sure he would still be able to create the message he wants to send through his music. Although he plans to be an independent artist to ensure his music is open and transparent with who he is, Wiley says things may change if the music industry is still able to create the message he wants to send through his songs. Wiley has all of his records, ‘Stratified,’ ‘In Between’ and ‘Blue Patio,’ available on iTunes, Soundcloud, Spotify, YouTube and Tidal.

Annie Lui — THE BATTALION

Three of the companies, AgScents, United for 30 and The Ripple Effect set up tables outside the commons.

COMPANY CONTINUED and managing a business with their fellow classmates. The class is divided into eight teams who pitch their companies for review. The initial companies pitched are then narrowed down to four, all of which pitch their businesses to bank loan officers to get funding. The students close their business after the end of the semester and donate all of their proceeds to various charities. The initial process of selecting the final buisness plans was an invaluable learning experience, according to Alan Norman, current MS business candidate. Norman is a member of the team that created The Ripple Effect, a t-shirt business that partners with the charity Americares to provide natural disaster relief. Norman said the teams have approximately two weeks from the time they get the project assignment to come up with the product and begin the interviewing process. “During that time you are doing the interviews, surveys, trying to find out if there is interest or not,” Norman said. “Then you have another two weeks to prepare after that for a ‘Shark Tank’ style presentation. Each team goes in and they present to the head of the program, the head of the class and a couple of guest judges to help decide which four teams will move forward with their project. The four teams that don’t get picked will be then onboarded onto the teams that were picked.” The final four companies, including

The Ripple Effect, are diverse in nature. AgScents, a candle company, organized a candle-purchasing competition between A&M’s women’s organizations to determine which philanthropy will receive their proceeds. United for 30, a phone pocket company, gives its proceeds to The American Cancer Society. Old Army, a furniture repair company, donates to Brazos Valley Young Life. Each team put serious thought into the charity their company would be benefiting, according to Connor Pogue, current MS business candidate and member of the United for 30 team. “The whole idea was to raise money for cancer research,” Pogue said. “We’re raising funds through selling a mass market product which we call phone pockets. What got us doing this instead of raising money for something else is that every single person on our team has a personal connection to cancer.” The program offers students the ability to take the knowledge they are gaining in their classes and apply it to real world scenarios, according to McKenzie Mull, MS business candidate and member of AgScents. “I think it is definitely unique,” Mull said. “I have talked to a lot of people at different schools that have a similar program but they don’t have the application. Here, we are getting the theory [and the application]. All of our classes have us integrate what we are doing with our own businesses and apply it right then. It’s very textbook to application which is so cool.”