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Women’s hoops tops Missouri A&M remains perfect in the SEC, beating Missouri on the road 62-57 for its ninth straight win. See story at thebatt.com.
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january 24, 2014
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Group flips to-be-tossed food to the plates of the needy
THE CAMPUS BREADWINNERS Victoria Rivas
The Battalion ucculent pulled pork, creamy mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese and roasted vegetables are frequent items on the menu at Twin City Mission, a homeless shelter in Bryan. These new menu options can be credited to a new student organization that seeks to serve the Brazos Valley community. In the fall of 2013, Lindy Nelson, junior international studies major, founded the Texas A&M chapter of the Food Recovery Network, a national organization with college chapters across the country whose members collect the unsold food from their campus dining halls and donate it to people in their communities. “We as students can get so worried about everything we’re doing in our lives, and our school, our grades and our organizations and our little bubble of College Station,” said Kyle Chandler, junior petroleum engineering major. Nelson said before the Food Recovery Network was established at Texas A&M, all unsold food at University dining halls was thrown away.
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Sbisa Dining Hall freezes its unsold food every night, Nelson said, and donates approximately 250 pounds of food every Monday and Thursday to the organization. Nelson said she had been told by Sbisa that before the organization’s founding, the dining hall threw away 500 pounds of food per day. A substantial portion of those 500 pounds consisted of food half-eaten by students, which is not donated to the network. However, Nelson said by selecting smaller portions of food at the buffet-style dining halls, students can still further reduce the waste of food. Nelson said she first heard about the network from a friend who is actively involved in the program at Brown University and said she saw the network as a wonderful opportunity to help the community. However, Nelson’s founding of and involvement with the network was not her first volunteer experience. Nelson had been on multiple mission trips in the past, including two to Guatemala, but said the mission trip that impacted her most was her mission trip to Denver, Colo. See Food Recovery on page 3
Roger Zhang — THE BATTALION
Kyle Chandler (left), junior petroleum engineering major, and Tyler Nuckols, senior recreation, park and tourism sciences major, load a large bag of surplus bread and pastries Wednesday.
agriculture
Ag commissioner hopefuls tailor campaigns to youth
Aimee Breaux The Battalion
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ith state elections drawing closer, candidates for the position of agriculture commissioner are targeting younger voters and addressing opportunities for young workers entering the agricultural market. Kasey Kram, director of national affairs for the on-campus agricultural advocacy group Farmers Fight, said the Texas Commissioner of Agriculture is a unique position in that the commissioner serves as an ambassador to the agricultural community. “She or he is responsible for establishing a network (similar to that of the Aggie Network) that helps connect individuals in all sectors of the industry, from South Texas to the Panhandle and from the East and West borders,” Kram said in an email. Kram said of the main issues facing the state, including food security and water rights, agricultural literacy is one that students on campus are constantly fighting for. Kram said spreading agricultural literacy explains to consumers the means in which their clothing and food were produced. In candidate J. Allen Carnes’ visit to campus Tuesday, he said that in most college classrooms, when he asks how many of the students grew up in a rural farming or ranching area, the result is only 10-15 percent of the class. Carnes said one of the biggest challenges is reaching out in a new way to the growing number of people who know nothing about agriculture. “We’ve got to go in and tell them, ‘Well, we’ve got to protect this because this is what protecting that means to the state,’”
Jenna Rabel — THE BATTALION
Elijah Ramos, sophomore electrical engineering major, and Melissa Borchgrevink, sophomore psychology major, try to stay warm Thursday.
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Aimee Breaux — THE BATTALION
J. Allen Carnes (right), candidate for Texas agriculture commissioner, speaks to students on campus Tuesday. Carnes said. “And what it means to the state is growing the food and fiber source that not only feeds this state, but much of the world, and what the consequences are for the state for not having it.” For students looking to enter the workforce with an agricultural degree, the issue of finding a job in the field comes to the forefront of the agriculture commissioner race. With the mean age of workers in the agricultural industry increasing, Carnes said ensuring younger groups can enter the market is imperative. Carnes said he values the opinions of more experienced and old-
er members of the agricultural community, but the seeds of today’s work are for the next generations. “If you go to ag association type meetings, you see a lot of gray hair, you see a lot of people who’ve been around the block, but not enough young people involved,” Carnes said. “The state of Texas is working on everything from our infrastructure for our roads to our water infrastructure, making sure our water needs are met, and we’re doing that for the next 20 years. We’re not doing that for tomorrow, we’re doing that for 20 years from now, and in 20 years from See Agriculture on page 4
research
Student-run undergrad journal lends voice to varied research Katy Stapp
The Battalion
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howcasing the works of undergraduate minds at Texas A&M, “Explorations” undergraduate journal published its fifth volume in the fall. “Explorations” is a student-run journal that serves as a means for undergraduate students in all fields of study to share with the University their scholarly pursuits, whether scientifically or creatively oriented, said Aaron Griffin, senior biochemistry major and co-chair of the “Explorations” executive board.
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“Explorations” began with faculty members — including Beth Tebeaux, Larry Griffin and Barbara Gastel — who had the goal of reviving a student journal on campus, said Sumana Datta, executive director of Undergraduate Research. “Together we hashed out what we wanted the journal to be,” Datta said. “We wanted it to represent all areas of research and scholarly activity on campus, written for a general audience so the entire Aggie family could enjoy reading about the amazing accomplishments of our scholars and artists.”
Matt Mcmahon, senior geology major and co-chair of the “Explorations” executive board, said each year only the best research, creative work and literary compositions are selected to have a place in the journal. The board receives anywhere from 80200 submissions for a given issue, but only selects around 15 percent of the submissions after an intricate review process. The student initially submits an abstract, and if accepted, he or she is See Explorations on page 4
Freezing temps close campus
Canadian cold air causes College Station shivers Jennifer Reiley The Battalion
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xpectations of sleet and snow caused the University to close its doors Thursday evening, as winter weather may cause roadway safety hazards. While Jared Plushnick, chief meteorologist for KAGS, said the sun may come out Friday afternoon, the temperature will not get warm enough to melt any snow and ice, making Friday night’s driving conditions dangerous as well. “Friday morning will be below freezing, we’ll still see clouds around, so Friday morning’s commute will be hazardous,” Plushnick said. “In the afternoon, temperatures will get above freezing and we’ll see a little bit of sun, so that will help melt the snow. Again the problem will be Friday night and Saturday morning, anything that melts will refreeze. And then Saturday, sun’s out, 60s, everything melts.” Plushnick said unlike the ice College Station experienced at the beginning of the year, this storm will be more widespread. “There will be transition to freezing rain, a little bit of sleet and eventually we’ll see snow,” Plushnick said. “The question is, ‘Will the snow accumulate on the roads?’ I’m not sure about that quite yet, but there will be some accumulation, maybe about half an inch, maybe an inch of snow on the grass or grassy surfaces. But I think it’s going to be treacherous on bridges, overpasses, secondary roads and if there’s nobody on primary roads [Thursday] those could get pretty bad too.” Plushnick said College Station hasn’t reported even flakes of snow since Feb. 9, 2011. This storm, Plushnick said, came about from a mixture of weather ingredients. See Freeze on page 2
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