The Battalion: January 24, 2017 by The Battalion

HILLEL

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MISCONCEPTIONS “IT’S HARD TO IMAGINE AN UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANT WOULD PAY TAXES WHEN I LOOK AT IT FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF CITIZENS — BECAUSE THEY DON’T REALLY KNOW OUR STORY.”

Courtesy via Thomas Gabor

Thomas Gabor, Class of 1961 and Holocaust survivor, will share his experience Wednesday in Rudder Theatre.

A&M Hillel to host Holocaust survivor, A&M graduate

Carlo Chunga, urban and regional planning junior

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Thomas Gabor will visit Aggieland for first time in 55 years Wednesday By Matthew Jacobs @MattJacobs3413 Fifty-five years after graduating with a degree in chemical engineering, Class of 1961 Aggie Thomas Gabor will return to campus to talk about his journey to A&M; a journey which included surviving the Holocaust and later a communist regime. The event, hosted by the Texas A&M Hillel Center, will feature Hungarian native Gabor. He will speak about his experiences growing up in his native land, surviving the Holocaust only to live under communist rule after the war before fleeing to pursue an education in the United States. The talk will focus primarily on his early years of adversity, according to Gabor. “I am going to talk about how I got to A&M,” Gabor said. “And then I am going to talk about my Holocaust years — that’s the main subject. I’m going to talk a little bit about my growing up under the communist regime. I was a kid, I’m a child survivor. I was in the Budapest ghetto when I was at the age of 10. And then I grew up in the communist regime until I escaped and came here.” Rabbi Matt Rosenberg of the A&M Hillel Center said they will welcome Gabor to College Station with a tour of the city and campus, since this will be his first visit in more than five decades. “He’s probably the only Holocaust survivor who is an Aggie, he’s the only one I know of,” Rosenberg said. “[He] ended up getting a degree in chemical engineering in 1961 as a nonreg. He’s coming into town for the first time since 1961, so 55 years. He’s flying in on Monday afternoon; we’re going to have a campus tour on Tuesday. So it’ll be a whole big reunion for him.” Gabor’s interesting path to A&M even garnered public attention when he first came to the United States, Rosenberg said. “I’m looking forward to hearing his full story on how he got here,” Rosenberg said. “But at the time he was written up in Houston and Dallas newspapers because he was unusual in that he was coming from behind the Iron Curtain. This is the Cold War, in the late 50’s, and the area he was coming from was communist Hungary, and he was at A&M. So it was highly unusual.” HOLOCAUST ON PG. 2

MILLION UNDOCUMENTED CITIZENS IN THE US AS OF 2014 Pew Research Center

50%

OF ALL UNDOCUMENTED ADULTS ARE PARENTS TO MINORS

Pew Research Center

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Yuri Suchil — THE BATTALION

A&M students who came to US illegally share challenges, dreams By Ana Sevilla @AnaVSevilla

hen urban and regional planning junior Carlo Chunga’s family’s visa expired, his family faced a difficult decision: Return to Peru where there was job uncertainty and the real possibility of poverty, or stay in America and work for a brighter future. Like thousands of families around the country with similar stories, the Chunga family chose to stay. Chunga said there are many misconceptions surrounding people who have immigrated illegally, ranging from questions

Accessibility for all Aggies Students weigh in on lack of accessibility By Mariah Colon @MariahColon18 For the majority of college students getting to their classes is a feasible everyday routine. However, some members of the Aggie family who are physically disabled face a larger challenge. Jordan Cox, environmental design and Spanish senior who has a disability, said after her disability progressed freshman year she began receiving services but did not necessarily feel comfortable using her wheelchair on campus. “One of the biggest problems that I notice and that deters me from using a wheelchair on campus is the fact that we can’t necessarily easily find the [handicap] entrances, so we spend physical exertion and time trying to find the handicap entrance and getting to our classroom as we could actually walking or taking the time to do

James Bryer — THE BATTALION

Graduate student Jaime Mitash uses an elevator in Rudder that allows people with disabilities to access upper floors.

that. I think that’s the biggest problem — the wayfinding,” Cox said. Cox said while there is definitely progress being made with handicap accessible buildings, handicap accessible does not always equal handicap friendly. “I think there’s good things and bad things about A&M accessibility as far as wheelchairs are concerned. For the most part most of the buildings are going to be wheelchair accessible, at

least the ones that are used for public access,” Cox said. “But some of the older buildings on campus that weren’t built when ADA code was as stringent aren’t going to be handicap accessible.” Jaime Mitash, a human resources management graduate student who is registered with Disability Services, was on the Disability Services Student Advisory Board as an undergrad and started Chronicles, the awareness ACCESSIBILITY ON PG. 2

surrounding taxes to attending public universities. Chunga said no matter what status a citizen is, no one is exempt from taxes. “No matter where you live, you’re going to pay property tax,” Chunga said. “We do pay taxes and then we have sales tax. It’s hard to imagine an undocumented immigrant would pay taxes when I look at it from the perspective of citizens — because they don’t really know our story.” DACA, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, made attending college possible for Chunga and other students like him by making in-state tuition available to qualifiers. Communication junior Cinthia Cruz, who crossed the border illegally when she was 10 years old, said DACA is a very selective process. “Tuition is the same,” Cruz said. “You have to apply [for DACA] every two years

and you have to pay a fee of $400 whether you get approved or not. You have to pay for your working permit and the application because they have to do biometrics, like taking your fingerprints, so everything is in the system. We can’t have a criminal record— you have to be an outstanding citizen.” When industrial distribution junior Noe Ortiz was 5 years old, his teachers gave his grandmother a choice: He could either retake kindergarten or prove himself proficient in reading and writing in English and Spanish in a two-week time frame for a chance to transition into summer school. Today, Ortiz’s grandmother still has his certificate of completion from successfully passing his test, but for Ortiz, the test proved to be one of the easier obstacles he faced as a child.

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Texas adopts “smart” automated vehicle technologies By Brooklyn Figueiredo @brooklyn_fig

Texas is on its way to becoming a nationwide leader by being the first state to collectively embrace smart solutions in automated vehicle technologies. The U.S. Department of Transportation wanted to jump start “smart cities” by proposing a challenge where they asked cities from across the United States to propose how they would spend a grant of $40 million throughout their communities. Seventy-eight proposals were received from across the country, ending with seven finalists, including Austin. However, Columbus, Ohio won the smart city challenge. “Austin was a finalist; they didn’t get the funding but they put a lot of hard work and thought into the proposal,” said Texas A&M Transportation Institute assistant agency di-

IMMIGRANTS ON PG. 2

Jacob Martindale — THE BATTALION

rector Christopher Poe. “Texas wanted to keep the momentum going that Austin created, so the Texas Department of Transportation invited any Texas city that had any thought of being a smart city to come to the summit. They had eight teams come from across Texas including; Bryan-College Station, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, Austin, El Paso, Corpus Christi and San Antonio.” The 2-day summit was spent discussing how each city’s ideas would introduce more cities into those communities, becoming the foundation for the Smart Texas Initiative. “That is why we are at the forefront,” Poe said. “I don’t know any other state that has organized communities statewide to try to advance this technology. Everybody wants to learn from each other, we aren’t competing with each other. The idea is that AUTO CARS ON PG. 3

FROMTHEFRONT

The Battalion | 1.24.17

Communication junior Cinthia Cruz and urban and regional planning sophomore Carlo Chunga both have parents who immigrated illegally.

Yuri Suchil — THE BATTALION

IMMIGRANTS CONTINUED Ortiz was born an anchor baby, or a child born to a foreign mother in a country with birthright-citizenship. This made his parents’ divorce difficult, especially when his father began paying for false testimony, he said. After going into hiding, Ortiz and his family came to Texas to start anew, and much like other first-generation children, Ortiz said he felt the pressure to succeed from a young age. “It was tough growing up — at least for me. All my uncles and my aunts, they just put this pressure on me and say ‘You’re the man of the house,’” Ortiz said. “The pressure just starts building really quickly, and you have to grow up quickly to the point that I sometimes felt that I didn’t have much of a childhood.” According to Pew Research Center, as of 2014 there are 11.3 million undocumented citizens living within the nation, and nearly half of all undocumented adults are parents to minors, ac-

cording to the American Psychological Association. Ortiz said he realized he was different from his peers shortly after moving to Texas. “It was just different because my mom had to get two jobs and she was probably out of the house, those first couple of years, maybe 16 or 18 hours [a day],” Ortiz said. “I realized that this isn’t something normal because I would see all these kids with all these things and I would ask my mom and she would just have this pain in her eyes — she wanted to give it to us, but she couldn’t afford it.” However, adapting to American life was difficult not only because of language barriers but also because of a lack of social security numbers. Chunga said that finding ways to adapt proved to be difficult. “It was hard for my parents to excel because they don’t know English very well so they just took low-income jobs that will hopefully get the family by,” Chunga said. “A few years ago my mom had to stop working due to health prob-

lems with her digestive system. That was hard because my family relies on both my parents having a job to get us by, so my dad had to pick up a second job while she couldn’t work. We also didn’t have health care making her medical bills very expensive.” In addition to legal obstacles, assimilation can make an individual question their identity, Ortiz said. “I’m trying to prove to Anglo-saxon Americans that I’m just like ya’ll,” Ortiz said. “I have this accent but I like french fries, I like watching football, I like eating burgers all these kinds of things. You try to prove this point to them like I can immerse myself in your culture but at the same time I have to prove to my friends back home hey I’m Latino I love doing all the things you guys love to do. Most of the time I’m living almost these two different identities,” Cruz said. Ultimately, Cruz said she just wants to be treated like other students. “I didn’t choose to come here, but I chose to be an Aggie, and I think that’s the choice that should matter most.”

Buildings such as the MSC are ADA compliant, with easily accessible ramps and disability entrances. James Bryer — THE BATTALION

ACCESSIBILITY CONTINUED and support group for students with chronic illnesses and disability at A&M. She said because ADA was established in 1990 there are a lot of buildings on campus that are not wheelchair accessible. “I think there are a lot of buildings that do have a lot of history and are so old that they were created before ADA accommodations were a thing for most people to consider,” Mitash said. “I would hope that we would find ways that allow us to preserve the tradition of Texas A&M university while moving forward and being more friendly toward accommodations and diverse populations.” Cox said while retroactively adding handicap accessibility to buildings is a

difficult task, there are things the university can do to make campus more handicap friendly. “In the instance of the Francis Hall renovation they implemented a handicap ramp that was easily visible in the front of the building that didn’t deter from the natural aesthetic of the building. They made it very clear and made it easy to understand what that was for,” Cox said. “Making sure that they are thoughtfully considered during the design of the building when you’re implementing something new is really important.” While Cox and Mitash said a lack in handicap accessibility can be seen, other physically disabled members of the Aggie family disagree. Matthew Swick, office assistant for Disability Services who has worked for A&M for 10 years and is physically disabled, said he believes

the campus is wheelchair accessible, and said Disability Services offers a variety of services for physically disabled students. “I believe that A&M is wheelchair friendly … I’ve been to most buildings and they’re ADA compliant,” Swick said. “We have students who are in wheelchairs who need quiet environments like other students that come to take our exams here with us and if they need help getting around campus we can refer them to transportation services.” Mitash said students who are disabled should know that resources and help are readily available at Texas A&M. “Don’t be afraid to ask for resources or help from anybody who would be able to give it to you,” Mitash said. “If you voice your concerns people are going to want you to be comfortable on campus and help you do what you need to do to be a successful student.”

HOLOCAUST CONTINUED Joshua Williams, kinesiology sophomore, had the opportunity to meet Gabor when he was in highschool. Williams said that was the defining moment which led him to attend A&M. “When I was a junior in high school, I went on a trip called ‘March of the Living,’ which is a trip for Jewish teenagers across the world to go visit Poland and Israel,” Williams said. “I met him in Poland, and … he told me about A&M and how A&M

helped him out, how Hillel back then helped him in learning English. They loaned him money, and they helped him with his English to help him with his degree. So he told me his story, but he also told me how A&M helped him out, and that’s when I checked out A&M myself.” The event is free to the public and will be held at 7 p.m. on Wednesday in Rudder Theatre.

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The local Hillel in College Station, located south of man campus, will host Thomas Gabor at Rudder Theatre.

CORRECTION A cutline in yesterday’s Battalion incorrectly stated that Tyler Davis averaged 2 4 points per game. In reality Davis averages 13.4 points per game. We apologize for any confusion this may have caused.

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The Battalion | 1.24.17

Chunks of sea ice, melt ponds and open water in the Chukchi Sea in July 2016.

COURTESY: NASA

Climate change an ongoing phenomenon, A&M experts say By Rachel Knight @Reknight18 For three years in a row now, NASA and the NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, have documented record-breaking surface temperatures on Earth. The warming trend is an ongoing phenomenon according to Texas A&M atmospheric sciences professor Gerald North, but 2016 is a standout year. “There is this trend, and that is what’s worrying us,” North said. “This year is especially weird because there was a big El Niño that has been going on for a year and a half or two. When we have an El Niño that year will jump above the trend.” An El Niño occurs when the Pacific Ocean gets extremely warm and affects the average of the globe’s surface temperatures, North said. “It is such a big area out there that it influences the average over the whole globe,” North said. “But in 2016 every major city in the United States went up in temperature. So even if you left out the El Niño, 2016 would probably still be the warmest year because of the trend.” The cause of the warming trend, often referred to as global warming or climate change, is the emission of

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carbon dioxide through the burning of fossil fuels that creates green house gases, according to North. “When we go finding carbon that was deposited under the surface of the earth, that’s excess carbon dioxide that we burn,” North said. “There is a natural system that takes CO2 out of the air and puts CO2 back into the air that’s constantly happening, but it sort of comes to equilibrium. We are simply putting it into the earth’s atmosphere faster than it can be taken down.” The physics of greenhouse gases makes the warming trend clearer when differences in the sun’s visible light radiation and the earth’s infrared radiation is taken into consideration, said atmospheric sciences professor Renyi Zhang. “There are very few molecules or materials in the atmosphere that absorb visible light,” Zhang said. “But in the earth’s atmosphere there are actually a lot of molecules that absorb infrared radiation. So that means these molecules actually trap radiation emitted by Earth and send Earth’s radiation back. This makes the greenhouse effect.” John Nielson-Gammon is a Regents Professor at Texas A&M and has served as the Texas state climatologist since his appointment in 2000 by then-Governor George W. Bush. “There’s a lot of things that affect

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climate, natural and man made, and it usually takes a combination of the two to set a record,” Nielson-Gammon said. “This El Niño was stronger than the last major El Niño in 1998. The El Niño ended in the spring, though. For that reason we won’t be setting a fourth record, but temperatures will still be warmer than a decade ago because of the warming trend.” Solving the problem of global warming starts with individuals making personal choices that use less fossil fuel, but Neilsen-Gammon said world leaders must first address the problem for a solution to be possible. “The biggest problem is it has become too politicized,” Neilsen-Gammon said. “This eliminates talks about what should be done.” Improvement is something North believes will continue even though some politicians deny the warming trend. “The state of Texas for example spent a lot of money under Rick Perry, our new energy cabinet secretary,” North said. “When no one was looking he spent a lot of money, taxpayer money, to put the wires out to where those windmills are. So, it’s one reason I’m not too scared with him becoming energy secretary. He believes this. All of these people in Congress who call it a hoax and shout and scream they believe this.”

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AUTOCARS CONTINUED we all work together and share emerging technology and try to help everybody meet their goals.” According to Poe, the Texas A&M Transportation Institute has been working with A&M bus services to integrate a camera system onto one of the bus routes. The system helps the driver to avoid crashes and reports pedestrian-vehicle conflict hotspots back to the A&M bus service. “I’d feel comfortable knowing they would be in control in cases of drivers feeling fatigued or under the weather. The concept itself would definitely be an interesting experience to be a part of,” said general studies freshman Chloe Shelby. The benefit of having smart vehicle technology is having the potential to reduce crashes. According to Poe there are about 3,500 Texans killed every year on highways. “I think the goal that we have is to facilitate and at the same time enable testing research and development in a safe environment that ensures the projects are safe and efficient when they end up on Texas highways,” executive associate agency director William Stockton said. “There are really terrific technologies that will not only significantly improve efficiency and convenience for you and me as vehicle drivers but also everyone’s safety, when vehicles talk to each other.” Some of the challenges facing smart vehicle technology is the duty of educating the public to make sure they understand the technology and are at ease with it. “As much as I would want to trust the technology, just like regular cars, smart vehicles are sure to have their own troubles at first,” Shelby said. “I’m positive they will be trustworthy in the future, but as for now the idea of technology being in control over myself in regards to driving makes me hesitant.” Texas A&M is in a partnership

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with Texas and Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio to serve as one of ten national proving grounds for smart vehicle type technologies. “This will enable TTI and Texas A&M to conduct full scale studies of smart vehicle technologies at the RELLIS Campus in Bryan,” Stockton said. “After suitable off-site, full-scale testing then work with the Texas Department of Transportation to do actual on road testing will begin.” According to Poe, one way to make sure smart vehicle technology is safe is to make sure to use the comprehensive testing technologies before the vehicles ever get out onto a Texas roadway. “By putting that partnership together, that’s one way to make sure these technologies develop safely,” Poe said. Another challenge is making sure Texas has the right policies and regulations to support this. By applying the appropriate legislature to manage the smart vehicle technology, it will ease the development and deployment, as well as adapting policies as the technology improves. “Our legislature is about to go in session and I think the legislatures will be very interested in following this topic,” Poe said. According to Poe, Texas A&M has made a significant investment in upgrading the RELLIS campus, a facility designated for research and technological development just 15 minutes from the main campus. “Texas A&M has two automated vehicles now that they are doing some very preliminary offroad testing right now at the RELLIS campus,” Stockton said. The Texas A&M Transportation Institute headquarters will be moved there. The idea is to bring researchers, students, and industry all together to work on transportation research and development. “It’s one of the most significant redevelopment of a research and development facility in the country and it’s happening here,” Stockton said. “Chancellor Sharp and Vice Chancellor Kathy Banks are really the driving force behind it.”

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Rocket launches, DNA extraction and a five-barrel depth charge — these are only a few of many exciting science events happening this spring semester both worldwide and at Texas A&M. Beginning with the annual Chemistry Roadshow will be on Feb. 11, senior lecturer and research assoTHE ciate Jim Pennington will RICHARDS GROUP present educational and exTRG JOB #: citing chemistry demonstraSBU-16-0050 CLIENT:tions including super slime SMU and polymer smoothies for TITLE: people of all ages. Master’s College Print Daniel Waldie, chemical PUB: engineering sophomore, Texas A&M Battalion said the Chemistry RoadINSERTION: show November 2016 is an outreach to TRIM: gain public appreciation for 4.9375" x 10.5" chemistry and make science COLOR:come CMYK to life. LINE SCREEN: “The Chemistry RoadSNAP/85 show is a great opportuniFOR QUESTIONS ty to get kids and people of CALL: allPendergast ages interested in science Kathleen 214.891. 2918 explain why things and happen through chemistry,” Waldie said. “It is really satisfying volunteering for the Roadshow because you get to share your passion with others, and it helps you better understand concepts by explaining them to others.” People should also turn their attentions to the sky in February. Feb. 10 there will be a penumbral lunar eclipse, when the Moon moves through the Earth’s outer shadow, and on February 26 there will be a annular solar eclipse. Additionally, from February to mid-March, SpaceX and NASA plan to carry supplies and hardware to the International Space Station. Also next month is the return of NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough and cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Andrey Borisenko from the ISS. One of the largest STEM outreach programs at Texas A&M this semester will be the physics and engineering festival April 1 at the Mitchell Institute. Keynote speakers include astronaut Bonnie Dunbar and Nobel Laureate David Lee. Every year, crowds gather at A&M

to watch fascinating physics demonstrations lead by faculty and students. “The goal is to get all people together to celebrate science,” said physics professor Tatiana Erukhimova. “Everyone together and everyone enjoying. There will be 200 engaging hands-on demonstrations that people really appreciate. This event is not just to open the doors and say look how great we are, the goal is to say please come here and enjoy, let’s celebrate.” Also partnering in the physics and engineering festival is A&M’s DEEP program — Discover, Explore and Enjoy Physics — where students collaborate to design, create and present science experiments at different exhibitions and festivals over the course of the semester. “It’s crucial for our students to serve the community — our students use their expertise to present demonstrations and physics concepts to the public — and that’s not easy,” Erukhimova said. “When you talk to five-year-olds and talk to 70-year-olds, you have to tailor your presentation to your audience. This requires a deep understanding of the material, so for students it’s really important.” An ongoing event A&M holds is bi-monthly star parties, organized by professor of physics and astronomy Jennifer Marshall. Starting this February, star parties are held in two main locations either outside at Sbisa or at Simpson Drill Field, weather permitting. Marshall said the star parties give students, or any local citizen, the opportunity to look through a telescope and see the Moon, stars and galaxies. “Everyone likes looking through a telescope, everyone wonders what’s going on or what things look like in our universe and in our sky so we give explanations at all levels — we are open to all to anyone who is curious,” Marshall said. Another semester-long outreach program is the Physics Show sponsored by A&M’s Physics Department. Beginning this month, local schools and grades of all ages commute to A&M for a 90-minute presentation

featuring interactive physics demonstrations, hands-on activities and a plastic-ball depth charge. “Schools come [to A&M] and get more because we set up hands-on demonstrations, including the depth charge grand finale, that I cannot bring with me to schools,” Erukhimova said. “People who come — elementary school or high school or middle school — they communicate with our students. So this is informal communication with Texas A&M students and this is also a very important part of this Physics Show.” In regard to non-A&M events, there will be two meteor showers, the Lyrid Shower on the morning of April 22 and the Eta Aquarid Shower in the evening of May 4. Viewers are more likely to see a meteor in May with clear night skies.

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Science events, such the Chemistry Roadshow, features demonstrations which allow the community to learn more about science.

SMU does not discriminate in any program or activity on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, sexual orientation or gender identity and expression.

AGGIELAND PHOTOS! SBU160050 Mstrs_AM_Bttln 4_9x10_5.indd 1

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Specialties Photography will be set up to have your FREE portrait taken for Texas A&M University’s 2017 Aggieland yearbook. ALL CLASSES: 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. Monday - Thursday in the Sanders Corp Museum Library Feb. 6th - 9th & Feb. 13th - 16th Should any student be unable to make the specified times on campus they can contact Specialties directly to set up a complimentary in-studio appointment at 979-696-9898. Any graduating seniors who wish to set up a cap/gown photo will need to contact the studio at 979-696-9898. Cap/Gown sessions cost $21.95.

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