MONDAY, JANUARY 29 | SERVING TEXAS A&M SINCE 1893 | © 2018 STUDENT MEDIA
The new recreational facilities would be located near the University Drive and The Quad.
Cassie Stricker — THE BATTALION
Students to vote on proposed recreation expansion New facilities on north and south side would increase recreation fee by $39 By Savannah Mehrtens @SJMehrtens In 1987, a 67 percent majority of students voted to pay $106 in addition to their current tuition and fees to build a recreational facility that would support the student population of the time, according to Dennis Corrington, executive director of Texas A&M Rec Sports. Eight years later on the Saturday before the semester began, the Rec opened its doors. Since then, the student population on
A&M’s main campus has increased by about 20,000 students, 80 percent of which use the Rec, averaging over 500 entries per hour, sometimes even over 900. Vote Rec is an ad campaign designed to motivate students to vote once again to increase fees for the Rec by $39 starting in the fall of 2020. This time the fee would be used to build two new satellite facilities located on south side near the golf course parking lot and the other on northside near the College of Engineering to alleviate the overcrowding of the main facility. Each satellite location will be complete with everything the current facility has to offer and a closer proximity to students who would normally have difficulties through travel and
time commitment to reach the Rec. “Our goal is to make recreation more available on campus and in closer proximity to where most students are located or a large majority of students are located, and give them multiple options to recreate,” said Jerrod Jackson, director of intramural sports at Texas A&M Rec Sports. Grace Grindstaff, facilities coordinator for Texas A&M Rec Sports, said the population increase on campus was a major part of the decision to propose the two new facilities. “I think ultimately having more space for the amount of students we have is always going to be a huge benefit for the students,” Grindstaff said. Corrington said the overcrowding of the
current facility and access to parking, as well as simply having the time to go to the Rec are the top issues students have, according to a stratified random sample survey. “Locating facilities in neighborhoods like we are attempting to do now really saves students time, it puts more time in the recreation calendar and less time in the travel calendar,” Corrington said. Jackson said the vote keeps students in control of whether or not the plans to create these two facilities will go forward. “I would say the good part of this campaign is it’s completely up to the students,” Jackson said. “It is their decision. If they want REC VOTE ON PG. 2
The last all-male dorm standing A&M residence officials discuss non-coed dorms By Hannah Falcon @hannahfalcon_
Jesse Everett — THE BATTALION
Les Appelt Hall was built in 1989 and is located on the south side of campus.
On-campus housing is one of the many aspects of Texas A&M that has changed over the years. What was originally an all male campus, Texas A&M is now down to only one all-male residence hall. Last year, Residence Life announced that Walton, a traditionally all-male dorm, would become a coed freshman dorm beginning Fall 2018. Former Walton residents filed a Title IX gender discrimination complaint last year in response, but the ruling did not go in their favor. The Title IX complaint is-
sues by the residents was on the grounds that there would be multiple all-female halls but only one all-male hall. While Walton is the lowest price point for on-campus housing, the remaining all-male hall, Appelt, is one of the highest price points. “The basis of our Title IX complaint was lack of affordable all-male housing,” said Nadir Pozegija, electrical engineering junior and former Walton Hall Council President. “Walton has always been kind of a place for people that were maybe lower on the socioeconomic ladder that still wanted to be on campus and still wanted to have a college experience, but at an affordable price point.” Director of Administrative and Support Services for Residence Life Carol Binzer ex-
plained the change to more coed housing was made with enrollment numbers in mind. As more women come to Texas A&M, Residence Life has to make room for women on a campus that started as an all-male university. “One of the other issues about Walton changing to coed was, my two lowest priced halls are Walton and Hart and if one is all male and the other is coed. I’m disadvantaging women in giving them an opportunity to live with my cheapest rates,” Binzer said. All-male dorms create a bond between the residents, according to Pozegija. He said the tradition of brotherhood at Walton made him feel comfortable and at home on campus. The friends he APPELT ON PG. 3
Aggies fall to Jayhawks 79-68 Men’s basketball continues to struggle following loss on road against Kansas By Alex Miller @AlexMill20 Texas A&M was unable to overcome a strong surge in the final 10 minutes of the first half by No. 5 Kansas, falling on the road to the Jayhawks 79-68 Saturday afternoon at Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kansas. After having their lead cut to 20-18 with 11:41 remaining in the first half, Kansas jumped all over the Aggies (13-8, 2-6 SEC) ending the half on a 25-9 run that left the Jayhawks with a substantial 45-27 halftime lead. “[They came out] on fire, I guess that’s what you could say,” A&M forward Robert Williams
told reporters after the game. “They came out aggressively and they obviously wanted it more than us in the first half.” The run was much in part to the Jayhawks’ strong three-point shooting, making nine of their first 13 attempts from behind the arc. For the game, Kansas was 12-of-26 from deep. “It just seemed like every bounce, every play, they made it, and that’s the mark of a really good team,” A&M head coach Billy Kennedy said. “They shared the ball, fought better in the first half. We did a better job in the second half adjusting to some of that.” Svi Mykhailiuk led the way for Kansas, scoring 24 points—including 17 in the first half. A&M had a hard time marking up the dynamic 6-foot-8 guard, who was solid off of the dribble, but was Cassie Stricker — THE BATTALION
MEN’S BASKETBALL ON PG. 4
Sophomore forward Robert Williams currently averages 10.4 points per game.
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cilities employee at A&M Rec Sports, is a part of the “street team” to get the message out to a variety of student groups outside of the Rec. “I won’t be here to see the facilities while I’m a student, but I’m just excited to be like ‘Oh, I got to be a part of that and I got to be the one that was promoting it,’” Kvo said. Kvo noted that students who do not use the Rec or see an overall student need for more facilities may not feel like the increased fee is worth it, but she personally disagrees. “I think it’s all about passing it forward, leaving a legacy, providing for Texas A&M as a whole [and] supporting other Aggies,” Kvo said. “People do come to the Rec and I think this is a great opportunity for all of us. It’s a chance for us to leave our mark.” To have your vote counted, visit vote. tamu.edu from Feb. 22-23 and mark “yes” or “no” to the increase in the recreational sports fee. For more information, visit recsports. tamu.edu/VOTEREC.
REC VOTE CONTINUED
Cassie Stricker — THE BATTALION
Passing the proposition would result in a $39 fee increase for the Rec starting Fall of 2020.
more opportunities that are closer to them, then we feel that they should vote yes, but they reserve the right to vote the opposite.” The process of working toward creating these two new locations started with the campus master plan in 2017, all of the planning and ad campaigns for the two new locations were done in house. Chris Riggins, recreation, park and tourism sciences senior and communication student assistant at A&M Rec Sports, is one of the team members organizing the campaign. “We actually didn’t hear about it until the beginning of the semester, so all the plans had kind of been put in place when all the student workers found out,” Riggins said. “I was super excited about it immediately because I’m here every day for work, so I see how crowded it is and I see the necessity for additional facilities.” Stephanie Kvo, an education senior and fa-
BATTASKS
Would you vote yes or no to the proposed new rec centers?
“I would vote yes. One near West Campus, it’s kinda far and Texas A&M isn’t getting any smaller so I think expansion right now would be one of the smartest things.”
“Definitely [yes] because the current rec center is really far so a lot of times I won’t work out because I don’t feel like walking that far.”
Rufino Oregon, computer science junior
James Robinson, engineering freshman
Lauren Brunkenhoefer, engineering freshman
“Yes, because I’m kinda lazy and it would just be more convenient and I feel like it would encourage more students to work out if it was closer.”
“Definitely yes, definitely. It’s closer and you know, we have a ton of students here and it’s always busy when I try to go lift over there.”
“I would say yes because the one we have is always full. So it’s better to have more space ... Maybe now with more space [students] would go more often.”
Zackary Decosta, sociology sophomore
“Yes, because I live on southside and I’m always like ‘You know, if the Rec was just a little closer maybe I’d actually go today.’ So yeah, I would definitely say yes to that.”
Lauren Schwehm, engineering freshman
Nicole Torres, engineering freshman Compiled by Gracie Mock and Jesse Everett
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Making pedestrians safer one construction site at a time Increase in foot traffic has led to the infrastructure redevelopment on the north side of main campus By Megan Rodriguez @MeganLRodriguez Over the next year, University Drive will be the focus of a $6 million construction project aimed at making the area safer for pedestrians. The City of College Station partnered with the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) to create wider sidewalks, reconstruct travel signals, upgrade medians and create a pedestrian scramble, also known as a diagonal crossing. The project, which was officially approved Dec. 14, 2017, spans from the east side of the University Drive at the Bizzell intersection to the west side of the University Drive at Tauber and Asbury intersection. The current construction zone is located between Spence Street and Bizzell, in front of the Zachry Engineering Education Complex, causing an eastbound lane closure. The project was put into action because high growth on both sides of University Drive led to a significant boom in foot traffic, making it necessary to improve the safety for pedestrians, according to Troy Rother, city traffic engineer for College Station. “With faculty, staff and students we’ve got about 75,000 people,” said Tim Lomax, TTI regents fellow. “On campus, that makes us the fourth largest downtown in the state, Monday through Friday. This isn’t just a football gameday issue, its Monday through Friday, we’ve got a whole bunch of people.” Currently, pedestrians have to cross University Drive twice Rother said. To avoid the construction zone, people must cross on the east side of Bizzell, north to University Drive, come west and cross on the West side of Spence. Since University Drive a state owned and maintained, the city of College Station received permission from the Texas Department of Transportation to reconstruct the road and make improvements. Then, TTI will create 12 foot wide sidewalks along A&M’s side of University Drive. “This is really a big downtown and we have these relatively old sidewalks,” Lomax said. “The sidewalks were put in when
Jesse Everett— THE BATTALION
A short stretch of University Drive is currently under construction.
A&M had 30,000 students. We have 63,000 now … [and] the daily traffic volume is over 60,000 cars a day. Pedestrian volume is at least 25,000 a day, and with the Aspire student housing development opening in the fall, that number is going to go up even more.” Upcoming roadway changes include the construction of a median through the Spence intersection, reconstruction of all traffic signals, the movement of the Spence traffic signal to the Church Street intersection and the removal of high speed right turning lanes at University Drive and Bizzell, according to Rother. In addition, there will be a pedestrian scramble added at the intersection of University Drive and Bizzell allowing people to cross in the traditional directions and diagonally. While the projects’ first section between Bizzell and Spence Street should be complete by mid February, the lane closure is expected to last through May to allow pedestrians to walk. “I think you’re basically going to have a lane closed in each direction for most of the spring, summer and fall semesters,”
Lomax said. “The location of that changes, but the kinds of traffic congestion we’re seeing in the eastbound direction now we’re going to be seeing in both directions and we’re going to be seeing that on football gamedays, potentially.” There are ways people can avoid traffic throughout the duration of the project, according to Madison Metsker-Galarza, research associate at TTI. “People can start looking at other routes to take, plan ahead and have more time to get where they are trying to go because we’ll be seeing congestion for a while,” Metsker-Galarza said. To ensure people don’t walk through the unsafe construction zone, there will be an increase in University Police Department and College Station Police Department officers, Rother said. “We’re doing it to keep people safe,” Metsker-Galarza said. “We want to keep people out of that workzone, out of that area and using safe crosswalks.”
APPELT CONTINUED
According to environmental health service officials, if you see a bat on campus, do not touch it and report it immediately. FILE
Aggieland’s winged mammals of the night With bats on campus, students are advised to take steps to ensure the health and safety of themselves and others By Taylor Fennell @TaylorPFennell There are many bats living on campus that can pose a health risk to humans. According to the Texas Department of State Health Services, four bats were tested positive for rabies in Brazos County in 2016. Here are five things you should know about bats on campus. 1. Report any suspicious bat behavior as soon as possible. According to Christina Robertson, director of the environmental health and services department, Facilities Services should be alerted any time a bat comes in contact with a human, is found inside a building or is found unable to fly. “If it’s a healthy bat that’s flying and is active like they normally are at night, don’t worry about it,” Robertson said. “Bats typically don’t reside on the ground, so that would be an indicator of an unhealthy bat. Individuals should leave it alone and contact pest control. SSC pest control will come pick it up. The best course of action is to not mess with it at all.” Bryan McGee, SSC pest control manager, said the bats shouldn’t be bothered, even once pest control is notified. 2. Bats are especially active during the spring semester. McGee said bat activity varies throughout the year, but it is heightened in the spring. “There are certain times of the year where it gets worse,” McGee said. “Spring Break is usually one of those times where we might get multiple calls over the course of a week. But sometimes we go six or eight weeks without a call. It really varies. Of course, the weather affects it as well. That and time of the year plays a part in it.”
3. Bats pose a rabies threat to anyone who touches them. According to Robertson, rabies is the biggest risk associated with making contact with a bat. Carolyn Brown, Registered Nurse at the Brazos County Health Department, said people may not even realize they have been exposed to the disease. “It’s a disease of the neural system that is transmitted through bites,” Brown said. “It’s in the saliva. Bats are notorious for being carriers. What’s tricky on bats is you don’t always know you’ve been bitten because their teeth are so tiny and they have stuff in the saliva that numbs the area so you don’t know they’re sucking your blood.” 4. Policies are in place to protect you from rabies. McGee said any bats that come in contact with humans or residence areas are automatically tested for rabies by the Laboratory Services Section of the Texas Department of State Health Services. “If it’s caught in a Residence Life facility, it automatically, whether there was human contact or not, is packaged and sent to Austin to be tested for rabies,” McGee said. Robertson said individuals who have come in contact with infected bats will be treated for rabies. “If there is contact with an individual and the bat comes back as having tested positive for rabies, we work with the Brazos County Health Department and coordinate through them to ensure that whoever contacted the bat gets the proper medical treatment and testing evaluations as soon as possible,” Robertson said. 5. Rabies can be treated if identified quickly. Because rabies must be treated soon after contact, Brown said people should go to the emergency room as soon as they touch a bat. “They’re going to start the rabies series,” Brown said. “So they’re going to get an immune globulin. Then they’ll get the rabies vaccine, which is a series of four over a period of three weeks. The ER is usually the best place because they carry the vaccine there.” To report a bat sighting, call the Facilities Services Communications Center at (979) 845-4311.
2018 AGGIELAND PHOTOS STARTING FEBRUARY 12TH!
Specialties Photography will be set up to have your FREE portrait taken for Texas A&M University’s 2018 Aggieland yearbook.
made during his two years living at Walton are friends he will likely carry with him for the rest of his life. “Just from day one as a freshman moving in you have all these old guys giving up their free time to help you move in and then making you feel as welcome as you can and teaching how to play Texas 42 and telling you all these stories,” Pozegija said. Yusuff Adewale, biomedical science junior and Appelt Resident Advisor, said he also sees this kind of comradery between the residents in his hall. “I feel like you have more of a [bonding] here,” Adewale said. “The roommates are really friendly, you don’t see the roommates by themselves. They stick together. They’re like brothers.” However, Adewale does see a disadvantage in having single gender housing. He said he believes living with only one gender secludes a student from interacting with the other half of the student-body. “I kind of feel like making coed dorms all around would just be better for community because you have an allmale dorm that’s kind of secluded and you also have an all-female dorm that’s kind of secluded so you don’t get the Aggie community that you kind of feel with all the coed dorms,” Adewale said. Binzer also believes there are disadvantages to single gender housing. She said single gender dorms are not as popular as they once were. Residence Life is having a hard time filling up single gender dorms as new students applying for on-campus housing are requesting the coed dorms much more. “All the research over the last several decades show that all male halls tend to encourage more damage and more wear and tear,” Binzer said. “There tend to be more discipline issues if the community is not mixed at all and in fact, women report feeling safer if there are men in there are halls.” Although single gender housing options used to be preferable, the current needs and wants of students has changed, Binzer said. “[Residence Life is] sensitive to what students want,” Binzer said. “They just seem to be wanting single gendered dorms less than what they once did.”
Senior Boot Bag Senior Boot Bag Josh McCormack, Editor in Chief Gracie Mock, Managing Editor Sarah East, Co Social Media Editor Asha Fuller, Co Social Media Editor Angel Franco, Sports Editor Luke Henkhaus, News Editor Sanna Bhai, Special Sections Editor
Kenya Robinson, Life & Arts Editor Cassie Stricker, Photo Editor Tenoh Aztecatl, Multimedia Editor Liang Zhao, Page Designer Devon McGarvey, Page Designer Brad Morse, SciTech Editor
ALL CLASSES: 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. Senior Monday - Thursday Price Includes is published Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays during Boot theTHE2018BATTALION Bag Logo and Name spring semester and Tuesday and Thursday during the summer session in the Sanders Corp Museum Library (More logos available) (except University holidays and exam periods) at Texas A&M University, Price Includes College Station, TX 77843. Offices are in Suite L400 of the Memorial Student Center.
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.
News: The Battalion news department is managed by students at Texas A&M University in Student Media, a unit of the Division of Student Affairs. Newsroom phone: 979-845-3315; E-mail: editor@thebatt.com; website: http://www.thebatt.com. Advertising: Publication of advertising does not imply sponsorship or endorsement by The Battalion. For campus, local, and national display advertising call 979-845-2687. For classified advertising, call 979-845-0569. Office hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Email: battads@thebatt.com. Subscriptions: A part of the University Advancement Fee entitles each Texas A&M student to pick up a single copy of The Battalion. First copy free, additional copies $1.
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Walking with warriors in mind Four cadets walked a combined 1,050 miles for families of fallen veterans By Chad Anderson @Chad_Anderson24
Courtesy
The four members of H-1 Company marched from El Paso, Texas to Death Valley, CA.
MEN’S BASKETBALL CONTINUED also 4-of-8 from three. Although A&M outscored Kansas 41-34 in the second half, the Aggies never got within single-digits, only coming within 10. Forward Tonny Trocha-Morelos made a three-pointer with 2:05 remaining in the game, which cut the Kansas lead to 11, but that was the last bucket A&M would make. The Aggies closed the game 0-of-4
from the field as the Jayhawks shut down any chance of a miraculous comeback. “We could never just make a big run to cut it under 10 [points], put some pressure on them until that stretch where you call a timeout,” Kennedy said. “Their guards can control the game and did a good job of controlling the game at the end.” Turnovers troubled the Aggies for the second game in a row, giving the ball away 14 times that turned into 24 Kansas points. The Jayhawks turned the ball over nine
It’s an early, cold, brisk January morning as four Texas A&M cadets brace themselves. They’re about to descend on the final leg of their journey to Telescope Peak in Death Valley, CA. Four members of the H-1 Company: Hunter Birt, Jordan Rogers, Sebastian Brown and Ian Morrow spent their winter break completing a ruck march that raised money for the Special Operations Warrior Foundation, which aims to provide assistance to the families of special operations personnel who have died in the line of duty. The foundation also helps with financial assistance for severely wounded personnel. A ruck march, sometimes called a loaded march, is a fast-paced march with a heavy load. The cadets traveled over a 13 day period from Dec. 27 to Jan. 8, walking 1,050 miles from El Paso, Texas to Death Valley, California. By the end of their trip, the group raised a total of $6,696. “No matter what we did, giving back was the goal, and we did just that,” Birt said. Birt, a mechanical engineering sophomore from Fort Worth, Texas, and Marrow, a history sophomore from North Zulch, Texas, came up with the idea. “Between me and Hunter, who are roommates, we wanted to find something unique for us to do over the break,” Morrow said. “I read an article about the two guys: Nick Bare and Armando Nava that rucked from Austin to Houston benefitting Harvey. It really
times themselves, but limited A&M to score just five points off their miscues. A&M’s abundance of turnovers allowed Kansas to capitalize in transition as well, scoring 15 fast break points, with 13 of them coming in the first half. “We shot it unbelievably well,” Kansas head coach Bill Self said. “We were fast and aggressive in the first half. In the second half, we just puttered around and tried to get through the game.” The Aggies felt the injury bug yet
again, as point guard Duane Wilson was limited to 10 minutes and only scored three points while battling a nagging knee injury. Freshman TJ Starks got the nod in place of Wilson, his first career start. And while Starks scored 11 points, he made a pair of costly mistakes in the second half that hindered A&M from piecing together a much needed run. Junior center Tyler Davis scored a team-high 18 points, but failed to pick up his fourth-straight double-double with nine rebounds.
Come Purchase A
2017 AGGIELAND YEARBOOK It’s not too late to come purchase your copy
of the 2017 Aggieland Yearbook, a photojournalistic record of the 2016-2017 school year. The 115th edition of Texas A&M’s Official Yearbook. Ordering can be done online at aggieland.tamu.edu, or by calling 979-845-2613. Avoid the mail fee and purchase your yearbook at our office, located in Suite L400 of the MSC.
got me thinking we should follow in their footsteps. And that’s where I discovered the Special Operations Warrior Foundation who benefit wounded warriors, and it all just fell into place.” The money was raised through the foundations social media page and other GoFundMe accounts run by the group. Between the four cadets and Hunter’s father, Rick, they all took shifts walking 20 miles each with two tailing vehicles for assistance, with the goal of traveling around 100 miles a day. According to Marrow, the group chose Telescope Peak as the end-point because it’s one of the highest elevated spots in the country and is roughly 1,000 miles from El Paso. One of the biggest challenges the cadets faced was staying stretched and ready. Brown, an industrial distribution junior, experienced extreme shin splints as he neared the end. The other challenge was on the last day when they descended on the peak and hit a snow storm with a five-degree wind chill and snow. “This is just the beginning of something great,” Birt said. “We look to take this further by doing a smaller scale ruck in the near future whether it’s in Texas, or to our nation’s capital, we’ll see where it takes us.” The cadets hope to create an organization on campus dedicated to benefiting wounded warriors and veterans. Not only that, but the group will possibly make the march into an annual event held whenever they get free time from school. “I definitely would do this again, and have the word out to the other guys where they’re involved to have it possibly continue even after we graduate,” Brown said. “We’re all Aggies in some way, shape or form. It brought us closer as a whole.”
After back-to-back road losses, A&M returns to action on Tuesday as the Aggies host Arkansas at 8 p.m. in hopes of getting back into the win column. “We had a pretty confident mindset being that we have a lot of upperclassmen on our team, so we felt like we could win this game today,” Starks said. “We executed pretty well, we just had a couple plays down the stretch where we messed up. So we’re going to figure it out in practice tomorrow to win the next one.”
Don’t forget to preorder your copy of the 2018 Aggieland yearbook, a photojournalistic record of the 2017-2018 school year. The 116th edition of Texas A&M’s official yearbook. Distribution will be the Fall 2018. Go online to aggieland.tamu.edu or call 979-845-2613 to make your purchase.
$75.00 + Tax (Includes Mail Fee)