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Happy Chinese New Year! Saturday, Jan. 28 marked the start of the Chinese New Year, ringing in the year of the Rooster.
Jacob Martindale — THE BATTALION
Lowell Mick White, instructional assistance English professor published his third book, “Professed” in October 2013.
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President Donald Trump was inaugurated Friday, January 20.
Aggie authors Cassie Stricker — THE BATTALION
Students, faculty, writers share the inspiration behind their work By Mariah Colón @MariahColon18
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or many aspiring authors, publishing a book can often fall under the timeline of “one day,” but for some students and faculty, “one day” came much sooner. Natalie Black, biomedical sciences senior, published two books with her younger sister, the first when she was just a freshman in high school. “My sister and I actually co-authored two novels,” Black said. “The first one is called Double Sided and we published that one when I was a freshman in high school … and the second book we published was a sequel to that and it was called The Third Side and that one was published two years
later.” Black said the initial idea for writing the novels came from her younger sister. “My sister was actually the one who decided she wanted to write a novel, and my father told her it was silly to wait until she grew up and that she should just start now,” Black said. “So she asked me if I would help her because I was a little bit older and a little bit stronger as a writer at the time, and I said, ‘Sure.’” While Black and her sister focused primarily on fiction novels, other authors channeled stories that resonated closer to home. Lino Anunciacion, English senior and published poetry author, said his inspiration comes from events that happened in his own life. “While some of the poems are fictional a lot of them are based on things that have happened to me — traumatic things, good things, romantic things. I pretty much write as a cathartic means of expressing my
own personal life story,” Anunciacion said. “Every collection I have is like a marker of my experience and my journey as a writer and as a human being.” Anunciacion has had five of his poetry collections published. He said he would advise students hoping to be published to self-publish as soon as possible and build up their name and reputation. “You find the poems that you want, you figure out the thematic connections and the messages that you want to put out there that a poetry collection could afford you that a single poem couldn’t,” Anunciacion said. “You collect those poems and put them in a Word document. I go through Createspace.com, a platform through Amazon that allows you to upload your manuscripts, you upload a book cover and they will print your books for you.” Lowell Mick White, instructional
By Luke Henkhaus @Luke_Henkhaus Family and community members gathered at the Brazos Valley African American Museum Saturday afternoon to celebrate the life and 100th birthday of area native Johnie Mae Gillespie-Anderson. The first of three daughters born to John and Gertrude Holston-Gillespie, Gillespie-Anderson entered the world on January 29, 1917 — a time when the Women’s Suffrage movement was gaining momentum and the United States was only months away from officially entering the first World War. Her birthplace and early home was a black community in Bryan called Silver Hills and although she would move several times during her life, Gillespie-Anderson stayed deeply connected to her Brazos Valley roots. Oliver Sadberry, Brazos Valley African American Museum Curator and A&M Class of 1970, said the celebration of Gillespie-Anderson’s century of life was consistent with the BVAAM’s mission to preserve and convey the experiences of African Americans in the Brazos Valley and beyond. “This is part of the history of the community,” Sadberry said. “This lady — Jan. 29th she’ll be 100 years old. She was born in this area, so she’s been in and out of this area all of her life. So that’s certainly part of the story that we want to tell.” The celebration included scripture readings, prayers and remarks from three local Reverends, a musical tribute from the Anderson Family Choir and the presentation of an official proclamation from the city of Bryan wishing Gillespie-Anderson a happy birthday. Byron Ferrell, to whom Gillespie-Anderson is a great aunt, said for
Five generations of Johnie Mae Gillespie-Anderson’s family gathered to celebrate her 100th birthday.
President Donald Trump has issued more than a dozen executive actions in a little over a week, some of which were met with widespread opposition. Here’s a brief summary of some. — Staff report
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Immigration ban
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US pulls out of Trans-Pacific Partnership
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Affordable Care Act relief
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Freezing regulations for administration review
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Brazos Valley African American Museum celebrates 100th birthday of local woman
Cassie Stricker — THE BATTALION
Trump signs several executive actions during first week in office
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The United States refugee admissions system is suspended for 120 days as of Friday, as well as banning entry from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen for 90 days. People with dual citizenship with two passports in any of those areas, as well as people with green cards and work visas, are blocked from entering the country. It also suspended the Syrian refugee program indefinitely.
This order withdrew the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade partnership with 11 other countries aimed at increasing economic involvement between them. The agreement had not gone into full effect because it was waiting for all 12 countries to ratify its initialization.
The Secretary of Health and Human Services can delay implementation of any ACA provisions that can be perceived as a financial inconvenience to states or individuals.
All regulations with the exception of health, safety, financial or national security matters must be approved by the Trump Administration directly. TRUMP ON PG. 3
Women’s basketball falls to Mississippi State in 71-61 loss By Alex Miller @AlexMill20 Texas A&M started hot against Mississippi State Sunday, but soon fizzled and was unable to recover despite a furious second half surge. The Aggies’ (15-6, 5-3 SEC) streakiness combined with a solid finish from Mississippi State (21-1, 7-1 SEC) led to the Bulldogs’ 71-61 victory at Humphrey Coliseum Sunday afternoon. A&M was unstoppable to begin the fourth quarter, scoring the first seven points of the frame as the Bulldogs started 0-of-5 from the field. Using a 10-0 run dating back to the third quarter, the Aggies were able to pull within 55-50 with 6:31 remaining in the game. That, however, was as close as the Aggies would get. The Bulldogs made their final four shots from the field and were 7-of-8 from the free throw line in the final two minutes of the game. Curtyce Knox scored a game-high 20 points, adding seven assists for A&M. Knox did not have a strong supporting cast throughout the majority of the game, however, as State neu-
tralized her options and forced the assist-machine to take the majority of A&M’s scoring upon herself. All-American Victoria Vivians led the Bulldogs with 18 points, adding five rebounds. The duo of the versatile Vivians and 6-foot-7 center Teaira McCowan – who had 10 points – controlled the post on both ends of the court, giving State a hefty advantage in the paint. A&M battled back-and-forth in the third quarter to keep State’s lead marginal, and was still in reach following the third period as the Bulldogs led 55-43. Vivians knocked down a three for State to open the second half, but Knox scored four quick points for A&M to get the Aggies within 44-33 with 7:44 in the third quarter. State continued to showcase its dominance, following the fast points with a drawn out 6-0 run to push its lead back to 50-33 at the 5:11 mark of the third period — its largest of the game. The Aggies went three minutes between scoring during that span. After Knox scored the first seven points of BASKETBALL ON PG. 3
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Sophomore forward Anriel Howard scored eight points and grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds in the Aggies’ loss to Mississippi State.