The Battalion: November 1, 2016 by The Battalion

Growing pains A&M, county officials partner to plan for population growth By Gap Barbin @gap_barbin

raffic congestion, utility infrastructure and residential development represent a fraction of the issues that the Bryan-College Station region faces as a result of the growth of the A&M System. As a result, administrators of the university, Bryan-College Station and Brazos County are forging strategic partnerships to face the logistical challenges affecting the region. In a 2015 report, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) predicted that by 2025 the expected enrollment

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at A&M will climb to 70,000 students, fueled by the 25 by 25 engineering initiative. On top of that, earlier this year the university system announced plans to develop RELLIS, a research campus, which will significantly increase the student presence beyond the THECB projection. John Barton, assistant vice chancellor for strategic initiatives, is on the front line of the System’s efforts to collaborate with the region in preparing for this growth. “At some point in the future, with 24,000 students on the RELLIS Campus and all this research activity, we could have 30,000 to 40,000 people on that campus every day which is a huge population,” Barton said. “We have spent a considerable amount of time working with the city staff, both at GROWTH ON PG. 3

With the A&M student body increasing, the local communities have to make infrastructure adjustments.

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Madeline Sambrano — THE BATTALION

FEARLESS FRESHMAN

Freshman Hollann Hans bypassed her last high school semester to attend A&M’s spring practice.

Hollann Hans offers much to A&M volleyball program since day one By Heath Clary @Heath_Clary Hollann Hans has maroon in her blood. Her family is stocked with Aggies, she grew up attending Texas A&M volleyball camps as well as sporting events — always dreaming of being an A&M volleyball player. Hans was so eager to get to Aggieland that she bypassed her final semester at Calallen High School in Corpus Christi to go through spring practice at A&M, getting acclimated to the volleyball program. So while she was supKevin Chou — THE BATTALION

posed to be a senior in high school, she was thrown into the fire of participating in drills with a talented group of Division I athletes coming off an SEC championship-winning season. “That was a little scary, but the girls are so nice and they helped a lot,” said Hans, a reserved 6-1 freshman. “It was a great decision, I’m so glad I did it.” It didn’t take long for Hans, a four-year starter at Calallen, to make an impression on her new team. Junior setter Stephanie Aiple remembers telling senior defensive specialist Victoria Arenas early in the spring schedule that Hans was going to be the Aggies’ starting outside hitter once the season rolled around. VOLLEYBALL ON PG. 4

TRADITION

NO NOVEMBER SILVER TAPS Silver Taps, a tradition held on the first Tuesday of every month which honors students who have died, will not be observed for the month of November.

Garrett Chubb (left) and Jessica Pflum (right) stand under the Century Tree and share the struggles and rewards of engagement.

Early voting in Texas began Oct. 24. Madeline Sambrano — THE BATTALION

Brazos County sees growth in registration Number of registered voters increases 12 percent in 2016 By Matthew Jacobs @ MattJacobs3413 With early voting currently underway, the number of registered voters in Brazos County has increased by nearly 12 percent. Trudy Handcock, Election Administrator for Brazos County, attributed this increase in registered voters to the presence of Texas A&M and the students it brings. “In July of this year we had 95,000 registered voters,” Handcock said. “Now we have 106,000. This increase is primarily from the influx of college students with the new year.” Spencer Davis, founder and former director of Gig the Vote, said Brazos

County’s population of citizens who are eligible to vote has grown. “As of March 2, Brazos County has been the fifth fastest growing county in the nation, in terms of number of registered voters,” Davis said. “Our registered voting population has grown by 9 percent in that period.” Texas’ election laws make learning party distribution statistics difficult, but not impossible, according to Spencer Davis. “In many states, such as New York, one would be registered to a specific political party,” Davis said. “However in Texas this isn’t the case. You can look at election results from past years though, and see how many people have voted Republican or Democrat.” Doing this shows that Brazos County is still strongly conservative in its political VOTER ON PG. 2

Cassie Stricker — THE BATTALION

Aggies who wear two rings Engaged to be married Aggies talk balancing wedding plans, school By Ana Sevilla @anavsevilla After breakfast and a busy morning, Connor Fink, university studies leadership junior, and Kelsey Smith, RPTS senior, took a hike on Bogd Mountain in Mongolia while serving on a mission trip. The day was free for fun and laughter before an hard week of worship ahead for Fink and Smith, but little did she know that this day would be more important than she anticipated. The sun rays beamed through the forest canopy, creating the ideal moment. When the timing was right, Fink took a knee and popped the question.

The engagement is unique to this specific couple, but many other current students have also donned the title “fiancée” or “fiancé.” Jessica Pflum, food science senior, is engaged to Garrett Chubb, civil engineering senior. According to Pflum, maroon and white will appear throughout her wedding including the War Hymn, displayed Aggie paraphernalia and the groom’s cake, which will be Texas A&M themed. However, with the wedding set to take place shortly after her graduation, Pflum said the planning has proven to be, at times, taxing. “Luckily I had all summer to plan, so that’s where the majority of where my planning came in,” Pflum said. “It gets a little ENGAGED AGGIES ON PG. 2

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ENGAGED AGGIES CONTINUED stressful thinking about those things, but really I try to set aside time once a week, just a couple of hours, that I’m going to devote to my wedding time.” Pflum advises couples to book the venue first because it can be a difficult choice to make especially considering some places ask to book 18 months in advance. While Pflum is opting for a more traditional wedding, child professional services senior Sarah Villo said she is engaged to a Navy soldier currently overseas, which makes their engagement anything but typical. “We don’t get to be together — we don’t have a season of engagement where we get to spend time reveling in the fact that ‘We made it,’” Villo said. “We’re not getting married right now because this dating situation is not typical in any way, and we’ve been so strong. He’s in my head already [as] my husband, and we want to spend more time together actually seeing each other instead of on a screen.” Villo is unsure about a wedding because of their long-distance engagement, but encourages other people to celebrate in ways which best fit their interests. Couple David Matheidas, international studies junior, and Anika Orr, psychology junior, said it’s good to remember what’s important when planning for forever. “Prioritize — make sure you don’t forget about the studies and always encourage each other and help each

VOTER CONTINUED leanings, Davis said. “The most recent data to get on this would be to look at the recent primaries from this election cycle,” Davis said. “In the primaries there were around two Republican votes for every one Democrat vote.” In a county with such a large university presence, the student population has the potential to greatly influence the outcome, particularly with local elections, according to Jake Wilson, current director of Gig the Vote. “We [Gig the Vote] are a bipartisan voter outreach program — we’re trying to raise awareness about the importance

other through school life and engaged life,” Orr said. Matheidas said it’s also good to remember that talking about the wedding before engagement is important. “Don’t be afraid to start talking about wedding planning before the engagement, before you ask the question. It doesn’t hurt if you guys have an idea and you know you want to get married. You don’t need to wait until she has a ring to start planning and talking about logistics,” Matheidas said. Fink and Smith said in the midst of planning festivities it’s important to remain grounded. “It’s a season of investment, and so we’re laying down the foundation for our future marriage and our future life together,” Smith said. “It’s not about the wedding day — it’s about the marriage. You can do all these things to make your wedding day look amazing and beautiful and pay attention to all the details but nobody is going to pay attention to the small details of your wedding day. We just want to focus on drawing near to God and drawing near to each other.” Fink said to ignore the critics. “I would say to not be ashamed of your season of life because you’re kind of in the minority being an engaged college student,” Fink said. “Everyone’s going to have an opinion of what they think would be best for you in that season, when really it’s only you, your fiancée, and the Lord that knows what’s truly best for you ... Be able to take in the good and move on from the bad.” of local elections, because in a lot of ways local government impacts us a lot more on a day-to-day basis. We want students to realize their power as a voting block in Brazos County. Our voices deserve to be heard and certainly would be if everyone took the time to get registered and vote.” Any students uncertain about their voter registration status and the specific county or precinct they are registered in can easily find this information online, Handcock said. “A good place to go to check on your voter registration is the [State] Secretary of State’s website,” Handcock. “There you can check on your registration status and which county you’re registered in.”

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The Battalion | 11.1.16

“I think the partnership and collaboration is better than it has ever been to plan for the impact that growth will have on our communities.” John Barton, assistant vice chancellor for strategic initiatives

College Station is undergoing plans for future development and growth on the A&M campus. Madeline Sambrano — THE BATTALION

GROWTH CONTINUED College Station and at Bryan, exploring what that really means and how they need to plan for growth in housing, growth in retail, extending utilities, and incorporating these projects into their community master plan, which they update about every five years.” Generally, the purpose of a community master plan is to anticipate long-term growth and to guide it in a manner that provides a balance of land uses while promoting economic development and high quality of living. Lance Simms, director of planning and development for the city of College Station, said the city is adapting the plan to account for the expansion of the university. “We developed a comprehensive plan in 2009 and conducted a check-up in 2014,” Simms said. “One of the

assumptions that we made was that the student body would remain static at around 50,000, so we are adjusting for the growth of the university.” Simms said factors critical to this adjustment are recommending a higher density of people per acre in some areas and addressing traffic congestion affected by increased enrollment. “One area that we are particularly happy with is the residential growth in Northgate,” Simms said. “Housing close to campus allows students to either ride a bicycle or walk to class which reduces traffic congestion.” According to Duane Peters, Brazos County judge, the county is also working with A&M to prepare for the longterm challenges that the region faces. “We have sat down and talked with the university about the growth. We hope to stay a little bit ahead of the prob-

lems that come with it,” Peters said. “We all recognize that if we were to stick our heads in the sand and not worry about it that it will be another Austin or Houston type traffic jam over here.” Barton said the ongoing conversation between the university and the regional partners is critical to prepare for the future. “Whether it’s 25 by 25, opening the RELLIS Campus or maybe opening a new program within the university, probably we are better now than we have been at any time at communicating with the local community on what it is that’s happening, how that might affect the community, and how the community can embrace and support that,” Barton said. “I think partnership and collaboration is better than it has ever been to plan for the impact that growth will have on our communities.”

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Freshman Hollann Hans ranks second on the team with 2.83 kills per set in SEC matches.

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VOLLEYBALL CONTINUED Even though Hans was mostly playing in the middle during the spring because of injuries to starting middle blockers Kaitlyn Blake and Jazzmin Babers, head coach Laurie Corbelli saw something special in Hans as well. She knew they had to get Hans on the court in some way. “We couldn’t not have her out there,” Corbelli said. “She was consistently one of the best.” Fast forward to this fall, and Hans is proving that her strong spring performance was no fluke. She ranks second on the team with 2.83 kills per set and is also second in kills and points per set in SEC matches. “I’m loving it,” Hans said of her freshman year. “The game is so much faster and the level of play is at a whole different level. It’s a lot different, but it’s so much more fun.” The speed of the college game is something junior outside hitter Kiara McGee, the Aggies’ leader in kills, noticed when she was a freshman. “Going from high school to college volleyball is a totally different thing,” McGee said. “The transition is really quick. You have to catch on really quickly or you’re going to get left behind. I think Hollann is doing so great for a freshman. She came in in the spring and she just fit right into her role and she’s getting better every day. To see how much she has improved from spring to now is great.” Hans has adapted well. She strikes the ball with more force than almost all of her teammates and her blistering serves have resulted in 11 aces, only two behind the team leader. Her 13 matches with double-digit kills are tied with McGee for tops on team. Two of Hans’ best matches came before SEC play started, as she recorded double-doubles in consecutive matches against top-five juggernauts Texas and Wisconsin. She exhibited a fearlessness in those matches that did not go unnoticed by her teammates and coaches. That courageous style of play is displayed in a variety of ways, whether it is Hans’ ability to refocus herself after an attack error or the fact that she is not intimidated and competes at a high level regardless of the situation or the opponent. “No matter what the set looks like, she gets her feet to the ball and takes a whack at it,” said Aiple, last year’s SEC Player of the

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Year. “She’s just so confident and fearless that she is going to either get that kill or get the other team out of system. That’s such a great attribute to have because if you’re timid and you’re holding back, that just makes you have more and more errors. When you’re fearless and you have that great attitude, you’re going to be successful.” Fearlessness is a critical characteristic for volleyball players, and Hans’ excellence has made such an impact on Corbelli that she is tailoring her recruiting strategy moving forward to make that trait a priority. “After coaching Hollann now for a few months,” Corbelli said. “Probably the number one thing on my wish list for recruiting in the future is to make sure that you see a focus and a fearlessness in a player — and it’s evident that it’s in their blood before you do anything, because it’s very hard to find.” Another area where Hans has impressed is her ability to overcome mistakes and not get down on herself. After making an error, she wants another chance to redeem herself. It is a display of maturity that is rarely seen from a true freshman. “She’s so confident and if she makes an error, she doesn’t completely get down on herself,” Aiple said. “She just rebounds right away, and that’s awesome to see from a freshman.” Corbelli echoed this. “If she just shanked one, the next ball that comes to her is good,” Corbelli said. “Her mindset is, ‘Give it to me again so I can remind myself how good I am.’” Even though Hans is experiencing so much success at such an early stage in her career, she is making a point to continue improving and maintain a team-first attitude. “Always staying humble, I never want to get cocky,” Hans said of her mentality moving forward. “Keep working hard and putting the team before myself.” The future is certainly bright, and the scary thing is that the sky is the limit for Hans, and what she is doing so far in 2016 could be just the tip of the iceberg. “First-team All-American,” Aiple said on how she sees Hans progressing in the coming years. “I think she is incredible in her work ethic and she can be as good as she wants to be. She’s not one of those people who gets complacent with herself, she’s always working hard. She’s already a stud and I think she will be a huge asset for Texas A&M volleyball for the next few years.”

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