TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2016 | SERVING TEXAS A&M SINCE 1893 | © 2016 STUDENT MEDIA | @THEBATTONLINE
Growing pains A&M, county officials partner to plan for population growth By Gap Barbin @gap_barbin
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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