The Battalion: November 28, 2016 by The Battalion

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Senior quarterback Trevor Knight returned to the field after injuring his shoulder two weeks ago.

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HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF

Rachel Grant — THE BATTALION

12th Man asks, ‘What now’ after yet another 8-4 season Angel Franco @angelmadison_

ell, 8-4 happened, so what now? The 8-4 season that has seemed to haunt the Aggies has once again manifested itself in 2016. But this season seems to sting a lot more than the previous two.

Entering the 2016 season, the Aggies were unranked and weren’t poised to have a good record. But against all odds, they kicked off their season with an impressive win over UCLA and continued to roll and go up the ranks, defeating SEC teams like Auburn, Arkansas and Tennessee. With a spectacular September and an equally impressive October with their sole loss to No. 1 Alabama, it seemed like nothing could stop the Aggies. Then came the month of November, a month that is historically brutal to those who know Texas A&M football. The Aggies opened their slate of November

games ranked No. 4 in the country in the eyes of the College Football Playoff selection committee. From there the A&M season seemed to implode, resulting in its current 8-4 state. Quarterback Trevor Knight’s shoulder injury kept him on the sidelines for two games, and the offense seemed to stall and the “wrecking crew” was absent. It started in Starkville, with Mississippi State’s Nick Fitzgerald and the 5-7 Bulldogs. Then the nightmare followed A&M home. A quarterback Chad Kelly-less Ole Miss team came to spoil the Aggies’ hope of salvaging their season and any hopes of reaching a prominent bowl in the postseason. Kyle Field

saw the Aggies blow a 21-6 halftime lead and unsuccessfully mount a comeback. Freshman quarterback Shea Patterson, who had his red shirt removed days before the game, walked out with a win in his first career game and was the hero — or villain depending on your viewpoint — of the day. The most unsettling performance for the Aggies was against UTSA, a team that should have been an easy win, even for a team plagued with injuries. But the Aggies only had an 11-point lead at the half and were not spectacular in the ensuing quarters. But the Aggies FOOTBALL ON PG. 4

Aggies respond to upcoming white nationalist Richard Spencer lecture Students, A&M administrators denounce ‘alt-right’ member By Chevall Pryce @ChevallP

PROVIDED

Aggies raised $50,000 to help flood victims in Louisiana.

Aggies raise $50,000 for flood relief

The Dec. 6 campus visit of Richard Spencer, a white nationalist and creator of the “alt-right” movement, has sparked outrage on campus and statewide from current and former students alike. Spencer will speak about the alt-right movement, a radical offshoot of conservatism which promotes white identity and white nationalism. Spencer’s speech will focus on explaining what the alt-right is and how he believes this movement will affect the United States.

Spencer gained nationwide infamy last week after a video of a speech he gave at a conference for the National Policy Institute, a think tank for white nationalists and the alt-right, circulated around the Internet. Much of the speech included anti-semitic remarks and Nazi rhetoric. At the end of the speech, Spencer said “Heil Trump, heil our people, heil victory,” and several members of the audience gave the Nazi salute. Preston Wiginton, white nationalist, organizer of the event and member of the altright, said the movement is not about saying white people are better than other races, but that white people should be able to separate themselves and have pride. Wiginton has brought white nationalist speakers to the university in the past, and attended the Texas A&M University from 2006 to 2007

BONFIRE

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BURN 2016

During the Thanksgiving football game against LSU, A&M announced that $50,000 had been raised to support flood victims in Louisiana. For many LSU students, this past August was catastrophic when flooding struck the university and the state of Louisiana. To aid in the relief efforts, A&M partnered with LSU to raise funds to aid those in need from flooding earlier this year through the “Side by Side” campaign. Senior director of communications and marketing for the LSU Foundation Sara Whittaker said the money raised will go directly to the LSU Foundation, and where half will be used for the student fund and the rest will be used for the teacher and faculty fund. “What is different with this is that it is cash that will have tangible result for the students and faculty,” Whittaker said. “I think what was so special was A&M approached LSU out of the blue, and it truly shows how selfless the idea and campaign was.” Wimberly said the fundraiser confirmed what she already knew about the student body and raising the $50,000 is another example of why she is proud to be an Aggie. “The [LSU] representatives for SGA were so appreciative,” Wimberly said. “People from LSU are blown away from the Aggie spirit and it was so good for us to give back in such a way that will really make a difference in their community.” SIDE-BY-SIDE ON PG. 2

More than 10,000 current and former students attended Burn Night on Wednesday to watch Student Bonfire’s 45-foot stack go up in flames, a record breaking attendance. Bonfire staff had to close the gates to the site after surpassing the maximum amount of people allowed to safely view the burn.

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before withdrawing to go to Russia. “If we want to have a white state, or a white community or a white homeland we should be able to have that,” Wiginton said. “We respect that for all people. If we look at the NAACP, black people have the right to have that. Why can’t white people have a WAACP [sic]?” Wiginton has been contacted by the university, according to a press release sent out by Wiginton Sunday, “to discuss issues concerning the event.” He will be on campus at 9:30 a.m. Nov. 28 to meet with university officials. “Mr. Spencer’s event is reminiscent of civil rights events of the 1960’s era, which were often met with whisky [sic] bottles and SPENCER ON PG. 2

Researchers search for new reactor materials

By Josh Hopkins @texasjoshua1

Texas A&M researchers have their eyes set on creating a cleaner, safer nuclear reactor, all through pushing the boundaries of material synthesis and modeling. The Texas A&M Accelerator Laboratory is one of the biggest ion irradiation facilities in the United States, and its staff is made up of primarily graduate research assistants makes use of ion accelerators to conduct a large variety of multidisciplinary research. The lab’s primary task involves simulating the conditions of a nuclear reactor on various steel and alloy samples in order to determine the material’s usefulness in reactor components. Jiangyuan Fan, a nuclear engineering graduate student working with the lab, said the labs tests the deterioration rate of components used in nuclear reactors. “When we are talking about the reactor, we are thinking about whether it will still be running after a couple of years and we can try to evaluate whether the material is good or not,” Fan said. “Right now what we do is accelerate the process, what we can do is instead ION BEAMS ON PG. 4

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The scheduled campus visit of white nationalist Richard Spencer has sparked several discussions of potential protests, including a petition started by Sunaina Suhag, Class of 2015, which garnered nearly 10,000 signatures since its creation.

SPENCER CONTINUED baseball bats. Mr. Spencer and Mr. Wiginton pledge to move forward,” the release read. “Their determination is just as strong as the peaceful demonstrators who were attacked at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama on March 7, 1965. Bloody Sunday, oh Bloody Sunday.” University spokesperson Amy B. Smith, senior vice president and chief marketing officer for Texas A&M, said Tuesday, Nov. 23 that no invitation was extended to Spencer from the university to give his presentation. “There has been deep concern expressed by our Aggie community about an individual planning to speak at our campus. To be clear, Texas A&M University — including faculty, staff, students and/or student groups — did not invite this speaker to our campus nor do we endorse his rhetoric in any way. In fact, our leadership finds his views as expressed to date in direct conflict with our core values,” Smith said. “Private citizens are permitted to reserve space available to the public as we are a pub-

SIDE-BY-SIDE CONTINUED community.” Associate Vice President for Student Affairs CJ Woods said he was involved in setting up a connection to the LSU Foundation and responsible for giving students a way to make donations. Creating a place to donate helped a group of people in need of support, Woods said. “When I was made aware that we wanted to provide some type of assistance to LSU, we started to find a way to make it easier for students to donate

lic university as is the case here. Public groups must cover all rental expenses so that state resources are not burdened.” Students and former students have spoken out against Spencer’s visit. One former student, Sunaina Suhag, Class of 2015, began a petition after hearing Spencer was scheduled to speak at the university. It has since garnered nearly 10,000 signatures. “I believe that Spencer speaking at A&M does not go in line with our values as Aggies. We are a very diverse community and we support and love one another,” Suhag said. “When I saw that everyone was upset about it, I figured that we needed a way to voice that together.” The Student Government Association and several other campus leaders partnered to send a campus-wide email with their statement, denouncing Spencer. “The sentiments that Richard Spencer and his affiliates express are wholly unacceptable and have no place in civil discourse,” the email read. “There is no place at Texas A&M for anti-Semitic, racist, or oppressive actions and speech. These divisive sentiments threaten the

campus climate and cannot go unaddressed.” Talk of protests has been prominent on social media. One protest, called “Silent Protest — Richard Spencer at Texas A&M” has gained traction on Facebook, and the event page indicates more than 300 people are planning to attend, and more than 500 are interested at time of press. “This page and all of the coordinators of the protest are here only to show our disapproval to white supremacism, white nationalism and racism,” a post on the Facebook page reads. “We are not here to advocate for a political party or politician, nor are we here to oppose the same. We protest organizers, as well as those who are joining us on December 6th, come from a wide diversity of political, racial, ethnic, religious, and other backgrounds.” Another Facebook event page for a protest, this one called “Shut Down Neo-Nazi Richard Spencer! No Platform for Fascists!” has gained similar interest. Spencer’s talk is schedule for 7 p.m. Dec. 6 in Rudder 601.

directly to the foundation,” Woods said. “I think it is a true testament of our core value of selfless service.” Whittaker said there are still people recovering from the floods and the campaign demonstrated not only how A&M and LSU can work together but how the SEC can be a larger community for LSU at a time when we need it most. “A&M’s promotional video summed up the idea in I think the best way possible, of how we are rivals on the football field but can still support each other,”

Whittaker said. “To me that really does reflect the spirit of the SEC and the larger community we are a part of.” Wimberly said she was pleased that A&M was able to help out a friend in the SEC and raising this money is a testament to what being an Aggie is all about. “I’m so thankful to be an Aggie everyday, but especially in time when we come together to do something good for our friends and our friends in the SEC,” Wimberly said.

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Summer Wilson and Angela Degelman participate in the NaNoWriMo Official Weekend Write-in at Larry J. Ringer Public Library.

ONE NOVEL, ONE MONTH

National Novel Writing Month challenges writers to finish book By Jena Seidemann @jena_seidemann The moment it struck 12:01 a.m. on Nov. 1, the countdown began for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) — a challenge in which people write a 50,000 word novel in fewer than 30 days. Locally supported by B-CS WriMos, the local chapter of NaNoWriMo, the University Writing Center and Municipal Liaisons for the chapter brought the writing event to campus a few years ago and have seen substantial growth since they began holding write-ins at Sterling C. Evans Library. “This year in particular, the room has been roughly 20 to 30 people on Wednesday, so the interest on campus has been phenomenal, especially given that students have other conflicting goals that are more important like getting good grades, but they are finding time in their free time to do this,” said Ted Boone, lecturer at the Mays Business School and Municipal Liaison for BCS Wrimos. As a participant for the past 11 years in NaNoWriMo, Boone said he is inspired to participate each year from the sense of accomplishment of completing a novel, as well as seeing other participants’ improvement in writing. “November encourages you to turn off your ‘inner editor’ and keep moving forward

in our story and that is really important because a lot of people get caught up in the quality of their work and never actually complete their work because they are so caught up in the reading process,” Boone said. “You can’t fix something that’s not there so getting to the end is probably the most important part of November.” Boone said both write-ins, which have lasted from two to three and even up to six hours, and writing sprints, which are 10 to 15 minutes, are ways for people to make their 1,600 to 1,700 daily word goal. “Write ins are just groups of people sitting in front of their laptops writing at the same time,” Boone said. “It is interesting because most people would think that writing a novel is traditionally a pretty solo experience, but the act of being in the same space of others that are during that same activity is very encouraging because you gain some level of energy and camaraderie — you have some positive pressure to keep doing it.” Florence Davies, Class of 2009 and writing consulting administrator for the University Writing Center, said they opened up write -ins at Evans’ Library, which has given people a group to write and make it more accessible to students at Texas A&M and promote creative writing. “Maybe they have always wanted to write a novel or they are already doing NaNoWriMo. but they don’t realize there is a cool space on where they can write with people on campus or in the community,” Davies said. “I feel like NaNoWriMo is the perfect setting

for people who have always wanted to write a novel, but either have not found themselves having enough time to do it, or maybe not in the right environment, or you always had an idea for a cool novel, or a concept you wanted to apply to a larger book but you never had the time or the venue to do it.” Davies said the community is integral to encourage individuals to develop creative writing skills and help others to use for therapeutic reasons. “The most rewarding part of anything I do through the writing center, in particular things tied through creative writing, is seeing that community element being developed,” Davies said. Whether or not someone chooses to take part in the write-ins, international affairs graduate student, Kelsie Suter, said the entire writing process should be focused on what promotes the writer’s individual creativity. “The key thing with NaNoWriMo is that you don’t have to do the 50,000 words,” Suter said. “Sure, it is awesome to say you did it, but if you just set a goal for yourself, of you wanting to write 100 words a day, 500 words a day, then shoot for that. There is absolutely no judgment, especially with people in the B-CS area. It is a lot of camaraderie.” Suter said she has participated since her freshman year at A&M and that NaNoWriMo is an opportunity for her to express the imagination she has had since she was little. Her inspiration for her first novel began when she was in sixth grade. “I am an only child and I have had a very

vivid imagination since I was little, so writing has given me an opportunity to let my imagination run free instead of distracting me in class,” Suter said. “Before I started doing NaNoWriMo, I never wrote anything down. I had written short stories but I had never challenged myself to actually write a novel so just knowing I am able to do it and reaching the 50,000 every year I have participated in NaNoWriMo I have won.” This year, she is focusing on an allegory based off the biblical stories of David and Esther. “I am a Christian so my faith has always been an important part of my life, so I wanted to challenge myself this year to do something a little out of my comfort zone so I have taken a few stories out of the bible and kinda morphed them into a bit of more of what I like,” Sutter said. Regardless of whether the writers choose to share, promote or self publish their works, Boone said the growth within the 30 days is something he always looks forward to witnessing. “One of the ways I personally have been gratified above and beyond writing my own manuscripts is seeing very particular people grow enormously as far as the maturity of the writing, the quality of their writing, their ability to persevere and put more words on the page and their ability to stick with their writing outside of November,” Boone said. “It is wonderful to see people take this opportunity to become better writers.”

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(Top) Led by head coach Kevin Sumlin, A&M has won just one home game against SEC West opponents since Johnny Manziel left. (Bottom) The Aggies finished 8-4 for the third straight season.

FOOTBALL CONTINUED muscled out a win and entered Thanksgiving week confident. With Knight potentially returning to the A&M lineup and several key LSU players out for the turkey day showdown, A&M found itself in a favorable position to finally beat the Tigers for the first time since joining the SEC. However, the Aggies were unable to take the lead, with a high-powered offense led by Derrius Guice, who had 37 carries for 285 yards and four touchdowns in the game. The Aggie defense couldn’t contain the Tiger attack through the air. LSU quarterback Danny Etling completed 20 of 28 passes accounting for 324 yards, which ended in a 54-39 loss in front of the A&M faithful on a holiday. Now that the regular season is over, the pain and disappointment has begun to settle in and much of the A&M fanbase are not content with the same results for the third-

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waiting for 50 years we can do it in one week.” Lin Shao, nuclear engineering professor and head of the lab, said the neutrons within a reactor act like bullets. “You shoot a bullet at the wall and everything will be messed up, and that’s exactly what happens inside a reactor,” Shao said. “So therefore, with that radiation damage you have all kind of nasty phenomenon there, cracking, swelling, reconstruction of nuclear fuel, fracture, embrittlement, flaking and all those nasty things.” Aaron French, a nuclear engineering graduate student working in the lab, said materials are often the limiting factor in nuclear reactors and the labs testing will help improve the development of materials. “As nuclear engineering and technology continues to evolve you want to have reactors that you want to have around for longer and longer periods of time,” French said. “Every reactor has a specific lifetime,

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straight year. Following the game, many people on social media called for A&M officials to fire head coach Kevin Sumlin and jump into the Tom Herman chase. When put into perspective, the Aggies haven’t had terrible seasons. Although they have finished with 8-4 record, they have shown glimpses of excellence. For the Aggies to be in the toughest division in the toughest conference and finish above .500 each time is a victory in itself. The Aggies have been eligible for bowls and will once again compete in one at the end of December, which will be announced by Dec. 4. The years following Johnny Football have been hard and will continue to be so, but like most fans all over the country have come to say after this week: “There’s always next season.” Angel Franco is a telecommunication sophomore and sports editor for The Battalion.

but if you can extend that lifetime, it makes it much more economical because the cost of building a new reactor is astronomical.” Shao said the lab tests potential materials for nuclear reactors from all over the world. “Those alloys come from all major national labs, and also from Japan, South Korea, Italy and China as well,” Shao said. “We help them speed up their material development by providing those second to none testing capabilities. This is not just a local lab, a platform for international research.” In addition to work related to reactor components, the lab has a number of other big projects underway including using ion beams to help create better bulletproof vests, examining the effects of radiation on electronics and potentially creating a photon-based microchip. “We don’t just do testing; we also do modeling,” Shao said. “We also do material synthesis to get a complete understanding of why this material is good, why that material is bad. This main purpose of this lab is trying to come up with safe and clean and reliable reactor components.”

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