The Battalion: November 29, 2017 by The Battalion

PAGE 3 IMPOSSIBLE BURGER IN B-CS

PAGE 4 INTERIM HEAD COACH NAMED

No shave to save

Annie Lui — THE BATTALION

Officers at the University Police Department raised $1,760 for the Bryan-College Station American Cancer Society during November.

UPD participates in No-Shave November for cancer awareness By Emily Bost @EmmyBost Throughout the month of November, 41 University Police Department officers participated in the annual online campaign NoShave November to raise cancer awareness by embracing hair, which many cancer patients lose during treatment. Thirty-five male officers began growing their beards on Nov. 1, while six female officers scheduled nail appointments throughout the month for Nails for November,

for which they got manicures with purple nail polish, a color associated with cancer awareness. The visual-oriented campaign is intended to help create conversation within the community and educate people about cancer and its prevention, according to UPD Officer Scott Jackson. “I hope it sparks a more approachable dialogue with students, staff and faculty,” Jackson said. “I hope it makes them feel that they can approach an officer participating in No-Shave November and have a conversation about cancer awareness or any other topic.” In accordance with the online No-Shave November cancer awareness campaign, Patrol Operations

Lieutenant Kary Shaffer submitted a proposal for UPD’s official participation in No-Shave November and Patrol Sergeant Jennifer Enloe submitted a proposal for Nails for November. “I hope that No-Shave November and Nails for November open up positive dialogues for everyone. In this area, nail polish may not be a surprise for officers to wear, but the beards certainly are,” Enloe said. A proposal had to be submitted to the chief of police for the officers to grow their beards, as policy states they must be clean-shaven while in uniform. “Facial hair, other than a moustache, is prohibited by departmental policy,” Lieutenant Bobby Rich-

ardson said. “So to make any changes to policy an officer has to submit a request and so we had some officers get together and submit a request to the chief.” Both proposals were accepted by the UPD Chief of Police Mike Ragan, who agreed to suspend the policy of ‘no facial hair and nail polish’ for the month of November to participate in and raise funds for the local American Cancer Society, according to Richardson. The participating UPD officers donated $50 for a beard, $30 for a goatee and $30 for painted nails, raising a total of $1,760. At the end of the month, the funds will be donated to the local Bryan-College Station American Cancer Society.

“Cancer affects everyone, whether it’s physically or emotionally,” Enloe said. “It does not discriminate against color or creed. Almost everyone we know also knows someone that has been affected by this disease.” Officer Alfonso Lopez said his mother suffered from cancer when he was younger, and for this reason he hopes other police departments are encouraged to participate in the event, while Jackson said he is participating in No-Shave November to help raise awareness specifically for prostate cancer, as he lost a close family member to cancer. “Going through a situation said. NO-SHAVE ON PG. 4

Rural broadband gaps The range for broadband score is 0 to 2, with 2 having high broadband available and 0 having the least, according to Brookings Institution. Alexis Will — THE BATTALION

A look at Internet services in B-CS area By Henry Mureithi @SOCOMBlack

C.Morgan Engel — THE BATTALION

Laurie Corbelli was 519-253 in 25 seasons as Texas A&M’s head volleyball coach and led the Aggies to 20 NCAA Tournament appearances.

Corbelli resigns as head coach Volleyball coach steps down after 25 years at Texas A&M By Ryan MacDonald @Ryan_Macdonald2 Texas A&M head volleyball coach Laurie Corbelli announced late Tuesday afternoon that she will not be returning as head coach next season after 25 seasons. Her resignation comes just three days after the Aggies finished regular-season play with a final overall record of 10-15 and a SEC record of 7-11, finishing in ninth place. “I want to thank Laurie for her incredible commitment to A&M over the last 25 years,” Scott Woodward, director of Athletics at Texas A&M said. “Along with her husband, John, she impacted the lives of hundreds of student

athletes and her legacy will carry on for years to come. We wish them both well.” Laurie and John, who serves as the associate coach, came to A&M in 1993. During their time at A&M, Laurie and John have had a record of 519-253. The duo led the Aggies to the NCAA Tournament in 20 seasons and finished in the American Volleyball Coaches Association Top 25 11 times. This year marked the first time since 2010 that A&M failed to make the postseason. Corbelli guided A&M to the NCAA Tournament in each of her first 13 seasons in Aggieland, advancing as far as the Elite Eight in both 1999 and 2008. A&M’s most recent success under Corbelli came in 2015, as A&M won the SEC and held a 15-game winning streak before falling to Hawaii in the Second Round of the NCAA Tourna-

ment. Corbelli was tabbed SEC Coach of the Year that season. She earned Southwest Conference Coach of the Year honors in 1994 and 1995. Prior to coming to A&M, Corbelli coached at San Francisco and Santa Clara. As a player, she earned a silver medal at the 1984 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles. “John and I have been incredibly honored to serve Texas A&M for 25 amazing years,” said Corbelli. “We would like to thank John David Crow, Lynn Hickey and Wally Groff for bringing us to Aggieland in 1993. And, of course, to our remarkable current and former athletes and staff, we express our utmost gratitude and heartfelt thanks for your loyalty, your excellence, and your passion for becoming the best you can be. Gig ‘em, Aggies.”

The digital divide in Bryan-College Station and across central Texas has narrowed in recent years due to a variety of public and private efforts, but significant gaps remain at the household level. According to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), 39 percent of rural Americans lack broadband access to a fixed service with speeds of 25 megabits per second (Mbps) download and 3 Mbps upload. At the same time, only four percent of urban Americans lack that type of broadband access. Broadband refers to high-speed Internet access that is always on and faster than the traditional dial-up access, as defined by the FCC. The medium can be coaxial cable, optical fiber, radio or twisted pair. As of 2017, based on a combination of broadband availability and subscription (adoption), Texas’s 17th congressional district, that stretches from Waco to Bryan-College Station, has a composite broadband score of about 0.25 to 0.5 according to the Brookings Institution, where 2 is the most available and connected and 0 is the least. In 2010, Texas A&M University was awarded a $6.6 million Broadband Technology Opportunities Program grant by the De-

partment of Commerce, on behalf of The Texas A&M University System’s Trans-Texas Videoconference Network — the wide area data a n d interactive communications network that serves the campuses and agencies of the Texas A&M University System. Along with $3 million in matching contributions, the grant funded the construction of Texas Pipes — a fiber optic network with minimum data rates of one gigabit per second (Gbps) and is capable of supporting up to 40 Gbps. “The project included building 151 miles of fiber throughout the state of Texas and connecting 45 Community Anchor Institutions (CAI), more than originally anticipated at project inception,” said Lacey Baze, associate director of the Texas A&M Division of Information Technology Product Strategy & Communication. “The CAIs are primarily located in rural, underserved areas of Texas.” The initiative, which was completed in 2013, extended broadband service to Texas A&M University System campuses and the surrounding communities in Bryan-College Station, Canyon, Commerce, Corpus Christi, Galveston, Killeen, Kingsville, Laredo, Prairie View, San Antonio, Stephenville, Texarkana and Waco, Prairie View A&M University and the area immediately adjacent to Fort Hood. INTERNET ON PG. 2

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Internet beloved prairie dogs call College Station their home Aggie sisters bring their social media famous pets to campus By Deborah Anderaos @deborahanderaos While Reveille might be the queen of Snapchat and Instagram stories at Texas A&M, two sisters who attend Texas A&M have teamed up to run an Instagram account for their two famous prairie dogs. Aggie sisters Cassidy and Savannah Bryce brought two prairie dogs from Kingwood to College Station. Not only do the two own these pets, but they also run a popular Instagram account under the username @prairiedogpack for the prairie dogs, Bing and Swarley, that has gained over 90,000 followers. The prairie dogs are named from popular television shows. Bing, got his name from Chandler Bing of “Friends” and Swarley, a nickname the character Barney got in an episode of “How I Met Your Mother.” Cassidy, biomedical science freshman, got Bing and Swarley when she was in high school and decided to bring them to College Station when she was began at A&M. Because Cassidy lives in a dorm, her sister, Savannah biomedical engineering senior, usually keeps the prairie dogs at her house. Cassidy first made the Instagram account when she got Bing as a baby

INTERNET CONTINUED “The project predicted that the network would serve 114,000 students and 27,000 faculty and staff, as well as connect the University Police Departments to the State of Texas Department of Public Safety to enhance security and safety within these communities and help enable the Next Generation 911 network,” Baze said. Gigabit broadband technology relates to 1 Gbps (or 1,000 Mbps) download and upload speeds to residential users. In 2015, over 80 percent of the College Station population lived in neighborhoods with gigabit-speed service available as stated in “The Next Generation Network Connectivity Handbook: A Guide for Community Leaders Seeking Affordable, Abundant Bandwidth, Version 2.0” by Blair Levin and Denise Linn. At the same

Meredith Seaver — THE BATTALION

Bing the prairie dog enjoys eating Chex Mix.

her freshman year of high school. In addition to the Instagram, she also ran a Vine account that became popular and landed her a nomination at the Shorty Awards hosted in New York City. “I knew I wasn’t going to win the award but my ticket to the event was paid for and Bing got pictures taken on the green carpet at the event,” Cassidy said. “I also knew I had a lot of followers in New York and I had a meet-and-greet in Central Park.” A lot of Cassidy and Savannah’s time is spent on photo shoots for

Bing and Swarley’s Instagram account, the sisters said. “We focus on anything that is relevant or relatable to people at the moment,” Savannah said. “We’ll make videos with Bing and Swarley on TV shows we like that are popular and then dress them up to the theme.” Cassidy said the outfits and accessories she buys for the photoshoots usually come from Amazon and old dolls or Webkinz clothes, which fit the pair perfectly. Once her followers discovered

she attended A&M, Cassidy said she began receiving messages from the animals’ Instagram account asking for meet-and-greets with the pair. “I’m really busy with school but sometimes I’ll put Bing in my purse and I like to bring him around to class or to meet up with people on campus who have messaged me through the Instagram account,” Cassidy said. Savannah said Bing is the more outgoing prairie dog compared to Swarley and that Bing likes to be around people while Swarley

time, a large number of consumers in Central Texas have one or no wired Internet options available to them with 21,000 people facing this issue in College Station alone. According to the broadband provider database BroadbandNow, there are only four residential fixedline broadband providers in College Station — only two of which have a city coverage greater than 80 percent. The cable company Suddenlink is the only one that offers Internet speeds up to 1,000 Mbps, at a cost of $49.99 for 100 Mbps, with an actual average download speed of 50.7 Mbps. The closest comparable competitor in terms of price and speed is the digital subscriber line company Frontier Communications with a speed of up to 12 Mbps at $29.99 for 12 Mps. “I use Suddenlink and it is pretty bad,” supply chain management sophomore Walid Belkhatir said. “It

gets really slow at times and generally my Internet at home is much quicker and reliable.” The College Station City Council is leasing spare city-owned unused, or dark, fiber optic cable under an ordinance the council approved in March of 2015 in order to bring competition into the local highspeed Internet market dominated by Suddenlink. The Internet service providers that enter into these agreements pay an annual fee that includes maintenance for the cables. WireStar, a local Internet service provider, intends to offer download speeds of up to 1 Gbps by use of such a lease, initially for commercial use only. They will pay $21,580 annually to the city. A&M’s next broadband project after Texas Pipes will focus on the surrounding areas of Bryan-College Station. “Actually, we are working with

another similar project right now, referred to as the Brazos Valley Council of Government Broadband Project,” Texas A&M Academy for Advanced Telecommunications and Learning Technologies Associate Director Walter Magnussen, who was involved in Texas Pipes planning, said. The projected cost for the new initiative is about $26 million in federal and matching funds. “The cog is instead of Commerce money, they are utilizing FCC funds to build up fiber to six counties surrounding Bryan-College Station,” Magnussen said. Magnussen emphasized the rural broadband gap faced by communities in places like Central Texas and the need for government intervention. “The federal government is recognizing that as they deregulated telecom companies and telecom

is more of an introvert. However, according to Savannah, Swarley is very active despite her introversion. “Bing is lazy while Swarley is a go getter, she is always digging even if we just set her down on the bed. She digs all through the sheets, while if it was Bing on a bed he will just fall asleep,” Savannah said. “They live in a two-story-high ferret cage, but when I come home I let them run around, and give them blankets or newspaper to dig. Digging is their passion.” Sarah Bush, marketing senior and Savannah’s roommate, said she loves living with the prairie dogs even though they can be a little chaotic. “They are a lot crazier than people may guess,” Bush said. “Especially when they try to do photo shoots they just run all over the place and the Instagram makes them look perfect but it takes many tries to get that perfect picture that the sisters end up posting.” Savannah and Cassidy will be continuing meetups with their followers including an event hosted by Aggie Miracle, a student organization Savannah is involved in on campus. “We have awareness days to get people excited about raising money for hospitals,” Savannah said. “The week after Thanksgiving we have a petting zoo day and Cassidy is going to post on Instagram to let the followers know that Bing will be there to meet people.” companies typically are going to the high profit areas and the high profit areas are not rural America,” Magnussen said. “So unless there are future projects like these, rural America will get farther and farther behind. We are ranked in the thirties in terms of broadband connectivity worldwide. We are way down internationally and quite frankly, it’s getting a little bit worse all the time.” In 2011, the United States lost its leading position in terms of installed national bandwidth potential to China according to a 2016 paper by University of California, communications professor Martin Hilbert. The difference for the two countries in 2014 was 29 percent versus 13 percent of the global total, respectively.

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The Battalion | 11.29.17

An alternative burger Company creates plant-based patty to have real meat taste By Kenya Robinson @_KenyaJ

The Impossible Burger was created to make global food production more sustainable. PROVIDED

Scientists and business developers made the impossible possible with a new sustainable burger available in only 15 places in Texas, including College Station’s Hopdoddy Burger Bar. Founded in 2011 by Stanford professor Dr. Pat O. Brown, Impossible Foods is a company focused on developing plant-based meat and dairy products without the use of animals in an effort to make global food production more sustainable. After five years of research, Impossible Foods presented their first product a year ago — the Impossible Burger. Unlike ordinary veggie burgers, the Impossible Burger looks just like a beef patty in raw form and was crafted to taste exactly like a traditional burger, according to Impossible Foods Sustainable and Agricultural Manager Rebekah Moses. “When creating the burger we wanted to make sure it was equivalent to a beef burger in every possible way,” Moses said. “It has to be craveable, it has to be something super tasty.” Using 95 percent less land and 74 percent less water, the Impossible Burger is entirely made of natural ingredients, such as coconut oil, potato protein and heme — the key ingredient to creating a real burger-eating experience, according to Moses. “Heme is short for hemoglobin which is a protein that is really similar to myoglobin and the red blood that is found in beef,” Moses said. “Our scientists discovered pretty early on that the thing that catalyzes these flavor changes and cooking characteristics of a real burger are myoglobin and red blood. We needed to find that same thing from the plant kingdom and we found it in hemoglobin.” While this burger is made from plants and contains no cholesterol, Moses said it still contains the same amount of fat and calories as a regular beef burger. However, Moses said it is more efficient to produce which could potentially alter the way food is produced on a global scale.

AGGIELAND YEARBOOK

It’s not too late to order 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 will be available before the holidays. Go online to aggieland.tamu.edu or call 979-845-2613 to make your purchase.

$75.00 + Tax (Includes Mail Fee)

“As we get closer to 10 billion people on the planet, people are eating more and more meat and dairy products, which will put a lot of stress on our food system,” Moses said. “Creating foods like this is a way we can be a part of this tool kit for feeding the future in a more sustainable way.” Texas A&M sociology professor Alexander Hernandez discovered the Impossible Burger while conducting research on sustainable food options for the future. He said he believes the Impossible Burger is just the start of a wide range of foods that can be developed using less resources. “From what we understand, it would be less of an environmental impact than beef itself,” Hernandez said. “Is it good or bad? Well, it’s less bad. But then again this is a completely brand new product. There’s still a lot that we don’t know. So it has potential, which is why they are investing so much money into it.” Hernandez said the ultimate goal is to combat climate and environmental change, which can be done by simply changing what you eat. “Even if you don’t go vegetarian or vegan, there are still many other [environmentally friendly foods],” Hernandez said. “People tend to think you either eat meat, or you don’t eat meat and there’s nothing in between, and now there’s so much variety in that in-between spot. The Impossible Burger is just one of the things we have available to us. Soon, it’s going to be one of many.” With the Impossible Burger’s availability in College Station, locals are able to get a head start on making more sustainable food choices. According to Regional Culinary Director of Hopdoddy Joe Gerardi, Impossible Foods did a great job of mimicking the texture and taste of a real burger in the all-natural Impossible Burger. “We had a lady come in our location in Houston to try to distinguish between the Impossible Burger and a real burger, and she couldn’t tell the difference,” Joe said. “They did a pretty good job with that. We even had a guest send the burger back. They were a vegetarian and they wanted to try it, but said it resembles a beef patty too much.”

Don’t forget to preorder your copy of the 2018 Aggieland yearbook. The 116th edition of Texas A&M’s official yearbook. Ordering can be done online at aggieland.tamu.edu, or by calling 979-845-2613. Distribution will be the Fall 2018.

2016 Aggielands and previous yearbooks are now on sale. Stop by room L400 in the MSC or call 979-845-2613. $40.00 + Tax (Includes Mail Fee)

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THE BATTALION is published Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays during the fall and spring semesters and Tuesday and Thursday during the summer session (except University holidays and exam periods) at Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843. Offices are in Suite L400 of the Memorial Student Center. 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.

Annie Lui — THE BATTALION

Six female officers at the University Police Department painted their nails purple throughout the month of November.

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with a family member or friend that has cancer is something tough,” Jackson said. “Anytime that you can participate in something like No-Shave November, which brings up the topic of cancer awareness, its a good thing.” Male UPD Officers are not only excited about raising money to help spread cancer awareness, but also about the ability to grow out their beards. “Many of us here at the police department have been here for a long time,” Richardson said. “Myself, for example, I’ve been here for 22 years, so always being in uniform, I haven’t been able to grow a beard in 22 years.” According to Richardson, other agencies across the nation are participating in this new trend in law enforcement to raise money for

cancer awareness. “Cancer is the leading cause of death around the world and just in this short time … some of the people we’ve come in contact with have already made comments about you know, ‘Hey you didn’t shave,’” Richardson said. “Then, we get to talk about cancer awareness. And while we’re doing it, hopefully people will contribute to the cause and get checked and hopefully we can help fight cancer.” Lopez said he hopes UPD will annually participate in No-Shave November to continue the conversation about cancer awareness and to help raise funds for cancer research, treatment and screenings. “I know Texas A&M is big in traditions, so I hope this is the beginning of one,” Lopez said.

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Special teams coordinator and tight ends coach Jeff Banks was named Texas A&M’s interim head coach on Sunday.

Meet the interim head coach Special teams coordinator Jeff Banks will coach Texas A&M in bowl game By Heath Clary @Heath_Clary

Transportation Services is looking for a creative student, faculty or staﬀ member’s design to be featured on the 2018-2019 parking permit. Entries may be submitted Oct. 12, 2017 to Nov. 30, 2017. Transportation Services employees not eligible. Other rules apply. See more at transport.tamu.edu/permitcontest

When Texas A&M relieved Kevin Sumlin of his duties Sunday afternoon, Athletic Director Scott Woodward also named Jeff Banks as the interim head coach until the Aggies hire a new one. That brings up an obvious question — who is Jeff Banks? Banks has served as the Aggies’ special teams coordinator and tight ends coach since 2013. Before that, he coached at Virginia for one season and was the running backs coach and special teams coordinator at UTEP from 2004-2012, where he coached under Mike Price, one of Sumlin’s primary coaching mentors. The 42-year-old also played for Price in the late 1990s at Washington State where

he was a two-time All-Pac 10 punter and averaged more than 40 yards per punt in his junior and senior seasons. Special teams was arguably the most consistent of Sumlin’s teams over the course of his six-year tenure, which Banks played a big part in. He oversaw the development of punter Drew Kaser and kicker Josh Lambo in his first season in College Station. In 2013, the Aggies blocked an SEC-high three kicks. In 2016, the Aggies averaged an SEC-leading 25.4 yards per kick return and recorded four kick return touchdowns. Like Sumlin, Banks got his start in coaching as a graduate assistant at Washington State, where he worked with the offense, the kickers and punters from 1998-2000. Banks will lead the Aggies in whichever bowl game they are awarded and serve as the interim head coach until the end of the season. After the bowl game, the new coach — whomever it may be — will take control of the program.

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