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Senators to face impeachment trial Student senators face removal from body pending debate, vote By Brad Canon @BradCanon1
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Senator Aubre Dean filed the impeachment papers for Senators Nick Page and Taylor Baumann.
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The two student senators — Nick Page and Taylor Baumann — who allegedly made derogatory comments about Student Body President Hannah Wimberly’s family will face possible impeachment Wednesday night during an executive session of student senate. The decision was made to move forward with the impeachment process due to the nature of the comments made.
Senator Aubre Dean, the senator who filed the impeachment papers, said the past weeks have shown a nasty side of Texas A&M and filing the impeachment papers was completely necessary. Dean said her job going into tomorrow’s meeting is to hold the two senators accountable. “It’s time for senate to start holding itself accountable and [Wednesday] is the first step of a culture shift that senate needs,” Dean said. “It’s not going to be an easy meeting by any means … It’s a hard conversation to have.” Speaker of the Student Senate Joseph Hood confirmed articles of impeachment have been filed against Baumann and Page and a trial will be held
Wednesday evening since the required one-third of senators signed the letters. “The code requires that one-third of the senate sign off on the articles of impeachment for the articles to actually come up during the meeting and those articles are submitted to rules and regulations chair and that is the only individual who has actually had access to them,” Hood said. The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. Wednesday in Koldus 144. A livestream will also be available to watch, but the impeachment trials — including the final voting — will take place in executive session, meaning the meeting will not be open to the public or the press.
SHAW THE SURE SHOT Senior midfielder overcomes injuries, remains valuable asset to team By Matt Koper @mattkoper
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Texas A&M quarterback Trevor Knight leads the SEC in rushing touchdowns with nine.
TOP-10 SHOWDOWN By Lawrence Smelser @LawrenceSmelser Saturday will be a battle between No. 6 Texas A&M and No. 1 Alabama, which hasn’t lost since Sept. 19, 2015 against Ole Miss and has a total of six losses — including bowl games — since Texas A&M entered the SEC in 2012. The powerhouse program that Alabama head coach Nick Saban has built has beaten Texas A&M in three of the last four seasons with Texas A&M coming out of Tuscaloosa victorious in 2012. The Aggies do showcase quarterback Trevor Knight, who defeated the Crimson Tide in the 2014 Sugar Bowl. “I think it’s going to be a blast,” Knight said of playing the defending national champions. “You grow up being a college football fan and then you come to places like [Texas A&M] to play in games like this. Obviously we realize we’re playing the No. 1 team in the country Saturday and they’re playing really good football, not just this year but in the previous years so it’s a unique challenge.” The Crimson Tide were heavy 20-point favorites over the undefeated Aggies as of Tuesday night. The spread is the highest against Texas A&M this season. “It adds a chip on your shoulder and gives you a reason to go out there and play harder,” A&M wide receiver Christian Kirk said. “We sit here at 6-0 and we’re ranked sixth in the country but nobody is giving us respect. We know what people think about is but we’re still going to go out there week to week and prove people wrong.” Since Sumlin started his tenure, when the Aggies rush for 200 or more yards they are
Senior midfielder Sarah Shaw has logged 540 minutes in 13 matches in the 2016 season, more than all her minutes combined in last three seasons.
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enior midfielder Sarah Shaw usually finds herself helping others overcome adversity. But in the journey to her final season at Texas A&M, she’s faced challenges of her own. Due to sustaining multiple injuries, Shaw hasn’t had much playing time on the field in the last three seasons. But when she’s gotten the chance to play, it’s paid off for her team. Head coach G Guerrieri had a lot of confidence in Shaw and her demeanor, even though she didn’t see the field much last season, as he picked her to take penalty kicks against Ole Miss in the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament in 2015. “She would practice and practice [penalty kicks],” Guerrieri said. “And so as we got close to the postseason, I went to her and I said, ‘Sarah, I’d like you to be one of our five shooters.’ And she was like, ‘I haven’t played all season Why would I?’ And I go, ‘Because you’re one of the smartest, most composed people that we have. You’re the person who’s going to win it for us.’” And sure enough, Shaw did just that. After four rounds of penalty kicks against the Rebels, the score was knotted at 4-4 and moved to sudden death. Shaw found the back of the net, sending the team to the Elite 8. Shaw said that goal was a turning point for her and that her hard work paid off in that moment. “That was really the first time I felt like I contributed,” Shaw said. “I obviously contribute on the sidelines — we’re all about the 12th Man and about just supporting your teammates no matter what, but that was the first time I was able to step in and step up for my team. And I felt that it was good timing because I worked really hard to come back from stuff and to finally get some solidification is awesome.” In the 2016 season, Shaw has logged 540 minutes over the span of 13 matches in six starts, already surpassing her minutes total for her first three seasons at A&M. She has one goal thus far — the deciding factor in a 1-0 win over Georgia to give the team five straight victories along with five straight shutout wins. Shaw’s roommate, senior defender Grace Wright, said her friend is sarcastic and no-nonsense at times, making her an invaluable asset to the team. “She’s just one of those people that’s going SHAW ON PG. 2
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Special Olympics athletes compete in annual Fall Classic Parents, coach talk importance of competition for kids with special needs By Alice Corcoran @AliceJ_Corcoran
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The 16th annual Special Olympics Fall Classic used Texas A&M’s Natatorium.
More than 1,700 athletes from across Texas made their way to the Athletes’ Village in Bryan this past weekend for the Special Olympics Fall Classic. Over the course of three days, the athletes competed in four sports including golf, aquatics, bocce and softball. The Texas A&M Natatorium hosted the aquatics competition. Special Olympics is a national organization that gives people with special needs the opportunity to participate in athletic competitions. First-time aquatics competitor Joshua Johnson was encouraged to compete in the Special Olympics by his parents. Raymond Johnson, Joshua’s father, said it was important for Joshua
to compete because they believe it’s important to show him that he can achieve goals outside his comfort zone. “A common problem is that people over shelter their kids, but at the end of the day it’s not a ‘special-ed’ world,” Raymond Johnson said. “Their ability is different than everybody else’s, but they’re capable. They’re just capable in a different way. This event is so important because it lets them know they can do things they wouldn’t think to do.” At only eight years old, Joshua has heavily impacted his parents’ lives, as well as those around him, said Hope Johnson, Joshua’s mom. “He’s kind, and you can’t teach kind,” Hope Johnson said. “He makes us better parents. There’s such a large spectrum of autism that there’s no umbrella you can place over it. It’s not the school’s responsibility, it’s the parents’. His teacher last year broke down in tears at our parent-teacher conference telling us how Joshua SPECIAL OLYMPICS ON PG. 3