WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2016 | SERVING TEXAS A&M SINCE 1893 | © 2016 STUDENT MEDIA | @THEBATTONLINE
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INSIDE: Aggies hit the road after winning 2 straight games
THE BATTALION | THEBATT.COM
FOOTBALL Members of A&M’s Red Cross organization volunteer at Twin City Mission’s Community Cafe every Tuesday and Wednesday.
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Trevor Knight (left) has thrown for 11 touchdowns and two interceptions in 2016. Keith Ford averaged 4.1 yards per carry against Alabama.
Taking the season one day at a time Aggies move past loss to No. 1 Alabama, look to learn from Saturday’s mistakes By Lawrence Smelser @LawrenceSmelser After suffering their first loss of the season to No. 1 Alabama Saturday, Texas A&M head coach Kevin Sumlin and his Aggies want to move forward and fix the mistakes that were made, but also want to build on the positives. Texas A&M’s defense allowed 287 rushing yards to the Crimson Tide and have now allowed 569 rushing yards over the last two games. Defensive coordinator John Chavis said part of the problem was not rotating the linebackers. He said he hopes to incorporate the younger linebackers more and give the veterans a rest. “We’ve been better against the run,” Chavis said. “In the last two games when there’s been a mistake, I’m not going to jump on a kid if we haven’t put him in a position to succeed. We gave up a big play because we got someone out of a gap. We have to grow, get bigger and stronger. I like the fight in our football team.” Texas A&M’s offensive line allowed five sacks against Alabama, the most all season in a game. Sumlin attributed it mainly to how lethal the Alabama defensive line is and said he talked to his lineman after the game. FOOTBALL ON PG. 4
Homelessness in Brazos Valley Laura Haslam — THE BATTALION
Locals work to assist homeless citizens of Bryan-College Station By Mariah Colon @Mariahcolon18
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n a college town filled with ways to volunteer time through various campus-based organizations, many Bryan-College Station residents who need help can be overlooked — the homeless.
ACADEMICS
Jennifer Young, program director for Twin City Mission’s homeless services, said the reasons people become homeless vary from situation to situation and are not specific to demographics. “In reality homelessness can come from different reasons,” Young said. “It could be a missed paycheck, it can be a divorce or some type of family condition like that that can lead someone into a homeless situation. I’ve seen people with master’s degrees that have become home-
less for one reason or another.” Ron Crozier, director of community relations for Twin City Mission, said the Brazos Valley homeless population can be quantified using a simple formula: counts and surveys. “Every year we do a point and time count and every other year we do a point and time survey,” Crozier said. “There is a formula that’s used by the number of people you can actually count you can HOMELESSNESS ON PG. 2
Women in gaming talk overcoming stereotypes Female gamers in College Station share experiences in competitive gaming circuit By Rachel Knight @Reknight18
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While abroad, several construction science students built a replica of London’s Gherkin skyscraper.
Construction science reaches new heights A&M student group applies classroom teaching, constructs skyscraper replica By Sanna Bhai @BhaiSanna A skyscraper can take years to build, but a group of A&M construction science students only had four days to build a replica of the Gherkin, a historical London skyscraper. The students traveled abroad to the United Kingdom this summer to participate in Constructionism — a program focused on providing hands-on construction experience for students and professionals. In this program, students create scaled-down versions of civil engineering projects all around the world, giving them a chance to put their classroom knowledge to use. Steve Rodgers, construction law and risk management professor in the Department of Construction Science, SKYSCRAPER ON PG. 2
Noah Simpson — THE BATTALION
Women in the competition video gaming community can face sexism and discrimination.
While many gamers battle virtual characters, women in the eSports community are fighting their own battle. eSports, also known as electronic sports, refers to playing video games in tournaments ranging from the grassroots level to the national level. In 2014, ESPN estimated that there were 89 million eSports viewers worldwide spending 3.7 billion hours watching eSports. While the button-mashing strategy filled world of eSports is a typically male-dominated atmosphere, female gamers in College Station are looking to cement their place in the competition they love. Casper, communication freshman, will be commentating for Smash United at Battlegrounds, a large eSports tournament, Nov. 19. Casper’s love of gaming and eSports has prevailed through a rough introduction to eSports tournaments. At her first tournament, Casper was 17 and harassed by a 25-year-old male competitor. At a later tournament Casper met this same man, but was better prepared for his behavior. “I stood up and was like, ‘Say it to my face,’ in the middle of the tournament,” Casper said. “I actually embarrassed him a lot. His friends thought it was amazing because he does that a lot I guess, so when they saw that they were impressed. He came up to me later and thoroughly apologized.” Casper said she has continued with eSports because she loves gaming. “I love the people,” Casper said. “Despite the situations I’ve been in, I love seeing people’s minds change. Like that one guy, how he went from ESPORTS ON PG. 3