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SCS to host first Suicide Awareness Walk at A&M By Shahd Elbushra @Shahd10_21 In honor of September being Suicide Awareness Month, Student Counseling Services will host a Suicide Awareness Walk Wednesday to honor the lives lost to suicide and give a voice to those who have lost loved ones. The Suicide Awareness Walk, which will take place in Rudder Plaza at 7 p.m., is the first to take place at A&M. It will feature suicide survivors — people who have lost someone close to them to suicide — and an Indie rock band called Leavenworth. Jenny Kenley, a counselor at SCS, said the walk will begin at 7:30 p.m. with live music and speakers. At 8 p.m., the group will walk to Rudder Plaza for a candlelight vigil to conclude the event. Kenley said the Suicide Awareness Walk is meant to portray to students the resources available to them at through Student Counseling Services. “Suicide is a leading cause of death for college students,” Kenley said. “Every day between one and three college-aged individuals complete suicide. Texas A&M is not immune to this.” This year is the first year the event is taking place, but the SCS hopes it becomes an annual tradition at Texas A&M. “The idea was generated by a group of students who have been impacted by suicide and feel strongly about the need to raise awareness,” Kenley said. English senior Annabeth Reeb is one of these students. She is one of two survivors who will speak at the event. “I was personally impacted by suicide when I lost someone very close to me,” Reeb said. “The sudden realization that people are struggling with depression all around us, often with very little warning signs at all, inspired me to look for a way to help members in our community.” Reeb is leading Aggies for Living — a new student effort partnering with SCS to host the walk. “We like to think of ourselves as a student task force,” Reeb said. “We are hoping to continue to raise awareness year long, though we
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1. Courtney Antonucci’s bearded dragon, Brad, can’t be out of his cage for more than 15 minutes because he is unable to maintain his body temperature. 2. Luke Brown’s scorpion Constantine is a Malaysian giant scorpion. 3. Sarah Stipanovich, owner of Sarah the hedgehog, has a hedgehog onesie to match her pet.
A&M students share stories of unique, first-time college pets By Michelle Milstead @mmilsteadd
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hen leaving home for the first time, many students leave their parents and pets behind. And while most students will choose a cat or dog for their first pet away from home, there are a select group of students who choose pets outside of the norm.
Courtney Antonucci, zoology junior, said she impulsively bought a bearded dragon last spring when her mom took her to a rattlesnake convention. Antonucci has never owned a reptile and said it’s been interesting to learn about them. “My favorite thing is watching him eat because it’s fun to see him hunt the crickets,” Antonucci said. “Why they’re called bearded dragons is because the under his
neck part, he can expand it when he feels threatened so it’s cool to see that happen because it gets black and really big.” Antonucci said some people may think it’s weird she owns a bearded dragon but she thinks each pet gives you a different connection and all animals should have a home. PETS ON PG. 4
A&M defense shines, offense seeks growth ahead of Arkansas matchup By Lawrence Smelser @LawrenceSmelser
NEW RESTAURANT BRINGS FRESH ASIAN FOOD TO B-CS COMMUNITY REALITY VS RUMOR
MUSLIM STUDENT ASSOCIATION DISPELS RUMORS AND MYTHS ABOUT ISLAM MI CASA ES SU CASA
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Quarterback Trevor Knight went 20-of-40 for 247 yards and a touchdown in Texas A&M’s 29-16 win over Auburn.
At Tuesday’s football news conference Texas A&M coaches and players elaborated on the team’s 29-16 SEC opening victory over Auburn and looked ahead to the challenges the team will face against No.17 Arkansas on Saturday at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. The Aggie defense performed well on the road against the Tigers allowing only 16 points, with six of them coming late in the fourth quarter when the game was out of reach. The offense, though, struggled mightily on third downs going 2-for-15. Texas A&M head coach Kevin Sumlin said that is an area where his squad must improve on if they are going to be successful down the stretch. “We get better on third down through practice,” Sumlin said. “We need to be better there. We’re also making a lot of first downs. I said after the game, we’ve got a lot to work on. Third down conversions and the red zone are areas we need to work on. We had some miscues, high balls and our back went the wrong way one time. Third down is the loudest down so being able to communicate was an issue. We have to be more comfortable in that situation.” The defense limited Auburn quarterback Sean White to only 163 yards passing and forced Tigers’ head coach Gus Malzahn to make a change at quarterback as well. A&M defensive coordinator John Chavis’ men also stopped Auburn twice on fourth down and forced a fumble. “I’m really excited how our kids played,” Chavis said. “They executed the game plan really well. They answered all the things coach Sumlin asked of them. We’ve got to get a little bit better at stopping third down conversions. Were we satisfied? No. We’re never satisfied as coaches. Were we pleased? Yes. We’ve got to continue to grow. We’ve got to continue to get better as a defensive unit. Us coaches, too. We’ve got to do a better job coaching and in preparation.” Despite struggling in the red zone and on third downs, Noel Mazzone’s offense still managed to put up 29 points on the board and put themselves in Auburn territory with opportunities to score. FOOTBALL ON PG. 2