The Battalion: April 19, 2017 by The Battalion

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Patrick and Kaylee Cooper are hoping to raise $20,000 to help pay for adoption fees.

Made with love

Local couple hosts mac and cheese cook off to raise money to adopt child By Ana Sevilla @anavsevilla

hen Kaylee Cooper’s grandmother gifted an ornament to her and husband Patrick, it was adorned with a noodle and a caption that read: “I love mac and cheese.” Now, with a love for mac and cheese and an even stronger love for each other, the Coopers are taking their beloved dish’s purpose to the next level by hosting a Mac and Cheese Cook Off fundraiser. The fundraiser

will help the Coopers achieve their dream of becoming adopted parents. The couple is searching for “Mini Cooper” and hopes to earn enough funds to cover adoption costs. With a goal of $20,000, the entry fee for the contest is $5 a dish and it will cost $1 to taste the mac and cheese for the day. The event will also include games, activities and a silent auction, and the winner of the contest will receive a trophy and a prize. The deadline to enter the competition is Saturday and the competition will be held Saturday, April 29. Married four years, the Coopers decided a few years ago they were ready to start a family. This was when difficulties arose, Kaylee said. The couple struggled to become pregnant and

decided to seek a medical opinion. “We’ve had trouble with infertility for several years,” Kaylee said. “We’ve had two miscarriages and have gone through nine months of infertility treatments and they finally worked once. The first time I got pregnant was an accident. We decided in December that if our February treatment didn’t work we would go ahead and adopt.” Kaylee’s infertility is due in part to polycystic ovary syndrome or PCOS, a condition that affects the body’s hormone levels and can result in future health problems and complications with conception. “[The fertility treatment] was very stressful, emotionally and on my body,” Kaylee said. “The doctor told us that even for healthy

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people, there’s only a 15 percent chance each time to conceive a child. When you throw in PCOS, it takes the chances way down. We’re looking at a one percent chance, and every month is a gamble. That’s what makes it difficult.” Patrick is serving his ninth year with the National Guard as a Logistics Non-Commissioned Officer and said people often assume he’s a parent because of his time spent in the military. Patrick said the process of accepting their infertility caused some issues within their relationship, yet the two ultimately learned to grow from the ordeal. Embracing adoption, however, was always a part of the plan. MAC N’ CHEESE ON PG. 2

Experts talk resources for finals stress management By Kenya Robinson @_KenyaJ

Sarah Bannon — THE BATTALION

A team of astronomers discovered the existence of a dead galaxy more than 12 billion years old.

2 A&M astronomers helped team discover dead galaxy 12-billion-year-old ZF-COSMOS-20115 challenges former astronomical theory By Mikayla Andrade @MikaylaAndrade A team of astronomers, including two from A&M, discovered a massive inactive galaxy more than 12 billion years old. Formed about 1.5 billion years after the Big Bang, a unique galaxy named ZF-COSMOS-20115 has led many astronomers to rethink their previous theories on how galaxies like the Milky Way formed. To study galaxies, astronomers look through telescopes and use light spectrums to measure characteristics such as distance, age and size of galaxies. The group of astronomers who made this discovery accomplished it by using the two telescopes at the W.M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii. Since light from distant objects takes years to reach Earth, scientists are able to

With the semester swiftly coming to an end, final exams and major projects have become a main priority for students as well as a significant source of stress, and to help mitigate that stress the university offers several resources for students to utilize. Resources like the Psychology Clinic and Student Counseling Services work to help students persevere through the stress of finals through the use of various services like individual therapy and biofeedback services. Students can explore the different options available in both offices and decide what is best for them. The Psychology Clinic, open from 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday and Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., offers specialized services including psychological evaluations, therapy for developmental disabilities and individual adolescent therapy. Jane Carter, clinic coordinator and psychology graduate student, said one-on-one therapy can be beneficial for students who may struggle with stress and anxiety. “Every client who comes to the clinic is given a series of tests that will give us an idea of what is going on with them,” Carter said. “This will involve some personality measure, a

Rachel Grant — THE BATTALION

The Psychology Clinic and Student Counseling Services are resources available to students dealing with stress from finals.

measure of emotional and physical experiences that the person is having and then it might also include things like a depression screening.” Clinic supervisors focus on therapeutic approaches that address a broad range of

CORPS OF CADETS

Neal McCoy visits campus

look through telescopes and see what these objects looked like when they were much younger. Kim-Vy Tran, professor of physics and astronomy and one of the astronomers who helped make the discovery, said using telescopes and light coming from other galaxies allows them to look at objects that existed long ago. “It’s kind of like if you wanted to look in the dark you would use special [night vision] goggles,” Tran said. “So we essentially used a special type of instrument that allowed us to look at different wavelengths that were particularly good for trying to find things in the distant universe.” This discovery is significant because it may help confirm or deny theories about the formation of galaxies. Physics and astronomy professor Casey Papovich was one of the astronomers who helped make this discovery, and said this galaxy is different because all the galaxies around it are rapidly producing stars. This particular massive galaxy formed GALAXY ON PG. 2

FINALS STRESS ON PG. 2

Country western singer Neal McCoy recited the Pledge of Allegiance with the Corps of Cadets as part of the Facebook Live video series this morning and was presented with flags in honor of his late father. MORE AT THEBATT.COM

Alexis Alvarez — THE BATTALION

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Kaylee and Patrick Cooper are hosting a mac and cheese cook off to raise money for adoption fees.

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“Even before we knew about the infertility we talked about adopting,” Patrick said. “It was always something we wanted to do, but we’re at the point now that we want to start a family and that’s where it weighs on us, because we want to have that joy in our life and give the

joy to someone else too and having a child to give that experience to. It’s not that we’re not happy as is, but there’s something missing.” In addition to helping the Cooper family find their missing piece, the Mac and Cheese Cook Off will also fill empty stomachs and bring the community together for the cause. Kaylee said she can “live, eat and breathe mac and cheese,” so integrating the cherished dish into their

fundraiser was no accident and it made the event even more personal. The cook off, which will take place at the Texas National Guard in Downtown Bryan on April 29 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., will showcase vendors, music, games and a silent auction. General admission is free. The Coopers welcome interested competitors, vendors and live bands to inquire at kaylee. isaiah613@yahoo.com.

GALAXY CONTINUED and died very quickly and is bigger than our own galaxy, the Milky Way. “It tells us what we didn’t know, which is that galaxies can form much faster than we thought,” Papovich said. “No one had seen or expected galaxies like this to have formed so many stars in the universe then just shut off. So I think the next mystery is, ‘Why did this happen?’” Professor of physics and astronomy Nicholas Suntzeff said as the universe continues to evolve, telescopes offer the opportunity to see different stages of this evolution. “A telescope is like a time machine,” Suntzeff said. “As we look farther back in the universe we see objects earlier in their age because it takes light some amount of time for the light from the galaxy to get to us.”

COURTESY

A group of astronomers used one of the best telescopes in the country to analyze the discovered dead galaxy.

Tran said the discovery of this dead galaxy was surprising because one would not expect such an old galaxy to be surrounded by younger galaxies. “You don’t expect to see [dead galaxies] when the universe is so young, along the lines of how you wouldn’t expect to see a retired person in a kindergarten,” Tran said. Suntzeff said science starts with astronomers and sci-

FINALS STRESS CONTINUED behavioral, emotional and interpersonal issues, according to the clinic’s website. Carter said she believes therapy can be helpful for anyone, even people who are simply seeking clarity on an issue or trying to make progress in a particular area. “I honestly think that all people can benefit from seeing someone, even it is just to lay everything out and make a plan,” Carter said. “Other therapy is problem-solution focused, where you come in with an issue you need help with, but therapy is also a space where you may not have a problem and you’re just trying to manage your situation going forward or learn to grow in certain areas.” Staying aware of the warning signs that accompany stress and anxiety and seeking help as soon as possible are important to maintaining and improving mental health, according to Carter. “Things like reduction in sleep or sleep quality are some warning signs,” Carter said. “An increase or decrease in appetite, weight gain or weight loss can all be signs of stress … I would endorse immediate help when it comes to your stress because you need to be monitoring your health.” While the Psychology Clinic’s therapy assists students with stress and anxiety, Student Counseling offers Biofeedback, a process that electronically monitors stress levels and is used to train participants in gaining voluntary control of their stress levels. Open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., the Biofeedback Lab gives students a quiet, private room to play interactive games using the Alive Software program. Senior IT professional Roger Whitaker said the Alive Software uses biological information that allows students to interact with the games on the software, which in turn helps students manage their stress. “Through a Biofeedback sensor that you attach to your finger, the software collects some biological information, such as heartbeat,” Whitaker said. “It uses that while you are interacting with the software to gauge your reaction and your ability to change your heart, your blood pressure, by using

entists challenging concepts and looking for new ways to describe observations, and he is proud of the research done by A&M faculty. “We have among the best astronomers in the world working on this project,” Suntzeff said. “I’m very proud for Texas A&M University to have astronomers of that quality, but it doesn’t surprise me a discovery like this would come out of A&M.”

some of the techniques that the software teaches you to do.” Engaging games on the Alive Software use a combination of coaching and performance tracking to assist students in the games, Whitaker said. With consistent practice, students can learn how to control their stress by using the techniques introduced in the games on the Alive Software. “In one of the games you are driving a car; there’s another game where you make things float in the air,” Whitaker said. “You do all this by using the techniques [from the games] you were taught by breathing deeply and relaxing, and if you do that successfully the sensor tells the software that you are doing it successfully, and things will change in the game, like the car will speed up or slow down, or the items in the game will float the way they are supposed to.” By providing students with a visual feedback of their stress levels, counselors have found that this lab has helped students achieve better mental agility, especially in demanding situations. Whitaker said the lab allows students to become more aware of their internal responses to stress. “It helps students reduce their stress, potentially impacting your ability to deal with anxiety,” Whitaker said. “By doing this you are learning techniques and getting feedback from the software about whether you are doing it correctly. You can see tangibly what you’re behavior is doing with this tension that you have built up … We have had many good results with it ... many students come back to do repeated session and for other students one session may be enough.” Psychology graduate student Anna Finley said resources like the Psychology Clinic and Student Counseling Services can be invaluable tools for students to get a break from their heavy workload. “When people are stressed, they tend to act more impulsively and in a less controlled manner just because you have a lot of competing demands usually when you are stressed,” Finley said. “You see people eating poorly and not sleeping as much when they are stressed. Using resources such as a counselor from either the clinic or Student Counseling Services, or even talking to a friend can help control your stress.”

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The Battalion | 4.18.17

3 former students design app for planning hunting, fishing trips Sportsman Exchange app aims to bring transparency to outdoor industry By Meredith McCown @meredithrhoads During Fourth of July weekend last summer, three former students with a passion for hunting and fishing brainstormed and planned a brand new app to simplify the archaic industry and build community in the process. Class of 2013 Charles “CJ” Leazer, Class of 2009 Zachary Trant and Class of 1995 Joe Abels founded the “Sportsman Exchange” app with a goal of simplifying the logistics of hunting and fishing trips. The app connects people wanting to book a hunting or fishing excursion directly to providers and businesses in different parts of the country. The business partners set up their own profile on the application including a description of their business, the types of animals or fish offered for hunting and the option to alter the offered game as seasons change. Leazer and Trant became friends during their time at A&M and both have jobs in Houston. Abels, who used to live next door to Trant, currently works as a veterinarian. After studying economics and philosophy at Texas A&M, Leazer attended graduate school in North Carolina and hoped to find friends to hunt with when he left Texas. When he discovered the process of finding people to hunt with him was more difficult than expected, the idea of Sportsman Exchange was sparked. “In the hunting industry, a lot of times business is done by word of mouth, and you need to know people in order to get in,” Leazer said. “So during my tenure in North Carolina, I was unable to make the necessary connections in order to find a place to hunt. This was the beginning of the inception of Sportsman Exchange.” Trant, who studied agricultural leadership and development at A&M, said because the hunting and fishing industry relies heavily on word of mouth, prospective outdoorsmen can be skeptical. Sportsman Exchange aims to give users the opportunity to make a more educated decision on a hunting spot. “We wanted to build a consumer-driven application,” Trant said. “We built an app for hunting and fishing that everyone can use because it’s just like shopping on Amazon.com — you’re going through and reading ratings and reviews so you can get comfortable with an operation and what they do … You can understand everything about the experience you’re about to have without a pressure to buy — you can self educate.”

Leah Kappayil— THE BATTALION

Sportsman Exchange, a new app developed by a team of Aggies, connects users with hunting providers across the country in order to digitize the planning of hunting and fishing trips.

Leazer, Trant and Abels planned and designed Sportsman Exchange for four to five months, they started development in December and publicly launched the application mid-March. So far, the number of total downloads is between 1,000 and 2,000, according to Trant. In the hunting and fishing world, Trant said, booking a trip can become over-complicated because it has to be done manually by mailing checks and liability waivers to the provider, a process which can take several weeks. Trant said Sportsman Exchange digitizes the industry to simplify the process. “We’ve actually built a whole business back in for hunting and fishing operations to be able to run their businesses more efficiently,” Trant said. “We’re digitizing all of their data, we’re digitizing all the documentation, we’re automating payments, we’re automating liability waiver compliances, we’re automating their calendar schedule … We’re really taking one of the most archaic types of businesses and we’re revolutionizing it through IT.” Leazer said the name of the application encompasses a realm of hunting and fishing that

has not been reached before. “The name to me is actually pretty cool,” Leazer said. “‘Sportsman Exchange’ — we’re literally creating a marketplace that didn’t necessarily exist before this. All of the service providers were scattered about in different directories and other places online. Sportsman Exchange is bringing all of the service providers together for ease for the consumer to be able to search.” Regarding the electronically based entity for the primitive market, Trant said the goal is to better adapt to the present day and age and future generations for years to come. “I think for the industry as a whole, not only is it going to get more people involved in the hunting and fishing industry, it’s going to get more people outdoors; it’s going to restore that love for the outdoors because we’re getting it to a whole new generation of consumers,” Trant said. “I do believe that by digitizing this industry on one single platform, we’re going to improve the way these businesses run.” Abels, who works as a veterinarian for ranchers, said the business was built with the

‘Aggie Honor Code’ in mind. “Aggies don’t lie, cheat, or steal or tolerate those who do and that’s going to pass on into their business, it already has passed on in their business,” Abels said. “So you have no problem connecting clients with ranchers, or clients with fishing captains, you’re going to have a business built on faith and built on respect and built on honor and trust.” Trant said because of the A&M roots that started the idea for the app, Aggie values largely helped shape the culture behind its creation. “The Aggie values really are instilled — we still have those today, all the way from CJ to myself to Joe,” Trant said. “That spirit has never left us. I will say that working with two Aggies throughout this process has been fantastic … We were all hand-shake mentality, and that’s how we run our business as well with our premier partners. When we make a deal with somebody, we hold to that with integrity.” For more information on Sportsman Exchange, visit the Instagram account @sportsmanexchange or download the app from the app store.

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