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UNCOVERING HISTORY

After being buried for more than 75 years, pieces of a WWII aircraft — likely a P-38 — will be uncovered at the Victoria Regional Airport. PROVIDED

A&M Archaeology Department heads to Victoria Regional Airport to help uncover WWII aircraft By Meredith McCown @meredithrhoads Texas A&M Archaeology Department heads and geophysicists will work together to uncover a World War II aircraft that has been buried for more than 75 years. According to the primary stakeholder Bill McCaskill, pieces of what is likely a P-38 were buried at the Victoria Regional Airport prior to its decommissioning as a U.S. Air Force Base. Due to barriers such as surrounding airports being shut down and lack of pilots to fly the planes to Oklahoma for aluminum siding, the airmen were left with no choice than to dig a hole and bury the parts of the planes, including one of the bulldozers they used to dig. Little did they know that years down the road

would arise the possibility of the aircraft being uncovered by archaeologists from Texas A&M. Last week, professors in the College of Geosciences Rick Giardino and Mark Everett and Peter Fix of the A&M Anthropology Department, met with McCaskill to discuss a plan moving forward. They will meet with the Victoria County Airport Commission on April 27. If approved, the second stage will be executed early summer, and will include assessments for the purpose of amassing the geographical display of the site in four spots. Fix said the project is currently in the investigative phase. “[The U.S. Air Force] had so many planes at the end of World War II, [they] didn’t know what to do with them all,” Fix said. “A lot of aircraft were just melted down essentially, and turned into non-wartime materials, like aluminum sighting, or metal doors, or nails, things to rebuild our economy in other ways … What the folks did was just dug a big hole around and shoved them in.”

In terms of the first phase, a ground penetrating radar (GPR) scan and radiometer work have already been conducted at the site. Right now, the main goal is to properly manage the site and keep everything under control, Fix said. Additionally, per the Texas Historical Commission, the archaeological site in Victoria must be destroyed after use, meaning precautions are taken early on in the procedures. “What we want to do is … get a good understanding that if they are there, what’s their situation and orientation in the ground,” Fix said. “Also, once you dig something up, it’s kind of the same adage as, ‘You break it, you buy it.’ Once you pull something out of the ground like that, it’s going to be subject to degradation and deterioration potentially very quickly.” The next step is electromagnetic induction (EMI) and electrical receptivity tomography (ERT). Fix anticipates concern and cautious measures until the aircraft is officially identified. “Until we find them, until we know what’s there,” Fix said. ARCHAEOLOGY ON PG. 3

A&M research team receives $3.2 million grant to research disease disparity in soldiers By Timothy Deville @TimothyJDeville

An A&M research team was awarded a $3.2 million grant from the Defense Department in order to combat diseases that vary in severity based on soldiers’ genes.

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Soldiers are exposed to potentially harmful diseases on a daily basis. A disease that may cause no symptoms in one person may cause serious illness in another, and figuring out what causes this disparity may lead to new ways to combat potentially life-threatening ailments to deployed soldiers. A research team at Texas A&M University was awarded a $3.2 million grant from the Department of Defense’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to explore this possibility. Co-led by David Threadgill and

Helene Andrews-Polymenis, the team is making an effort to understand what makes some people tolerant to infectious agents while others are much more susceptible to infection. David Threadgill is a distinguished professor at Texas A&M University in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Medicine and the Department of Veterinary Pathobiology. Threadgill said the goal of the project is geared toward figuring out what makes someone tolerant of infectious diseases. “The outcome is to hopefully identify the genes that make someone tolerant,” Threadgill DISEASES ON PG. 2

A&M leads track rankings Aggie men and women’s track teams claim No. 1 spot in nation By Chris Martin @martin19340 Monday afternoon, the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) released its latest track and field rankings, with both the Texas A&M men’s and women’s teams taking No. 1 in the nation. The men’s team jumped over Florida to claim the top spot, and the women’s team jumped up seven spots to claim the crown over the Oregon Ducks. The men lead the nation in five events, featuring Fred Kerley in the 400m (44.60), Robert Grant in the 400m hurdles (49.40), Lindon Victor in the decathlon (8,472), Loannis Kyriazis in javelin (288-9), Audie Wyatt in pole vault (18-8 ¼) and the 4x400 relay team (3:01.74). On the women’s side, the Aggie national leaders include Danyel White and Brenessa Thompson in the 200m, Jazmine Fray in the 800m (2:01.43), Audrey Malone in javelin (181-8) and the 4x100 relay team (42.82). For outdoor track and field, the SEC currently has 11 teams in the top 25, most of which will participate in the SEC relays in Baton Rouge, a two-day relay meet starting Friday. Unlike most traditional

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The A&M Higher Education Center will bring A&M education to students in the Rio Grande Valley.

A&M education comes to the Valley A&M Higher Education Center offers enrollment at A&M in McAllen area PROVIDED

Senior Fred Kerley of Texas A&M’s men’s track team completed the 400m dash in under 45 seconds.

track meets, the SEC relays takes into account men’s and women’s point totals together. The main events on the track for the SEC relays are the 4x100, 4x200, 4x400, 4x800, sprint medley, distance medley and shuttle hurdle. On the field, there will be a jumps relay and a throws relay, in which the highest mark from each individual is added together on a team of four athletes.

By Tyler Snell @tyler_snell2 Starting this fall, students in the Rio Grande Valley area can enroll in the Texas A&M University Higher Education Center in McAllen with the full rights and benefits as a student at A&M’s College Station campus. The project began in September 2015 and is expected to be completed by fall 2018. Currently, the only degree to be offered will be an interdisciplinary engineering degree, but the new center will provide many opportunities for the students in the Rio Grande Valley area. Rick Margo, Center Director Rio Grande Valley and Laredo Prospective Student Cen-

ters, said students in the program will still be able to earn a quality education through A&M. “We will have students that cannot come to College Station, maybe for financial reasons and now they get to stay local, save some money, maybe live at home and get a quality education from Texas A&M,” Margo said. “The hope is that these students will graduate and stay in the Valley, boost the economy and help the community.” The Higher Education Center will be a three-story, 65,000-square-foot building, and Associate Vice President for External Affairs Chad Wootton said this center will bring the A&M experience to the area. “Our intention with this project is to expand capacity of some of the existing degree programs that we offer here at main campus, to be able to expand that opportunity VALLEY ON PG. 2