The Battalion - December 4, 2019

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 4 | SERVING TEXAS A&M SINCE 1893 | © 2019 STUDENT MEDIA

PUBLICATION NOTICE The final edition of The Battalion for the fall 2019 semester will be on stands Monday, Dec. 9. Over the winter break, readers can follow thebatt.com and The Battalion’s social media feeds for breaking stories and updates.

PROVIDED

AMBUCS members assemble an Amtryke, which will be donated to a person in need.

Inspiring A president’s best friend independence

Joshua Sozio — THE BATTALION

Service dog Sully poses next to a bronze statue of himself unveiled at the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum on Monday.

Community member looks to start A&M student chapter of AMBUCS

By Alyssa Gafford-Gaby @AGaffordGaby A chapter of AMBUCS may be coming to Texas A&M in the near future, offering students a new way to help the community.

AMBUCS, a grassroots nonprofit with the mission to “inspire mobility and independence” for the disabled community, has been around since 1922. In the mid-1990s, AMBUCS began making Amtrykes, tricycles that allow those with physical disabilities to move around and stay active. AMBUCS provides trykes free of charge to those in need, as the money is fundraised by local chapters. Several universities nationwide have started chapters of AMBUCS, raising money to build ramps and donate trykes to local physical therapists so they can give them to patients with mobility problems. Area resident Jon Williamson is in the process of starting a chapter at Texas A&M to offer students a new way to give back.

Seeing a great need in the community and a student body filled with people ready to serve, Williamson began to reach out to AMBUCS and students.

“AMBUCS cares about the needs of others and is committed to helping the needs of others,” Williamson said. “That’s why I’m wanting to start a chapter. When I realized the dynamics of this university and all the emphasis that’s put on people being involved and committed to caring about other people, this seemed natural.”

Williamson said in order to start a chapter, a team of student officers needs to apply. From there, the chapter would be founded and gain nonprofit status on both the state and national level. The goal of individual AMBUCS chapters is to raise money, allowing patients to get the trykes free of cost. Additionally, the trykes are custom-fitted, granting mobility to people of all ages.

The original creator of the Amtryke, Gene Allen, Class of 1974 and a former member of AMBUCS’ Longview chapter, made the first bike for a two-year-old girl who couldn’t walk due to spina bifida. Allen said, after the first tryke was made, several people that started to voice a need for the trykes in his community. Eventually, AMBUCS made it part of their mission, and now the trykes are made in a factory in China but still personalized to fit people of all sizes and need.

“It’s humbling beyond belief to think that there are over 30,000 of the trykes since we started building them,” Allen said. “The incredible thing is when the kid gets big enough that the trike is too small, we get them a bigger one and give the little one to a therapist to give to somebody else.”

While a chapter has yet to be formed at A&M, both Williamson and Allen said it is a promising endeavor. Even though A&M has grown significantly since he was a student, the heart for service is still present within AMBUCS ON PG. 2

George H.W. Bush’s animal companion and aid Sully immortalized in bronze at Presidential Library

By Celeste Estrada @celeste_ae

A

bronze statue of George H.W. Bush’s service dog, Sully, is the latest addition to the former president’s library on the Texas A&M campus.

The statue of the yellow Labrador retriever was unveiled at the Bush Presidential Library and Museum in front of donors and supporters on Monday evening.

Named after the famous “Miracle on the Hudson” pilot Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, Sully was the companion and aid to Bush in the final months of his life. Following the

former president’s death, the dog has become part of Bush’s legacy, said Bush Library Director Warren Finch. The statue was created by internationally acclaimed artist Susan Bahary and was commissioned by national service dog school America’s VetDogs. The Sully statue will be permanently placed in the legacy exhibit of the Presidential Library on Friday.

During the unveiling, Finch welcomed the attendees and began by thanking his team, the donors and contributors for creating the opportunity to honor Sully. Bush and his wife lived a life of humanitarianism through the Points of Light organization, Finch said, while Sully brought recognition to American VetDogs and how animals aid former servicemen.

“Even at the end of his life, the service president Bush was so famous for — selfless service — will live on,” Finch said. “Points of Light, which is still done here in the U.S., is now done in Great Britain, and Mrs. Bush, her literacy foundation lives on after her.”

Chief Program Officer for America’s VetDogs Brad Hibbard is an Air Force veteran who was present when Sully was trained to aid Bush. The former president knew that Sully’s presence would create awareness of the group’s efforts to support veterans, Hibbard said.

“We’re just really honored to be here,” Hibbard said. “We’ve seen the pictures of the statue as it was coming together, but it’s going to be really amazing to see it in real life, and we’re just happy that we can be here and take part.”

Bahary was asked to create Sully’s bronze sculpture because of her previous sculptures depicting the animal-human bond. She brought the Purple Poppy movement to the United States, honoring all animals who serve in the military and law enforcement, as well as other service animals. Bahary said she fell in love with Sully during Bush’s state funeral, and she hopes the statue will raise SULLY ON PG. 2

Abbey Santoro — THE BATTALION

Several A&M volleyball players have received postseason honors, and head coach Laura Kuhn was named SEC Coach of the Year.

Aggies to make 25th NCAA tournament appearance A&M volleyball has best conference finish since 2016, tied for third in SEC

By Hannah Underwood @hannahbunderwoo After finishing the 2019 regular season 21-7 in head coach Laura “Bird” Kuhn’s second year at the helm, the Texas A&M volleyball team will host the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament Thursday and Friday, the NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Committee announced on Sunday.

The No. 13 seed Aggies finished with a 13-5 record against SEC opponents, their best conference finish since 2016, and are tied for third in the conference. A&M also has a 12-1 record in games played at home, which is the program’s best home record since 2000.

The Aggies are 26-24 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, with their last victory coming in 2015 against A&M-Corpus Christi.

Also on Sunday, Kuhn was named SEC Coach of the Year for the first time in her career. Kuhn is the second A&M volleyball coach to receive the honor after Laurie Cor-

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Four other Aggies also earned postseason honors. Junior setter Camille Conner and senior outside hitter Hollann Hans were named to the All-SEC team, and freshmen outside hitter Lauren Davis and opposite hitter Treyaunna Rush were named to the VOLLEYBALL ON PG. 7

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PROVIDED

Amtrykes, initially designed by Gene Allen, Class of 1974, can be customized to fit the size and needs of different people. Children are provided with new trykes as they grow.

AMBUCS CONTINUED the student body, Allen said.

Business junior Nicholas Ammons said serving the community in unconventional

ways is at the heart of what it means to be an Aggie, and an organization like AMBUCS could impact the community more than people might think.

“I believe it’s beneficial that students are given the opportunity to help provide needed

equipment and infrastructure to the disabled community,” Ammons said “[Students] are able to give back to the community in a way that many people can’t or neglect to, filling a need for service where often times it is ignored.”

To get involved with AMBUCS and to help implement a chapter at Texas A&M, students can contact Jon Williamson at 979-229-5679 or visit ambucs.org.

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Joshua Sozio — THE BATTALION

The bronze statue of Sully was created by Susan Bahary, who said she hoped to capture the “essence of loyalty.”

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SULLY CONTINUED awareness for service animals and their handlers.

“I was happy with it,” Bahary said.

“It seemed to have that essence of loyalty that I wanted to capture that I felt was critical.”

Bahary said she’s very moved to have captured the moment where everyone comes together as the best versions of themselves through their love of dogs.

Bahary said the moment of remembering the former president a year after his funeral was almost dreamlike, and she’s happy people were excited about the

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“This is the time when people see it and appreciate it that makes it all worthwhile, and that completes the cycle,” Bahary said. “As an artist, you need people to be moved by the work you do.”

Finch said he appreciates the awareness of America’s VetDogs that Sully inspired through his service to Bush, and the sculpture is a wonderful likeness of the presidential service dog.

“About putting a statue of Sully here, somebody contacted us at one point, [and] we thought it was a wonderful idea,” Finch said. “It kind of went from that to this. Susan Bahary

has been working on this thing for a while and it turned out fantastic. I think everyone will just be thrilled.”

Hibbard said the statue is a culmination of Bush’s lifelong efforts to support veterans, and is backing for laws like the Americans with Disabilities Act. He said Bush’s promotion of the service dog program through Sully helped service members with disabilities feel appreciated after they returned home.

“I think something that was important to President Bush was letting everybody know that these types of dogs, service dogs, are out there to help disabled veterans,” Hibbard said.

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CASAs give voices to children Volunteers act as advocates for local children during legal proceedings

By Julia Potts @juliaapotts The Brazos Valley branch of Voices for Children recruits, trains and supervises Court Appointed Special Advocates to help local children in protective services find safe living situations.

When CASAs are trained, they are assigned one child or group of siblings and are tasked with the responsibility of ensuring these children are placed in safe environments. It is the CASAs’ job to act in the best interest of their assigned child or children.

These decisions are crucial to the children’s futures, as the CASAs inform judges about the best likely outcomes for the children.

Director of development Lindsey Woods has worked at Voices for Children for a little over a year and a half. She said there are multiple steps that people must take before becoming a volunteer.

“To become a CASA volunteer, you first attend an orientation and a one-hour Q&A session about what the volunteer opportunity is like, answering any questions you have about volunteering,” Woods said. “You fill out an application online, you come in for an interview which usually takes about an hour.”

Ella Johnson started with Voices for Children as a volunteer, then worked as an in-

tern and became the program director in November 2018. She said the preparation for CASAs after one has been hired requires a lot of time.

“In volunteering, you go through 40 hours of training, and then you get sworn in by one of our judges to be a guardian ad litem for a child,” Johnson said.

Woods said the program has grown since its beginning and has helped many children along the way.

“We had our first CASA class go through in 2001 with three volunteers,” Woods said.

“Now we have a volunteer base of 159. In the past year, we’ve served 377 children, all from the Brazos Valley in this seven-county region.”

PROVIDED Johnson said there are many tasks that the CASAs volunteer do to ensure a good future Court Appointed Special Advocates provide support for children in the legal system. for the child or family.

“They do their own separate investigation alongside CPS,” Johnson said. “So they’ll call Voices for Children in Brazos Valley, said he an in depth investigation into all these cases,” the parents, they’ll call the lawyers, they’ll go thinks the program makes a huge difference in Johnson said. “So for me, being able to see how to the kids’ schools, they’ll talk to their doc- children’s lives and can help prevent their situ- important it is that each child gets their own ations from becoming worse. person or each family gets their own person to tors, talk to their therapists.”

“This whole thing means a lot to me,” Sou- be concerned about that family and what’s best Johnson said the information that the CASAs gain from these tasks is then used to take lier said. “I went through the CASA training. I for that child has made a huge impact on me.”

Woods said she was also deeply affected by their best informed opinion to the court and truly love the mission we have. I’ve done a little the judge regarding the best course of action research about the kids that have been abused. her work with this program and has appreciated They are in a bad spot. With all of that going being in a position where she can help others. for the child or family.

“It’s really given me the opportunity to see “They gather all this information about on, without a CASA they will likely end up in how connected the community is, and how evthe child, about their family,” Johnson said. a bad way.”

Johnson said she enjoys the work she does eryone plays a role and is willing to give their “Then they’ll write court reports for every court hearing, and they submit that to the because she sees the positive difference the vol- time and resources to make sure the vulnerable unteers make in these children’s lives. population is not forgotten about,” Woods said. judge and all the legal parties on the case.”

“Attorneys don’t have enough time to do Emile Soulier, chief financial officer of

PROVIDED

To participate in Bowl for Kids’ Sake, teams raise money for Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Brazos Valley. Held in March, the event is a way for BBBS to say thank you to these donors.

Bowling with Big Brothers Big Sisters Bowl for Kids’ Sake event to celebrate contributions of area BBBS donors

By Alek Benavides @alekbenavides Bowl for Kids’ Sake is a thank you from Big Brothers Big Sisters to those who have contributed to helping children in the program.

Big Brothers Big Sisters is a national mentoring organization with branches throughout the country. During the year, the organization holds fundraising events to ensure that it can continue supporting local young people.

Among these is Bowl For Kids’ Sake, a bowling event that will take place on March 7 at Grand Station Entertainment.

Terry Dougherty, the program director for Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Brazos Valley, said Bowl For Kids’ Sake itself doesn’t raise money and is meant instead to be a celebration of those who have contributed funds to the program.

“Basically, we get teams of five to raise $500,” Dougherty said. “We mainly do that through social media. The event is more of a thank you and a celebration, as it itself raises no money. To be a part of a team, you don’t necessarily have to come bowl if you don’t want. This is our way of thanking you.”

Dougherty said organizations like Big Brothers Big Sisters and events like Bowl For Kids’ Sake are important because of the kids they serve and impact. Dougherty said the event is also a ton of fun and can give friends things to compete over.

“The more money we are able to raise, the more kids we will be able to serve,” Dougherty said. “It costs about $1,000 to make and support a new match for the first year. We usually have 100 door prizes to give out at these events. … If there is a student group, you can find another one and have some sort of [rivalry game between one another].”

In its work throughout the community, Big Brothers Big Sisters aims to foster positive relationships between the participating children

and their mentors. Terry Hay, the workplace program director for Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Brazos Valley, said this is one of the best things about working for the program.

“It’s really neat to see a relationship grow between a mentor and a child or a youth — to see that youth gain in confidence and opening themselves up to something new and working towards reaching their potential,” Hay said.

For anyone who is thinking about joining, Hay said Big Brothers Big Sisters can provide experiences people may not be able to get elsewhere and can open them up to new types of people.

“As a mentor, I would say it is something that really can expand your experience,” Hay said. “You can grow to know a person who is maybe different than you or a different age.

You can bridge that gap together and make that connection. It makes our world stronger when people come together and get to know each other.”

Although the program has been able to help hundreds of kids, Dougherty said they are still

facing some challenges in helping as many as they would like.

“This year we have served about 300 kids,” Dougherty said. “The challenging news is that we have more than 80 kids on the waitlist.

When people hear that, they think we need to recruit more mentors, but it’s critical we raise money at our fundraising events so we can be helped in serving kids.”

Doughterty said the number of kids they are able to serve is a product of funding, not willingness.

“The number of staff is driven by our income, and so the more staff hours we can support, the more kids we can serve,” Dougherty said. “The limited number of kids we serve is not due to a lack of interest, it’s due to a lack of finances.”

To get more information about Big Brothers Big Sisters, contact Terry Dougherty at: tdougherty@bigmentor.org To join a team, donate or become a sponsor, visit bit.ly/aggiebfks.

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OPINION

Taking time to watch a favorite TV show or movie can be a great stressreliever during difficult times, says opinion writer Benjamin Lopez.

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Pop Culture Comfort Food With end-of-semester stress on the rise, there’s no shame in seeking refuge in your favorite music, films and TV shows Benjamin Lopez @AggieBen2014

I

don’t know about you, but usually the first thing I do when I wake up is turn on the TV, always set to CNN. Something about the warm company of Anderson Cooper and friends as I brush my teeth and prepare for the day is beautiful. Plus, I get caught up on the start of the day’s news. Between that, political podcasts, newspapers and online media, I have a steady stream of election coverage and world events available to me every day. I quite enjoy this routine and take pride in the knowledge it provides me.

However, there always comes a day in which nothing seems better than cutting myself away from all of it. Relaxing in a warm refuge of lighthearted entertainment and shows I already know and love is therapeutic, as well as stress-relieving.

We all do this one way or another, some to avoid the stresses of class, and others to escape the looming knowledge that election season is rapidly approaching.

NPR calls it “Pop Culture Comfort Food,” because, like comfort food, it’s what we turn to when we need to feel happy.

Maybe it’s a book you’ve read a

half-dozen times and never tire of, or a classic television series with characters you know and care about like old friends. Whatever it may be, it’s not something you pour over with a critical eye, just something you enjoy, regardless of perceived taste or quality.

The primary way I tend to relax is by binge-watching a few of my favorite TV shows and re-reading a book or two. For television, the answer is always animation. Recent works like “Over the Garden Wall” and “Adventure Time” never fail to pick me up and give me a laugh, while classic anime is my favorite way to fall deep into a good story. When I’m in the middle of studying for three finals and buried in the throes of nervous worry, I know I can put on an episode of “House” or a “Bon Appetit” cooking video. They distract me from the world around and the pressure I put on myself as a student. They place me into a world of characters I already know I love and proceed to distract me with jargon I’ll likely never put to good use. I’m not the only one that finds joy in the simple pleasures of pop culture.

Michal Pate, a nuclear science graduate student and friend of mine, says one of his favorite ways to relax after a long week is to listen to tons of 80s pop classics. Anything from the Billy Idol to David Bowie works. The reason he

GUEST COLUMN

Everything by Design Dr. Mark Benden ’89 ’92 ’06 helped create a better future, one desk at a time Tyson Voelkel @Tyson Voelkel Howdy Ags, Ergonomics has become a hot topic among employers in recent years. Defined as the process of designing a workplace to meet the unique needs of the worker, ergonomics plays an important role in fostering successful businesses and employee satisfaction. One small example is through adjustable office equipment designed to increase each employee’s ease of use and physical health. I actually had the first standing desk at the Texas A&M Foundation, and its design is thanks to one of Texas A&M University’s very own faculty members: Dr. Mark Benden ’89 ’92 ’06. Because of him, I realize how much human craft and ingenuity goes into designing things so well that the design itself is never noticed.

Dr. Benden entered Texas A&M as a bioengineering major with plans of becoming a physician. After he took an ergonomics class during his senior year, however, he realized he could make largescale improvements to public health by redesigning everyday objects with health in mind. For 20 years, Benden developed ergonomic products for companies before he set his sights on a public health challenge: addressing the national obesity epidemic.

Seeing how modern classroom and workplace environments encouraged students and workers to sit down throughout the day, Benden set out to design a standing desk that would incentivize individuals to move. With support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, he deployed his stand-biased

desks in 24 College Station elementary classrooms for two years and found that students who used them were more active and less likely to gain weight throughout the year.

Since then, Benden sold his standing desk company to Varidesk, a giant in the field of active workplace products. With proceeds from the sale, he and his wife, Teresa ’88, established an endowed scholarship for students in the School of Public Health’s Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, where Benden currently serves as department head.

Today, he thrives on interacting with students and seeing Aggies develop and grow through teaching and mentorship.

After spending years designing better, healthier everyday products for people across the world, Benden is giving back to students who may eventually do the same through his mentorship and generosity.

He is not the only faculty member giving back to the university, either.

Former, current and retired Texas A&M faculty and staff have given more than $79 million to benefit the university’s Lead

by Example campaign. Their wholesale commitment to developing a premier education for students creates the learning environment in Aggieland we see today.

While you may not know about every contribution they make, the impact is everywhere you look. Like a desk that does its job perfectly, their work is very intentional, by design.

Thanks and Gig ’em, Tyson Voelkel ’96 President, Texas A&M Foundation

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says this works so well to relieve stress is that he was taught to love all these classics by his mother and still connects with that music today. It’s pretty easy to relax when you hear the soft sounds of “Everybody Wants to Rule the World”

by Tears for Fears. Or you can jam out to one of my personal favorites, “In the Air Tonight” from Phil Collins. Music is easily one of the main ways we detach ourselves from the chaos around us and sink into a comfy state of bliss brought about by Duran Duran and Eagles.

Chris Rogers, a computer programmer here in College Station, told me that nothing puts his mind at ease like sitting on the couch after a week of work and putting on an eclectic playlist of good YouTube videos. Now, this I related to because who among us doesn’t have a few channels they can reliably turn to for short-form entertainment. He says that a combination of Twitch streams, “Primitive Technology” tutorials and music videos is the perfect way he zones out and sees the worries of the world fade away. Anyone who’s seen the non-speaking gentleman from “Primitive Technology” knows exactly the strange peace he puts his viewers into regardless of what he is building.

Consider what you would put into this category. The trick is not to feel like you’re trying to impress anyone.

So much of what we consume in pop culture is intended in some part to better ourselves. We want to either learn something or familiarize ourselves with a piece of pop culture we feel is important not to miss out. This exercise can often prove incredibly valuable and satisfying.

Take for example when you watch a black and white classic film and realize just why it’s considered a masterpiece.

The same goes for the perspective gained when you willingly read a book that others might get assigned in class and understand how it came to be so important. The idea of Pop Culture Comfort Food is to identify those books, movies and television shows you turn to time after time for real joy and comfort.

Don’t feel ashamed for watching “Bachelor in Paradise” each week or putting on the tenth episode of “House Hunters” in a row. These pieces of pop culture are just as valuable as any other because they help you relax and remember that the world is vast. So much of it is devoid of the cutthroat politics and cynical arguments made every day on the news. We work hard to be informed citizens, and we deserve to take a welcome break every once in a while.

Benjamin Lopez is an agricultural economics graduate student and columnist for The Battalion.

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Meredith Seaver, Photo Chief Henry Mureithi, Opinion Editor Cole Fowler, Asst. Opinion Editor Lexi Ellis, Social Media Editor Daoud Qamar, Multimedia Editor Robert Castro, Asst. Multimedia Editor Demi Navarro, Asst. Multimedia Editor Brady Stone, Page Designer Sydney Clark, Page Designer

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Meredith Seaver — THE BATTALION

Quarterback Kellen Mond had 92 passing yards against the Tigers during Texas A&M’s matchup with LSU.

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Aggies suffer 43-point defeat to LSU in Death Valley matchup

By Hannah Underwood @hannahbunderwoo BATON ROUGE, La. — As the popular children’s fable goes, “slow and steady wins the race.”

That was not the case for Texas A&M in Death Valley on Saturday as the No. 2 LSU Tigers climbed to a firsthalf lead of 31-0 that the Aggies could not recover from, falling 50-7 on the road.

By the end of the first quarter, A&M had 18 total yards to LSU’s 240. All but one of Joe Burrow’s passes were over 10 yards, whereas Kellen Mond was 2-of-6, with completions on passes of 12 and two yards.

Junior linebacker Buddy Johnson said the defense’s inability to stop the big plays cost them the game.

“This game is about being able to step up and make those plays,” Johnson said. “We just weren’t able to do that.”

A&M’s offense improved slightly from its slow first quarter, with 90 third-quarter yards helping them to a game total of 169. Ninety-seven of those yards came through the air; however, a single play in the third quarter contributed just under half of them.

On a third-and-1 from A&M’s 34-

yard line, junior quarterback Kellen Mond connected with freshman running back Isaiah Spiller for a 45-yard run that temporarily sparked the offense. The Aggies finished off that drive with their only score of the night — a one-yard rush by Spiller.

The Aggies posted a season-low 169 offensive yards, directly off their previous season-low of 273 yards against Georgia.

“The offense just wasn’t on point today,” Mond said. “Whether it was me or anybody else, we have to be better.”

The run game, though slightly improved from the minus-1 yard it had against Georgia, accumulated only 72 yards on the ground on Saturday.

“We couldn’t get the running game going,” A&M coach Jimbo Fisher said.

“We couldn’t get the first downs. In the second half we got a couple nice things going and got established, but we just couldn’t get there.”

LSU’s lopsided victory was preceded by talk from the Tigers of getting revenge for last year’s defeat. Mond said LSU’s chatter doesn’t affect the way the Aggies feel about the loss.

“Talk or no talk, obviously we’re disappointed we came out and played the way we did,” Mond said. “I don’t think the talk added any more on us.”

With the loss, the Aggies fall to 7-5 on the season and await an announcement regarding a bowl game in late

December.

Fisher said practices leading up to the bowl game will emphasize the fast start A&M has struggled to find throughout the season.

“You have to start practice that way,” Fisher said. “We’ve tried to emphasize that the last three weeks, and we have until the last two weeks. We hadn’t done it either week.”

While the slow starts had plagued A&M earlier in the season, those problems seemed to be on the mend since the Aggies took on Ole Miss. Johnson said A&M’s two previous games have felt like a step back from the team’s midseason success.

“It doesn’t change the perception, but it would have been a big difference,” Johnson said. “It was like you were climbing the ladder and you fell down the ladder. It was a big lesson for us.”

Fisher said while disappointing, Saturday’s loss is one that the Aggies will remember for a while.

“You can’t look past it,” Fisher said.

“You have to learn from it. You can’t dwell on it; you have to understand what happened, why it happened and not let it happen again. You have to learn from those things, but eventually you have to move past it. You don’t throw it in the wash. A lot of people say that, but I don’t believe in that.”

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7

The Battalion | 12.4.19

Tiger Territory: Tales from The Batt’s trip to Baton Rouge This past weekend, seven members of The Battalion’s staff took a road trip to Louisiana to cover the Aggies’ matchup against the LSU Tigers and all the chaos of game day. Now, grateful to be back in College Station, those staff members offer a few vignettes from #BATTonRouge2019.

Cole Fowler

Sanna Bhai

Samantha Mahler

@thecolefowler

@BhaiSanna

@mahlersamantha

Carly Rae Jepsen is CANCELLED So there we were, bellies full with spicy chicken sandwiches from Popeyes, cruising about 90 down I-10 toward Baton Rouge. I had subjected my car pals to pop punk for most of the car ride thus far, so it was time to switch it up a bit.

In our deep digging through Spotify, we uncovered an ancient middle school playlist. The likes of Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream,” Soulja Boy’s “Pretty Boy Swag,” Ke$ha’s “TiK ToK,” Owl City’s “Fireflies” and, of course, Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe” soon filled our car with bittersweet, seventh grade memories of awkward school dances full of blissful ignorance and teenage heartbreak.

As Miss Jepsen was about to enter her second chorus, our fearless leader Sam turned off the radio and asked if we heard the loud popping and grinding sound that our nostalgia-fueled dance party was drowning out.

The horror of our new situation soon set in: we were stranded on the side of the I-10 with a flat tire.

Miss Jepsen is fully to blame for our misfortune.

After all, it was her song that was blaring through the speakers at the time. If it wasn’t for my long history with changing flat tires, we might still be stranded on the side of that bayou road. For this reason (and we took staff vote), we must cancel Carly Rae Jepsen. #CarlyRaeIsOverParty

Aggies rule and Tigers drool This was only the second time I switched my news editor cap for a sports writer cap, but boy was it worth it. As this was my first away game coverage, I did not know what to expect. I didn’t think there could be a stadium just as loud or louder than Kyle Field, but I was proved wrong.

Full disclosure: I never totally understood all of our Aggie traditions, such as why we “hiss” instead of “boo” when we hear our rivals’ name spoken, but being in Tiger Stadium made it all make sense.

From the minute the jumbotrons began to show pregame videos, the cheering and booing began and never ended. The booing began when A&M walked onto the field and every time they had the ball. The most surprising part was when one of our Aggies got hurt, he was booed off the field. In Aggieland, we have manners and common courtesy to those injured. We step down and patiently wait for them to be taken off the field.

The only Aggie event that got a cheer was the Aggie Band. They walked onto the field surrounded by boos, but left to a standing ovation. I like to think that the Tiger’s realized we actually were better than them, at anything except football, of course. After witnessing Tiger Stadium, I am grateful to be an Aggie

Highway to hell As every cheap mug from a souvenir shop states, don’t talk to me until I’ve had my coffee.

Fortunately for the members of The Battalion’s editorial staff, I only come into the office after 3 p.m., after I’ve enjoyed several cups of coffee. However, on Sunday when we were coming back from Baton Rouge, I was without my magic bean juice, and it showed.

We planned to eat breakfast about two hours into our trek back to College Station, and no one in my car was too happy about it. To make matters worse, traffic was at a standstill on the entirety of I-10. So, when we were told by the second group of editors that they decided to eat without us, I popped off (as the Zoomers say).

I’ll admit it, dear reader: I had no business speaking with the tone in which I addressed Brady and Sanna.

But after losing a tire and having a LEGO man ruin a shower, nothing made sense anymore.

I would like to formally apologize to not only those I spoke with over the phone, but also to those listening on the other line, those in my own car and even those who were stuck in traffic next to me who saw me at my lowest.

I’m an idiot. That’s all there is to say.

Sanna Bhai is a political science senior and news editor for The Battalion.

Samantha Mahler is an agricultural communications and journalism senior and managing editor for The Battalion.

Cole Fowler is an English junior and opinion editor for The Battalion.

Luke Henkhaus

Meredith Seaver

Brady Stone

Hannah Underwood

@luke_henkhaus

@MeredithSeaver

@bradystonex

@hannahbunderwoo

Eye of the Tiger As the journey to Tiger Stadium wears on, Louisiana State University starts to look less like a college campus and more like a theme park. This visual trend culminates not at the stadium itself, but right next to it, at the home of the LSU Tiger himself.

I’ll admit I was skeptical as we approached the enclosure. “Why would Mike the Tiger, a god among college football mascots, care to reveal his face to us mere mortals,” I thought. But lo and behold, as the worst cover of “Don’t Stop Believing” I’ve ever heard swelled in the background, he emerged.

“Now that’s a mascot,” one LSU fan next to us said. “Not some damn collie.”

I’m not proud to admit that we remained silent, our desire to defend Reveille’s honor outweighed by the sheer majesty of what we were seeing. He’s beauty.

He’s grace. He’s Mike the Tiger.

As I looked into the eyes famously described in Survivor’s 1982 smash hit, a small group of frat boys approached the enclosure. “Hell yeah baby, Mike is out on game day,” one said. “You know that’s a good sign.”

He was right.

Luke Henkhaus is an economics senior and editor-in-chief for The Battalion.

VOLLEYBALL CONTINUED All-Freshman team.

Conner earned the honor for the first time in her career, while Hans earned the recognition for the second consecutive year. Conner also earned SEC Setter of the Week honors

Three editors, two lanes, one tire As Cole mentioned, we were jamming to some music that hadn’t graced our eardrums in a while and next thing we know, Sam, Cole and I are passing through an I-10 construction zone praying that we find a shoulder before we end up on the Atchafalaya Basin Bridge in two miles — this is an 18-mile-long bridge for y’all that don’t know. Luckily for us, the good bull gods were shining down on us and we were able to pull over.

Fortunately for me and Sam, Cole was in the car. I fall into that stereotyped category of a female that has never changed a tire. While I knew the mechanics, I never had to implement them.

So Sam and I held our iPhone flashlights and watched Cole change the tire. As everyone passed by, we contemplated if we really did want someone to help us in the middle of the night on the side of the interstate.

We got the donut on the car and back on the road. Sorry to all of those that had to go around us as we drove about 20 miles under the speed limit on I-10. #SorryNotSorry. We had to make it another 100 miles before we could get our tire replaced.

Broken dreams I wouldn’t consider myself much of a fan of Disney movies, but one exception I will make is for the 2009 musical masterpiece that is “The Princess and the Frog.” Watching the movie as a 9-yearold, I always thought that Louisiana must be a magical place full of voodoo witch doctors, enchanted swamps and old blind ladies who live in treehouses and sing songs to inspire me to chase my dreams.

Those dreams were crushed when we entered the hell that was our AirBnb bathroom. As I leaned over the bathtub to wash my hair Saturday morning, I slowly realized my feet, which were outside of the tub, were wet... that is not normal... I turned around, soap still on my head, and the entire bathroom floor was covered in water. It took every towel in the house to clean up the water, and the plumber that later arrived identified the culprit as a children’s toy stuck in the drain.

In conclusion, absolutely none of the things that were present in the Louisiana I met on screen 10 years ago were present in the Louisiana I met last weekend, and for that, I will never forgive Disney, the state of Louisiana or the LEGO man that was found in the drain.

“If you ain’t talkin’ gators then I don’t want to talk.” -Brady Stone We never found our gator and the Texas A&M football team didn’t find a win in Death Valley, but we did have a great time despite all that went wrong.

I will fully take credit for being the driving force behind this adventure we call #BATTonRouge2019. As the sports editor of The Batt, I went to LSU to cover the game and coerced six of the other staffers to join me. You’re welcome.

Prior to this trip, the only stadiums I had covered A&M football in were Kyle Field and AT&T Stadium. As much as I love Kyle, Tiger Stadium was an entirely different experience. With an open press box (and a forecast of rain that sparked my anxiety), it was the loudest football game I have ever been to, even if the press box didn’t sway along with the War Hymn. I still haven’t fully regained my hearing, and I’m not sure I ever will.

(Maybe I’ll go see one of those voodoo witch doctors Brady talked about, because who can afford a real one?)

So thank you Tiger Stadium, for ruining my ears and ensuring that I will never hear “Callin’ Baton Rouge” in the same way ever again. Gig ‘em, Garth.

Meredith Seaver is a meteorology senior and photo chief for The Battalion.

Brady Stone is a journalism sophomore and head page designer for The Battalion.

Hannah Underwood is a journalism junior and sports editor for The Battalion.

during the season and was the first player in the SEC to record a triple-double. She is also fifth in the SEC in assists with 1,062 and assists per set with an average of 9.65.

Hans leads the SEC in overall matches with aces (52) and is second in total kills (471), points (551.5) and points per set, with an average of 5.06. She also ranks in the top 30

nationally in each category. This season, Hans was named to the All-SEC Preseason team, earned SEC Player of the Week on Nov. 4 and was SEC Offensive Player of the Week twice.

Davis and Rush became the sixth and seventh Aggies named to the SEC All-Freshman team, following teammates London Aus-

tin-Roark and Hans. Davis is second on the team behind Hans in kills with 234 and is also second in solo blocks with 9.

Rush is third on the team in blocks with 73 this season and has notched double-digit kills four times.

A&M will host the Big East Conference Tournament champion St. John’s at 6:30 p.m.

Don’t forget to also pre-order your copy of the

2019AGGIELAND It’s not too late to order your copy of the

2020AGGIELAND A photojournalistic record of the 2019-2020 school year. The 119th edition of Texas A&M’s official yearbook. Distribution will be the Fall 2020.

Go Online to tx.ag/BuyTheAggieland or call 979-845-2697 to make your purchase.

2019 Aggieland, a photojournalistic record of the 2018-2019 school year. The 117th edition of Texas A&M’s official yearbook.

$75.00 (Includes Mail Fee)

Go Online to tx.ag/BuyTheAggieland or call 979-845-2697 to make your purchase.

FREE portrait sessions for the 2020 Aggieland will happen again during the 2020 Spring semester. Look in The Battalion paper, thebatt.com, social media or campus email for dates, locations and times.

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