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Antisemitic symbol carved at tailgate

Spencer Russo — THE BATTALION

The Sammy bar, pictured above, was vandalized during the first A&M home game. This incident occurred at the Greek tailgate between West Campus Library and the MedSci Library.

Pi Kappa Alpha member is removed from fraternity following vandalism By Brad Morse @bradsmorse53

n Sept. 9, around 7:45 p.m. during halftime of the Texas A&M-Nicholls State football game, a now former member of the Pi Kappa Alpha, or Pike, fraternity carved a swastika into the wooden bar of the historically Jewish fraternity, Sigma Alpha Mu, commonly referred to as Sammy. The Sammy chapter filed a police report with the University Police Department, according to UPD public information officer lieutenant Bobby Richardson. The report said Sammy members had left their tailgate to go to

the game then returned at halftime to discover the swastika. “We responded to the fraternity house to take the report,” Richardson said. “From that point, the two parties got involved and worked it out. They didn’t want to press charges, so we did not investigate any further.” Because Sammy did not elect to press charges, the UPD investigation was closed and they can not verify who the perpetrator was. “[Sammy] said they knew who did it and he was in another fraternity, we tried to contact [the perpetrator] but did not make contact,” Richardson said. “When we turned it over to our CID (Criminal Investigation Department) is when the party said they weren’t going to press charges.” Edan Coben, electrical engineering junior and Sammy president, said the decision to not

press charges came from the damage to the bar being minimal. “We were asked how much damage was done, and a can of spray paint costs around five dollars,” Coben said. “So we didn’t want to press criminal charges for something we can cover up with some spray paint.” Coben reported the incident to Sigma Alpha Mu nationals, who he said handled the case from there. “The party cooperated so we let our nationals handle it,” Coben said. “I did my duty as president by informing nationals about the event.” Coben said he contacted the Pike chapter regarding the incident, who then began to look into the situation themselves. Nicholas Stefani, industrial distribution senior and Pike president, confirmed the per-

petrator was at the time a member of the fraternity, but he quickly had his membership terminated after the event. “He was removed within the week,” Stefani said. “We heard about it Monday morning. We had a pretty good idea of who it was. We approached him, he owned up to it and said he was willing to take whatever punishment.” Stefani said the fraternity did two days of follow-up investigation, then sent him to the chapter’s judicial board. “He was recommended for expulsion from the chapter by our judicial board, which was the Wednesday night following that Saturday,” Stefani said. “The chapter voted unanimously on Sunday to remove him from the GREEK ON PG. 2

Campuses respond to violence Universities, students react to crimes that have occurred in recent months By Deborah Anderaos @DeborahAnderaos

Justin Rex — The Daily Toreador

Texas Tech students and community members gathered at a vigil at Memorial Circle on Oct. 10. The vigil was held for the fallen Texas Tech Police Officer, Floyd East Jr.

Texas Tech University went on lockdown on Oct. 9, around 8:30 p.m. due to a shooting at the Texas Tech police station on campus. In the past year, two Texas universities have had events of campus violence occur, one being the stabbing on the University of Texas campus in the spring semester of 2017 and the other the recent shooting at the Texas Tech campus. Mckenzi Morris, Editor-in-Chief of The Daily Toreador, Texas Tech’s student newspaper, said the shooting that happened on campus was not the first occurrence. Morris said they also received reports of a shooting occurring at a different part of campus on 19th Street and Boston Ave. “We talked to Lubbock Police Department

Public Information Officer and she let us know there was an active shooter on-campus and a shooting at Texas Tech Police Department but they did not want to confirm if the two were related yet,” Morris said. Morris said she, Justin Rex and Michael Cantu, editors for The Daily Toreador, met at the central location where all news and media were directed to while they waited to hear more information for Texas Tech Police Department. “Later that night, around 10 p.m., different law enforcement agencies, local and federal, came back and stated that the suspect who was believed to be the shooter was in police custody,” Morris said. “However, students were asked to stay where they were on campus and not come onto campus just yet.” John Eason, associate sociology professor at Texas A&M, said with the recent violent occurrences around the country the subject of how to prevent campus violence is more prevSAFETY ON PG. 2

Back on the field

Redshirt freshman QB Nick Starkel was cleared to play six weeks after suffering a broken ankle.

Cristian Aguirre — THE BATTALION

Life drawing classes use nude models to give students a greater understanding of how the human body is formed.

The art of a live model Students pose in nude for job in life drawing classes By Abbie Maier @abbsmaier There is a variety of on-campus jobs available to students, ranging from cashier jobs to bus drivers. A more unconventional job is available, however. Students can pose as nude models for life drawing classes. Life drawing classes use nude models to teach students how to produce art that features the human figure based on a knowledge of geometry, motion and struc-

ture. Models work in three hour increments, holding poses for extended amounts of time, in order for students to reach a greater understanding of the way the body is formed. Ryman Stringer, Class of 2016, was a life drawing model for two years during her time as a student in the Department of Visualization. In need of a well-paying job and having already taken the course, Stringer decided to give modeling a try. Stringer said the course focuses on anatomy and nude models are necessary for the class to have a visual representation. DRAWING ON PG. 2

Cassie Stricker — THE BATTALION

Sumlin: Starkel cleared, Mond still A&M starting quarterback By Alex Miller @AlexMill20 Just six weeks after suffering a broken ankle in the season-opener against UCLA, redshirt freshman quarterback Nick Starkel was back in full pads in last Saturday’s game against Florida. Despite Starkel being cleared and starting the season as the Aggies QB1, Texas A&M head coach Kevin Sumlin said at Tuesday’s press conference that freshman Kellen Mond will remain the starting quarterback. Mond has started under-center in the six subsequent games following

Starkel’s injury. “He’s not 100 percent, he wasn’t last week,” Sumlin said of Starkel. “For us moving forward, nothing’s changed.” Still, Sumlin said there was value in Starkel suiting up against the Gators and experiencing that type of environment instead of standing in street clothes. “I thought it was important for him that he was [in Gainesville],” Sumlin said. “I thought it was important he got a feel for that atmosphere and got back in the mix of travel instead of being a rah-rah guy because he’s been fabulous on the sideline, he’s been fabulous with Kellen. “There’s a whole other situation when you put a helmet on. Until he

wore a helmet, you weren’t really one play away from playing – your mentality changes.” Part of the reason Mond will maintain his role as the Aggies starter is due to his progression over the past six games. Earlier this season, Sumlin noted how he and other coaches had to condense the playbook for Mond, but in time has been able to open more plays up again. “Obviously he understands more now than he did when we started the season,” Sumlin said. “You don’t run the same things every week, and the ability to continue to add is a part of football.” Sutherland misses Florida game due to appendectomy Friday morning began early for PRESSER ON PG. 3