MONDAY, APRIL 30 | SERVING TEXAS A&M SINCE 1893 | © 2018 STUDENT MEDIA
TINY HOMES,
BIG VISION Photos by Jesse Everett — THE BATTALION
Local nonprofit provides homeless women and children a place to grow By Jordan Burnham @RJordanBurnham Northway Farms, a nonprofit in Bryan founded in 2016, offers homeless women and their children a chance to find community, work and residence on a farm. After researching similar nonprofit models, directors Justin and Kasey Van Norman created a long-term, employment-based housing model that gives women and their children a house to stay in for a period of two years and allows them to work directly on the farm, producing food for the community. Kasey Van Norman worked in the nonprofit sector for 20 years. After moving to Bryan-College Station, she said she saw how homelessness affects the community, and wanted to do something to change that. “We saw and noticed that poverty, home-
Kasey Van Norman is one of the founders of Northway Farms.
lessness specifically, is really the one factor holding all of these other things in place: drugs, violence, crime, domestic violence and so we wanted to meet that need specifically,” Van Norman said. According to Van Norman, there are organizations in Brazos County that serve homeless and poor communities, but there are no long-term facilities. Government housing has a cap on the duration of stay, so Northway Farms seeks to create a long-term place of residence, Van Norman said. “You have a place to come, not just for 30 days or for 90 days, but for two years, where you can live safely, or you can work,” Van Norman said. “We give you those relationships and those resources to tap into what you were designed to do and be a leader in this community.” Northway Farms has hosted four women and their families since it began and intends NORTHWAY ON PG. 4
Headed home: Kirk drafted by Cardinals Three Aggies selected on days two and three of NFL Draft, two others signed free agent deals By Angel Franco @angelmadison_
CREATIVE COMMONS
Tom Hiddleston stars as Loki in Infinity War.
“Infinity War” lives up to hype and then some Marvel’s greatest creation explores sacrifice after decade of buildup Keagan Miller @KeaganMlr Marvel Studios has created the ultimate action movie. Accomplishing exactly what they set out to do, Marvel gave us 10 years of background, dozens of lovable and relatable characters and an entire universe as a setting. Then they introduced the ultimate threat – an invincible villain on a quest to achieve unlimited power. A villain who believes he’s doing the right thing. A villain who can’t be stopped. Marvel put the lives of their characters, the lives of half the population of the universe they so painstakingly constructed, as the stakes. “Infinity War” truly lived up to its name. It is by far the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s greatest achievement, and probably the biggest thing to happen in the history of superhero films. It is a cultural phenomenon, the brilliant culmination of rich lore, vibrant characters and genius storytelling. It’s emotional, it’s exciting, it’s dramatic and intense. It’s violent, beautiful, touching and frightening. It’s everything I hoped it would be. The pacing was remarkable, especially considering the daunting task the film’s multiple simultaneous storylines must’ve posed its creators. The movie has a runtime of two hours, 40 minutes, but by the time the credits rolled, I was left still wanting to see more. I found myself surprised by how well things came together. The film doesn’t waste any time, and yet, it doesn’t rush to a conclusion either. It had the feel of an expertly crafted and well-polished film, which, REVIEW ON PG. 2
Cassie Stricker — THE BATTALION
Christian Kirk started every game during his three seasons at A&M.
The seven rounds of the NFL Draft concluded Saturday afternoon. Three former Texas A&M football players were drafted on Friday and Saturday, but A&M’s streak of players taken in the first round every year since 2011 came to an end Thursday night. Wide receiver Christian Kirk was selected by the Arizona Cardinals in the second round, 47th overall. Kirk said in his introductory press conference in Arizona he still couldn’t believe he will live out his dream of playing in the NFL. “It’s so surreal,” Kirk said. “I’m sure it will settle in a little bit further down the road when we report for camp.” Kirk, originally from Scottsdale, Arizona, said he was happy and excited to be able to stay home and represent an organization he grew up watching. “Being a hometown kid and growing up here, I’ve always been a Cardinals fan and just remember so many times growing up — especially when they made the Super Bowl run. Being able to have the opportunity to be around Kurt Warner and Larry Fitzgerald is so surreal,” Kirk said. “I’ve come so far. It’s crazy how everything goes full circle.” On day three of the NFL Draft, defensive back Armani Watts was selected in the fourth round, 124th overall, by the Kansas City Chiefs. On Instagram, Watts said he was thankful for the opportunity to represent the Chiefs. In the sixth round, wide receiver Damion Ratley was selected 175th overall by the Cleveland Browns. Ratley will join former Aggie teammate and 2017 No. 1 NFL Draft pick Myles Garrett. Ratley said on Instagram he was thankful and excited for the opportunity the Browns have given him. After the draft, defensive tackle Zaycoven Henderson and punter Shane Tripucka signed free agent deals with the Browns and Chargers, respectively.
If rocks could talk Aggie geologist and team found evidence of rapid sea level rise after Snowball Earth era By Savannah Mehrtens @SJMehrtens Ryan Ewing, associate professor of geology and geophysics, and a team of researchers discovered geological evidence in southern Australia supporting the Snowball Earth hypothesis. The Snowball Earth hypothesis states that the earth was covered by ice millions of years ago. This hypothesis is now widely accepted by geologists, but due to this new research there is now direct evidence of the rate of rapid sea level rise from deposits found in south Australia. The research team studied the most recently known Snowball Earth event, which occured around 635 million years ago. “The goal of the research was to investigate the interesting period in Earth’s history where we think that the earth was covered in ice all the way down to its equator, so essentially a shell of ice around Earth,” Ewing said. The Snowball Earth era ended with catastrophic melting of the ice sheets, which raised sea levels significantly, according to Paul Myrow, geology professor at Colorado College. Myrow was one of Ewing’s undergraduate advisors and one of the three researchers involved in this study. GEOLOGY ON PG. 2
PROVIDED
Ryan Ewing, Paul Myrow and Mike Lamb took data from deposits to understand the speed of sea level rise during the marinoan time period.