The Battalion, April 30, 2018 by The Battalion

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.

NEWS

The Battalion | 4.30.18

GEOLOGY CONTINUED “Imagine that if you melted all of the ice on the earth, it was completely covered in ice, that you’d generate a lot of fresh water,” Myrow said. “That water would go into the ocean and it would raise the level of the ocean.” The team’s research focussed on gathering data from rocks to determine the rate of this rise. Ewing said while the rocks they used for their research were known to exist, there had not been a research team to study and publish the information they contained until now. “The rocks were already known, but we kind of put together the pieces of the puzzle,” Ewing said. “And demonstrated in fact there is a signal of rapid sea level rise, as is predicted by the hypothesis, but had not been shown before.” In 2014, the team of researchers went to southern Australia and measured outcrops — exposures of rock from the period being studied. From measuring wave ripples on the rocks to determine the depth of water during sediment accumulation, the researchers estimated a sea level rise of 20 - 27 centimeters per year as the ice melted. “Today we are concerned about rising sea level, and the rate of sea level rise is almost perfectly two orders of magnitude less than that, meaning instead of 27 centimeters it’s like two to three millimeters,” Myrow said. According to Myrow, he and his research team have likely figured out that this is the most extreme speed at which the sea level could have risen in Earth’s history. “It would be hard to imagine a situation where you could

get anything higher than that,” Myrow said. The Snowball Earth hypothesis was debated for years, as some geologists were very skeptical of the idea, according to Myrow. However, Myrow said the new discovery adds credibility to the hypothesis. “By calculating these rates that we did, by estimating them, I think it lends credence to the hypothesis,” Myrow said. “It would be hard to imagine that you could raise sea level at such a rate in any other scenario, other than the Snowball Earth scenario.” Myrow said this type of information can serve as a reminder of how the earth can change drastically over extended periods of time. “In some ways it’s really a reminder that, although we live in a world where our day-today and month-to-month and year-to-year existence seems like we’re living in a fairly static world, the processes that take place on the earth can be much more dramatic than what we experience,” Myrow said. “If you look at it over time scales of over tens of years or hundreds or thousands of years, huge changes can take place on the surface of the earth and this is just a really good example of that.” Ewing said while this finding has provided more information into the history of Earth’s past climates, there is still plenty of work to be done. “I think what this shows is that we’re able to look at very old rocks and [tease out] very detailed signatures of how Earth has behaved in it’s past, in particular with regard to its climate,” Ewing said. “We were learning what the extremes of Earth are like through these ancient rocks.”

REVIEW CONTINUED of course, it was. The characters were wonderfully acted. The utterly massive cast meant no one hero spent very long on screen, but the 18 other MCU movies served their purpose well and provided the film with fully developed characters, even though the individual heroes didn’t get much attention on their own. Speaking of incredible and well-developed characters, I believe the MCU has finally solved its notorious villain problem. Thanos was magnificent, and Josh Brolin was perfect

PROVIDED

An A&M professor, along with two other researchers, studied rocks in southern Australia to determine the rate at which the sea level rose.

for the character. In fact, it seemed to me Thanos was the star of the film. He saw more screen time than any of the heroes, and he absolutely deserved it. His slow walk, his towering physique and his calm, deep voice all came together to form a truly terrifying creature. His motivations were explained, his emotions were explored and he was utterly believable as the most dangerous being in the universe. Thanos made the movie what it is. I cannot praise the MCU enough for its depiction of this character. Thematically, the movie chose to explore sacrifice and loss. There’s a lot of death in “Infinity War,” and it’s portrayed in a way that’s

truly haunting. Let’s just say the film doesn’t shy away from showing a lifeless corpse. Or several. Sacrifice plays a huge part, and it does so in a beautiful way. Visually, the film is stunning. Marvel spared no expense on actual filming or CGI. The alien characters, floating spaceships and rainbow-colored beams of power all looked just as real as the Wakandan grassland, or the haggard faces of Steve Rogers and Tony Stark. It immerses you. The action scenes were phenomenal. They managed to show off each character in a fight, and did a remarkable job of conveying desperation through each of the character’s unique

fighting techniques. “Infinity War” is the biggest cinematic event since … I don’t know how long. It’s had essentially 10 years of hype, and it lived up to all of it. The MCU has become a part of movie culture, and this film cements Marvel’s place as one of the biggest film franchises in history. Everyone has to see this movie. It’s too early to call it a classic, but this is certainly a movie that will be remembered for a very long time. Keagan Miller is a general studies sophomore and Life & Arts reporter for The Battalion.

classifieds

Place

an ad Phone 979.845.0569 Suite L400, Memorial Student Center Texas A&M University

FOR RENT 203 Luther $2200. Beautiful 4/3/2 in historic area of College Station just a few blocks from campus. Completely renovated with wood & tile flooring throughout. 979-777-5436 2bd/2ba cozy condo 3-blocks from campus, fenced backyard, w/d connections, over 1000sqft, no HUD, $645/mo total. 506-D College Main 254-289-0585 254-289-8200

When

to call 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday Insertion deadline: 1 p.m. prior business day

FOR RENT August Pre-Lease: Great 3 or 4bd home on Northgate! Large lot, walking distance to Tamu! Fridge, W&D included, 2car-carport, only $1600. 600 and 604 Woodson. 979-224-0405

Available in May for summer lease, all bills paid, $650/room per month, large house, call 979-587-2550.

SPECIAL

see ads at thebatt.com

Private Party Want ads

$10 for 20 words running 5 days, if your merchandise is priced $1,000 or less (price must appear in ad). This rate applies only to non-commercial advertisers offering personal possessions for sale. Guaranteed results or you get an additional 5 days at no charge. If item doesn’t sell, advertiser must call before 1 p.m. on the day the ad is scheduled to end to qualify for the 5 additional insertions at no charge. No refunds will be made if your ad is cancelled early.

FOR RENT Available now, 2/1.5 $950/mo & 3/3 $1100/mo duplexes, within walking distances to either TAMU or Blinn, privacy fence, recently updated, call 979-446-3793 or at Willow Tree Properties.

FOR RENT Bedroom, private bath, upscale gated 4/4, W/D, furnished commons, no pets, male roommates, 1-2mi to campus, $435+ Utilities. Summer or Fall leases (3 rooms) 979-422-7377

FOR RENT Northgate brand new 1/1. 2/2, 3/2, and 3/3 & 3/2 house, parking free, walk to campus. aggievillas.net Available now. Call 979-255-5648.

HELP WANTED Athletic men for calendars, books, etc. $75-$150/hr, up to $500/day. No experience. aggieresponse@gmail.com Cleaning commercial buildings at night, M-F. Call 979-823-5031 for interview.

ANSWERS

to todays puzzles

HELP WANTED Summer Employment: Bussers/Waitstaff. Frittella Italian Cafe, Casual but elegant environment; need motivated individuals with good work ethic, neat appearance and personable. We will train, apply in person. 979-2606666 The Forsyth Galleries in the MSC is looking for three new student employees to start early May. Check out Jobs for Aggies, Gallery Attendant/Guard for more details or you can leave your resume and cover letter at the Forsyth front desk. Work around your class schedule! No Saturday or Sundays, off during the holidays. The Battalion Advertising Office is hiring an Advertising Sales Representative. Must be enrolled at A&M and have reliable transportation. Interested applicants should come by our office located in the MSC, Suite 400, from 8am-4pm, ask to speak with Joseph.

REAL ESTATE BUY/SELL with Team McGrann! Michael, TAMU'93 Civil Engineering, 979-739-2035, mcgranntx@yahoo.com Nadia 979-777-6211, mail@nadiarealty.com Town&Country Realty. Hablamos Espanol!

ROOMMATES 4/4 University Place condo, W/D, private bath, pool, on shuttle, 1mile from campus, student community, $325/room, Call 979-690-8213 or 979-422-9849.

thebatt.com

NEWS

The Battalion | 4.30.18

Senior Boot Bag Senior Boot Bag Brad Morse, Editor in Chief

Senior Price Includes Boot Bag Logo and Name

(More logos available) Price Includes

Logoforand Name Shop Little Aggies (More available) to anlogos Aggie Xmas IShop havefor adult andAggies other Little things in between. to an Aggie Xmas I have adult and other etsy.com/shop/aggiesandbows thingsReveille’s in between. by Charlotte, Seamstress

979-778-2293 979-778-2293

For Sterling Silver Jewelry: etsy.com/shop/aggiesandbows bystores.ebay.com/charboeg979 Charlotte, Reveille’s Seamstress

charboeg@yahoo.com

Price Includes Logo and Name

(More

logos

available)

charboeg@yahoo.com

COME SEE US

inside the office of: Shop for Little Aggies A&B SELF STORAGE to an Aggie Xmas 1711 N Earl Rudder Fwy I have adult and other (Hwy 6 ByPass) things in between. Bryan, TX 77803 .com/shop/aggiesandbows

THE BATTALION is published Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays during the 2018 spring semester and Tuesday and Thursday during the summer session (except University holidays and exam periods) at Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843. Offices are in Suite L400 of the Memorial Student Center. News: The Battalion news department is managed by students at Texas A&M University in Student Media, a unit of the Division of Student Affairs. Newsroom phone: 979-845-3315; E-mail: editor@thebatt.com; website: http://www.thebatt.com. Advertising: Publication of advertising does not imply sponsorship or endorsement by The Battalion. For campus, local, and national display advertising call 979-845-2687. For classified advertising, call 979-845-0569. Office hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Email: battads@thebatt.com.

Subscriptions: A part of the University Advancement Fee entitles each Texas A&M Road West side of Hwy 6 ByPass) student to pick up a single copy of The 979-778-2293 Show Your College I.D. and receive 10%Firstoff any Battalion. copy free,repair! additional copies $1. HOURS: MON SAT 9 am 6 pm harboeg@yahoo.com

Charlotte,

Reveille’s

Seamstress (between the exits of Hwy 21 & Tabor

Show Your College I.D. and receive 10% off any repair!

Make an appointment anytime between 7:30 A.M. to 5:30 P.M.

Serving Aggies and the Bryan/College Station community since 1981!

Come in for your FREE 27-Point Inspection TODAY! Superior Auto Service Serving Aggies and the Bryan/College Station community since 1981!

Aggies christen Davis Diamond with series sweep over Tigers By Hannah Underwood @hannahbunderwoo

The No.11 Texas A&M softball team swept No. 12 Auburn in the opening weekend of their new stadium, Davis Diamond, wrapping up a three-game series with a 7-1 win on Sunday. In addition to this series being the first played at Davis Diamond, it was A&M’s last home game of the season and Senior Day. “We couldn’t have written this up any better,” A&M head coach Jo Evans said. “It was senior weekend, so you want to win on Senior Day. You want to win a series, we end up sweeping the series. You want to win on the first day in the new ballpark, and we did that. I’m really grateful to have the opportunity to get in this stadium this year with these seniors.” The Aggies move to 40-12 with a 13-8 record against Southeastern Conference opponents following the win. A&M got off to a quick start on Sunday, scoring twice in the opening frame while keeping Auburn from scoring until the sixth inning. Senior first baseman Tori Vidales launched a homer to

open scoring, allowing junior outfielder Keeli Milligan to score. “I’m really pleased with the way we played this weekend,” Evans said. “Our defense played phenomenal. We had so many great plays. I don’t have any complaints whatsoever about how we played defense.” Vidales hit another homer on her next at-bat, initiating two of three scores in the third inning and bringing in sophomore outfielder Sarah Hudek. Freshman pinch runner Kylie George scored on a wild pitch to widen the scoring margin to 5-0. “At the beginning of the game when we met with [Evans], she just emphasized that we don’t need to do anything different than we normally do,” Vidales said. “I think that really spoke to us, not to try too hard or try to do anything special, just get out there and play the game that we always do, and I was able to come out there and do my thing.” Evans said it was fitting that Vidales hit two home runs in her final game in College Station. “I loved it,” Evans said. “I said to her, ‘I’m happy you’re the one.’ That kid has hit so many home runs for us over the years, so many RBIs. I’m happy for her. Two home runs on Senior Day, how does that happen? It happens because Vidales, that’s who she

is. When the light’s the brightest, she steps up.” Hudek scored again in the fourth inning, after junior third baseman Riley Sartain singled. Milligan added another run for the Aggies. Senior pitcher Lexi Smith earned Sunday’s win, pitching through six innings and accumulating an ERA of 1.46. “We wanted to bring Davis Diamond in the right way,” Smith said. “Getting a sweep was bittersweet and it’s senior week as well. Getting to pitch on Senior Day was really, really fun. We knew we wanted to sweep and bring it home on Senior Day, and the fact that all of the seniors had a big part in that was really awesome and I just couldn’t ask for a better Senior Day.” The Aggies won Friday’s game by score of 3-1 and walked away with a 1-0 win on Saturday. On Friday, Sartain recorded the first run in the Aggie’s new stadium, helping the Aggies take a 3-0 lead in the fourth inning. Senior shortstop Kristen Cuyos had the winning hit for A&M on Saturday, a single to center which allowed George to score the Aggies’ lone run. The Aggies will travel to Tuscaloosa to take on No. 18 Alabama in a threegame series starting at 7 p.m. on May 4.

3701 S. College Ave 979-846-5344 (979) 846-5344

Superior Auto Service 979-846-5344

Texas A&M beats Auburn on Senior Day

3701 S. College Ave

Davis Diamond, which is still under construction, opened April 27 for Texas A&M’s regular season home finale.

Come in for your FREE 27-Point Inspection TODAY!

Cassie Stricker — THE BATTALION

Superior Auto Service

Serving Aggies and the Bryan/College Station community since 1981!

Come in for your FREE 27-Point Inspection TODAY! Make an appointment anytime between 7:30 A.M. to 5:30 P.M.

Show Your College I.D. and receive 10% off any repair!

Aggies rally to support professor

PROVIDED

Over $700 has been raised to help associate professor Lydsey Parsons with her medical bills.

Students send encouragement through card and GoFundMe donation campaign By Jane Turchi @JaneTurchi After hearing of professor Lynsey Parsons’ ongoing health issues, Aggies in her class decided to give back. Parsons, an associate professor in the Department of Political Science, has been teaching at Texas A&M since August of 2016. Students in Parson’s state and local government class decided to start a GoFundMe page in her honor. According to the page, $705 was raised by 80 individuals at time of press.

Joshua Johnson, horticulture junior and one of Parsons’ students, said supporting Parsons was the right thing to do. “She told us that she’s traveling for treatments and that her lungs were deteriorating ... and we were all taken aback and we felt pretty convicted,” Johnson said. “Everyone hopped on board, it was not so a much one person thing … it was like all of us teamed up. ... This is just yet another cool way of seeing the Aggie family at work.” Izamar Favela Estrada, international studies sophomore, first suggested students sign a card for Parsons. After signing the card in Evans Library, Estrada said she began to think of other ways students could support Parsons. “I got a poster and then people started coming … then they were like, ‘It would be [great] if we could contribute to her financially so she can go out on a night out or something and just have fun,’” Estrada said. “We didn’t see this as kind of a big thing happening.” After sharing the GoFundMe page in the class GroupMe, Estrada said she was happy to see students willing to give. “Within an hour or two hours we raised [the] $100 that originally was our main goal,” Estrada said. Stolz said after exceeding their initial number, she decided to increase the goal on the GoFundMe page to $500. “We actually collected a lot more than I thought we would,” Stolz said. “We didn’t think that we would get so much in donations so we just thought that we could give her something nice and then we got a lot more support for it than we thought we would … everyone’s been really generous.” According to Stolz, showing this kind of support is a special part of being an Aggie. “This has been a unique experience,” Stolz said. “I think that’s kind of a really great thing about A&M. A lot of people left comments on the GoFundMe like, ‘Well-wishes for Professor Parsons’ and so that was really nice because I think that will almost mean as much to her as the money people donated.” Johnson said he hopes more people decide to donate to the GoFundMe page, contributing to the long tradition of selfless service at A&M. “For anyone who hears the story, it kind of reaffirms why we go to this school and why I think it’s the greatest place that I could seek a collegiate education from, … going to A&M is such a blessing,” Johnson said. “That’s the best part about Texas A&M, the people.”

Online parking permit registration Now – July 3 transport.tamu.edu

Just Point. Click. Permit.

LET’S BE FRIENDS TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY

BATTALION MULTIMEDIA

THEBATTALION

@THEBATTONLINE

THE BATTALION

@THEBATTONLINE

Transportation Services

NEWS

The Battalion | 4.30.18

Photos by Jesse Everett — THE BATTALION

Northway Farms opened in Bryan to help homeless women and children. Unlike some short-term housing operations, residents can stay in these tiny houses for up to two years.

NORTHWAY CONTINUED to expand its housing to six home units by the end of the summer and 20 units by 2020, Van Norman said. One woman successfully began her own online boutique business while she stayed at Northway Farms, according to Van Norman. “She has since moved off the farm, she now has her own apartment, she’s providing for her girls and she’s doing her dream, which is to have a boutique,” Van Norman said. “And that’s just one example of what we’ve seen in the short time we’ve been in existence.” Board member Tracy Singleton said seeing positive results in the lives of the residents keeps her determined to further the Northway Farms mission. “I’ve seen tears, I’ve seen appreciation, I’ve seen their children walk in

and know that they’re safe, so I’ve seen an impact on the residents firsthand,” Singleton said. Assistant director Kristin Vanderveer said the community has been supportive of the vision and idea behind Northway Farms. “It’s been really encouraging to see the groups from A&M that come out or the groups from church that have come out — they’re just so excited for what we are doing,” Vanderveer said. “There’s been a ton of community support, which I think is exciting and encouraging and I think it really impacts and encourages others to really see the need and want to be involved.” The support from students at Texas A&M has helped Northway Farms receive two grants from Mays Business School, as well as physical help on the farm, Van Norman said. “It’s really been cool that we have

been served by over 500 students in the past six months here on the farm,” Van Norman said. As Northway Farms continues to expand and serve more women and children, the organization aims to serve others and hopes members of A&M’s student body and the community will partner with them to pursue these goals, Van Norman said. “Connecting with humanity at the ground level has been the most profound life change,” Van Norman said. “It changes your entire perspective and you see people so differently. You learn to truly bear a burden of another person and put yourself where they are. It gives you care and compassion for humanity and a patience and kindness for them. And that’s changed our family, it’s changed my marriage, it’s changed my children.”

SPECIAL OPERATIONS WHERE

FRESH & FAST MEET ®

WE DELIVER! Call Albert Hetrick 979-575-3927

VISIT JIMMYJOHNS.COM TO FIND A LOCATION NEAR YOU