MONDAY, FEBRUARY 26 | SERVING TEXAS A&M SINCE 1893 | © 2018 STUDENT MEDIA
The 2018 SEC Indoor Track conference championships were hosted at Texas A&M. For more coverage, visit thebatt.com
Cassie Stricker — THE BATTALION
Sophomore Reid Williams, juniors Connor Joseph, Blake Jones, Gavin Suel and sophomore Karsten Lowe ran together as part of the 5 for Yell campaign.
Sharp wins SBP, 5 for Yell sweeps Student body elections concluded Friday, making way for new leaders By Gracie Mock, Taylor Fennell, Megan Rodriguez & Luke Henkhaus Students gathered in Academic Plaza on Friday night as Election Commissioner and chemical engineering sophomore Paige Rigsby stood on top of the Sul Ross statue to announce the results of the Spring 2018 student body elections. A total of 15,363 votes were cast. After the announcement of the winners for each position, the full unofficial results were made available online. Results were certified Feb. 25, according to the Election Commission’s
student body election calendar. Student Body President Amy Sharp, management junior, will serve as Texas A&M’s student body president for the 2018-2019 school year. Sharp’s policy goals include increasing funding for residence tutoring, supplemental instruction and academic scholarships, improving student physical and mental health and improving student inclusion in organizations and traditions. She has served as the Class of 2019 president for the past three years. Sharp won the election with 66.03 percent of the vote. She will take office on April 21 after current SBP Bobby Brooks completes his term with a speech at the campus Muster ceremony. Sharp described her reaction in three words
Dalia Muayad — THE BATTALION
Junior Amy Sharp served three terms as the Class of 2019 president and was elected as the Student Body President for the upcoming school year.
— “Overwhelmed, shocked, excited.” Moving forward, Sharp said she is focused on implementing the policies she campaigned on. “Immediately it’s going to be right to academic improvement, increased inclusion and improved access to mental and physical health services,” Sharp said. “First thing is the mental and physical health services.” Sharp said she is grateful for all the people who backed her during the campaign. “Thank you to everyone that was here tonight and everyone that’s supported me this whole time,” Sharp said. “Again, just so moved. First time in my life I’m crying happy tears.”
seph were voted into the three Senior Yell Leader positions for 2018-2019. Reid Williams and Karsten Lowe were elected Junior Yell Leaders. The five cadets were elected after running together in the 5 for Yell joint campaign. As the newly-elected Yell Leaders celebrated their victory Friday night, they reflected on a campaign season that brought them together and taught them countless lessons. The campaign trail presented the incoming Yell Leaders with many opportunities to learn, according to Blake Jones, elected senior leader and industrial distribution junior. “If it’s taught me one thing, it’s taught me just to give everything you have to whatever
Yell Leaders Blake Jones, Gavin Suel and Connor Jo-
ELECTIONS ON PG. 3
SOFTBALL
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Public Health assistant professor Natalie Johnson uses both exposure characterization and animal models to conduct her research.
Johnson awarded $2 million grant Asst. professor researches prenatal air pollution risk By Kathryn Whitlock @KathrynWhitloc8 Examinations of prenatal pollutant exposure are progressing as a Texas A&M School of Public Health assistant professor has received an extensive grant. The National Institutes of Health has awarded Natalie Johnson with the Outstanding New Environmental Scientist Award (ONES). This award is intended to recognize early stage investigators and provides Johnson with around $2 million for her research. ONES is a standard Research Project Grant (R01) award for five years, and contains a career development component that allows external advisors to guide Johnson throughout her project
and career. After receiving her undergraduate degree in biology from A&M in 2006, Johnson received a Ph.D. in toxicology through A&M’s College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences in 2010. During her doctoral candidacy, Johnson said she established an interest in food toxins and air pollutants. “I was working with a population in Ghana that primarily burned wood for cooking and heating their homes,” Johnson said. “We were measuring biomarkers of exposure to air pollutants and seeing really high levels from this wood burning. My Ph.D. work got me interested in going into public health, so I went to the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health for my postdoc fellowship.” Back at A&M, Johnson runs a lab where her research is conduct-
ed via two methodologies: exposure characterization and animal models. “I joined the faculty here at the School of Public Health in 2013 and I’ve decided to dedicate my research program around prenatal air pollutant exposure,” Johnson said. “One side of the lab is where we characterize exposure. The other side is where we have developed an animal model. The new grant is going to build off of that preliminary data, and we will look at how prenatal exposure causes respiratory dysfunction in children later in life.” Having her own children is what Johnson said inspired her to study pollutant exposure. According to Johnson, a study reveals that moms who have a polymorphism in a specific transcription factor, GRANT ON PG. 2
Junior Samantha Show went 1-1 on the weekend as No. 6 A&M participated in the Mary Nutter Classic. C. Morgan Engel — THE BATTALION
California challenge No. 6 A&M softball goes 3-2 at Mary Nutter Classic By Angel Franco @angelmadison_ In a weekend that featured three games against Top 25 teams, including the No. 1 team in the country, No. 6 Texas A&M softball suffered its first two losses of the season while defeating three teams — two of which were ranked — at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic in Cathedral City, California. A&M wrapped up the tournament with a 4-3 extra-inning loss to No. 1 Washington. The nine-inning affair ended with a ground ball to third base by senior shortstop Kristen Cuyos. The Aggies were down by a run in the bottom of the ninth
after the Huskies scored two in the top half. Washington broke the 2-2 tie after Amirah Milloy, who was standing on second base due to the international tiebreaker rule, scored off a fielding error by Cuyos. According to the NCAA rule book, the international tiebreaker rule can be implemented at the top of a predetermined inning, placing the batter who is ninth in the lineup on second base at the start of the inning. The Huskies then extended their lead the following play with an RBI by Taylor Van Zee. A&M cut the lead in the bottom half of the inning after senior catcher Ashley Walters led the inning off with an RBI single, which allowed junior Kaitlyn Alderink, who was on second due to the SOFTBALL ON PG. 2
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GRANT CONTINUED Nrf2 – a master regulator of antioxidant response – are more likely to have children susceptible to respiratory tract infections. “What can you do if a mom lives in a city that is heavily polluted?” Johnson said. “We’re going to be using sulforaphane, the derivative from broccoli sprouts, and we’re going to be supplementing the maternal diet with that. We’re going to see if we can offer some sort of protection to reduce the oxidative stress and hopefully reduce the fetal susceptibility to these infections. I’m excited, because right now, as a mom myself, you want to know what you can do when you’re pregnant to have the healthiest pregnancy.” Johnson’s lab uses mice to study air pollutants. Once the mouse pup is delivered, they are challenged from zero to four weeks with dust mites, which is a common human allergen. “What we found is the mice that were prenatal exposed to the particulate matter air pollution mixture could not mount as strong a response to the house dust mite as those exposed to the filter air control,” Johnson said. “What we think we have is this window of immune suppression where now the mice might be more
susceptible to developing respiratory infections. This new grant is going to now merge the prenatal exposure model with an infant exposure to respiratory syncytial virus, which is one of the leading causes of childhood hospitalizations.” Johnson said she hypothesizes that there is a mechanism caused by an immune system developmental reprogramming driven through T cells. “We’ll see now if they are more severely impacted by the respiratory virus compared to the filtered air control,” Johnson said. “We’re looking at how T lymphocytes are regulated. If they are suppressed, is that what is causing this increase viral severity? In human literature, you see moms living closer to freeways or polluted areas, they tend to have kids that go in for more frequent respiratory infections.” Johnson said she credits her love of A&M to the students she has been fortunate enough to work with, including Kristal Rychlik, Class of 2010, who graduated with a Bachelor of Science in biomedical science from A&M. After graduation, Rychlik received a Ph.D. in toxicology, with Johnson as her principal investigator. For her dissertation, Rychlick developed a model of prenatal exposure to fine particulate matter air pollution in mice.
“Unfortunately, environmental exposures such as air pollution are becoming commonplace, and vulnerable populations such as pregnant women and young children are particularly susceptible to this type of toxicant,” Rychlik said. “Dr. Johnson’s research can not only inform us as to the levels pregnant women are truly being exposed to but also reveal mechanisms governing long-term effects after those exposures.” In addition to students, Renyi Zhang, atmospheric sciences professor, is also working with Johnson on her research. Zhang has aided in the development of chambers where the mice are exposed and helps in examining how fine particulate matter can influence immunosuppression. “It is an exciting collaboration that involves interdisciplinary methodologies,” Zhang said. “Hopefully [Johnson’s] grant will make major advances in understanding the effects of air pollution on human health. Air pollution represents the greatest risk to human health, since exposure to fine particulate matter has been identified as the cause of more than three million premature deaths a year worldwide. This project will generate new knowledge to inform society of health risks associated with air pollution.”
Natalie Johnson works with several students, including Kristal Rychilk, Louise Myatt, visiting student Jing Guo, Jairus Pulczinski and G’Nita Wright.
SOFTBALL CONTINUED international tiebreaker rule, to score. Junior Samantha Show suffered her first loss of the season, pitching nine complete innings and giving up eight hits with three strikeouts. A&M head coach Jo Evans said in a video posted to the team’s official Twitter account that the Aggies failed to execute in the last inning of the game, which could have propelled them over the Huskies. “We came here expecting to win,” Evans said. “We played the number one team in the country and, obviously, we’re disappointed that we didn’t come away and take over the game. We certainly had lots of opportunities [with] the right people up at the right time and just quite couldn’t get that run across.” A&M’s first loss of the season came on Thursday. In the second game of the day, Nebraska handed the Aggies a 6-3 loss. Nebraska scored four runs in the bottom of the fifth inning, taking a 6-2 lead. A&M added a run in the top of the seventh inning to slim the lead down, but were unable to add any more runs after. Before the loss, A&M defeated Notre Dame 5-3 after sophomore Sarah Hudek hit a two-run homerun in the sixth inning to give A&M the game winning lead and breaking up the tie. Show earned the victory, giving up 11 hits and allowing only three runs with six strikeouts. The Aggies rebounded on the second day of the tournament with wins over No. 5 Oregon, 3-1 and No. 19 California, 5-1. A&M mounted a comeback to defeat the Ducks behind a seven strike-out game from senior pitcher Lexi Smith, who gave up one run. Oregon entered the game as the third highest scoring offense in the country and had Smith in a bases loaded jam with no outs, with their lone run coming off a bases loaded walk. However, Smith was able to limit the damage to a single run after inducing two pop flys and throwing a strikeout for the last out. Smith said the 3-1 victory was hard fought and challenging in the circle, but once she was able to compose herself, she began to get into a rhythm that wasn’t going to stop. “We started off good, then we had that one bad inning and coach asked me point blank ‘I need you to throw strikes, can you do that?’ And I like to compete so I said, ‘I can,’” Smith said. “From then on, I was making quality pitches, letting the defense work and they did a tremendous job … I just threw my pitches with a purpose and wasn’t going to back down.” A&M returns home to the Aggie Softball Complex on Tuesday, Feb. 27 as they host Sam Houston State for a doubleheader. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m.
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HELP WANTED Panera Bread now hiring delivery drivers, cashiers, & line cooks! Flexible schedule, competitive pay! Positions will go fast, so apply in person today at 1407 University Dr. East, or send resume to careers@rollingdough.com Part-time Insurance Service Clerk. Assisting day to day operations with three agents in South College Station. Work 2pm-7pm, we can fit your schedule. Please drop off your resume at 12815 FM 2154 Ste. 105 Cs, Tx 77845. Tutors wanted for all subjects currently taught at TAMU/Blinn and Sam Houston State starting at $10/hour. Apply online at www.99Tutors.com 979-255-3655. 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.
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GET YOUR AGGIELAND PHOTO TAKEN TODAY! Specialties Photography will be set up to have your FREE portrait taken for Texas A&M University’s 2018 Aggieland yearbook. ALL CLASSES: 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. Monday - Thursday in the Sanders Corp Museum Library
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Should any student be unable to make the specified times on campus they can contact Specialties directly to set up a complimentary in-studio appointment at 979-696-9898. Any graduating seniors who wish to set up a cap/gown photo will need to contact the studio at 979-696-9898. Cap/Gown sessions cost $21.95.
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Recording the Aggie Story StoryCorps collected A&M stories that will be preserved in Library of Congress By Hannah Falcon @hannahfalcon_ In order to preserve the spirit of Aggieland, a non-profit organization was invited to campus to record and share the stories of Aggies, which will then be filed in the nation’s oldest federal cultural institution. StoryCorps is a New York based company which archives the stories of everyday people and uploads them to the Library of Congress. The StoryCorps recording trailer, which was parked next to the 12th Man statue, recorded various stories of Aggies from Feb. 20-24. All Aggies were invited to make an appointment with StoryCorps, according to the Texas A&M Division of Marketing and Communication. After the StoryCorps trailer left, A&M established two campus recording studios which are active from Feb. 20 to March 20 for Aggies to record their part of history in the Clayton W. Williams Jr. Alumni Center and the Evans Library Annex. Amy Smith, senior vice president and chief marketing and communications officer for A&M, said she invited StoryCorps to campus as a way to share Aggie culture with the rest of the world. “I continue to hear the saying ‘From the outside looking in you can’t understand it, and from the inside looking out you can’t explain it,’ and my job is to help explain Texas A&M,” Smith said. “So we thought that partnering with StoryCorps would really help us tell the story of who we are.” Smith said she encourages all Aggies, current and former students alike, to record their stories that relate to the Aggie experience. “You don’t have to have had a life-threatening experience to record a story with StoryCorps,” Smith said. “You could have had something funny or just something memora-
ELECTIONS CONTINUED you’re doing,” Jones said. “Before the results were read, I knew that my team had done everything they could do. I had done everything they could do. I had done everything I could do, so I was going to be at peace with the results. That and just knowing to stay humble has gotten me here and made this whole thing worth it.” According to Gavin Suel, elected senior leader and university studies junior, the victory gives him a chance to recreate once in a lifetime memories. “For me, I got to live my dream this past year and I had so many experiences that I’ll never forget,” Suel said. “I’m so excited to take the new guys through those experiences. I’ve got to relive it through them and get to take them. That’s what pumps me up right
ble and usually there’s a greater message about humanity that comes out.” Aggies such as Michael Beggs, Class of 1968 and former Yell Leader, have already had the chance to record their story. Beggs shared stories about him and his wife, who were married 10 days after they met, and about his experience in the Vietnam War. “I’m glad to see that StoryCorps is recording the experiences of ordinary people, such as my wife and I,” Beggs said. “I think it’s important that stories of ordinary people be preserved for people who might find them interesting.” Gavin Suel, Yell Leader and university studies junior, also recorded with StoryCorps. Suel said StoryCorps gives people the opportunity to get to know someone and create a memory they can keep forever. “You pick the person who interviews you, which is cool, so it can be someone that you don’t know at all, a family member or your best friend,” Suel said. “I thought there’d be no one better than Connor Joseph, who is Junior Yell Leader alongside me.” Suel said StoryCorps gave him a platform to share the story of how his experiences as a child led him to A&M and how the Aggie community has accepted and loved him. “I wanted to convey that sense of belonging, that sense of connection and that sense of adoption that I felt,” Suel said. “I feel like I’ve been blessed beyond words here at A&M and the least I can do is try to convey that blessing to other people.” Smith said she believes listening to a story can be a really powerful moment, especially when the subject is the one narrating their own experience. “Everybody’s got a story to tell and there’s a commonality here in Aggieland and something that’s truly beautiful,” Smith said. “That is what it means to be an Aggie and I’m proud to help tell that story.”
Top: Haley Shaffer speaks to students on campus about StoryCorps program. Bottom: StoryCorps came to Texas A&M to hear the stories behind traditions and Aggie culture.
now.” The position is a great opportunity to serve the Aggie family, said Reid Williams, elected junior leader and business administration sophomore. “Serving this university is something that I know both of us will really cherish and we won’t take for granted during this time,” Williams said. “Being in front of the 12th Man and serving them is something I’m really looking forward to.” Connor Joseph, elected senior leader and agricultural economics junior, said the group is excited about serving the university and growing closer to each other. “Having gotten to know each other so well over the past few months and campaigned and worked hard for each other, [we] now know that’s paid off,” Joseph said. “We have the ability to serve alongside each other, travel
the country and represent the student body and serve Texas A&M. Doing it together is really exciting.” Karsten Lowe, elected junior leader and industrial distribution sophomore, said he has enjoyed growing closer to the other guys and looks forward to it in the future. “Spending time together with them has been a fantastic process,” Lowe said. “It showed me that I can depend on them. Whether it was going from event to event where we had to split up or getting to know these fantastic people, I knew these guys had my back and [were] sure I was where I needed to be and just getting the job done that needed to get done.” The newly-elected Yell Leaders have ended the campaign as brothers, according to Suel. “[It’s] a lot about brotherhood,” Suel said. “That’s the honor and joy of running together
Photos by Jesse Everett — THE BATTALION
as a team. You get to run as brothers and family. That’s the big takeaway I’ve taken from this.” Williams said several unforgettable memories stand out from the campaign season. “[From] the funny moments when we were at Fish Pond and it was 38 degrees filming a Friends video, to the points where we were staying up until two o’clock at night after a campaign meeting working on our speeches, we’ve really grown together through the hard and fun times,” Williams said. “[We went from] a team to now brothers. I’m really looking forward to next year.” Suel said the leaders realize the importance of their roles and are excited to fulfill them. “We’re so honored,” Suel said. “We don’t take the responsibility lightly and we’re so excited to serve the student body and serve A&M together.”
Cassie Stricker — THE BATTALION
Five for Yell kneels together in front of the Sul Ross statue awaiting the election results.
Dalia Muayad — THE BATTALION
After she was announced as the winner, junior Amy Sharp embraces a friend in celebration. Show Your College I.D. and receive 10% off any repair!
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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 StudentAffairs.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. COURTESY
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The 2018 COSGA conference was held in Houston with students from all over the country, and globe, in attendance.
Texas A&M hosts annual student government conference in Houston By Taylor Fennell @TaylorPFennell
Rethinking Texas Water Policy A two-day Texas water policy conference addressing the legal, scientific, economic, and political complexities of groundwater and surface water. Featuring presentations by members of the Texas Legislature and state agencies, along with industry and academic experts.
Thursday, April 5 - Friday, April 6, 2018 Annenberg Presidential Conference Center 1002 George Bush Drive West College Station, Texas 77843 TO REGISTER AND FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE VISIT OUR WEBSITE:
bush.tamu.edu/TXwater Register by March 9 to receive the lowest conference fee.
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Nina Teicholz Author of The Big Fat Surprise Why Butter, Meat & Cheese Belong in a Healthy Diet
Members of the Texas A&M Student Government Association are exchanging ideas and networking with students around the globe to better the future of the university. This weekend, A&M hosted the 37th annual Conference on Student Government Associations (COSGA) in Houston. The goal of the conference is for student leaders to learn from other leaders worldwide. Events include roundtables, workshops and keynote speakers. Bobby Brooks, A&M Student Body President and economics senior, got a head start on the networking exchange Thursday when he met with Emily Rees, education officer of Swansea University, located in Wales, United Kingdom. The two leaders toured A&M’s campus and discussed student government structure, engagement initiatives and campus traditions. Engagement with other student leaders is important because it encourages new ideas and instills a sense of pride in the university, according to Brooks. “Whenever I get to meet with a student leader that’s seven hours away, or whose university is on another continent, I get to be reaffirmed in some of the principles of how our students are just going to end up [making a difference in] every single place, but also I get to learn new things about what makes us special,” Brooks said. “It’s a really cool thing, because I end up appreciating Texas A&M a lot more and I realize that I am so proud. Being able to interact with other student leaders just really teaches you to be proud and to understand the glory of what you have going on.” As Brooks and Rees talked, they acknowledged the many contrasting elements between their universities. Among them are the 50,000 difference in student enrollment, attitudes toward student athletes and the fact that Swansea allows Rees to take a year off classes to focus on leadership. “Whenever I get to talk with Emily and engage in those conversations about what it’s like at her university, my brain is already turning,” Brooks said. “It’s thinking about what strategies work, or maybe I am reminded that our traditions are something special, and of course, we can get more in-
volved in the future.” Rees said she appreciated the opportunity to discuss student leadership and found it beneficial to look at how another university works. “I wish I did this at the start of the year, because this has made me learn so much,” Rees said. “We run so differently. I’ve definitely learned that we need a balance of structure and flexibility. I think it’s great that I came here and saw someone who runs completely different from us. This has been the best way to learn what I need to bring back.” According to Dimitri Koufakis, COSGA director and accounting senior, discussing ideas with other leaders is useful for students who are creating new initiatives. “I think a lot of it boils down to learning from other people’s failures,” Koufakis said. “Occasionally, we have workshops that talk about programs that people started or tried to start, and they’ll talk about the pitfalls and difficulties of doing that. So when another school begins to implement those things, they learn about how to do it.” In addition to policy benefits, Koufakis said COSGA gives leaders a unique opportunity to learn about other cultures. “For me, talking to schools from the Middle East, Eastern Europe or even other places in the United States is crazy because they don’t have much similarity and background with me,” Koufakis said. “I enjoy trying to understand different walks of life and things like that.” This is the first year COSGA has been hosted in Houston. The last 36 conferences were held in College Station. Koufakis said the new venue made the event more accessible to out-of-state attendees and allowed them to concentrate more on the conference, rather than the A&M campus. “I feel like when people come to COSGA, they’re coming to meet other universities,” Koufakis said. “It’s not supposed to be a show off of Texas A&M. This gives it a more neutral feel and makes it a level playing field for all universities here.” Brooks said the conference helps Aggies see what makes being a leader at A&M so valuable. “Whenever you get to meet with other student leaders, it reminds you why you’re so proud to be at A&M and why you’re proud to represent A&M,” Brooks said. “Honestly, it’s really fun to show up to an event being A&M because everyone knows you and knows you have your stuff together.”
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