WEDNESDAY, MARCH 21 | SERVING TEXAS A&M SINCE 1893 | © 2018 STUDENT MEDIA
Portraying past lives through paintings Art collection offers insight into Native American culture, history By Kathryn Whitlock @Kathryn-whitloc8 Capturing the lives of Native Americans, the Visions of the Past exhibit reveals Joseph Henry Sharp’s resonating artwork, which ranges from portraits to landscapes. Featured throughout the Runyon Collection in the Forsyth Galleries at Texas A&M, Visions of the Past is open until May 13. To highlight Sharp’s fascination with Native American culture, this exhibit consists of paintings, a magazine cover, a postcard, a stereoscope card, a miniature pueblo, Cub Scout teepees from the 1950s and other works. According to Jennifer Korolenko, cu-
rator of Education & Public Programs in the Forsyth Galleries, Sharp was born in the 1850s and founded the group, Taos Society of Artists. Throughout the 20th century, this group of western artists worked for magazines, traveled to the American West and captured life in the pueblos. Astounded by its beauty, Sharp permanently moved to Taos, New Mexico, where he discovered the people of the pueblos and made them the subject of his paintings. “He was known for painting evocative portraits of Native Americans, because at the time what was most popular in Western genre painting was that of cowboys and Indians, like [Frederic] Remington’s man-on-a-horse,” Korolenko said. “Sharp and his colleagues painted more scenes of everyday life, landscapes and interiors. People thought they were too soft, but they came to be
incredibly important, because it portrayed Native Americans in a way that was very uncommon for that time.” Korolenko said Sharp had a hearing impairment, but it did not hinder his passion for Native Americans culture nor his work. “He had an accident where he almost drowned, and as a result he lost most of his hearing,” Korolenko said. “He would wear a board around his neck to communicate with people. There was already a language barrier when trying to communicate with Native Americans. Obviously, he was a good communicator in other ways.” Sharp’s paintings feature a brilliant use of light, and Abby Fontenot, biomedical sciences junior, said this is what first captivated her attention. GALLERY ON PG. 2
Fresh start
Casey Dawson — THE BATTALION
Joseph Henry Sharp’s collection will be on display in the Forsyth Gallery until May 13.
Cassie Stricker — THE BATTALION
Texas A&M football team prepares for a new season and new coach, Jimbo Fisher, at the first spring practice of the year.
Jimbo Fisher welcomes in spring with his first official practice as Texas A&M head coach By Angel Franco @angelmadison_ March 20 was the vernal equinox and officially marked the start of the spring season. In College Station, something new was beginning as well. Tuesday afternoon, Texas A&M head football coach Jimbo Fisher held the first spring practice of the year, signaling the start of a new era for a program which hasn’t won a national title in 80 years. Fisher, who signed a 10-year, $75 million contract in December, inherits a team which finished tied for fourth in the SEC West and with a 55-53 loss to Wake Forest in the Belk Bowl. Following the first practice of the spring, Fisher said his
players had a positive demeanor. “Kids had a good attitude, thought that they worked good,” Fisher said. “They’re getting used to new schemes, new practice in general, everything is different for them. … Where they’re moving too, they’re learning. Their attitude is good. Got to get a lot better in some things.” Fisher said he won’t have a real feel of his roster until the tail end of the spring football season, but he will be able to tell which players are adjusting based on the their ability to learn as they go. “I think we’ve got some great [players] that can take and learn what to do,” Fisher said. “You can never judge a guy’s ability ‘til he knows where he’s going, how fast he can go. How quick they learn is what you’re going to be judging.” It is no secret there are heavy expectations for Fisher to produce a national championship at some point during his tenure at A&M. In February, A&M Chancellor John Sharp presented Fisher a national championship plaque with a blank date on it. Fisher said while he welcomes the pressure and expecta-
tions, there are steps which need to be taken before reaching the pinnacle of college football. “I wouldn’t be here if those weren’t the expectations,” Fisher said. “There’s a process to get to your expectations. Just like you can’t worry about winning the game, you have to worry about preparing for the game, playing the game. There’s a lot of things you have to put in place and get situated so we can get the results and the consistency we want.” Fisher’s first practice was fast-paced and constantly moving, something Fisher said was going to be implemented. However, according to Fisher, his team was able to keep up with the new pace. He credited the team’s physical health to director of athletic performance, Jerry Schmidt. “Schmidt did a great job [with preparing the team during the off-season],” Fisher said. “Our body fat has dropped, strength got better. We cranked them real hard, had a great offseason program. Kids had a great attitude and they worked FOOTBALL ON PG. 4
Abby Collida — THE BATTALION
Service dogs are used to help their handlers with everyday tasks.
Putting their best paw forward
Assistant professor Laura Dague and Technical Consultant to the Obama Administration on the Affordable Care Act Jonathan Gruber discussed healthcare reform while integrating questions from the audience.
Handlers, disability services give tips to help respect service animals on campus
Next steps for the Affordable Care Act
By Naren Venkatesh @KnowNaren
Bush School hosted a discussion on future of health care featuring Obama Administration consultant
While the dogs on campus may seem friendly and approachable, many of them are service animals and approaching them often impedes their ability to do their job. Aiding their handler in everyday tasks is the job of service dogs, according to Kristie Orr, director of disability services for Texas A&M. Examples of service animals include seeing eye dogs, service and therapy dogs and autism assistance dogs. “Any kind of dog can be a service animal,” Orr said. “The definition of a service animal is, ‘A dog SERVICE DOGS ON PG. 3
Jesse Everett — THE BATTALION
By Henry Mureithi @SOCOMBlack An expert in the field discussed the impact and the future of the health care law Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, also known as the Affordable Care Act, at the March Mosbacher Institute’s Conversations in Public Policy Series event. Jonathan Holmes Gruber, Massachusetts Institute of Technology economics professor and Technical Consultant to the Obama Administration on the Affordable Care Act, led the discussion. The lecture, hosted by the Mosbacher Institute and the Texas A&M Department of Economics on March 20, was followed by a
Q&A which was moderated by Laura Dague, Texas A&M public service and administration associate professor. Gruber said while issues remain in the United States healthcare system since the passage of the Affordable Care Act, the overall effect of the law has been positive. “The two major goals of the [Affordable Care Act] were to increase insurance coverage and fix a broken insurance pool,” Gruber said. “On the former, it’s a complete success. Twenty million Americans gained insurance coverage. That is the consensus view for the [Affordable Care Act]. What about insurance markets? Well, this is where it is a little bit more controversial.” During Gruber’s lecture, the health economics researcher described several effects of the law that were outside the original intent of the law, detailing how American society has been affected by the Affordable Care Act. For example, the overall spending ACA ON PG. 2