THURSDAY, MARCH 22 | SERVING TEXAS A&M SINCE 1893 | © 2018 STUDENT MEDIA
Cassie Stricker— THE BATTALION
Texas A&M men’s basketball will take on Michigan in the third round of the NCAA tournament.
Men’s basketball capitalizes on improbable journey The Aggies have made an unforeseen run to the Sweet 16, their second trip in three years By Angel Franco @angelmadison_ Graphic by Nic Tan — THE BATTALION, FILE
The Big Event takes place all around the globe in places like China, Pakistan and Germany.
The worldwide reach of selfless service The Big Event goes global with service events around the world By Jordan Burnham @RJordanBurnham The Big Event is known for having an impact on the Bryan-College Station community, but its reach has not stopped there. The Big Event takes place annually and helps the surrounding community through service projects fulfilled by participating students. Since the tradition began at Texas A&M, other universities noticed the impact Big Event was making and began reaching out to A&M about starting their own service days. Now, The Big Event has spread to over 100 universities around the world.
In 1998, students from other universities in Texas reached out to A&M’s Big Event executives about starting their own day of service, according to Madeline Saiter, current outreach director and supply chain management senior. “It really just was word of mouth, and as Big Event started making bigger news, other schools started to catch on,” Saiter said. “A lot of schools’ student governments have a service branch, so that was kind of an easy way for them to start a Big Event.” Big Event takes place abroad in Pakistan, China, Germany and Spain. As the service event continues to spread, its execution may not be identical to A&M’s Big Event, according to Trent Armstrong, Big Event director and accounting senior. “They don’t always look like it
does here in College Station,” Armstrong said. “Some are working with non-profits around the city they’re in, some are working with local churches or food banks and some are residential homes.” When other schools reach out about starting their own event, Big Event doesn’t set any specific rules, according to Armstrong. “All you really need is a group of people willing to serve their community,” Armstrong said. “From some schools, it’s professor driven or even university driven. So whatever outlet you see fits under the scope of your school, it doesn’t matter to us, it’s just about helping people.” Twelve years ago, A&M began hosting the One Big Thanks Conference,
LOS ANGELES — When unranked Texas A&M opened its season with a 23-point victory over then No. 11 West Virginia at the Ramstein-Miesenbach Air Base in Germany, many were surprised A&M had defeated “Press-Virginia” so lopsidedly. Sunday evening, when sophomore forward Robert Williams prepared to slam yet another windmill dunk as A&M cruised past reigning national champion North Carolina 86-65, many were stunned. However, this shock was for a completely different reason. A&M’s improbable run to the Sweet 16 is partially fueled by the fact that 10 weeks ago, it seemed as if the Aggies were on the verge of not making the NCAA Tournament for the second straight year. The Aggies had suffered their fifth straight conference loss. Before the five-game skid, the Aggies were ranked No. 5 overall in the nation and were firing on all cylinders. Then came the suspensions, illnesses and injuries. Junior forward DJ Hogg was suspended from the first two games of conference play for violating team policy. In the same time frame, junior guard Admon Gilder was recovering from a knee injury he suffered during the Aggie’s non-conference schedule. It wasn’t until the fifth conference loss A&M head coach Billy Kennedy finally had his team back together. M. BASKETBALL ON PG. 4
AROUND THE WORLD ON PG. 2
C. Morgan Engel — THE BATTALION
Freshman point guard Chennedy Carter scored 37 points in the win over DePaul.
Cassie Stricker — THE BATTALION
Students and volunteers will perform activities like yard-work, house maintenance and more at the Big Event.
Annual Big Event to be held March 24 Aggies will spend Saturday morning giving back to the community in Bryan-College Station By Megan Rodriguez @MeganLRodriguez Over 20,080 students across Aggieland are currently signed up to spend their first weekend of spring serving the community during the Big Event on March 24. The Big Event is the nation’s largest student-run one-day service project, where Aggies will complete a variety of tasks requested by community members. This year’s kick off ceremony begins at 8 a.m. in front of the John J. Koldus Building and will feature Texas A&M’s head football coach, Jimbo Fisher, as the keynote speaker. Free food will be available before volunteers set off to their 2,388 local jobs. Even though registration for Big Event closed in February, students are permitted to register the morning of the event.
There are many ways participants can prepare for a successful day of volunteering, according to Trent Armstrong, Big Event director and accounting senior. “Be cautious with that many people, pay attention to parking signs … if they have any questions they can reach out,” Armstrong said. “Some advice is to plan ahead. Know what your group is doing, where you’re meeting and just have fun.” Students should always keep the people they are serving as their top priority, according to Reese Svetgoff, Big Event development executive and business honors junior. “The reason we’re doing this is because service is important and to get to know the residents and those families,” Svetgoff said. “It’s really cool when you get to know them because it really feels like you’re in touch with the community. … It’s a really cool way to show someone that you care about them, even if you don’t necessarily know them.” BIG EVENT ON PG. 2
Women’s basketball has the mindset of winning two games Aggies have bounced back from last year and are prepared for deep run with star players By Ryan MacDonald @Ryan_MacDonald2 After the 2017 season, in which the Aggies were outed in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, Texas A&M head women’s basketball coach Gary Blair made bold proclamations about raising the bar for the 2018 season. “Last year we didn’t have an impact player, but we went as far as our talent let us,” Blair said prior to the season. “This year, that’s not acceptable. We want to push ourselves to that next level.” Blair was so confident in the returning talent he had he said he would be to blame if his team didn’t make the NCAA Tournament. “This year, it will be unacceptable if we don’t make the NCAA Tournament, they better fire the coach or something,” Blair said. The returning Aggies corps of stars — junior Anriel W. BASKETBALL ON PG. 4