Feb 2, 2017 by The Battalion

12-year-old Jake Johnson runs business to become Aggie

MAKING SALSA, W CHASING DREAMS

By Meredith McCown @meredithrhoads

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ith a dream to attend Texas A&M University to become a geologist when he grows up, Cy-Fair 12-year-old Jake Johnson decided tuition expenses would not hinder his aspirations. What started out as selling salsa in mason jars to friends at the lunch table in seventh grade turned into something more than Johnson ever expected. “Jake’s Atomic Salsa” is now sold in 12 stores across Texas between the Houston and College Station area. Eight of those stores are Ace Hardware stores, three are Aggieland Outfitters and the other is Market 1023 in Downtown Bryan. His story has been featured in the news on television, and also in publications such as Texas Living Magazine and the Houston Chronicle. Since the beginning of September when the business opened, Johnson has sold more than 8,000 jars of salsa, saving the profits for his four years at A&M studying geology. Additionally in a few weeks, Johnson will be featured as a keynote speaker at his middle school for the eighth grade career day. Johnson said his desire to become a geologist one day stemmed from his fascination with rocks. “I always had a connection to rocks,” Johnson said. “I like it because it just seems really cool to me how one, how expensive they are, and the beauty of them, they’re really pretty. So that’s why I wanted to do it. And I also wanted to find them.” Johnson said a few special ingredients helped him to achieve the perfect salsa recipe — roasted peppers and spices, to name a few. “I never liked the salsas in the store. So I always thought, well, if I make my own, I would have the perfect flavor and I would always eat it because it was mine,” Johnson said. “So I made it and it was really, really good.” Johnson wanted the brand name of the salsa to reflect his passion for ATOMIC SALSA ON PG. 2

12-year-old Jake Johnson started a business making salsa and selling it to raise money to go to A&M in the future.

Kevin Sumlin welcomes another top-15 class Aggies cement 27-man class on 2017 National Signing Day By Angel Franco @angelmadison_

PROVIDED

Emory University associate professor Andra Gillespie will give a lecture on religion and race at the Veritas Forum.

Hundreds expected to attend forum on Christianity, race Emory professor to lecture on social justice Thursday By Megan Rodriguez @MeganLRodriguez For the first time, Texas A&M’s annual Veritas Forum will focus on social justice issues with a lecture from Emory University associate professor Andra Gillespie as she delves into the place where religion and race collide. The Veritas Forum is an international network of universities which began at Harvard University in 1992. The forum promotes intellectual thinking by creating a conversation between historic Christian doctrine and other religious belief systems. Texas A&M began participating in the forum with lectures primarily focused on scientific evidence for Christianity, but will shift its focus to societal challenges during this year’s lecture titled, “Christianity & Racial

Justice: Does God Care? Do We Care.” Gillespie’s research on racial and ethnic politics in the United States along with her past experience of working with the Veritas Forum will be displayed at Thursday’s lecture, which will focus primarily on what Christians’ positions are on topics regarding race and faith. “We are talking about this idea of racial reconciliation and whether or not Christians have anything to say about that,” Gillespie said. “Historically Christians have been on both sides of issues related to race. If you look at the civil rights movement there were people who would have called themselves Christians who were segregationists and then there were Christians who were on the other side actively working to dismantle Jim Crow.” Micah Green, associate professor of Chemical Engineering and president of the Texas A&M Christian Faculty Network, said the network FORUM ON PG. 3

With National Signing Day coming to an end, Texas A&M head coach Kevin Sumlin addressed the media to answer questions pertaining to the incoming class Wednesday. With several media outlets like Scout.com, Rivals.com, ESPN. com and 247sports.com giving the football team different rankings on their respective sites, the Aggies have a composite ranking that falls in the top-10 of classes in the nation. Things in Aggieland were relatively calm on National Signing Day, since there weren’t any unexpected flips or commitments. Nine of the 27 recruits are already enrolled in classes and going through spring drills with the team. Sumlin said the camaraderie of the 2017 recruiting class is one of the reasons it is one of the most complete classes across the board. “This is a close group and you can see it from the outside on social media but you can get a better feel from it on the inside, just talking to them,” Sumlin said. “The things that are important to this class — it says a lot about these guys and their families.” Sumlin said the most important goal for the coaching staff this recruiting season was to strengthen

the offensive and defensive line, which, according to Sumlin, is crucial to compete in a tough SEC West division. “We set out in the beginning to increase not only our front but the profile of the front. We wanted to be bigger on the offensive line; I think we achieved that the

to the season opener in Pasadena against UCLA Sept. 2. However, he said there is no doubt in his mind that Mond has the ability to compete with returning players like Jake Hubenak and Nick Starkel. “We had Kellen at camp a few years ago and he was extremely impressive,” Sumlin said. “The op-

“This is a close group and you can see it from the outside on social media but you can get a better feel from it on the inside, just talking to them.” with the full set of lineman,” Sumlin said. “So from our standpoint, looking at the whole class, I think what we set out to do in the front, with the offensive and defensive lines and a complete set of linebackers, with two of them already on campus — that was the first priority.” With the exit of Trevor Knight, the starting quarterback position is up for grabs. The most notable quarterback in the 2017 recruiting class is 4-star dual threat Kellen Mond. Sumlin said with a strong quarterback group each player will have to bring their best throughout spring ball and fall camp leading up

Kevin Sumlin, head football coach portunity is there for him as an early graduate. Nick Starkel has done a great job in the offseason and has really worked hard physically. With Jake being here, we have the four guys here right now and we’ll start practicing, start weeding things out. He’s here to compete — he said that.” This class features one of the most dynamic players in Roshauud Paul, who also enrolled early. Paul was named Mr. Texas Football and listed SIGNING DAY ON PG. 4

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Twelve-year-old Jake Johnson’s salsa, Jake’s Atomic Salsa, is carried in eight stores, including three Aggieland Outfitters.

ATOMIC SALSA CONTINUED “I think me at such a geology science, so “Jake’s Atomic Salsa” young age, seemed to fit that notion to a T. “I tried to come up with different names,” that inspires Johnson said. “It was kind of a basic name to me. I was trying to come up with a creative other people name so it’s kind of bland but not entirely. to think, ‘Well, I was trying to make something appropriate because my stepdad wanted to call it ‘Sick in if he can do it the Head.’ I don’t know why.” an Aggie runs in Johnson’s family. then I can do HisBeing stepdad graduated from A&M in 2006, and Johnson said he became intrigued by it.’ Because I A&M because of the fun and adventurous mean I’m only stories his stepdad would tell him from his college years. 12 and I made “I think me at such a young age, that inspires other people to think, ‘Well, if he can the salsa do it then I can do it,’” Johnson said. “Because I mean I’m only 12 and I made the salsa business.” business. And the older people think, ‘He’s Jake Johnson, young entrepreneur

younger than me and he has a salsa business, maybe I can start my own business.’” Kari Schriewer, Johnson’s mother and a special education specialist at Johnson’s middle school in Cypress, said one of Johnson’s teachers, Ms. Buck, was encouraged by his story and told the Cy-Fair ISD media about his salsa business that would raise money to pay for his tuition at A&M. From then on, word of the ambitious seventh grader spread like wildfire. “It was instant chaos,” Schriewer said. “That day he was featured on the news, and while I went to pick him up from football practice, I remember him getting in the car … Me and my twins and Jake go to his dad’s house and we’re watching the news with his dad. And while I’m at his dad’s house, my phone rings and it’s another news station.” Schriewer said the night her son was featured on the news, seeing Johnson’s dream become a reality was surreal. “I remember when I tucked him in at night that night,” Schriewer said. “He was like, ‘Mom, when I woke up today, I was just a normal 12-year-old kid and now I’ve been on the news; this is crazy.’” The next day, Schriewer’s phone blew up with people wanting to purchase salsa and wanting to send Johnson words of encouragement. Schriewer said it was then that the family decided to hire a manufacturer — Consolidated Mills — for the business. Even amidst the time commitment that comes with owning and running a salsa busi-

ness, Johnson still attends football practice and does his homework, and Schriewer hopes he will continue to stay grounded through it all. “I don’t know how to describe it — just proud,” Schriewer said. “With all of this, I want him to remain humble, how we raised him to be … He still has chores, he’s still Jake, he’s still a big brother to my twins and then his sisters, and he still needs to stay Jake.” Fadi Kalaouze, CEO of Kalcorp Enterprises and owner of Aggieland Outfitters, reached out to Schriewer and Johnson when he heard about Jake’s Atomic Salsa. “It was an easy decision and everyone wanted to help and get involved to help him realize his dream,” Kalaouze said. “The fact that he was so young and considerate of his parents and already planning ahead for his future, and the fact that he was so determined to be an Aggie — it really resonated with me personally.” On Aggie game days this past fall, Schriewer and Johnson set up a table outside of Aggieland Outfitters and sold his salsa at the store, encouraged by Kalaouze. “We sell them year-round and work with Jake and his family to continually promote his store to help him drive sales, whether through our stores or his own website,” Kalaouze said. “We sold them exceptionally well during the holidays. We actually just did a photoshoot with Jake for our social media team and will continue to support him and his dream.” Johnson’s whole family works together to support his endeavors — his dad handles the shipping, his stepdad deals with the finances and Schriewer promotes the business through public relations. “I hope that people know how important it is to support and encourage their kid no matter how far fetched the dream may be,” Schriewer said. “I hope that people put faith in their kid and support their kid and listen to them no matter how crazy it might sound. You need to support your kids at all costs and always provide an environment where your kid feels accepted.” Throughout the journey, Schriewer said the two main things that encourage Johnson to persevere are his family and his faith. “I asked [Jake], ‘What has helped motivate you? What support do you feel has helped carry you through this whole crazy process?’” Schriewer said. “And he said, ‘The faith that my family has in me and the faith that I have in God’…He grew up knowing you’ve got to always have faith.”

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Office of Sustainability works to promote green thinking By Ana Sevilla @AnaVSevilla With more than 60,000 students attending Texas A&M, it can be easy to forget about the impact humans make on the environment, especially on a campus-wide level. However, since the 2008 opening of the Office of Sustainability, multiple campus and student-led initiatives have been trying to make that impact known. The Office of Sustainability operations coordinator Lara Hendrickson said there are three main pillars to creating a sustainable environment: Environmental, social and economic. “Essentially sustainability is about being good stewards and making sure that we’re meeting the needs of our current generation, while also ensuring the future generations can meet those same needs,” Hendrickson said. “It touches on all aspects of human life because we need to be acting in a way that is responsible and ethical and conserving what we have, while also not overexploiting our resources.” But with the growing number of students and faculty on campus, Hendrickson said outreach has proven to be a challenge. While the Office of Sustainability does not always oversee these projects directly, using the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education’s

FORUM CONTINUED partnered with Ratio Christi to choose the speaker, topic and date of the event. According to Green, they have high hopes for both the organization and Thursday’s forum. “One of the biggest goals we have is to provoke meaningful, thoughtful dialogue,” Green. “The Christian Faculty Network is committed to prompting faculty and students to think through life’s big questions. The goal is not just to bring in a big name speaker to talk about an interesting topic. The goal is to start a conversation that will extend far beyond one night.” Green said the recent issues per-

Howdy Farm serves as a place on campus for sustainability organizations to teach eco-friendly practices.

Sustainability Tracking and Rating System (STARS), the office is able to measure these improvements. Hendrickson said significant measures have been taken with campus waste-diversion, or the process of diverting waste that ends up in landfills. “It’s a big focus area that we’re really trying to improve on,” Hendrickson said. “For fiscal year 2016, we were able to divert 71 percent of the waste produced on campus, and we also have all of our pre-consumer waste in dining halls getting composted.” In addition to faculty-led efforts, student-led initiatives such as Sustainable Agriculture Student Association (SASA), aim to teach Aggies hands-on eco-friendly practices at Howdy Farm, a student-led farm on campus that sells produce at the Brazos Valley Farmer’s Market. Kelly Karstadt, education and sustainability SASA co-officer, said the use of a rain catcher system, solar panels and recently a sink help make a difference in the organic farm’s operations. “We haven’t completely implemented this yet, but we’re going to install some kind of catchment underneath [the sink]. The water that we use will drain into it and we will use that to water our plants — as opposed to using the sink water inside — and it just goes down the drain,” Karstadt said. “We’re utilizing the

gray water and putting it back into our plants. Washing plants can take a long time, and it’s more convenient for us and saves a ton of water.” Recreation, parks and tourism junior Aidan Riley said changes within both the university and city would benefit students and residents. “It might be asking a lot, but it would be sweet if A&M could make up for College Station’s lack of recycling programs offered elsewhere, like for plastics numbered less than two, or cardboard especially,” Riley said. Getting involved isn’t just for

students. Hendrickson said more outreach with staff members can be expected in the future. “Faculty and Staff are extremely important; they set an example for others, they interact with students,” Hendrickson said. “The Sustainable Office Certification provides a platform for faculty and staff to A) learn more about the behaviors they can take that lead up to a larger impact, and B) helps recognize their amazing work and showcase to others what you can do to get involved and lead by example.”

Further plans from the Office of Sustainability will be featured in their goals listed in the upcoming Sustainability Master Plan. While these initiatives help to create a more eco-friendly tomorrow for Texas A&M, Karstadt said it’s ultimately up to individuals to make a lasting impact. “Top-down is not a very effective method,” Karstadt said. “If everybody just becomes aware of [sustainability] and wants to help, then it can build up into something bigger.”

taining to race at Texas A&M’s campus has made this forum especially relevant. “It is an interesting coincidence because we chose this topic and this speaker in July long before all the events of last semester with Richard Spencer and the protest, so I think this is a very timely topic,” Green said. “Our goal is that students can look at the problem of racism and realize that it’s not just a societal problem, it’s a problem of the human heart and it’s a problem we would call sin. If we want to address that problem of racism in our society we have to get to those heart issues.” According to Green, Christianity is an effective way of cutting into the issue of racism.

“People may base their identity on race, or base their identity on nationality. One of the things that Christianity does is it says all those things that you may use as a basis for identity don’t make any sense, because ultimately Jesus is the basis for our identity,” Green said. “So I feel like Christianity undercuts nationalism, it undercuts racism because it says those things are not ultimate.” Zachary Lawson, biomedical engineering senior and president of Ratio Christi A&M, a student run Christian organization sponsoring this year’s Veritas Forum, said Ratio Christi and the Veritas Forum share similar goals. “The main takeaway that we are trying to put across through the

Veritas Forum and through everything that Ratio Christi does is that Christianity is true, Christianity is relevant,” Lawson said. “If you’re a Christian and you think your faith is just a thing you do on Sunday and it’s not relevant in the public arena we would like to challenge that. We have a very rich tradition of Christian thought that’s gone back thousands of years and it’s sort of incumbent on you to take that seriously and engage with the problems around you in your society.” Gillespie said her aim in both her research and this forum is to provide people with applicable knowledge to work toward real change in the world around them. “I definitely come at the topic

as a Christian and I come as a person of color,” Gillespie said. “And I think one of the goals of scholarship is to create knowledge that is useful to people. I think in this day and age there needs to be more people making their scholarship useful and applicable to real life because these are real life problems that just aren’t going away in American society, so we need to think about how to address them.” According to Green, last year’s forum packed the room with more than 700 hundred in attendance and he expects Thursday to produce a similar turnout. Gillespie’s lecture will be held at 7 p.m. Feb. 2 in Rudder Auditorium.

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SIGNINGDAY

The Battalion | 2.2.17

JHAMON AUSBON

CONNOR BLUMRICK

CAMRON BUCKLEY

KELDRICK CARPER

MICHEAL CLEMONS

CARSON GREEN

ANTHONY HINES III

JARED HOCKER

CAMRON HORRY

DEVODRICK JOHNSON

TYREE JOHNSON

HEZEKIAH JONES

MYLES JONES

JACOB KIBODI

SANTINO MARCHIOL

KEYNEL MCZEAL

KELLEN MOND

DAN MOORE , JR .

DEVIN MORRIS

ROSHAUUD PAUL

JAYDEN PEEVY

GRAYSON REED

DEBIONE RENFRO

ONDARIO ROBINSON

JOSHUA ROGERS

DERRICK TUCKER

ADRIAN WOLFORD

NATIONAL SIGNING DAY CLASS OF 2017

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NO SURPRISES ON THE RECRUITING FRONT ON NATIONAL SIGNING DAY Alex Miller

@AlexMill20

exas A&M inked a quiet class on National Signing Day — filled with talent but not necessarily flashy. There were no surprises or questions to be solved on the final day for the 2017 class, unlike the past two years, which had been dramatic for the Aggies. The calm signing day may have been in large part due to the nine early enrollees A&M brought in at the start of the semester — which included most of its top targets. By getting their key prospects to Aggieland in January, there was less stress in the war

SIGNING DAY CONTINUED under the top 15 overall athletes on ESPN’s top 300. Paul finished his high school career with 69 passing touchdowns and 10 interceptions at quarterback. Paul will make the transition from quarterback to wide receiver this fall for the Aggies.

room down the home stretch. Maybe a peaceful signing day was exactly what the Aggies needed. The past two years, A&M lost out on both of Texas’ top players — Malik Jefferson in 2015 and Brandon Jones in 2016 — to rival Texas on National Signing Day. But while the Aggies did not have to worry about top prospects in the waning hours, they missed out on some of Texas’ top talent long before Wednesday. In a year that saw Texas have its third-straight losing season, Houston regress from their magical 2015 campaign, and Baylor suffer through…well, do we even have to mention? The Aggies, however, did not take full advantage of their biggest competitors’ woes, losing key in-state players to

a handful of out-of-state programs. Regardless, Kevin Sumlin and his staff did a superb job completing a 27-man class that finished near top 10 nationally. A solid four-man receiving corps leads the way in Jhamon Ausbon, Hezekiah Jones, Cam Buckley and Roshauud Paul. The Aggies did their part in the secondary, too, gaining blue chip safety Derrick Tucker and others including Keldrick Carper and Myles Jones — long, athletic players John Chavis is keen on. The only weakness may be at defensive end, the Aggies most-needed position next season with the departures of Myles Garrett and Daeshon Hall, but A&M gets JUCO-transfer Micheal Clemons and 4-star Tyree Johnson.

There are four signees who could see the field instantly. Mond is expected to compete for the starting quarterback job, and being a dual-threat quarterback will play in his favor adjusting to Noel Mazzone’s offense. Ausbon will have a great chance to compete for an outside receiver spot. At 6-foot-3, 205 pounds, Ausbon is a prototypical outside flanker whose size and speed will allow him to compete from the start. The tape and stat sheet of Hines III says it all: The dude can tackle. A&M will need its newcomers to fill voids at a position of need on defense and Hines III is the man for the job. The fourth is Clemons, who comes in with two years of collegiate experience to a position with needed

help and the measurables to step in immediately. The good news is by getting Mond, Ausbon and Hines III to campus early, they will be able to go through spring practice and gain four extra months of offseason training to help prepare them to potentially take the field immediately this fall. Overall, this was a solid class and one that is tight-knit and littered with players who want to be in Aggieland and have for a long time. It wasn’t flashy by any means, but the bottom line is this: A&M got nearly everything they needed and did not have to wait until the final hours to fill every last need.

“You always have to look at Mr. Football in the state of Texas,” Sumlin said. “That guy can easily play ball; we have to figure out where to put him. He’ll start on offense; he’s electric. Anyone who’s watched the last couple state championship runs they’ve had with the ball in his hands is something else. He’s got re-

turn ability … A lot of things on the upside. I think he’s a guy that will benefit by being here early and to be able to get into the offense and got through spring ball as he makes the transition to receiver and we’ll see what happens from there.” The Aggies landed the No. 1 overall linebacker in the nation

according to ESPN with Anthony Hines III, a commitment Sumlin said was crucial after the departure of Myles Garrett and Daeshon Hall. “When they start bringing in a guy from middle school to play on varsity to play football, you better start paying attention to who that guy is,” Sumlin said. “I think that

it was solidified by John Chavis and his relationship with Mr. Hines and Anthony. He’s a guy we had targeted this time a couple years ago, he was a guy who kept coming to our games, junior days and different things.” The Aggies will begin their spring football camp March 1.

Alex Miller is a journalism freshman and sports writer for The Battalion.

STARTING NEXT WEEK HAVE YOUR PICTURE TAKEN FOR THE 2017 AGGIELAND YEARBOOK! Featuring a unique rooftop pool, and the largest fitness center in the area, we are ready to rock your college experience. Sterling Northgate is the newest luxury housing community for students just like you. Visit Our Leasing Office to experience VIRTUAL REALITY!

Specialties Photography will be set up to have your FREE portrait taken for Texas A&M University’s 2017 Aggieland yearbook. ALL CLASSES ARE WELCOMED 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. Monday - Wednesday Feb. 6th - 8th Monday - Thursday Feb. 13th - 16th Located at the Sanders Corps Museum Library

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.