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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 2, 2015)
1 I I I ZZD i i i ~l I BATTASKS What was your favorite Super Bowl commercial? "The 911 call from the woman that was a victim of domestic abuse, I liked it because of the message and that they used it the way they did.” Gregory Wickwire, biology freshman “I think it's either between the Microsoft one with the little kid and just how inspiring it was, or the Dodge Challenger one where they talk about how they've been around for 100 years and opened up with all the old people just giving advice, kind of the motivational ones” Bailey Kalka, finance sophomore ”1 liked the 'Run like a girl' one because it's pretty important. Like, you have these little girls who are confident when they're 10, and by the time they reach 13 they're not. It's kind of important to keep that confidence up." Azla Know, computer science freshman CULTURE TRANSPORTATION STUDENT GOVERNMENT Black History Month hits on deficiencies in education Allison Bradshaw—THE BATTALION BSAC officers Chelsea Jones and Annie Williams will help host campus events this week. By Lindsey Gawlik |*s^ The start of Black History Month on Sunday brings with it discus sions of the importance of black history in America. Joe Feagin, sociology professor, said Black History Month helps to bring is sues to the forefront of education. “The history of African Americans is not publicly discussed very much,” Feagin said. “So to have a month where it is discussed is better than nothing, of course. We do have a very deep and foundational racist history. We’re the only advanced industrialized country that’s founded on slavery.” Feagin said more than half of Ameri can history consists of the enslavement or segregation of African Americans and it is important that history be told. “Those folks pushed back for what, about a century, 70, 80 years,” Feagin said. “They played a key role in bring ing down the slavery system. So that story needs to be told of black resis tance, black heroism, blacks standing up as the first Americans to articulate, ‘We really mean liberty and justice for all Americans.’” Sahar Aziz, associate professor of law at the Texas A&M School of Law, said Black History Month is a corrective measure aimed at offsetting the lack of representation of African-Americans in the educational system, especially in the public school system. “It is a concentrated way of having one month where there is a reason for focusing on African-American history in the United States,” Aziz said. “How ever, that is not a super long-term so lution because ultimately the objective of Black History Month should be to normalize African Americans as part of the everyday teaching of students and the everyday topics of discussions on any social or public policy issue.” Aziz said some people ask why there isn’t a white history month, but said the history taught in the United States is taught from a white perspective year- round. “So that is the baseline and that’s why we don’t need white history month be cause that is already permeated, fully integrated into the American educa tional system,” Aziz said. “Frankly, ev ery day is white history day. And so it’s time now to make it everyday a diverse American day and we’re not there yet.” BLACK HISTORY ON PG. 3 Proposed speed rail could link Dallas and Houston with College Station stop By Nikita Redkar ■V exas may host America’s first high-speed rail I line, and the Texas A&M area has risen as a ■ possible stop-over location. A high-speed rail line proposal between Hous ton and Dallas has gained momentum as a cheap and quick connection between Texas’ two larg est cities. One of the proposed routes places the line’s sole waypoint in Bryan-College Station —- a distinction that advocates and local government officials say could spell dividends for the local community, if the line is ultimately built and if residents agree to it. Mac Boles, Class of 2000 and high-speed rail advocate, said the proposed route would give stu dents and visitors a cheap and fast travel alterna tive. He said Texas Central Railway and B-CS would especially benefit during football season. “A usual three-hour trip to College Station for home football games would be cut down travel time to an hour or less,” Boles said. “I could come to a Saturday night game, be back before mid night and not need to spend money on an expen sive hotel room. Thousands ofpotential riders will be traveling from Houston to Dallas to fill up a 100,000 seat venue — that’s some serious ticket sales for the train company.” Texas Central Railway — the for-profit com pany behind the proposal — aims to use high speed trains capable of operating at speeds in excess of 200 miles per hour, moving passengers RAILWAY ON PG. 2 SGA kicks off ‘Gig the Vote’ Officials look to increase voter turnout in student elections By Wade Feielen Is. The Election Commission for Texas A&M’s Student Govern ment Association has begun its “Gig The Vote” campaign to increase voter awareness and turnout in campus elec tions. The campaign seeks to end a down ward trend in SGA election turnout through increased candidate-student interactions and an increased social media presence. SGA leaders hope “Gig the Vote” will help raise voter turnout to more than 30 percent of Texas A&M’s student population — a task that requires at least 4,000 more votes than last year’s turnout. “It’s very much about encourag ing people to start voting, but on the same hand we don’t just want students blindly participating,” said Hannah Wimberly, SGA public relations vice president and psychology junior. “We want them to know why they’re vot ing, who they’re voting for and what issues really matter.” Election commissioner and business sophomore Emma Douglas said this election season is important because it VOTE ON PG. 2 M. BASKETBALL W. BASKETBALL Cody Franklin —THE BATTALION Danuel House (left) has helped lead the Aggies to second place in the SEC standings. The Aggies are second in the SEC behind No. 1 Kentucky. Since its double-overtime loss to the Wildcats on Jan. 10, A&M has won six consecutive conference games, earning them a spot in Joe Lunardi’s latest bracketology as well as some AP votes. There's more than meets the eye with this ball club. Here are four takeaways from the Aggies’ hot streak and Saturday’s 69-58 win over Vanderbilt, from assistant sports editor Carter Karels: ** Rebounding problem is fixed | On Dec. 9, A&M became the first SEC team not to record an offensive rebound in 19 years. All looked lost for the Aggies, until Kentucky rolled into town. A&M only lost the rebounding effort by one board, perhaps the most impressive turnaround Coach Kennedy and Co. displayed all year after falling 65-44 to Alabama four days before. In their last five victories, the Aggies have out-rebounded their op ponents. Aggies rebound, Aggies win. 2 Alex Caruso is a bigger factor than you'd think Night after night Caruso finds way to contribute in ways besides scoring. Danuel House and Jalen Jones have been the go-to guys when it comes to scoring. The Aggies don’t have a predominant third scorer, but Caruso can become that guy. In A&M’s six-win stretch, the junior guard has posted four double-digit outings. TAKEAWAYS ON PG. 4 Women’s hoops back on track with 78-45 victory By Andre Perrard The No. 12 Texas A&M women’s basketball team entered Sunday’s game against Auburn on a two-game losing streak, but the Aggies took care of business behind 23 points from ju nior Courtney Williams, beating the Tigers 78-45 at Reed Arena. After following up a road loss to No. 22 Georgia with a 79-61 loss to No. 1 South Carolina, the Aggies returned to their winning ways. “They had to be hungry for this game,” said A&M head coach Gary Blair after the game. “We needed this game.” The Aggies started the game on a 17-4 nan, holding Auburn (9-13, 0-9 SEC) scoreless for five minutes. The run was sparked by good shooting from Williams as well as superb rebounding from senior Achiri Ade. From there, the Aggies never looked back. A&M’s lead was cut to five in the first half, but an 18-2 run brought the lead back to 22. The run was capped by a Williams 3-pointer at the buzzer to signal the end of the first half Again, the Aggie defense held the Tigers scoreless for another five-plus minute stretch, which helped the Aggies take a 39-17 lead into half time. The second half was much of the same as the Aggie lead was stretched to as many as 35 points, thanks in part to scoring from Williams and Courtney Walker. The Aggies were strong on the de fensive side of the ball throughout the W BASKETBALL ON PG. 4 Cody Franklin — THE BATTALION Tavarsha Scott-Williams scored six points, pulled down three rebounds on her 22nd birthday Sunday.