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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 20, 2015)
NEWS The Battalion I 2.20.15 2 ANSWERS to todays puzzles WAN Brazos Natural Foods “A World of Healthy Products for Your Family!” We Carry: NATURES GATE AUBREY ♦ JASON BURTS BEES ♦ ZUM BODY KISS MY FACE and more!! 4303 S. TEXAS AT ROSEMARY BRYAN • 979-846-4459 MON-FRI 9 TO 6 • SAT 9 TO 4 Cckbratmg 26 Years if Serving the Bravos VaUf. SSC has joined twitter! Tweet @SSQ_TAMU custodial, grounds or maintenance issues that need fixin’ on campus. SSC is the premium provider of support services. With over 40 years of industry experience and highly trained skilled professionals, we specialize in enhancing learning environments through exceptional Custodial St Campus Services, Maintenance, and Grounds Management. TWO LOCATIONS TO DONATE AT! {979) 315-4101 I {979) 314-3672 4223 Wellborn Rd 700 University Dr E.. Ste 111 Bryan, TX 77801 | College Station, TX 77840 Hold onto a piece of Aggieland It S Hot tOO 10te to order your copy of the 2015 Aggieland yearbook. The 113th edition of Texas A&M’s official yearbook will chronicle the 2Q14-2015 school year - traditions, academics, athletics, the other education, the Corps, Greeks, residence halls, campus organizations, and student portraits. Distribution will be in Fall 2015. If you haven t,pick upacopy of the award-winning 2014 Aggieland yearbook that is a 520-page photojournalistic record of the 2013-2014 school year. By credit card go online to http://aggieland.tamu.edu or call 979-845-2613. Or drop by the Student Media office in Suite 1400 of the MSC. THE BATT Mark Dore, Editor in Chief Aimee Breaux, Managing Editor Katie Canales, Life & Arts Editor Jennifer Reiley, Asst. Managing Editor Carter Karels, Sports Editor Lindsey Gawlik, News Editor Shelby Knowles, Photo Editor Samantha King, Asst. News Editor Allison Bradshaw, Asst. Photo Editor Katy Stapp, Asst. News Editor Meredith Collier, Page Designer John Rangel, SciTech Editor Claire Shepherd, Page Designer THE BATTALION is published daily, Monday through Friday during the fall and spring semesters 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 Student Affairs. 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. Subscriptions^ part of the University Advancement Fee entitles eachTexasA&M student to pick up a single copy of The Battalion. First copy free, additional copies $1. A&M plant symposium debuts in MSC Shelby Knowles — THE BATTALION Students presented research posters and networked Thursday in the MSC throughout the day-long symposium. Students, researchers showcase new technology By Connor Paetzold Graduate students had the oppor tunity to showcase their work and learn about new technologies Thursday at Texas A&M’s first Plant Breeding Symposium. Three graduate students had the opportunity to give speeches on their work at the symposium, and 28 other students displayed their work on poster boards for attendees to view. Francisco Gomez, plant breeding and genetics graduate student and one of the stu dent speakers, said the symposium was a great opportunity for students to learn more about each other’s work. “You’ve been working on your research really hard and being able to share it with people, getting feedback and questions is always a good outlet,” Gomez said. “It’s important to learn, to explain your work to others instead of it just sitting in a box on your computer” Gomez spoke at the symposium on his use of mechanical engineering tech niques to help measure and improve the structural integrity of plants. Plant breeders use a variety of tools to do their work, and Gomez said this type of interdisciplinary research was a way to add another tool to his plant breed ing toolbox. Nolan Bentley, horticulture doctoral candidate and symposium poster pre senter, said spreading knowledge about the plant breeding industry is important because it is a large and varied field that has a major impact on food production. “It benefits all of us because we’re sharing what’s going on, new trends, new discoveries,” Bentley said. “What you’re seeing here is work that may have happened as soon as a week ago. By Amanda Talbot A vigil Thursday evening sought to reinsert #bringbackourgirls into the public mind. Texas A&M Amnesty Interna tional, a student organization, held the vigil at Rudder Fountain to re member the 300 girls taken by the Muslim militant group Boko Flaram on April 14, 2014, from Chibok Government Secondary School in Nigeria. Derin Oduye, political science se nior and president of Amnesty, said the vigil was held to bring awareness to Bryan-College Station. “These people need to know that people are still thinking about them, after the ‘bring back our girls’ stuff, people forgot and people stopped caring,” Oduye said. Boko Flaram is based in Nige ria and is growing slowly across the continent of Africa, now occupying countries including Niger, Chad and part of Cameroon, Oduye said. “Boko” means western education is a sin, Oduye said. “Like you’re [Boko Flaram] against people, Africans, getting education, basically women getting education,” Oduye said. “They’re against western ideals and values.” James Spencer, nuclear engineer ing senior and secretary of Amnesty, This may be the first place you see an idea and so if you want to jump ahead you can come to these things and see something really interesting that spurs you on to future ideas and experi ments.” Nikhil Path, molecular and environ mental plant science doctoral candidate and symposium poster presenter, said symposiums like this allow networking opportunities. “You get to know a lot about the different research that other people are doing and at the same time showcase said after the kidnapping in April, the #bringbackourgirls campaign was widely spread by political leaders and celebrities, including First Lady Michelle Obama. However, Spencer said the movement was short lived. “It kind of seemed to die away or kind of got to a point where we thought it was settled well enough,” Spencer said. “My whole hope with [the vigil] is to bring awareness with it on the first level, so people know it’s still ongoing, even if it’s not those girls there’s going to be other girls that could kidnapped as well.” Spencer said he hopes spreading awareness on campus will remind people that the issue is still ongoing. More than 200 of the girls are esti mated to still be missing, Oduye said. Oduye said Amnesty members have written letters to the family members of the girls as well as con gressional leaders, specifically U.S. Rep. Bill Flores and Secretary of State John Kerry. “It basically says we’re students ... I’m really passionate about educat ing people about what is going on in Nigeria as well as I want you to take action as a congressional leader to shed light and take this to Congress and tell our congressional leaders that we’re passionate about it and people do care,” Oduye said. your own,” Patil said. “This was the first plant breeding symposium to be held at Texas A&M and it was nice to be able to present research to fellow A&M students.” The plant breeding symposium was also streamed live online, where it garnered viewers from as far away as South America and Europe. This gave speakers the chance to answer questions not only from people physically at the event, but also from people watching online. DEMPSEY CONTINUED and the rise of China. To these issues Dempsey suggested that the United States be a leader among its partners, balancing military preparation and diplomacy. Bush School Dean Ryan Crocker, who worked with Dempsey during the invasion of Iraq, introduced the chairman to a crowd of mostly military officers, SCONA delegates and cadets Thursday morning. “Gen. Dempsey is still remembered in the Army for how he handled his troops, how he handled their families and how he then led the most motivated division one can imagine in the successful campaign in Baghdad,” Crocker said. Dempsey discussed the threat of the Is lamic State group and ongoing American airstrikes in Iraq and Syria. “When you are dealing with a net work you have to keep pressure across its entire length — it doesn’t do any good to just pinch it here,” Dempsey said. “It takes a really broad effort with partners to deal with networks.” The four-star general identified the growing importance of cyber security in an increasingly connected world. He said there needs to be a balance between national security and privacy, but empha sized that too much privacy often leaves the nation vulnerable to attack and that new powers are needed to protect citi zens. “It’s about give and take,” Dempsey said. “All we are going to have to ask of the American people in terms of legisla tion is how much will you allow us to take. If the American people decide ‘No, we are not going to allow the Senate or government to have any to take, you are going to stay vulnerable and someday you are actually going to have a huge security issue.’” Dempsey went beyond national secu rity issues and discussed the importance of human capital to the nation. He stressed the need for expertise, humility' and mor al courage in leadership positions. “The challenges I see before us are going to require exceptional effort and expertise,” Dempsey said. “You need to commit yourself right from the start to be the best fill-in-the-blank you can be.” Dempsey’s discussion of leadership goes well with this year’s SCONA theme of “Surviving Ourselves: Ignite the Hu man Potential.” It was his leadership concepts, rather than his discussion on international affairs, that stuck with some members of the crowd. Ryan Clay, international studies senior and member of the Army Reserves and Corps of Cadets, said the leadership con cepts really spoke to him. “My favorite part was when he men tioned that moral courage is tougher than physical courage,” Clay said. “Moral courage is difficult and something you have to face everyday.” The SCONA conference will con tinue through the weekend and will host several other speakers, including former CIA and NSA director Gen. Michael Hayden at 2:30 p.m. Friday in the MSC Gates Ballroom. The speaking events are free and open to students. ACTIVISM Vigil remembers girls taken by Boko Haram Shelby Knowles — THE BATTALION Students involved in Texas A&M Amnesty International hold a vigil.
