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The Battalion I 2.20.15
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If you haven t,pick upacopy of the
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THE
BATT
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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.