Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 4, 2015)
WEDNESDAY MARCH 4, 2015 I SERVING TEXAS A&M SINCE 1893 I ©2015 STUDENT MEDIA I ©THEBATTONLINE BATT THE BATTALION I THEBATT.COM maBDtim Firefighting students team up to put out fire at the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service Brayton Fire Field spring training session Tuesday. Tanner Garza — THE BATTALION Training grounds bring the heat Fire school gears up for spring training week By Jennifer Reiley The students hold the 200-pound hose as the fuel technician opens the valve, feeding FOOTBALL the fire in the metal skeleton of a structure before them. The leader signals, the students move forward in unison — the simulation begins. This scenario is just one of many hands-on training experiences faced by firefighter students at one of the largest fire training facilities in the world, just 10 minutes from campus. Referred to as the “Disneyland of fire and rescue,” the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service Brayton Fire Field contains 80 burn props, rigs and gutted buildings that can simulate any disaster situation and offers two fire schools during RESEARCH the year, one in the March and the other in July. While the spring class es are smaller, roughly 500 students from across the globe come to Col lege Station to receive first-response training. Brian Scheffer, a captain with the Brenham Fire department, is in his 11th year as a guest instructor for the spring fire school. “Being in Texas, we do every thing bigger and badder than ev erybody else, and in my opinion it’s a great honor to have this school here,” Scheffer said. FIRE SCHOOL ON PG. 3 M. BASKETBALL Aggies' work with foam could change aneurysm treatment Tanner Garza—THE BATTALION Tony Boyle, a biomedical engineering graduate student who is involved with Duncan Maitland's research, shows the anatomy of the human brain. Jenna Floyd — THE BATTALION Kyle Allen speaks at a press conference Tuesday. Kyle Allen hitting his stride in year two at A&M Quarterback addresses media after practice about confidence, Murray By Andre Perrard Day two of spring football practice is in the books, and the talk of practice was sophomore starting quarterback Kyle Allen. Allen won the starting job in the Louisiana- Monroe game last season and ended his year as the MVP of the Liberty Bowl win over West Virginia. He finished the season with 12 touchdowns in his last four games. “I think [the Liberty Bowl] helped with confidence and guys learning to follow me.” Allen said after practice Tuesday. “They be lieve in me a lot more. I showed them what I can do and they see me as a leader now.” As he leads the team through spring prac tice, he said his comfort level is improved and ALLEN ON PG. 2 By Manya Rastogi The best way to treat brain aneu rysms involves planting tiny metal coils around the affected tissue — a method Texas A&M researchers hope to outdate with shape-changing foam. A Texas A&M-led research effort aimed at treating potentially fatal brain aneurysms by filling them with polymer foams re ceived a $2.5-million grant from the Na tional Institutes of Health. The three-year grant goes to a team led by Duncan Mai tland, biomedical engineering professor, to ready the treatment technique for future human trials. Tony Boyle, a biomedical engineer ing doctoral student who is involved with Maitland’s research, said the shape-memory effect of the polymers is the premise for the research. The medical foam changes shape when heat is applied to it, making it the “bread and butter” of the lab’s focus. “This is pretty unique because people are looking at foams and at the shape-memory polymers but they are not looking at the shape-memory polymer foams,” Boyle said. “They are really soft, designed with the chemistry to be biocompatible. Body response to it is appropriate for the applica tions we need but [the] body is not going to attack it or get rid of it.” Boyle and Hasan said the lab’s research is a significant step above the current medical benchmark used to treat brain aneurysms — platinum coils — because the memory foam has the potential to be more effective and less risky. Boyle said the foam acts as a scaffold. The foam’s structure becomes a type of web bing that cells can attach to and grow on, an advantage that platinum coils don’t offer. “So, instead of getting unstable mass of stuff you actually get cells that come in, take out the clot, replace it with healthy tissues,” RESEARCH ON PG. 2 AROUND CAMPUS Former president Murano to keynote summit on issues faced by Hispanics By Bradley D 5 Souza Surrounding the growth of the Hispanic popula- ^ tion in the United States, many public universities have seen a proportional rise in their Hispanic student attendance — including Texas A&M. With a 7.2 percent rise in the Hispanic population in Texas from 2010 to 2014, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, and a 11.9 percent rise in the His panic population at A&M from Fall 2013 to Fall 2014, according to the University Metrics website, students are seeking solutions to problems facing the hispanic population. The Hispanic Network Summit, an annual event held by the Texas A&M University Hispanic Network, is focused on topics related to this growing community on both a local and national level. Held Thursday and Friday in the Clayton Williams Jr. Alumni Center^ the event will feature speak ers and honor several Hispanic Aggies. The keynote address will be delivered by speaker Elsa Murano, director of the Borlaug Institute and former Texas A&M president. Murano said she hopes to use Norman Borlaug himself as a way to dis cuss the virtues that constitute a leader. “Because I’m the director of the Borlaug Institute for international agriculture here at Texas A&M, one Murano WHAT: Hispanic Network Summit WHEN: Thursday-Friday WHERE layton Williams Jr. Alumni Center SUMMIT ON PG. 4 Top scorer House blanked in Florida loss Despite late rally and 20 from Caruso, the Aggies fall in road finale House By Carter Karels ^ A late Aggie surge was not enough af- ^ ter the Florida defense blanked Dan- uel House in scoring for the first time all season, as the Texas A&M men’s basket ball team lost on the road, 66-62. The junior guard finished 0-for-10 (0- for-6 from three), but ended his night ear ly in the closing minutes with an apparent ankle injury. House tallied 15 points in A&M’s last matchup against Auburn, but struggled in that matchup as well, shoot ing just 6-for-20 after ending the first half 3-for-13 from the field. The Aggies (20-9, 11-6 SEC) roared out to a 10-0 lead in the opening four minutes, but the tide turned when Gators head coach Billy Donovan got a spark off his bench from Dorian Finney-Smith. When Finney-Smith entered the game, Florida surged to a 14-4 run, evening the contest. Play was back and forth thereafter, and the Aggies kept it within five through the first eight minutes of the second half. Alex Murphy then scored seven straight points, which notched the Gators biggest advan tage at the time at 37-31 after a dunk with 11:31 left to play, making it 37-31. Florida continued its mn and eventually stretched the lead to 16, 47-31. The Gators (15-15, 8-9 SEC) late strug gles at the free throw line cost them, as a 58-42 Aggie deficit with 3:13 to play was eventually cut to a one-possession game. With 13 ticks on the clock, Florida missed 10 of its last 15 free throws, while Jordan Green registered two from the penalty stripe to cut the game to three. On the possession before, Alex Caruso hit his third 3-pointer of the night to put his Aggies within 62-58. Caruso led the Ag gies in scoring with 20 points on 7-for~8 shooting. In the end, Florida made three of four free throws in the final 13 seconds to put the game on ice, and the Aggies were un able to get anything going offensively in the last few possessions. Freshman Peyton Allen didn’t see the court, staying in College Station with a reported stomach virus. Filling Eds role was Davonte Fitzgerald, who totaled five points. A&M heads back home for its season finale against Alabama at 1 p.m. Saturday with hopes to avenge a loss to the Crim son Tide in the SEC opener. I