WEDNESDAY MARCH 4, 2015 I SERVING TEXAS A&M SINCE 1893 I ©2015 STUDENT MEDIA I ©THEBATTONLINE
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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.
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