Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 5, 2015)
. ^ THURSDAY, MARCH 5, 2015 I SERVING TEXAS A&M SINCE 1893 I ©2015 STUDENT MEDIA I ©THEBATTONUNE Students march in support of DREAM Act page 2 Last shot to turn heads Williams, 12 others run, catch and lift at Texas A&M Pro Day By Alex Scott ro Day lacked last year’s fan fare without Johnny Manziel JL and Mike Evans, but departing A&M football players again attempted to catch the NFL’s eye Wednesday. Thirteen athletes — including ju nior running back Trey Williams, who will forego his senior season — were showcased at the McFerrin Athletic Complex as Texas A&M hosted its annual Pro Day. Also among the 13 were senior defensive back Deshazor Everett, se nior receiver Malcome Kennedy and UTEP quarterback Jameill Showers, who transferred from A&M in 2012. Head coach Kevin Stimiin said Pro Day carries tremendous significance for the players. “The Pro Day is a big day here at Texas A&M and it’s a culmination for a lot of these guys that have had this childhood dream [of making it to the PRO DAY ON PC. 3 Junior forward Courtney Williams leads a fast , " break in a ^ Feb. 26 loss to Missouri. Jena Floyd —THE BATTALION A&M to meet Auburn Thursday in SEC Tournament opener CULTURE Music show blends forms to showcase Indian culture By Nikita Redkar After a year of preparation, Indian Stu dents Association, ISA, is set to show case a melting pot of musical numbers with both Indian and western roots. The show will feature competing teams from univer sities around Texas that encompass a vari ety of entertainment forms. Anusha Achukola, ISA president and nutritional sciences senior, said Sangam aims to promote cultural diversity within Texas A&M. “[Sangam] is a way for people to learn and be a part of Indian culture in an enter taining way,” Achukola said. “It’s also a great way to understand different cultural styles within Indian dancing and singing, and getting to see the elaborate costumes that go into it.” Urvi Chikhliya, ISA vice president and bioenvironmental sciences junior, said Indian entertainment as a whole doesn’t fit into a single classification — differ ent regions within India have distinctive SANGAM ON PC. 4 By Alex Scott After a shaky season’s end and with NCAA Tournament seeding in play, big challenges await A&M in Arkansas. The Texas A&M women’s basketball team will travel to Little Rock, Ark., Thurs day to begin play in the SEC Tournament. The Aggies will face the Auburn Tigers Thursday for the second time this season. The first time around, A&M handily defeat ed Auburn at home, putting up 78 points in a 33-point victory. However, since that game early in Febru ary many things have changed. Most note worthy would be how both teams finished the season — A&M finished on a two game losing streak while the Tigers rattled off three straight wins to head into postseason play, then beat Rorida Wednesday to set up the A&M matchup. Brandy Montgomery is Auburn’s leading scorer (11.9 PPG) and proved to be most ef fective the last time the two teams met, scor ing a team-high 10 points against the Aggies. Although A&M’s main focus has been on its upcoming game, the season-ending knee injury for Jordan Jones has been the sub ject of conversation this week. Head coach Gary Blair expressed his respect for his ju nior point guard. “She’s not worried about herself right now as much as she is worried about our BASKETBALL ON PG. 3 ELECTIONS Allegations of threats, favors in SBP race Controversy arises as J-Court ruling pends By Wade Feielin ^ As the Student Govern- Benigno Murtha cial Court deliberates a case to decide the student body presidency, further allega tions of coercion and politi cal favors have arisen. SBP-elect Joseph Benigno alleges runner-up Michael Murtha breached the Ag gie Honor Code in offer ing cabinet positions to the third-place candidate, Isaiah Tsau. And after a meeting between the two, Murtha alleges Benigno used the in formation to threaten him against further pursuing the J-Court case that could result in Benigno’s disqualification. The allegations stem from conversations Murtha had with Tsau regarding the position of executive vice president. Murtha said he and Tsau have met since No vember to discuss campaign similarities and plat forms. They met again on the evening of Feb. 15, this time accompanied by a supporter of Murtha’s and members of Tsau’s campaign team. Tsau SBP ON PG. 4 FILE A nuclear reactor remains in Zachry as renovation projects begin around it. Zachry reactor stays despite renovation By Connor Paetzold Construction crews that plan to tackle the ^ Zachry Engineering Center’s renovation will have an unusual feature at their worksite — an operational nuclear reactor. Construction will begin over spring break to renovate Zachry into the Engineering Educa tion Complex. To prepare for the upcoming construction, Zachry had to be emptied of all personnel and equipment. The reactor housed in Zachry will remain intact and operational dur ing the construction process but will not be in use. Safety precautions will be in place to ensure the reactor’s stability, and police will guard the reactor every night, said engineering administra tion officials. Before the building construction, the nuclear REACTOR ON PG. 2 * Texas Teachers has been invited to participate in “Preparing for Career Success in Teaching” Sponsored by Texas A&M Career Services TEXAS SCHOOLS Monday, March 9th, 5:15 — 6:45 pm 301 Rudder Tower NFFd IFIOHFI^I The Texas Teachers Alternative Certification Program is the state’s most successful online path to teaching. We have helped over 30,000 teachers start their careers, impacting the lives of over 1 million Texas students. We are excited to explain how you can use your 4 year degree to start teaching in 2015-2016, making $50k + full benefits!'. IillU 1 CHUflLily; CONSIDER A GREAT CAREER IN EDUCATION! JOIN US FOR AN EXCITING OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN HOW YOU CAN TEXAS BE TEACHING IN THE CLASSROOM THIS AUGUST! 1 Refreshment* wifi be provided. TEACHERS ALTERHATIVE CERTIFICATION If you have questions, please contact us anytime at 877.888.2640 _ • r 1 www.lfcxasTkachers.org