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^ 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
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