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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 26, 2015)
THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 2015 I SERVING TEXAS A&M SINCE 1893 I ©2015 STUDENT MEDIA I ©THEBATTONLINE BATT THE BATTALION i THEBATT.COM Youth prone to online IS recruitment Islamic State uses alienation to its advantage, Bush School dean says By Lindsey Gawlik witter accounts and other social media platforms aren’t often thought of as tools for war recruitment, but that is exactly how members of the Islamic State group, also known as ISIS, are using these technologies. Social media has become a weapon of re cruiting westerners to join the Islamic SWIMMING group’s action in the Middle East, and with an estimated 3,000 westerners having joined, ac cording to Business Insider, many are left ask ing, “Why would anyone go?” Ryan Crocker, dean of the Bush School of Government and Public Service, served much of his career as a foreign service officer in the Middle East. He said the Islamic State group is reaching out to young people who feel alien ated in their community, and then making promises of giving self-worth. “That makes especially young people vul nerable to a recruitment campaign that says, ‘Come to us, we will give you dignity, we will give you superiority and we will give you op portunity,”’ Crocker said. “Never mind that it is a terribly twisted message for people coming of age in a society they perceive as not valuing them, that can be pretty persuasive.” Another reason young people might be joining is because Islamic State aims to appeal to the excitement they crave, Crocker said. “You have to just consider that these are young people,” Crocker said. “For 17 or 18 SGA year olds, excitement and adventure are al ways tempting and whether, whatever it is, one might find oneself doing something that they wouldn’t dream of doing five or six years later.” Crocker said media coverage of the Islamic State group and its videos has probably been both beneficial and damaging for the Islamic State group in gaining western recruits. “For those totally alienated and completely outside the norms of the societies they are liv- ISLAMIC STATE ON PG. 2 CAMPUS A&M pair to compete at NCAA champs Swimmer Corey Bolleter will represent A&M in 50-and 100-yard freestyle. Swimmer, diver make the trek to Iowa meet Thursday to Saturday By Lawrence Smelser The Texas A&M men’s swimming and diving team will be represented by swimmer Cory Bolleter and diver Ty ler Henschel as they travel to the Uni versity of Iowa to compete in the 2015 NCAA Swimming and Diving Cham pionships. Bolleter will race in the 50-yard and 100-yard freestyle, and Henschel will compete in all three dives: the one-me ter, three-meter and platform. Henschel, who is a freshman from Alberta, Canada, has been one of the breakout stars this year in the SEC. The diver has earned SEC Diver of the Week honors twice this season along with gar nering 14 regular season victories. “It would be awesome to place in the top three,” Henschel said. “Diving is a very competitive field in the U.S. There are a lot of people from other countries that I’ve competed against internation ally. There are a few Olympic medal ists here and people gping to the next Olympics.” When asked how he would prepare for his events, Henschel said he needed to keep taking the right steps. “I just have to keep confident and do my best,” Henschel said. “If I come in here thinking I’m going to win, chances are I’ll put too much pressure on myself. If I just do the things I already do, I can push the top three.” Bolleter, who is from San Antonio, will be returning to the NCAA Cham pionships with plenty of experience SWIMMING ON PG. 3 SBP-elect Benigno looks ahead to his tenure r.v-> Shelby Knowles —THE BATTALION SBP-elect Joseph Benigno speaks at the debate. He won the Feb. 19-20 election and was confirmed after a March J-Court ruling. By Wade Feielin In the dimly lit silhouette of the statue of Sul Ross on Feb. 20, Joseph Benigno was announced as next year’s stu dent body president. He would have to weather an appeal of the election results in the following tumultuous weeks, but on March 5 the Ju dicial Court opted to confirm the original result. And despite questions raised about pos sible violations in one of his campaign videos, Benigno re mained SBP-elect. As he looks ahead to Mus ter on April 21, when SBP Kyle Kelly will pass the torch, Benigno prepares to lead the Student Government Associa tion after three years working within it. Benigno comes from a house divided. His mother went to the University of Tex as and his father went to Tex as A&M. He said at a young age he knew that the men he looked up to and wanted to be , like were Aggies. “My dad was an Aggie, his brothers were Aggies, guys who mentored me in high school were Aggies, my pastor was an Aggie,” Benigno said. “It was clear that the culture and people at Texas A&M were a good fit for my person ality.” Involved in student govern ment since his freshman year, Benigno has served as a Fish Aide, a student senator and ex ecutive vice president. One of his tasks will be working with new university president Michael Young. Be nigno said he has had the op portunity to meet Young on a few occasions and is optimistic about their relationship. “I think that the relationship between the administration —- and obviously he’s the leader of the administration —— and the student body president is extremely important,” Be nigno said. “At the end of the day. I’m just an advocate for the student body. There’s not a lot of real power that comes with this position, and I’m fully aware of that. What that means, though, is the relation ship with administrators is one of the most important things the student body president can focus on, because when we go and speak with them, the SBP ON PG. 2 A day in the life of UPD officers By Josh Hopkins ^ From a host of reports, 6 a.m. shifts ^ and College Station traffic, a day in the life of a University Police Depart ment officer involves plenty of twists and turns. Krystina Tran, UPD communications officer, said A&M is an interesting loca tion to work in because of all the things that can go wrong. “I think A&M campus is different than a lot of universities because of all the things we have here,” Tran said. “I mean, we have a nuclear power plants, we have a railroad that goes through campus, we have an airport, we have bio-level-3 labs, we have a presidential library. So there are huge significant things on campus that distinguish us from different universities UPD ON PG. 3 PROVIDED The UPD's jurisdiction extends to all Texas counties. Lawrence gets nod as Head Yell Leader Cody Franklm — THE BATTALION Zachary Lawrence leads a yell at a recent home basketball game. By Jennifer Reiley Zachary Lawrence will serve as Head Yell Leader for the 2015-2016 school year. The decision was made official Wednesday in an email from the Department of Student Activi ties. Gerald Harris, assistant director, said in the release that Lawrence brings energy and experi ence to the position. “Zach brings a wealth of experience, motiva tion and dedication to his new role and we are excited about his leadership for the up and com ing year,” Harris said in the release. Lawrence served as a Junior Yell Leader in the 2014-2015 school year and is a psychology junior. He said, upon hearing the announcement, his re action was difficult to put into words. “I was excited, a little shocked and just hon ored to be given the chance to do this,” Lawrence said. “I have the highest respect for the guys that have come before me like Patrick and Ryan and Nelson, and pretty much all of the Head Yell Leaders before me. I’ve looked up to them in the past, and it’s kind of amazing to be here today.” Lawrence said he is looking forward to the next year and said he is still amazed sometimes at how far he has come. “I’m really grateful for all my friends and family that have helped me to get to this point,” Law rence said. “It’s kind of amazing to see, starting out college, where I was and coming into my se nior year what I’m getting to do now.” Patrick McGinty, 2014-2015 Head Yell Lead er, said Lawrence works to embody the core val ues of Texas A&M. “I’m confident that he will make Aggies every where proud throughout his term as Head Yell Leader,” McGinty said. “I consider myself hon ored to pass the torch along to Zach, and I can’t wait to see this new group lead the 12th Man.” The change in command is expected to take place around Muster on April 21st, which marks the final event for the current Yell Leaders. \ (
