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.
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