MONDAY, APRIL 27, 2015 I SERVING TEXAS A&M SINCE 1893 I © 2015 STUDENT MEDIA I @TH E B ATT ONLINE
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Tanner Garza — THE BATTALION
VIEWS
Disaster City from the
victim' point of view
The Battalion editors recount their experiences volunteering
Disaster City simulated
a hurricane-induced
decontamination scenario
By Wade Feielin
n a cloudless 86-degree
Saturday afternoon,
screams could be heard
echoing from the base
ment of a collapsed single family
home as search-and-rescue teams
got their bearings with time work
ing against them.
The screams (from volunteers
in makeup) and the home (staged
as part of a simulation) are central
to the notion tying the training
exercise together — to best equip
first responders, they must have the
most realistic training possible.
Unstable walls, collapsed ceilings
and roofs, mangled vehicles and
various household items were the
only remnants of the home, con
structed to model damage from a
tornado spawned from a hurricane.
Emergency personnel ranging
from Hazmat teams to medical
teams and military perused the pe
rimeter, clad in white contamina
tion suits and respirators with Rott
weilers and Geiger counters by their
side — their goal being to rescue as
many people as possible in as little
time as possible.
This is Disaster City.
Built in 1998 in response to the
Oklahoma City bombings, Disaster
City serves to train responders using
near-lifelike conditions. Texas Task
Force One manager Jeff Saunders
said this year’s demonstration, per
formed Saturday, is based on a sce
nario that is trying to exercise urban
search and rescue in a contaminated
environment.
“We’ve got a little bit of chemi
cal contamination that we would
see from storm surge or heavy
flooding,” Saunders said. “And we
also have a small radioactive source
that’s in that box sitting on the pile
right there —- that yellow tool box.
There’s a radiological source from
Dr. Mariano’s program over in nu
clear science.”
Emphasizing the importance
of an orchestrated and timely re
sponse, Texas A&M Engineering
DISASTER CITY ON PG. 2
Lindsey Gawlik — THE BATTALION
Assistant news editor Jennifer
Reiley has makeup applied to
her forearm as a Disaster Day
volunteer victim. As volunteers,
Reiley and news editor Lindsey
Gawlik, were "trapped" in a pile
of rubble.
o give a sense of the impor
tance of Disaster City exer
cises, consider the fact that a
I group of first responders set
to train at Disaster City Saturday
were sent with their training ex
ercise equipment to help out with
the earthquake in Nepal.
Responders like Texas Task
Force I and Utah Task Force I
who train 10 minutes down the
road from campus are the same
men and women who save lives in
real disasters like the one in Nepal
that has killed more than 1,300 as
of Sunday evening. Likewise, they
are the people that citizens will
look to when disaster strikes the
United States.
Brian Smith, training manager
at the Texas A&M Engineering
Extension Service, said representa
tives from the United Nations and
Federal Emergency Management
Agency attended the event. Smith
also said there was talk of holding
the exercises four to five times a
year. When asked how Disaster
City was able to recruit more than
100 volunteers to play victim for
this exercise, Smith said, “This is
Aggieland.”
Among the crowd of volunteers,
a number of whom were clad in
A&M shirts, were The Battalion’s
assistant managing editor, Jennifer
Reiley; news editor, Lindsey Gaw
lik; and managing editor, Aimee
Breaux. Here’s their take.
OPINION ON PG. 3
VET SCHOOL
SOFTBALL
The Vet School Open House included a petting zoo Saturday
where visitors met various animals like Scarlet, the iguana seen
above.
Open house draws
crowds of humans,
animals alike
By Connor Smith
An open house showcased the
College of Veterinary Medi
cine Saturday.
Texas A&M’s veterinary school
has been a university pillar for near
ly a century, and its clinical impact
throughout the industry is seen in
its status as a top-eight vet school
in the nation.
The school was established in
1916 by Dr. Mark Francis, who
served as its first dean until he died
in 1936. Dr. Francis was brought
on with A&M by the Bureau of
Animal Industry to study livestock
diseases. At the time there was a
major problem in the cattle and
beef industry with tick fever. After
researching the disease, Dr. Francis
was able to diagnose and solve the
tick fever problem.
Now, the school’s veterinary
program is best known for its clini
cal impact, said director of student
affairs Dr. Dan Posey.
“Eighty percent of our gradu
ates go into clinical practice,”
Posey said. “When you look at
ratings, we are in the top eight
[veterinary schools] of the 34 that
are in America — that’s based on
research and a lot of other things.
Actually if they looked at our clini
cal program we would probably be
in the top five.”
Saturday the school opened its
doors to allow the public a first
hand experience of its clinical
program with the annual open
house. The halls looked like some
thing from Noah’s Ark with dogs,
snakes, tortoises and humans all
crowded together.
The open house included tours
of both the large and small animal
clinics, presentations put on by
VET SCHOOL ON PG. 4
No. 1 Florida completes sweep of A&M
Aggies run-ruled in fifth inning as they
drop their third game of the weekend
By Milkyas Gashaw
The No. 1 Florida Gators completed a three-game
sweep Sunday of the Texas A&M softball team
with a 9-1 victory in a five-inning run rule.
The No. 25 Aggies (34-17, 9-12 SEC) got on the
board quickly Sunday with a solo home run from
freshman Tori Vidales. The Aggies started freshman
Kayla Ober on Sunday looking for a solid pitching
performance against a Gator lineup that showed ex
plosiveness in the first two games in the series. Head
coach Jo Evans only received two innings out of Ober
because the Gator bats got going early in the game,
getting three early runs in the bottom half of the first
and two more in the second.
Evans sent senior Rachel Fox and junior Katie
Marks to the circle to stop the bleeding and slow down
the Gator attack, but by that time the deficit was too
great to overcome. The Gators (47-4, 16-4 SEC)
strengthened their grip on the top spot in the country
with a convincing sweep of the Aggies. The Aggies
scored some runs off of a very talented pitching staff,
but the Gator bats stepped up and helped their staff
out, showing the balance of a top team. One bright
spot for the Aggies was sophomore Celena Massey,
who hit two home runs Saturday.
“I’m so proud of that kid, for how hard she’s
worked, for getting in the lineup and being a great
Tori Vidales hit a home run during the Friday
opener against the Florida Gators.
team player,” Evans said. “She just works hard to help
us win. She has just performed recently.”
The Aggies come back home to play a midweek
game against Texas State. First pitch is at 6:30 p.m.
W ednesday.
LAYNE'S CHALLENGE
Run, bike, eat fried chicken
Participating Aggies
eat the first meal of
the Layne's Challenge
Saturday, which
consists of running,
eating chicken, biking
and eating more
chicken.
Tim Lai—THE BATTALION