The Battalion — April 6, 2023

THURSDAY, APRIL 6 | SERVING TEXAS A&M SINCE 1893 | © 2023 STUDENT MEDIA

Opinion: Beauty and boldness of campus critters

Sports: Aggies travel for second SEC road series

SQUIRRELS ON PAGE 4

BASEBALL ON PAGE 7

A&M Forest Service awards two major grants Organizations receive funding for human health, conservation

By Madison Umphrey @u_madison

Samuel Falade — THE BATTALION

Texas A&M Health Science Center on March 18, 2023.

Opioid Awareness Week at A&M With overdoses on the rise, campus task force offers education, resources

By Nicholas Gutteridge @nico_gjc From 2020-21, the number of opioid-related emergency department visits in Brazos County increased from 33 to 41, as nationwide trends indicate the opioid epidemic is worsening. Statistics from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention show the number of opioid-related deaths in Texas increased to 4,172 from 3,136 in 2020, and that same year, there were 202 deaths from opioids in the public health region Brazos County is located in. In response, the Opioid Task Force and the Students for Sensible Drug Policies organization have partnered

to organize Opioid Awareness Week, a five-day event taking place from April 1014 intended to inform Texas A&M about the scale of the crisis.

The Opioid Task Force, or OTF, was created in 2018 to inform the A&M community about opioid use, co-chair of the task force, Marcia Ory, Ph.D, said. The force focuses on two main endeavors: Training healthcare providers to be more aware of pain, pain management and solutions and, once someone is addicted, treating it as a disease to be cured.

“A lot of people get started through something simple. They go and get some dental work and they get an opioid, and they like that feeling of euphoria,” Ory said. “The thing with opioids is it doesn’t take a lot to get someone addicted. You can be addicted within a month.”

Ory said opioids are pain relief drugs that were prescribed often in the 1990s. They

work through the brain, providing a euphoric feeling in the process and can be manufactured into different forms, such as morphine and heroin.

“Now, the biggest factor in opioid overdose deaths is illicitly manufactured fentanyl,” Ory said. “It’s the synthetic opioids that have been skyrocketing, so we now have the last data from 2021, [and] there were over 100,000 [deaths] in the U.S. attributed to opioids.”

One of the biggest issues is that almost any drug today that was not prescribed by a licensed healthcare provider could be laced with deadly fentanyl, Ory said. While not many overdoses have occurred at A&M, she talked about personal instances where she had to restock nurses with Narcan who would use them to reverse overdoses in students.

Ory said that anyone can buy Narcan

Texas A&M Forest Service was awarded both the Bexar Branches Alliance and the Cooling College Station grant.

The two grants have a mission to positively influence the community. This project is funded by several grant programs, including the U.S. Forest Service through the Cooperative Forestry Program, as well as the Infrastructure Investment and Job Acts. These grants will work together and complete different tasks to provide shade, cooler temperatures, cleaner air and grow additional trees in the community as an overall benefit toward human health.

A&M Forest Systems Department Head Gretchen Riley said the Texas A&M Forest Service Community Forestry Grant program kicked off 2023 with a $50,000 award in two separate categories.

“The first category, Climate Resiliency, was awarded to Bexar Branches Alliance for their planned program to engage San Antonio schools in campus tree planting and education projects,” Riley said. “The second category, Human Health Equity and Accessibility, was awarded to the City of College Station for their effort in equitably distributing trees to help combat the urban heat island, that condition where urban areas are up to 15 degrees warmer than nearby rural areas.”

Bexar Branches Alliance is a nonprofit organization in San Antonio that is dedicated to expanding and preserving the tree canopy of the Greater San Antonio Region, said Michael Merritt, A&M Forest Resource Development and Sustainable Forestry Program leader.

“Their grant will add 500 trees to five different schools throughout San Antonio based on social vulnerability, heat island effect and equity,” Merritt said.

A&M Forest Service Urban and Community Forestry Program Partnership Coordinator, Mac Martin said the temperatures in the city’s urbanized areas are an average of six degrees Fahrenheit higher than other locations.

GRANTS ON PG.3

OPIOIDS ON PG. 3

New bill could restrict international enrollment Legislation aims to bar certain international students from public universities

By Ayden Castillo @ayeitsayden_ With increasing tensions from countries such as Russia and China, a Texas congressman is proposing a bill to prevent students from four countries from being allowed admittance into Texas universities On March 10, Rep. Tony Tinderbolt from Texas house district 94 introduced House bill 4736. Section two of the bill prohibits the admission of Chinese, Russian, North Korean and Iranian students from Texas universities.

The bill’s other education code proposals pertain to “determination of resident status” and “information required to establish resident status.”

Latin American research professor at the U.S. Army War College Strategic Studies Institute Evan Ellis said he is opposed to the bill.

“In principle, we are a nation of immigrants,” Ellis said. “If you go back to the internment of the Japanese during World War II, I think it is not good for public relations or in terms of our values to say that a person by virtue of their ethnicity should not be allowed into the United States to study.”

Ellis said there is still a security risk, however, and caution should be taken.

“There is a significant risk of the Chinese sending personnel to certain technological institutions and then taking that information either through their research work or student

work, back to China in inappropriate ways,” Ellis said. “The issue is how does one control that risk through proper supervision, proper vigilance and proper controls.”

Ellis said there must be a balance when tackling these issues and going with the extreme isn’t always beneficial.

“At the end of the day, I think it’s imperative that we recognize the threats of espionage and technology theft by all groups,” Ellis said.

“But we have to do that in a way that does not criminalize somebody because of their ethnicity.”

Juan Cruz, senior advisor and director at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said this bill can be a double-edged sword depending on how one looks at it.

“If you look at the STEM programs at the leading universities, students in the masters and doctoral programs are overwhelmingly foreign students,” Cruz said. “It could also be advantageous to our adversaries by having students in the states.”

Oftentimes students who come over from other countries — especially the ones mentioned in bill 4736 — enjoy the U.S. and choose to stay and pursue their field due to the large academic independence they now have, Cruz said. Additionally, the U.S.’s environment for learning is very different compared to the countries they came from, Cruz said.

“They learn our system of governance, democracy, rule of law, the liberty to think, to challenge and to be creative without being penalized for it,” Cruz said.

The bill would essentially be selling the U.S. system, and its citizens short, Cruz said.

“We in the U.S. take advantage of the research they [foreign students] are doing,” Cruz

said. “Yes they are learning, but ultimately their work is published in the U.S. and helps move forward research and development.”

Cruz said the likelihood of students coming from these countries is low.

“I’d be shocked if there was a single North Korean studying in the U.S.,” Cruz said. “I don’t think that’s a thing, if North Koreans were to travel abroad to study it would be in China or Russia.”

The better solution to combat these security threats is to have background checks and professors who sponsor having these students on campus, Cruz said.

“If we have them working on sensitive issues, then we employ restrictions,” Cruz said.

“Have a university sponsor who vouches that this student hasn’t stolen sensitive informa-

tion.”

Political science senior Hugo Salazar-Vasquez said he disagrees with the bill.

“I don’t think we should ban students from a school, only military or higher level institutions,” Salazar-Vasquez said. “I think it makes sense to try and get students from other countries to learn our ways and we learn their ways.

This could help plant a seed with the younger generations that the U.S. wants to work with them and help build better relations.”

Salazar-Vasquez’s family moved from Central America and said the U.S. is unique.

“Living here, studying here, you become open to new ideas and learn new things,” Salazar-Vasquez said. “The U.S. has an effect on you.”

Robert O’Brien — THE BATTALION

The capitol in Austin, Texas on Nov. 24, 2019.

* Available With May Minimester, online Summer I, and Summer II Classes May Minimester begins May 15 Summer I begins June 5 Summer II begins July 10 blinnbound@blinn.edu

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The Battalion | 04.06.23

By Bettye Battalion @Batt_Arts Editor’s Note: The pseduonym “Bettye” is used in this column to allow students to write candidly about topics of relationships and sex without backlash.

During times of high stress, work fatigue, registration anxiety and lease searching, one thing comes to mind — when am I going to get laid? Through this drought of touch and taste, a clear vision of self-respect becomes apparent, with the only reason of clouded thought resting on desperation.

After nightly encounters, I’m the type of person who either does two things: Blocks the person or keeps — or rather tries to keep — them on the back burner. Through much disappointment and high standards, I have been left with one eligible bachelor who has become the symbolic green light of sexuality and sweet release. But this is life, so there is always an obstacle between me and my desires.

To give some background on the relation-

ship — rather connection, happening, coincidence — we have a messy history, instigated by my luggage of emotional clinginess.

Been there, done that (I even got the shirt) and tried to cut off communication for the sake of my sanity. Instead of becoming free, I became a slave to the idea of who he was, the concept of what he is and a servant to the delusional thought of a meet-cute instance where he sweeps me off my feet and we live together till we’re senile.

I decided to face the ghost head on, opened myself up with great embarrassment, but we managed to not be awkward. We still talk — I know, crazy — but interacting with the real person reminds me that he’s not perfect, ideal or even that cute. We flirt from time to time, but that’s about it — I promise, your honor.

With that, this new form of camaraderie comes with shut doors of opportunity and open windows that bring in pests — talks of sexual encounters. He goes on about who he’s talking to, who he plans to bed and often flips through his own archive and compares what we’ve done with what he is doing. I know, how cruel.

I do have to say, at my lowest moments of

desperation, this is a beartrap to the leg that I don’t need at the moment, and I admit full guilt to putting myself in this situation. Each time we text and call, I cling to hope that he suddenly bursts out saying, “Come over right now and let’s make love!” Even with all this, I do have to say … this is amazing exposure therapy.

Throughout the time I was haunted, I came to the obvious epiphany: I am worth something, whether or not someone wants me. With my life experience in romance and relationship building, this was not so obvious to me until then. I’ve always tried to be attractive, open, seductive and overpowering to assert a façade of control, but when the façade isn’t even put into consideration, the support crumbles and I wonder what I ever did wrong.

With my new sense of self-respect equipped and the ghost of failed relationships in the palm of my hands, whenever I’m put in the situation that would have torn me apart in the past, I simply mutter to myself, “Wait … I don’t even care!”

This Deus Ex mantra pulls me out of the situation where I begin to form conspira-

cy, assumption and jumping to conclusions formed from my own delusions. The dusty cogs in my brain begin to creak and turn and supportive questions begin to manifest: “Do I need to be someone’s sexual desire just so I have merit?” “Even if I get what I want, will I be satisfied?” “Where can I find better options?” “Did I turn off the oven?”

As I’ve been told before, I just care too much. Displacing myself out of the conditioned response in these situations of rejection and — quite literally — being put down, it’s preparing me for other men who can’t commit and will eventually drop me out of their sexual calendar scheduling. In this day and age, it’s not a matter of if they ghost you, it’s a matter of when.

Hopefully, this gives insight to you fellow readers and aids you in your own situation.

There is no definitive step-by-step process — hell, I don’t even know how I got here. All I know is that the obvious epiphany is there with you, perhaps you even know it, it’s just a matter of unclouding your mind and realizing the squeeze ain’t worth the — well … y’know.

Chilifest 2023 Photos by Ishika Samant, Ana Renfroe and Megan Williams

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The Battalion | 04.06.23

“The Record”

9.5/10

Artists: Boygenius Release Date: March 31, 2023 Runtime: 1 hour 42 minutes

By Emma Ehle @caitlyncarole

Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker just released what might be the most gut-wrenching, lyrically barbarous albums of 2023 — and it is absolutely phenomenal.

“The Record” (2023), which was debuted by the indie supergroup on Friday, March 31, marks the official end of the fan-named “Boygenius drought” that plagued listeners from 2018-23 following the release of their debut EP, “Boygenius” (2018). Since announcing the release of “The Record” in January, Boygenius has been more active than

OPIOIDS CONTINUED FROM PG. 1 at a pharmacy today, and with the recent decision by the US Food and Drug Administration to make it an over-the-counter drug, it will get cheaper and be easier to buy in the coming months.

“The reason we know that is [because] we do training, and we give out our naloxone kits,” Ory said. “[A public school] nurse calls and says, ‘I just had to use it on a kid in the bathroom, can you get me another kit?’”

Ory said that the problem has been worsening in the background as the world focused on COVID-19.

“We’re having Opioid Awareness Week so that people will be aware of the risk to everyone, [that it’s] not just a back alley needle affair,” Ory said. “It could be at any age or place.”

The first day, April 10, will involve raising overall awareness about the epidemic, with

FOREST CONTINUED FROM PG. 1 “The identified locations are within or adjacent to historically underserved communities which are often disproportionately affected by extreme heat and other environmental inequities,” Martin said. “Planting trees in these areas will not only help to mitigate heat, but also filter air pollution, provide a healthier space for recreation, improve watershed function, sequester carbon and all the other co-benefits planting and maintaining trees provides.”

Trees provide many social, economic and environmental benefits, Riley said.

“These benefits range from energy savings from cooling the ambient air temperature to reducing risk for chronic disease,” Riley said.

The A&M Forest Service Urban & Community Forestry Program helps communities develop sustainable programs that provide Texans with healthy trees and forests, Martin said.

“Healthy urban & community forests are essential to the economic, environmental, physical and mental well-being of all Texans,” Martin said.

The College Station grant will help the city combat the urban heat island effect by planting trees in parks and along roadways adjacent to historically underserved communities where they are most needed, Merritt said.

ever in promoting their music, releasing four singles, a music video, a short film and announcing two separate headlining tours.

Despite this sudden surge in hyperactivity from the group, one listen to “The Record” quickly clarifies this album is not the product of a rushed release, but is rather a well-aged anthology of the band’s individual styles and experiences across their careers. Covering topics as raw and relatable as awkward post-breakup niceties and as fantastically ambiguous as Friedrich Nietzsche’s nihilism, “The Record” is both thematically diverse and lyrically cohesive, presenting listeners with an album that intimately blends brutal honesty with chilling vulnerability across various subjects.

Standing out amongst the tracklist includes the Dacus-led, “We’re In Love,” the Bridgers-led, “Letter To An Old Poet” and “Cool About It,” which features each vocalist evenly across the song.

“We’re In Love,” one of the most slow and thematically dense tracks on the entire album, mimics the naked, repetitive nature of human relationships and reminiscence. In it, Dacus’ rich alto drones quietly, producing a sensation similar to the somber, unvaried attitude of the song, and placing listeners in an experience that is simultaneously specific and relatable.

“Some October in the future, I’ll run out of trash TV / And I’ll be feeling lonely, so I’ll walk to karaoke / Sing the songs you wrote about me, never once checking the words / I hope that no one sings along, I hope that I’m not a regular.”

Once the depth and stylistic-sting of this line truly sink in, Dacus gives little time for listeners to recover, quickly following with the short-but-sweet “If you rewrite your life, may I still play a part?” With one slow and nostalgic sucker-punch after another, “We’re In Love” uniquely showcases lyrics that, despite being specific to the bandmates’ intimate experiences and general friendship, can also be applied to the complexities and anxieties of any intense interpersonal relationship.

“Cool About It” is the most obvious breakup song on “The Record.”

However, it avoids the trite clichés of so many breakup anthems before it, uniquely choosing to address the horrible discomfort of a modest, polite interaction with an ex, rather than an angry shouting match or tearful goodbye.

Featuring countless simple but casually heartbreaking lyrics such as “Once I took your medication to know what it’s like / And now I have to act like I can’t read your mind,” and “I’ll pretend being with you doesn’t feel like drowning,” “Cool About It” is nonchalantly devastating to say the least, and is not a song I would recommend listening to if you’ve recently gone through a breakup … or really have broken up with anyone ever.

Ultimately, the album’s crowning jewel appears in its earth-shattering full-circle finale, “Letter To An Old Poet.” Appearing to be a kind of reprise or response to the group’s 2018 release “Me And My Dog,” “Letter To An Old Poet” draws sonic and lyrical parallels between the two tracks, feeling like a more distanced and powerful perspective on the same relationship described by

the band in 2018. Ironically, this utterly heartbreaking song is also fairly funny, featuring lyrics with a casual, dry humor such as “You made me feel like an equal / But I’m better than you / And you should know that by now,” and “When you fell down the stairs / It looked like it hurt and I wasn’t sorry.”

The most impressive part of the track however, appears in the song’s final climatic parallel between the current and former versions of its melody. “Me And My Dog” has classic bombshell of an ending, “I wanna be emaciated / I wanna hear one song without thinkin’ of you / I wish I was on a spaceship / Just me and my dog and an impossible view” is now accompanied by what appears to be a more healed and aged echo, saying, “I wanna be happy / I’m ready to walk into my room without lookin’ for you / I’ll go up to the top of our building / And remember my dog when I see the full moon.”

Acting as the perfect ending to “The Record,” this powerful nod to the band’s past embodies so much of what this album is about. It is a project that addresses pain, insecurity, love and existentialism through a lens of mature reflection, peeling back the various levels of human emotion into something that is unbelievably profound and extensive.

It feels like the thick, scarred-over skin of “Boygenius”’ freshly inflamed pain: A wound that has healed with time, but still leaves an achy reminder of hurt in its rawest form.

student ambassadors placed at the Memorial Student Center, or MSC, and the School of Public Health to talk about the initiative and answer any questions students may have.

“We’re going to be on campus passing out information,” Ory said. “We want to destigmatize drug use in general [and help people] realize that anybody can have a drug use problem.”

The second day will focus on education and remembrance, with individuals being able to memorialize and remember those lost to the crisis, taking place in the MSC. Ory said anyone who has lost a friend or relative to an opioid overdose can take part in the remembrance by emailing opioids@ tamu.edu.

A symposium will take place on the third day, with keynote speakers and panelists discussing opioid use in the MSC Bethancourt Ballroom from 1-3 p.m.

The fourth day will involve universi-

ty-wide opioid and naloxone administration training on Zoom from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 3:30-5 p.m.

“Narcan is an opioid reversal drug,” Ory said. “The way our nasal naloxone is injected is through the nose. Basically, you push the nasal naloxone in and that has an immediate response. You might have to do one or two, now with fentanyl maybe three or four doses, but those doses reverse the impact of the opioid. So, that’s why it’s amazing. Naloxone doesn’t kill you. What kills you is the opioid overdose.”

The fifth day will finish the event with an ice cream social in Rudder Plaza, where people can meet the OTF student ambassadors who helped organize and carry out the event.

“One of the things we do that involves students is our student ambassador program, and these are the student[s] who are going to be helping throughout Opioid Awareness Week,” Ory said. “We have these trainings

that we teach them, and [they] can pass the word that opioid use disorder shouldn’t be stigmatized; they can pass the word for the importance and need for treatment. That’s what students can immediately do.”

Biology freshman Austin Coleman said the opioid epidemic is becoming more dangerous and talked about every day. Coleman said he hears stories about overdoses a few times every week on social media.

“I’ve heard about fentanyl, and I’ve heard that a very small dose can be lethal,” Coleman said. “It’s killing a lot of young people in America.”

Business freshman Kajul Patel shared the sentiment, signaling her support for increased awareness about opioids.

“I think it’s a big problem,” Patel said. “I think people will secretly get addicted to it, and they just can’t stop taking it. And they end up overdosing and dying. A lot more people are doing that now.”

“The main goal is to help communities develop sustainable programs that provide Texas communities with healthy trees and forests which in turn will help to improve the health and lives of Texans,” Merritt said.

A&M Forest Service provides statewide leadership and technical assistance to ensure the states, trees, forests and natural resources are sustained for the benefit of all, Riley said.

“We are the state forestry agency, headquartered right here in College Station,” Riley said.

A&M Forest Service encourages communities to look at their canopy levels and urban forest locations because many times the most disadvantaged areas of a community have the lowest tree canopy levels, Merritt said.

“Science is showing us the tremendous benefits that trees provide to a community, everything from pollution and storm water mitigation, to reduction in energy use through cooler houses, to improving our health,” Merritt said. “By increasing the tree canopy in these disadvantaged areas, we can help to improve people’s health and provide a more pleasing environment as well.”

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OPINION

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The Battalion | 04.06.23

Opinion: Are squirrels friends or foes? Opinion: Loco-motive romance Charis Adkins @Charis_Batt The Fightin’ Texas Aggie Fox Squirrels are a campus staple. Scampering around Military Walk and hiding acorns in the grasses of Academic Plaza, these furry scholars have made campus their home as much as any other student.

Despite this, Aggies’ opinions about them vary from “adorable lil guys” to “freeloading devils.” So, what’s right?

Bold and Brash Aggie squirrels have fewer boundaries than your assigned roommate freshman year.

Whether you’re just meandering around campus or rushing to class, the little beasties will get unnervingly close.

Sometimes, even this is too much for some Aggies. If I had a nickel for every time I saw someone booking it in front of Bolton Hall with half a sandwich in their hand and the other half on the ground, a sacrifice to appease the furry demon in pursuit, I’d have as many nickels as there are A’s in “Texas A&M.” But think about it — students are their main food source. They survive off Chickfil-A fries and Sbisa scraps, so they’ve come to expect a kind of tax from any student holding food. Can we hold them responsible for a behavior that we ourselves started?

Their Nuts — er, hoarding habits Somewhere, concealed in the dark underbelly of A&M, I bet there are reservoirs of thousands upon thousands of acorns. All the food they need comes from students. They don’t need to eat acorns, but they still have the evolutionary urge to find them.

And then what do they do? They bury them deep below the groundwork of the uni-

versity itself. Or, you know, shallowly in the mulch coating every flower bed on campus.

Either works.

Their Nuts — er, family jewels Aggie squirrels scuttle around campus in blissful ignorance of things such as “public decency,” and as such are unconcerned with the human hubris of clothing.

I’m sure I don’t need to elaborate further, but just in case someone here’s still not smelling what I’m stepping in I’ll lay it out for you: Mating season is surprisingly long and coincides with the fall semester.

And let’s just say that you can gender squirrels very, very easily during this period.

Conspiracy Theories Whether or not you appreciate their presence, campus squirrels have inspired countless conspiracy theories. A few of my favorites: 1. They’re remote controlled 2. They’re bugged 3. Miss Rev is just 12 squirrels duct taped together under a fursuit Though none of these have been proven, the squirrels really have been tracked in the past. A 2002 study conducted by A&M’s Roel Lopez Ph.D. fitted about 15 squirrels with chic black collars, which could sometimes be seen scampering around campus.

Though now less fashionable, the squirrels are as perceptive as ever. One look and they can tell everything about you, like your GPA and whether you have a granola bar in your pocket.

However, with that being said, they are also surprisingly gullible beasts. No matter your original rating on the squibe-ometer — that’s squirrel-vibe-ometer, for those not in the biz — given enough time and treats, any campus squirrel can become a furry friend and your new favorite lunch buddy.

Charis Adkins is an English sophomore and opinion columnist for The Battalion.

Opinion: Inspired by Puss Opinion writer Benjamin Barnes says animated feline brought unexpected inspiration Benjamin Barnes @Ben_Batt24 Picture this: One student’s dying dream of playing a single down of collegiate football on the biggest stage the NCAA has to offer.

That student is me, that stage is the SEC and to most, that dream may seem outlandish or just plain delusional.

All things considered, why would someone entering their senior year as an undergrad be interested in trying out for a team that boasted the number one recruiting class in the nation last year?

In fact, I had already adopted the mindset of, “If it hasn’t happened yet, why would it happen now?” More importantly, as my grandmother would put it, “Why in the Sam Heck do you think you’re good enough to try out for the football team?”

These ‘reasonable’ and ‘pragmatic’ uncertainties consumed my judgment and formed inhibitions that soon became untameable.

This overwhelming sense of doubt followed me all throughout my time in college.

I went from a fiery, and somewhat cocky, all-state wide receiver who was interviewed practically after every game in high school to someone who couldn’t stomach watching college games on TV.This was for a multitude of reasons.

Whether it was because I couldn’t stand the sight of others filling the shoes I had only dreamt of wearing or thinking I wasn’t given the same shot as the other guys, for the first time in my life, I was sick of football.

That was until I watched “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.”

No this isn’t satire, and yes, you can get your laughs out now. Be it as it may, an animated kid’s movie intended for audiences as young as 8 years old,“The Last Wish” inspired me to finally start holding myself accountable.

In short, the film’s protagonist Puss in Boots finds himself in a state of melancholy oblivion after discovering he is down to his ninth and final life. Oh, and I’ll mention there are spoilers ahead.

Things become even messier when we learn the physical embodiment of death is also after him. This causes him to forcibly retire from his self-proclaimed “legendary lifestyle” of vigilante crime-fighting and sacrifice his mantle as world’s most famous outlaw.

In a complete 180, Puss reflects on how he took his past lives for granted and was too far infatuated with his image to care about any of his friends. Finally, after narrowingly fleeing Death’s grasp several times throughout the film, they meet one final time in an epic duel.

In this sword fight, Boots has the option to ‘escape’ Death by casting a spell to grant him more lives, but he doesn’t. He takes on Death’s request to “pick it [his sword] up” and fight him even though Boots knows he cannot possibly defeat Death.

Once it was all said and done, Boots still earned Death’s respect despite losing and was allowed to leave with his life.

This is important because it shows us two things. The first is that no one is larger than life, and we will all at some point face our inevitable demise.

The second is that while we may try our hardest to achieve a goal, we are never guaranteed a specific outcome. Now how does this all tie into my aspirations of walking-onto the

football team? For the first three years of my college career, I walked in Boots’ boots.

Blinded by the highlights of memories past, I refused to let go of my hometown legacy thinking, “Of course I am good enough to play at the division one level.” Now would I act on this arrogance and try out for the team? I think we all know the answer.

For several semesters, I was able to convince myself “I was too busy” or “had other things to worry about.” After all, according to the legend himself, “Puss in Boots laughs in the face of death.”

Similarly, his deep-seated fear mirrored my own and, just like Boots, I was in a constant state of denial and fear. I ran and scurried away from any tangible answer that would have officially declared my time as a competitive athlete dead.

Eventually when I laid my arrogant ‘legend’ persona to rest, and realized it was gone the moment I left my hometown and graduated, I was able to muster up the courage to find out the truth for myself.

Following months of waking up at 6 a.m. and rigorous training, the day had arrived. A day that would either mark the end of my time as a football player or commemorate a triumphant return.

After giving me a practice jersey and taking down my height and weight, we were told what to expect. Five agility drills mixed in with some conditioning and a 40-yard dash would determine our fate.

For the next 45-minutes I was locked in.

Ladder drill. Check. Shuttle run drill. Easy.

Backpedaling and sprints. Effortless.

It was now down to the 40-yard dash. The first run felt smooth.The second run, reserved only for players who finished first in their group, felt even better.

Once tryouts were over, everyone there huddled up, raised their fists and collectively chanted, “Farmer’s Fight!”

Now it was time to wait. We were told to expect a phone call within 24-hours if we had made it and an email a few days later if we didn’t.

Was my ego a little bruised? Sure, but the feeling was nothing in comparison to knowing how close I actually was when pitted against the nation’s top athletes. My fear had vanished and at the end of the day, I had nothing left to prove.

Likewise, Boots may not have emerged victorious, but this doesn’t make him any less legendary. What makes him a hero is the fact he stopped running away from his demons and decided to live for those closest to him.

While they never disclosed how many walk-on players were invited to join the spring roster, something tells me I wasn’t too far off the mark. For what it’s worth, I was able to put on a jersey and strive towards greatness alongside my fellow Aggie brethren for one final ride.

Lastly, I implore you to pursue whatever it is you’ve been running from. Whether it’s changing majors, entering a new relationship or something as silly as trying out for a sport, I challenge you to stare it down.

Stand proudly in the face of adversity and fear. “Make it your b!*ch,” as Perrito, Boots’ companion, would say.

I can’t guarantee you’ll achieve success, but you just might surprise yourself in the process.

Benjamin Barnes is a telecommunications junior and opinion writer for The Battalion.

Lilia Elizondo @LiliaElizondo5 I love the train of College Station.

There, I said it. I can’t deny these feelings any longer. Just like Bella from “Twilight,” I’ve realized I am irrevocably in love with the train, another immortal creature of the night.

And like Mr. Darcy from “Pride and Prejudice,” I am aware these affections are against my better judgment.

I decided to give up dating because the College Station train is better than everyone.

If that sounds crazy, it’s because it is, but who said love was cultivated in the realm of the rational?

Call this what you will … lunacy, delusion, denial or maybe even all three. At the very least, I won’t have to sit through another date that is polluted with strawberry vape fumes and essentially an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting.

I’ll cope.

The train actually keeps me up at night. I can’t remember the last time a crush has made me toss and turn.

It’s so great to hear the train’s banshee-like wails when I am trying to go to sleep at 3 a.m. and fighting for my life, praying the melatonin I took will kick in. Oh my, I get butterflies in my stomach just thinking about it!

For the most part, humans bore me. Sure, they are able to speak and have a level of consciousness, but can they perform nightly serenades loud enough for an entire town to hear?

When the train isn’t singing, it at least is able to shut up and listen to how my day went. I don’t remember the last time a single person had the ability to not interrupt me and devote their entire attention to me and only me.

On the other hand, the train can pass by for hours and just listen to me talk about my day instead of trying to bore me.

Sure, it makes me late to class, but did I really want to go? Isn’t that romantic? The train literally convinces me to be just so silly, quirky and goofy! It’s spontaneous and essentially a manic pixie dream girl. While humans are quite predictable, this train is consistently inconsistent, sometimes passing by for five minutes or an hour.

In the world of love, time warps. An eternity might as well be one minute, and no amount of minutes on the clock will ever be enough, kind of like sitting through a philosophy lecture but actually fulfilling.

Instead of having routine dates and just showing up to a boring dinner, I wait in anticipation and excitement for the train, never

knowing its next move. I even have a handkerchief and everything when I bid the train goodbye as it drives off into the sunset, wondering the next time I will see it.

Although the train is chaotic, it’s also a functioning member of society; it definitely contributes more to the economy than any college student I know, including me. It’s a provider! Instead of playing video games all day, the train actually transports … stuff … I think? I don’t really know what it transports, but it does important things!

The train is hype. It doesn’t even need to go to the gym to get gains. It is made out of bulletproof metal and literally is able to lift tons of weight. The train is the truest follower of the “sigma” mindset; it minds its own business and does its job — being strong and independent.

Not only is the train employed, swole and spontaneous, it’s popular. I know that everyone in College Station knows who the train is. It doesn’t need Tinder, Instagram or TikTok to achieve fame. Generations of Aggies know who the train is.

It might as well be a tradition of Aggieland.

Except, it does not need songs, statues or overpriced merchandise to honor its presence.

Neither you nor I have ever met someone this well known. No matter how much your date insists that they are niche internet micro-celebrities, they simply can’t compare to the train.

Yeah, it’s a pretty controversial figure, but aren’t the greatest minds too? I don’t want someone boring. I want someone to challenge me and bring up new ideas. Even though it does not have vocal cords or thoughts, it teaches me everyday. Even though it makes me late to class, it does give me a chance to study; it is making me smarter! I don’t know about you, but study dates with humans have never been successful.

The train doesn’t just live in my head rent free, it lives in yours too.

I think all Aggies have their own relationship with the train that transcends time and space. I know you have lost your mind, sleep and time because of the train. I know you have cried, yelled and laughed because of the train. I know that you loved because of the train.

So I think everyone should just give up with their boyfriend, girlfriend and dating as a whole to focus their attention on the College Station train. It is better than any of us will ever be.

Lilia Elizondo is an English senior and opinion writer for The Battalion.

SPORTS

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Texas A&M men’s tennis after winning against Florida 4-3 on Saturday, April 1, 2023 at Mitchell Tennis Center.

Men’s tennis makes a racket Aggies maintain momentum as conference action continues

By Matthew Seaver @Matthew_Seaver The Texas A&M men’s tennis team will be looking to build another winning streak on its upcoming road trip. A&M has been jumping up the Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings recently. Thanks to a recent fivematch winning streak against both in-conference and out-of-conference teams.

The maroon and white, now ranked at No. 21, are hoping to finish the season strong. Its upcoming road trip is no cakewalk by any means. They will be facing two ranked SEC opponents: the Vanderbilt Commodores and the Ole Miss Rebels.

The Aggies have been on a roll as of late and are looking to build up their momentum again before the highly anticipated SEC and NCAA tournaments.

A&M was upset by the lower-seeded Ar-

kansas Razorbacks in last year’s SEC tournament. It also fell to the Baylor Bears in just the second round of the NCAA tournament. This year A&M is inspired and looking for revenge in both tournaments.

They will face the No. 64 Vanderbilt Commodores on Friday, April 7, at 4 p.m. The Aggies look to derail the Commodores when they come to the Currey Tennis Center in Nashville, Tennessee.

Looking at the history of these two squads is quite lopsided. A&M has been playing Vanderbilt since joining the SEC in 2012. In that time, A&M has beaten the team that wears black and gold all but once.

The Aggies should be able to control the play from the start as the Commodores lone ranked doubles team of senior Siim Troost and junior Jeremie Casabon sits at just No. 64.

The Aggies’ best-ranked doubles team of seniors Noah Schachter and Trey Hilderbrand, however, sits at No. 21.

Looking at the singles competitor rankings, the needle also leans in favor of A&M. The ITA does not have a Vanderbilt player ranked in the top 125 players.

Meanwhile, A&M has four different players ranked in the top 125. Schachter at No. 41, junior Raphael Perot at No. 62, Hilderbrand at No. 110 and junior Pierce Rollins at No. 121. These four men will look to dominate singles play and get the win for A&M. If the Aggies want to go far in the post season, they will need to take care of a subpar Commodores squad that present a record of just seven wins and 13 losses. Vanderbilt looks to upset the maroon and white and send it on the road with a loss.

The final stop of A&M’s road trip will be in Oxford, Mississippi at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center. The No. 29 Ole Miss Rebels welcome the Aggies to town and will hope to improve their record of 14 wins and six losses. The match will kick off at 1 p.m. on Sunday, April 9.

While the history of this squad’s matchup still leans in favor of the A&M, Ole Miss has beaten the maroon and white five times. The Aggies, however, do hold the advantage with nine wins over the Rebels. A&M will hope to make it an even 10 come Sunday.

The Rebels have two ranked doubles teams.

Seniors Nikola Slavic and Lukas Engelhardt sit at No. 52 and senior Simon Junk and junior John Hallquist Lithen are at No. 90. Giving them the advantage over the Aggies. Doubles play between these two teams should be both entertaining and competitive.

A&M, however, holds the advantage in singles play. Ole Miss has just one player ranked by the ITA, Slavic at No. 60. If the Aggies get off to a slow start by losing the point in doubles play, then they will need their four ranked singles competitors to pull them back in.

If A&M can come away from this road trip undefeated, it would put them on a fourmatch win streak. This momentum could be enough to launch the Aggies forward for the rest of the season. If the Aggies hope to go far in the SEC and NCAA tournament this year then dominating this road trip is just one piece of the puzzle.

Coach Steve Denton has had his men in excellent form as of late. He said he hopes to see the same performance level on display in two very important conference matches.

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Sports for all

Sports writer Nicolas White says club sports provide opportunities, friendship

By Nicolas White @Nico_w14

The spirit of competition is beautiful.

For many of us, there’s no greater bliss than competing, working hard for something bigger than yourself and giving everything you’ve got for your team. When you’re out there competing, there’s nothing more important to you than the game and your team. Even if it’s just for four quarters, nine innings, two halves or one match, the competition becomes your entire world.

To add to the allure of sports, the lessons learned through competition effortlessly translate into our everyday lives. In many ways, sports imitate life. Confidence, perseverance, hard work, leadership and trust are all absolutely essential for success in both sports and in life.

There’s nothing quite like sports, and the opportunity to participate in organized athletics should be extended to everyone.

Texas A&M has long been renowned for its high-achieving athletics programs. The culture of the 12th Man proves how important sports are to the Aggie community. However, with a student body of over 70,000 and only 20 official varsity sports, only a fraction of students get the opportunity to don the famous maroon and white and compete in the NCAA. Luckily, there’s a way for students to compete in sports through a different outlet:

A&M baseball pulls off a close win over Texas State

club athletics. Club athletics provide students with an opportunity to continue or discover their sporting passion, while also joining a community and representing the university.

To find out a little bit more about just how important club sports are to our student body, I talked to our very own women’s water polo club team. The water polo team, which was among the top teams in the nation last year, is one of countless club teams on campus that represent A&M to the highest degree through their professionalism, hard work and success.

To these athletes, the opportunity to play on this team represents so much more than a chance to get back in the pool. To engineering freshman Reagan Smith, the team means family.

“The club water polo team means family,” Smith said. “A group of people that will constantly uplift you, encourage you and help you be the best that you can.”

She isn’t the only one who found a family in club water polo. Freshman general engineering major Emma Buschbom feels similarly toward her team.

“It’s an organization so full of dedication to the sport and to each other,” Buschbom said. “Even though this team is the largest I’ve been on by far, it still feels tightly knit and welcoming. I am able to get better at a sport I love while being surrounded by people with the same goal, and blow off some steam from those crazy-stressful school days.”

Environmental engineering junior and second-year club athlete Kayla Shaunfields said she relishes this opportunity to compete.

“Club water polo gives me a sense of belonging and the perfect balance of competition and social life,” Shaunfields said.

Photo by A Nguyen

Ultimate fisbee player catches the frisbee at Penberthy Rec Sports Complex on Wednesday, March 1, 2023

“Club water polo allows me to continue playing the sport I love, provides me with the familial team dynamic and taps into my competitive side, but never becomes a stressful obligation or draining experience.”

As A&M grows, club sports will undoubtedly grow with it. More sports will become available, and more athletes will continue to represent the maroon and white through the sport they’re passionate about. And why shouldn’t that be the case? Club sports teams provide a rare opportunity to compete, grow a community and nurture important life skills.

Allied health junior and 2022 conference player of the year Peyton Stubbe said it best.

“It’s hard to put it into words,” Stubbe said when asked about the influence that the club has had on her time at A&M. “If I had to try I’d describe it as more of a family than a team.

These are some of my best friends. No matter where I’m at or what I’m going through, I

feel like I go to practice and am instantly met with so much love and support. It’s one of the special spaces on campus where I feel totally comfortable being completely authentic and where the stresses of everyday life kind of just get washed away by the amazing culture that’s been crafted.”

The women’s water polo team is just one of dozens of club athletic teams A&M has. Even from this small sample size, though, the results are conclusive. Sports are an essential part of so many students’ lives, and the opportunity to continue to play and compete in these sports in college has incredible advantages.

I implore you to go support this school’s club athletic programs. Go find out what they’re all about. If you can, maybe even consider joining one. After all, in a world full of divisiveness, why shouldn’t you choose sports?

Taming the Bobcats

By Justin Chen @chen_justin_ Coming off a series win against SEC foe Ole Miss, the home crowd was treated to another close game at Blue Bell Park where Texas A&M baseball survived a scare from Texas State to win 10-9 on Tuesday, April 5.

The Bobcats came into the match with three straight midweek wins, with the Aggies looking to disrupt their rhythm. A&M gave the keys to sophomore LHP Troy Wansing to start the game, marking his first start in a midweek game.

The game opened up with scoring right off the bat. The Bobcats set the tempo with an RBI by sophomore 1B Daylan Pena for redshirt senior CF Ben McClain to score.

Then, with bases loaded, sophomore DH Ryan Leary nailed a grand slam to left field, driving in Pena, senior LF Jose Gonzalez and junior SS Davis Powell. Following the runs, A&M substituted redshirt freshman RHP Ty Sexton for Wansing.

The maroon and white responded immediately with senior RF Brett Minnich hitting an RBI single for junior SS Hunter Haas to score. The Aggies hit another RBI single after, with junior 3B Trevor Werner bringing senior 2B Austin Bost home. Though junior DH Ryan Targac struck out, freshman LF Jace LaViolette doubled to center field to bring home Werner and Minnich. The final run in the bottom of the first came from an error by Powell, allowing LaViolette to score for the Aggies.

After a high-scoring first inning of 5-5, both teams settled down until the fourth inning, where Haas gave A&M its first lead.

He homered to left field to score two runs,

bringing in freshman C Max Kaufer.

The Aggies extended their lead to 9-5 in the bottom of the fifth with senior CF Jordan Thompson cranking a homer to left center, bringing LaViolette home once again.

The Bobcats pounced at the top of the sixth. Pena brought back momentum for Texas State with a three-RBI double to right center. Powell, McClain and redshirt junior C Peyton Zabel scored runs to bring the score to 9-8.

As the game went down to the wire, Texas State tied the game up in the top of the seventh with a homer by junior RF Cade Manning.

However, the winning run was scored by Bost, when he doubled to left center at the bottom of the seventh to bring junior 1B Jack Moss home.

Following the win, coach Jim Schlossnagle said that the night’s win, though not the best, is one of his favorite wins so far.

“It was kind of a frustrating game, but also

this might be my favorite win of the season so far,” Schlossnagle said. “We had every opportunity to cash in after the first inning.

We take a lead, we give it up, but the guys just hung in there.”

Bost praised the team and its resilience on not quitting despite being down early.

“We could’ve given up when we were down 5-0, but we didn’t,” Bost said. “[We] could’ve given up when they tied it, but we didn’t. We just keep pushing on. Like [Schlossnagle] says all the time, we don’t play to a scoreboard, we play to a standard, and that’s what we kept doing. We weren’t worried about the scoreboard, we were just worried about doing us.”

The maroon and white improved to 1811 on the season and will face off in a series against SEC opponent Auburn from April 6-8 in Auburn, Alabama.

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Fighting out of the midfield

Aggies hope to improve SEC standings against Auburn

By Andrew Paredes @andrewparedess

After winning its first conference series of the season against Ole Miss, Texas A&M looks to add onto that with a series matchup against Auburn at Plainsman Park from Thursday, April 6 to Saturday, April 8.

A&M won its midweek game against Texas State 10-9 in a close contest that had the Aggies come back from down 5-0 in the first inning.

The 18-11 Aggies have struggled throughout their last 12 games, losing two of their past three series and finishing 5-7. The good news is the Aggies started the year hot with a 12-4 start before the rough stretch. However, A&M currently sits in the middle of the SEC standings tied with Auburn and Alabama, with each of them having 3-6 conference records.

Auburn comes in with an 18-10-1 record for the season and, like the Aggies, currently has a 3-6 record in the SEC standings. The Tigers are coming off a series loss to Florida and a midweek game loss to UAB. The maroon and white currently hold a 1514 all-time series lead over the Tigers going into this three-game series. Nevertheless, this series has the power to change either of these teams’ seasons.

A&M and Auburn both have a lot riding on this series as they are tied in the middle of the pack in the SEC standings. The winner of the

series can stay within striking distance of SEC West leaders LSU and Arkansas.

For Thursday’s game, the Aggies will start junior RHP Nathan Dettmer, who is coming off a performance against Ole Miss where he struck out four and allowed four runs. On the other side, Auburn has sophomore RHP Will Cannon, who recently put up a performance where he held No. 3 Florida to one run in four innings.

Last weekend in the Ole Miss series, the Aggies made changes to their rotation that saw Sunday starter freshman LHP Justin Lamkin pitch on Saturday. Lamkin will start on Friday, looking to come back after a poor showing last week against the Rebels where he fell to 1-3 on the year after letting up six runs in three frames.

The Tigers have sophomore RHP John Armstrong going into his second career start after suffering a 5-1 loss against the Gators last week.

The rotation changes introduced by A&M last week also included making freshman LHP Shane Sdao the starter for the third game of the series, which makes him the expected starter for Saturday’s game. Finishing off the series for the Tigers is graduate LHP Tommy Vail.

The Tigers are hitting with an average of .294, with freshman C Ike Irish leading the way at .395 and senior 3B Bryson Ware hitting .391. Opponents, however, have been teeing off on the Tigers’ pitchers who collectively have an ERA of 8.53 in SEC play and a conference opponent batting average of .320.

The Aggies have been average offensively this season, with only two players hitting

A Ngyuen — THE BATTALION

Texas A&M baseball players huddle after winning the series against Ole Miss on Sunday, April 2, 2023 at Olsen Field.

above a .300 batting average with junior SS and junior 1B Jack Moss hitting .389 and .368, respectively.

Although A&M has struggled offensively over the course of its last 12 games, that has not been its most pressing issue, allowing opponents to hit at a clip of .303. The pitching inconsistencies have cost A&M several contests.

Several pitching lineups have been used throughout the season, and the Aggies have

made it clear that they are looking for three good starters that can take them deep into games. Dettmer has cemented his spot on Fridays while coach Jim Schlossnagle looks for two more consistent hurlers.

The start of the series matchup between A&M and Auburn will be televised on SEC Network on Thursday, April 6, at 7 p.m.

Mississippi invasion on Easter weekend

Connor May — THE BATTALION

Texas A&M women’s tennis during their match against Georgia on Sunday, April 2, 2023 at the Mitchell Tennis Center.

Women’s tennis aims to defend No. 2 ranking against Rebels, Bulldogs

By Kylie Stoner @sportsbystoner Ole Miss and Mississippi State will travel to College Station for Easter weekend matchups against the No. 2 Texas A&M women’s tennis team on Friday, April 7, at 5 p.m. and Sunday, April 9, at 12 p.m., respectively. The latter

match will also be senior day at the Mitchell Tennis Center.

The Rebels are 3-6 in SEC play with the most recent win being over the Bulldogs by a score of 4-0 on March 31. Mississippi State has lost every conference match of the season, riding a a nine-match losing streak. The Aggies last lost to a conference opponent in April 2021, when they fell to Georgia in the SEC Tournament. The Fightin’ Farmers played Georgia last match and defeated them 5-2.

Both Mississippi teams will play No. 52 LSU and A&M this weekend. The Rebels will

play the Aggies then move onto the Tigers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, while the Bulldogs will play the Tigers then the Aggies on Easter. Ole Miss dropped to No. 74 in the April 4 Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings, but Mississippi State hasn’t been ranked since its No. 61 placement in the Feb. 21 rankings.

Both teams of maroon and white have something to battle for on Easter Sunday. The Aggies are fighting to earn their 50th straight outdoor win, while the Bulldogs are aiming for their first win since Feb. 10.

Aggie sophomore Mary Stoiana climbed to

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No. 2 in singles in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings. The Court 1 regular sits just below Texas native and University of North Carolina junior Fiona Crawley.

Stoiana will likely compete in singles against Bulldog graduate Emmanouela Antonaki, who was No. 104 in the most recent ITA rankings. The No. 69 Rebel sophomore Ludmila Kareisová is Stoiana’s predicted competitor for the blue and red.