MONDAY, NOVEMBER 13 | SERVING TEXAS A&M SINCE 1893 | © 2017 STUDENT MEDIA Junior wide receiver Christian Kirk’s punt return during Saturday’s game against New Mexico was the sixth of his career.
‘CHRISTIAN KIRK BEING CHRISTIAN KIRK’ Junior wide receiver’s performance against UNM exceeds expectations By Angel Franco @angelmadison_ In what might have been the last home game of his career, Texas A&M junior wide receiver Christian Kirk gave A&M fans a dazzling performance. Kirk helped the Aggies soundly defeat New Mexico 55-14. In the second play from scrimmage, redshirt freshman quarterback Nick Starkel connected with Kirk for a 60-yard touchdown to give A&M an early lead over the Lobos. “Nick just gave me an opportunity,” Kirk said. “I was able to go out there and make a play, but it was there all night and I thought we did a great job.” Kirk continued to dazzle in front of the home crowd during the first half of the game as the Aggies built a commanding 48-7 lead heading into the half, prompting A&M head coach Kevin Sumlin to pull the starting lineup to start the third quarter. However, before Sumlin could take Kirk off the field, there was one thing Kirk was able to do — return a punt 90 yards for a touchdown. As he ran down the sideline after finding an opening in the coverage, a penalty flag flew, causing the majority of those in attendance to hold their breath. Kirk noted in the postgame press conference that he was nervous while he waited for the officials to announce the infraction that caused the flag to be thrown. “I was pretty heartbroken when I saw a penalty flag on the field,” Kirk said. “Just because we’ve been waiting for so long for an opportunity.” Nevertheless, much to Kirk’s — and the Aggie Fans’ — delight, his return was not
wiped off the board. According to Kirk, he knew the moment the ball came off New Mexico punter Corey Bojorquez’s foot he was going to return it. “It was good,” Kirk said. “He’s a left-footed punter so we knew he was going to be kicking to our right the whole entire game. Right when it came off the foot — that’s usually when I’m able to know — then he kicked it and I knew that we were going to be able to return it. After that it was just reading the blocks and setting them up and going ahead and finishing it.” Kirk’s best friend, roommate and teammate, senior Armani Watts, said he was not surprised to see him have the game he did. “Christian Kirk being Christian Kirk,” Watts said. “He has the ability to do that every time he touches the ball. You never know when it’s going to happen.” Although Kirk gave no indication whether or not he would declare for the NFL Draft at the conclusion of the season, it is certainly possible for the standout receiver. Kirk burst onto the scene in 2015 as a true freshman and has since cemented himself as one of best players in the country. During his debut season, Kirk caught 80 passes for 1,009 yards and had two punt returns for touchdowns with 341 yards. In his sophomore season, Kirk remained one of the leaders on the A&M offense, hauling in nine touchdowns on the season with 928 receiving yards. As the only wide receiver to have a significant amount of playing time, the A&M coaching staff turned to Kirk in 2017 to lead a young wide receiving corps — and Kirk has done just that. Through 10 games this season, Kirk leads the team in every statistical figure. KIRK ON PG. 2
Kevin Chou — THE BATTALION
Preparing for political progress The Elect Her Initiative has been training women who are interested in running for political office for the past seven years. MS Business students create companies for Integrated Business Experience courses. Annie Lui — THE BATTALION Annie Lui — THE BATTALION
Elect Her gives women tools needed for future campaigns By Kenya Robinson @_KenyaJ Featuring thoughts from Texas Representative Donna Howard and interactive campaign workshops, The Elect Her conference provided participants with hands on training for women interested in being political leaders. Running Start, a national program focused on training women for political office, launched the Elect Her initiative in 2010: A day-long conference that includes campaign simulation, networking and a mock election. Partnering with the Texas A&M Women’s Resource Center in 2014, the Elect Her program allows women to improve skills for leadership in office. Jessica Kelly, national director of the Elect Her program, said the interactive workshops allow women to think
about the issues they are passionate about. From public speaking practice to campaign simulation, Kelly said introducing the idea of competition is good experience for the program participants. “Our philosophy is that it’s still beneficial to run for an office even if you’re not sure you’re going to win, because it’s still building skills, expanding your network, so it’s win-win no matter what the outcome of the elections is,” Kelly said. As a first generation college student, Kelly said she didn’t understand the importance of holding a leadership position. She said she wants to show young women that running for office is an opportunity they should not pass up. “One of the reasons I really love working with this program is because when I was an undergrad I didn’t run for student government and I wasn’t really involved,” Kelly said. “It took me longer than I would have like to realized, so I really like being a part of a program that helps young women to
make that discovery earlier than I did, so that they have a leg up.” Speaker of the Texas A&M Student Senate Jasmine Wang was featured on the student leader panel at the conference. Wang said although she was aware of her own passion for running for an elected office, she wants to encourage other women around campus to take that chance as well. “Elect Her is a great opportunity for women to get that experience and to ensure that their voices are heard,” Wang said. “Being in student government here at A&M I feel has really prepared me for my future aspirations and I want other women to have that same feeling.” Toward the end of the event, participants, including international studies sophomore Melissa Rodriguez, were excited to share their campaign ideas with students throughout the MSC. Rodriguez said it is important for women to be involved in politics so issues can be communicated more ELECT HER ON PG. 3
In good company Students gain practical experience creating their own companies for master’s program By Mariah Colón @MariahColon18 Many students juggle the expectations of class and a full workload, but only around 40 current graduate students add on the pressure of managing their own functioning company through A&M’s Master of Science Business program. The program which launched in 2016, aims to facilitate the business learning process to students who did not earn their undergraduate degrees in business areas. Marketing itself as a track that focuses on “learning business by doing business,” the program integrates teambased learning and practical application, according to their website. One way the program strives to achieve this goal is through the mandatory enrollment of their students in Integrated Business Experience Courses. These classes throw students into the process of creating, marketing COMPANY ON PG. 4