thebattalion l wednesday,
april 16, 2014
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technology
AGGIE MUSTER
REFLECTIONS
Student NASA design fits like a glove (Left) Senior Chief Okorocha leaves a note for the family of Polo Manukainiu at the Reflections displays in the MSC Flag Room. (Above) Junior John Boran Jr. shows mementos belonging to his grandfather, Robert Brown, Class of 1950, to freshman Elizabeth Brooks. David Cohen — THE BATTALION
Memorabilia displays honor deceased Aggies Aimee Breaux The Battalion
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he tablecloth that sat under Polo Manukainiu’s hand as he signed with A&M. A cross made out of the necks of Ian Pogue’s cherished guitars. An Aggie Ring placed next to Ken Nel-
son’s Harley Davidson jacket and motorcycle helmet. A placard with the words “City of Bryan Mayor” printed neatly under Lonnie Stabler’s name. These items and more will be displayed in the MSC Flag Room until Muster on Monday in an attempt to tell the story behind the names called.
With the addition of memorabilia brought throughout the week by families of the deceased, the reflections display honors 40 of the more than 80 Aggies who will be honored at the campus Muster. Madeline Kinnaird, Muster committee member in charge of the reflections display and junior elec-
trical engineering major, said the presentation happens every year. “It’s a little different every year, but we always display cherished items, things that tell more about their passion,” Kinnaird said. “The roll call is just a list of names if you See Reflections on page 4
service
Organization spearheads drive to help war refugees Faculty and students encouraged to participate Katie Canales The Battalion
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Photos by Jenna Rabel — THE BATTALION
Senior applied mathematical sciences major Zach Maril (left) and sophomore university studies major Alonzo Williams walk a mile in red heels to support victims of sexual violence.
walk a mile in her shoes
Heels bring sex crime awareness to new heights Cassidy Tyrone The Battalion
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onning red high heels, more than 100 men took to campus streets and sidewalks to raise awareness for sexual violence. Walk a Mile in Her Shoes was hosted by the Women’s Resource Center and the Student Anti-Violence Educators Tuesday in Koldus Plaza. Supported by wives, daughters and friends, the men walked a mile course in three-inch-tall red heels. Holding signs that said, “I am man enough to walk a mile in her shoes,” participants hoped to bring visibility to sexual violence in the community. Sonia Mahabir, assistant coordinator for the Women’s Resource Center, said it was significant to host this on a college campus because colleges are home to the populations most affected by sexual violence. “We have seen from research and statistics that women in
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college, ages 18-24, are in the age group that is most likely to be victims of sexual violence,” Mahabir said. “You have to think of the environment — they are new, they don’t have a comfort zone. There are people who know how to prey on these women.” The University Police Department participated in the walk. Ed Costello, UPD sergeant, said he hopes participating in the event will help male
police officers identify with women and make the officers more approachable. Walking in heels, Costello said, helps him view sexual violence from a woman’s perspective. Proceeds from the event benefited educational programs to raise awareness in hopes of preventing future sexual assaults on campus. Full story at thebatt.com
orking to create a place for international refugees in Houston, MSC FLI’s annual drive only collected bicycles in the past, but this year, the freshman leadership organization is encouraging students and faculty to donate anything from old furniture to old shoes, along with bicycles, to the Houston-based nonprofit Life Cycles. Life Cycles Global helps refugees from war-torn countries assimilate into American society. Bryan Walker, MSC FLI assistant director and sophomore business major, said Life Cycles helps refugees from Burma, Africa, Nepal and the Middle East. “One of their biggest focal points is providing them means of transportation — bicycles, specifically, since they’re moveable, they’re easy to maintain,” Walker said. “That’s kind of their biggest point is getting them bicycles as a means of transportation.” Alex Heinze, MSC FLI assistant director and sophomore business administration major, has helped lead the committee facilitating the drive. Heinze said FLI has a box in the Student Programs Office on the second floor of
the MSC where donations are welcome at any time. “We’ve picked up a couple couches, just different things — bigger items from people that are not able to bring them to school, if it’s faculty or students,” Heinze said. “We can make arrangements to get that picked up. We actually have an event on Facebook right now. We have information as far as who you can contact if you have something you may want to donate.” The refugees often come from refugee camps without work or education available, which Heinze said gives the refugees a sense of appreciation for what is offered to them upon arrival. “They haven’t been able to get real jobs unless they leave the refugee camps, and so it’s not just people we’re giving things to, it’s people we know are going to return the favor and are going to make the most of it and go get jobs and provide for themselves and provide for their families,” Heinze said. “They’re really passionate about getting in and working into society once they get here.” Life Cycles helps educate the refugees about the daily See Life Cycles on page 2
Seniors engineer virtual reality project Alexander Nelowet The Battalion
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or their senior design project, a group of eight engineering students from different disciplines are working on a virtual reality glove to be utilized while training future NASA astronauts. Matthew Torres, senior electrical engineering major, said NASA is trying to build a virtual environment that will help astronauts get acquainted with their work environment — space. “Our title for it right now is ‘virtual simulations’ and it involves creating a new platform to train astronauts at NASA,” Torres said. “Right now they build full-scale mock-ups of the environments in space that they train in and they are scaling it down to a virtual environment that is contained in a 12-foot dome.” The team is composed of three electrical engineers, a computer engineer and four industrial engineers — twice the size of a normal senior design group. Senior electrical engineering major Ivan Gomez said NASA was initially asked for a way to interact with the virtual environment, but the group members decided to take it to the next level after speaking to their professor. “Initially they wanted us to just have an environment that we would control with just keyboard input,” Gomez said. “We came back and talked to our professor and decided to take it a little bit further with the glove running and vibrating based on the signals that are inputted. Andrew [Butler] is working on using cameras to track the glove, so let’s say you touch a virtual object, then the camera would detect that this is where the object should be and then send a signal to the glove.” The A&M group’s research aims to deliver a system above NASA’s initial request by introducing haptic feedback into the glove’s technology. Haptics, which focus on touch feedback, are present in everyday technologies ranging from touchscreen cell phones to videogame joysticks. Haptic feedback would enable an astronaut who uses the glove to be “aware” of simulated items he or she interacts with in virtual reality. “So the glove has these vibrating motors at the end of each fingertip and as you interact with different See NASA on page 2
student government
Judicial Court finds senator failed to comply The SGA Judicial Court ruled Tuesday that Student Senate finance chair, Cary Cheshire, failed to comply with bylaw provisions by failing to hold a hearing for a funding request by Fish Aides for its annual Big Banquet. The court stated Cheshire was unethical in his actions, but did not order a finance hearing, stating an order of that nature “would only lead to further noncompliance with the SGA code.” Cheshire did not immediately return requests for comment. Jennifer Reiley, city editor
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4/15/14 10:00 PM