The Battalion: February 21, 2018 by The Battalion

CANDIDATE CONVERSATION

Madeline Ramos — THE BATTALION

The six candidates for the position of Student Body President participated in a debate to educate their constituents and discuss the goals and visions of their incumbency.

Questions about policy, goals directed toward candidates By Luke Henkhaus @luke_henkhaus Six voices filled the MSC’s historic Flag Room Tuesday night, each hoping to become the new voice of Texas A&M’s student body. Candidates for 2018-2019 Student Body President addressed questions from the public and each other, discussing their policy goals and vision for student representation. Among the most talked-about issues of the debate were diversity and inclusion, student services and growth of the student body. In his opening statement before the debate, Ben Johnson announced his withdrawal from the SBP race and left the stage immediately. Johnson’s announcement came one day after a derogatory Instagram post he made in 2013 resurfaced online.

“The reason I wanted to run for student body president was to give 110 percent to bettering this university,” Johnson said. “I truly believe that anyone who is out there can do that and after much discussion with family, friends and campaign staff I believe it’s best if I withdraw my name from this race but I want to thank everybody for this opportunity. Thanks and Gig ‘em.” Keeping a proactive focus on the future will be critical to the next SBP’s success, according to Michael Zimmerman, who said simply reacting to issues as they arise leaves students facing issues that could have been avoided with additional prior planning. In particular, Zimmerman said the temporary relocation of student services from main campus to White Creek while a new service center is constructed has presented significant accessibility issues for students in need of disability, counselling and other services. “Ideally, we would have been able to prepare for this new student

services building previously,” Zimmerman said. “That way, we’re able to maintain the same quality that we have and give back to the students.” As a potential solution, Amy Sharp proposed the creation of student service satellite locations on main campus, helping reduce barriers to access as construction on the new center continues. “It is very difficult as it is having that issue that you’re dealing with and then on top of that having to go out of your way to the land of Timbuctoo to find the new student counselling services where it’s temporarily hosted,” Sharp said. “My plan would be to bring those services back to students. It’s a temporary fix because it’s a temporary problem. However, temporary means two years in this situation and I think that’s too long.” When it comes to cultivating a more diverse and inclusive environment at A&M, Zimmerman said the existing credit requirement for international and cultural diversity

(ICD) courses, can be enhanced to engage students and inspire broad commitment to a diverse community. “I think currently as it stands, students view it as a mandatory course that they have to take, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re going to get the full value of what an ICD course is,” Zimmerman said. “So one of the things I would work on doing and improving upon here at campus is making sure the ICD credit courses that we have here actually have meaning and value for understanding what international and cultural diversity is.” As the overall student population continues to grow, Sharp said she has been looking into the tangible impact of increased enrollment and what could be done to ensure that the quality of education received at A&M remains strong. Sharp said it will be increasingly important for students to understand what increasing enrollment really means for A&M, while working with admin-

istration to strike the right balance. “I made it my mission to start researching this issue so I can actually understand, at least from the administration standpoint, what this looks like,” Sharp said. “I think as the student body president, you’re not against administration, but your job is also not to agree with them. It’s to understand the students and to represent those voices.” According to Harrison Hancock, the ability to build and maintain relationships with key administrators is one of the most important qualifications a student body president can have. Hancock said a recent meeting with Vice President for Student Affairs Daniel Pugh, Sr. convinced him that tangible progress is possible through student-administration coordination. “Those are the relationships that we need, with administrators that genuinely want to have an impact and make a change on this campus,” Hancock said. “Because at the end DEBATE ON PG. 4

Cassie Stricker — THE BATTALION

Freshman guard TJ Starks scored 19 points in Texas A&M’s 93-81 loss to Mississippi State University.

Third straight SEC loss Cristian Aguirre — THE BATTALION

(From left) Suzie Jaworowski, Daniel Vegas, Lenka Kollar, Sarah Camba Lynn and Taylor Haby discussed the further implementation of nuclear power in the United States.

Energy innovation panel Members of the office of Nuclear Energy in Trump’s DOE discuss future By Matt McDowell @MattMcDowell43 The Millenial Nuclear Caucus forum addressed the current state of nuclear energy, technology and future developments the industry might include. The panel consisted of senior members in the U.S. Department of Energy and three guests who work in the nuclear field, two of whom are Texas A&M graduates. The event took place in the MSC on Tuesday Feb. 20 and was hosted by the Department of Energy and U.S. Nuclear Infrastructure

Council, according to DOE’s website. Suzie Jaworowski, Senior Advisor to the Office of Nuclear Energy at the U.S. Department of Energy, moderated the panel and began the discussion by stating her position and responsibilities in the Trump administration. “I was one of the few people who were on the landing team with the Trump administration … my mission is to do educational outreach about nuclear technology,” Jaworowski said. The future of nuclear energy in the United States and around the world will include overall advancements, according to Dan Vega, Class of 2005. Vega currently works for the Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy as well as serving as the NUCLEAR ON PG. 3

A&M men’s basketball lost at home 93-81 to MSU By Dylan Poitevint @Poitite In an important conference matchup Tuesday evening, Texas A&M hoped to get back to their previous winning ways after losing their previous two games. The Aggies faced a quick and dangerous shooting team in Mississippi State. However, the Aggies had trouble finding their footing and fell to the Bulldogs 93-81. Action started off hot in the matchup with the Bulldogs. The Aggies exploded on offense immediately, going on a 4-0 run and putting up seven points within the paint in the first couple of minutes of play. A&M was led by junior center Tyler Davis and sophomore forward Rob-

ert Williams as the Aggies cruised offensively and defensively, holding the Bulldogs to just five points going into the first time out. However, Mississippi State was silently building offense. Bulldog guard Xavian Stapleton hit two three-point shots, and fellow Bulldogs Aric Holman and Tyson Carter both hit a three each. The Aggies were playing defense well in the paint, holding the Bulldogs to under 50 percent from inside the arc, but could not defend Miss. State on the perimeter. Miss. State head coach Ben Howland praised his team’s shooting practice effort after the game. “They’re putting time in and they’re shooting really well, and we expect to shoot how we’ve been shooting,” Howland said. As the eighth minute in the half came about, the Aggies faced a large BASKETBALL ON PG. 3