WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 7 | SERVING TEXAS A&M SINCE 1893 | © 2018 STUDENT MEDIA One of Jesse Medina’s customers travels an hourand-a-half from Smithville just to have Jesse cut his hair.
Cutting edge tradition Jesse Medina has been giving haircuts in College Station for the past 62 years By Miranda White @mirandakw Creating looks for over half a century, a local barbershop owner is still going strong, providing fresh cuts to residents in the Bryan-College Station area. Jesse Medina grew up in the B-CS area and served in the Korean War on the U.S.S. Jason. After returning to Bryan, he opened Aggieland Barber Shop off the corner of College Main and University Drive in 1956. In 1978, he relocated to the second floor of the building, where he still operates today. During his service in the U.S. Navy, Medina said he became tired of his position on deck in the frosty Japanese weather, so when a barber offered him a chair below the ship’s deck, he immediately accepted. With no previous experience cutting hair, Medina said he learned quickly, practicing on the 400 men aboard the U.S.S. Jason. “The barber who offered me his chair said I had a natural talent,” Medina said. “Well, I guess I do since I have been doing it for 64 years.” Medina, 84-years-old, has developed a loyal customer base, some of whom travel many miles just BARBER ON PG. 2
Casey Dawson — THE BATTALION
Texas A&M head football coach Jimbo Fisher sits with Boling High School recruit Verson Jackson at an A&M basketball game.
Signing on for victory Texas A&M football recruits to make their committments official By Ryan MacDonald @Ryan_MacDonald2
Cassie Stricker— THE BATTALION
The Texas A&M football program gained 10 players in the inaugural year of the Early Signing Period that took place from Dec. 20-22. The 10 new players were meager in comparison to other major programs across the country, due to uncertainty regarding the coaching staff. Despite the low number, the early signing class has no shortage of talent, with signatures from five four-star players, including the No. 2 junior college tight end in the nation, Jace Sternberger, and the No. 13 offensive tackle in the nation, Colten Blanton. Both players are already enrolled. The Aggies hired Jimbo Fisher on Dec. 1 in the weeks leading up to the Early Sign-
ing Period; however, Fisher had to juggle assembling a coaching staff virtually from scratch and jumping on the recruiting trail. Despite the extreme task at hand, Fisher hit the ground running on recruitment, traveling across the state and hosting recruits just days after his arrival. Another thing working against Fisher was the NCAA “Dead Period” that lasted from Dec. 17 to Jan. 11, in which coaches were not able to have any contact with recruits. With the new staff intact, A&M coaches had a tight turnaround to ensure they hung on to recruits from the last regime who neglected to sign during the Early Signing Day Period and to set out recruiting their own players. The coaching staff was helped by current commits, most notably four-star defensive end Max Wright, and from current and former players, including Johnny Manziel. Since Fisher and his staff have taken over, NSD ON PG. 2
Keeping the momentum
Kevin Chou — THE BATTALION
Junior point guard Admon Gilder attempts to score on a South Carolina defender.
Aggie basketball hopes to capitalize on their recent win By Angel Franco @angelmadison_ Riding the momentum gained last Saturday after defeating South Carolina at home, Texas A&M looks to keep its NCAA Tournament hopes alive as they travel to take on No. 8 Auburn. The Aggies are owners of an abysmal 1-5 road record this season — four of those losses came from conference play and the other was a road loss to Kansas. A&M head coach Billy Kennedy said the team’s inconsistency has been a major factor in their demise. “We haven’t had consistent practices, consistent play,” Kennedy said. However, in the last two games, the Aggies have shown a glimmer
of excellence that is keeping their dreams of making it at least into the tournament alive. Kennedy also said A&M has had success in the past against Auburn on the road and hopes to replicate it come Wednesday night. “We’re playing better as a team, we’ve played well there before,” Kennedy said. “[Hopefully] we can go in there and understand the magnitude of the game and play well again.” But with his team’s lack of reliability, Kennedy said he isn’t fully able to know what to expect at Auburn. “I wish I could tell you I knew what I was going to get from this team,” Kennedy said. “We haven’t been consistent enough for me to feel that well.” With junior guard Admon Gilder returned to the starting line up, the Aggies have shown improvement M. BASKETBALL ON PG. 3
Meredith Seaver — THE BATTALION
Transportation Services is currently struggling to handle the responsibilities of the growing College Station population.
Going forward with the growth Transportation Services discuss plans to adapt to the increasing student body By Jane Turchi @JaneTurchi While providing service from as early as 7 a.m. to past midnight on some routes, Transportation Services has been unable to keep up with the growing student population, but is taking action to alleviate the problem. According to their website, Texas A&M’s Department of Transportation Services is responsible for nearly 37,000 parking spaces in over 150 parking lots and five parking garages — more than any university in the country — and continues to see growth in the future. As A&M continuously breaks
record enrollment numbers, more stress has been placed on the school’s transportation services. Transportation Services also states on its website that it currently has a maximum capacity with a fleet of 100 buses, as the budget does not allow the purchase of more. Increasing the number of buses would cost an approximate $90,000 to $180,000 per-year, per bus as well as $500,000 to purchase each new bus. “Transportation Services’ biggest difficulty is limited funding for transit,” said Debbie Hoffman, associate director of Transportation Services. “Our bus service and fleet are not funded at the same rate of increase the campus is seeing in population. This makes it impossible to provide the same level of service per student as we have in the past.” A&M busses provide roughly 50,000 TRANSPORTATION ON PG. 3
Student Rush Tickets Only $20 TUE & WED, FEB 6 & 7 Mature Themes
Get Tickets: MSC Box Office 979-845-1234 *A limited number of student RUSH tickets are available for ONLY $20. These tickets are available at the MSC Box Office. Please limit 2 tickets per student. Student ID is required. This offer not valid for tickets already purchased.