The Battalion: March 25, 2014

thebattalion ● tuesday,

march 25, 2014

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PLIGHT OF THE

agriculture

Borlaug statue to be placed in Capitol

MONARCH

COURTESY

Graphic by William Guerra, Photo by John Benson — THE BATTALION

Millions of monarch butterflies migrate across the United States from Central Mexico to Canada every year.

Researchers reflect on Texas’ role in butterfly migration John Rangel

30 Types of Milkweed in Texas

The Battalion

I

t is one of North America’s longest natural migrations, and it could be in danger of vanishing.

Millions of monarch butterflies trek across the United States on a migration from Central Mexico to Canada every year, but a mixture of changing agricultural practices and climate change have reduced the number of butterflies to a fraction of what it used to be. The losses in recent years have been especially severe, and researchers at Texas A&M and elsewhere say the migration is in danger of disappearing altogether.

“The monarch [butterfly] is found worldwide,” said Craig Wilson, a senior research associate at Texas A&M’s Center for Mathematics and Science Education and longtime butterfly enthusiast. “It’s not going to die out in North America, but the migration is what’s under threat, and that’s the miraculous thing about them.”

Monarch butterflies migrate en masse from Canada to Mexico and back

DECREASE IN NUMBERS

The Battalion

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2012 3 Primary Causes of Population Decline

Drought

Cold Weather

Lack of Milkweed

Remington May — Special to THE BATTALION

You have millions of acres that would have supported wildflowers and milkweed, but now when the farmer goes to spray pesticides, the corn and soybeans survive, but no other weeds.

So that habitat is lost.”

— Craig Wilson, senior research associate at Texas A&M’s Center for Mathematics and Science Education

w. basketball

A&M preps for final home game of season Aggies look to redeem last season’s early NCAA tournament exit

Corps group to celebrate 50 years of inclusion

The Battalion

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BAT_03-25-14_A1.indd 1

orman Borlaug, the A&M professor of international agriculture credited with saving millions of lives, will be honored posthumously Tuesday when a statue of Borlaug is installed in the U.S. Capitol to coincide with what would have been his 100th birthday.

Borlaug is best known for perfecting a high-yield variety of wheat that has fed millions in impoverished areas of Mexico, India and Africa.

The breakthrough earned Borlaug the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970, as well as the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal.

William Dugas, acting vice chancellor and dean of the Department of Agriculture, said Borlaug is unique in his worldwide influence as he took on one of agriculture’s greatest challenges.

“Quite simply, Norman Borlaug’s revolutionary work saved millions of people from starvation,” Dugas said.

“Even today, one of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences’ grand challenges is to feed our world. The work of Dr. Borlaug still inspires us today to take action for better and more plentiful food worldwide.”

diversity

Tyler Stafford

See Tournament on page 4

Nobel prize winner well known for perfecting strain of wheat Homer Segovia

See Monarch on page 6

exas A&M head coach Gary Blair’s teams haven’t always had premier women’s basketball talent. As his 3-seed Aggies — in their ninth straight NCAA tournament — prepare for 11-seed James Madison, Blair said Monday that talent goes beyond recruiting recognition.

“When I first started, I didn’t have a lot of McDonald’s All-Americans,” Blair said. “I had a lot of Burger Kings and Wendys, but those kids turned into damned good players for me.”

With a 70-55 victory over 14-seed North Dakota on Sunday at Reed Arena, Texas A&M advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament and will face James Madison at 8:25 p.m. Tuesday in Reed Arena.

JMU (29-5, 15-1 CAA) blew out two-time defending champion Delaware 70-45 in the Colonial Athletic Association championship game to secure a bid to the NCAA tournament and its seventh tournament title in program history.

JMU upset 6-seed Gonzaga 72-63 Sunday before A&M took the court for its win over UND. Although JMU is a lower seed on paper, Blair said he does not want his team to take them lightly.

“Throw the seeds out the window,” Blair said. “You throw the teams in there. I study coaches and tendencies and what [JMU head coach Kenny Brooks] has done in the last 11 years there. He’s been just as successful as Texas A&M on getting to the playoffs, whether the NIT or the NCAA tournament. He’s one of the best young coaches in the game.”

Norman Borlaug, a former A&M professor of international agriculture, will be honored with a statue in Washington D.C.

Tyler Stafford — THE BATTALION

Sophomore guard Courtney Walker has scored in double figures 10 straight games and 28 times total this season.

2ND ROUND (7) DEPAUL - 74 (2) DUKE - 65 (11) JAMES MADISON (3) TEXAS A&M

SWEET 16 (7) DEPAUL

Event to host panelists who played role in integration Kadie McDougald The Battalion

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he celebration of the 50th year of Texas A&M integration will continue with “Fifty years of Inclusion: A Cultural Infusion,” an interactive panel that will bring former and current students together to discuss A&M’s progress in diversity — and the work it has ahead.

The Thursday event is presented by the Cultural Awareness and Diversity Expansion Team, CADET, and will host panelists who had a hand in making campus more inclusive, including Malcom Hall, Class of 1963 student body president, who worked with other campus leaders and former University President James Earl Rudder to integrate African Americans and women into campus.

See Cadet on page 4

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thebattalion

greek life

Creative, time-intensive builds serve as Chilifest icons Caroline Corrigan

The Battalion mid the scattered beer cans and live music at Chilifest is an unofficial contest, one that rivals the event’s official chili contest.

The rows of themed structures, or builds, are constructed and erected at the festival by various Texas A&M fraternity chapters for use during the event.

From inspiration to creation, Joseph Birdsall, member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon and sophomore computer engineering major, said the work that goes into a build is time intensive.

“These builds are the fraternities’ expression of the themes that are chosen for that year,” Birdsall said. “With most being done with wooden material, these are elaborately put together, painted and checked for sturdiness before being taken to Snook. Each build can vary greatly in style and brings its own character.”

There is no official award for the best build at Chilifest, but Tyler Vara, build chair for Kappa Alpha and sophomore recreation, park and tourism sciences major, said the crowd “just knows” who wins.

“It’s not really a legit competition, most people just kind of know who has the best build,” Vara said. “Each fraternity wants people to come to their Chilifest, so they want to have a good build.”

Birdsall said one of the best parts of Chilifest is the great reveal.

“Seeing the 40,000-plus people that see our build is something we take pride in,” Birdsall said. “It really gives us a chance to put our name out there, more than just a Greek life.”

Sigma Alpha Epsilon’s build will be designed as a pirate ship for this year’s Chilifest. Birdsall said in order to ensure many people “Set Sail with SAE,” they started on their build at the beginning of the semester.

“From the start of the semester we start planning it and acquiring supplies,” Birdsall

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Sam Weidig, sophomore industrial distribution major, helps Tim Word, junior engineering technology major, make a frame for their Chilifest build. said. “We have a build plan laid out and start working on it very far in advance. A big part of it is meeting the financial needs to put it all together and make it all work out for everyone.”

Vara said Kappa Alpha would try to incorporate its build’s entrance to illustrate its “Land Down Under” theme for this year.

“Well right now, we’re currently trying to make the opening like a crocodile’s mouth,” Vara said. “So it will seem like you are walking through the mouth of a crocodile when you walk in our build.”

Israel Michael, one of Kappa Sigma’s chief officers for Chilifest and senior mechanical engineering major, said although many fraternities decided on a foreign theme for this year, his fraternity decided to stay true to its roots.

“This year we thought,

‘What better way to do it than a Texas theme?’ I mean, Chilifest is all about the epitome of Texas — Texans and country music — so we wanted to keep it home, hit everyone where they really like it with a ‘Don’t Mess With Texas’ theme,” Michael said. “We are going to have huge artwork and craftsmanship from every major city in the state and have one pin-pointedout object from every city as well.”

The project is an intense time commitment, Michael said, with construction taking about 50 to 60 hours. Benton Mahaffey, president of Sigma Epsilon and senior chemistry major, said footing the bill for build is a serious commitment as well. The money needed to make their western-themed “Sig Ep Saloon” build is taken from their semester dues and is anything but cheap.

“A build usually ranges

from $2,000 to $3,000 and that is just for the wood and paint we use,” Mahaffey said.

To combat the costs, Sigma Alpha Epsilon has found a solution to save money while constructing their builds.

“We actually do not spend that much money on our supplies because a lot of the material used for previous builds can be used for the next build,” Birdsall said. “It is more of just a time commitment to put the build together.”

While creating the build can present a challenge, Birdsall said that setting it up at Chilifest is the most difficult part.

“Getting the build out to Snook after it is completed is the hardest part,” Birdsall said. “The build starts out in one piece and we then have to take it apart piece by piece and rearrange it back together like a puzzle once we get to Snook.”

Vara said when it comes to supplies for the build, they receive donations for tools from familiar faces.

“Between everyone in our fraternity, we have guys whose parents are in construction, so they will donate supplies,” Vara said. “We pool all of our tools together and then head to Home Depot to buy all the lumber and stuff.”

Mahaffey said only those with experience handle the tools while working on the build to avoid any injuries.

“There is the usual hammer to finger, but we have never had anything serious happen, thankfully,” Bridsall said.

“Usually because the older guys work with the power tools or teach the younger guys how to use them properly.”

With around 10,000 people attending Chilifest every year, Michael said the event is a great way to bring everyone together.

“It really doesn’t matter what fraternity, sorority, team or other organizations you are a part of,” Michael said. “Everyone is there for one purpose and that is to enjoy Texas and have fun.”

thebattalion THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT VOICE OF TEXAS A&M SINCE 1893

Jake Walker, Editor in Chief

THE BATTALION is published daily, Monday through Friday during the fall and spring semesters and Tuesday and Thursday during the summer session (except University holidays and exam periods) at Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843. Offices are in Suite L400 of the Memorial Student Center.

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PREFERRED • Have completed JOUR 301 or COMM 307 (Mass Communication, Law, and Society) or equivalent; • Have at least one year experience in a responsible editorial position on The Battalion or comparable daily college newspaper, – OR – Have at least one year editorial experience on a commercial newspaper, – OR – Have completed at least 12 hours in journalism, including JOUR 203 (Media Writing I) and JOUR 303 (Media Writing II) or JOUR 304 (Editing for the Mass Media), or equivalent.

Application forms should be picked up and returned to Sandi Jones, Student Media business coordinator, in Suite L406 of the MSC. Deadline for submitting application: 5 p.m. Tuesday, April 1, 2014.

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Qualifications for editor-in-chief of the Aggieland yearbook are:

REQUIRED • Be a Texas A&M student in good standing with the University and enrolled in at least six credit hours (4 if a graduate student) during the term of office (unless fewer credits are required to graduate); • Have at least a 2.25 cumulative grade point ratio (3.25 if a graduate student) and at least a 2.25 grade point ratio (3.25 if a graduate student) in the semester immediately prior to the appointment, the semester of appointment and semester during the term of office. In order for this provision to be met, at least six hours (4 if a graduate student) must have been taken for that semester; PREFERRED • Have completed JOUR 301 or COMM 307 (Mass Communication, Law, and Society); • Have demonstrated ability in writing, editing and graphic design through university coursework or equivalent experience; • Have at least one year experience in a responsible position on the Aggieland or comparable college yearbook.

Application forms should be picked up and returned to Sandi Jones, Student Media business coordinator, in Suite L406 of the MSC. Deadline for submitting application: 5 p.m. Tuesday, April 1, 2014.

3/24/14 9:59 PM

sports

page 3 tuesday 3.25.2014

thebattalion

baseball

Bearkats next up for A&M Sam Houston State visits Tuesday amid 4-game losing streak Brandon Wheeland

Special to The Battalion

O

lsen Magic made another appearance for A&M in Sunday’s 11th inning victory, and the Aggies will look for that magic to continue as they host the Sam Houston State Bearkats on Tuesday in the first of a five-game homestand.

The Bearkats (16-8) will try to shake a four-game losing streak, including a loss to UT Arlington on March 18 that was followed by a weekend sweep at the hands of Central Arkansas, which dropped Sam Houston out of the Baseball America poll, where they had been ranked No. 16.

A&M is 15-3 in home games, including walk-off wins off the bats of Logan Nottebrok and Cole Lankford.

The team has nine players with batting averages of more than .300 at home.

Offensive standouts to this point have been Mitchell Nau and Jace Statum — both batting .357 — with Patrick McLendon trailing at .356.

Lankford has recorded five doubles and 17 RBIs in 17 home games played.

McLendon and outfielder J.B. Moss have both scored 14 runs at Olsen.

Sam Houston hopes to combat A&M’s offense with a combined team ERA of 2.83 and a pitching staff that holds opponents to a .241 batting average. When balls are put into play, however, the defense has allowed 20 unearned runs in 24 games.

A&M head coach Rob Childress will give Ryan Hendrix his first start on the mound Tuesday night. The freshman has compiled 4.1 innings this

football

Spring practice position battles continue

Manziel’s pro day approaches Patrick Crank The Battalion

(Left) First baseman Cole Lankford is one of nine Aggies to hit .300 at home, including Mitchell Nau (below). season and allowed just one run.

The A&M pitching staff sports a 2.25 ERA at Olsen, holding opponents to a .216 batting average. The Bearkats enter Tuesday’s match with a team average of .297, including a .376 on-base percentage.

Offensive leaders for the Bearkats include Colt Atwood and Ryan O’Hearn. Atwood bats .394 and has scored 21 runs and driven in 21 batters in 24 games. O’Hearn is batting .327 with four home runs and 22 RBIs. The Aggies are 86-38-2 against Sam Houston State.

Last season resulted in a 4-1 win in College Station for the Aggies, while

Photos by Tanner Garza — THE BATTALION

the Bearkats claimed an 8-7 victory in Huntsville against A&M. First pitch is at 6:35 p.m.

TUESDAY

S

pring football continues for the Texas A&M football team, as the team held practice Monday in wake of Saturday’s scrimmage.

Texas A&M head coach Kevin Sumlin said the objective of a scrimmage is to let the coaching staff evaluate players’ progress while simulating the stress of an actual game. It also gives players the opportunity to translate what they’ve learned on the practice field into a live situation.

“We’re trying to get the quarterbacks around 30 to 37 plays and a lot of the other players up in the 30s and 40s,” Sumlin said. “You’re trying to get them a half of football basically, and we did that. There was some good and some bad.”

With the departure of Ben Malena from starting running back, a competition to fill the hole is underway between juniors Tra Carson, Brandon Williams and Trey Williams, as well as redshirt freshman James White.

“Halfway through spring football I think Tra Carson has been very, very solid,” Sumlin said. “I think James White

has progressed and is probably a little bit further ahead than I thought he would be. Brandon Williams was doing well, Trey Williams, they’re all good backs — it just depends on what you want to do. That competition will continue and it’s good for all of them to compete for playing time, and that’s what happens in a real program.”

Sumlin said former A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel showed up in his office Monday morning unexpectedly.

“I walked in my office this morning, and he’s sitting there.

It’s like old times,” Sumlin said.

“Obviously he feels at home.”

The two held a conversation covering many topics, including Manziel’s private NFL workout scheduled for Thursday in College Station.

“I’m not going to be shocked when he does well,” Sumlin said. “Some other people may, but he won’t shock me at all.”

m. basketball A&M falls in CBI, 62-55 Texas A&M lost to Illinois State in the CBI tournament Monday, ending its season. Story at thebatt.com.

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Fahrenheit 451

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page 4 tuesday 3.25.2014

thebattalion

performance studies

InterMedia experience ‘defies description’

Performance to weave art and technology Nina Smith

Special to The Battalion ombining the human element and technology, Jeff Morris and his former and current students have been working for months on a show that he said defies description. And that is exactly the way they want it to be.

InterMedia, which is being produced by members of the performance studies department, will incorporate multiple forms of media in unique ways, said Morris, director of undergraduate studies for the performance studies department.

“InterMedia on the surface is very similar to what people mean when they say multimedia, but it stresses the intertwining of multiple modes of expression or experience,” Morris said.

Morris said multimedia can be experienced by simply viewing a car commercial. He said in a commercial there are several elements that get the point across — visuals, text and voiceover. If one of these elements were taken away, the message of the advertisement would still be received, but Morris said this is not the case with InterMedia.

“In InterMedia, if one element is taken out the message is lost,” Morris said.

The performance will feature at least three student works, the first of which will be called a “Hacktet.” This involves students “hacking” technological devices to manipulate them as a musical instrument, a purpose each device was not intended for. The second act can be

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Luis D’Louhy, medical student, performs at a past iteration of InterMedia. compared to the art of “turntablism” and will feature the live sampling of sounds and the impromptu collaboration of these sounds into a piece of musical artistic expression.

The third performance will incorporate the visual element of sound and motion in a large group collaboration, and Morris said it essentially will be a motion-based piece.

Miguel Espinel, Class of 2013, has worked with Morris in this performance. Espinel will be using an instrument he created in his time here at Texas A&M in his performance.

“It’s a great opportunity to see what the department was doing and an opportunity to connect with current students, to see how the department has grown,” Espinel said.

Though Morris said the performance couldn’t be described in simple terms, he used the phrase “genre-bending art” to partially encompass the show.

Justin Payne, senior music major, said he is excited to not only apply the work he has put into the InterMedia performance, but also to share it with

Tournament Continued from page 1

A&M was also the No. 3 seed in 2013, but its season ended at Reed Arena in the second round with a 74-63 loss to 6-seed Nebraska.

Senior center Karla Gilbert — one of two remaining members of A&M’s 2011 National Championship team — said she remembers last season’s loss well.

“I think every year we go to the NCAA tournament it’s used as motivation,” Gilbert said. “From freshman year winning a championship to now, especially since last year was such a let down, mostly for ourselves getting knocked out at our own place in the second round. That’s definitely going to be in the back of our minds.”

Sophomore point guard Jordan Jones — who broke A&M’s single season assists record Sunday — said she knows how important it is to not turn the ball over.

“We’ve got to take care of the ball,” Jones

CADET

ANSWERS to todays puzzles

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Continued from page 1

Keltin Jordan, senior supply chain management major and CADET program director, said CADET is a special

the larger community.

“Working on these projects and performances is what really solidifies the InterMedia experience,” Payne said. “It’s quite inspiring to see our research topics applied and how everyone involved brings their unique skill set to the performance to create an entire work.

The process has been extremely rewarding and I cannot wait to share it with others from the scholastic community. I’ve enjoyed taking on the extra time required to complete this piece and I believe my colleagues would say the same.”

Morris said the performance incorporates students from across campus.

“They come from all over,” Morris said. “We stress interdisciplinary collaboration.

We’ve incorporated economics and business majors before and created a piece based on the piece on the game Monopoly” The performance is at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Black Box Theater of the Liberal Arts and Art and Humanities Building.

said. “[JMU] is a scrappy team. We don’t want to let their scrappiness and their intensity affect what we do and how we handle the ball on offense.”

JMU is led by senior guard Kirby Burkholder. In her team’s victory Sunday, Burkholder totaled 28 points and 18 rebounds — numbers Blair said were “ungodly.” Burkholder averaged 18.3 points and 8.6 rebounds a game during the season.

The official attendance of Sunday’s game was 6,075, but Blair said he wanted to see more students at Tuesday’s matchup.

“I’d sure rather be playing here than at James Madison,” Blair said. “Hopefully our 12th Man will show up [Tuesday] night and get me 8,000 in there and make a difference.

They helped us in the second half Sunday.”

Any A&M student is eligible for free tickets to the game, and can register for the tickets at AggieAthletics.com The winner Tuesday advances to the Sweet Sixteen and will play 7-seed DePaul, which beat 2-seed Duke, Saturday in Lincoln, Neb.

unit within the Corps of Cadets that focuses on diversity and education to increase minority enrollment in the Corps. He said the panelists were chosen based on who he felt could provide a variety of thoughts and opinions. “[The event will give a] better understanding of A&M history, progression over the last 50 years and where we want A&M to be in the next 50 years,” Jordan said. “We realize that we’re not really where we want to be right now but we’ve made great strides and maybe we’ll get where we want to be in next 50 [years].”

Jordan said he understands just how important inclusion at A&M was and still is, especially because of the era in which the 1963 referendum that opened campus was passed.

“Just because of the time frame that this happened and society’s viewpoint at that time, for it to pass, we’re able to have the advantages that we have today,” Jordan said.

“I’m just so privileged to have access to the Aggie network.

[Without the referendum], maybe I wouldn’t have been here.”

Dennis Richard, senior engineering technology ma-

jor and commanding officer of CADET, said he realizes how important Hall’s work has been for the history of the University. “[Inclusion was] a tremendous feat,” Richard said.

“We’re 50 years in and people won’t forget all the work all those involved did. [Hall] wanted to do the right thing.

Keeping his work recognized and making sure that people know about the work those men and women did [is important] and they can always be remembered here at Texas A&M.” Cleveland Jones, senior bioenvironmental sciences major and executive officer of CADET, said he wanted the audience of the event to get a deeper understanding of A&M’s history and the importance of diversity.

“I really want people to take away that unity and inclusion really helps this University and the world,” Jones said. “You can’t really get anywhere if you have one type of person with one train of thought, doing the same thing.”

The event will be at 6:30 p.m. Thursday in MSC 2300.

Admission is free and open to the public.

3/24/14 9:34 PM

news

page 5 tuesday 3.25.2014

thebattalion

activism

Anti-trafficking advocates make pit stop on campus John Rangel The Battalion

S

ix months ago, Chance Stephens left Santa Monica, Calif., on foot with a mission to speak to as many churches, colleges and towns as possible about ending human trafficking. One stop on his cross-country trek was College Station, where he has continued his mission over the past week on and around the Texas A&M campus.

Stephens served in the U.S. military for six years before returning to civilian life. He said the idea to walk across America and raise awareness for eliminating sex trafficking came to him after an encounter with someone from Tiny Hands International, a nonprofit Christian organization dedicated to serving the poor and eliminating sex-trafficking.

Stephens is the driving force behind #WALKAMERICA and “ACHANCEFOR,” a blog and movement that chronicles his journey and raises awareness

for Tiny Hands.

Stephens left Santa Monica in September and has been traveling largely by foot ever since.

He sells merchandise items such as T-shirts and wristbands wherever he stops to raise money for Tiny Hands, and has collected around $3,900 from sales and online donations.

Stephens said everything fell into place to make his trip possible once the decision to walk across America was made.

“Everything lined up,” Stephens said. “I asked God and said, ‘Hey, I need to do something.’ I ended up buying a plane ticket for $30. [Everything] worked in my favor.”

Stephens’ solo trip turned into a partnership in January when Jacob Leonard joined him while he was stopped in Lamesa, Texas.

Injured and weary from several months on the road, Stephens was taken in by Leonard’s family to rest. The quick stop turned into a month’s stay, and the two men formed a fast

friendship. When Stephens was again road-ready, Leonard left with him.

“I actually dropped out of college and was home for about two months, and he came along and I was moved by his story and I was like, ‘I want to go with you,’” Leonard said.

The two have been staying in College Station with Jacob Smith, sophomore political science major and Leonard’s high school friend. Leonard and Smith have kept in close contact since high school, and Smith immediately offered his house as a place for the two to stay if their trip took them through College Station.

“As soon as he joined with Chance, he told me about it and he told me that they would probably come through College Station,” Smith said. “I’m really passionate about Tiny Hands and ending human trafficking, and it was just a small gesture I could do to open my doors to them.”

Stephens and Leonard have

spent the past week touring campus, giving interviews and talking to students wherever possible about ending human trafficking. The two attended Breakaway and set up a booth at Mugwalls Cafe to talk to students and sell merchandise.

Smith said students were skeptical of Stephens’ and Leonard’s actions at first, but became interested once they heard more about the cause the two men advocate. “[People] ask, ‘Why? Why are they doing this?’ But once you explain the message to them, especially to people here in College Station where college kids are especially passionate about ending human trafficking, they completely understand,” Smith said.

Stephens’ and Leonard’s trip has taken many turns and is only halfway finished. The two plan to make it to Florida before pivoting north and walking to Virginia, where they hope to finish before the year is out.

The two carry everything

Jenna Rabel— THE BATTALION

Jacob Leonard (from left) and Chance Stephens are walking from California to Florida then to Virginia to raise awareness for elliminating sex trafficking. they need on their backs and push a cart that contains sleeping bags, a tent and other outdoor gear. They each carry computers, and Leonard has a solar charger to blog about their experiences over weekends.

They sleep on the side of the

road or under a roof when a local family or friend is generous enough to open their home to them.

Stephens and Leonard left College Station Monday. Their story can be followed online at achancefor.com.

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puzzle answers can be found on page 4

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news

page 6 tuesday 3.25.2014

thebattalion

John Bensen — THE BATTALION

Gardens that contain favorable plants for butterflies are important to monarch migration.

Butterfly Continued from page 1

PAID ADVERTISEMENT You deserve a factual look at . . .

Iran, Nuclear Weapons and the “Interim Agreement” Is this the time to relax—or rather increase— economic sanctions on the Islamic Republic?

every year because they cannot survive the colder northern winters. This spring marks the start of the monarch’s return north, a journey that begins in the mountains of Central Mexico before sweeping through Texas and the Midwest on its way to Canada.

Wilson said the migrating butterflies will face severe challenges on their journey north because of the scarcity of an all-important plant necessary to their survival — milkweed.

“Because of the extended cold spells and the longer winter, there is very little milkweed available at the moment, so when they do get here, unless things get a move on, they will be limited as to where they lay their eggs,” Wilson said.

Monarch butterflies only lay their eggs on milkweed, a type of wildflower common to the Great Plains that can often be spotted on the side of interstates. Besides the recent cold, Wilson said the introduction of herbicide resistant cash crops, and the farming industry’s emphasis on growing corn to meet ethanol’s rising demand, are factors that have made milkweed scarce.

“You have millions of acres that would have supported wildflowers and milkweeds but now when the farmer goes to spray pesticides, the corn and soybeans survive but no other weeds, so that habitat is lost,” Wilson said. “The price of corn is so valuable now that people aren’t going to stop using it, so we’re just going to have to find ways of mitigating it.”

Wilson is one of several

voices in the scientific community trying to bring attention to the monarch butterfly’s plight. Orley Taylor, a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Kansas, founded monarchwatch.org, an organization concerned with monarch conservation. He said the role Texas plays in reducing or expanding its milkweed growth is pivotal to the overall migration.

“Texas is clearly the most important state for monarchs for two reasons,” Taylor said.

“The butterflies now coming out of Mexico need the milkweed in Texas to get that first generation going. If there are no milkweeds in Texas, believe me, there aren’t going to be very many monarchs in the United States.”

Taylor said milkweed is poisonous to many of the monarch’s predators, and the butterfly’s evolution took advantage of this toxicity as another way to protect its vulnerable larva. This advantage however ties the monarch’s ability to reproduce to the amount of milkweed available, a relationship that endangers the butterfly when milkweed becomes scarce.

Neither Wilson or Taylor expect a reversal of current farming techniques to promote milkweed growth, but Wilson said there is a different common practice that can be modified in order to make Texas and other U.S. states more monarch friendly — mowing grass.

Wilson said many cities mow the vegetation that grows alongside highways before the wildflowers that grow there, including milkweed, have a chance to seed.

“If they would hold off until all the wildflowers have

seeded, including the milkweed, then those would come back again next spring,” Wilson said. “There’s a tendency to just cut it when they stop flowering, and they don’t leave enough time for the flowers to go to seed. If we could arrange for cities to do that, we’d be good.”

A more direct approach would be to plant milkweed alongside much of the interstate highway system. Wilson said such an initiative would mirror Lady Bird Johnson’s highway beautification program, and would give the monarch migration a better chance at survival.

“If [the interstates] could be planted with milkweeds, it would perhaps provide some corridors where the monarchs could survive,” Wilson said.

“But it would take a huge cooperation between the states.”

Wilson is also responsible for the creation of several monarch “waystations” throughout Bryan-College Station.

Waystations are gardens certified by monarchwatch.org that contain milkweed, nectar plants and other traits favorable to monarch migration.

Four Bryan-College Station elementary schools are home to waystations, and the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Garden is a waystation with more than 400 milkweed plants.

Karen Kaspar, principal of Mitchell Elementary in Bryan, said the monarch waystation has drawn butterflies and local wildlife to the school garden ever since its creation three springs ago.

“We do notice some [butterflies], and we do get a lot of really neat birds and rabbits that come in [to the garden],” Kaspar said.

Despite evasions, denials and equivocations, it is clear that Iran continues to pursue the holy grail of nuclear weapons. A temporary agreement recently struck between Iran and Western powers does nothing to disable Iran’s nuclear weapons development, yet it does loosen hard-won economic sanctions against the Islamic Republic. In fact, Iranian diplomats brag that the agreement fails to inhibit them in the least and that their nuclear program will not be stopped. Does it really make sense to relax pressure on Iran, or should the U.S. and Western powers line up additional sanctions should Iran fail to discontinue nuclear weapons development?

What are the facts?

The P5 + 1 group of world powers—the U.S., China, Russia, France, Great Britain and Germany— celebrated when Iran recently agreed to a six-month interim agreement calling for the Islamic Republic to suspend enrichment of 20% uranium. In return, the P5 + 1 agreed to allow Iran to access $4.2 billion in previously blocked funds, and the U.S. agreed to apply no new economic sanctions for six months. Yet Iranian foreign minister Mohammed Javad Zarif says, “We did not agree to dismantle anything,” and its president Hassan Rouhani promises Iran will absolutely retain its enrichment capability.

U.S. President Barack Obama has pledged that if Iran fails to abide by the interim agreement or to dismantle its nuclear weapons development, he would seek additional economic sanctions and possibly resort to military action. A bill currently before Congress—the Nuclear Weapons Free Iran Act—would impose just such additional sanctions on Iran if it breaks the interim agreement or does not cease its nuclear weapons program following expiration of this agreement. In other words, the bill formalizes exactly the diplomatic consequences the President has threatened. No wonder the Nuclear Weapons Free Iran Act is currently supported by at least 59 U.S. Senators, a clear majority.

Distressingly, the President has threatened to veto this act if passed by the Senate. The White House fears that the threat of new sanctions—even though they would not go into effect unless Iran fails to comply— could derail current nuclear disarmament talks.

What are the stakes? The primary targets of the Iranian ayatollahs’ fanatical zeal are the U.S. (the “great Satan”) and Israel (the “little Satan”), perceived as being America’s agent in the Middle East. Since Iran now possesses long-range ballistic missiles, the United States, Europe and many Arab nations are in mortal danger of attack by that country. Indeed, as Senate Foreign Relations Committee member Sen. Richard Durbin notes, “If these [current] negotiations fail, there are two grim alternatives—a nuclear Iran, or war, or perhaps both.”

Even short of such a war, a nuclear-armed Iran would be in unquestioned dominance of the Middle East and of its oil supply, the energy life blood of the entire world. It would surely cause intolerable disruption of the U.S. and international economies.

Israel, however, is the most immediate target of Iran’s fury. Iran’s unquenchable hatred of Israel is based on the conviction that “nonbelievers” have no legitimate place in the Middle East. Iran’s leaders have repeatedly threatened Israel with destruction once they come into possession of nuclear weapons.

Israel is such a small country that one or two nuclear weapons strategically dropped on its narrow coastal territory would destroy it. Indeed, the effects of a nuclear attack on Israel are too horrible to consider.

There can be little doubt, for example, that such an attack would turn the entire Middle East into a war zone, leaving wide-spread destruction and a worldwide economic disaster in its wake. Clearly this outcome must be prevented at all cost, and no effort should be spared to keep the hands of the ayatollahs off the nuclear trigger.

What is the solution? Of course, most Americans share the President’s hopes that Iran can be persuaded to set aside its nuclear ambitions—and its vendetta against Israel—through diplomacy and other peaceful means. But one thing is certain: It is crippling Western economic sanctions, backed by the threat of force, that have recently driven Iran to the negotiating table.

Above all, Iran must decommission its nuclear weapons infrastructure. Yet with Iran’s nuclear capability still intact and moving forward and its leaders vigorously asserting that the Islamic Republic will never reduce its 20,000 centrifuges or shut down its Arak heavy-water nuclear reactor or its Fordow enrichment facility, does it make sense to reduce the pressure of economic sanctions now? Sen. Robert Menendez, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee believes it’s a mistake to relax sanctions: “I am convinced that we should only relieve pressure on Iran in return for verifiable concessions that will fundamentally dismantle Iran’s nuclear program.”

“We did not agree to dismantle anything.”

Since sanctions brought the Iranians to the table, sanctions are clearly the most powerful, peaceful means at our disposal for convincing the Iranians to abandon hopes of acquiring nuclear weapons. But because the Iranians continue to declare themselves steadfastly committed to nuclear development, it’s time to ratchet up the economic pressure. The Nuclear Weapons Free Iran Act should be passed now. The survival of the world is at stake.

This message has been published and paid for by

Facts and Logic About the Middle East P.O. Box 590359 San Francisco, CA 94159

Gerardo Joffe, President

FLAME is a tax-exempt, non-profit educational 501 (c)(3) organization. Its purpose is the research and publication of the facts regarding developments in the Middle East and exposing false propaganda that might harm the interests of the United States and its allies in that area of the world. Your tax-deductible contributions are welcome. They enable us to pursue these goals and to publish these messages in national newspapers and magazines. We have virtually no overhead. Almost all of our revenue pays for our educational work, for these clarifying messages, and for related direct mail.

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