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Event counters Richard Spencer speech University-organized ‘Aggies United’ promotes soldarity in face of alt-right event By Chevall Pryce @ChevallP

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A&M President Michael Young sent out a campus-wide email Tuesday announcing the event

“Aggies United,” which will intentionally and directly conflict with the scheduled speaking event for Richard Spencer, the creator of the term “alt-right,” an offshoot of conservatism mixing racism, white nationalism and populism. Aggies United, which will feature speakers and entertainment not yet announced, will take place from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Dec. 6 in Kyle AGGIES UNITED ON PG. 3

COURT TO COURT

Texas A&M will play SMU for the first time in its history on Friday.

A&M volleyball preps for first postseason matchup against SMU Friday in Austin By Heath Clary @Heath_Clary

he Texas A&M volleyball team will kick off its postseason play Friday against SMU, marking the fourth time in the past five years that Laurie Corbelli’s squad has begun the postseason in Austin. Postseason play will begin Friday at 4 p.m., the NCAA selection committee announced Sunday night. The first

and second round matches will be played at Gregory Gym in Austin, as No. 4 Texas is the host team. The Aggies (21-8) and Mustangs (24-7) will kick off the regional action, and then the Longhorns (22-4) will play Texas-Rio Grande Valley (21-3) at 7:30 p.m. “I’m kind of used to having to prepare them for that opening round match against someone other than the Longhorns,” Corbelli said Sunday after the selection show. “Once it’s tournament time anything can happen so we’ll be prepared for all three but first SMU.” The winners of the two first round matches will meet Saturday at 7 p.m. Senior middle blocker Jazzmin Babers said the Aggies’

familiarity with Texas and its gym will benefit them this upcoming weekend. “I assumed we’d probably go to Texas, and this will be my fourth time there,” said Babers, A&M’s all-time leader in block assists. “It’s nice knowing the gym and knowing what to expect and most of my teammates have already played there. It will be good being close to home where our fans can come support us.” The Aggies have never played SMU, but will be tested by the Mustangs, who won the American Athletic Conference and will be making their second NCAA tournaVOLLEYBALL ON PG. 4

Carlie Russell — THE BATTALION

B-CS to participate in Wreaths Across America in remembrance of veterans By Meredith McCown @meredithrhoads

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The “Terra” cluster is new data processing devices that are 10 times faster than the

Terra cluster opens new computing possibilities By Pranav Kannan @pranavkannan92 The High Performance Supercomputing Center (HPRC) at Texas A&M received an upgrade to its capacity with the installation of the “Terra” cluster — new data processing devices that are 10 times faster than the existing system. This revamped computer system will be utilized by researchers in geosciences, engineering and data analytics to analyze massive amounts of information and perform complex computing for sciences. Honggao Liu, director of HPRC, said every two years the processors used in computers have become faster with more cores. Liu said to provide the advantages of increased speed and power to researchers, the supercomputing systems need to be upgraded every three to four years. “Our previous system was launched in 2009, so it is an old system so it’s really time to upgrade that,” Liu said. “We usually keep two large systems in production so that researchers can continue to use the system.” Michael Bishop, A&M professor and director of Geospatial Science Applications and Technology center, said his research in earth systems and landscape evolution in areas like mountain environments utilizes massive amounts of geospatial data, including satellite imagery, topological and subsurface data. He said the spatial and temporal nature of the data creates extremely large data sets. “We try to extract information out of geospatial data sets and we do various kinds of analysis that are very computationally intensive,” Bishop said. “It requires high-performance computing TERRA ON PG. 2

The Bryan-College Station community is one of more than 1,200 locations across the United States that will honor veterans by placing memorial wreaths on their graves within the four city cemeteries, including the Aggie Field of Honor and College Station Memorial Cemetery Dec. 17. Wreaths Across America, (WAA) a national nonprofit that places wreaths on veteran gravesites each year, will celebrate its 25th anniversary this year. Last year, 97 wreaths were placed at Aggie Field of Honor and the goal for this year is to place wreaths on 1,000 veteran and first responder’s graves in the Brazos Valley area. So far, 281 wreaths have been sponsored. A wreath can be sponsored through a $15 donation. The ceremony for the Brazos Valley area will take place at 11 a.m. at the Aggie Field of Honor. Executive director for WAA Karen Worchester said each year the nonprofit organization chooses a slogan to represent its mission, and the 2016 slogan is “Say Their

Names.” “The mission of Wreaths Across America is to remember our fallen heroes, honor those who serve and their families, and teach younger generations the value of freedom and the sacrifices made,” Worchester said. “The remembrance wreath is a symbol of respect and gratitude, and it means so much to the Gold Star families to know their child will never be forgotten as we say their names while the nation shows its gratitude for their service.” Ellen Fuller, volunteer co-chair for the Brazos Valley chapter of WAA, said challenges arise when people misconceive that the government provides the wreaths. “The wreaths are a gift from lots of volunteers from thankful Americans,” Fuller said. “So the misconception — I would say overcoming the misperception that the wreaths are provided by the government … They are donated by thankful citizens.” According to Fuller, all of the different locations across the nation will hold a synchronized ceremony Dec. 17 in remembrance of fallen veterans. Each ceremony will reflect the specific community in which it is held. “Everything is synchronized to the noon

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Of Brazos Valley’s 1,000-wreath goal, 281 wreaths have been sponsored so far.

ceremony in Arlington [Cemetery in Virginia],” Fuller said. “So there will be somebody in Riverside, California at 9:00 a.m. when we are at 11:00 in Bryan-College Station … We try and make it personal to the community as far as what they’re going to see.” The purpose behind National WAA Day is to promote unity within the volunteers and individuals laying the wreaths, WREATHS ON PG. 2

A&M group seeks new avenues for anti-cyberbullying A&M researchers receive grant to develop KidGab app By Pranav Kannan @pranavjkannan92

Hannah Fenske — THE BATTALION

A&M’s Sketch Recognition Lab received a grant to further research into the way children communicate.

A group of A&M researchers that has made it their mission to understand human behavior just received a National Science Foundation grant to fight cyberbullying. Researchers in A&M’s Sketch Recognition Lab recently received the Early-concept Grants for Exploratory Research (EAGER), which supports new approaches for scientific exploratory research. Aggies have used this grant to develop KidGab, a social network platform for children that allows researchers to collect data to design safe online spaces for children and artificial-intelligence-based protection systems. Tracy Hammond, A&M professor, director of the Sketch Recognition Lab and principal investigator of the grant, said the lab is focused on human computer-interaction and artificial intelligence. “Children are particularly interesting, and the way that they text is very different from the way adults text or

chat online,” Hammond said. “That was a very intriguing problem for me, and I thought it aligns very well with our lab.” Stephanie Valentine, research scientist at the Sketch Recognition Lab and chief architect of the KidGab social network, said she wanted to do research with a big societal impact — cyberbullying. “It got me so upset that all of these people were working on cyberbullying, but no one was actually doing anything about it,” Valentine said. “I decided that I wanted to do something about it — I’d fill that gap in research.” Hammond said the grant’s objectives are to create a sustainable network for engaging children to allow researchers to study their interactions. “There are essentially no studios done on how kids seven to 13 interact online socially,” Hammond said. Valentine said while the device is not aimed to encourage children to be on social networks, KidGab trains children on how to do it safely by providing a safe space online. “We cannot see to stop them from going online, instead we are providing KIDGAB ON PG. 2