MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 24 | SERVING TEXAS A&M SINCE 1893 | © 2018 STUDENT MEDIA
Dean Zhu — THE BATTALION
The Student Government Association’s health campaign encompasses nutrition, fitness, mental health and safety.
Howdy to health SBP’s health campaign looks to highlight campus resources By Jordan Burnham @RJordanBurnham
contain the Alabama defense and allowed seven sacks on Mond. Alabama senior defensive lineman Isaiah Buggs accounted for three of those. Alabama dominated the game from the start when junior linebacker Mack Wilson intercepted a Mond pass on the first possession to set up a 30-yard touchdown pass by Tagovailoa just 50 seconds after kickoff. “The defensive lineman had me wrapped up and I thought Jace [Sternberger] was open,” Mond said. “[I’ve] just got to take the sack or throw it away.”
Student Body President Amy Sharp is rolling out a new campaign that aims to improve the health of the student body by focusing on nutrition, fitness, mental health and safety. The three primary goals of the campaign are to let students know that Texas A&M cares about their health, to educate them about the resources that already exist and to connect them with those resources, Sharp said. The campaign’s focus areas are pertinent to every student and each has its own set of associated topics for the campaign to address, Sharp said. “They have unique needs and unique ways to educate, but we are trying to utilize every platform we can find to get that information out,” Sharp said. “We’ve designated different months to each issue.” September’s focus was on sexual assault, and October will be focused on mental health. Rather than making isolated programs that have a short-term impact, Sharp said leaders are focused on bringing awareness to pre-existing resources and knowledgeable personnel. “Members of [student government] are not the best qualified to go create a health-focused event and program,” Sharp said. “We can do that, but there’s already so many organizations on campus that do that very well because their areas of expertise.”
ALABAMA ON PG. 2
HEALTH ON PG. 2
Rolled by the Tide Grant Nicholls — THE CRIMSON WHITE
Texas A&M had 393 yards of total offense in Saturday’s 45-23 loss, the highest against Alabama this season.
Aggies struggle to keep up with Alabama, fall 45-23 in SEC opener By Hannah Underwood @hannahbunderwoo No. 22 Texas A&M opened Southeastern Conference play with a 45-23 loss to No. 1 Alabama in Tuscaloosa on Saturday. Alabama sophomore quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was the driving force for the Crimson Tide, going 22-of-30 to notch 387 passing yards and four touchdowns in the Tide’s rout of A&M.
A&M quarterback Kellen Mond totaled 294 yards, passing for 196 and collecting 98 yards on 18 carries. Mond also threw two interceptions in the game, his first turnovers of the season. The Aggies missed several opportunities to score, only breaking into Alabama territory on six of 13 drives. “We moved the ball at times, had opportunities to score,” A&M head coach Jimbo Fisher said. “Right before the half [we] had it to a one-score game with about three minutes to go in the half. We’re 21-13, they hit a big play. We gave up too many of those.” The Aggie offensive line struggled to
Aggies Teach for America Graduates help address educational challenges across the United States By Katie James @kaytayjames
Turner Harbert — THE BATTALION
Statistics and other data on Teach for America participants and outcomes provided by teachforamerica.org
For the past three years, Texas A&M has been a top contributor to the Teach for America program, now ranking sixth in the nation in number of teachers committed. Graduating students from across campus have committed to teach for two years in low-income communities where resources can sometimes be scarce. These students are not necessarily education majors. Teach for America provides its members training and support to fulfill their terms, and from there, some choose to stay in the field of education while others go on to become lawyers, policy makers, doctors and everything in between. Blessing Emeghara, recruitment manager for Teach for America, said she is excited by the growth she has seen over the past couple of years at A&M. “It’s cool to see so many people dedicated to A&M’s core values,” Emeghara said. “There are so many people willing to learn and gain a diverse perspective, and the Aggie Network is really at work. Many Aggies are going into Teach for America, and they encourage other Aggies to do it because they see the value.” Sociology senior Carolina Zarate said she never thought she would become a teacher, but realized joining Teach for America could help her achieve her career goal of working as a lawyer focused on public policy. “Teach for America was perfect for me because I always heard it was best to get some
work experience before going to law school,” Zarate said. “Working in a district without the basics will be a learning experience that helps me understand problems with current policy,” Zarate said her previous volunteer experience inspired her to look into how she could help those in low-income communities without the same opportunities she had. “I’m from the Rio Grande Valley region and had nice schools but only 20-30 minutes away from me were schools without even the basics,” Zarate said. “It’s not that they were less worthy, they just had less opportunity. I think it’s cool how in Teach for America we are all tackling the same problem with our different strengths.” Sydney Bay, recruitment director for Teach for America and former recruiter for Texas A&M, said the program provides perspective that can benefit participants no matter what career they pursue. “I like to call Teach for America ‘leadership development grad school,’” Bay said. “You can find overlap between your career path and Teach for America. The course of the entire country’s issues stems from education.” At its core, Teach for America is striving to address the issue of educational inequity, or educational opportunity not being equally distributed among race and class, Emeghara said. “After Teach for America, you see the world with a different sense of urgency,” Emeghara said. “The young kids you see going through hard things have a name and a face. You have the privilege of knowledge, so you can no longer be a bystander. If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem.”
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