THURSDAY, MARCH 1 | SERVING TEXAS A&M SINCE 1893 | © 2018 STUDENT MEDIA
READY TO LEAD
Sharp’s election as Student Body President the result of years of leadership
Amy Sharp has served as the 2019 class president for three years. Cassie Stricker — THE BATTALION
By Megan Rodriguez @MeganLRodriguez It was 7:05 p.m. in Academic Plaza when Student Body President candidate Amy Sharp asked her campaign manager Valentina Tovar to pray with her. The election announcements were filled with anticipation as Tovar squeezed Sharp’s hand. The final name of the night left Sharp, her family and her campaign team shouting with joy. The announcement on Feb. 23 was the culmination of months of dedicated campaigning and three years of service to Texas A&M as the Class of 2019 president. Of the 12,716 eligible ballots cast in the SBP race, Sharp received 5,131 first-preference votes. In the final runoff against runner-up Harrison Hancock, Sharp came out ahead with 60.03 percent of voter
SCIENCE
Agricultural technological innovation New advancements could revolutionize agrarian lifestyle By Henry Mureithi @SOCOMBlack Agriculture is an essential part of many rural communities in Texas and the wider Texas community. While agricultural productivity in Texas has slowed down in recent years due to the 2007 recession and the subsequent uneven recovery, it still runs ahead of other states, and currently one in every seven working Texans, or 14 percent, is in an agriculture-related job. Moving forward, the Texas Department of Agriculture said the goal is increasing production on agrarian land sustainably while preserving the environment. According to the Texas A&M College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the college has contributed to inclusive and sustainable agricultural growth and the provision of nutritious, safe and affordable food through the food system in Texas. Several researchers at the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences are exploring ways to use new technology at the farm level in the production of the food we eat. Internet of Things (IOT) devices, such as smartphones, could revolutionize sustainable agrarian production and resilience. According to Charles Hillyer, biological and agricultural engineering assistant professor and extension specialist, one of his IOT projects is a wireless irrigation control system he is working on with the help of computer engineering graduate students Yanxiang Yang and Justin Sun. The students are using distributed sensors to monitor the soil conditions of the field, then using wireless communication technologies to convey that info from the area to a controller. Combined with real-time weather information downloaded from the National Digital Forecast Database, they can make optimal decisions and direct their automated irrigation machine to supply the right amount of water to the field at the right moment. This technology will enable smallholders to know how and when to use inputs for optimal results. “In such a way, we [can] monitor and control the quality of irrigation operations precisely,” Sun said. “It not only addressed
preference. As Sharp waits to take up her new responsibilities on April 21, she will continue to serve as class president until the end of her term. Sharp and some of her closest campaign members reflected on their efforts and what they hope Sharp will accomplish in her new role. When the Fall 2017 semester began, Sharp was making plans to continue her role as class president during her senior year. But after being approached by close friends and peers who recommended she run for Student Body President, Sharp’s vision for her last year at A&M shifted dramatically. “All the people that I trust and love told me I needed to do it,” Sharp said. “The more I thought about it and the more I began to understand the role, the more I realized that
management junior Austin Lee, has known Sharp since their freshman year and watched her grow from the new Aggie who had a desire to motivate others into the well-equipped leader she is today. “I think confidence is one of the biggest changes I can see,” Lee said. “You have to believe in yourself to be in those positions. Amy has leadership and communication skills and passion and I think all of those grew as well. Those things that she is best at now have grown a lot since freshman year.” Sharp’s campaign manager, political science junior Valentina Tovar, said Sharp’s dedication is evident through her actions, such as a time when Sharp was sick but refused to miss a meeting because of her commitment to the SHARP ON PG. 4
Traveling the path of proposed wall border Former student’s documentary shows life on the near 2,000 mile stretch By Savannah Mehrtens @SJMehrtens The border between Texas and Mexico is approximately 1,954 miles of land, some of which is inhabited by people while the rest is left to wilderness. “The River and The Wall,” a feature-length documentary, will follow five travelers, two of them Aggies, from El Paso to the Gulf of Mexico as they travel through the wilderness predominantly on horseback, mountain bikes and in canoes before a border wall is built along this path. Interviewing a variety of people from backgrounds ranging from politicians and activists to scientists as well as local residents about the effects of a wall, the directors and cast of the documentary said they hope to present as much information as possible to allow the viewers to draw their own conclusions about the Rio Grande River and the effects of border wall. Austin Alvarado, Class of 2014, is one of the stars of the film. Alvarado said being an Aggie is part of the reason he has a job as the operational manager at the Aggie-owned Far Flung Outdoors Center in Terlingua, Texas,
PROVIDED
A full length documentary is currently being filmed about traveling the Texas-Mexico border.
near Big Bend. “I met him when he had come down to one of our RPTS classes to give a speech on national parks, and the connection really started at A&M actually, with Greg Henington, the owner of Far Flung Outdoor Center,” Alvarado said. “Frankly, I wouldn’t have been
part of the trip if I wasn’t out here.” Estimates, including those published by The New York Times and Reuters, put the border wall to cost between $18-26 million in construction costs, which will come from DOCUMENTARY ON PG. 2
Women’s basketball SEC Tournament ready No. 15 Aggies set to face Arkansas on Thursday in the second round By Hannah Underwood @hannahbunderwoo
C. Morgan Engel — THE BATTALION
TECHNOLOGY ON PG. 2
the experience, the relationships and the university contacts that I developed, along with the passion for our traditions and for A&M, was the perfect recipe to serve in the role.” Sharp’s desire to serve the university through a leadership position began long before she ever considered running for Student Body President. “When I was at Fish Camp, Joseph Benigno [former SBP and Class of 2016] came and spoke and I was so inspired by him,” Sharp said. “He was the reason I ran for Class of 2019 president as a freshman, because he was just inspiring and passionate about A&M and everyone was just captivated when he was talking and excited about A&M and about the things he said … I wanted to be able to inspire people the way he did.” Sharp’s rules and regulations manager,
Anriel Howard became A&M’s career rebounding record holder on Sunday.
The No. 15 Texas A&M women’s basketball team will kick off the second round of the Southeastern Conference Tournament on Thursday when they take on Arkansas at 2 p.m. at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. The Aggies defeated the Razorbacks 104-60 on Feb. 22, marking A&M’s largest margin of victory in an SEC game since 2013. The last time these two teams met in a conference tournament, the Aggies notched a 59-58 victory in the quarterfinals of the 1988 Southwest Conference Tournament. “When we went to Arkansas after coming off a disappointing loss [to Mississippi State], we went right to work,” head coach Gary Blair said. “There was no doubt from the opening whistle what we were going to do and our kids shared the ball. We spread it around, five kids in double figures. We
were working as a complete team.” Junior forward Anriel Howard said the team has been focusing more on defensive strategy in preparation for the tournament. “I think that we’re locking in a little more, not only in the games but also in practice,” Howard said. “We haven’t been the best practice team since I’ve been here, but we’re slowly getting better. We’re listening to the defensive plans and we’re out there playing harder, just giving more effort and wanting to be good on defense.” The Aggies currently hold a season record of 22-8, with a 11-5 record against conference opponents. Arkansas is 13-17 on the season and 3-13 in SEC play. The Razorbacks are coming off a 88-76 win over Vanderbilt on Wednesday. Freshman point guard Chennedy Carter received her fourth SEC Freshman of the Week award on Monday, after averaging 22 points, 4.5 rebounds and five assists over two games. On Tuesday, Carter added both the United States Basketball Writers’ Association National Freshman of the Week honor and the SEC Freshman of the W. BASKETBALL ON PG. 4