The Battalion: April 6, 2017

THURSDAY, APRIL 6, 2017 | SERVING TEXAS A&M SINCE 1893 | © 2017 STUDENT MEDIA | @THEBATTONLINE

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CHANGE IN PRINT PRODUCTION SCHEDULE The Battalion will print a special Ring Day and Parents Weekend edition on Friday April 7. Be sure to pick up the special Friday edition on stands around campus, and check out the Ring Day content online at thebatt.com.

Kevin Chou — THE BATTALION

Sports for Kids is an organization in the B-CS area promoting youth athletic activities and organized sports.

Local student organization advocates for kids’ sports

By Hannah Gerken @Gerken.Hannah “Because every child deserves a chance to play” — this is the motto that brings students from all majors together into a student organization that lives out one of A&M’s core values, selfless service. This is Sports for Kids.

Sports for Kids (SFK) is a student organization that works to provide kids in the local community the chance to be involved with sports to promote the importance of athletics in the lives of young people. SFK also strives to be a model for positively impacting the community in a fun, social environment.

“We are a non-profit organization, and basically what we do is host free events for kids in the Bryan-College Station area between the ages of 4 and 12,” said finance senior Bailey Arnold, SFK co-chair. “Some things we do are taking kids to A&M athletic events, like volleyball games, baseball games, all for free.”

Arnold serves as a co-chair of SFK, alongside chemistry junior Jessica Lowry.

SFK offers several different opportunities to B-CS kids, including Show and Tell, Sports Saturday and Sports Fest. The members of SFK also volunteer at the Boys and Girls Club throughout the year. Each of these events offer kids the chance to interact with sports in a different way.

“At a show and tell, we take the kids to A&M athletic events,” Arnold said. “Typically in the Fall, we take them to a volleyball game and SFK ON PG. 2

Walker Pennington hit two home runs in last weekend’s series against LSU, including a game-winning blast in the series finale.

Hitting his stride FILE

After starting season in a slump, Walker Pennington finds his groove entering weekend series against No. 11 Auburn

By Heath Clary @Heath_Clary

T

o say that Walker Pennington’s senior season did not start the way he hoped might be the understatement of the year.

He entered the year as Texas A&M’s cleanup hitter and was expected to be a force in the middle of the Aggies’ lineup, but a brutal slump had kept his average hovering around .200 since opening weekend. Pitchers were attacking him with a barrage of first-pitch breaking balls and 3-1 changeups — things he had generally not encountered.

It was an incredibly frustrating process for Pennington. Pennington said he was not being rewarded even when he hit the ball hard, and he wasn’t seeing his hard work in practice pay off in the games.

All about the jazz

“I started off hitting some balls hard and not getting rewarded for it, so I started pressing a little bit and trying to do too much,” said Pennington, who is batting .192 with three home runs in 2017. “When that started, that wasn’t working either. I’ve never struggled this much before, so I lost confidence for a little bit.”

Eventually the coaching staff took him out of the lineup and gave him a few games off. From the bench, he gained some perspective and realized that the number of guaranteed games he has left in his collegiate career is constantly shrinking.

A&M hitting coach Will Bolt also started his senior season in a slump and, after he talked to his struggling left fielder, Pennington vowed to stop worrying about his statistics — always a tough task in today’s data-driven era of baseball — and start doing anything possible to help the Aggies win.

“You just get to a point where you stop caring about your numbers because it’s not going to be pretty no BASEBALL ON PG. 2

Oldest swing dancing group on campus welcomes all for free dancing every week

Program encourages students to get involved on campus

By Matthew Jacobs @MattJacobs3413

By Sanna Bhai @bhaisanna

Everyone from expert dancers to first timers eager to try something new have the opportunity to join a student-run organization all about jazz and classic swing dancing: The Swing Cats.

With weekly meetings that are completely free and open to the public, the Swing Cats are A&M’s oldest swing dancing organization. First timers can come with or without a partner, and those new to the style can learn even how to swing dance from student-led lessons.

Sarah Trevino, member of the Swing Cats and biology senior, said the group strives for an easy going, non-judgmental social atmosphere where students can simply have fun.

“You really don’t need to have any sort of background in dance, or even a partner for that matter,” Trevino said. “You can just come as you are and we teach you in a very safe space, it’s non-judgmental, and everyone

When Garrett Medellin, communication junior, first came to campus, he felt out of place and wasn’t sure if Texas A&M was the place for him, but by immersing himself in a Living Learning Community he was able to break out of his shell.

Living Learning Programs offer a community living experience on campus with programs, activities and classes all aimed at creating an environment that will lead to greater on-campus involvement. And with several more programs springing up in the soon-tobe completed Commons, the programs show no sign of slowing down.

Medellin, now a senior peer mentor, said it was his experience with Living Learning Programs which transformed him from an introverted freshman to mentor, leaving him with an incredibly rewarding experience.

“To me peer mentors is such a rewarding role because it gives you a leadership position, it breaks you out of your comfort

SWING CATS ON PG. 2

COURTESY

Swing Cats dance during the “Trip Through Time” themed dance.

zone, and you get to build these connections, since there is a small group of peer mentors,” Medellin said. “These people become your lifelong friends and I honestly have not had better friends, ever.”

According to Craig Rotter, assistant director for Academic Support Initiatives and assistant lecturer with the Department of Residence Life, said along with the various programs across campus, peer mentors find a big place among the communities. In addition to their duties serving as a guide to incoming freshman students, peer mentors attend three-hour courses in both semesters of their sophomore year and continue into their junior year, eventually adding up to a minor in leadership.

Craig Rotter, said most Living Learning Programs are focused on helping students to leave their comfort zone and explore themselves and their new town.

“The number-one thing that these provide is a sense of belonging from day one at LLC ON PG. 3

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During the Swing Cat’s semersterly dance, Swing Cat members teach attendees East Coast Swing.

SWING CATS CONTINUED has a blast. The first part is ... the lesson part, and we have lessons at every meeting. And the last hour is when we have social dancing, and it’s just a lot of fun. It’s a good way to exercise and to blow off some steam from all the stress we have during school. “ Trevino said swing dancing can easily be applied to other styles of music.

“We don’t just listen to old songs,” Trevino said. “Since most modern music has roots in jazz, it is easy to swing to anything with a good beat. When I DJ,

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BASEBALL CONTINUED matter what,” Pennington said. “You just go out there and have as much fun as you can and try to impact the game.”

Last Saturday against LSU, Pennington found himself in a crucial situation.

He entered the game in the seventh inning as a defensive replacement and stepped to the plate in the eighth with the Aggies trailing No. 6 LSU 3-1.

He took a ball on the first pitch and retreated near the dugout to apply some pine tar to his bat. During that time, he locked eyes with assistant coach Justin Seely, who pointed to the left-field fence and told him to “take a shot.”

On the very next pitch he did just that, punishing a fastball high and deep to left for a game-winning three-run home run. It was his second home run of the series and served as more evidence that he might be on the verge of a hot streak.

“It’s a tough situation struggling a little bit your senior year, but he’s come up big when we needed him too,” said sophomore third baseman George Janca. “That game against LSU was huge

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SFK CONTINUED

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then towards the end of the semester there’s preseason basketball games.

Sometimes, we actually have the athletes talk to them after the game. It’s really fun and the kids love that event because they see the athletes up close and a lot have never been to a sporting event like that before.”

Sports Fest is SFK’s largest event and is held once a semester. Texas A&M student athletes from a wide variety of sports host booths to answer questions and run drills.

“The athletes are so great with them — just by helping them, answering questions, and are just really open to it,” Arnold said.

Mathematics sophomore Kailey Hicks said the stations consist of drills

I like to throw in some electro-swing and remixes.”

Meredith Rowe, Swing Cats member and biology senior, said the dances taught by the organization differentiate it from other groups.

“Our main style is East Coast Swing, and that’s what makes us different from the other swing organization…with West Coast Swing,” Rowe said.

Mark Wierzbicki, Swing Cats members and biomedical engineering doctoral student, said there is a large variety of styles taught by the organization.

“We typically teach East Coast Swing as our beginner lesson,” Wierzbicki said.

“It is a six-count dance that is easy to learn the footwork and a basic turn. We teach this one first so newcomers can pick up some dance moves and start having fun right away. Lindy Hop is an eight-count dance. The triple steps in the footwork are a little trickier than the East Coast step, so it takes a little more practice to learn. Charleston is also an eight-count dance, but instead of having the triple steps of Lindy Hop, kick steps are used.”

Swing Cats holds weekly meetings from 9 to 11 p.m. on Thursdays in the PEAP building.

for him and huge for us, and I think he’s just going to build on that momentum and be even better than we expected.”

Although he was struggling at the plate, Pennington continued to contribute to the team defensively and on the bases. He has the strongest arm of any of the A&M outfielders and has registered five outfield assists so far in 2017.

“In the dugout he’s been fantastic, he’s always encouraging. He’s played really good defense and he hasn’t let his hitting leak into the other parts of his game,” Seely said. “He’s always a good teammate but he’s got a better look in his eye right now. He’s starting to feel like he can make a difference.”

Meanwhile, he continued working on his swing. The source of his struggles was timing rather than any kind of drastic mechanical flaw, so he worked with Bolt in the cage to shorten his load. Without so many moving parts in his swing, he has started seeing the ball better, stopped chasing pitches out of the strike zone and is consistently putting himself in hitter’s counts.

And, now that he is hitting down in the order, he is seeing more hittable fastballs. Both of his home runs against LSU came on fastballs, and he is starting to produce at the high level everyone expected at the start of the season.

“He’s been starting to really pick it up and show the potential that he has,” said junior starting pitcher Corbin Martin. “He’s stepped up in a big way for us and I know that when we look back on what was the turning point of our season — that’s definitely going to be it.”

Pennington and the Aggies return to Blue Bell Park this weekend for a three-game series against No. 11 Auburn. Friday’s first pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. and will be televised on SEC Network +.

“Walker’s a guy that everybody roots for,” Seely said. “He’s a senior, he’s put a lot of time and effort into this program and he’s gone through a lot in his career. He’s had a lot of big hits for us and we think he’s going to have even more in the future.”

being taught by members of SFK and athletes.

“They usually do drills at the stations,” Hicks said. “At one station, they’ll have them do some kind of football drill, since we have football this semester and we’re very excited about that. I ran one of the stations last semester and we just did volleyball drills, so learning how to pass. The kids are just having fun while learning to play whatever sport they play.”

Sports Saturday is a mini field day held at Spence Park in which children spend time with members and play sports including frisbee, soccer, kickball, tag, capture the flag, etc. Hicks said her favorite memory from SFK comes from a Sports Saturday event.

“My favorite memory is of a little boy one Sports Saturday,” Hicks said. “He got there and he wasn’t very happy and

didn’t really want to do anything. So I asked, ‘Do you want to go play soccer?

Do you want to go play kickball?’ and he was like, ‘No, no.’ So we went over and sat on the sidewalk and I just talked to him. He started playing with sticks and so we ended up building a fort out of sticks and rocks. And it was a lot of fun.”

For Lowry, her favorite memory is having the opportunity to work with the kids and getting to see their smiles.

“My favorite memory is probably from the semester before I became a co-chair,” Lowry said. “At Sports Fest, I was getting to work with the four- to five-year-old age group and they were so cute just walking around. One girl wanted to put on our tutus and it was really fun. Their smiles just make your day.”

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LLC CONTINUED at the university,” Rotter said. “The notion that someone cares about you and that in your first year, you have that support of people around you who are, most likely, interested or studying the same thing that you are and the fact that you are digging deeper in no matter what the subject area is. All of that is happening throughout your first year on campus.”

There are four main types of Living Learning Programs offered to students on campus: Academic Residential Experience Districts, Academic Living Learning Communities, Enhanced Living Learning Communities and Timed or Interest Group Housing. All except the Interest Group Housing require an academic course every semester.

The first LLC established at Texas A&M was the Honors Housing Community in Lechner Hall, which has now to the McFadden hall. Aside from Honors, there is also the Engineering Living Learning Community. These are known as Academic Residential Experience Districts. In these residential districts, students live with those who share their major, and work on creating enhanced study skills. They also encourage students to engage in opportunities provided by the university for growth in residents’ professional and personal lives.

The Academic LLCs allow students who share similar interests to reside together and together taking part in activities as a team. These include Leadership Learning Community, Spanish Immersion, IntersXtions and Broad Street Society.

The Academic LLC requires students to attend classes with the same group of peers in their residence hall and provide the opportunity for students to participate in extracurricular activities designed specifically for them.

Sara Elizabeth McCabe, biomedical sciences freshman and a member of the Leadership LLC, which is open to all majors, said the program has allowed her to be more open-minded, a better listener and a better person.

“Without the LLC I wouldn’t have the friends, the job and the lifestyle that I do now,” McCabe said. “I wouldn’t of made such strong connections with not only my fellow peers, but with faculty and staff that want to see the best of what we can offer.”

Enhanced LLCs are optional residential programs for stu-

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Living Learning Community looks to build a committee within the dorms for mostly freshman students.

dents who have received a scholarship from a collaborating Living Learning Program, such as Terry Scholars, Aggie Collegiates Ready to Explore, the World Century Scholars and the Foundations of Continued Undergraduate Success. While each program has its own unique style, they all focused on educational success. Rotter said, since all the students receive scholarships, they want the students to excel in their academics and uphold the scholarships they are receiving.

Finally, combining common interest and residential living, the Themed or Interest Group Housing provides students with a unique atmosphere to support their personal growth through academics and social programming. Each group housing program focuses on a specific interest anywhere from liberal arts to entrepreneurial students. The most recent program

is THRIVE: Wellness Living Learning Community where students participate in a community centered around wellness activities and opportunities.

Rotter said the honors program has been at Texas A&M for over 20 years and has given students a chance to strengthen their identities by providing them with students with similar mindsets. Rotter said the long-running program has been an asset to the university and will continue to harbor students in the future.

“That’s been a phenomenal experience; students have a very strong identity in being in the honors program and university honor in their first year and living together in Lechner and McFadden halls,” Rotter said.

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