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“Pearl,” “Hocus Pocus” and “House of the Dragon”

Aggies prepare for rematch against Tide in Tuscaloosa

ARTS CRITICISM ON PG. 4

SPORTS START ON PG. 7

Student Senate condemns CSPD’s Northgate proposal Proposal including midnight closing, mandatory searches opposed by Student Senate By Ana Renfroe @aeoenia1 The new Fate of the Gates Bill publicly opposes the College Station Police Chief’s proposed changes to the Northgate District. On Sept. 21, at the 75th session of the Texas A&M Student Senate, The Fate of the Gates Bill was presented by Off-Campus Caucus Senator Karime

Ana Renfroe— THE BATTALION

Members meeting during the 75th session of the student senate on Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022.

Freshman class president results contested in SGA Judicial Court

On Oct. 8, Alabamians will be flooding into Bryant-Denny Stadium, which holds a capacity of about 101,000, to witness their Crimson Tide seek revenge against a maroon and white squad that upset them nearly a year ago to this day. Senior tight end Max Wright said playing at Kyle Field, FISHER ON PG. 7

COOLING ON PG. 2

Relations Committee, Ramos took initiative to create the bill. “This is a little out of what I usually work on, but since I do serve as an off-campus caucus leader, it is an off-campus issue,” Ramos said. The Fate of the Gates Bill opposes almost all of the proposed changes to Northgate, especially changing the time for last-call and limiting the number of bars in the district. “The bill is advocating for the integrity of the Northgate district because a lot of students and small businesses there don’t want it to change and be rezoned. [It] advocates against change but also for safety,” Ramos said. However, Ramos clarified that the bill is not against all of the suggested safety measures, such as completing unfinished sidewalks and additional . “We’re not against safety, we’re just against rezoning,” Ramos said. The bill also advocates for College Station City Council to consider other safety improvements, such as safe ride and safe word programs. “The Community Relations Committee is charged with anything that is more than the university and less than the state,” Williams said. Williams said it is the committee’s responsibility to advocate for students’ interests within the community and local government. NORTHGATE ON PG. 2

What’s next for the Aggies?

CHALLENGE ON PG. 2

Robert O’Brien— THE BATTALION

Texas A&M football coach Jimbo Fisher answers questions during a press conference at Kyle Field on Aug. 25, 2022.

Aggies head to Tuscaloosa in rocky conditions with hopes to repeat upset over Alabama

on the road in Tuscaloosa, Ala., against the No. 1 Crimson Tide. Here’s what we learned at the press conference the following Monday: Bracing for Bama

By Grant Gaspard @grant_gaspard Heading into Week 6 of the college football season, Texas A&M football finds itself in a situation that wasn’t expected by anyone following the team over the offseason, not even the players. However, the Aggies must look past the 18-point loss in Starkville, Miss., and look toward their next matchup

Keeping the ‘Ag’ in Aggies A&M professors develop climate-friendly practices By Jack Lee @JackTheBatt

Cameron Johnson— THE BATTALION

A greenhouse behind the Horticulture/Forest Science Building on Monday, Sept. 26, 2022.

Texas A&M University’s AgriLife research group is looking to fight climate change by putting atmospheric carbon into the ground. Julie Howe, Ph.D., professor of soil sciences, and Nithya Rajan, Ph.D., associate professor of crop physiology and agroecology, are leading a new $65 million United

States Department of Agriculture-funded research project to develop “climate-smart” agriculture practices. The group, which includes over 30 members of the AgriLife faculty, will investigate ways to both develop more climate-smart agricultural practices and incentivize producers to put those practices into action. Howe said climate change, the longterm shifts in temperatures and weather patterns caused in large part by gases such as carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide blocking heat from escaping into space, has become a more pressing issue than ever. Historically high temperatures in Texas this summer have caused a variety

With 8-Week Courses Classes begin October 24 www.blinn.edu/fall

By Amanda Hare @AmandaHare_11 With an effort by the city to lessen College Station’s hot weather, residents can expect to see more trees in park areas in the upcoming years. At the Thursday, Sept. 22, City Council meeting, Director of Planning and Development Services Michael Ostrowski presented a five-year urban heat mitigation plan that will include planting trees and giving seedlings to residents to plant themselves. The council asked staff to begin research in September 2021, and the staff prepared and presented a five-year plan in April 2022, and the council asked them to increase the number of trees. The staff presented an updated five-year plan on Sept. 22, and now the city will move forward with finding a way to fund this plan. Over five years, the program will plant 4,787 trees costing $3,213,850. The plan also includes a residential planting program that will provide 2,500 trees costing $216,386 throughout the five years. “The planting areas we mainly looked at were on city-owned or controlled properties,” Ostrowski said. “What we wanted to do was look at those areas first, to look at what the potential that we could have for the number of trees that could be planted there. The second part was creating a residential program where the city would purchase around 500 trees and then be able to distribute them to homeowners within the city so that they could plant on their residentially-owned properties.” To find planting areas, the staff first looked at the hottest areas of the city. “First, we identified the eight Priority Planting Areas that showed higher levels of heat, and we had recommended that those areas would be first,” Ostrowski said. “Most of those areas were in city parks. When the council asked us to go back and take a look [in April]. We looked at additional city parkland, we looked at cemeteries. We also looked at right-of-way areas within the roadway areas that are adjacent to that.” The two hottest Priority Planting Areas are Edelweiss Park and Sandstone Park. While not confirmed now, the city may in the future look into planting at the Harvey Road corridor, Barron Road corridor and Graham Road corridor. The Texas A&M Forest Service offered the city $15,000 per year for two years and 250

Ramos and Community Relations Chair Jessica Williams. The bill was primarily authored by Ramos and sponsored by Williams and Off-Campus Caucus Senator Andrew Applewhite. The bill passed by a vote of 26-0 on Oct. 5. According to the bill, College Station Police Chief Billy Couch had met with College Station City Council in August, primarily to discuss safety concerns in the Northgate District. These concerns included, but were not limited to: a high number of Emergency Medical Service calls, crime, police dispatches and arrests. Couch proposed an ordinance that would include several changes to the Northgate District. The ordinance proposed requiring cameras within bars, removing outdoor speakers, wanding patrons for weapons upon entry and changing the last call from 2 a.m. to 12 a.m. According to The Fate of the Gates Bill, Couch also proposed environmental changes to Northgate, including limiting the number of bars in the district, rezoning and increased planning, temporary road closures, installation of speed humps and building a wall along University Drive. After learning about the controversial proposed changes to Northgate, Ramos said she felt encouraged to speak on behalf of students through this legislation. Although not a member of the Community

By Caroline Wilburn @Carolinewilb Unofficial results for the fall 2022 Student Government Association election were announced on Friday, Sept. 30, with agribusiness Freshman Class President candidate Colton Whisenant receiving 550 votes, the most votes for freshman class president. However, Whisenant was disqualified by the Election Commission, resulting in the unofficial election of forensic investigative sciences freshman Briani Plancarte-Saenz. According to Whisenant, the Texas A&M judicial court has not released the details or information regarding his petition to the public. Whisenant said when the court chooses to do so, he will freely discuss his petition but, until then, wants to respect the court and their process. After being disqualified during the first round of the vote count, Whisenant did not receive any additional votes. During 11 runoff rounds, the remaining candidates continued to receive votes, and Plancarte-Saenz was unofficially announced as the freshman class president with 454 votes. Whisenant then filed a petition for writ of certiorari, or re-

City council acts to counteract climate change

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of problems for not just agricultural producers, but consumers all over the state. “This is a great year to start thinking about climate change because we just had three months of unprecedented heat?” Howe said. “Going forward, there will be more droughts and less reliability of food and fiber.” With climate change threatening to prevent food from reliably making its way to Texans’ tables, Howe said she and her team are looking into ways working lands can not only limit their carbon footprint but help reduce the amount of carbon in the atmosphere. Howe said her main area of interest is investigating the ability of crops and soil to work together to absorb carbon dioxide, keeping it from trapping heat as it floats in the atmosphere AGRILIFE ON PG. 3

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