The Battalion: March 6, 2017 by The Battalion

MEET THE 2017-2018 CORPS LEADERSHIP

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By Meredith McCown @meredithrhoads

Cassie Stricker — THE BATTALION

(Left to right) Juniors Sara Wojcak, Brad Sauer and Hailey Kryszewski will serve as the 2017-2018 Corps of Cadets leadership.

hosen for their leadership qualities and potential for significant influence on one of the most well-known institutions Texas A&M has to offer, the new senior leaders for the Corps of Cadets were selected to serve for the 2017-2018 school year. While 13 seniors were chosen for key positions, the main three to represent Texas A&M through the Corps are political science junior Brad Sauer, management junior Sara Wojcak and physics junior Hailey Kryszewski. Sauer will hold the position of Corps commander, Wojcak as deputy Corps commander and Kryszewski as chief of staff. According to Commandant of the Corps General Joe Ramirez, the selection process includes an academic standard, criteria they must meet in order to compete for the position and an interview. “It’s a pretty lengthy process,” Ramirez said. “First off, we open up those leader positions to all cadets who are eligible. So anybody in the Corps can apply for these positions, anybody who is a rising senior leader for example … there’s a window of opportunity for you to apply for the position.” Ramirez said the commandant staff, ROTC staff and all of the cadets who held the key leader positions this year were present during the potential cadet leader’s interviews. “After we’re done with all the interviews, then we discuss the interviews, the applications and look at who we believe will be the most qualified to lead the Corps next year, from Corps commander all the way to the major unit commanders,” Ramirez said. “Then we vote, and we decide, the recommendation is made to me and ultimately I’m CORPS LEADERSHIP ON PG. 5

Aggies compete in underwater tech contest By Sanna Bhai @bhaisanna

Morgan Engel — THE BATTALION

Lea DeLaria, an accomplished actress and comedian, led an LGBTQ discussion in Rudder Auditorium this past Friday night.

Netflix star Lea DeLaria talks LGBT rights ‘Orange is the New Black’ actress discusses experiences, Hollywood By Ana Sevilla @anavsevilla At the countdown from three, members of the audience stood, ready at attention, and at their cue yelled, “I am a lesbian!” As this happened, Lea DeLaria watched, giggled and cheered the audience members on in their chanting — it was her idea, after all, to get the audience ready to enjoy her show. DeLaria, an actress, comedian and musician, came to Texas A&M Friday night to lead an LGBT discussion. DeLaria, best known for her role as Big Boo in “Orange is the New Black,” was also the first openly gay comic on television. DeLaria’s unapologetic and outgoing demeanor were in full swing during her talk. DeLaria jokingly talked about the many names LGBT couples use to identify themselves in a relationship. “Do we call them a partner? I don’t, because I’m not a f------ law firm. Significant other? Are there enough hours in the day to say ‘significant other?’ Is she my lover? I’m not gonna call her that because I’m not a 65-year-old Berkeley graduate eating peyote buttons in a tower,” DeLaria said. “There’s a language that queers have, but we speak to each other in a language called irony — we invented satire. So I think we should just go all the way back to Jane Austen and just call them our traveling companions.” However, in between the satirical jokes, DeLaria shed light on the difficulties of growing up gay and how public opinion has shifted. “I was on my way to a gig for gay pride, I was going to catch the subway, when a young man came up to me, called me a d--- b---- and punched me in the face. He knocked me to the LEA DELARIA ON PG. 4

Maria Fuentes — THE BATTALION

Chemistry senior Stephen Botts works with a team to move golf balls as part of the Remotely Operated Vehicles competition.

Students operated robots through underwater obstacle courses and designed buoyant devices at the Recreational Pool Center Saturday as part of a Remotely Operated Vehicle competition. The Remotely Operated Vehicle, or ROV, competition was hosted by The Society for Underwater Technology at Texas A&M and the Subsea Tieback Foundation and enabled students to get a glimpse of offshore engineering through simulated, real-world scenarios. Each randomized team was assigned a mentor with experience in the offshore industry and competed in three activities that involved maneuvering ROVs to adapt to various environmental conditions. Don Wells, chairman of the Subsea Tieback Foundation, said students were challenged in multiple ways from communications and find viable solutions within a given time constraint and instructions just like in the industry of offshore engineering. “It is a learning opportunity in like that it is like real life,” Wells said. “We gave them purposely vague instructions and said start now, you get 20 minutes … When we get together at the end, we will compare to see why the team performed the way they did. They are getting to see failure in a learning experience which we do all the time ROV COMPETITION ON PG. 3

McIntosh disqualification overturned Voter intimidation charges overturned, TAMU J-Court rules evidence was ‘circumstantial’ By Brad Morse @BradSMorse53 In a 5-2 vote, the SGA Judicial Court ruled early Friday morning to overturn the election commissioner’s decision to disqualify Robert McIntosh, dismissing the charges of voter intimidation. “The Court rules to overturn the Appellee’s [Rachel Keathley] decision to disqualify Student Body President Candidate Robert McIntosh on grounds of voter fraud, as it is the opinion of these Justices that no such definition can reasonably be applied to the actions of the Appellant given the evidence provided,” the Court’s ruling stated. After initially winning the SBP race, McIntosh was disqualified for two violations. The first included 14 counts of voter intimidation, and the second was failure to report a campaign expense. The voter intimidation charges were filed under case 69-01, and the expense report was under 69-02. Before the hearing business honors junior and chief justice of the SGA Judicial Court Shelby James said the court will have some restrictions on evidence presented. “The Court voted on the parties’ evidence and chose to keep the majority of submissions,” James said. “In proceeding with case 69-01, a few pieces of evidence will not be allowed in oral arguments after the plaintiff argued his concerns during the pre-trial hearing.” During the hearing McIntosh and his campaign called forth their witnesses, with McIntosh himself being the first to take the stand. MCINTOSH ON PG. 2

Jenny Hollowell — THE BATTALION

Junior Robert McIntosh will also face another hearing regarding a second disqualification charge.