(The Battalion
ulumc I 10 • Issue 113* 10 |)ii^es
A Texas A&M I'radiHon Since 1893
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PACE DESIGN BY : LAUREN ROUSE
SC president may
ecome elected office
By Joaquin Salcedo
THE BATTALION
A referendum will appear on this
king’s student body election ballots that
fay determine if the Memorial Student
!enter president will be elected instead of
pointed.
The Student Senate
issed the MSC President
leferendum Bill at its meet-
fg March 10.
This decision was intro-
ed by a record coalition
|f 18 senators and is the
suit of strong and wide-
■ead student demands that
i Student Senate could no
inger ignore, said Matthew
Wilkins, speaker of the
ludent Senate.
Currently, the MSC presi-
:nt is selected through an
view team of eight to nine
pie that includes the acting
Cpresident. MSC director,
! senior staff, MSC exec-
vice presidents, MSC
nittee chair and a campus
entative. The president
[selected at the beginning of
e spring semester.
"If the majority of students vote for a
nocraticaily elected MSC president, the
ate will decide the best way to imple-
lenl it (the bill) and move forward,”
kins said.
Once appointed, the president oversees
:MSC Council and committees and acts
ithe primary MSC representative to stu-
s,former students, faculty and adminis-
,The president also serves on many
[jniversity committees and as of recently
u,
It would be a
disservice to the
MSC and its
volunteers for
MSC officers to
spend all of their
time campaigning
when they could
be focused on
MSC programs
and activities.
— Elizabeth Dacus
MSC president
serves as a representative in the Tuition
Policy Advisory Committee.
Elizabeth Dacus, current MSC presi
dent, said a student body campaign is an
expensive and time-consuming task that
comes too late in the school year to be
effective for the MSC.
“It would be a disservice
to. the MSC and its volun
teers for MSC officers to
spend all of their time cam
paigning when they could be
focused on MSC programs
and activities,” Dacus said.
Dacus said there are no
plans to change the MSC
president to an elected posi
tion, and that only the MSC
council has the power to
make that decision.
"The MSC president must
oversee a variety of activities,
programs, committees and
other efforts that require a
great deal of experience with
the Texas A&M community
and the MSC,” she said.
Scott Smith, an off-cam
pus senator, said Dacus is
opposed to a democratic
election of MSC leadership
and does not consider student
opinion to be important in matters concern
ing president selection.
The Senate's main claim for the bill is that
students are tired of being taxed by the MSC
but denied representation, Wilkins said.
Also, scandals surrounding the MSC
such as the more than $60,000 in T-shirt
funds that were misplaced by the MSC earlier
See MSC on page 2
i&M to enhance campus over next
[ive decades through Master Plan
By Kyle Ross
THE BATTALION
Texas A&M officials have determined
the campus needs a makeover—a huge
;eover.
During the next five decades, major
ansion will be taking place all over the
pus as the University tries to compen-
forexpected climbs in enrollment, said
ipus Master Plan Committee officials.
For the past three years, members of the
ittee have been putting their heads
ther to plan the best way to ease the
iversity into its future. The committee’s
iposal to construct more than 100 new
dings, while destroying around 40 is
lost complete, said Bill Perry, executive
president and provost
Perry said the selection and due date of
in buildings tagged for demolition is
the early stages and that some buildings
:too important to be destroyed.
“Many buildings should be kept
See Campus on page 2
A FACE-LIFT
Over the next five
decades, Texas A&M will
try to compensate for
increased enrollment
numbers by demolishing
40 buildings on campus
and constructing 100
new ones.
Buildings slated for
demolition include:
® Heaton Hall
® Reed McDonald Building
® Beutel Health Center
® The Pavilion
® Several residence halls
GRAPHIC BY: ANDREW BURLESON • THE BATTALION
SOURCE : CAMPUS MASTER PLAN COMMITTEE
PHOTOS COURTESY OF : TAMU
|P BEATO III • THE BATTALION
Houston Texan quarterback David Carr signs auto
graphs after the "Leadership On and Off the Playing
Field" forum held on Monday at the Annenberg
Presidential Conference Center. Former President
George Bush, Houston Texans head coach Dorn
Capers, former Houston Astros manager Larry
Dierker, CBS sports announcer Jim Nantz and Carr
answered questions from the audience.
Open forum emphasizes leadership
By Carrie Pierce
THE BATTALION
Everyone, everywhere is a role model or should
try to be, said Dom Capers, head coach of the
Houston Texans, at the Annenberg Presidential
Leadership Conference Center Monday night at the
George Bush Presidential Library.
The open forum, entitled “Leadership On and Off
the Playing Field,” was moderated by former
President George Bush and featured Capers, David
Carr, Houston Texan quarterback, Larry Dierker, for
mer Houston Astros manager and Jim Nantz, broad
caster for CBS Sports.
The open forum gave Texas A&M students the
chance to ask questions regarding leadership in sports
and life, and to discuss their inspirations and how to
deal with setbacks.
Nantz said getting where one wants to be begins
with a dream. He said that as a young boy, he dreamt of
being on CBS Sports. The Hollywood native got his big
break when he hosted the Jackie Sherill show at A&M.
“Find people who believe in you,” Nantz said.
Capers said the core of being a leader is generat
ing trust.
Dierker, who began playing professional baseball at
age 18, said his parents told him he could do anything.
“If you are going to make a mistake, make a mistake
on the active side, not the passive side,” Dierker said.
A leader’s job is to set the course and then mod
erate it, Capers said, and that a lot of what drives him
JP BEATO III • THE BATTALION
Former President George Bush and Houston Texans head
coach Dom Capers answer questions from the audience
Monday evening at the Annenberg Presidential
Conference Center.
to lead well is passion.
“A man with great passion and few skills will
always outperform a man with great skills and little
passion,” Capers said.
Carr stressed the importance of retaining character
on and off the field. The 24-year-old husband and
father said he is consistent with his leadership at home
See Forum on page 2
SBP candidates present 2004 campaign platforms
McAdams seeks to stress Aggie traditions
By James Twine
THE BATTALION
Corps of Cadets
Commander Will McAdams
laid he wants to stress to stu-
lentsthat participating in Aggie
iditions and events that make
exas A&M an individual
ong all other universities is
important.
“We need to hold the line on
ggie traditions,” he said.
McAdams, a senior political
ience major and one of the
andidates running for student
iy president, said he wants
itudent body leaders to be more
involved with getting students
Ho events. He also said he
believes that getting more peo
ple to live on campus is a big
MCADAMS
part of living
the Aggie
experience,
and a way to
promote spirit
and traditions.
With expe
rience in set
ting up an
equal oppor
tunity office for the Corps,
McAdams said he would like to
see student organizations set up
their own diversity officers and
have these officers set up a
committee dealing with diversi
ty on campus and recruiting.
McAdams said he believes
that diversity has developed a
negative connotation, and this
sets diversity programs back.
He said he supports programs,
policy and ideas on diversity,
but fears that blowing these
programs out of proportion can
be detrimental to minorities.
“When you make diversity
such a high profile event it
becomes
like the
‘D’ word,
and it will
dec rea.se
the support
for the
very pro
grams you
are trying
to support,” he said.
Vision 2020 is a set of goals
designed to work toward a per
fect campus, McAdams said,
McCaig focuses on financial responsibility
See McAdams on page 2
By Rhiannon Meyers
THE BATTALION
Mark McCaig, a junior
accounting major and president
and founder of Student
Government
Association
Watch, is
running for
student body
president on
a platform of
financial
accountability.
“Right
now, the SGA itself gets
$160,000 on investments, and
I don’t think the student body
is getting a return on that
investment,” McCaig said. “I
think the student body
deserves a student government
MCCAIG
that does
work out in
the public
view and not
self serving
work behind
the scenes.”
McCaig
said that if
elected SBP,
he would make sure SGA
serves its role as a messenger of
student concerns to the Texas
A&M administration and to
other groups.
“The student body believes,
and I believe rightly so, that the
student government does not
accurately represent their con
cerns,” McCaig said. “I want
that to change.”
McCaig said that as a mem
ber of the Young Conservatives
of Texas, he has a lot of experi
ence working with elected offi
cials, and he will use this expe
rience to promote the appeal of
tuition deregulation.
“It is very realistic that if we
can’t get outright appeal of
tuition deregulation, we can get
some serious reforms,” he said.
McCaig said he will not
bring his personal political
beliefs into student government.
“I’m trying to make it very
clear in my campaign as stu
dent body president that I’m
not liberal, Democrat, conser
vative, or Republican,” McCaig
said. “I’m an Aggie and I’m
looking out for the interests of
all Aggies.”
See McCaig on page 2