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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 25, 2004)
The Battalion toliimc 110 • Issue 115 • 22 pages A Texas A&IM I radition Since 1893 www.thehiiU.eom PACE DESIGN BY: EMILY HENDRICKSON Gillispie named basketball coach By Troy Miller THE BATTALION Texas A&M Athletic Director Bill Byrne suffered through a miserable 0- 17 men’s basketball conference season before former head coach Melvin Watkins resigned. It didn’t take Byrne long, however, to find a replacement as Byrne named Billy Gillispie the new head coach Wednesday, exactly two weeks after Watkins’ resignation. “We wanted someone with a strong Texas connection that could actively recruit the best and brightest Texas has to offer,” Byrne said. “We also wanted someone with a winning attitude. When we started looking around the country and the state of Texas, we heard one per son’s name, and that’s Coach Gillispie.” Gillispie comes from the University of Texas-El Paso where he just finished his second year as head coach. In his first season, the Miners suffered a 6-24 season, but in 2003-04 Gillispie led UTEP to a 24-8 record, a co-Western Athletic Conference championship and an NCAA Tournament appearance, where it lost to the University of Maryland 86-83 in the first round. Gillispie’s Texas ties run deeper than his ties to UTEP. He grew up in Graford, Texas, a small town of just more than 400 people and graduated from Southwest Texas State University. Gillispie began his coaching career at Southwest Texas State as a graduate assistant before moving on to eight years in the Texas high school ranks. In 1993-94, Gillispie was taken on as an assistant coach at South Plains Junior College. A year later, he was at Baylor University as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator. Gillispie then moved on to the University of Tulsa where he became an assistant under head coach Bill Self. Gillispie spent five seasons with Self, three at Tulsa and two at the University of Illinois, and he credits Self with giv ing him the tools that have made him the coach that he is today. “Bill Self has been the most influen tial coach in my life,” Gillispie said. Self, the current head coach at the University of Kansas, said Gillispie is hard working and a great hire for A&M. “Billy did a great job for us at See Coach on page 2A Student affairs VP candidate visits 9 Texas A&M campus action timers I Cerc iCO i« 19 Cairo: led im dart ibidiii He* abuse in coil ie ini By Joaquin Salcedo THE BATTALION The second of four candi dates vying for the position of vice president for student affairs at Texas A&M was introduced to students, faculty and staff at an open forum at Rudder Exhibit Hall Wednesday. Joseph Paul, currently the vice president for student^Mgggiiip affairs at v www.ttiebatt.eom University of Robert M. Gates. The terms for selecting the candidates, according to the division of student affairs, include having a doctoral degree (or extraordinary expe rience) in student affairs administration or other related field of study, understanding, appreciation for and commit ment to providing consistent access to the Southern Mississippi, said he wants to join the A&M staff because it has the best student affairs program in the nation. Paul expressed his attrac tion toward A&M as he com mented on the Aggie attitude at football games and addressed a series of questions regarding issues such as residence life, Bonfire and student activities. “In terms of my philosophy, my ideal form for an institution of higher learning is that it is a seamless learning community,” Paul said. “Not this education or that education, but one holistic education. A lot of engagement with students marks my style.” To aid in the selection of a new vice president for student affairs, a nine-member search committee composed of faculty, students and alumni was appointed by A&M President students and |engaging stu dents in multi ple forums. Craig Rotter, coordinator of leadership development for the Department of Residence Life, said Paul is going to reach out and understand the University. “We need a vice president for student affairs who under stands Aggie traditions and what Aggie values are all about,” Rotter said. The position has been vacant since May 2003 follow ing the retirement of J. Malon Southerland who held the position for nine years. Robert Strawser, chair of the vice president for student affairs search advisory committee, said three candidates were selected to interview for the position in the spring of last year. However, the committee did See Candidate on page 2A Laptop thefts surge across campus The University police,Department urges students, faculty and staff to be cautious when taking a laptop around campus. Helpful tips: - Carry your laptop in a non descript carrying case. - Engrave laptops with your driver license number - Back up information on disks and store the disks at home. Andrew Burleson • THE BATTALION Source : UPD By Brian D. Cain THE BATTALION Thirteen laptops have been stolen on the A&M campus since the beginning of the spring semestet; totaling more than $15,000 in value, said Sgt. Allan Baron of the University Police Department. “Some stolen laptops were the personal property of the students, and some were University property,” he said. Baron said there is no pattern to the thefts. “It’s completely random,” he said. “Thefts have been scattered all over campus in dorms, offices, libraries and Cafeterias.” Laptop computers, known for their small size and portability, are targeted by thieves for the same reasons. Because they are small, they can be easily stolen and concealed. The stolen items are then fenced at pawn shops and used computer stores, Baron said. Laptops are also attractive targets because the legal consequences of a property crime such as theft is less severe than a crime against a person, such as robbery, and can often be more lucrative, Baron said. “The problem with laptops is, peo ple often leave them unattended,” Baron said. Baron said most laptop owners don't realize the cost of a stolen computer until they become victims. In addition to los ing their computer, they have also lost peripherals, such as modems and net work cards, installed software and the cost of replacing all of this equipment. UPD advises that all laptops should be within sight of the owner, and unat tended laptops should be locked in a cabinet or closet if possible. If a laptop must be left in a car, owners should make sure to lock it in the trunk where the computer is out of sight of potential thieves. However, these precautions won't always guarantee protection against theft, Baron said. “The thing is, even if it is locked up, that doesn’t mean it can’t be stolen,” Baron said. Baron advised laptop owners to engrave a name and a driver license number on the See Thefts on page 2A Kibler takes position at Miss. State By Melissa Sullivan THE BATTALION Bill Kibler, interim vice president for stu dent affairs, has accepted the position of vice president for student affairs at Mississippi State University effective in June. Kibler took over for J. Malon Southerland in June 2003 and has been with Texas A&M for more than 20 years. “I have had lots of opportunities here,” Kibler said. “And I have enjoyed the opportunity to do this and to be engaged in many things.” Kibler came to A&M in 1980 and has served in several professional posi tions, including president of the Association of Student Judicial Affairs, president of the Center for Academic Integrity and the national conference chair of the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators. Kibler said he applied for the position of vice president for student affairs at A&M last year but decided to take the job at MSU when he was not chosen as one of the four finalists for the A&M job. “It will be difficult to leave here; it’s a great place,” Kibler said. “I love the campus and students. I raised my family here and we have deep roots here.” Kibler said A&M and MSU have similar attributes, which include being land grant schools with strong backgrounds in agricul ture and veterinary medicine. Although MSU has a smaller population with only 17,000 students, it has a rich his tory of traditions, Kibler said. See Kibler on page 12A SBP candidates focus effort on campaigns for 2004 election Herreth strives for unity, communication By Rhiannon Meyers THE BATTALION Andy Herreth, a senior political science major, is run ning for student body president with a campaign slogan of “Standing with Students.” “Our slogan brings about ideas of unity, working together, communicating, staying there and representing students’ views to the administration,” Herreth said. “And that’s exact ly what I want to do next year.” Herreth said his campaign focuses on two main areas: sav ing students money and perpet uating Aggie traditions. Herreth said he would maintain Aggie HERRETH traditions by developing a plan to bring Bonfire back on campus in five years. Herreth said he does not like off-cam pus bonfires because they hurt the University. “What we need to strive for is more on-campus unity, and not tearing the University apart,” Herreth said. “There’s a solution out there. We just need to work together to find it.” To save students money, Herreth said he would seek to lower ticket prices to A&M football games. “It seems ridiculous to me that at (University of Oklahoma), a top-ranked foot ball team every year, their stu dents pay $15 to go to the game, and our students pay $37.50 if they didn’t have a sports pass,” Herreth said. Herreth said he is also work ing on a plan where the Student Government Association would run on endowments and not Student Hernandez aims to increase campus diversity By James Twine THE BATTALION Royd Hernandez said that if elected student body president, he would create a diverse and unified student government and push to maintain academic excel lence at Texas A&M. “I want to make sure every one is represented and I am going to work with the administration and student organizations to create more diversity,” said Hernandez, a See Herreth on page 7 2A | senior biomedica/ engineering HERNANDEZ major. “I want to hear stu dents voice their concerns about aca demics.” Hernandez said he would like to see Q- drop exten sions and a grade forgiveness system offered to students. “I think that just because you make a mistake on one grade in one semester, you should not be jeopardizing your future,” he said. Hernandez said he knows the administration agrees that A&M should be pushing for diversity, and said he will work with A&M President Robert M. Gates, the administration and the students to increase diversity. Hernandez said he supports Vision 2020 and the recent tuition increases as long as they are advantageous for A&M and for the good of the students, but stresses the importance of knowing where the fee increases are going. “We need to make sure we are fully aware of what increasing fees are being used for,” he said. Hernandez said Vision 2020 See Hernandez on 12A