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The Battalion
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A lexiis INI Tradition Since 1893
OPINION:
Unfair drug
law
Page 11
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PAGE DESIGN BY: ALICIA SVETLIK
g Jtudents express concerns
Ur. 5 )ver proposed tuition hike
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By Rhiannon Meyers
THE BATTALION
Several students spoke out
ainst the proposed fall tuition
tease at a public hearing dur-
the Texas A&M University
ard of Regents meeting
ursday afternoon.
■ An estimated 15 students
I [dressed the regents with their
jmcems that the $19.50 tuition
"crease for the fall was too large
urged regents not to pass the
tease in the meeting tomorrow.
Student Body President Matt
isefy, a senior accounting
ajor, told regents that the
tease will greatly impact stu
nts, and he encouraged the
gents to represent students’
:ds and concerns.
“1 come to you representing
,000 students, many of whom
^ghly resent the proposed
^crease and the effects it will
] ave on them,” Josefy said.
iVour vote represents the trust
I f the students.”
Josefy said that students want
affordability and predictability,
so that they will be aware of the
true costs of college.
“Students want accountabili
ty to know that our money goes
directly to fund our education,”
Josefy said. “But most of all, the
students of Texas A&M want to
know that this will continue to
be an institution of the people,
centered on its students.”
A&M President Robert M.
Gates said that because of
underfunding by the state, the
tuition increase is necessary to
hire 447 new faculty to reduce
class size.
“No parent and no student
want to see an increase in stu
dent cost,” Gates said. “Frankly,
I don't like it myself. But the
increase in tuition is an unwel
come necessity.”
Gates said A&M's tuition
increases have been small in
comparison to other universi
ties’ increases such as the
University of Texas and Texas
Tech. Gates said A&M has
been responsible with student
money and was one of the few
universities that cut its own
budget.
Gates said he has held three
open forums in the past nine
months regarding tuition
increases and that most students
asked questions related to the
use of student money.
“Most student opposition
has been experienced outside
of the public hearing process,”
Gates said.
Matt Maddox, president of
Young Conservatives of Texas
and a senior management major,
said the fall increase is too large
and that the regents need to be
more accountable.
“We don't believe this is a
deregulation issue, but more of a
financial accountability issue,”
Maddox said. “Students are going
to go into debt over this increase.”
See Tuition on page 2
Art Wright • THE BATTALION
Texas A&M President Robert M. Gates listens to open- Thursday afternoon in MSC 292. If approved, tuition
floor discussion of proposed A&M tuition increases will have increased 33 percent since last fall.
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Ruben DeLuna • THE BATTALION
Source : MYRECORD.TAMU.EDU
SSFAB to hold open forum on tuition
By Brian Cain
THE BATTALION
The Student Service Fee Advisory Board
(SSFAB) is holding an open forum Friday at
12:30 p.m. in the MSC Flag Room regarding the ref
erendum to increase the student service fee.
The referendum has become a contested issue
on campus.
“Currently, the student service fee is $11.86 per
credit hour, not to exceed 12 hours. A student cannot
be charged more than $150, no matter how many
hours that student takes, so right now there is a $150
cap on the student service fee,” said Jim Carlson,
chairman of SSFAB.
“State law mandates that if the student service
fee increases over the $150 cap, a student referen
dum is necessary to implement the increase,”
Carlson said.
If passed, the referendum will increase the student
service fee by 65 cents, from $11.86 to $12.51, and
establish a new cap of $250.
Joey Wood, vice president of the Student
Government Association Watch, opposes the new ref
erendum and its fee increase.
“Even though this forum is operating under the
guise of being educational and informative, it is an
obvious attempt to convince students to vote for
this unnecessary fee increase,” Wood said.
“As far as I’m aware,
nobody opposing the referen
dum has been invited to speak.
I know of several people in my
organization who would be
willing to speak out against this
fee increase” he said.
Wood said he is con
cerned that the new student
service fee will allow
unchecked increases up to
the new $250 cap.
“The only reason that the
SSFAB is recommending a
fee above the $150 cap is so administration can raise
the fee without a student vote in the future,” Wood
said.
Carlson said this is not the case.
“Once the cap is passed the fee cannot be
increased by more than 10 percent per year,” Carlson
said. “Over the last 10 years, the fee has only
increased by 4.4 percent per year.”
Student Body President Matt Josefy, a senior
accounting major, said the referendum was proposed
for the right reasons.
“The student service fee benefits every
student in some way,” Josefy said. “There
will always be some students who will
question expenditures that do not directly
benefit them.”
“The reality is, the fee provides fund
ing for programs like Aggie Muster, The
Big Event and CARPOOL,” he said.
“Aggie Band receives funding from the
student service fee, and if the referendum
does not pass, departments will still have
state mandated salary increases, and this
money will have to come from cutbacks in
other programs.”
Josefy said students have a responsibility and a
choice in the decision.
“Their responsibility is to come and learn why
the referendum has been proposed, and their
choice is whether or not they will support this
increase,” Josefy said.
The student service
fee benefits every stu
dent in some way.
— Matt Josefy
Student body president
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Aggies to give back to
community Saturday
By Kyle Ross
THE BATTALION
It is that time of year again when thousands of Texas A&M stu
dents, armed with shovels and paintbrushes, devote a day out of the
year to blanket the Bryan-College Station area in a united effort to tell
their community, “Thank you.”
The Big Event kicks off Saturday at 8:45 a.m. Students will
convene on the Simpson Drill field for a yell practice and eat
breakfast before scattering across the surrounding region to per
form various jobs, ranging from garden work to building fences to
painting houses.
“It’s an opportunity for the entire student body of Texas A&M to
give back to the area for being such a supportive and unique colle
giate community,” said Jessy Hersman, director of The Big Event.
“It’s the largest one-day student-run service in the nation.”
Now in its 22nd year, some 8,000 students will complete more
m 750 jobs in this area alone, while 71 other Big Events will occur
at universities across the nation, said Andy Bugbee, assistant director
ofThe Big Event.
“In 1982, a group of students led by Joe Nussbaum, vice president
of the Student Government Association, decided to clean up a local
cemetery,” Hersman said. “They wanted a way to give back and say
thank you to the community.”
Since Nussbaum’s idea in 1982, the project has grown and
changed, Hersman said.
“We have established an endowment to fund future Big Events at
'■sjOj A&M, and ultimately we hope to establish a national Big Event day,’
Hersman said.
Many students will be participating as members of the organiza-
lions they are involved with. More than 400 student organizations
11 be represented this year.
Pamela Knoller, a sophomore mechanical engineer, will be partic
ipating for the first time. Her sorority will team up with the One Army
organization to perform the day’s tasks.
“Our sorority encourages community service, and The Big Event
seemed like a great one to be involved with,” Knoller said. “It will be
exciting because we will be helping the community and getting to
meet new people in the process.”
Though The Big Event has grown into the largest one-day student
j, service project in the nation and promises to keep growing, Bugbee
(ING$ said the message will always remain the same.
a : “We simply just want to say ‘thank you,”’ he said.
A&M encourages taking summer classes
By Joaquin Salcedo
THE BATTALION
Taking summer school is a good way to
catch up with degree requirements as well
as to stay or get ahead of schedule to grad
uate, said Mark Weichold, dean of
Undergraduate Programs and associate
provost for Academic Services.
“(In promoting summer school), we
(A&M) want to make sure that all students
are aware of the opportunities being
offered to take courses in the summer,
such as courses that may be difficult to get
into in a long semester or that are not
offered at a community college,” Weichold
said. “Every summer, we provide faculty,
classrooms and labs for summer courses
and occasionally, the classes are not filled
to capacity.”
Weichold said the University’s promo
tion of summer school is not due to student
over-enrollment, but rather to help lighten
the load for student workers and the gener
al student population.
A significant increase in financial aid
for this summer is also being offered. The
University is anticipating as much as a $3
million in grant funding for students, as
compared to the $1.4 million offered last
summer. Loans and college work-study
will be available as well.
Director of Student Financial Aid
Joseph Pettibon said there are two primary
reasons for the increased availability of
financial aid this summer.
“First, it is necessary to provide addi
tional grant funding to offset increases in
tuition,” he said. “Second, additional
financial aid will encourage more students
to attend summer school, and thus increase
their ability to graduate on time. Every
additional semester in school is likely to
increase the amount of aid borrowed to a
obtain a degree.”
The grant funding is mainly from man
dated financial aid set-asides in tuition
required by the state of Texas. In addition,
there were also small increases in the
amount of funding from state, federal and
private sources, Pettibon said.
The Financial Aid Department said
that although the significant increase in
Summer scliooi
Pre-registration dates and times for
summer school will be sent to
students’ e-mail accounts on April 3.
Two summer school sessions are:
June 1 to July 2
J July 6 to Aug. 8
Ruben DeLuna • THE BATTALION
Source : JOSH PESCHEL
aid offered this summer is not expected
to occur again next summer, it hopes to
continue to increase financial aid in
future summers.
Sophomore general studies major
Ashford Taylor is among many students who
See Summer on page 2
A&M student named Intern of the Year
By Jason Hanselka
THE BATTALION
When senior marketing major Adrienne Fleming began her
internship, she never expected her boss to walk up to her the sec
ond week on the job and tell her she was going to receive $1,000
extra just for showing up.
Fleming was surprised one day in the communications office
of National Instruments when she learned that she had been nom
inated to compete against five other students in the state for the
James W. Hart Student Intern of the Year award of which she
received $1,000 just for being nominated.
“My supervisor was talking to me and said, ‘Oh by the way,
we nominated you for this award,”’ Fleming said. “Needless to
say, it was a pleasant surprise.”
The award, sponsored by the Texas Public Relations
Association (TPRA), was recently awarded to Fleming at its
annual conference.
Texas A&M was also represented at the TPRA conference by
the Real Estate Center in the Mays Business School, which
received an silver award for its magazine, Tierra Grande, and a
bronze award in special publications for its annual report.
David Jones, senior editor for all Real Estate Center publications,
said winning the award for their annual report was very special.
“Our annual report was unique because if s a 2004 calendar
with pretty pictures of Texas landscapes,” Jones said. “Most peo
ple look at an annual report and throw it away, so hopefully ours
would be one that would be kept all year long.”
See Intern on page 2