The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, March 26, 2004, Image 13

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Monday, March 29, 2004
The Battalion
Volume 115 • Issue 117 • 12 pages
A Texas A&M Tradition Since 1893
SPORTS:
A day in the
life of Lester
Cook
Page 7
www.thebau.eoni
PACE DESIGN BY: ALICIA SVETLIK
egents approve tuition increase for fall
By Jason Hanselka
THE BATTALION
Last-minute pleas from students on Thursday
kfternoon did not dissuade the Texas A&M
Bystem Board of Regents Friday morning from
[inanimously approving a 21 percent tuition
ncrease for the fall semester.
Erie Nye, vice chairman of the board, said
here was a tension between the two main factors
Contributing to the board’s decision.
“We had to consider the quality of education
Offered on one hand and the cost on the other,”
tyesaid. “To protect the quality of education, you
iave to have a certain amount of dollars.”
We had to consider the quali
ty of education offered on one
hand and the cost on the other.
To protect the quality of ed
ucation, you have to have a
certain amount of dollars.
— Erie Nye
Vice chairman A*&M System Board of Regents
Tuition for the fall semester is now set at
$74.50 per credit hour, a $19.50 increase from the
current rate of $55 per credit hour.
Regent Susan Rudd Wynn said the tuition
increase is about creating growth at the University.
“There is a tremendous need for new faculty,”
Wynn said. “The money needs to be in place when
you hire the new faculty.”
Wynn said the concerns of the students are
very important to the board.
“We are very sensitive to the financial needs
of students,” Wynn said.
Nye said the students who voiced their con
cerns at the public hearing on Thursday were very
curious and brought up thoughtful comments.
“The students are the immovable object and
force of this University,” Nye said. “My heart goes
out to all of them.”
John Barnett, however, said the regents did
not take the students seriously.
“The public forum yesterday was a joke,” said
Barnett, a sophomore computer engineering major.
“Today, every time a regent spoke about the issue,
they couldn’t even look a student in the eyes.”
Nye said the board is actively trying to
reallocate funds to the students.
“There is a significant effort to put money back
See Tuition on page 2
Big Event is a big success
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By Kyle Ross
THE BATTALION
Jelena Djuric, a College Station resident and
recipient of The Big Event Saturday, said this
as the second year she has had Texas A&M
tudents volunteer their time and assistance in
repairing her estate.
This year, she welcomed students from
Kappa Alpha Theta and Phi Delta Theta as they
raked leaves, cut shrubbery, planted trees and
painted her trim.
“I just love these Aggie students,” Djuric
said. “1 love to meet them, talk to them and
share some experiences with them. It would
lake my husband and I months to do all of the
housework these kids can do in a day. It’s a
great service to the community.”
More than 750 of these types of jobs were suc-
:essfully completed in just four hours Saturday
said Jessy Hersman, director of The Big Event.
The 22nd annual Big Event saw the participation
of more than 8,000 students representing about
400student organizations at A&M.
A&M President Robert M. Gates told the
early morning crowd of students that gath
ered on Simpson Drill Field before leaving
forthe day’s work that by participating in Big
Event, lives across the area are changed.
“From coast to coast, the lives of men, women
Jchildren from 30 states will be better tomor
row because of events like this, and you started it
he said. “It gets bigger every year, as this
Aggie tradition becomes an American tradition.”
Julie Whisenhunt, one of the students busy at
work in Djuric’s yard, said she was happy to give
something back to the community.
“This gives us (students) a chance to get out of
it ‘college bubble’ and meet the community,”
said Whisenhunt, a sophomore business major. “I
live in this neighborhood, and I never met Mrs.
Djuric before today.”
College Station resident Margeret Lambert
welcomed members of Squadron 17 of the Corps
of Cadets to help her out around her house.
“1 appreciate these kids more than words can
say,” Lambert said. “I feel like they’re my sons.
My blood is maroon, and it makes my year to have
them come by here to help me out.”
Due to a recent surgery, Lambert, a long-time
Aggie and community member, was unable to
do much of her housework, including moving
her plants to the outside for the warmer months.
She said the students helped her accomplish
what would have been months of yard work in
just a few hours.
But for one student, Saturday’s event was not
quite enough.
“I’m coming back to help Mrs. Lambert in
the fall,” said Sam McAnally, a senior agricul
ture development major. “There’s no Big Event
in the fall, but if I don’t come back, her plants
won’t survive the winter.”
Jared Bishop, a senior recreation, parks
and tourism major and commander of
Squadron 17, said the entire squadron had
participated in The Big Event by splitting up
into five groups and spreading out the work
among different recipients.
Many organizations followed the same suit as
Squadron 17, including the A&M football team,
which had full participation, Hersman said.
With all of the hard work and hours volun
teered, A&M students, in unison with many other
colleges and high schools around the nation, are
giving their respective communities a very loud
and appreciated “thank you.”
Joshua L. Hobson • THE BATTALION
Senior Russian major Aaron Atkin (from left to Young plant trees at Heritage Park in Bryan as part
right), junior environmental design major Stephanie of The Big Event. More than 8,000 students partici-
Smith and senior ocean engineering major Jeremy pated in this year's community service event.
;etball
ment
Students split on
service fee increase
By Rhiannon Meyers
THE BATTALION
Jim Carlson, chair of the Texas A&M Student Services Fee
Advisory Board (SSFAB), encouraged students to vote in favor
of the student services fee increase in an open forum Friday in
the Memorial Student Center Flag Room.
The proposed increase of 65 cents would raise the fee from
$11.86 per credit hour to $12.51, increasing the fee above the
cap of $150 and setting a new cap of $250. Because the fee
would exceed the $150 cap, a student referendum is mandat
ed by the state.
Carlson said the SSFAB did not purposefully suggest an
increase that would change the cap.
“We just went through proposals individually, and in the end
we added it all up. It just so happened that’s what we ended up
with,” he said.
Carlson said the fee increase is necessary to continue to
offer and develop services and programs for A&M students.
He said the fee increase would also provide funds for merit
salary increases.
See Fees on page 2
A&M administration to undergo changes
Reorganization of University Departments
Texas A&M President Robert M. Gates announced several restructuring changes to take
place by the end of the 2004 fiscal year. The new structure is as follows:
Vice
President
Administration
Vice
President
Student
Affairs
Vice
President
Development
Vice
President
Governmental
Affairs
Vice
President
and Associate
Provost
Vice
President
and
Associate
Provost
institutional
Assessment
and
Diversty
By Jason Hanselka
THE BATTALION
Texas A&M’s administrative structure will
undergo several changes by the end of the 2004
fiscal year to increase the effectiveness and
efficiency of administrative functions, said
A&M President Robert M. Gates.
Gates said the administration’s structure
went through some uncommon changes.
“In the past, administrators that no longer
had a connection to a particular organization
moved to another job within the administration
and took their previous functions with them,”
Gates said. “The result was that you had anom
alies such as the vice president for student
affairs managing Reed Arena.”
Gates said the Office of the Senior Vice
President for Finance will undergo the most
noticeable change. The category of business
affairs will be added, which will encompass
many responsibilities that are being shifted
Ruben DeLuna • THE BATTALION
Source : OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT
See Administration on page 2
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Read all about it!
EXTRA! EXTRA!
In a survey taken by 600 students March 23,
USA Today was the most widely-read newspaper
of the five available to students.
40%
51% I
The New York Times
The Dallas Morning News
The Houston Chronicle
The Bryan-College Station Eagle
Other
0%
10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
Ruben DeLuna • THE BATTALION
Source : THE COLLEGIATE READERSHIP PROGRAM
Readership program will return this fall
By Aerin Toussaint
THE BATTALION
The four-week USA Today Collegiate
Readership Program was an overall success,
and the program will return to campus next
year for a trial run beginning in the fall, said
Chris Diem, a junior political science major
and vice president of student services.
The program ran from Feb. 9 to March 5
and gave students the opportunity to pick up
newspapers such as USA Today, The New
York Times, The Houston Chronicle, The
Bryan-College Station Eagle and The Dallas
Morning News free of charge at different
on-campus locations.
During the four-week program, 92,000
papers were distributed, with an average of
4,545 papers distributed per day. Diem said.
Six-hundred students were given a sur
vey on March 23, and USA Today was the
most widely-read newspaper among stu
dents with 59 percent of students reading it.
The New York Times followed with 58 per
cent, The Houston Chronicle with 51 per
cent, The Dallas Morning News with 40 per
cent and The Bryan-College Station Eagle
with 26 percent.
On the whole, the response was
encouraging, Diem said. At the end of the
program, 99 percent of the received sur
veys were positive.
Debra Blakely, a journalism professor,
said she heard about the program from her
students. Blakely said the response was pos
itive because journalism students found the
free papers an asset as they did homework
for her course, which requires them to keep
a media journal.
According to the survey, 96 percent of
A&M students said it is important to read
different newspapers to keep up with current
news to enhance their education.
“Because of the success of the program,
next year we are going to bring it back on a
trial run basis for the entire year starting in
the fall,” Diem said.
The newspapers will be free to students,
See Readership on page 2