m mmmmgm:
Nick Banks preps for
j Opening Day against
j Holy Cross. For more
; on Banks, check out
I pg. 4.
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2014 I SERVING TEXAS A&M SINCE 1893 I © 2014 STUDENT MEDIA I ©THEBATTONLINE
Tanner Garza —THE BATTALION
Aggieland
Saturday
descends on
campus
By Katie Canales
^ Campus will be swarmed with pro-
^ spective students and their parents
this Valentine’s Day as Aggieland Sat
urday hosts its open house full of dorm,
library and computer lab tours.
Aggieland Saturday is also a chance
to learn more about the colleges and
majors A&M offers,, with presentations
given by A&M departments to display
the various resources available to stu
dents.
In addition to individual department
presentations, full campus tours are of
fered every half hour from 9 a.m.-2
p.m. and start from either Rudder Pla
za, the corner of Joe Routt and Hous
ton streets by Kyle Field or the Zachry
Engineering Center at Bizzell and Ross
Streets.
STUDENT GOVERNMENT
‘Aggies got
Talent’ to
further SGA
endowment
By Kylee Reid
^ Student Govermnent Association
^ will kick off its first “Aggies Got
Talent” show Saturday to raise money
for its endowment fund.
Gracie Wood, senior political sci
ence major and SGA Development
Commissioner, said the event will con
sist of 16 various talent acts, including a
yodder and a electric violinist, as well
as a silent auction.
“We do auditions and we had almost
50 acts come audition for the show and
we chose 16 out of those 50 acts.”
Wood said.
Hannah Wimberley, SGA public rela
tions vice president and psychology ju
nior, said the event organizers hope to
TALENT SHOW ON PG. 2
FIRM COMMITMENT
Board of Regents approves $50 million to fund world's largest telescope
Allison Bradshaw —THE BATTALION
(Top) A&M is one of 11 international partners in the Giant Magellan Telescope
Corporation. (Bottom) The Board of Regents voted Thursday to approve the final
half of it $50 million contribution to the telescope.
By Katy Stapp
Texas A&M secured its position at as
tronomy’s cutting edge Thursday when
a unanimous vote at the A&M Board of Re
gents meeting approved the final half of it’s
$50 million commitment to fund the world’s
largest telescope.
Set to open science operations ih 2022, the
Giant Magellan Telescope is an observatory
projected to have 10 times the resolution of
the Hubble Space Telescope. Texas A&M
and the University of Texas at Austin are
two of 11 international partners who hope to
start construction in the Chilean desert before
summer.
A&M’s recent commitment caps a fund
ing drive begun largely by the efforts of the
late George P. Mitchell, who donated close
to $28 million toward A&M’s stake before he
died in 2013.
Texas A&M and UT have now committed
5 percent of the total cost of the telescope’s
construction. A&M officially made a $22 mil
lion contribution after Thursday’s meeting on
top of the $28.1 million that has already been
raised, said Darren DePoy, physics professor
and member of GMT’s board of directors.
“We have already committed about $28
million, mostly out of philanthropy from
George Mitchell, and some other funds from
various pieces of the university,” DePoy said.
“What we needed to do is go from $28 mil
lion to about $50 million or so. This extra 22
will push us in that direction.”
UT declared $50 million to the GMT in
March 2014 after a University of Texas Sys
tem Regents meeting gave the greenlight.
Both A&M and UT hope to raise their com
mitments to 10 percent, or $100 million.
DePoy said the primary reason for con
tributing such a large portion to the cost of
GMT’s construction is that it will involve
A&M in a state-of-the-art, internationally
scaled project.
GMT ON PC. 5
W. BASKETBALL
Chelsea Jennings (right) secured the
win Thursday with a last-second steal.
Jennings' steal,
free throws seal
59-55 victory
By Lawrence Smelser
In an intense SEC rematch, the Texas
^ A&M women’s basketball team squeezed
out a 59-55 win over the Arkansas Razorbacks
at home Thursday.
The last time the two teams met, Achiri
Ade won it for A&M on a layup at the buzzer.
The game again went down to the wire, with
Jessica Jackson cutting the Aggies lead to one
with 34 seconds remaining. A steal from Chel
sea Jennings and two clutch free throws with
2.8 seconds remaining sealed the win for the
No. 15 Aggies.
Junior guard Courtney Walker praised Jen
nings after the game.
“She does it every day and there has been
several times where we’ve had a player at that
position as the same as Jessica and she’ll come
in and put a stop to it and we were able to trust
her to do that again today. And she did and
made the big play at the end as well as hit the
big free throws,” Walker said.
Head coach Gary Blair started sophomore
guard Curtyce Knox in place of junior Jordan
Jones, who was out with the stomach flu. She
did not disappoint, finishing with eight points,
five assists and four rebounds.
Texas A&M will host Alabama at 6 p.m.
Monday in Reed Arena.
THEBATT.COM
VALENTINE'S DAY: IN THIS
WEEK'S VIDEO BATT ASKS,
STUDENTS SHARE LOVE AND
BITTER HATE FOR THE HOLIDAY
CUSHING LIBRARY: CUSHING
WELCOMED ITS NEWEST
EXHIBIT, "HAND TO HAND,"
THURSDAY NIGHT
WOMEN'S GOLF: THE TEAM
WILL TRAVEL TO TALLAHASSE,
FLA., FOR A WEEKEND
TOURNAMENT
TRACK: THE MEN'S AND
WOMEN'S TEAMS ARE SET TO
RUN IN THE ARKANSAS TYSON
INVITATIONAL THIS WEEKEND
HIP-HOP: A PANEL THURSDAY
SAYS HIP-HOP MAY BE
HELPING THE ECONOMY