THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2015 I SERVING TEXAS A&M SINCE 1893 I © 2015 STUDENT MEDIA I ©THEBATTONLINE
By Gracie Mock
m #■' ~y" ill Hurd said he would trade
% jf / every leadership lesson he
learned from the 1999 Bon-
w w fire Collapse if it meant
keeping the 12 students who died alive — a
campus tragedy that set his student body pres
idency apart from those before and after him,
and an experience that this year’s Muster or
ganizers hope will resonate with the tradition.
Hurd was announced Tuesday as speaker
of the 2015 A&M campus Muster ceremony,
the largest of more than 400 Muster ceremo
nies that take place around the world every
April 21. Muster ceremonies honor the stu
dents, current and former, who died in the
past year. The campus muster also honors
members of the 50-year reunion class who
died in the last year.
Clayton Cromer, Muster executive and
economics senior, said Hurd’s time as student
body president during the Bonfire tragedy
will add another connection to the ceremony.
“He has a really special connection to
the Muster ceremony and to A&M and re
ally knows firsthand what it’s like to lose
your brothers and sisters in the Aggie fam
ily,” Cromer said. “We are really excited to
hear his insight, what Muster means to him
and how Muster has affected him not only
as a student at Texas A&M, but going out in
his earet r rwitlrt : Ke"'CIA and to now being a
congressman for the U.S. House of Repre
sentatives, and just how his A&M experiences
have shaped him and how he still connects to
Muster through that.”
Hurd spent nearly a decade as a CIA officer
after graduation. He is now a U.S. Represen
tative in Congress.
Hurd said he plans to talk about his memo
ries of Texas A&M. He has also listened to
stories from the Class of 1965, which will cel
ebrate its 50-year reunion at this year’s Mus
ter, to learn more about what the university
was like when they were here.
Hurd said he learned a lot from handling
the crisis of the Bonfire collapse, especially
about the significance of the Aggie family.
“To be in a position to help the Aggie
family through one of the worst times in our
history, I learned a lot about crisis commu
nication and dealing with grief and I realized
also how important the Aggie family was to
all of us,” Hurd said.
Chelsea Potter, communication senior and
Muster executive, said Hurd was decided on
MUSTER ON PG. 4
Elections in flux
(Left) Michael Murtha is present at the Judicial Court hearing regarding to alleged SBP election violations. (Middle) Chief
justice Brenton Cooper hears testimony. (Right) Senior Yell Leader-elect Steven Lanz hugs a colleague pre-trial.
Push La penalize alleged SBP
campaign infractions rolls on
J-Court to hear argument for a
Senior Yell Leader recount
By Wade Feielin
A Student Government
Association Judicial Court
case that could have bearing on
next year’s student body presi
dent will move forward after a
Wednesday pre-trial hearing.
Murtha v.- Benigno and
Douglas will proceed to a full
trial at 9 p.m. Monday after J-
Court justices decided enough
evidence was present to debate
whether the defendants would
face penalties resulting from the
election season.
The appeal, filed on Murtha’s
behalf by former Student Sen
ate speaker Christopher Russo,
outlined violations of elec
tion commission guidelines in
a campaign video released by
Student Body President-elect
Joseph Benigno.
In the video, “Go(Pro) With
Joe,” Benigno rides a moped
around College Station and the
appeal alleges he violates several
campaign regulations and state
traffic laws — failure to stop at
a stop sign, operating a motor
cycle without a helmet under
the age of 21 and driving on the
left side of the roadway in a no
passing zone, among others.
The appeal is also filed against
Election Commissioner Emma
Douglas, and claims the com
mission “neglected their duty
to properly and fairly enforce
SBP ON PG. 2
By Sam Scott
If a ruling affirms an appeal
claiming up to two thirds of
student votes vyent uncounted,
a recount could shake up the
Senior Yell Leader ranks.
After the Judicial Court
of the Student Government
Association heard Lanier v.
Douglas and Lanz Wednesday
night, it entered deliberation
of two questions from consoli
dated appeals regarding elec
tion results.
The first appeal, filed by
Gregory Lanier, finance junior
and Five For Yell campaign
manager, argues Senior Yell
Leader votes were miscounted
and warrant a recount.
The ballot allowed each
student to vote for up to three
candidates, reflecting the num
ber of Senior Yell Leader posi
tions, but only students’ first-
place votes were tabulated in
the election results announced
Friday, the appeal argues.
If each student had the op
portunity to vote for three
candidates, the number of
votes tallied should significant
ly outnumber the number of
ballots, the appeal states. With
10,811 votes counted, Lanier’s
appeal said the 10,811 counted
votes were inconsistent with
regulations, since there was the
potential for around 33,000
votes,
A counter appeal, filed by
YELL LEADERS ON PG. 2
W. BASKETBALL
A&M to play last home game Thursday
Senior Night rolls around as
Aggies shoot for 5th straight
By Cole Stenholm
As Texas A&M women’s bas
ketball team looks to extend
its winning streak to five Thursday
night in its home finale against Mis
souri, head coach Gary Blair can
pinpoint a facet that has driven his
team’s recent upswing —— improved
post play.
“My guards were not throwing
the ball in the first part of the year,”
Blair said. “Our kids couldn’t catch
it. And who was getting the turn
overs? Our guards. Now they’re
throwing it in and the turnovers
are not there as much and now
they’re getting assists. They like as
sists, they don’t like turnovers. But
I would say 50 percent of the turn
overs that were early in the season
were post-related hands, not the
guards’ passes. Now we’re work
ing better.”
An increased interior presence
will only help the Aggies, who seek
another victory over the Tigers (15-
12, 5-9) after a 55-48 rout on Feb. 5
in Columbia, Mo.
“They’re going to pack it in,”
Blair said. “They’re going to pack it
in and they want you to shoot those
jump shots, which generally we ac
commodate them. What I want to
do is to, now, we’re so much bet
ter at the post position than we were
when we played up at Missouri, we
want to make sure we have touches
inside and outside.”
No. 12 Texas A&M (22-6, 10-4)
appears to be peaking at the right part
of the season, making the most of a
recent four-game winning streak,
which featured an 81-69 rout of
then-No. 11 Kentucky in Lexing
ton.
SENIOR NIGHT ON PG. 3
Courtney
Walker won
SEC Player
of the Week
honors for her
play during
A&M's win
streak.