MONDAY, MARCH 2, 2015 I SERVING TEXAS A&M SINCE 1893
©THEBATTONLINE
Shelby Knowles — THE BATTALION
What's up with Hazlewood?
Possible exemption expansion
has Aggie eyes on Hazlewood
By Jennifer Reiley
federal judge’s rul-
ing could cost Texas
universities millions
of dollars in out-of-
mM Vt state veterans tuition
exemptions, leaving Texas A&M
to wonder where the funding will
come from.
Students attending A&M un
der the Hazlewood Act — in
cluding those who stand to ben
efit from its possible expansion
— expressed mixed feelings about
the situation.
About 1,100 veterans attend
Texas A&M, said Col. jerry
Smith, director of the Veterans
Resource and Support Center.
Delisa Falks, executive director
of scholarships and financial aid,
said 1,808 students, veterans and
dependents included, are exempt
under Hazlewood.
The Hazlewood Act, created
in 1929, today allows veterans and
their dependents to receive up to
150 semester credit hours free.
The wording of the act requires
that veterans have enlisted in the
military while living in Texas.
A ruling by U.S. District Judge
Ewing Werlein Jr. at the end of
HAZLEWOOD ON PC. 3
Veterans deserve support,
regardless of boundaries
Katy Stapp
@KatyxStapp
■ ’m what people would call a
I “military brat.” I was bom in
I a little town called Bedford
in England, within driving
distance of the nearby United
States Air Force base where my
dad was stationed in 1993.
On Sept. 11, 2001, I watched
my dad pack a bag and place it
by the door, just in case “duty
called.” Luckily for my little
sister and me, it never did. But I
developed a whole new respect
for him after seeing him pack
that bag — the looming orange
duffel bag by the door meant he
didn’t need to be asked twice to
be ready to go if needed.
After my sophomore year
of college, my dad had three
daughters in college, two sons
in private school and taxes to
pay, so he asked me to make a
trip to the Financial Aid Office
to inquire about a Texas legisla
tive act with a weird name ——
the Hazlewood Act.
OPINION ON PG. 3
TRADITIONS
Wednesday
revote to
decide Yell
positions
SGA election results scrapped,
revote to take place Wednesday
By Trey Reeves
w In light of the Senior Yell Leaders’ de-
cision to scrap the SGA election results,
a revote is planned for Wednesday starting
at 6 a.m. and ending at 11:59 p.m.
Students will vote online at voteyell.
tamu.edu, and results will be announced as
early as Thursday evening, said MSC Presi
dent Ryan Trantham, who was appointed
the special election commissioner for the
revote process by Student Affairs director
Rusty Thompson.
Drew McMillen, associate director of
Recreational Sports, will serve as advisor.
Trantham said he has worked with univer
sity staff members to establish revote regu
lations and was selected in part because of
his lack of affiliation with any of the parties
involved.
With such a short turnaround, candidates
will have a special set of rules, including
campaign restrictions and penalties assessed
to vote totals for violations.
“There will be a modified campaign
period beginning [Sunday night] after the
candidates’ meeting until the end of elec
tion day on Wednesday,” Trantham said.
“Essentially, candidates are confined to an
electronic/social media campaign only.
No sign holding, speaking engagements,
distribution of physical campaign materials
such as flyers or active solicitation of votes
through any non-electronic media will be
permitted.”
The decision to hold a revote follows an
SGA Judicial Court appeal alleging the in
stant runoff voting system used during the
original Feb. 19-20 election failed to ac
count for all student votes. Only first-place
ballots were counted in the original elec
tion, the appeal argued. A J-Court ruling
on the appeal was delayed until Monday,
though any possible recount was nullified
by the Yell Leaders’ decision.
According to the Yell Leader Constitu
tion, each student is entitled to three equal
ly weighted votes for Senior Yell Leader
and two for Junior Yell Leader, but Head
Yell Leader Patrick McGinty said the SGA
ballot was not clear about the number of
votes that would be counted and asked stu
dents to rank up to 10 candidates in order
of preference.
He, along with the other Senior Yell
Leaders, decided another vote was the only
way to ensure the proper methodology was
used.
“I hoped there would be an easy fix,
but because the ballots weren’t worded in
line with our constitution, doing a recount
would have required making assumptions
about all 11,369 students that voted,” Mc-
YELL LEADER ON PG. 2
CUSHING
BASEBALL
Martin presents ‘The Hobbit’
'Game of Thrones' author
talks about his ties to Sci-Fi
By Sam King
^ Clad in his signature hat and
^ armed with his sense of humor,
George R.R. Martin, author of the
popular book series that inspired
the HBO hit “Game of Thrones,”
presented University Libraries with
its five-millionth volume on Friday.
Martin presented Texas A&M,
which houses his personal reposi
tory in Cushing Library, with a first
edition copy of “The Hobbit” by
J.R.R. Tolkien.
Martin, author of the “Song of
Ice and Fire” series, has had a long
standing relationship with A&M,
founded after a visit to AggieCon
in the early 1970s.
“I have a lot of friends among
the Texas science fiction and fantasy
writers, have since the 1970s, and
sometime in the 1970s or 1980s, I
don’t quite recall now what year it
was, they invited me to come down
and attend an AggieCon,” Martin
said. “I enjoyed it, I came back for
a number of years in a row, I was a
guest a couple of times at AggieCon
and during one of those visits, I
don’t recall which one, I was given
a tour of the special collections.”
AggieCon is the oldest student-
run multi-genre convention in the
United States, begun in 1969 by
Cepheid Variable, an A&M orga
nization dedicated to supporting
science fiction, fantasy, horror and
other similar genres.
Vanessa Pefia —THE BATTALION
George R.R. Martin discusses how his ties to A&M began and provides
advice for aspiring young writers at a presentation Friday.
During one of Martin’s visits to
A&M, he was given a tour of the
library, where he was impressed by
its volumes and prestige. In 1992 a
van was sent to collect several box
es of manuscripts, drafts, letters and
more.
“This collection, particularly
of science-fiction and fantasy, you
know I noticed a lot of other items,
but for me, where I come from, the
science-fiction fantasy [collection] is
really outstanding, it’s probably one
of the three best in the country and
one of the 10 best in the world,”
Martin said. “It’s pretty amazing and
I’m glad to be a part of it.”
Martin began writing at a young
age and wasn’t an overnight success,
even going so far as to take real es
tate courses after realizing the chal
lenges. His advice to young writers
echoes the struggle of making a ca
reer of writing.
“Well I have a lot of advice for
MARTIN ON PG. 2
Dartmouth sweep bumps
undefeated A&M to 12-0
Aggies off to best season
start since 1993
By Andre Perrard
The weather in College Sta-
r’ tion might be cold, but Texas
A&M baseball stayed hot over the
weekend.
The Aggies completed their
sweep of Dartmouth (0-3) on
Sunday to move their record to
12-0 on the season. It is their best
start since 1993, when the Aggies
started 14-0.
The 12-0 start feels good, said
Blake Allemand, but the Aggies
are not looking ahead.
“It’s nice,” said a smiling Alle
mand. “We take it one day at a
time. Every day we are trying to
go 1-0. Take it one at a time and
play our best baseball. 12-0 feels
pretty good.”
The series started with a bang on
Friday night, as A&M won a 4-3
BASEBALL ON PG. 4
Second
baseman
Ryne Birk
hits during
A&M's home
lU! Win against
Dartmouth
Sunday.
Cody Franklin— THE BATTALION