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Aggieland2015
NEWS
The Battalion I 3.26.15
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It's not too late
to order your copy of the
2015 Aggieland yearbook.
The 113th edition of Texas
A&M's official yearbook will
chronicle the 2014-2015
school year - traditions,
academics, athletics, the
other education, the Corps,
Greeks, residence halls,
campus organizations, and
student portraits. Distribution
will be in Fall 2015.
By credit card go online to
http://aggieland.tamu.edu
or call 979-845-2613. Or
drop by the Student Media
office in Suite L400
of the MSC.
Aggieland2015
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services for education
Congratulations
to SSC’s Associate
of the Month
Rosie Sanchez
Associates that receive this award are recog
nized for going above and beyond their normal
duties to promote teamwork, unity, a positive
attitude, kindness and exceptional
customer service.
Thank you, Rosie, for all your hard work and
dedication to the Grounds Management Team!
THE TEXAS A&M STUDENT MEDIA BOARD
INVITES APPLICATIONS FOR
Editor
Aggieland 2016
Qualifications for editor-in-chief of the Aggie/and
yearbook are:
REQUIRED
• Be a Texas A&M student in good standing with the University
and enrolled in at least six credit hours (4 if a graduate student)
during the term of office (unless fewer credits are required to
graduate);
• Have at least a 2.25 cumulative grade point ratio (3.25 if a
graduate student) and at least a 2.25 grade point ratio (3.25 if
a graduate student) in the semester immediately prior to the
appointment, the semester of appointment and semester during
the term of office. In order for this provision to be met, at least
six hours (4 if a graduate student) must have been taken for
that semester;
PREFERRED
• Have completed JOUR 301 or COMM 307 (Mass Communication,
Law, and Society);
• Have demonstrated ability in writing, editing and graphic design
through university coursework or equivalent experience;
• Have at least one year experience in a responsible position on
the Aggieland or comparable college yearbook.
Application forms should be picked up and returned to
Sandi Jones, Student Media business coordinator, in Suite
1406 of the MSC. Deadline for submitting application:
5 p.m. Tuesday, April 7, 2015.
THE _
BAT!
Mark Pore, Editor in Chief
Aimee Breaux, Managing Editor Katie Canales, Life & Arts Editor
Jennifer Reiley, Asst. Managing Editor Carter Karels, Sports Editor
Lindsey Gawlik, News Editor Shelby Knowles, Photo Editor
Samantha King, Asst. News Editor Allison Bradshaw, Asst. Photo Editor
Katy Stapp, Asst. News Editor Meredith Collier, Page Designer
John Rangel, SdTech Editor Claire Shepherd, Page Designer
THE BATTALION is published daily, Monday through Friday during the fall and
spring semesters and Tuesday and Thursday during the summer session (except
University holidays and exam periods) at Texas A&M University, College Station,
TX 77843. Offices are in Suite L400 of the Memorial Student Center.
News: The Battalion news department is managed by students at Texas
A&M University in Student Media, a unit of the Division of Student Affairs.
Newsroom phone: 979-845-3315; E-mail: editor@thebatt.com; website: http://
www.thebatt.com.
Advertising: Publication of advertising does not imply sponsorship or endorsement
by The Battalion. For campus, local, and national display advertising, call 979-
845-2687. For classified advertising, call 979-845-0569. Office hours are 8 a.m. to
5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Email: battads@thebatt.com.
Subscriptions: A part of the University Advancement Fee entitles each Texas A&M
student to pick up a single copy of The Battalion. First copy free, additional
copies $1.
| CAMPUS |
Ex-transportation director
encourages bipartisanship
Lahood says political change is
based on positive relationships
By Wade Feielin
Ray LaHood, the 16th secretary
in the U.S. Department of Trans
portation, lectured at the 2015 Cono-
coPhillips White House Lecture Se
ries at the Bush School Wednesday.
The lecture, hosted by Mosbacher
Institute for Economics, Trade and
Public Policy, focused on the chal
lenges of governing in a highly par
tisan political environment and of
fered solutions for fostering more
meaningful interaction in the White
House by means of bipartisanship and
compromise.
With 36 years of experience in
public service and myriad improve
ments made to many aspects of the
transportation sector during his ten
ure, LaHood was also presented the
Mosbacher Good Governance Award
in commemoration of his efforts.
LaHood said through interactions
with White House figures such as
SBP CONTINUED
relationship there is what matters. His
willingness to listen is based on our
relationship and his respect or under
standing of where Tm coming from.”
Throughout campaign season,
ways the university could embrace
diversity and promote underrepre
sented groups on campus became a
chief topic of discussion. Benigno said
focusing on what each person has to
offer brings diversity in its truest sense.
“I said this at the debate and I stand
very firmly behind this quote — ‘Di
versity for the sake of diversity is fool
ish, but diversity for the sake of fair
ness and equal opportunity, that’s the
goal,”’ Benigno said. “What I want is
that everyone gets a fair oppormnity
to be part of whatever they want to be
a part of. I could not care less about
race or gender, religious background
or anything like that. As long as the
character is there and the love for
Texas A&M, people will be qualified
to serve in their positions.”
As far as goals go, Benigno said the
structure of his entire administration
— applications for which are now
open — is built around the idea of
“preserving the best of our past and
promoting the best of our future.”
In preserving the past, Benigno
said they want to keep the focus on
the spirit, traditions and core values
of Texas A&M through continuing to
promote these and by setting up an
endowment for families to be able to
attend Silver Taps.
Additionally, Benigno said he
wants to send student representatives
to different Muster ceremonies held
around the state.
“I think this would be a great way
to reach out to those former students
and show them that traditions mat
ter to us still and they’re very impor
tant,” Benigno said. “Not only could
they give a speech, they could also
just serve as kind of a unifying bridge
between former students and current
students. They could update them
on events on campus, like the new
president, the new stadium, the new
Tim Lai —THE BATTALION-
Former secretary of the U.S.
Department of Transportation, Ray
LaHood, spoke about bipartisanship
and compromise Wednesday at the
Bush School.
former President George H.W. Bush
and President Barack Obama, he has
learned the importance of strong,
positive relationships for political
progress.
MORE AT TX.AG/BATT22
conference — all those things have
changed. We want to show them that
through that change, the things im
portant to us are still the same. We’re
changing on the outside, we’re get
ting ‘new clothes,’ but the ‘person’ of
Texas A&M is still the same.”
To promote the future, Benigno
said his administration wants to re
vamp the TAMU mobile app, ad
vocate for tax-free textbooks in the
Texas state legislature and create a
new cabinet position that would act as
a representative of the student body to
the City Council of College Station.
“Obviously Texas A&M and the
university system affects a lot of col
lege life for students here but not all
of it because some students live off
campus,” Benigno said. “Things like
construction and everything the city
offers affect us as well. We want to
make sure our needs are being heard. ”
With a deep-rooted love for Texas
A&M, Benigno said the overall inspi
ration for pursuing the position of stu
dent body president was his favorite
tradition — the Aggie family.
“That, to me is, the ultimate tradi
tion — it’s the foundation for Mus
ter,” Benigno said. “Wliy do we
have Muster? To honor our family
that we’ve lost, and the same goes for
Silver Taps. That’s why we stand in
Kyle Field. We stand together as an
idea that we are one group of people.
That’s why we say ‘howdy.’ For The
Big Event, we give back to this group
of people and say thank you to people
who have supported our family. It’s
just really great once you think about
it in terms of the Aggie family with
everything branching off from it. Ev
erything seems to come together as a
very clear picture of Texas A&M.”
Benigno said he doesn’t think he
will be able to grasp the significance of
this position for years to come.
“I couldn’t be more thankful for
the people around me and how the
Lord has blessed this campaign and my
life through Texas A&M,” Benigno
said. I’m extraordinarily humbled and
proud to serve such a fine institution.”
ISLAMIC STATE CONTINUED
ing in might perversely appealed,”
Crocker said. “For more normalized in
dividuals, they will turn them away, so I
would say it’s a mixed bag.”
Sahar Aziz, professor at the Texas
A&M University School of Law, said
she does not feel footage shown on U.S.
news channels has done much for the re
cruiting efforts of the Islamic State group.
However, she said it does get the shock
factor across that the group could be aim
ing for.
“They are recruiting on their own us
ing social media and chat rooms and web
pages, and people who are watching it on
television tend to be those who will not
be recruited,” Aziz said.
Crocker said he thinks the group’s ac
tions could only increase Islamophobia
in countries that already have a strong
prejudice and sense of muslims as “the
other.”
“Here in the U.S. I think we’re in a
better position — Muslims are very well
integrated into Muslim society, they’re
part of our political, social and cultural
fabric, and we don’t have the divisions
and barriers that exist in many places in
Europe,” Crocker said. “So with that
background I wouldn’t really think the
recruiting campaign by the Islamic State
in the West is going to affect attitudes
very much in this country.”
Salman Munir, president of the Texas
A&M chapter of the Ahmadiyya Muslim
Student Association and biology sopho
more, said he feels Islamic State recruit
ment actions in the West have been in
creasing Islamophobia around the world,
and he understands why people in the
West may be fearful about the recruit
ment efforts spreading.
Munir said he thinks this is a scary
situation, which is why he is trying to
get the word out that ISIS is not a rep
resentation of Islam and that he believes
people around the world have a right to
be afraid — but they also have a right
to get the correct answers about the true
nature of Islam.
Munir said the group is the first large
extremist group that has access to social
media as a tool for recruitment and is us
ing this technology to gain an audience
throughout the world.
“One of their biggest things is using
social media to try to brainwash indi
viduals here in the West and try to bring
them over,” Munir said. “When you see
the kid next door and all the sudden he’s
over there fighting, it kind of opens a lot
of people’s eyes. It’s really scary, and I re
ally do think it’s increasing Islamophobia
around the world; I really do think it’s
becoming a growing issue really fast.”
Adam Nadeem, vice president of
AMSA and university studies senior, said
finding a solid way to shut down global
Islamic State recruitment is not possible.
“I don’t think that you’re going to be
able to stop ISIS from recruiting on any
part of the world, because they are a ter
rorist organization so they are going to
obviously have the impact wherever they
are,” Nadeem said. “Unless the govern
ment or someone is able to shut them
down, they are not going to stop.”
Nadeem said Islam is a peaceful reli
gion, and said that every terrorist act has
been conducted by somebody in an ex
tremist group.
Munir emphasized that the root word
of Islam means “peace,” and Islamic State
fighters are not promoting Islam — they
are trying to push a political goal while
declaring it under Islam simply to get
more support from the Middle East.
“A lot of leaders in ISIS and especially
in different organizations on that part of
the world — they’re just trying to fulfill
their own political agendas, and they use
Islam,” Munir said. “It’s an easy way to
manipulate a large group of people in that
part of the world.”
<C
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THE TEXAS A&M STUDENT MEDIA BOARD
INVITES APPLICATIONS FOR
Editor-ir*-Chief
BATT
The Independent Student Voice or Texas A&M snce 1893
Summer 2015
(The summer editor will oversee print, digital and special editions,
and will serve May 17,2015, through Aug. 15,2016)
Qualifications for editor-in-chief of The Battalion are:
REQUIRED
• Be a Texas A&M student in good standing with the University and
enrolled in at least six credit hours (4 if a graduate student) during
the term of office (unless fewer credits are required to graduate);
• Have at least a 2.25 cumulative grade point ratio (3.25 if a graduate
student) and at least a 2.25 grade point ratio (3.25 if a graduate
student) in the semester immediately prior to the appointment, the
semester of appointment and semester during the term of office. In
order for this provision to be met, at least six hours (4 if a graduate
student) must have been taken for that semester.
PREFERRED
• Have completed JOUR 301 or COMM 307 (Mass Communication,
Law, and Society) or equivalent;
• Have at least one year experience in a responsible editorial position
on The Battalion or comparable daily college newspaper,
-OR-
Have at least one year editorial experience on a commercial
newspaper,
-OR-
Have completed at least 12 hours in journalism, including JOUR 203
(Media Writing I) and JOUR 303 (Media Writing II)
or JOUR 304 (Editing for the Mass Media), or equivalent.
Application forms should be picked up and returned to
Sandi Jones, Student Media business coordinator, in Suite
L406 of the MSC. Deadline for submitting application:
5 p.m. Tuesday, April 7, 2015.