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BATT
Mark Dore, Editor in Chief
Aimee Breaux, Managing Editor
Jennifer Reiley, Asst. Managing Editor
Lindsey Gawlik, News Editor
Samantha King, Asst. News Editor
Katy Stapp, Asst. News Editor
John Rangel, SciTech Editor
Katie Canales, Life & Arts Editor
Carter Karels, Sports Editor
Shelby Knowles, Photo Editor
Allison Bradshaw, Asst. Photo Editor
Meredith Collier, Page Designer
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.
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Subscriptions^ part of the University Advancement Fee entitles each Texas A&M
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copies $1.
Student Senate rejects pair of Benigno’s
executive cabinet nominations
By Jennifer Reiley
^ The first debate of the 68th Student
^ Senate was held over the confirmation
of positions within student body president
Joseph Benigno’s cabinet for the 2015-
2016 school year. Hannah Wimberly,
nominated for executive vice president,
and Emma Douglas, nominated for opera
tions executive vice president, were de
nied confirmation by vote. A special ses
sion has been called for 7 p.m. Monday to
re-consider the positions.
Tim Lai —THE BATTALION
Hannah
Wimberly
and Joseph
Benigno
confer during
the Student
Senate
meeting
Wednesday
night at which
Wimberly's
executive
vice president
nomination
was blocked.
MARCH OF DIMES
CONTINUED
family. ”
Breanne Gorbutt, community di
rector of the Brazos Valley chapter of
March of Dimes, said a portion of the
money raised by March to the Brazos
will go toward current university re
search efforts.
“Research is being done right here
in Aggieland,” Gorbutt said. “A por
tion of the money that is raised is stay
ing here to do research, and we are
one of about a dozen places that can
say that.”
March of Dimes of the Brazos Val
ley annually appoints a local ambassador
family to share their story within the
community in an effort to gain local
support.
Chanika Smith, University Dining
Services dietitian and the mother of
the 2015 Brazos Valley March of Dimes
Ambassador Family, said she under
stands firsthand the struggles associated
with the birth of a premature child.
Smith said she first discovered March
of Dimes after spending five weeks in
a neonatal intensive care unit with her
son Roman, who was born 10 weeks
early.
“When you’re a preemie parent,
you are very terrified,” Smith said.
“You don’t know when you are go
ing to get that call saying, ‘He’s gone’
or ‘He’s taking his last breaths.’ When
my husband and I would ask doctors
questions, they would tell us about all
of this research that had been funded
and supported by March of Dimes, and
it was exciting.”
Roman, who is now four years old,
is relatively healthy and few complica
tions remain after his difficult journey.
“Roman is a fighter,” Smith said.
“He was born at three pounds and six
ounces, but he doesn’t know any of
that. He just knows he is independent
and can do anything.”
Smith said by sharing her story, she is
now able to provide support to parents
who go through similar circumstances.
“Sometimes when you’re a parent
with a premature baby, you feel as if
you are all alone, that this is your fault,”
Smith said. “With March of Dimes, we
are able to go around and show support
by sharing Roman’s story.”
Smith will be a part of the dining
services staff that will serve the Corps in
Duncan Dining hall Saturday.
“It is really exciting to be a part of
something so personal to me,” Smith
said. “It’s a celebration that we sur
vived. These babies are true heroes and
have shown that they can really make
it through anything.”
BOARD OF REGENTS
CONTINUED
of Kyle Field, but specific names
were not disclosed.
In response to the board’s de
cision, Hannah Weger, speaker
of the Student Senate, authored
a last-minute resolution tided
“The Preserving Tradition Reso
lution,” stating that “the student
senate requests the Board vote to
revert the official seal of Texas
A&M University to its former
state.” The resolution passed
unanimously by the Student Sen
ate during the 67th legislation’s
final open forum.
Weger said the idea of chang
ing the seal is “ridiculous.”
“I came to this school because
... I felt like the culture and tradi
tions were frozen in time,” We
ger said. “Nothing or anybody
could change them. And it’s what
made A&M so different. It’s what
makes us special. And so, sure, a
lot of people are going to com
plain saying, ‘Oh, it’s not a big
deal,’ but it is a big deal.”
The seal and the logo are
meant to be two completely sep
arate items, Weger said. She said
the seal is used more exclusively
and means more to people.
“One’s meant to showcase the
features of our athletics teams and
marketing — that’s the logo, the
Block T A&M you see it every
where or when we’re playing
football. People identify us by
that, it’s on the helmets,” Weger
said. “But the seal is more than
that, the seal has everything to do
with the academics of the institu
tion, it has everything to do with
the professionalism of this school
and what getting a degree from
here means. That’s why it’s not
blasted on everything — it’s kind
of sacred.”
Incoming Speaker of the Stu
dent Senate Aaron Mitchell said
he was disappointed by the Board
of Regents decision because peo
ple were only alerted 48 hours
before it was approved.
“I was a litde bit disappointed*
in that,” Mitchell said. “I know
the Board of Regents has our
best interest at heart at all times,
I’d just like it if they were a little
more transparent in the future.”
Many students have risen up to
protest the seal change, changing
their Facebook profile pictures to
the old seal and signing an online
petition against the change. The
petition has gained more than
4,100 signatures at time of press
W ednesday.
In the description section of
the change.org petition, Cam
eron Palmer, author of the peti
tion and environmental sciences
junior, said the “new seal does
not reflect Texas A&M students
or traditions and we beheve that
it needs to be changed. ”
Palmer said he decided to
make the petition after seeing on
his social media feeds all the anger
and disappointment stemming
from his friends on the decision.
“It just seemed like it was an
other peg that the Board of Re
gents was kind of pulling out from
underneath us to devalue the tra
ditions and the things we hold
dear here,” Palmer said. “And
aside from that we just thought
the new seal was cartoonish and
ugly, [and] we didn’t feel A&M
needs to be marketed.”
Palmer said when the petition
gets to the Board of Regents he
hopes one of the members will
speak to him and explain why
they made this decision.
“My message is for the Board
of Regents to stop doing things
that the student body doesn’t
agree with,” Palmer said. “Espe
cially when the student body is
backed by former Ags and even
future Ags who don’t like the di
rection that it’s going. ”
Many students were also an
gered by the idea of renaming
the Flag Room. Kathryn Fajfar,
senior geography major, said mil
itary traditions like the meaning
of the MSC were among the rea
sons she decided to leave Illinois
to attend A&M.
“The MSC is a living me
morial for all of the Aggies who
have died serving our country in
any war,” Fajar said. “It’s been
called the living room of, the
Texas A&M campus ... To have
a place like that named after one
specific person is like renaming
the university after a corporation,
like Samsung’s Texas A&M Uni
versity. I know it’s an extreme
example, but it proves a point.”
Anthony Marich, agricultural
leadership and development ju
nior, said he thinks changing ei
ther the seal or the name of the
Flag Room is a terrible idea.
“If they name it after a person,
or a thing, it completely elimi
nates the purpose of the Flag
Room, in my opinion,” Mar
ich said. “The Flag Room is the
room in the MSC that embod
ies the units within the Corps of
Cadets, and then represents the
branches of the military. All of
the members of the military. If
you name it after someone it will
eliminate that purpose. As for the
seal, I can understand wanting to
unify the brand, but why not uni
fy the brand with the old seal?”
Other students have said they
feel the Board of Regents has
overstepped its boundaries. Kev
in Knapick, renewable resources
junior, said he feels the disregard
given for student opinion by the
Board of Regents is heartbreak
ing.
“I love and chose this univer
sity because of its traditions and
to see the executives who are
charged with its operations ig
noring and belittling those tradi
tions is heartbreaking,” Knapick
said. “Texas A&M holds six core
values — excellence, integrity,
leadership, loyalty, respect, and
selfless service — and the Board
of Regents is supposed to pro
mote these, but by making these
changes without input from the
current and former students I
beheve they have torn our core
values to shreds.”
EDITORIALBOARD
Regents again exhibit
out-of-touch leadership
with seal design change
A redesigned university seal and a renamed
MSC Flag Room —just another day for a
Texas A&M leadership that has shown a consis
tent willingness to change parts of this university
with little notice or student input.
So while it’s easy to focus criticism on the
cosmetic changes the regents’ decision will cause
— particularly the seal — the problem runs
deeper.
The Board of Regents and Chancellor John
Sharp have too often put forward these sorts of
decisions, the kind that come quietly and with
no obvious prior input. The decisions Wednes
day fall in line with the failed attempt to rename
the Academic Building after former Gov. Rick
Perry and the decision to house incoming A&M
president Michael Young off campus.
The beveled “Block T” certainly looks a bit
cartoonish in the seal. It seems better reserved
for T-shirts. But The Battalion is not particularly
invested in the debate over the beveled logo,
which will now adorn the center of the univer
sity seal. We suspect, in the long run, the aver
age fan — even the average student — would
not know the difference. But some people put
stock in things like this, and the regents seem
not to care.
The new seal is, at best, a lateral move. The
university’s brand recognition will not see a
marked improvement just because the seal
matches its websites. So why tinker with it?
The regents would likely prefer not to see
their names bashed on social media, which is
why their approach makes no sense. If they
want to appear like they are in touch with the
Aggie community, like they have the univer
sity’s best interest in mind, then the solution is
simple. All they have to do is ask.
All they have to do is float the new seal on
social media and ask for feedback. All they have
to do is hold a focus group for Aggies of all ages
to see how they feel about the Gov. Rick Perry
Academic Building — a plan they squashed
after public outcry. All they have to do is see
how students feel about an off-campus A&M
president. Many students are plugged in to this
campus and have opinions to share. What’s the
harm in hearing them out?
One imagines the regents might be surprised
to see their new seal mocked on the Internet.
They seem to think the move was a good one.
But somehow the online eruption after the
Perry ordeal was not enough to show them
there is a better way.
Most students will get over the seal. Some of
us might grow to like it. But we would like to
have a say. And judging by the about 6,000 Ag
gies who have signed an online petition against
the change, we have a hunch they would not
like our opinion.
The Battalion Y editorial opinion is determined
by its Board of Opinion, uAth the editor in chief
having final responsibility.
Mark Oore
Editor in Chief
Aimee Breaux
Managing Editor
Jennifer Reiley
Assistant Managing Editor
John Rangel
Science & Technology Editor