INSIDE
The health dangers of tanning
PAGE 2
Big Gigantic interview
PAGE 3
Sequester not end of the world
PAGE 4
Men’s basketball 4-10 in C-USA PAGE 5
MONDAY
MARCH 4, 2013
MONDAY High 81, Low 46 TUESDAY High 59, Low 36
VOLUME 98 ISSUE 65 FIRST COPY FREE, ADDITIONAL COPIES 50 CENTS
library
100 Letters Campaign launched for Bush family, presidential center julie fancher Assignments Desk Editor jfancher@smu.edu
JOY XAC/Rotunda
The George W. Bush Presidential Center is 225,000 square feet—the second largest presidential library behind Ronald Reagan’s in California.
Bush Center sets records eric sheffield Video Editor esheffield@smu.edu The Bush Presidential Center is a 225,000 square foot building opening along SMU Boulevard April 25. This will lead to a flurry of activity on campus, which history dictates will include visits from all living presidents, the governor and other political figures. The center is fundamentally different from most other presidential libraries because it’s split into four pieces. The first 43,650 square feet is the actual Bush Presidential Library and Museum. This houses the usual characteristics at presidential libraries, including the permanent and temporary exhibition halls, the restaurant and the gift shop. The next part of the center
is the archives that are located underneath the library that contain some of the 43,000 artifacts and 70 million pages of documents that aren’t out in the exhibits. However, more than half of the square footage of the building will not be devoted to the library, museum or archives, but to other causes, thus creating a center, rather than simply a library. The third section is the infrastructure for the Bush Institute, a policy center founded by the Bushes in 2009 that has the mission of “advancing freedom by expanding opportunities for individuals at home and across the globe.” The institute was founded upon five key tenets of George W. Bush’s presidency: economic growth, educational reform, global health, human freedom and military service initiative. Laura Bush’s efforts as first
lady convinced George W. Bush to add women’s initiative to the engagement areas of the institute. The fourth and final part of the center is the offices of the Bush Foundation. This organization has been one of the primary fundraisers in gathering the $250 million that the center has cost to build. The Bush Presidential Center is the second largest presidential library. It stands behind Ronald Reagan’s 247,000 square foot library located in southern California. The center’s $250 million price tag makes it the most expensive presidential library built to date. Even after adjusting for inflation, President Clinton’s library, which opened in Little Rock, Ark. in 2004 as the most expensive at that time, was just under $200 million. Franklin D. Roosevelt’s library cost just $376,000 in 1940 when it
opened in Hyde Park, N.Y. In today’s dollars, that would be about $6 million, less than one-fortieth the price of the center opening at SMU. Every president since Herbert Hoover has built a library. Each of these has all of its contents managed by the National Archives and Records Administration. The Bush Presidential Center is the 13th library to date. George Washington’s, in Mount Vernon, Vir., is scheduled to be the 14th. It will be the first built and maintained without government funding. The Bush Presidential Center will be the third presidential library in Texas, alongside Lyndon Baines Johnson’s, in Austin, and George H. W. Bush’s, in College Station. This will make the Lone Star State the leader among presidential libraries. California has two, and no other state has more than one.
Dear President Bush, While you may have received thousands of letters during your two terms in office, that doesn’t mean it’s too late to send you a few more. How about 100? Student Body President Alex Mace proposed the 100 Letter Campaign during a Student Senate meeting two weeks ago to give SMU students an opportunity to personally welcome former president, Mrs. Bush and the brand new Bush Center to campus. The campaign was started by Mace and several others in the Centennial Campaign looking for a way to get students to take part in a more personal way in the Bush Center’s opening. Mace said that the idea came from a group of 100 prominent Dallasites who wrote personal letters to President Bush to persuade him to open his center on SMU’s campus. “I thought it would be a cool way to come full circle. Instead of 100 letters to get you here, this is 100 letters expressing thanks and gratitude for opening the library here,” Mace said. An email was sent to students March 1, describing the campaign and giving students information on how to submit their letters. The top 100 letters will be reviewed by a panel and then placed in a leather-bound book that will be presented to former president and Mrs. Bush at a special presentation ceremony over Founder’s Day Weekend. Despite the selectivity, Mace’s message to all students is to submit a letter. While only the top 100 letters
will be placed in the book, all other letters submitted will be posted online and submitted to the SMU Archives. The deadline is Friday, March 8. “We know it’s a short deadline,” Mace said, “but we’re working to get as much student involvement as we can in that time frame.” The reason for the short turn around is because Mace says it takes a while to get the book bound and ready to go. “We want to really try to make this a beautiful and long-lasting presentation,” Mace said. Meanwhile, the student body president himself is looking forward to the opening of the Bush Presidential Center. “It’s really going to put SMU on the map and I’m really excited to see the growth of the school, even more so than it has over the past few year,” Mace said. “It’s going to just explode with all the progress.” The content of the letter will determine how the final 100 letters are selected, not the person who wrote them. “Hopefully my own letter passes the screening process,” Mace said. Letters must be either handwritten or typed and must be one-sided only with a maximum size of 8 1/2” x 11”. Writers should provide both an original and a digital copy of their letter. Submissions must include the attached contact information sheet. All letters will be reviewed for content. The address to submit letters is Southern Methodist University, Attn: The Second Century Club, P.O. Box 750365, Dallas, TX 75275. All digital copies can be sent to www.smu/edu/11/letters.
The George W. Bush Presidential Center’s $250 million price tag makes it the most expensive presidential library built to date, even after adjusting for inflation. Bill Clinton’s library in Little Rock, Ark. opened in 2004 with a price under $200 million. lawsuit
Former student, resident assistant sues university julie fancher Assignments Desk Editor jfancher@smu.edu A former SMU student who was expelled in 2011 as a “security concern” has sued the university in federal court for wrongful arrest among other charges. Daniel Hux, who served as a U.S. Marine, was told to leave the school in March 2011 as a junior. Hux claims in the 33-page complaint that he is suing the school because he feels that his First, Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights were violated. The complaint states that he is seeking damages on the grounds that an unlawful search and seizure was committed. Hux enrolled as a student in 2010 and, shortly before his expulsion, was accused of sexually harassing a female residential community director. Hux, who was an R.A. in Hawk Hall, said in the complaint that this accused sexual harassment was nothing more than a misunderstanding.
In February 2011, he was relieved of his R.A duties after SMU Police Chief Rick Shafer told him that he violated the university code of conduct, which prohibits sexual harassment. Shortly after, Hux appealed this decision to former Executive Director of Residence Life and Student Housing Steve Logan. Hux said in his complaint, “To be able to afford to attend SMU, the Plantiff [Hux] needed a job which paid for his on campus living.” After submitting his appeal, Hux went to meet with Logan. Shafer and two other SMU Police officers were also present. At this meeting, Shafer requested Hux attend a mental health evaluation. The police chief stated that “SMU did not want another Virginia Tech.” Hux’s appeal was denied by Logan who allegedly stated “it was not apparent that you [Hux] understand the seriousness of your actions involving with both a professional staff member and a
student staff member.” One month after this incident, Hux attended a meeting for those interested in running for Student Senate. The complaint describes that on March 20, 2011 as Hux was leaving the meeting he was approached by several SMU police officers. According to the complaint, Hux was arrested after SMU Police conducted a search and found a gun in a car that was allegedly driven by a relative. On March 25, 2011 The Daily Campus reported that Shafer said Hux was not a student at the university anymore and that he violated university policy. Shortly after his expulsion, a criminal trespass warning was issued for Hux, which meant that if he returned to campus he would be arrested. Hux filed his complaint on Feb. 28 against Southern Methodist University, SMU Police Chief Richard A. Shafer, former Senior Executive Director of Residence Life and Student Housing Steve Logan and Associate Vice President
Courtesy of SMU Rotunda
Former SMU student Daniel Hux
of Student Affairs and Dean of Students Lisa Webb. “The University will defend its actions vigorously during any legal proceedings in this matter. SMU acted appropriately in the interest of personal safety of the members of our campus community. Their wellbeing is our utmost concern,” Kent Best, executive director of news and communications at SMU, said in a statement to The Daily Campus. The Daily Campus will provide updates at smudailycampus.com
Courtesy of Hillsman Jackson
George W. Bush and Laura Bush at the groundbreaking in 2010.