campus news
Black Student Leadership conference to meet at A&M Approximately 1,000 African-American college students along with advisers and presenters from throughout the nation will meet at Texas A&M Thursday through Sunday for the 23rd annual Southwestern Black Student Leadership Conference, SBSLC, one of the largest student-led conferences in the nation. The theme for this year’s conference is “The Image of Impact: A Reflection of a Leader.” Each January since 1989, African-American students and advisers gather at A&M to address issues facing the black community, hear speakers and attend workshops that focus on developing leadership skills as well as networking opportunities. The conference will include more than 50 workshops, a career fair featuring diverse companies that do business on virtually every continent, a vendor fair supporting small business entrepreneurs and a spiritual charge that planners said will send participants away spiritually driven.
A&M Faculty share 24 grants Twenty-five Texas A&M faculty members received grants totaling $240,982 through an initiative sponsored by the University’s Division of Research and Graduate Studies. Those awarded represented four University colleges. The Program to Enhance Scholarly and Creative Activities, PESCA, accepted proposals this past fall to endow monetary awards for noteworthy research projects, artistic presentations and scholarly publications. “The PESCA awards deliver institutional support toward faculty engaged in scholarship that is helping build Texas A&M’s top-tier status as a truly comprehensive research University,” reported Texas A&M News and Information Services. Texas A&M Newswire and staff reports
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Revisiting Desert Storm Editor’s note These images from 1991 issues of The Battalion chronicle the effect the Gulf War had on the campus at that time. Over the coming month, The Battalion enterprise desk will examine those issues surrounding the conflict.
‘This will not stand’ 20 years since the Gulf War Story by Ty Petty | The Battalion “This will not stand, this aggression against Kuwait,” said President George H.W. Bush in remarks to reporters in August of 1990 about the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. The invasion ignited international outrage and developed into the defining issue of Bush’s presidency. The fall of the Soviet Union, the emergence of rap music and the Gulf War are all memories of the early ’90s. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Gulf War and the President George H.W. Bush Library is planning a celebration to honor and remember the leaders, the heroes and the conflict. In the evening hours of Jan. 17, 1991, U.S. military forces launched Operation Desert Storm with a massive airborne bombing campaign. The purpose of the operation was to liberate the people of Kuwait from the invading Iraqi army belonging to Saddam Hussein. On Feb. 23, the ground war started as coalition forces moved towards Kuwait City and ended in a 100-hour push across the desert, destroying what was at the time the fourth largest army in the world. This victory was one of the most one-sided military victories in world history. Hostilities ceased on Feb. 28 when Bush ordered a cease-fire and declared Kuwait liberated. Today the President George H.W. Bush Library, the Scowcroft Institute and the Bush School of Government and Public Policy will present a 20th anniversary event at Reed Arena commemorating the conflict. The event will have numerous dignitaries in attendance, including key Kuwaiti representatives such as His Royal Highness, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, The Amir of the State of Kuwait, His Excellency the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the State of Kuwait, Sheikh Mohammad Sabah Al-Salim Al-Sabah. Top U.S. officials who were in office during this historic period will also attend the commemoration, including former Vice Presidents Richard B. Cheney and J. Danforth Quayle and former secretaries of state James A. Baker III and Gen. Colin Powell. Brent Scowcroft, former national security adviser to
Cushing Library Archives
See Retrospective on page 4
Loftin welcomes students
H
owdy! Welcome — or welcome back — to Aggieland. It’s nice to see our campus once again buzzing with the activity of our students and faculty. I’d like to share some thoughts with you as we embark on a new semester with many significant milestones ahead. 82nd Legislative Session Much of our focus this semester is on the Legislative Session that opened last week. Comptroller Susan Combs has projected that the state will receive $77.3 billion in general revenue during the two-year budget cycle, with about $72.2 available to spend. The state’s total 2012-2013 budget shortfall is projected to be between $15 billion and $27 billion.
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At Texas A&M we have been proactive in our budget preparation, planning for a reduction of up to $39 million (plus a strategic reallocation of another $21 million). We believe we are in a relaR. Bowen tively good position and Loftin are still making progress Texas A&M toward our Vision 2020 president goal of being known as one of the top public universities in the country by 2020. At this stage, I do not foresee any future budget reductions on campus in response to the Legislative Session other than what has been previously directed. UT-Austin President Bill Powers and I have been meeting with constituents across the state as part of our Together for Texans initiative to help spread the message of the importance of See Loftin on page 4
Wednesday night, an electrical charge in this car in caused it to catch fire. Samantha Virnau — THE BATTALION
Fire burns car in Thompson Ty Petty The Battalion Code Maroon alerts buzzed, the sirens from fire engines wailed, and security officers and the campus police ushered onlookers to move to the other side of the Harrington Building or H2O fountain as smoke
poured out of Thompson Hall Wednesday night. The College Station Fire Department answered a 911 call to Thompson Hall about 8 p.m. yesterday to find a burning engineering project in one of the bays on the south side See Fire on page 7
1/19/11 11:45 PM