thebattalionasks
Q:
What are your plans for spring break?
thebattalion ● monday,
march 8, 2010
● serving
texas a&m since 1893
● first paper free – additional copies $1 ● © 2010 student media
Ryan Bishop sophomore mechanical engineering major
“I’m going to Galveston to do some construction for my church back home.”
Rebecca Saunders sophomore education major
“I’m going to Washington state to visit a friend there.”
Phillip Palacios junior urban planning major
Photo illustration by Evan Andrews — THE BATTALION
“Going to Kansas City to visit the International House of Prayer and World Revival Church.”
Worldwide well-being Aggies travel abroad to aid others
Hayden Pottkotter freshman psychology major
“To go home. I don’t really have any plans.”
Katy Ralston The Battalion Imagine sandy beaches, crystal clear waters, majestic mountains and green rolling hills — having the travel abroad experience of your life. Switch lenses to run-down buildings, crowded understaffed clinics, makeshift schools and muddied streets — making your travel abroad experience someone else’s life. In many cases, people in underdeveloped regions are faced with the challenges of inadequate food and shelter,
no education, poor hygienic knowledge and lack of medical care every day. One student organization at Texas A&M University is allowing students to use travel abroad experience to begin a change for the better in people’s lives. WorldMed is an international outreach focused organization that coordinates opportunities for students to go abroad through various types of mission trips to needy countries. See WorldMed on page 3
Getting involved For more information about joining WorldMed, upcoming trips and meetings visit http:// worldmed.tamu. edu/.
Aggies go green, raise student fees Calvin Mark freshman general studies major
“Going home and not doing anything. I just want to see the family.”
Robert Carpenter The Battalion The A&M student body voted to approve the “Aggie Green Fund” Wednesday and Thursday. Fifty-seven percent of voters were in favor of adding the $3 per semester and $1.50 per summer session fee. The student body will contribute about $150,000 to the fund per semester. Pending approval by the Board of Regents, the fee will begin in fall 2010. A University Committee, the Aggie Green Fund Advisory Board, will be in charge of reviewing project proposals and overseeing the allocation of funds. Luke Ellis, a sophomore bioenvironmen-
tal science major who volunteered for the Green Fund Campaign, said the student body will be responsible for making this initiative a success. “The cool thing about the Green Fund is that the extent of the projects is up to the creativity of the students,” Ellis said. “It’s now up to the students to decide what they want.” About 100 campuses across the nation have green funds in place. Examples of green fund projects include the purchase of electric vehicles for the campus fleet, installation of smart grid energy metering equipment and funding of student internships. More than 4,600 students voted against the fee.
Tyler Terrill, a freshman biomedical engineering major, said he was concerned students’ money would be wasted. “I have reservations with the fact that they seem very vague about what the money will be used for,” Terrill said. “I would have preferred that existing funding and resources be used to modify energy use and recycling on campus.” Approximately 37,000 students did not vote for or against the fund. Steven Martinez, a sophomore supply chain management major, said this is just another fee among a long list. “There are so many fees I don’t know what’s on my bill anymore,” Martinez said.
Martian lander mission a success Natalie Booker junior psychology major
“Going out of town to Corpus and having fun with my roommate.” Laura Sanchez and J.D. Swiger — THE BATTALION
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■ The Phoenix outlasted 90 day survival period, transmitting images and soil information about the red planet’s oxygen potential Picture perfect To view images, videos, blogs and other news stories concerning the Phoenix visit http://phoenix. lpl.arizona.edu/.
Brandi Tevebaugh The Battalion The Phoenix Mars Lander was launched in 2007 to study the ice, atmosphere and soil on Mars. The mission was successful, but scientists lost contact with the solar-powered lander during the Martian winter. Final attempts to contact the lander will be made in April, but Mark Lemmon, an associate professor of atmospheric science, who worked on the project said he has little hope the attempts will be successful. “It was doomed from landing because it’s a
this day in
US
history solar-powered mission that landed above the Arctic Circle, so it’s guaranteed to go away when the sun got too low,” Lemmon said. “We actually lost signal close to when we expected that we would.” The lander arrived in May 2008 and was sent for a 90 Martian day mission. Martian days are about twice as long as Earth days. The Phoenix survived 151 Martian days, making the mission a success. “Phoenix was only supposed to last 90 days and it lasted 151,” said Keri Bean, a senior meteorology major who worked on the mission. “Technically mission success was as long as it survives 90 days, so it survived a lot longer than we expected it to, and we also got a lot of interesting information out of it.” The Phoenix was equipped with a robotic
March 8, 1884 Susan B. Anthony began her address before the Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives. Anthony argued for an amendment to the U.S. Constitution granting women the right to vote.
See Phoenix on page 2
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