thebattalion ● thursday,
Johnson County, Texas
june 25, 2009
● serving
texas a&m since 1893
● first paper free – additional copies $1 ● © 2009 student media
Sizing up seismic activity
horizontal drilling
Julie Rambin The Battalion
T
he small town of Cleburne, in North Texas, has been experiencing something unprecedented in its 142-year history – earthquakes.
ground water
Barnett Shale
Jordan Bryan — THE BATTALION
The Barnett Shale is an area of natural gas in Johnson County, Texas. The company, Chesapeake Energy, is drilling natural gas wells through the horizontal drilling method. There is question as to whether the drilling is responsible for recent earthquakes.
“The major thing I can do is do things like this — listen to you, understand what concerns you have, and do my very best to try to answer those concerns.” — R. Bowen Loftin Interim President
“It’s a little unnerving,” said Cleburne Mayor Ted Reynolds. “We’ve had five in recent days.” The earthquakes have been between 2.0 and 3.0 magnitude – just enough to be felt, but not enough to damage property, Reynolds said. “Some people haven’t felt them at all. No damage, no injuries,” he said. “Most people are curious rather than scared.” Beneath Cleburne is the Barnett Shale formation, one of the largest onshore natural gas fields in the nation. In the last several years, the city has received between $20 million and $25 million in drilling royalties, and some people are asking whether the drilling and the earthquakes are connected, Reynolds said. “We have enjoyed a wonderful relationship with the drilling company so far,” Reynolds said. “We hope that’s not what it is.” Geophysicists from Southern Methodist University were interested in the possible causes of the earthquakes, and have begun a research study of the area, said geophysics research projects director Chris Hayward. “Cleburne was very interested in finding out more about it and we were very interested in doing the research,” Hayward said. “We’ll try to decide where the earthquakes are, how deep they are. Right now
we don’t have any evidence one way or another. We just don’t know.” There is currently no evidence to show that natural gas drilling causes earthquakes, Hayward said. “There are some papers in the State of Texas talking about induced seismicity in West Texas, suggesting that if you drill [an oil] field for a long period of time, you might induce earthquakes,” Hayward said. Chesapeake Energy, the company responsible for much of the drilling in Cleburne, denies any connection between drilling and earthquakes. “Often earthquakes are located many miles below drilling sites,” said Chesapeake Energy public relations manager Jerri Robbins. “There is no proof yet that drilling activities and seismic activities are related.” However, drilling and seismic activity can be related, according to some geophysicists. “The shale is pretty brittle. [Drilling] changes the pressure from the natural gas field to the rock itself,” said Christopher Mathewson, a Texas A&M University regents geophysics professor. “So the rock fails.” Earthquakes are comparable to a whoopee cushion, Mathewson said. “When you sit on it, you increase the load at the surface to the point that you push the air out of the cushion. When you’re expelling the air from the cushion, you’re sinking further into the seat,” Mathewson said. “You moved down, didn’t you? That’s subsidence, because of the change of pressure.” Subsidence is the downward movement of a field, he said, and this term is more apSee Earthquake on page 2
SGA discusses shared governance Julie Rambin The Battalion The Student Government Association met Wednesday to discuss the interim administration and the Board of Regents. Interim President R. Bowen Loftin opened the meeting, stressing the importance of shared governance in the University administration. “Shared governance to me is simply communication,” Loftin said. “That’s why I’m here.” The interim president expressed gratitude for former president Elsa Murano, citing her support during Hurricane Ike. “That was a very difficult event,” Loftin said. “She
was there to support me.” Loftin acknowledged the difficult transition between presidents. “We’ve taken some hits,” Loftin said. “The major thing I can do is do things like this — listen to you, understand what concerns you have, and do my very best to try to answer those concerns.” He asked students to present their concerns to him, and to the University administration. “If I can do more, let me know what that is,” Loftin said. “I’ll talk to you as openly as I possibly can.” Students from the SGA stressed the need for rationality in communication.
Loftin shares plan
“We don’t want to be reactionary,” said SGA Chief Justice Joseph Reed, a public service and administration graduate student. “We don’t want to be emotional; we want to be logical, we want to base things off of facts and we want to make statements that represent the student body.” The definition of shared governance is disputed, and means different things to different people, Reed said. “I talked to Morris Foster today, the chair of the Board of Regents,” Reed said. “His definition of shared governance is different from what the faculty think … Not everyone’s going to be happy.” See Government on page 2
Rock and Roll
Open forum provides opportunity for input from students, faculty and staff Meagan O’Toole-Pitts The Battalion
Summer style Find out the different summer 2009 trends for swimwear, casual wear and date wear for guys and gals. fashion | 4
Interim President R. Bowen Loftin addressed University stakeholders for the first time in an open forum yesterday to discuss plans to “reallocate costs.” In a memorandum Monday, Loftin announced his plan to review administrative staffing patterns, in both the president’s office LOFTIN and in vice president areas. “I’ve asked that, I repeat, I’ve asked that non-faculty employees making more than $175,000 to be excluded from [cuts],” Loftin said. “I will not get a pay raise, at all.” With the recent resignation of executive vice president for operations H. Russell Cross, Loftin said he doesn’t plan to fill the position as an additional effort to cut costs. “He’s been a great friend of mine and a great supporter of the Galveston campus so I really miss his skills,” Loftin said. “I won’t replace him, I can’t replace him literally, so that office will be abolished and that means that my work load will go up.” Also announced in Monday’s memorandum was a reduction of the 3 percent merit program to a 2 percent mandatory merit pool: 1.5 percent funded centrally and 0.5 percent from
J.D. Swiger — THE BATTALION
Senior finance major Joshua Parulian escapes the heat by climbing the rock wall Wednesday in the student recreation center.
See Forum on page 2
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