The Battalion: June 10, 2009

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thebattalion ● wednesday,

june 10, 2009

● serving

texas a&m since 1893

● first paper free – additional copies $1 ● © 2009 student media

Johnson to throw first pitch at Astros Houston native Jerrod Johnson, the returning starting quarterback who earned Sophomore All-America honors for the Texas A&M football team in the fall, will throw out the ceremonial first pitch at the Houston Astros versus Chicago Cubs baseball game Wednesday at Minute Maid Park in Houston. First pitch is slated for 7:05 p.m. and Wednesday is Aggie Night at the stadium. Learn more about Jerrod Johnson at thebatt.com Aggie Night will highlight the State Farm Lone Star Showdown Trophy. The trophy highlights the head-tohead athletic competition between Texas A&M University and the University of Texas. The Longhorns won the trophy the first three years of the competition and the Aggies have retained the rights to the trophy the past two years. Fans can access tickets via the web at www.astros. com/aggie. The password is Aggie. Tickets are halfprice with $2 from each purchase benefitting The Howdy Club, the Houston A&M Club and the Reveille Club.

Airlines replace monitors Brazil — Airlines moved quickly Tuesday to replace speed monitors like those suspected of feeding false information to the computers on Air France Flight 447. Seventeen more bodies were pulled from the sea Tuesday, bringing the number recovered to 41. Associated Press

MSCC President Stephanie Burns stands in front of the Memorial Student Center, which will be closing in August for three years. Jon Eilts — THE BATTALION

Grace under pressure Burns reassures students before renovation Meagan O’Toole-Pitts The Battalion

Student leader profile series Once a week during the summer, The Battalion will be profiling a student leader to gain insight into their lives and what it takes to do their job.

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ith the MSC renovation rapidly approaching, MSCC President Stephanie Burns is taking advantage of every sunny day to plan for the return of the entire student body. “I stayed in town this summer to continue attending meetings and workshops regarding the renovation and to help prepare the building to close,” Burns said. “When students return to campus in the fall, the MSC will be closed and they will need to know where all of the services housed there have been relocated.” Many preparations are underway to ensure an easy transition into the new academic year, for both new and returning students, she said.

“Much of this summer is dedicated to planning for the coming year to ensure that the fall semester is as smooth as possible,” Burns said. “Our student programming committees will continue to offer the same great programs, and even some innovative new ones, but we will face some challenges as we lose our traditional programming and marketing space.” And, the plans don’t end there. “In the fall, I will be ensuring that our student programs office remains as productive as ever in our new space and working on the renovation as we finish up the design development phase of the project,” Burns said. “You never know what the future will bring, so I will also continue to work with other student leaders to represent students and address issues that affect our campus and community.” However, Burns said her top priority is the Aggie Spirit. “One of our most important tasks is to

Meet the MSCC president Find out what Stephanie loves most about being an Aggie and her postgraduation plans. Hear from her Read Stephanie’s guest column to students. student leaders | 5

See Burning on page 5

Transportation Services receives parking award Alex Worsham Special to The Battalion Transportation Services was named Best Parking Organization by the International Parking Institute May 20. Texas A&M is the first university to receive this award. “Transportation Services is a leader in several areas, including parking systems, technology-gate system software, innovative online service software, automated pay machine capabilities, marketing in innovations,” said International Parking

Institute board of advisers member and University of Kentucky Parking and Transportation Services Director Don Thornton. The International Parking Institute is a trade organization with members of parking organizations from cities, universities, hospitals, airports, theme parks, convention centers and racetracks. “My evaluation of the applications was based on excellence in overall job performance, outstanding service to students, employees and visitors, leadership

in the campus parking and transportation industry, customer service, operating a quality program over a period of time, and initiative and/or creativity,” Thornton said. The applications were scored on six different areas. “We score them on organizational membership, professional reputation, contribution to the parking industry, creative solution, reliability and the breadth of the program,” said International Parking Institute committee

chairwoman and University of Kansas Transportation and Parking director Donna Hultine. A&M’s Transportation Services was also chosen for the amount of improvement it’s made, said Transportation Services Director Rodney Weis. “If you talk to people who went here 10 years ago they’d say it was just crazy,” Weis said. “ People would wait in the parking lot for hours waiting for someSee Transportation on page 4

Physics department reaches for the stars sports | 3

Running for the gold The Texas A&M’s No. 1 men’s and No. 1 women’s track teams head to Fayetteville, Ark. today to compete for national championships.

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■ Tran brings energy to expanding team Julie Rambin Special to The Battalion There’s a new astronomer in town. Assistant astronomy professor Kim-Vy Tran is the latest addition to a growing group of astronomers in the Physics Department. “We are very energetic,” Tran said. “We have a lot of motivations, and we’re coherent in how we want to build the undergraduate program and the graduate program.”

Tran’s research focuses on massive, distant galaxies. “The light of the nearest star takes four years to get here, so we’re seeing that star the way it was four years ago. I look at galaxies where it takes anywhere between five and twelve billion years to get here. You’re seeing these objects the way they were five billion years ago,” Tran said. “You get to have that time machine, looking at galaxies billions of years ago when the earth was in different ages.” Tran’s arrival isn’t the only exciting change in the Physics Department, said Department Head Ed Fry. See Physics on page 4

Stephen Fogg — THE BATTALION

Assistant professor of Astronomy Kim-Vy Tran is the most recent addition to the University’s Astronomy program. She received her doctorate from the University of California at Santa Cruz and Lick Observavory.

6/9/09 10:43 PM


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