thebattalion ● tuesday,
june 16, 2009
● serving
texas a&m since 1893
● first paper free – additional copies $1 ● © 2009 student media
Regents name interim president Murano named President Emerita, will return to faculty after one-year leave Meagan O’Toole-Pitts The Battalion The Board of Regents named Elsa Murano President Emerita upon her resignation Monday, and appointed Texas A&M University-Galveston Vice President and Chief Executive Officer R. Bowen Loftin interim president. Murano will rejoin the faculty in the College for Agriculture and Life Sciences after a one-year leave. “Over the course of her distinguished career, Dr. Murano has served this University with distinction and has lived the Aggie core values of excellence, integrity, selfless service, leadership, loyalty and respect,” said Board of Regents Chairman Morris E. Foster. “We look forward to her continued service to the University, its fac-
TTI leads road safety campaign ■ A&M agency seeks approval for new road marking standards by end of June Christen Beck The Battalion The Texas Transportation Institute (TTI), a branch in the Texas A&M University system chain, is working to gain ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials) approval for new wet-weather road marking standards this month. TTI researcher Paul Carlson said that the second revision of their research is currently under balloting, and the board will meet in late June to review the ballots and address negative votes. “As a result of that research, we came up with ideas on how to do it better,” Carlson said. ASTM improved existing test methods by continually spraying water on test markings and recording the results, Carlson said. The research methodology involved three ingredients: common sense, world-class research facilities and a strong group of researchers, Carlson said. The newer test method better represents a typical heavy rainfall and is more repeatable than previous testing techniques. TTI’s research on the retroreflectivity of road markings in raining night-time conditions began in 2004. The term retroreflectivity refers to how well a sign reflects light, an important factor for drivers’ nighttime visibility. The research aimed to determine when traffic signs and markings lose their effectiveness due to ultraviolet exposure, Carlson said. TTI became involved with research on road signs and markings in 1999 to determine new retroreflectivity standards, he said. “Never before had there been a specific criteria about when agencies need to replace their traffic signs because they’re worn out,” Carlson said. “The standard was to replace them when they became See Roads on page 4
ulty and students.” The Board of Regents meeting was convened to address the fiscal hardship the University is facing, Foster said. “Our country is in the midst of extraordinary economic turmoil,” Foster said. “Of course, this LOFTIN Board’s responsibility to be a good steward of taxpayer resources is not limited to tough economic times — it is and must be our ongoing mission.” The chancellor and president positions will likely not be combined, Foster said. sitions “The combination of these two positions would be difficult at the least and possibly detrimental to the system’s institutions,” Fosterr said.
“It’s not the direction that this Board, in my view, cares to pursue.” Though regents overturned the requirement for a search committee in the search for a University president in March, Foster said the board is still open to the use of a search committee. Foster said he was aware of the bill passed by the student senate imploring the use of a search committee. “Dr. Loftin will lead the University ably until the Board completes its search for a new president,” Foster said. “My goal is for this process to be completed within six months from today.” Shared governance, as mentioned in Vision 2020, is a necessity, Foster said, and input should be collected from all stakeholders.
“Cooperation between TAMU and the System should be the norm,” Foster said. “And, I might also add that the students need to be included in these decisions. Texas A&M is not the Board’s university, nor the system’s, the administration’s, the faculty’s or the student’s university. It is OUR university.” Student regent Hunter Bollman was appointed to the board to facilitate student feedback, Foster said. It was not specified how input will be gathered. “I firmly believe that the faculty are a valuable resource that should be used by the Board of Regents,” Regents, said speaker of the faculty senate Robert Bednarz, in a statement made available See Meeting on page 4
Elonu to go
pro
Aggie senior declares for NBA draft Patrick Hayslip The Battalion
T
exas A&M Senior Chinemelu Elonu will stay in the NBA draft while seniors Donald Sloan and Bryan Davis withdrew their names from the draft Monday. These decisions came before a 5 p.m. EDT deadline to withdraw their names. “We wish Chinemelu the best in his career,” Turgeon said. “He graduated in May and just felt like he was ready to move on with his life. It was a good process for Sloan and Davis and they learned a lot. They are ready to come back, lead the team and have great senior years.” Losing Elonu and Josh Carter, the 24-10 Aggies will return eight of the team’s top 10 scorers, including three senior starters. “I think if you ask the team, we feel like we have a chance to be pretty good next year, so we’d like everybody back,” Turgeon said. “But I think everybody respects the opportunity that is there for all three of those guys, especially Chin. If there is an opportunity for him to be drafted in the first round, we are going to accept that and be happy for him, and it just helps our program.” Elonu worked out for a number of teams including Dallas, San Antonio, Cleveland and Miami, and he acknowledged that his coaches gave him things to work on in order to improve his draft status and excel in the NBA. “I talked to coach about the changes I needed and they gave me a lot of words of encouragement about what they think I should do and what pertains of each work-
Biography
out,” Elonu said. Coach Turgeon recognized certain aspects that Elonu could improve on, especially with regard to his mental strength. “He’s got to continue to get stronger and get stronger in his lower half to hold his ground better, especially at that next level,” Turgeon said. “We have been talking to Chin about getting stronger, being more consistent, and just being mentally tougher. “If he can understand the game, that’s going to be his ticket, if he can do that, then he has got a chance to play at that level and be there a while.” As far as Elonu’s draft outlook is concerned, Coach Turgeon acts as a liaison between him and the higher-ups of the NBA. “These guys don’t have an agent involved, so most of the communication will go through me and general managers and assistant general managers,” Turgeon said. Turgeon mentioned that Elonu wouldn’t have left unless he had a strong shot at being a first-round pick, and reflected upon Elonu’s process. “I think he has really improved,” Turgeon said. “I think he went from not really being on the radar to people talking about him.” Elonu, who was named the Big 12’s most improved player award, averaged 9.8 points a game and a team-leading 7.3 rebounds a game along with 53 blocked
Born: March 11, 1987, in Nigeria Hometown: Houston, TX High School: Alief Elsik Parents: Dozie and Amaka Elonu Nickname: “Junior” Class: 2010 Major: Agricultural Leadership Number: #41 Height/weight: 6’10”, 235 lbs Position: Forward/ Center
See Elonu on page 2
Local Iranians to protest Iran election results
lifestyles | 5
Xavier Rudd in Houston Australian multiinstrumentalist will begin his North American tour in Houston Thursday.
Many Iranians in the Bryan-College Station community are hosting a rally against Iranian fraudulent election from 11:30 a.m. -12:30 p.m. Tuesday in front of the Memorial Student Center. They are protesting Iran’s election results and the use of force and violence to silence the people inside Iran and to establish an illegitimate government, an e-mail from a representative of Iranian students at A&M said. The e-mail urges people to come support Iranians inside Iran and North America, and to let the world know that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is not their president. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called for an investigation into vote-rigging allegations that led to violent riots in support of
reformist leader Mir Hossein Mousavi. Sunday night, police and militia stormed the campus at the Tehran university, ransacking dormitories and arresting dozens of students angry over what they claim was election fraud. Monday, hundreds of thousands of Mousavi’s supporters marched in central Tehran, denouncing Ahmadinejad’s election. Pro-government militia opened fire on the mob, killing one and wounding several others. In his first public comment on the Iranian election, President Barack Obama said he was “deeply troubled by the violence I’ve been seeing on TV.” Kalee Bumguardner
File photo — THE BATTALION
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