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thebattalion l tuesday,

june 4, 2013

l serving

texas a&m since 1893

Task Force 1

l first paper free – additional copies $1 l © 2013 student media

board of regents

Perry appoints student regent Corps leader to focus on student opinion Sean Lester The Battalion

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COURTESY

Texas Task Force 1, an urban search and rescue response system, deploys out of College Station and responds to disasters such as the West fertilizer plant explosion and the tornado that struck Moore, Okla.

Teams of volunteer responders provide assistance during disasters Jessica Smarr The Battalion

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ven amid the debris and destruction of disasters created by the forces of nature and sometimes the hands of men, a team of responders at Texas A&M provides assistance and hope at a moment’s notice. Texas Task Force 1 is an urban search and rescue response system, which operates out of College Station and deploys in response to disasters such as the

inside news | 2 Former student dies in FBI training exercise Christopher Lorek, a former student and member of the FBI Hostage Rescue Team, was killed in a training accident May 17. He is remembered as a husband, a father, a teammate and a protector of his country.

state | 2 Fort Hood suspect to represent himself The man charged with the rampage killing at Fort Hood in 2009 hinted Monday that he would try to justify the attack, revealing his defense strategy and stating he would represent himself in the trial.

sports | 3 Top QB recruit commits to A&M The top quarterback recruit in the nation, out of Arizona, announced his commitment Monday to Texas A&M over Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma State and UCLA.

9/11 attacks, Hurricane Katrina and, more recently, the West fertilizer plant explosion and the tornado that struck Moore, Okla. Composed almost exclusively of trained volunteers, this team provides support and relief across the state and country in times of need. Jeff Saunders, operations chief for Texas Task Force 1, said members of the team are prepared for all hazards they are presented with. “We are a search and rescue, almost all hazard search and rescue team,”

Saunders said. “We do structural collapse, we do water rescue, and we, do what we term ‘wide-area search at this point — like a tornado where it’s just devastation for miles and miles and miles.” The team is not only a state asset, but also a federal asset. Will Welch, communications manager for the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service (TEEX), said the team functions as one of 28 urban search and rescue teams See Task force on page 3

ne hour before his last final of the spring semester, senior biology major Nick Madere received a phone call coming from the same Austin area code that he calls home, but he didn’t answer. The voicemail said, “I’ve got some good news for you, give me a phone call.” It was the office of Gov. Rick Perry calling to inform Madere he had been selected as the 2013-2014 student regent for the Texas A&M University System. “Hearing that about an hour before my final was the best confidence booster I could have ever asked for,” Madere said. “I was breathless when it got announced.” The decision became official on Friday when Madere’s term as student regent went into effect. In 2005, the 79th Texas Legislature authorized the governor to appoint a nonvoting student regent for each university system. The program started in 2006 and student regents have used it to share student opinion with the board of regents. Quinten Womack, a junior at Texas A&M-Kingsville, served as the student regent during the 2012-13 school year and said he found joy in representing the many students in A&M schools.

“It was a great experience and it’s an honor to be appointed by the governor to do anything,” Womack said. “To be able to be the voice of 125,000 students, it’s just a big deal and an honor to be associated with it.” The application process of becoming a student regent is a system of checks and balances. Madere recalled sending an application to the Student Government Association then meeting with a board that included the student body president. The group then sent a recommendation to Lt. Gen. Joe Weber, vice president for student affairs. His application then went to University President R. Bowen Loftin and on to System Chancellor John Sharp. “From there I believe it went to the office of the governor,” Madere said. “They certainly tested our mettle and made sure they went through all the channels.” Madere had to establish goals along the way of what he wanted to accomplish during his time as student regent. He said he wants to gain as much feedback from the many campuses in the University System to share students’ voices to the board. “The board looks forward to working with Mr. Madere and receiving his valuable insight on important matters that only a student perspective can provide,” said chairman of the Board of Regents, Phil Adams, in a statement. “We are constantly mindful of academic and student affairs and supporting our See Regent on page 4

campus

Retired Reveille dies after surgery Mackenzie Mullis

Reveille VII, a retired “first lady of Aggieland” died on Thursday. She had been in the care of Tina and Paul Gardner, friends of Corps of Cadets Company E-2.

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eveille VII, a retired “first lady of Aggieland” died Thursday after an emergency surgery at the Small Animal Clinic at the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. Tina and Paul Gardner acted as caretakers of Reveille after she was retired in May 2008. Tina said she noticed something was wrong with Reveille and immediately took her to the Small Animal Clinic the previous Tuesday. “She looked ill and I had her at the vet clinic within 30 minutes. I just threw on clothes and ran out the door,” Tina said. “[Reveille] had been on anti-inflammatory medication for her arthritis. That medicine can cause bleeding See Reveille on page 4

COURTESY

STEM

Study analyzes graduate student completion rates Allison Rubenak The Battalion

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exas A&M boasts a student body of more than 50,000 students, and approximately 10,000 of those ambitious minds were not quite ready to kiss the books goodbye, finding themselves in pursuit of a post-undergraduate education. On May 21, the Council of Graduate Schools, a collection of roughly 500 institutions with master’s and doctoral programs, released a two-

year pilot study evaluating five institutions, including Texas A&M. The study compared completion and attrition rates for Master of Business Administration programs Karen and disciplines in science, Butler-Purry technology, engineering and math (STEM). Karen Butler-Purry, associate provost for graduate studies, provided the principal leader-

ship and coordination of data collections on the Texas A&M campus. “We were looking at master’s students, in part because of the growth and demand in these STEM fields,” Butler-Purry said. “They really are a market.” Mark Zoran, associate dean for graduate studies and facilitator of graduate council personnel on campus, also noted the significant need for future STEM educators. Approximately 36 percent of A&M STEM See STEM on page 6

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