thebattalion battalion ● wednesday,
january 22, 2014
● serving
texas a&m since 1893
● first paper free – additional copies $1 ● © 2014 student media
Health center mulls student fee hike
BEUTEL BUCKS COURTESY
Robert Gates, former A&M president and U.S. secretary of defense, speaks Tuesday.
Homer Segovia
politics
$5 visitation charge may be put in place by June 2014 for normal visits to Beutel as Student Health Services administrators review their budget and potential sources of revenue. Dr. Martha Dannenbaum, Student Health Center director, said this is the approach that will most likely to be taken, as opposed to raising the Health Center Fee on students across the board. Currently, a normal visit is free of charge, which is made possible by the current Health Center Fee of $72.50 that every student pays as a part of tuition. “If we were to implement that, it probably would not be more than five dollars, and if we were to implement it, it probably would not be any sooner than June of this year starting for the summer session,” Dannenbaum said. “We are not anticipating requesting a student health fee increase. That is not on our plan at this point in time.” Dannenbaum said instating a charge for visits would provide a revenue stream that SHS could use to provide merit pay, or bonuses, for their staff. However, the revenue could be used toward any of the costs of operating Beutel, such as renovations on the aging building to accommodate the increasing population of students. “[Renovations] would be a likely reason that we would add in an office visit charge,” Dannenbaum said. “Not necessarily to support merit, but we’re looking long range that if we’re going to be in this building for another five to 10 years, which we could be, we’ve got some things we’re going to have
To Washington and back: Gates returns to A&M Former Aggie president delves into memoir Jennifer Reiley
The Battalion ormer Texas A&M President Robert Gates visited A&M on Tuesday, blending in to Aggieland again with a Blue Baker cup in his hand and a familiar greeting. “Howdy,” Gates said. “I’ve been waiting a long time to say that — I wanted to open congressional hearings that way.” Gates, former secretary of defense, spoke about his book, “Duty: A Memoir of a Secretary at War,” in Rudder Auditorium Frederick McClure, CEO of the George Bush Presidential Foundation, introduced Gates, the first secretary of de-
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Softball ranked No. 11 Texas A&M softball will start the 2014 season ranked No. 11 by the USA Today/NFCA Division I Softball Poll, which is voted on by coaches around the country. The Aggies ended last season ranked No. 13 after finishing at the NCAA Super Regional level. The No. 11 Aggies start the 2014 season on Feb. 7 at UC Santa Barbara’s Gaucho Classic.
inside history | 3 “Banality of evil” The Glasscock Center and Annenberg Center will host “Hannah Arendt’s Eichmann in Jerusalem: 50 Years On” from Thursday through Saturday. The conference will address the “banality of evil” and post-Holocaust trials.
gsc | 3 Graduate student council The Graduate Student council met for its first meeting of the semester and discussed, among other topics, its updated bylaws and constitution.
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fense to serve under two presidents of different parties. In his career, McClure worked with Gates both at the White House and at Texas A&M. For those who came to the event wanting to hear Gates speak about A&M, Gates did not disappoint. Gates spoke about the football program and said he has trouble watching Aggie football today because of the stress it caused him during his time as University president. “Texas A&M football was a source of great stress for me,” Gates said. “I once turned to [my wife] and said ‘I’ve been the director of the CIA, why does Aggie Football cause me more anxiety?’ In her wisdom after many years of marriage, she said ‘Because you have no
The Battalion
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Graphic by William Guerra, photo by Jenna Rabel — THE BATTALION
Beutel could begin charging patients a $5 visitation fee by June 2014, says Dr. Martha Dannenbaum, Student Health Center director.
See Beutel on page 4
See Gates on page 2
sustainability
45-acre garden plan takes shape Campus green space could break ground in 2014 Anna Davidson
The Battalion he Board of Regents planted the seeds for the Gardens and Greenway Project in 1998 when it designated a 45-acre plot of land on which to develop a public garden and various outdoor teaching platforms. Now the project is coming together. Doug Welsh, program coordinator for the project and veteran horticulturist, said green spaces are vital in a campus setting because they are a place to rejuvenate and restore the soul. Universities such as Duke, Caltech and the University of Pennsylvania, ranked among the top-10 universities in the country by U.S. News & World Report, have arboretums and interactive gardens used as teaching tools, Welsh said. The project will likely break ground in 2014 with either the restoration of White Creek or the construction of the Teaching Gardens Complex, Welsh said. Construction and longterm management of the Gardens and Greenway will be funded primarily through founda-
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tions, private donations and corporate sponsors. “If we are smart, we plan better,” Welsh said. “If we don’t plan for green spaces, there won’t be any. The Gardens and Greenway project will put the ‘land’ back in Aggieland.” The vision for the property was given life in 2012 by Mark Hussey, current interim president of the University and then-vice chancellor and dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, when he publicly announced his support of the development of the land that spans from White Creek behind the AgriLife Complex all the way to the Bush Presidential Library property. “The Gardens and Greenway project is an opportunity for A&M to showcase and enhance its worldwide impact in agriculture, life sciences and the environment,” said William Dugas, acting vice chancellor and dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, in an email. Once complete, the Gardens and Greenway will include a teaching complex, amphitheater and rose garden, among other features. In the summer edition of Texas A&M Foundation’s William Guerra — THE BATTALION
See Gardens on page 4
m. basketball
A&M can’t recapture 2012 Rupp magic
No. 14 Kentucky handily dispatches Aggies, 68-51 Tyler Stafford The Battalion
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nable to overcome early foul trouble, Texas A&M (12-6, 3-2
SEC) was defeated by No. 14 Kentucky (14-4, 4-1 SEC) on Tuesday at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Ky., in front of a crowd of 22,634. After starting SEC play with three straight wins, A&M lost its second conference game in a row. Tuesday’s game was vastly different than the last time the Aggies travelled to Kentucky, when they handed
UK head coach John Calipari his first home SEC loss during his tenure, beating the Wildcats 83-71. Junior guard Jamal Jones, who set a career high with 24 points against Mississippi State on Sunday and came into the contest averaging 20.8 points in SEC play, was held to eight points in 21 minutes of play. Jones struggled with fouls, racking
up three before the first half was over and finished the game with four. The Aggies were also without senior guard Fabyon Harris, who was held out of the game by A&M head coach Billy Kennedy. Harris is averaging 6.8 points per game and has 36 assists on the season. See Kentucky on page 2
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