thebattalion ● tuesday,
february 21, 2012
● serving
texas a&m since 1893
● first paper free – additional copies $1 ● © 2012 student media
Pelosi talks service, politics House minority leader advises women to take initiative Robby Smith
It really is urgent that
The Battalion Nancy Pelosi, Democratic Leader of the House of Representatives, joined Andrew Card, former Republican White House chief of staff and Bush School acting dean, on the Texas A&M University campus to discuss the role of women in politics. Pelosi spoke Monday at the Annenberg Presidential Conference Center at the George Bush Presidential Library Center. The first woman speaker of the House and California native made the trip to Texas on Presidents Day at the invitation of the George Bush Presidential Library Foundation. Roman Popadiuk, executive director of the George Bush Presidential Library Foundation, explained the Bush Foundation’s desire to encourage meaningful dialogue through speaker invitations. “One of the goals of the Library Center is to bring to public attention various views and opinions on the challenges facing our nation,”
women take responsibility for leadership and the decisions that have to be made .”
for our
country
— Nancy Pelosi, House minority leader
Popadiuk said. “In this regard, Leader Pelosi was invited by the Bush School to share her views on the current situation in Washington. Given the Bush School’s commitment to public service, Leader Pelosi … also discuss[ed] the importance of public service, which is a core belief of the A&M student body.” Card moderated the conversation with Pelosi. Also present in the audience were former See Pelosi on page 4
Nancy Pelosi, above and second-fromright, speaks at the Annenberg Presidential Conference Center at the George Bush Presidential Library. The event was moderated by Andrew Card, far right. A student, right, dressed as the grim reaper protests legislation supported by Pelosi. Photos by Jay Kapadia — THE BATTALION
campus news
Big Event deadline nears Friday is the deadline to sign up to participate in the Big Event. Now in its 30th year, the Big Event is the largest singleday, student-run service project in the nation, and will serve the Bryan-College Station community on March 24. For more information or to register, visit bigevent.tamu.edu.
candidate perspectives
SBP candidates outline academic initiatives Emily Davis The Battalion Academic issues are often a central part of student body president candidates’ agendas. Textbook prices, library hours and Q-drops are all concerns of the candidates. One major issue all the student body president candidates plan to address if elected is the cost of textbooks. Education graduate student Jose Zelaya said he knows many students who have spent hundreds of dollars on textbooks, but barely needed the resource during the semester.
“It’s very important to have a conversation with teachers and ask them that they only make students buy what they’re going to be using,” Zelaya said. Senior finance major John Claybrook said one of his planned initiatives involves encouraging professors to start using open source textbooks. “It’s our hope that we can encourage professors to either write their own open source textbooks or find open source textbooks that are quality that students can learn from,” Claybrook said. “If we could get professors to start
using those, we can save students hundreds of dollars each semester.” Open source textbooks don’t have copy write protection, meaning students can access the information free of charge. Sam Hodges said he hopes to implement a textbook adoption policy. “The adoption policy requires a class to use the same textbook for six consecutive semesters,” Hodges said. “The school’s not having to restock the shelves, so See SBP on page 2
◗ This is the first installation of the four-part Candidate Perspectives series, introducing the student body president candidates by discussing election hottopics with three candidates per article. ◗ Look for the next installment of the Candidate Perspectives series on Wednesday, featuring candidates Brody Smith, Thomas McNutt and Drew Barber. ◗ Check out thebatt.com to get to know candidates Drew Barber and John Claybrook through video interviews. The Batt Online will publish videos of the remaining four candidates on Wednesday and Thursday, with video release dates determined alphabetically by last name.
candidates
University enrollment continues to surge inside sports | 3 Baseball back in action The Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks take on the Aggies Tuesday at Blue Bell Park.
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Spring 2012 semester sees record number of students Michal Ann Morrison The Battalion Texas A&M University has seen a record enrollment of students for spring 2012. This semester, 46,721 students are officially enrolled at the University. Spring semester enrollment is usually less than the fall semester because of the large
number of students who graduate in December. The enrollment for fall 2011 was also a record at 49,861 students. This number placed Texas A&M among the top six institutions nationally in student body size. Not only are both fall 2011 and spring 2012 record enrollment years, but both of Texas A&M’s branch campuses have also seen record enrollments. Texas A&M University at Galveston reported 1,882 students and Texas A&M University at Qatar reported 524 students for spring 2012. While the student population is currently the largest it has ever been, the numbers
keep rising. So far, 31,600 prospective students have applied for fall 2012. Texas A&M has a history of large changes in enrollment. Lane Stephenson from News and Information Services at Texas A&M said 1963 was an important year that brought many new students to the University. “In 1963, women could enroll at Texas A&M on a limited basis,” Stephenson said. “They could enroll if they could not pursue their desired course of study anywhere else
Campus living Current capacity for on-campus living is 7,380 students, approximately 16 percent of total enrollment.
See Enrollment on page 6
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