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february 24, 2012
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candidate perspectives
Candidates plan for SEC move Jonathan Webb The Battalion
Voting schedule ◗ Students will vote online through vote.tamu.edu and will need a valid UIN to enter the voting site ◗ Primary voting opens Monday at 8 a.m. and closes Tuedsay at 5 p.m. ◗ Primary results will be announced at 8 p.m. Tuesday in Academic Plaza ◗ If no candidate receives 50 percent of the vote, run-off voting between the top-two vote-getting candidates will be Thursday and Friday
With talk of renovating Kyle Field and the bitter Texas rivalry on hold, Fall 2012 could be a season of change for Aggieland. Drew Barber, Thomas McNutt and Brody Smith are three of the candidates vying to become Texas A&M’s first Student Body President in the Southeastern Conference. Smith, senior history major, said his objective would be to preserve traditions wherever possible because that is what makes this University unique. “I believe that the SEC will bring more coverage and interest for Texas A&M and expand our recruitment base,” Smith said. “The more press and coverage we have for Aggieland, more money, interest, respect and enthusiasm will be generated for the Aggie experience.” Smith foresees a greater national presence of Texas A&M in
sports and, through that venue, A&M as an academic institution. “I think we will be better able to maintain a streak of excellence in all of our athletic events through the better financial environment of the SEC,” Smith said. “Academically, our broad range of quality courses has ensured that the Aggie Network is a force to be reckoned with in the business world, and I think that the SEC will generate more interest from out-of-state applicants to come to A&M for a great education and make A&M more diverse in the many types of students accepted to the University who become Aggies.” Smith said that with the student body president as the mouthpiece of student opinion, the next school year will be crucial to instill the values and experiences Texas A&M has to offer to visitors from the SEC, who will range from each school’s student government associations to fans on game days. See SBP on page 2
campus news
Big Event deadline arrives The sign-up deadline for Big Event is Friday. In its 30th year, Big Event is a service project benefiting the Bryan-College Station community. This year the volunteer project will be held on March 24. To register, visit bigevent.tamu.edu
thebatt.com
Hoops previews The Aggie women’s basketball team will play Texas Tech at 7 p.m. Saturday at Reed Arena, while the men go on the road to play Oklahoma State at 1 p.m. Saturday.
Up to bat Holy Cross visits Blue Bell Park for the weekend-long series starting at 6:35 p.m. Friday.
Tennis action The Aggie men’s and women’s tennis teams face Rice and TCU, respectively, this weekend, both at home.
Photos by Matthew Wang — THE BATTALION
From left, Drew Barber, John Claybrook, Sam Hodges, Thomas McNutt, Brody Smith and Jose Zelaya consider a debate question Thursday.
Front and center SBP hopefuls answer student questions during debate Amber Jaura The Battalion Student body president candidates sat in front of a capacity crowd in the George Bush Library Auditorium to answer questions submitted by the student body. More than 170 students attended to hear the candidates answer questions in a debate format unique to this election cycle. Questions addressed the candidates’ views on tuition, legislative preparation and specifics about each candidate’s campaign agenda. All candidates supported University President R. Bowen Loftin’s recent recommendation that the Board of Regents raise tuition by 3.95 percent, but took individual approaches to maintaining low fee levels.
Drew Barber proposed auditing nonacademic programs that receive student fees as a way of identifying efficiencies, a sentiment echoed by Thomas McNutt. “I would say any university department that is receiving direct funding from student fees should be audited,” McNutt, a junior political science major, said. “Auditing should not be a bad word. You can sit down with these administrators and they are happy to show you what they do and how they do it.” Junior finance major John Claybrook said fees that do not benefit the majority of students should be re-evaluated, and that “luxury fees” should never be raised. He said the rec center fee charged to students regardless of use is See Debate on page 4
campus
voices
A&M to begin outsourcing non-academic services Trevor Stevens The Battalion Texas A&M staff may soon have new employers, after University officials announced Thursday that the decision process has begun to outsource facility services. Emails circulated Thursday, informing University staff employees to attend a meeting at 11 a.m. Friday in Rudder Auditorium. At the meeting staff employees will be updated on plans for the future of facilities services’ employer and employees. Steven Moore, vice chancellor of marketing and communications for the Texas A&M System, said the decision to outsource facility services has not officially been made. But he said the decision to go through the process has been made. Texas A&M officials will issue an appease to outside companies to offer the opportunity to bid on the em-
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Claybrook responds to a question while Barber and Hodges listen Thursday evening at the George Bush Library Auditorium.
ployment of facilities services at the University. “The decision has been … to determine whether or not [outsourcing] is going to be an effective way to deliver the services, versus what we do now,” Moore said. Bids have not yet been issued, but Moore said they are going to be rolled out in the next week. When asked to comment on the status of the decision to outsource Texas A&M University’s facilities services, University vice president for communication and marketing Jason Cook deferred to the vice chancellor of marketing and communications for the System. Moore said the motivation behind outsourcing facility services is to preserve the core functions Texas A&M delivers: teaching, faculty and research. See Outsource on page 2
Meeting details University President R. Bowen Loftin will hold a public meeting for interested A&M students and employees at 11 a.m. Friday in Rudder Auditorum. He is expected to address plans to invite bids from private companies to manage facilities’ services and discuss potential impacts to the A&M community.
GUESTCOLUMN
Keep students in mind Jeff Pickering: University needs autonomy, time for dialogue
W
hile I believe the outsourcing of Texas A&M’s non-academic university services as a matter of cost savings is an option worth investigating, I do not believe it is in the best interest of my fellow students for the A&M System to micromanage campus services.
Making these types of decisions, to potentially outsource dining services, custodial services, landscape, and facilities maintenance, from a System level rather than a University level is concerning to me as Student Body President. We as students have representation on all university committees, including those that would be affected by these changes. Active student voices
in all decisions made by each of these university entities is critical to me as SBP, and more importantly as a customer paying for these services. If we were to outsource the aforementioned services, would those external corporations invite the same level of student input? For example, in the case of Dining See Students on page 4
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