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¡Caliente! event attracts students Free food, live music and dancing attracted large crowds at The Zone at Kyle Field. The Association of Latino Professionals in Finance and Accounting (ALPFA) promoted Hispanic heritage at Texas A&M with their ¡Caliente! avent Wednesday evening. Watch a video of event at thebatt.com.
inside voices | 5b What 2020 means for students
● thursday,
september 15, 2011
● serving
texas a&m since 1893
● first paper free – additional copies $1 ● © 2011 student media
Vision check University sets sights on Vision 2020, aiming to become one of the nation’s 10 best public universities
Former Speaker of the Student Senate Hilary Albrecht gives her opinion of Vision 2020 and explains why this university needs students to start paying attention.
campus news
Residents evacuate due to fire A brushfire started in Grimes County at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, causing 20 residents to evacuate their homes. According to Sheriff Donald Sowell, the cause of the 68-acre fire is unknown. “Residents saw a lot of smoke and fire that started in the pasture on the east side of FM 244, getting really close to their houses and the local day care center,” Sowell said. No injuries were reported and residents were allowed back into the area at about 2:15 p.m. after fire response teams from the Texas Forest Services and volunteer fire departments flooded the scene. “Fire resources were on it extremely quickly,” Sowell said. “One airplane dropped fire retardant on the area and two helicopters collected water from the lakes and dropped it. It’s been extremely dry, and Grimes County just recovered from a recent fire that sparked on Labor Day — the firemen have been real busy in our area.” Natalee Blanchat, Staff Writer
Jordan Williford The Battalion
V
ision 2020 has been the driving force behind the improvements and changes made to Texas A&M University since the concept’s conception in 1999. Then-University President Ray Bowen proposed that Texas A&M venture to achieve a culture of excellence and become one of the nation’s 10 best public universities.
“I am pleased to say that we have made significant progress in both of these areas,” said Bowen Loftin, current University president. Following the strategic plan for Vision 2020, administrators first identified which public universities were setting the standard for the remainder of the country, and why. They used two standards to approach the issue. The first approach was to consider six institutions that were highly ranked in two popular collegiate ranking systems, the U.S. News & World Report and the National Research Council, and compare their strengths and weaknesses against those of A&M. Administrators decided to use three University of California System schools — Berkeley, San Diego, and Los Angeles — along with Michigan, North
Carolina — Chapel Hill, and Wisconsin — Madison. The second approach pooled “leading academic counterparts” — schools that share many of A&M’s characteristics including student population and emphasis in research, engineering, the sciences and other academic disciplines. Among these schools were Georgia Tech, Illinois, Penn State, Ohio State, Florida and Texas. In addition to drawing comparisons, University administration has prioritized periodic reviews of the progress being made on specific goals and benchmarks of Vision 2020. “One of my first actions after being named president was to initiate a midterm review of Vision 2020 that will guide us during the remaining decade of this comprehensive effort,” Loftin said.
See 2020 on page 4a Source: U.S. News and World Report Christina Fuentes and Evan Andrews — THE BATTALION
business
social media
Shuttle hauls students to Northgate
A&M partners with Foursquare Alec Goetz
Kevin Smith The Battalion Northgate has a new addition to its fleet of transit services. Among numerous taxis and 15-passenger vans, students have another option to get to and from Northgate: Rockin’ J’s Night Shuttle. Rockin’ J’s runs much like the daily buses that bring students to and from campus. The shuttle leaves from Northgate and follows Transportation Services’ Route 36, “Cotton Bowl.” The shulttle travels on Wellborn, George Bush, Marion Pugh and Luther, and loops back through Wellborn to rest in front of Paddock Lane Bar on Northgate. The official term for the Night Shuttle is a “jitney” — a vehicle used to carry many passengers, distinct from a taxi, which only carries a few. James Byrne, class of 2008, owns and operates Rockin’ J’s. He said the
Kevin Smith — THE BATTALION
James Byrne’s night shuttle offers a transit option. idea is implemented elsewhere effectively. “I’ve traveled a lot outside the country and it seems that everywhere but here knows how to do public transportation right,” Byrne said. Bryne said he always thought about bringing these ideas back to College Station
Comm+unity Presents
The Love In Between Tour Featuring
MATT MAHER
mattmahermusic.com
Pg. 1a-09.15.11.indd 1
“More than 200 faculty, staff, students and friends of Texas A&M served on teams that helped refine our benchmarking process and update the framework by which we can achieve the highest possible impact in our teaching, research and service missions.” In addition to the mid-term review, other initiatives have been taken to ensure the University’s progress towards the primary goal of Vision 2020 — to be one of the top 10 public universities in the nation. Currently, A&M sits 19th among public institutions, tied with public universities Florida, Connecticut, and Pittsburgh, according to the recently released U.S. News and World Report rankings. “These efforts included the Academic Master Plan, which, with input from the
See Shuttle on page 5a
The Battalion Texas A&M is changing how they interact with students through social media. In July, the social networking site Foursquare designated A&M as a launch partner for their location-based “Universities 2.0” network program. The partnership introduced custom university badges for A&M and 19 other schools. The A&M badge, “I’m a Fightin’ Texas Aggie,” can be unlocked by users who check into 25 venues across campus. Universities don’t reveal the specific locations required to obtain the badge, but they give hints along the way. Amid stiff competition, Foursquare has carved a niche
for itself in the increasingly crowded online networking scene. The site allows members to post updates about their current whereabouts by “checking in” at locations including restaurants, public parks, campus buildings, libraries, schools, athletic venues, airports, parking lots and historical monuments. By doing so, participants earn points and various badges. “Foursquare isn’t offering a site to compete with Facebook or Twitter as much as it is a different kind of social networking experience,” said Michael Green, senior visualization major. “Those networks focus on telling your friends what you are doing. Foursquare focuses See Foursquare on page 5a
At Christ United Methodist Church SEPT 16th @ 7PM For Tickets go to itickets.com or visit Christ-UMC.org
9/15/11 1:28 AM