thebattalion ● thursday,
october 18, 2012
● serving
texas a&m since 1893
● first paper free – additional copies $1 ● © 2012 student media
Digital history 1978
1975
1967 1965
1925
1982 1971
1986
1956
1982
1917
1961
Photos of Texas A&M campus from an aerial view, ranging from 1986 back to 1917 (left to right).
1937
Photo illustration by Evan Andrews — THE BATTALION
Geospatial tech enables team to show A&M’s geographic timeline James Sullivan The Battalion
S
tanding in the Pavilion on its polished tile, it’s hard to believe that same space used to be covered in dirt and was inhabited by farm animals.
The Pavilion, a central piece of A&M’s campus and home to the Scholarships and Financial Aid office, actually garnered its name from its past use: a livestock pavilion. Compiling such data has become a daily objective for those working in the Geographical Information Systems Department, where the Historic Aggieland project took form.
At Texas A&M, the University’s connection to its past is a large piece of its tradition and spirit. The Historic Aggieland online interface allows students, alumni and curious members of the public to view the campus from its birth in 1876 to present day through a series of maps, aerial photos and pictures. “Our mission is to fuel discovery,”
said project manager Miriam Olivares, Class of 2002. “The data is available 24/7. This information can be used to connect the past with new generations.” The project team digitized nine aerial photographs and one hand-drawn map of A&M’s campus, geographically referenced them on a current digital atlas and added different colored dots, each representing a building constructed for the University, to show the evolution and expansion of Texas A&M from its founding to present day. The separate colors of the buildings distinguish between the five eras the structure was raised, ranging from The Early Years (1875-1914), the Rudder
Era (1946-1976) and Modern Times (2000-2012). A majority of the buildings allow for one to view old pictures, courtesy of Cushing Library, from when they were established or renovated, giving the map depth. “Many agencies, such as the city of College Station, have interactive [online] maps so they can show the data to the citizens. They focus on current data,” Olivares said. “The [Historic Aggieland] collection is special in the sense that it is putting together all the historic archives for people to use.” Compiling all the pieces of the massive data infrastructure used in the proj-
A look into the past ◗ Historic Aggieland’s online interface can be found under the Map and GIS Library tab at library. tamu.edu/about/ collections.
See Maps on page 6
religion
student government
Latter-day Saints clarify Mormon doctrine
Concealed carry bill sent to committee for review
Joe Nash Special to The Battalion Frequently seen around Academic Plaza, a religious group was doing their part to spread their beliefs to the students of Texas A&M. Easily recognized by the white shirts, black ties and friendly attitudes are the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, otherwise know as Mormons. Elder Peterson, a Mormon volunteer who evangelizes on campus, said there is a lot about Mormonism that stems from Christianity. “We are Christians. We do believe in Christ and that He came to save us all,” Peterson said. Peterson said Mormons put heavy emphasis on faith, as well as works. It is a common practice to spend two years serving as a missionary, locally or internationally. Peterson and Elder Hicks, also a Mormon volunteer on campus, are doing their volunteer
dent body whether they wanted to have concealed handguns on camThe Battalion Student Senate presented a bill pus took place in 2010. The results Wednesday advocating that the showed that 54 percent of the stuUniversity allow anyone with a con- dent body voted against having concealed handgun license to carry a cealed handguns on campus. Mariana Fernandez, handgun on campus and senior political sciinside buildings. ence major Student senator Cary In session pro-tempore,and speaker asked Cheshire, junior po◗ Student Senate Cheshire during the litical science major, meetings are open bill’s presentation why authored the bill titled for students to he was presenting the “Texas A&M Personal bill if Texas A&M stuattend and take Protection Bill.” dents voted to not have place every other “The motivation concealed handguns on Wednesday night behind [the bill] was campus in the referenat 7 p.m. in Koldus improving campus sedum. curity,” Cheshire said. 144. “If the student body “We have had a lot of is obviously against it, instances at other campuses in recent then why are we using the Student memory. We can all remember VirSenate to lobby on behalf of them in ginia Tech, and t.u. had the bomb Austin?” Fernandez said. scare a little while ago.” Cheshire said the referendum held Cheshire said he is not part of the in 2010 was not representative of all student organization Students for students. Concealed Carry on Campus, but “I do not think that the entirety of he is open to input from the orgathe student body voted in that refernization and other students while reviewing the bill. See SGA on page 5 A referendum that asked the stu-
Annabelle Hutchinson
Tanner Garza — THE BATTALION
Elder Hicks hands out flyers about Mormon beliefs and bible study information Wednesday afternoon near Academic Plaza.
See Mormon on page 4
Pg. 1-10.18.12.indd 1
10/18/12 12:56 AM