l tuesday, february 19, 2013 l serving texas a&m since 1893 l first paper free – additional copies $1 l © 2013 student media

thebattalion

inside

life | 5Baking for charityTexas A&M Cupcakes bakes for a purpose, combining carbs and charity in this non-profit organization.

Culture through danceThe Texas A&M Philippine Student Association strives to raise cultural awareness through mediums such as dance. The club choreographs and incorporates Filipino culture into its performances.

campus | 6Pay with your phoneTransportation Services has provided a solution to help students avoid potential parking fines with Extend-by-Phone, a service that allows students to extend the amount of time allotted to their pay space by using their cellphones.

b!

Opposing candidates unpack personal propositions

to campus issues

Executive exchange

Nerren and Joseph discuss issues

Facing a crowd full of people dressed in “Gig ‘em with Garrett” and “Rowdy

for Reid” T-shirts, student body presi-dent candidates Garrett Nerren and Reid Joseph participated in their second and final debate Monday night.

The debate, which took place at the George Bush Library theater, brought

about candidates’ opinions and plans of action on issues such as the University’s “25 by 25” initiative, veteran affairs and Vision 2020, the administration’s plan to make A&M into one of the top 10 public universities in the nation by the year 2020.

Both candidates had similar values and goals, but each proposed a different means to reach them.

When election commissioner and mediator Allison Krenzien, senior bio-medical sciences major, asked about the 25 by 25 initiative, both candidates ex-pressed a need to bolster communication with the student body. Nerren focused on communicating the administration’s

decisions to increase growth and its ef-fect on the student body and student government whereas Joseph focused on taking concerns of students to the administration.

Nerren said there needs to be trans-parency in SGA and that he would work to ensure students are made aware of the changes from the beginning. He said communication is also important to make sure student government handles the expected growth well.

“I think one thing that we can do to make sure that student government continues down this excellent path we’ve gone down is to continue to

Aimee Breaux The Battalion

COURTESY

SBP candidates Reid Joseph and Garrett Nerren acknowledge questions at the second SBP debate on Monday at George Bush Library.

See Debate on page 2

‘‘I want to serve” — a com-mon ground between the two candidates running for

student body president.Garrett Nerren — the junior po-

litical science major fitted in his fresh suit and red tie — took a break as president of his fraternity to run for president of the student body.

Reid Joseph — the junior indus-trial distribution major wearing the cadet’s uniform of formal tradition – is the academic chair of Squadron 17 in the Corps of Cadets and a third-generation Aggie.

Both candidates agree they want to increase communication be-tween student government and the 50,000-member student body of Texas A&M — while Joseph wants to implement a new VP of com-munity outreach, Nerren wants to be publicly present on campus once a week.

Where they differ, from rep-resentative attire to post-election plans, the two candidates have out-

lined goals and responses to the chal-lenges that await the next student body president.

Student FeesA key issue discussed during the

2013 election is the use of student fees. With the anticipated renova-tion of Kyle Field, there is debate over whether student fees should increase in an effort to partially fund the renovation.

Both candidates support an in-crease in mandatory student fees to help fund renovations to the east side of Kyle Field.

“From an outsider’s perspective, Texas A&M football comes first and foremost and the students should also play a part in this initiative,” Joseph said. “If we didn’t raise student fees, then we would have major budget cuts from other areas supported by student fees.”

Nerren said he wants student fees to be as low as possible, but

See Candidates on page 4

Poll to gauge opinion on Kyle fundingkyle field renovation

SBP candidates hash out University solutions in final debate

The Texas A&M administration is seeking student opinion regarding funding for the renovation of

the student section of Kyle Field.The A&M administration will gauge student

opinion independently of SGA via an email survey Wednesday.

Jason Cook, University spokesman, said the A&M

administration has concerns regarding the language in the Student Government Association referendum, which will ask for student opinion about the funding for the renovation of the east side of Kyle Field during student body elections this week.

The difference between the SGA and A&M ad-ministration inquiries lies in the proportion to which the east side of Kyle Field will be funded by manda-tory student fees through the University Advance-ment Fee, UAF.

Developments to the east side will include wider concourses and improved restrooms and concessions — renovations that Sam Torn, chair elect of 12th Man Foundation, said will not change the student experience, but enhance it.

The SGA referendum will ask students whether they support increasing the UAF $1.55 per student credit hour ($23.25 for full time students per semester)

Mark Doré The Battalion

Courtesy: 12th Man Foundation

The glass, brick and limestone exterior of conceptual designs of the east side of Kyle Field is interspersed with tributes to student organizations.

See Kyle Field on page 3

Eight game streak snaps despite late Walker scoring flurry

w. basketball

While Courtney Walker was scor-ing the final 10 A&M points, her

coach told her to channel the game of a man who recently turned 50 years old.

“We got in transition and I just told Walker to do her best Michael Jordan act,” Texas A&M women’s basketball head coach Gary Blair said. “And she was doing it. Walker’s a great kid, she works hard. She gave us a chance at

the end.”Despite Walker’s 20 points, No. 10

A&M fell short after slicing a 14-point deficit to two in the last nine minutes. The last team to beat A&M struck once again as No. 8 Kentucky held on, 70-66.

The Aggies’ last loss before their eight-game win streak came from Kentucky, which won 65-62 on

Charity Chambers The Battalion

See Basketball on page 3Tanner Garza— THE BATTALION

Junior center Kelsey Bone finds space in traffic for two of her nine points in the 70-66 loss.

Torri Clark & Jessica Smarr The Battalion

Photos by Tanner Garza — THE BATTALION

ELECTIONSCAMPUS 2013

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market and to market well,” Nerren said. “Students don’t necessarily know what student government is doing for them even though it is doing all of these good things.”

Joseph said it is important to heed the con-cerns of students, such as the growing concern about the increasing quantity of students hurt-ing the quality of education. He said in this case, the student government can make sure the number of applicants applying still ensures a high standard of education.

“We take the concerns of the student body and bring them to administration,” Joseph said. “This is something we need to make sure of.”

When asked how they plan to assist the vet-erans at A&M, both candidates expressed the intent to create a position of vice president for veteran relations. Nerren said in this position, the only job is to go between the Corps and the student government.

“Stuff like [priority registration] are these little things that we can give these people who have served for our country or are going to serve our country to make life here at Texas A&M a little easier for them,” Nerren said.

Joseph, however, said his cabinet would reach out to the veteran’s office at A&M, which is underfunded — despite its constant growth each semester. In addition, Joseph said the realization of BUILD 2013, a campus-wide project in planning for build a home for a financially disadvantaged family, would provide a good outlet for veterans who feel disconnected from normal student activities.

“We are very excited about all our veteran relations in the upcoming year,” Joseph said.

In regards to Vision 2020, both candidates

stressed the importance of helping adminis-tration by opening up communication with students. Joseph elaborated by saying the com-munication needs to be between the students and SBP as well as the SBP and administration.

“In regards to what the student govern-ment can do to help further this goal, it has to be about communication,” Joseph said. “[It’s about] making sure that we as the student government have the relationship with the administration and with the students on cam-pus to ensure that what is best for the students and ultimately for Texas A&M is being done.”

Nerren said in regards to Vision 2020 that a construction needed to be communicated bet-ter to students. He wants to establish a traffic and construction text update much like Code Maroon that students can sign up for.

“Traffic is one of the biggest things people think about when they hear Vision 2020,” Nerren said. “Something they can hold on to is a traffic update.”

When left to answer the question of what crucial thing they wanted to be changed should they be elected, Nerren said he wanted to bridge the disconnect between the student body and the student government and reach tangible goals.

Joseph said he wants to see BUILD 2013 do what Aggie Bonfire did for past generations: unite a campus.

Junior agricultural systems management major, Brandon Behrens, said he felt the de-bate questions and responses of the students better addressed the actual role of the student body president.

“If I’m being completely honest, I think it is pretty even,” Behrens said. “I feel like there were a lot of questions that both candidates felt the same on.”

DebateContinued from page 1

national newsCoast guard says cruise fire started with leak

A leak in a fuel oil return line caused the engine-room fire that disabled a Carnival cruise ship at sea, leaving 4,200 people without power or working toilets for five days, a Coast Guard official said Monday.Cmdr. Teresa Hatfield addressed the finding in a conference call with reporters and estimated that the investigation of the disabled ship, the Carnival Triumph, would take six months. Hatfield said the Bahamas —where the ship is registered, or flagged — is leading the investigation, with the Coast Guard and National Transportation Safety Board representing U.S. interests in the probe. The vessel was in international waters at the time of the incident. She said investigators have been with the ship since it arrived Thursday in Mobile. Since then, she

said, interviews have been conducted with passengers and crew and forensic analysis has been performed on the ship. She said the crew responded appropriately to the fire. “They did a very good job,” she said. In an email after Monday’s conference call, Coast Guard spokesman Carlos Diaz described the oil return line that leaked as stretching from the ship’s No. 6 engine to the fuel tank. A Carnival Cruise Lines spokesman said in an email Monday that the company agrees with the Coast Guard’s findings about the fire source.

The Associated Press

BAT_02-19-13_A2.indd 1 2/19/13 12:45 AM

@battsports

and sports passes by $17.22 per home game ($120.54 for a seven game season). The SGA referendum asks if stu-dents support a UAF increase to cover 40 percent of the cost to renovate the east side of Kyle Field and an increase in sports pass prices to cover the remaining 60 percent.

The A&M administration survey question will ask if students support a funding framework with a larger em-phasis on a UAF increase.

Students will be asked in the email whether they sup-port increasing the UAF $2.42 per student credit hour ($36.30 for full time students per semester) and sports pass-es by $11.48 per home game ($80.36 for a seven game season). The survey question from the A&M administration will ask if students support that the UAF cover 60 percent of the cost to renovate the east side of Kyle Field and sports passes cover the remaining 40 percent.

Cook said the A&M ad-ministration does not sup-port the use of existing UAF monies for purposes outside “core academic and student support services.”

To fund the renovation of the east side of Kyle Field, the administration needs a stable revenue source to support

30-year bonds.“It’s great when A&M has

11 wins, but we have to ac-count for down seasons,” Cook said in reference to a mandatory fee being more stable than sports pass sales, which could fluctuate with team performance.

Of the $95 million cost to renovate the east side, students are expected to pay $75 million.

Torn said student involve-ment fits in accordance with the planned purpose of a “shared vision” for renovations that include but go beyond the creation of a more intimidating environment for opponents and a more enjoyable stadium experience for fans.

“Because of the platform of the Southeastern Confer-ence, because of the evolu-tion of the University, what we’re trying to do is use Kyle Field as a window into tell-ing our story as a University culture,” Torn said.

All of Kyle Field will have wi-fi, which Torn said is a part of unprecedented tech-nological advancements in the stadium.

“Technologically, it will be the finest stadium in the country,” Torn said.

Wider concourses and increased access points will make the stadium as much as four or five times easier to exit, Torn said.

And though the capacity of the east side will increase

slightly, Torn said student seating will not be diminished and students will not be asked to pay for aspects of the reno-vations that don’t affect them.

“We looked at the total cost of the redevelopment of the east side, then we took out all the costs that weren’t associated with the students and just applied the costs that are relevant and connected to the student experience,” Torn said.

The limestone, brick and glass exterior bears a resem-blance to another recent sta-dium upgrade: Blue Bell Park at Olsen Field. Torn said the similarities are intentional.

“We’re trying to create a look complementary to Blue Bell Park because it’s a strong, classic, traditional look and we’re a strong, classic, tradi-tional — but forward- think-ing — University,” Torn said.

Torn said the order in which the renovations will take place makes evident the University’s commitment to the student body.

“Our plan is to redevelop the student side before the alumni side and that’s inten-tional,” Torn said.

The administration’s sur-vey will be made available to students via email on Wednesday and will close at 11:59 p.m. the same day, while the SGA referendum will take place online during student body elections.

Jan. 10 on its home court. This time, despite home court advantage, the Aggies failed to produce a different outcome.

Senior forward Kristi Bellock said the cir-cumstances made the loss hard to take.

“This was definitely a tough loss com-ing off of eight straight wins,” Bellock said. “They were the last team we lost to, so we’re just really upset with ourselves. It’s another learning experience.”

A&M trailed by 14 points with just over nine minutes remaining, but Walker would pour in 14 points over the final eight min-utes, including the last 10 for A&M. After she scored with 4.5 seconds left and drew a foul, Walker intentionally missed the free throw to give A&M a final attempt, but Ken-tucky secured the rebound to seal the game.

“When Walker went down to cut it to two and shoot the free-throw to cut it to one, I was not going to take a chance on stealing the inbound when we have not pressed all game,” Blair said about Walker’s layup and free-throw attempt. “I told Walk-er to miss it, which was our best chance to win it.”

The Aggies got off to a strong start as they went on a 9-0 run early in the game, but the Wildcats would come back with a 5-0 run in just 12 seconds to keep the game within reach.

A&M led for the first 10 minutes of the game but Kentucky took the lead late in the first half and went into halftime with a six-point lead.

At the beginning of the second half, the Aggies came out strong, closing in on the Wildcats 42-40. But due to the double teaming of junior All-American candidate Kelsey Bone — who turned the ball over seven times and scored nine points — A&M had to find another outlet to make the shots.

Bellock grabbed seven rebounds in the second half to keep the Aggies in the game. By the end of the game she had a double-double with a career-high 15 rebounds and 12 points.

Walker’s “Jordan act” wasn’t enough to win a ninth in a row, as Kentucky guard A’dia Mathies led Kentucky with 13 points and DeNesha Stallworth recorded 12 points and 12 rebounds.

“It was go hard or go home,” Walker said. “If you’re not aggressive, they’re go-ing to get a bucket. I was just trying to be aggressive and focus a lot more on where I needed to be.”

BasketballContinued from page 1

sports thebattalion 2.19.2013

page3

Conceptual design of the east side of Kyle Field features wider concourses, improved concessions and modern restrooms.

Courtesy: 12th Man Foundation

Kyle FieldContinued from page 1

Junior center Kelsey Bone was held to nine points and gave up seven turnovers.

Tanner Garza — THE BATTALION

Total 3-Ptr

## Player FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA Points Assists Blocks Reb Minutes

01 Courtney Williams 3-7 0-0 1-2 7 1 0 3 2705 Kristi Bellock 5-10 0-0 2-2 12 4 1 15 3703 Kelsey Bone 4-8 0-0 1-2 9 4 0 10 3432 Adrienne Pratcher 5-11 2-5 0-2 12 3 0 3 3733 Courtney Walker 7-11 0-1 6-7 20 3 0 6 2515 Tori Scott 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 0 1020 Peyton Little 1-5 0-3 0-0 2 1 0 0 1324 Jordan Jones 1-1 0-0 0-0 2 0 0 0 834 Karla Gilbert 1-2 0-0 0-3 2 1 0 0 9

Totals 27-57 2-9 10-18 66 15 1 41 200

BAT_02-19-13_A3.indd 1 2/19/13 12:29 AM

understands that an increase in fees will be necessary with projects such as the Kyle Field renovation. Ultimately, Ner-ren said he will do what is best for students.

“I will do what the stu-dents think is best. I feel like an increase in fees is going to have to happen,” Nerren said. “We’re getting a ton of money from donors and alumni to pay for this, but I think that the students are going to have to play a role as well. As much as I want to keep student fees low, I think on certain topics we are going to have to bump that up a little bit.”

Plans for Student Government

If elected, Joseph said he wants to increase diver-sity within student govern-ment, specifically by building a cabinet with representatives from as many facets of campus as possible.

“I do assure and commit to making sure that we have the best people for the student body,” Joseph said. “And that means representative of the student body.”

If elected, Joseph said he plans to conduct an admin-istration with transparency and accountability.

thebattalion

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CandidatesContinued from page 1

Favorite super hero?RJ: BatmanGN: Batman

Who would play you in a movie about your life?RJ: John WayneGN: Ferris Bueller

Favorite corny joke?RJ: I used to be a really indecisive person; now I’m not sure.GN: Are you a parking ticket? Because you have “fine” written all over you.

What do you like on your sandwich?RJ: BBQ with lots of BBQ sauceGN: turkey, lettuce, pepper jack cheese

What is your favorite childhood Halloween costume?RJ: John WayneGN: Batman

Favorite childhood cartoon?RJ: Scooby-DooGN: Dennis the Menace

The important questions...

Nerren said he believes it is necessary to make an intentional effort to con-nect students and student government.

“I think personally that there is a kind of disconnect between the Student Govern-ment Association and the rest of the student body,” Ner-ren said. “I feel like students see SGA as this distant orga-nization. Granted, it does do a lot of great things — things that students don’t necessar-ily know [are] done through SGA, like Replant and Car-pool. I think the biggest thing is the breakdown of commu-nication.”

Both candidates said open

and constructive communica-tion between the student body president and Student Senate would be vital in creating the best possible solutions for the student body.

“It’s coming together to set aside some differences and work together to create a more unified SGA,” Joseph said. “I feel like that’s one of the things that we can always be improv-ing on. When we don’t have a unified SGA, it’s really hurting the students.”

Organization Affiliation

Though each candidate stressed the importance of maintaining a diverse cabi-

net and administration, the candidates have been asked how their organizational back-grounds at Texas A&M affect their candidacy for student body president.

“I am a Greek candidate, but this is not a Greek campaign,” Nerren said.

He said his campaign team is made up of people from several organizations across campus.

“People from many differ-ent walks of life at Texas A&M are a part of this campaign team and they are bringing their goals that their groups would like to see accomplished,” Nerren said.

Nerren said his involvement in other organizations such as Freshman Aggies Spreading Traditions and Interfraternity Council has allowed him to meet and interact with many people in different organiza-tions. He said he believed it was important to connect to these Aggies individually.

“I enjoy meeting people on a one-on-one basis,” Ner-ren said. “One of my favor-ite parts of this campaign has been connecting with Ag-gies one-on-one, hearing their story and where they came from.”

Joseph said his time in the Corps of Cadets has greatly equipped him for the position of student body president.

“I do believe that my time in the Corps of Cadets has been something that has greatly prepared me,” Joseph said. “I believe that following is abso-lutely paramount before learn-ing how to lead. We definitely learned how to follow. I think it’s a great learning process.”

While Joseph takes great pride in his membership in the Corps of Cadets, he said it will simply be one of the many im-portant subsets of campus that will be represented by his ad-ministration.

“I obviously can’t hide it — I am a member of the Corps of Cadets. I’m proud of that, Joseph said. “But I realize that we’re 2,200 students. This [is a] 50,000-student University — that is a very, very small part of the University. That’s not our mission with this campaign, to simply represent the Corps of Cadets. Yes, we will be rep-resenting the Corps of Cadets, but we will also be representing the other groups on campus.”

Joseph has also been in-volved in organizations such as Maroon Coats, Fish Aides and Traditions Council.

Plans If ElectedNerren said he is proud of

the concrete goals he has cre-ated within his campaign, and looks forward to actively pur-suing them.

“One of our biggest things that we’re priding ourselves on is all these new ideas we have,” Nerren said. “In the past, I feel like we’ve seen a lot of vague generalities, but we have tan-gible goals.”

If elected, Joseph said he would be excited about implementing Build 2013. Students will come together to construct a house to do-nate to a deserving family in the community.

“It’s not going to replace bonfire,” Joseph said. “But in the same spirit, it will bring all of campus together by uniting us under the tradition of selfless service.”

Nerren’s said his team has plans to pursue a list of goals ranging from reducing meal plan costs to pulling football tickets online.

Both candidates have also emphasized their objectives to connect the office of the stu-dent body president to the stu-dent body. Joseph said he will create a position for a vice pres-ident of community outreach that will work with a commit-tee to connect the SGA and the student body.

Nerren said he will hold student body president office hours.

“I feel students have ideas on how to make A&M bet-ter, they just don’t always know where to take them,” Nerren said.

Trevor Stevens contributed to this article

BAT_02-19-13_A4.indd 1 2/19/13 12:52 AM

page52.19.2013thebattalion

lifestylesb!

Texas A&M Cupcakes offers a sweet and satisfying experience that com-

bines baking tasty treats with feeding the hungry.

Texas A&M Cupcakes is a nonprofit organization, formed last spring, that promotes care for those in need by giv-ing all proceeds collected from each bake sale to the Brazos Valley Food Bank. The organization was established by presi-dent and junior marketing major Kenly Ashbrook and her love for baking and her dream of becoming a culinary chef.

Ashbrook said the organization’s pop-ularity was largely underestimated with its initial establishment.

“We are just a bunch of people who love to bake and love giving back to the community,” Ashbrook said. “We weren’t expecting many to show up to our meetings, but we received such a big

crowd that we were considered a ‘fire hazard’ inside Evans Library, and told to find a new meeting place.”

The members provide all of the baked goods for the sales, and cupcake workshops are offered throughout the semester to assist with learning proper culinary skills. Members often meet off campus. Cooking utensils are provided as the members learn about quality and cupcake preparation techniques.

Taylor Phillips, junior English major and vice president of Texas A&M Cup-cakes, said precise instruction is given for cupcake presentation.

“Icing workshops have been set up and each member is given an icing tip, where they are taught how to make drop flowers, flowers out of marshmal-lows and any other tips we are able to give them on cupcake presentation,” Phillips said.

Each member is expected to bake at least one dozen cupcakes for each bake

sale, as the sale averages $300 in revenue to be donated to the Brazos Valley Food Bank. The cupcakes are baked a few days in advance in the kitchen of each mem-ber. Members are allowed to bake their recipe of choice and are encouraged to concoct original and unique flavors.

Kinsley Ten Napel, the fundraising officer of the organization, said many cupcake flavors are available.

“Some of the interesting recipes that are sold are chocolate, red velvet, pump-kin spice and blueberry cupcakes,” Na-pel said.

With the affiliation with the Brazos Valley Food Bank, this fundraising has helped the food bank experience a 59 percent increase in demand for food during the past year, because with ev-ery $1 donated, 5 pounds of food are distributed.

Emily VillaniThe Battalion

Cupcakes bring flavor to philanthropy

Jenna Rabel — THE BATTALION

From left: Freshman Audrie Petter, freshman Allison Calzada and senior Lyndsey Jackson sell homemade cupcakes in the Wehner building Wednesday.

Feet hit the floor in tempo, articulating a choreographed culture and diversity. The

Philippine Student Association is an organi-zation that celebrates culture, students and dance.

The Philippine Student Association at A&M was the first Philippine student organization in Texas and celebrated its 30th anniversary last year. Dance — both cultural and modern — is a major aspect of what the organiza-tion, known as PhilSA, participates in. The group often performs at mul-ticultural events around campus.

“We’re known around campus as ‘that group who always carries around those huge bamboo sticks,’” said Kris Ladera, senior industrial engineering major and president of PhilSA.

With his extensive piano back-ground and involvement in high school band, music has always been a prominent theme in Ladera’s life. It was music that initially drew him to PhilSA toward the end of his fresh-man year.

“I got into it because of dance, and PhilSA is the biggest thing in my college ca-reer right now,” Ladera said. “PhilSA’s much more than dance, but it’s how I got into the group.”

In addition to cultural dance performances,

many members participate in a dance com-petition called the GoodPhil Games every spring. Preparation for this event entails cho-reographing and learning hip-hop numbers.

Both Ladera and junior chemistry major Gabriel Dang choreograph some of the sets PhilSA members perform. Dang said he is mo-tivated and driven as a dancer to create some-

thing truly original, to break stereotypes and to spread culture.

“PhilSA’s main goal is not to win, but rath-er to work hard and to bond with our friends to create something we can all be proud of,”

Dang said.Senior film production and economics ma-

jor Rico Nelson also choreographs. For Nel-son, dancing is a liberating and communica-tive experience.

“Dancing clears my mind and says what my words can’t,” Nelson said. “Choreographing is sharing my emotions and letting others feel

what I feel.”Ladera often

draws inspiration from other chore-ographers. He said he tries to link the moves with the im-agery already em-bedded in the lyrics of a song.

“I like seeing wordplay and I like seeing properly hit beats,” Ladera said. “The artistry comes more from how the choreographer in-terprets and express-es, and how they spread that message to other people.”

Ladera remem-bers when he was first asked to choreograph a piece a year after he joined. He had never choreographed anything before.

Now, as a seasoned choreographer in a leadership position, Ladera has the chance

to offer others the same opportunity he was given.

“We have three new choreographers this year and I couldn’t be more proud of them,” Ladera said.

A common misconception about PhilSA is that you have to be Filipino to join.

“Anyone can join PhilSA,” Ladera said. “We actually pride ourselves on being one of the more diverse Asian groups on campus.”

Sophomore biochemistry major Blatene Wade said outsiders to the group often as-sume PhilSA is just another cultural group that unites all the Filipino students at A&M.

“PhilSA is so much more than that,” Wade said. “It’s an organization that prides itself on the diversity and friendship of its members. It teaches and promotes Filipino culture, and it gives great opportunities to dance and for people to learn how to dance.”

Cassandra FournetThe Battalion

COURTESY

The Philippine Student Association combines dance and culture in its performances, which often take place on campus.

Club promotes culture, dance

BAT_02-19-13_A5.indd 1 2/19/13 12:19 AM

thebattalion

newspage 6

tuesday 2.19.2013

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the battalionClassified

Advertising• Easy

• Affordable• Effective

For information, call845-0569

Extend-by-phone option available for parking fees

Students leading busy lives on weekends don’t intend to end their night with a park-

ing citation. Texas A&M Transportation Ser-vices has provided a solution to this potential issue.

Extend-by-Phone is a new service that al-lows students to extend the amount of time allotted to their pay space by using their cell-phones, helping students who pay with a credit card avoid potential parking fines.

“Extend-by-Phone is a fairly new industry service,” said June Broughton, marketing and communications manager for Transportation Services. “We are constantly researching new and better ways to provide service for our cus-tomers and visitors.”

When paying at a pay-by-space machine at lot 51 by the Bonfire Memorial, Northside Garage or several West Campus lots, custom-ers are given the opportunity to provide their cellphone numbers. This allows customers to receive a text message alert when the expira-tion time approaches. The customer may then text back and pay for more time. This service,

Chris Scoggins The Battalion

transportation services

started by Transportation Services last fall, is relatively inexpensive for the department.

“It costs our department $10 a month per machine and 25 cents per transaction to pro-vide this service,” said Dell Hamilton, manager of facilities access and maintenance for Trans-portation Services.

There are some limitations to the flexibility of the program. If customers pay with cash at their pay space, they will be unable to extend their time. Customers also must respond to the text alert in a timely manner.

“Once a customer receives the text message to extend their time, they have 10 minutes to respond or they will no longer have the option to extend by phone,” said Lynn Wiggs, manag-er of special events for Transportation Services.

Broughton said the flexibility of the service to allow students and customers the option to extend their parking will not result in more severe fines for overdue pay spots. The service

does not require an account, but repeat users can sign up for an account, which allows them to pay parking fees by phone without using a pay-by-space machine.

Transportation Services also has other pro-grams to help customers with parking related items, such as the “Park Me” app.

“Our new ‘Park Me’ app gives real-time occupancy, rates, hours of operation and ac-cepted payment types for several visitor parking facilities right on your smartphone or desktop,” Broughton said.

These programs provide students with flex-ibility and help fulfill the mission of Transporta-tion Services.

“Transportation Services is dedicated to providing an efficient, dynamic and innovative parking and transit services to the community,” Broughton said. “This program and other new services provide that innovative service.”

Tanner Garza — THE BATTALION

Saad Khan, junior nuclear engineering major, checks out the pay-by-phone machine Monday at Northside garage.

BAT_02-19-13_A6.indd 1 2/18/13 9:38 PM

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battalionClassified

AdvertisingEasy

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For information, call845-0569

the

Pre-order your 2013 Aggieland yearbook for $81.19, including shipping and sales tax, and $AVE.The 111th edition of Texas A&M’s official yearbook will chronicle the 2012-2013 school year — traditions, academics, the other education, sports, the Corps, Greeks, ResLife, campus organizations and seniors and graduate students. Distribution of the 2013 Aggieland will be during Fall 2013.Go to http://aggieland.tamu.edu or call 979-845-2696 to pre-order by credit card. Or drop by the Student Media office, Suite L400 in the MSC. Cash, check, VISA, MasterCard, Discover and American Express accepted.

Memories fade.Yearbooks last a Lifetime.

thebattalion

news page 7

tuesday 2.19.2013

Campus-wide campaign

Tanner Garza — THE BATTALION

Student volunteers stand outside Monday at the H2O fountain promoting candidates for the upcoming student body elections.

The BaTTalion is published daily, Monday through Friday during the fall and spring semesters and Tuesday and Thursday during the summer session (except University holidays and exam periods) at Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843. Offices are in Suite L400 of the Memorial Student Center.

News: The Battalion news department is managed by students at Texas A&M University in Student Media, a unit of the Division of Student Affairs. Newsroom phone: 979-845-3315; email: editor@thebatt.com; website: http://www.thebatt.com.

Advertising: Publication of advertising does not imply sponsorship or endorsement by The Battalion. For campus, local, and national display advertising, call 979-845-2687. For classified advertising, call 979-845-0569. Office hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Email: battads@thebatt.com.

Subscriptions: A part of the Student Services Fee entitles each Texas A&M student to pick up a single copy of The Battalion. First copy free, additional copies $1. Call 979-845-2696 for mail subscriptions.

whoweareThe Battalion staff represents every college on the campus, including undergraduates and graduate students. The leadership of The Battalion welcomes students to participate in the First Amendment in action as you utilize your student newspaper. We are students.

Senior English major Trevor Stevens, editor-in-chief

b-csFuneral arrangements made for firefighterAuthorities say funeral services for one of two Central Texas firefighters killed in a weekend blaze will be held Friday.A service is scheduled for Bryan fire

Lt. Gregory Pickard before his burial in College Station. Authorities had previously announced Thursday services for Bryan fire Lt. Eric Wallace. Bryan city spokeswoman Mary Lynn Stratta said Bryan firefighters Ricky Mantey and Mitch Moran are in stable but guarded condition.

The Associated Press

Texas A&M to address fixed-rate tuition option

After a decade of rising tuition costs, Gov. Rick Perry has pushed universities to of-

fer fixed-rate tuition to help students and their families budget for college.

The University of Texas System on Thurs-day ordered their campuses to offer a four-year, fixed-rate tuition option by fall of 2014 in an effort to encourage students to graduate on time.

The UT–Dallas campus has been using a mandatory fixed-rate tuition plan since 2008 and UT–El Paso has been offering an optional plan since 2006.

Texas A&M has not yet released a fixed-rate tuition plan.

“We are obviously aware of the action tak-en last week by the UT System, and our team is in the process of running various financial

models in order to properly evaluate such a possibility for Texas A&M,” said University spokesman Jason Cook. “We have not yet reached a conclusion at this stage.”

Cook said A&M has a reputation for having one of the best higher education values in the country and remains committed to quality and affordability for students.

In recent years, Texas college students have faced significant tuition spikes, with the av-erage student at a state university paying 55 percent more than a decade ago, according to a Dallas Morning News analysis.

Until 2003, Texas had set tuition caps to help make a college education more afford-able. Due to a significant budget gap that year, lawmakers cut state funding to universi-ties that allowed campuses to set their own tuition rates.

Julie Blanco The Battalion

higher ed

BAT_02-19-13_A7.indd 1 2/18/13 10:07 PM

Larger entrances and concourses. New restrooms. Enhanced concessions.A stunning exterior. And prime seating, just as you have today.

Join previous generations of Aggie students and help us renovateand expand Kyle Field.

VOTE “YES” FORTHE KYLE FIELD RENOVATION!

Check your NEO email soon for details on the student vote.

BAT_02-19-13_A8.indd 1BAT_02-19-13_A8.indd 1 2/18/13 9:08:19 AM2/18/13 9:08:19 AM