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march 2, 2012
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Legett Hall reclaims basement dorms Maegan Valdez Special to The Battalion
Roger Zhang — THE BATTALION
Legett Hall basement is currently occupied by Women and Gender Studies.
Legett Hall is finally reclaiming the basement for student residence after more than a year of student involvement in petitioning for the change. The basement has been apart of student residence for most of Legett Hall’s 101-year history, but since 2001 has been used as office space. The basement has served as headquarters for the department of Residence Life and, most recently, has been occupied by the women and gender studies department. New space has opened up on campus because of the philosophy department’s move from Bolton to the YMCA building. The
vacated space is about 8,310 square feet and includes the entire third floor, a portion of the second floor and the computer lab in the basement. It was requested and approved that this vacated space in Bolton be used for interdisciplinary programs in liberal arts, including women and gender studies. The upcoming change will help open up more room for students that want to live on campus. At the beginning of the year, Legett Hall was at 101 percent capacity — meaning girls were living in study rooms and lounges. “I think it’s a really good change because we need more space since three dorms were torn down in North side and won’t be finished for a very long time,” said Cynthia Young, Legett Hall resident and junior biomedical sciences major.
Many students and student-led organizations were involved in returning the ground floor to living space. Legett Hall Council President Lori Bumguardner drafted the legislation recommending the change that was passed through the Residence Hall Association as well as the Student Senate. “It was student led initiative that got the ball rolling,” said Brian McDonald, RHA president and senior political science major. “This year we really did work with a lot more students. Really this was a campaign of unifying people behind this common cause and getting them to work with us.” McDonald said there was an attempt last See Legett on page 2
Decision time
James Thompson — THE BATTALION
Students will learn whether Thomas McNutt or John Claybrook will be Texas A&M’s next student body president when runoff results are announced Friday at 7:30 p.m. at the Sul Ross Statue. Runoff voting began Thursday and continues through 5 p.m. Friday at vote.tamu.edu.
thebatt.com baseball A&M to play Michigan State Aggies kick off a threeday series against Big 10 favorite Michigan State at 6:35 p.m. in Blue Bell Park.
softball Aggies begin home stand The Aggies battle Texas State, Nebraska and Houston in the weekend long A&M invitational starting with a 5:15 p.m. opening pitch against the Bobcats.
fashion blog Double takes Can dressing well bring up your GPR? The Battalion’s Style Spectator asks this question and more in his latest blog.
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vision inspired
Student photographers capture campus Owen Herterich The Battalion For some people, the term “photography” means little more than posing for the annual school picture or snapping vacation shots at the beach. For Matthew Wong, sophomore finance major, photography is a lifestyle. “My first camera was a disposable camera in kindergarten. As a kid, my parents let me handle the camcorder everywhere we went. I started to grow in photography and enjoy it more and more,” Wong said. Last year, Wong founded Vision Inspired, a student organization dedicated to promoting photography on both a personal basis and at Texas A&M. A photographer all his life, Wong came to Texas A&M and realized that there was no photography organization he could join to pursue his hobby.
“I first created the group because there wasn’t a photography organization on campus. Texas A&M isn’t known as an art school, but I know there’s talent for photography here,” Wong said. Vision Inspired is one of the only student organizations in Texas dedicated to the advancement of photography as a lifestyle. No such groups exist even at large universities including the University of Texas and Baylor. At around 30 members, the group has students of varying experience, from beginners to veteran photographers. Each week the students involved in Vision Inspired meet on campus to take photographs of the many buildings and statues. “Everyone takes photos for around 10 Roger Zhang — THE BATTALION
See Vision on page 4 Vision Inspired is a visual art student organization with a
focus on photography, photo sharing and collaboration.
campus elections
Procedural error in RHA president election leads to runoff Jonathan Webb The Battalion Mason Lanham was elected 2012 Residence Hall Association president Tuesday night, but because appropriate election procedure was not followed, Lanham and runner-up John Houdek will face off in a runoff election. Senior political science major and current RHA president Brian McDonald said incorrect election procedure led to the late runoff announcement. Because the only student who
registered to be on the ballot was disqualified, Lanham and Houdek were write-in candidates. “These races are followed by a runoff if there is no clear majority. In this instance, there was a winner declared with no runoff,” McDonald said. “We must do a reelection now.” Election Commissioner Kyle Jackson couldn’t be reached for comment. Lanham said he was surprised and a bit confused when he heard that a
runoff would be required after he was declared the winner Tuesday night. “I had assumed that with the low amount of votes that winning by such a small margin was acceptable,” said Lanham, who received 58 votes to Houdek’s 51. “I’m not sure why they would decide to announce results and then recant them the way they did, and that goes for all the elections including the senior yell positions.” While agitated by the predica-
thebatt.com Vote tallies ◗ Follow The Battalion’s Twitter, @thebattonline, for live election results Friday ◗ Check online for updates on campaign violations
See RHA on page 4
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