thebattalion ● thursday,
february 13, 2014
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texas a&m since 1893
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student government
Senators prohibited from sharing impeachment information Joseph denies claims made in J-Court appeal Jennifer Reiley The Battalion
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n the wake of the impeachment of Student Body President Reid Joseph on Tuesday, little information has been disclosed by the Student Senate. Speaker Chris Russo said in an email to the senate that senators are not permitted to release information about the charges brought against Joseph under threat of impeachment, in accordance with senate by-laws.
“The specific charges brought may not be disclosed outside of executive session by anyone other than the indicted person,” the by-laws read. “Violating this subsection constitutes grounds for impeachment.” In the email, Russo also detailed the framework of the trial. In order for Joseph to be impeached, the Senate must have a three-fourths vote for his removal. Fernando Sosa, senate rules and regulations chair, will preside over the trial. A Judicial Court appeal against Joseph scheduled for Wednesday, filed by Cary Cheshire, the same senator who filed for Joseph’s impeachment, was dropped. In
the appeal, Cheshire said Joseph failed to file a letter to the Board of Regents along with other University entities about that the NASFRA Enaction clause. The appeal stated the Board of Regents said it did not receive a letter and that Joseph should be required to show proof that a letter was written in the first place. Joseph denied those claims. “I have an email from the executive director of the Board of Regents, Vickie Spillers, stating that they did receive the bill, SB 66-11 at their office,” Joseph said. “I also have an email saying the same thing from Matt Fry, the University chief of staff.”
inside House of Koldus | 3 Concerning student body president Reid Joseph’s impeachment, editorin-chief Jake Walker explains what he thinks you should know, and whose side he’s standing with.
GET READY FOR GOOGLE
Google COMPOSE Inbox Starred Important Sent Mail Drafts More
A&M shakes Zimbra server for Gmail Jennifer Reiley, The Battalion
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tarting this May, Texas A&M will begin to wean students and faculty off the Zimbra email server in favor of Gmail accounts. Keith Pattison, student representative for the Email Selection Advisory Committee and senior computer science major, said the transition to Gmail would be an improvement from the current Zimbra server. “The email we currently use is very complicated and a clunky interface and basically straight out of 1990,” Pattison said. “Students are used to
using cloud-based web products like Facebook and used to things being simple to use and not really hard to send an email like it is on the current interface. I know some students forward their email to Gmail anyway.” Tyler Mandry, senior computer science and applied mathematics major, first brought the proposal to switch to Google email in March 2013 when he served as academic affairs chair for Student Senate. The “Go Google” bill he wrote requested that the University consider switching from the neo server to Google. “I am an avid Gmail user, and the
first thing I did when I signed up for an email account as a freshman was forward everything to my gmail account,” Mandry said. “I just couldn’t stand the interface the University was providing. When I heard Google was offering the service for free to universities, I couldn’t believe we weren’t already using it.” Mandry said he was initially met by criticism when he first developed the idea for the Google bill, but found a way to take the negative and turn it into a positive. See Google on page 2
engineering extension service
Donation strengthens A&M corporate partnership Samantha Latta The Battalion
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ne of the largest live-fire training facilities in the world, the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service’s Brayton Fire Training Field, provides the initial and continuing education of first responders. With a $500,000 donation from Phillips 66, the training field moves another step closer to executing its 20-year expansion plan. Bob Herman, senior vice president of health, safety and environment projects and procurement for Phillips 66, presented on Wednesday the ceremonial check to Robert Moore, chief of Brayton Fire Training Field. “The donation itself is great, but what the partnership
signifies is even more important,” Moore said. “We don’t try to treat this as a business, we try to treat it as a relationship — we build relationships, which this donation signifies. The more relationships we can build, the more longevity this training facility will have.” Herman said the relationship between Phillips 66 and Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service is a great partnership. “It’s my pleasure to continue what’s been a great partnership not only with the Extension Service and the fire school, but also with the University itself,” Herman said. “When we come here, we customize our school for our
Division director Robert Moore (from left), TEEX agency director Gary Sera, Bob Herman and Steve Pepper display Phillips 66’s donation.
See Fire School on page 4
Jenna Rabel — THE BATTALION
Jones scores 19, leads Aggies to win Conner Darland The Battalion
1ST FINAL 2ND ehind a 19-point performance by junior guard Jamal Jones, the Texas A&M men’s basketball team prevailed 83-73 over the LSU Tigers. Texas A&M (14-10, 5-6 SEC) started slowly in the first half, allowing the Tigers (15-8, 6-5 SEC) to open on an 8-2 run. Freshman forward Devonte Fitzgerald scored eight points in a 46-second span to help the Aggies take an 18-10 lead. The Aggie bench kept A&M in the game as it outscored the Tigers’ bench 33-4. With 1:40 to go in the first half, Fitzgerald left the game with an apparent knee injury, but managed to put weight on it with help from the training staff. In the second half, junior forward Kourtney Roberson threw down a dunk on LSU forward Jordan Mickey to extend the A&M lead to 50-39. The Aggies closed out the second half shooting 52 percent from the field. LSU had four players score in double figures with Shavon Coleman leading all scorers with 21 points. A&M shot 48 percent for the game and held LSU to just 25 percent from three-point range. Kourtney Roberson added a double-double performance, scoring 12 points and grabbing 10 rebounds to help the Aggies win the rebounding battle 39-32. A&M will next hit the hardwood as it travels to take on the Vanderbilt Commodores at 12:30 p.m. SatJayavel Arumugam — THE BATTALION urday in Memorial Gymnasium in Junior guard Jamal Jones drives to the basket against Jarell Nashville, Tenn. Martin in the Aggies 83-73 win Wednesday at Reed Arena. Jones finished the game with a team-high 19 points.
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Roger Zhang — THE BATTALION
Phil Shackelford, Class of 2006, addresses the crowd as part of the Wiley Lecture Series “A Swing in the South: Texas’ Future in American Politics” Wednesday in Rudder Tower.
Panel differs on Texas’ future as swing state Alex Nelowet The Battalion
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he first MSC Wiley Lecture Series event of the semester, “A Swing in the South: Texas’ Future in American Politics,” gave three speakers a platform Wednesday to discuss the future of Texas politics. Phil Shackelford, former democratic field representative; John Jackson, republican victory director; and Harvey Tucker, political science professor, spoke on a variety of topics that included community engagement and the 2014 gubernatorial race. The future politics of Texas will be greatly affected by the surge in the number of Latino
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voters in the state, but it does not necessarily mean the state will turn blue, Shackelford said. “Demographics are changing greatly and how that affects elections remains to be seen because it would really not do our due diligence to say that just because Hispanics are going to surpass Anglos as a population segment that democrats are going to get elected,” Shackelford said. “I think that it is not quite the right thing to say. But what it does says is that we have the opportunity to earn their respect, earn their vote and ultimately earn the trust of Texas’s entire population.” Full story at thebatt.com
Texas A&M 83, LSU 73
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