thebattalion l monday,
february 25, 2013
l serving
texas a&m since 1893
l first paper free – additional copies $1 l © 2013 student media
Replant helps restore Bastrop Students reforest park destroyed by 2010 wildfires Aimee Breaux
The Battalion ore than a year after a fire engulfed nearly 96 percent of Bastrop State Park, destroying the current ecosystem and leaving the land prone to erosion, volunteers with Aggie Replant helped the Texas Parks and Wildlife Association take another step on the road to recovery. More than 700 volunteers partic-
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More than 700 volunteers travel to Bastrop State Park to help replant trees in an effort to reverse the effects of the 2010 forest fires.
ipated in the Lost Pines Campaign during the last two weekends. According to senior engineering technology major and Replant board of directors member Bradford Wettig, the summation of all the volunteers’ work amounts to around 12,000 to 15,000 newly planted saplings and trees. “It was unprecendented,” Wettig said. “It’s not something we’ve ever done before, but I think it went great and we had lots of volunteers show up.” Not only was a significant impact made on the environment, Wettig said, but students also generally held
positive attitudes and a good work ethic throughout the weekends. “When we had to be back to meet the deadline to get the buses back, we had to actually pull some people away from planting,” Wettig said. Replant member and sophomore general studies major Austin Allen said students initially got into the spirit of the campaign after hearing the speakers talk to volunteers on the first day. “I attended the first day of it and I think a lot of [volunteers] didn’t really know what they were getting See Replant on page 2
Students elect representatives Student body votes Reid Joseph, Five for Yell
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inside Q&A | 4 Joseph’s reaction after election See page 4 to hear how Reid Joseph will prepare for his new role as the next student body president.
voices | 5 Much ado about nothing
Photos by Roger Zhang — THE BATTALION
(Top) Five for Yell huddles in anticipation of yell leader election results Friday night in Academic Plaza. (Bottom) Reid Joseph shouts in celebration of being named the next student body president.
Read why the Kyle Field Renovation Fee Referendum discredited a valuable opportunity to gauge student opinion about a $75 million problem.
swimming & diving
Records fall at SEC meet Krishnan Seshadrinathan
The Battalion fter a weekend in which she broke SEC, NCAA, American and U.S. Open records, Breeja Larson found satisfaction in improving just one mark: her own personal best. “It’s special, but I kind of see it as ‘I broke my best time’ just like Cammile [Adams] and Paige [Miller] broke their best times,” the Olympian Larson said. “It is still special, but to me it’s kind of like you want to do your best time every time. If it happens to break the record, it’s a bonus. Racing is fun and going fast is fun, so this was a fun night for me.” Larson, Adams and more broke records at the A&M Recreation Center and Natatorium as the women’s and men’s swimming and diving teams finished second and seventh, respectively, at the first-ever SEC championship meet in A&M history. The first place in the men’s team competition went to Florida, which managed to break Auburn’s 16-year winning streak while Georgia won its fourth straight women’s team title. The A&M women were in contention for first place until the last day. Larson, who also won the SEC Female Swimmer of the Year, led the way for the Aggies with wins in the 400-medley, 100-breaststroke and the 200-breaststroke. “It’s her best by a little bit, but it’s the fastest anybody’s ever gone so that’s outstanding,” said head coach Steve Bultman of Larson’s record-setting 100yard breaststroke final. “I think the fact that she and [Auburn sophomore Molly Hannis] had tied in the prelims definitely got them both fired up. I think that helped push her to the record.” Larson and Georgia’s Annie Zhu broke the SEC
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See SEC swim on page 3
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undreds of students swarmed around Sully to hear the results of the 2013 student body elections. The Election Commissioner’s pronouncement of each elected candidate was heard only through the crowd’s offered silence between cheers for a fellow student’s election. For next year’s positions of student body president and yell leaders, the Corps of Cadets walked away with a shutout win. At 7,865 votes, Reid Joseph received more than 62 percent of the vote for student body president. “[Reid] was born to the Aggie War Hymn,” said Reid’s father and Class of 1983 head yell leader Tom Joseph after he led the crowd in singing the Aggie War Hymn. “Reid told me at the beginning of this campaign that he is running for SBP because this University has given him so much and it was time for him to give back to this great University.” Five for Yell was elected to serve as 2013-2014 yell leaders and includes senior yell leaders Chris Powell, Ryan Crawford and Hunter Cook and junior yell leaders Roy May and Patrick McGinty. Other positions filled, including those for RHA, Class Councils and Student Senate, are viewable at vote. tamu.edu.
SCONA
Round tables exercise for Pacific foreign policy Aimee Breaux The Battalion
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Roger Zhang — THE BATTALION
Breeja Larson, after a gold medal in the 2012 London Olympics, won three events at the SEC Championships Friday through Sunday at the A&M natatorium.
s a part of the Student Conference on National Affairs, 125 student delegates from universities across the nation came together to learn about and discuss U.S. relations in the Pacific from Thursday to Saturday. The delegates formed 15 round table discussion groups and developed their own policy proposals to deal with a variety of subtopics related to U.S. involvement in Pacific nations. Ross Brady, SCONA vice chair and senior urban and regional science major said part of the conference’s intention was to be an intellectual exercise in addressing the Obama administration’s shift in foreign policy toward the Pacific. Each round table developed a policy devoted to a specific subtopic of the conference’s goal to evaluate interactions with the Pacific. In addition to Brady’s quick list, the topics ranged from how to tackle cyber warfare, seeking space supremacy, seizing contested land and how to balance rights versus profit. A policy to promote the U.S. goal of mutual economic benefit with Pacific nations through strategic free trade agreements with specific countries is being considered for publishing. “It’s not a concrete thing,” Brady said. “We are just working with [the Bush School of Government and Public Service] for the potential to publish.” The resolution outlines a plan of action that involves first seeking ties with Indonesia, then Malaysia and Thailand, in hopes that these connections would open more doors. The policy outlines the possible difficulties in such trade agreements, including tension on the U.S. side of the market resulting from an influx of goods from foreign countries. See SCONA on page 4
2/25/13 12:19 AM