Free Republic

HOUSTON — In the final hours before the vote at Texas A&M for student body president, Jose Luis Zelaya shook a few more hands, asked for few more votes, and proudly explained to those who inquired why he can be an Aggie and an illegal immigrant. Zelaya, 24, is a graduate education student in College Station. He came to the U.S. from Honduras with his mom when he was 14, graduated from Langham Creek High School in Houston and dreamed of being an Aggie from the first day his mom found an “Aggie Mom” t-shirt when, homeless, she stayed at...

OK, there was that $16-million budget deficit. I believe that may have been taken care of. Now the fired coach is owed $8.8 million, while the new coach is going to want at least $3 million a year, possibly closer to $4 million if the Aggies get into a bidding war for Kevin Sumlin. Does anyone know if Coach Fran has been paid off yet? He got himself a very nice parting gift. Speaking of parting gift, there’s that whole Big 12 exit fee. I’ve heard numbers ranging from $5 million to $12 million. I’m not sure what the final...

Good Bye to A&M!

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Tyler Wilson, Jarius Wright and the No. 18 Arkansas Razorbacks gave No. 14 Texas A&M a rude preview of what to expect in the SEC next season.

The Pac-12 appears to be working out the final details of a deal that would bring Texas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech to the conference, sources close to the situation told Hookem.com and the American-Statesman on Sunday morning.

The Southeastern Conference is staying just at it is — for now. However, the game of major college conference realignment appears far from finished. University of Florida President Bernie Machen, the chairman of the league’s presidents and chancellors committee, said the group met Sunday and “reaffirmed our satisfaction with the present 12 institutional alignment.”

COLLEGE STATION — A swanky television network beaming from the state’s capital has threatened to do what the departures of Nebraska and Colorado could not: bust up the Big 12. Texas A&M president R. Bowen Loftin used the term “uncertainty” time and again Thursday in describing the state of the league, thanks to the start of the ESPN-owned Longhorn Network in Austin next month. “The (recent) announcement by ESPN that the Longhorn Network might carry a conference (football) game in addition to a nonconference game was troubling, and then following right after that was ESPN’s announcement regarding high school games...

How much is too much when it comes to sex education on college campuses? A controversial video now has conservative groups taking aim at Texas A&M officials. The extremely graphic video posted online by the group Texas Aggie Conservatives shows a sex therapist using pictures and videos to teach gays and lesbians how to safely engage in certain activities. Student Justin Pulliam says how-to sex lessons for gays have no place on his college campus. "Most people at the university do not agree with having casual sex, or homosexual sex, or having sex outside of marriage," he says. "That the...

Whoop!!! A&M National Champs Girls Basketball

A surprise bidder has emerged for a space shuttle once the vehicles are retired: College Station. The Aggie engineer championing his alma mater says the coastal location of Space Center Houston, which has run a more public bid, would put an irreplaceable shuttle at too great a risk from hurricanes. "None of us involved in this want to see the shuttle on the nightly news with a bunch of debris floating around it," said Zachary Cummings, an ocean engineer and entrepreneur. The logical conclusion, he reasons, is to display the shuttle on the Texas A&M University campus, which is centrally...

Elaine Benes sits in a bathroom stall, pleading with a stingy toilet-paper hoarder to "spare a square.""Excuse me. I'm sorry. This is, a, kind-of embarrassing but there's no toilet paper over here.""Are you talking to me?" the stranger asks."Yeah, I just forgot to check. So, if you could spare some."Nope.More awkward banter."Three squares? You can't spare three squares?" Benes shouts.The woman leaves after saying: "No I don't have a square to spare. I can't spare a square." That famous scene from Seinfeld soon may be playing out thousands of times in dorm bathrooms across the Texas A&M campus.It's come to...

Let's not make things more complicated than they are. In the end, Texas A&M is sick and tired of living in the large shadow of the University of Texas. Sick and tired of Texas' success and money. Sick and tired of the never-ending arms race for newer and better facilities. Forget those arguments about travel and culture and television revenues. If Texas A&M jumps to the Southeastern Conference, it'll be because the Aggies have had enough of being compared to and defined by the Longhorns.

The Longhorns have clinched the Big 12 South and will face off against Nebraska on December 5th. But first the Longhorns have to contend with their rival Texas A&M. The Longhorns are ranked 3rd in the BCS standings but the Aggies offense is ranked number 7 in the nation and could prove to be a challenge. After all, this is a game of rivalry and pride, ingredients that often fuel an upset, and the last thing the Longhorns need is a repeat upset of 2007. An upset is exactly what the Aggies are looking for.

The group “Texas A&M’s Young Conservatives” is organizing a protest. In attendance will be members from area TEA Parties as well. The protesters have been issued their permits and assigned a spot where they can congregate. That spot is well out of sight of President Obama, those attending the event, and one would imagine the media. As the attached campus photo shows, Obama will be appearing in the are indicated by the red square, whereas the protesters will be behind a parking garage and another building as indicated by the yellow highlighted area. The A&M administration is apparently striving to...

COLLEGE STATION, Texas — A faculty adviser for the Texas A&M chapter of the Young Conservatives of Texas has resigned, saying he was "ashamed beyond words" when the group posted fliers identifying four professors who signed a petition opposing "demonization" of 1960s radical William Ayers. John Fike, a professor in engineering technology and industrial engineering, quit the adviser role last week, the Bryan-College Station Eagle reported Sunday. The national petition asked for support for education "as an enterprise devoted to human inquiry, enlightenment and liberation" and had more than 4,000 signatures. It circulated during the presidential race, when Ayers' acquaintanceship...

We knew that sooner or later in this American presidential campaign, somebody was going to do something really stupid. We might have guessed where: College Station. Now, a Texas A&M student group known as the class clowns of conservatism has staged a stunt that even their own faculty adviser calls "really dumb." The A&M chapter of the Waco-based Young Conservatives of Texas sponsored an egg toss Wednesday and again Friday. But not just your typical Aggie barnyard egg toss. A&M students were offered a chance to hurl eggs at a giant photo of Barack Obama. It was all part of...

Penn State coach Joe Paterno, who turned 81 last week, jokingly dismissed the comments of a Texas A&M yell leader Thursday night that Paterno was “on his death bed” and “someone needs to find him a casket.” But it’s no joking matter to the Aggies, who sent the yell leader home and have issued numerous apologies to various Penn State officials. The remark came at an Alamo Bowl-sponsored pep rally for fans of both schools. Penn State fans booed loudly after the remark from the yell leader, one of five A&M upperclassmen who fill the high-profile spirit role at the...

Elsa A. Murano, vice chancellor at Texas A&M since 2005, has been named the sole finalist to become president of the university. She would be the school’s first female president. “We have a world-class individual who’s going to lead this world-class institution forward,” said Regent John White. Murano was named sole finalist this afternoon by the A&M system board of regents. The vote was 8-1 with Regent Gene Stallings opposed. [. . .] From October 2001 through 2004, Murano was under secretary for food safety with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. As the highest-ranking food safety official in the U.S....

David J. Phillip/Associated Press Jorvorskie Lane had the third-most rushing touchdowns (19) in the nation last season. SAN ANTONIO, July 24 — At his heaviest last season, Texas A&M tailback Jorvorskie Lane weighed 282 pounds. With the season opener five weeks away, Lane now weighs 268 pounds, which he said he considered to be “real light.” Still, he wants to lose three more pounds before practice starts in two weeks. snip... Born more than a month premature, he weighed just four pounds at birth, said Linda Morris, Lane’s grandmother. Because his heart and lungs were not fully developed, he...

Longhorn Parody Continues With Minor Changes COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS: Aggieland Outfitters, located near the campus of Texas A&M University, announced today its owners have successfully settled a lawsuit brought by The University of Texas to stop sales of merchandise bearing the “SAW ‘EM OFF” logo, which parodies UT’s longhorn mascot. In the settlement, UT agreed that Fadi Kalaouze and his parent company Kalcorp could continue using the “SAW ‘EM OFF” logo, if they made minor changes that further distinguished it from UT’s longhorn trademark. The agreed-upon changes include adding a small blaze and nostrils to the steer’s face. “I am...

He's glib, slippery as a snake, and clearly in his element today at Texas A&M University, where hundreds of faculty, students, and dignitaries filled the auditorium to hear Rudolph Giuliani pitch his presidential gameplans. Giuliani's a smarmy man whose own children reportedly don't support his candidacy. But today, he was greeted with full Aggie honors--applause, standing ovations, "howdies" and great whooping cheers. "I like that! I love that sound!" Giuliani pronounces happily, encouraging more whooping. After a glowing introduction by former U.S. President George H.W. Bush, whom Giuliani somewhat redundantly called "a great American president who was part of the...

UT regents sue over 'sawed off' Horns parody1/24/2007 12:42 AMBy: Bob Robuck It has been a running joke on the University of Texas for the past 10 years, but now Bevo is putting his hoof down. An Aggieland novelty dealer is in hot water over what the University of Texas regents call a "mutilation" of one of the most recognized brands in America -- the UT Longhorn. Fadi Kalaouze owns Aggieland Outfitters in College Station. For a decade he has sold T-shirts, notebooks, and other novelty items sporting the UT Longhorn with its appendages sawed off. He doesn't understand why...

The Next Stage Gates ends duties at A&M with ceremonies By HOLLY HUFFMAN Eagle Staff Writer Texas A&M University senior Caley Langewalter stood silent and still, his arms folded behind his back, as he prepared for the commissioning ceremony that would transform him from student to second lieutenant. Standing on the stage just a few feet away was Robert Gates - outgoing A&M president, newly confirmed secretary of defense and soon to be one of Langewalter's top bosses. Both Langewalter and Gates had started their tenure in Aggieland in the fall of 2002 - Langewalter as an Aggie freshman and...

Once again, the Aggie Bonfire went up in flames.

HEARNE - Paul Wartham made a three-hour drive from Fort Worth to College Station on Tuesday to watch a 45-foot bonfire burn, and when he learned he had to wait an hour longer than expected, he said he didn't mind. "I think that bonfire is great," said the 50-year-old whose two children attend Texas A&M University. "I didn't go to A&M, but I understand why.... go here to read rest of article: http://www.theeagle.com/stories/112206/am_20061122025.php

Bonfire is about the burning desire to beat the hell outta t.u. It builds leadership and camaraderie between students of any origin. Bonfire is about being apart of something bigger than yourself. Go here for directions: http://studentbonfire.com/ After months of hard work and dedication, Bonfire is to be lit this Tuesday night at 7PM! We'd like to extend a hand of gratitude to all of those who have helped to make this possible. Thank you, because without your support, this dream could not have become a reality. We'd also like to invite everyone to come and be a part of...

Home-schooled students successful at A&M Julie Weddle Posted: 8/30/06 For Ian Martinez, coming to Texas A&M and attending classes with hundreds of students was a big shock. "Last semester I had a class with 300 people," he said. "In junior college the biggest class I had was about 10 people." Martinez, a sophomore biomedical engineering major, was home-schooled with his family every day of his schooling except for one science class in junior high and his freshman year of college. "It made the family feel more closely knit," he said. "They're basically my best friends." Statistically, home-schooled students are academically...

Family, friends cheer on McAllen astronauthttp://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA071806.1A.valley.space.169b85e.html http://tinyurl.com/zs9yd Web Posted: 07/17/2006 11:02 PM CDT Jesse Bogan Rio Grande Valley Bureau McALLEN — The recent e-mail from outer space informed the small group the voyage had been safe and rewarding. Their supporting role was almost over. "Now the shuttle is just about packed and ready to come home," astronaut Mike Fossum, 48, who grew up in McAllen, wrote them from the space shuttle Discovery on Sunday. "We're all ready, too — our objectives have been met." Hours later, on Monday morning, they gathered before a large television screen in Fossum's boyhood home,...

Sugar Land police and volunteers with search and rescue organization Texas EquuSearch are looking for a 16-year-old Sugar Land girl missing since Friday night. Ashton Glover was last seen at 11 p.m. Friday at University and Commonwealth boulevards, “seen leaving with an unknown male in a white Toyota pickup truck,” according to information from Texas EquuSearch. EquuSearch spokeswoman Barbara Gibson said Glover’s family contacted the Dickinson-based non-profit group Friday night, and when they began a search, Sugar Land police already were on the scene looking for the missing girl. “The biggest thing is her truck hasn’t been found, either,” Gibson...

Dixie Chicken Offering Items For Auction The owners of the famous Dixie Chicken are giving patrons the opportunity to take home a piece of their favorite bar. Hundreds of items, including graffiti-carved domino tables, ladder-back chairs, stuffed deer heads - even a walk-in cooler and an old upright piano - will be on sale March 25 during a "spring cleaning" auction. Auctioneer Craig Conlee digs through some of the items from the Dixie Chicken that will be up for auction. Bidding on taxidermy items, domino tables and an assortment of chairs will take place March 25. The sale is merely...

Jacob Tadesse went to A&M because it had a scholarship, not for its traditions, but the Yates grad found support Editor's note: This is the second story in an occasional series chronicling Jacob Tadesse's first year at Texas A&M University. Colleges and universities across Texas are grappling with how to recruit and retain minority students. Jacob Tadesse showed up last week at his alma mater Jack Yates High School in one of Houston's grittiest neighborhoods to sell the idea of college, and Texas A&M University in particular. With baggy jeans and some street slang, Tadesse did not look or sound...

Burn night information Burn will be held at Hot Rod Hill off of Hwy 21 northeast of Bryan/College Station, Tx on November 19, 2005. Gates open to the public at 4 pm. Bonfire is scheduled to burn at dark-thirty. There will be on-site parking (weather permitting) before 6 p.m. and we strongly recommend parking on-site as parking is limited at the off-site locations. We urge you to carpool. On-site parking directions: Exit Hwy 21, north of Bryan, and head east (right) on Hwy 21. Take a left at the flashing yellow light on to Marino Rd. Hot Rod Hill will...

An Aggie walks into a bar with a little pink piglet under his arm. The barkeep says "Where did you get that?" The pig replies; "College Station! There's THOUSANDS of them!

A&M student Andrew McNeel's photo of Loupot's Bookstore's novel approach to hurricane preparation has made the rounds on the Internet and brought worldwide attention to the store. A new Aggie joke was born out of last week's Hurricane Rita preparation craze. "How do Aggies board up their windows for a hurricane?" You can ask the folks at Loupot's Bookstore on University Drive for the punch line. They decided last Sept. 23 to attach plywood on the inside of the shop's windows instead of the outside. Since then, a photo of the peculiar method has made the rounds on the...

News of possible Tech-A&M move draws mixed reactions BY GEORGE WATSON AVALANCHE-JOURNAL Like many fans on the South Plains, Texas Tech football games are a family affair for the Garzas As the popularity of Red Raider football under head coach Mike Leach has grown, David Garza's investment has as well. He's purchased five sets of season tickets each of the past three seasons and bumped that total up by two for the 2005 campaign. And like many, he even arranges his weekend work schedule to attend games with his family. A Lubbock resident since 1973 and at one time a...

When Brendon Jones gets ready to leave his apartment, he puts on his pants, his shirt and his dog collar. Without the collar he feels upset; almost as though he has no identity. Jones, a freshman computer engineering major, goes by Sakanz - the name engraved on the metallic blue bone on his dog collar - and is one of thousands of Americans who identifies himself with a group of people that calls itself the furries. He describes furries as people who like to dress up as animals and interact with each other. "I'd say being a furry is like...

Bush becomes member of Singing Cadets By MELISSA SULLIVAN Eagle Staff Writer Eagle photo/Patric Schneider Bush was named an honorary Singing Cadet and received an official sweater at Saturday’s concert. Eagle photo/Patric Schneider Former President George H.W. Bush sings God Bless the USA with the Singing Cadets. It is no secret that former President George H.W. Bush loves Texas A&M University and all the traditions that define it. So when the Texas A&M Singing Cadets suggested that he become an honorary member of the group, he readily accepted. During a performance Saturday night at Rudder Auditorium, members of the student...

Isn't this a satanic hand sign? I'm sure it means something else, but what? I can't believe that it is satanic...

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He's just a walk-on. Number 39 in your program, zero in your heart. Means nothing to you. Just another sadly spotless jersey on the sideline. So how is it that Josh Amstutz is the toughest, bravest and most inspirational member of Texas A&M's football team? Well, look at his right leg. There are two scars left by a bullet that passed through it almost two years ago, a gift from an Iraqi sniper. How he runs on it as well as he does is anybody's guess. Look at his jaw. It was stern and square enough for the Marine honor...

COLLEGE STATION - Three decades after earning his bachelor's degree from Texas A&M University, U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards was back on campus this week trying to convince a new generation of Aggie students that he is still one of them. "If college students and high school seniors voted with the same intensity as our senior citizens, you guys would be the most powerful voting bloc in the state of Texas," the seven-term Waco Democrat told an informal assembly of about three dozen students who peppered him with questions about whether the draft might return, whether student loans would be available...

Oct. 27, 2004 - Aggies have reason to be optimistic about their employment opportunities, as evidenced by significant increases in on-campus recruiting and an expected 11,000 interviews of Texas A&M students this fall - a number that should be among the highest number coordinated by any university career center in the nation, says Leigh Turner, executive director of the Texas A&M Career Center.      This year's numbers, when compared to those at this time last year, reveal significant increases in active recruiting companies, up 28 percent to date for this fall; resume drops, up 98 percent; and job-listing companies, up 22...

The Aggie Band made a blatantly obvious political statement during the halftime show at the Colorado game with their W-formation. I found this highly inappropriate and offensive, as the political stand is not representative of the entire student body. There is a time and place for everything so. To Dr. Timothy Rhea, director of bands, I would just like to say let's let football be football and save the politics for another time and place.

San Antonio architectural firm O'Connell Robertson & Associates Inc. has been selected from a short list of highly acclaimed national architects to develop a comprehensive master plan for Texas A&M University's athletics facilities. Central to that plan is the expansion of the Aggies' Kyle Field from 82,000 to 115,000 seats, which would make it the largest football stadium in the nation. O'Connell Robertson is the architect of record for the project. But it is getting a solid assist from Heery International, a full-service engineering and construction-management firm based in Atlanta. Chris Lammers is heading up the master plan team...

The World War II Pointe du Hoc Ranger Monument is located on a cliff eight miles west of Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial, which overlooks Omaha Beach. It was erected by the French to honor elements of the American Second Ranger Battalion under the command of Lieutenant Colonel James E. Rudder. During the American assault of Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944, these elements scaled the 100 foot cliff and seized the German artillery pieces that could have fired on the American landing troops at Omaha Beach. At a high cost of life, they successfully defended against determined German...

COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- Two Texas A&M football players have been charged with alcohol-related crimes after they shouted racial slurs outside a fast food restaurant. Police, who were called to the restaurant to investigate, followed a sport utility vehicle driven by A&M football player Geoff Hangartner from the restaurant early Monday to a nearby home where Hangartner failed a field sobriety test, The Bryan-College Station Eagle reported in Tuesday's editions. Hangartner was charged with driving while intoxicated. His passenger and teammate, Cole Smith, was cited for public intoxication, according to the newspaper. Coach Dennis Franchione said the charges against his...

Parodying affirmative action policies, a conservative student group at Texas A&M University will offer scholarships next year to students who pen winning essays about "overcoming" affirmative action. The scholarships -- for $5,000, $3,500 and $1,500 -- will be awarded next year in the "Overcoming Affirmative Action Essay Contest," sponsored by the Young Conservatives at Texas A&M and the conservative Texas Review Society, a nonprofit organization that publishes the Austin Review, Texas Education Review, the Houston Review and the Examiner (at Texas A&M). Earlier this week, the College Republicans at Roger Williams University in Bristol, Conn., announced a $250 scholarship available...

The Texas A&M football team has just finished a dreadful season, going 4-8 overall and 2-6 in the Big 12 conference, including a 77-0 humiliation at the University of Oklahoma. Texas A&M's athletic director, Bill Byrne, has a novel theory as to why his school is suffering athletically. He blames the Young Conservatives of Texas A&M, a student group, which held one of those "affirmative action bake sales": "Free speech is not an issue for me, and differing political beliefs are not an issue for me, because I believe that reasonable people can disagree. But I'm disappointed over the national...

A Texas A&M University football player has been charged with indecent exposure after police say he masturbated in a university parking lot while smiling at a female student who was trying to park her car. Tate Pittman, a freshman defensive lineman from Odessa, was released Thursday from the Brazos County Jail after posting $10,000 bail. He has been suspended from the team, according to a release issued by A&M athletics director Bill Byrne. A female student was trying to park her car Oct. 28 when Pittman, 18, pulled up next to her in a Dodge Ram and began smiling at...

Texas A&M University officials are working to soon offer engineering degrees in the tiny Middle Eastern nation of Qatar, and in the process hope to narrow the cultural gap between the Arab and Western worlds. A&M and a Qatar foundation are in final negotiations to open the facility in the Qatar capital of Doha, which has served as the site of U.S. Central Command during the U.S. war with Iraq. The branch, which the foundation would entirely fund, would offer A&M bachelor's degrees in engineering to students from the region. It would also allow professors and students from College Station...