Free Republic

AUSTIN, Texas — The University of Texas at Austin is pulling out of the National Merit Scholarship Program to focus on needs-based financial assistance. The university — second only to Harvard in the number of merit scholars enrolled — said budget pressures were causing it to end its participation in the merit-based program, which awards scholarships to top high school achievers. Colleges nationwide are struggling to meet higher demand for financial aid amid fewer resources from states and their own endowed scholarship funds. “The financial constraints brought about by the economy on families and the university require the redirection of...

MAY 5--Months after members of "Al Pieda" marred a campus speech by Ann Coulter, another appearance by the controversial conservative commentator has been disrupted by a protester. During a speech last night at the University of Texas in Austin, a 19-year-old UT student was busted after asking Coulter a lewd question, which he followed up with equally inappropriate hand gestures, according to the below police affidavit. The student, Ajai Raj, was arrested by campus police and hit with a misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge. The police affidavit notes that Coulter's lecture was attended by "several children under the age of...

Robert Jensen is an associate professor of journalism at the University of Texas, a radical who opposes the war in Iraq, American military reprisal for 9/11, even minimal precautions to protect U.S. borders, any semblance of capitalism, and any restrictions on race-based preferences in hiring or education. He regards the war of Islamic radicals against the West in general and America in particular as a justified war against imperialism. In a recent article on Web publication Alternet, Jensen dismissed U.S. efforts to bring democracy to Iraq and claimed, all evidence to the contrary, that America’s real intention is hegemony over...

Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle {snip} Unexcused absence Stoops came to mind Sunday in the wake of how the Texas Longhorns dealt with their loss to Cal State Fullerton in the College World Series. They disgraced themselves. They disgraced their school. What a nice finishing touch to a splendid season. Instead of winning their second national championship in three seasons, the Longhorns became the first team in at least 17 years to refuse to participate in the College World Series trophy presentation. Aren't they splendid ambassadors for the University of Texas? Let's be clear about who we're blaming here. The Texas...

Only the best for UT's Shumaker Pay package was nation's second-highest By Richard Locker locker@gomemphis.com August 17, 2003 NASHVILLE - After his selection as UT president last year, Dr. John W. Shumaker said his goal was "to give the people of Tennessee the very best university they can afford while urging them constantly to afford the very best." It appears that Shumaker convinced state officials to afford the very best when it came to his own pay: His compensation package was worth $733,000 to $800,000 a year in direct and deferred salary and bonuses, plus posh housing, an automobile and...