Man, this guy is freakin' annoying... <i>DeLay's college advice Don't send your kids to Baylor or A&M By RON NISSIMOV Copyright 2002 Houston Chronicle U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay, one of the nation's most powerful politicians, has this advice for some conservative Christian parents: Don't let your babies go to Texas A&M or Baylor universities. DeLay, R-Sugar Land, urged his audience of about 300 people at Pearland's First Baptist Church Friday night to pressure state legislators to "throw the P.C. out and bring God in" at Texas' public universities. According to a tape recording made without DeLay's knowledge, the House majority whip criticized the two universities after an audience member asked him for advice on where to send children to college. The questioner lamented that creationism is not taught at major Texas universities, even though, he said, "here in Texas, primarily it's conservative compared to the rest of the world." "Don't send your kids to Baylor," said DeLay, a 1970 graduate of the University of Houston. "And don't send your kids to A&M," he continued to loud applause. "There are still some Christian schools out there -- good, solid schools. Now, they may be little, they may not be as prestigious as Stanford, but your kids will get a good, solid, godly education." DeLay presumably focused on A&M and Baylor because they are generally regarded as two of the most conservative universities in the state, and they draw many students from predominantly white suburban areas. Shortly after the killing of 12 teen-agers at Colorado's Columbine High School in 1999, DeLay sarcastically opined on the cultural conditions that could have led to the massacre: "It couldn't have been because our school systems teach our children that they are nothing but glorified apes who have evolutionized out of some primordial soup of mud, by teaching evolution as fact." At Friday's gathering, DeLay said his daughter attended A&M and was appalled to discover that students have sex in dormitories. "Texas A&M used to be a conservative university," he said. "It's lost all of its conservatism, and it's renounced its traditions. It's really sad. My daughter went there, you know, she had horrible experiences with coed dorms and guys who spent the weekends in the rooms with girls, and all this kind of stuff went on there. It's just unbelievable." A transcript of the tape was supplied to the Chronicle by the Washington, D.C.-based Americans United for the Separation of Church and State. The transcript was verified to be accurate after the tape was played for the Chronicle. "As a major player in American politics, Mr. DeLay seems to be willing to even undercut what are recognized as high-quality universities just to push his religious agenda, which includes his opposition to evolution," said Barry Lynn, director of the nonprofit group. "Teaching about God in private universities is fine, but to think you can introduce religious doctrine in state universities is a clear violation of the principle of separation of church and state." Spokesman Jonathan Gralle said DeLay was only advising parents who want their children to be taught creationism in college what their options might be. "He stated if you want your kids to get a Christian education, you don't have to send them there (A&M or Baylor)," Gralle said. He said DeLay believes that the doctrine of separation of church and state "did not intend prohibiting religion from playing a role in the state." Gralle chastised the person who "underhandedly brought a tape recorder into the First Baptist Church looking for trouble," and noted that Lynn is a "former member of the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union)." Lynn's organization is "further left than Hillary Clinton," said Gralle. A&M spokeswoman Cindy Lawson said DeLay's daughter Danielle graduated from A&M in 1995. Lawson declined further comment other than to say most students and graduates are satisfied with their experience at the College Station campus. Baylor spokesman Larry Brumley said DeLay should visit the private Baptist university in Waco before criticizing it. "We are extending an invitation to Mr. DeLay to visit the campus and see first-hand the nature of this university, its students, faculty and staff," Brumley said in a written statement. "I believe he will find an institution, as stated in our recently adopted 10-year vision, that is seeking to enter the top tier of American universities while reaffirming and deepening its distinctive Christian mission." Many science professors at Baylor were outraged that in 1999 it became the nation's first university to create a center to investigate "intelligent design," a theory that hypothesizes that an intelligent "agent" such as God directly guided evolution. The center's former director, William Dembski, was demoted in October 2000 after accusing his critics of engaging in "intellectual McCarthyism," but he continues to research the topic. "Apparently Congressman DeLay's perceptions of Baylor have been influenced by people who are uninformed or misinformed about the Christian character and mission of Baylor University," Brumley wrote.</i>
Oh MY! Sex in the dorms? Whoever heard of such a thing??? What's next, beer at parties? Cigarettes. I'm appalled. (BTW, the snack machines at Jester West 2nd floor stocked Lifestyles condoms...good thing for me) :wink:
I've never, ever heard anyone describe Baylor as being too liberal for them. TCU maybe, but not Baylor. It certainly wasn't very liberal when I went there (granted, I only went for one semester in the Graduate Business School back in 1992, which was nearly 10 years ago... and Business Schools tend to be more conservative than some other programs.. but still).
Is this guy serious? Did I accidently vote for him? Dammit. There's "worse" activities than sex going on in the dorms. I bought lots of snacks and drinks from those machines late at night. I used to live on the 1st floor of Jester West. I remember the machines carrying condoms right next to the gum
True - saying Baylor isn't conservative enough for you is like saying that UC-Berkely isn't liberal enough. If you ever find yourself saying either one - just stop, and reevaluate how skewed your views must be.
This is a double whammy for me. Tom DeLay is my rep and I go to A&M. I think DeLay is right in saying this school isn't as conservative as it used to be, you know, ever since minorities and women were addmitted. . . What a dumb a$$. What scares me, being a liberal student here, I feel overwhelmed by how conservative A&M can be, yet Tome DeLay doesn't feel that way. That means this guy is, as Prempeh put, a Puritan and must really be off the charts on how far right he leans. This is why I hate the way districts are drawn. What the hell does my community of Alief have to do with Sugarland? Man, I'm just going to need to transfer to Berkely.
So he's a dumbass because you don't agree with him? Must be a lot of dumbasses on this board (well...then again this is the Hangout).
HEY!!! I WENT TO BAYLOR, TOM!!! i don't THINK I turned out all that bad....contrary to what some of you here might think!
How does this clown keep getting elected? C'mon Sugerland, you deserve better. Kinda scary to think that a bug exterminator is one of the 10 most powerful people in D.C.
<i>Shortly after the killing of 12 teen-agers at Colorado's Columbine High School in 1999, DeLay sarcastically opined on the cultural conditions that could have led to the massacre: "It couldn't have been because our school systems teach our children that they are nothing but glorified apes who have evolutionized out of some primordial soup of mud, by teaching evolution as fact."</i> DUMB <i>At Friday's gathering, DeLay said his daughter attended A&M and was appalled to discover that students have sex in dormitories. "Texas A&M used to be a conservative university," he said. "It's lost all of its conservatism, and it's renounced its traditions. It's really sad. My daughter went there, you know, she had horrible experiences with coed dorms and guys who spent the weekends in the rooms with girls, and all this kind of stuff went on there. It's just unbelievable."</i> ASSANINE Put them together and you get DUMBASS. Not the first time he has helped to bring conservatives and liberals together in thinking he's an idiot. But, the only reason he's a dumbass, of course, is because I disagree with him.
Nope, that's not a dumbass comment. I'd consider someone who didn't know what separation meant a dumbass. At Baylor, I'm pretty sure there are set times during the day that the opposite sex can come into your dorm room. When my sisters where there, the door had to be open during these times. I'm pretty sure that they still don't allow you to live with the opposite sex off campus if you're not married. I'm not necessarily criticizing these policies, but if you don't think that's a conservative viewpoint, then you're a dumbass.
Not because of a disagreement in opinion, but because of the way and the arena in which he expressed his opinion. As a politician, he was a dumbass for saying it. I do happen to disagree with him and can't beleive how in this day and age people can actually make comments like this - "It couldn't have been because our school systems teach our children that they are nothing but glorified apes who have evolutionized out of some primordial soup of mud, by teaching evolution as fact." especially as a reaction to the Cplumbine murders, but that is a different argument, thread, etc.
Whoa Smokey! I live on the first floor right now. Ya, on Sunday nights when i forgot to eat dinner or something (lol) i go to those machines. Alrite, back to the DeLay bashing.
What would be even more crazy is if you live in my old room with my old roommate who still lives on the first floor... He had to go potluck cause I opted to get an apartment. He's a senior.
Great. Religious fundamentalism seems to be such a winning idea in 2002... As for DeLay's daughter being shocked about college students *gasp* fornicating, I think she doth protest a bit too much. Seems like when people get overally upset about the sexual practices of consenting adults they are probably trying to overcompensate for their own little issues. Kind of like Newt Gingrich and Henry Hyde lambasting Clinton's affairs as they conducted those of their own. Daughter DeLay was probably College Station's town bike for a few semesters, felt a little guilty over it and told daddy how depraved her suddenly "unconservative" classmates were to make herself feel better. From my experience at A&M, the only place more conservative might be Johannesberg in the 1980's, but only barely.
So he's a dumbass for something he said 3 years ago (which, I'm sure that anyone who tried to blame Columbine on a lack of gun laws would be considered a 'dumbass' as well), disapproving of kids having sex in the dorm of an institution of higher learning (dumbass is the only word for someone who thinks pre-marital sex is not only wrong, but shouldn't be going on in a dorm room, of course), and having a different interpretation of the separation of church and state (afterall, there is only one possible interpretation). Thanks for the clarification.
