Texas A&M-Will they have a shot at the Big 12 Title next year?

Don't pretend to know jack **** about College Station. It is painfully obvious that you don't. You know what you see on the news in a 30 second sound bite.

Actually when that cartoon ran in the Battalion...numerous student groups of ALL races started email campaigns to complain to the editors of the paper...as well as an alumni email and letter campaign. I know this because I participated in it.

Bottom line...you have not a clue what you are talking about...and you look like a clown.

haven--
In any city in the South...there will be racism. To suggest that it is substantially higher in a place less than 100 miles away from Austin than it is in Austin is reactionary and an attempt to make you feel better about coming from a Southern state.

 

Are you really attempting to say that the fact that they are close to each other geographically means that they are close to each other politically and socially?

 

Look at the map of racist orgs provided in another thread. Notice that Austin has plenty...there isn't a racism shield around the Austin area.

 

Maybe Youre the Clown:


Front Page
Panel looks at insensitivity

March 27, 2002

Front Page
Fran's the man
'Equilibrium'

In reaction to diversity and cultural issues that have affected Texas A&M this semester, The Battalion invited a panel of student leaders to convene to discuss racial and cultural issues at Texas A&M.

The result is a three-part series on diversity and culture at A&M from students with diverse points of view, but who all agree they are proud to be Aggies.

Part one focused on the past racial and cultural issues at A&M. Part two covers present issues affecting the campus and part three will cover the future.


While many Texas A&M students responded with anger to a Battalion cartoon that many called racist, student leaders at A&M said they are more concerned about why the majority of students reacted with either insensitivity or indifference to the issues surrounding the cartoon.

"I'm not worried about the people who didn't know about the cartoon," said Barry Hammond, Memorial Student Center executive vice president of development. "But I'm worried about the people who did pick up The Battalion and saw the cartoon, and said, 'Who cares?'"


Student leaders came together in a recent panel discussion to discuss a number of issues relating to diversity that have captivated the campus this semester.


Minorities feel unwelcome

Panelists said a large number of minority students get accepted to A&M but choose not to attend because of the perception of it being a close-minded and conservative University.


More than 70 percent of the student population is white, with less than 30 percent made up of Hispanic, African-American and international students, a proportion panelists said is unattractive and unwelcoming to minority students.

Mariano Castillo, editor in chief of The Battalion, said the lack of a strong liberal arts program also deters many minority students from attending the University.


Samecia Bloomfield, a representative of the MSC Diversity Council, said Aggies use the word liberal negatively because of the University's strong, conservative values.


"Liberal is a dirty word on this campus," Bloomfield said.

Panelists also voiced concerns about the use of the Confederate flag on T-shirts supporting the Southern Heritage Society on campus. They said the flag portrays a negative image of A&M to minority students.


Pablo Rodriguez, director of diversity with the Student Government Association, said he is offended by the Southern Heritage Society's use of the flag.

"It's a concern of many people on this campus," Rodriguez said. "People associate that flag with hate."


Tyler Dunman, a member of the Southern Heritage Society and Young Conservatives of Texas, said it is not the organization's intent to make people uncomfortable by using the flag. He said the Confederacy is a symbol of Southern culture and not one of hate.


Castillo pointed out the difficulty of defining the flag without explanation, but defended individual's right to express their identity through symbols that are meaningful to them.


"If I see a [Confederate flag] sticker on a truck, I don't know whether that guy is a racist or just displaying his Southern heritage," Castillo said.

Dunman said each situation is different, and people should not equate one with the other.


"Just because someone is displaying the flag doesn't mean they are displaying it for the reasons the [Ku Klux Klan] did," Dunman said. "Instead of people drawing conclusions, they need to come in and talk to us."


Lyndon Pryor, president of the African-American Student Coalition, said A&M has a racial history that needs to be acknowledged for minority students to feel accepted on campus.

"Students judge A&M on the basis of its history," Pryor said. "The University seems to be proud of that history. It's like a slap in the face."

Adrienne Aguirre, chair of the Committee for the Awareness of Mexican-American Culture, told other panelists a story about a Hispanic friend of hers in the Corps of Cadets, who was recently a victim of racism.

Earlier this semester, Aguirre's friend returned to his room to find the words, "Go home spic" scrawled on his mirror. She said the incident was never reported but should have been.

"Why was the person who was offended OK with that?" Aguirre said. "Everyone should be offended by this."


Corps of Cadet representative Mairtin OMuirgheasa agreed. "The whole organization should be offended by that," he said.


Defining diversity

Some panelists said as A&M strives to become more diverse, the word "diversity" is being overused, and students are tired of hearing it.


Many students think of the word as referring only to minority students and excluding white students from the definition, panelists said. That could not be further from the truth, they said.


"When someone says, 'I'm not a part of the diversity dialogue because I'm white, they're wrong," Rodriguez said. "Diversity is about everyone."


Rodriguez said just because he is a Hispanic student does not mean that he is more diverse than any other student.


"I believe diversity makes this University a better place," said Schuyler Houser, student body president. "I don't understand those who don't feel that way."


Toward Vision 2020

Panelists said the administration is not doing a good job of promoting diversity on campus.


While they strive to recruit more minority students, panelists said administrators are increasing fees making it difficult to bring in those students.


"The administration is going about its Vision 2020 diversity initiative the wrong way with raising fees," Dunman said.


Panelists also said the administration's top 20 percent plan was met with disapproval because of a misconception of what the plan would do. Many students saw the plan as targeting poor inner-city minorities instead of helping all disadvantaged students in all areas.

 

But there is a tremendous difference in the social climate in the two regions, just because of the differing backgrounds of those who populate the two places.

 

ATM's student body is just over 70% white? That's a conservative number. Isn't it 3% black and Asian, 14 % Hispanic?

 

How do you know they were gay? Did you goto a gay bar? I think per capita, Austin is about average in # of gays per person. Also, Austin is more tolerant then other cities in regards to gays. It's a pretty liberal town.

 

Uh, no.

What does that mean anyway? I wonder how many gays I have per person?

Man, this thread is going downhill fast.

A&M has a shot, I don't think there's that much difference in recruiting classes anyway, when you get down to it. A good coach puts them right in the mix.

I'd rather overachieve than underachieve. Support the UT basketball team.

 

Well, I really don't care what the number is.

You knew exactly what I meant to say. Per capita, Austin does not have an absurdly high number of gays. Could be wrong, but I don't care either.


Grammar smack, gotta love it.

 

It wasn't 'grammar smack'.

Austin has more gays than average. The second part was a joke.

 

Rather than go by all this heresay, I did a little research...

<b>Texas</b>
Women 49%
Men 51%
Over 22 Years Old 35%
Afro-American/Black 4%
Indian 0%
White 63%
Hispanic 14%
Asian 16%
Alien 3%
Other 0%
Full-Time UG Enrollment 34027

<b>A&M</b>
Women 49%
Men 51%
Over 22 Years Old 13%
Afro-American/Black 3%
Indian 1%
White 82%
Hispanic 9%
Asian 3%
Alien 1%
Other 1%
Full-Time UG Enrollment 33776

The most noticeable thing about this isn't the amount of blacks that go to UT as compared to A&M - it's the number of Asians! So, I don't really see how this proves that blacks unanimously support Texas over A&M.



By the way, here's a couple of names: Kevin Smith, Ray Mickens, Patrick Bates, Aaron Glenn, Robert Ferguson, Greg Hill, Rodney Thomas, Dante Hall, Albert Connell, Quentin Coryatt, Sam Adams, Keith Mitchell, Warrick Holdman, Brandom Mitchell, Jason Webster, Richmond Webb, Pat Williams, Ron Edwards, Edward Jasper.

All African-American who attended A&M and are either currently playing in the NFL (many of these guys have started every game this season) or played in the NFL for a period in the 90s. And this is excluding an even greater number of Aggies who are on NFL teams but not playing much. Gee, I can't figure why an African American athlete would want to go to A&M.

 

Texas
Women 49%
Men 51%
Over 22 Years Old 35%
Afro-American/Black 4%
Indian 0%
White 63%
Hispanic 14%
Asian 16%
Alien 3%
Other 0%
Full-Time UG Enrollment 34027

A&M
Women 49%
Men 51%
Over 22 Years Old 13%
Afro-American/Black 3%
Indian 1%
White 82%
Hispanic 9%
Asian 3%
Alien 1%
Other 1%
Full-Time UG Enrollment 33776


I think the most shocking thing about this survey is the fact that between the two schools, we have about 1000 aliens enrolled! That's pretty incredible since the government still denies that aliens exist.

As far as this ridiculous "UT has a fundamental advantage over A&M in recruiting" thing, that's one of the dumbest things I've ever heard. A&M is the bread and butter school of small towns and rural areas. Yeah, Texas will likely have an advantage in big cities, but there's some damn good football played in rural areas, and A&M has more appeal there (in general).

Besides that, there are PLENTY of awesome recruits for both schools to get their share. With a good recruiter, A&M can get just as good classes year-in and year-out as UT. And with a good coach, they'll be just fine doing so.

 

DC Kid,

UT is 63% white, A$M is 82% white.

There is a difference in both Asians and Hispanics and slight difference in African Americans.

It's not just the pure numbers but also the environment.

A$M is intensely conservative. UT is also conservative but it has its liberal slant.

The Batallion cartoon is just a microcosm of the attitude at A$M.
The disturbing part of the Battalion cartoon was the indifference among the student population (Which is 82% white and conservative). A$M's campus environment is homogenous.

UT does not have substantial more African Americans. However, its student body is much more diverse on the political specturm and would not accept blatant racism.

As the article points out, perhaps its because A$M does not have a liberal arts program. Of course if you ask the Aggies, theyd also prefer it that way.

Like I said, there's a reason why 90% of African Americans vote Democratic.

 

Some facts...
Per the Cushing Library in College Station.

1956- A&M student Senate voted 24-7 "opposing segregation." In 1954, 80% of Texans supported segregation

1964- First African-American joined the Corps.

1966- Texas institutions of higher learning desegregated.

1967- Group of African-Americans at A&M formed Afro-American society.

1969- First African-American, Ally F. Mack, on teching staff.

1974- First African-American female in the Corps.

1976- Fred McClure elected 1st African-American student body President at A&M.

1979- Office of School Relations opened to aid in recruitment of minorities to Texas A&M.

1983- Coordinator of Minority Affairs created as part of a policy to recruit, enroll and retain minority students.

1984- A&M approves $1M budget for minority recruitment program.

1985- A&M approves $1.3M for minority scholarships.

1986- A&M graduted 115 minority students with Bachelor of Science degrees in engineering, highest in the U.S.

1987- Formation of Black Graduate Student Association. Robert Goodwin 1st African-American appointed deputy chancellor.

1992- Sigma Alpha Epsilon fined and placed on probation following charges of racism.

1993- Cultures and International courses required to sensitize students to diversity.

1998- Corps member sues due to Confederate symbol display. This behavior had been prohibited by the Corps manual, The Standard.

1999- A&M hosted the 63rd annual Texas NAACP convention.

2000- Charles Sippiel appointed VP for administration. 1st African-American VP at A&M.

 

Their shot huh? So the thread is about nothing?

And who says A&M isn't a model of tolerance and diversity?

 

According to the Princeton Review's website,

A&M 67% caucasian
Texas 61% caucasian.

The difference is measured in the hundreds...not the thousands.

By the way REIT...would you like to call me a "cowhick" a few more times while you lecture to me about "sensitivity?"

 

Yet you have people at Texas stating that all Aggies are cowhicks. So if you are insensitive to people from the country rather than minorities...that makes it ok?

 

Those numbers are different DC kid's numbers. Did the review list the racial make-up of both schools. I would like to see where the 15 % difference is.