Randolph Duke

Keep the bonfire away from the state owned property. If the aggys want to have a bonfire, let them do it, but under no circumstances - do not let the state fund the bonfire. No state funding, no state support. To you have that, aggys? The answer is "no."

The truth facing aggy about their bonfire is telling: "The collapse was about physical failures driven by organizational failures, the origins of which span decades of administrations, faculty, and students." 12 students killed, 27 injured, and thousands of others over the years has left many of us sickened. When A&M wants to proceed with their bonfire each fall, the answer from the State should be "no." The State of Texas has final say through the state house and senate. Those elected officials need to tell the people of A&M to think about the years of mistakes, think about the people who have paid for their mistakes and to move on.

The aggys need to re-read the reports on the bonfire collapse. I guarantee you no one read this report. "Though its individual components are complex, the central message is clear. The collapse was about physical failures driven by organizational failures, the origins of which span decades of administrations, faculty, and students. No single factor caused the collapse, just as no single change will ensure that a tragedy like this never happens again." https://csel.eng.ohio-state.edu/productions/pexis/readings/submod3/TAMUbonfire.pdf

This morning I was listening to a local Dallas station do their bit on aggy wanting to bring back their bonfire and the news casters were talking that aggy is now 35,000 over where they were when they did their stunt in 1999. 35,000 over where they were. How does anyone figure that those kids care about the bonfire, the silly aggy band, or any number of 1990's aggy things. A&M received 43,422 applications and they took 27,203 freshman students. Astonishing. https://www.collegetransitions.com/blog/how-to-get-into-texas-am UT Austin only admitted 38,250 in all undergraduate disciplines. Let the kids at A&M get a diploma, let them figure out who they want to become and quit insisting they go back to being aggys of the past. Those aggys are gone. None of them where alive when the bonfire was a big deal. Quit forcing them to be who you are and let them be who they want to be.

Rick, can you choose just one college that the ROTC represents? https://www.txamfoundation.com/News/Texas-AM-The-Military-College-of-Texas.aspx "Texas A&M: The Military College of Texas Twenty years after being designated the Military College of Texas, Texas A&M continues to offer an exemplary military education." From Wikipedia: Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. Since 2021, Texas A&M has enrolled the largest student body in the United States,[14] and is the only university in Texas to hold simultaneous designations as a land-, sea-, and space-grant institution. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and a member of the Association of American Universities. The university was the first public higher education institution in Texas; it opened for classes on October 4, 1876, as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas (A.M.C.) under the provisions of the 1862 Morrill Land-Grant Act. In the following decades, the college grew in size and scope, expanding to its largest enrollment during WWII before its first significant stagnation in enrollment post-war.[15] Enrollment grew again in the 1960s under the leadership of President James Earl Rudder, during whose tenure, the college desegregated, became coeducational, and ended the requirement for participation in the Corps of Cadets. In 1963, to reflect the institution's expanded roles and academic offerings, the Texas Legislature renamed the college Texas A&M University; the letters "A&M" were retained as a tribute to the university's former designation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_A%26M_University

This shit is awesome. Just saying.

Oh, this should be good.

Lol.

I’ve had a Range Rover for a couple of years. Haven’t had a Chevy for quite some time.

What pickup are you talking about?

Lol. Nope, I'm still around. Just taking it all in.

You bastard! No, it's not my sock. (maybe)

It's about time. Oh, and in case anyone talks with aggys, can someone explain to our dear aggys that the NLRB has made a ruling against the private colleges because they are private colleges and not state run institutions. The aggys were bleating about Dartmouth basketball athletes but they missed out on the part that they are are private athletes and therefore are subject to NLRB rulings. They are totally clueless that athletes that are subject to public universities are not subject to NLRB rulings.

My point is that they aren't NCAA National Titles. Titles, yes. National Titles, nope. 1 W. Basketball 1 Men's Golf 1 Men's Indoor Track 8 Outdoor Track (4 Men, 4 Women) 2 Women's Softball From a school with 72,000 students.

Where does A&M get their 17 NCAA National Titles from? I see the NCAA, as of January 10, 2024, shows A&M with 13 National Titles. Their 1939 football championship (which isn't an actual NCAA champion) takes the total up to 14. Where does A&M get to 17? http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/champs_records_book/Overall.pdf

How do civilians salute the American flag? Can anyone start by explaining that first piece of action? "Corps scholarships carry no military obligation, and are awarded based on both merit and need." https://corps.tamu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/FINAL23Brochure.pdf Every single person in the "Aggy Corps of Cadets" is a civilian. Every single person. Their uniform is designed by a civilian for being worn by civilians, not by a military personal. And yes, I can by on for a loong time talking about that "Aggy Corps of Cadets." A loooong time.

The issue was a PFO. It came out of nowhere on September 12, 2022. It has been a bitch. I’ll fill you in sometime. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/17326-patent-foramen-ovale-pfo Thankfully, this wasn’t something that any aggy had any fucking thing to do with the issue. Hook ‘em!

Ok. Walk me through this. I just don't get it. They dress up in one of the "uniforms" below to show what? Why are those uniforms necessary? I just don't understand what a college student, dressed up in one of the "uniforms" below, bears any "role" in the U.S. military.

Nothing about that person's uniform has anything to do with service in the nation's military. Not a single thing. Every thing about the uniform was created and devised by their civilian staff. Let that sink in for a while. Outside of College Station, Texas, it means nothing. And within College Station, Texas it usually means about nothing.

Over 100 years? Try over 129 years. And the "Liberty Bell" was to help sell U.S government debt in or about 1947. There were given to each state and several more were made available. The state of Texas was more about the Texas state independence.

Oh, the story keeps on getting better... "A&M alums upset after McElroy’s departure; journalism program's status in flux" https://theeagle.com/news/a_m/texas-am-journalism-program-in-flux/article_d99baffa-2101-11ee-ada2-3fceb13994e9.html#tracking-source=home-top-story

For 2023? Not for me. I’ll save mine for 2024.

I’m still around.

I knew him kind of well. He hit me up to write a piece on my "23rd Aggie" from the 1922 New Year's game. He wrote his article. It made its rounds. I hadn't heard from him in well over a year. Now I know why. RIP.