The San Antonio Express-News reports that the physical condition of the Alamo is deteriorating at an alarming rate.

The iconic mission-era church of the Alamo has long been crumbling, possibly at a rate Texans will find alarming, according to a Texas A&M University researcher.  The base of a decorative column next to the church’s main entrance has lost up to 2.7 inches of its limestone surface since 1960, said Robert Warden, director of the university’s Center for Heritage Conservation. The base of each of the four columns were originally rectangular and solid, with carved features that “now look scooped,” he said.  “It’s clear from photos of the building in the 1930s that material loss was already well underway,” he said.

The decomposition rate on one column “adds up to a significant amount, especially if that rate increases in the future,” said Warden, one of at least seven experts slated to speak at the center’s 14th annual Historic Preservation Symposium, “The Alamo: Structure of History,” Feb. 20-21 in College Station.

Online registration for the Symposium runs through Feb. 18 and is $10 for students, $20 for faculty and the general public and $100 for professionals.  For more information visit  http://chc.arch.tamu.edu/

New University of Texas System Chancellor Admiral (Ret.) William McRaven has staked out positions that will likely win him no friends in the Tea Party dominated Texas Legislature.  McRaven supports the Dream Act which provides in state tuition rates to college bound students who were brought here illegally as children. The act currently benefits about 21,000 students at no real cost to the state.  McRaven also vehemently opposes concealed carry on campus. Texas A&M President  Michael Young has also voiced support for the Dream Act stating that Texas should “educated everyone” who plans on staying in the state, but has remained silent regarding packing heat on campus.   The San Angelo Times reports that while legislators have tremendous respect for McRaven and his service to our country, that respect does not translate into support for his positions.

In rapid-fire succession, the former Navy SEAL came out against concealed handguns on campus — saying it would make classrooms “less safe” — and supported allowing universities to set their own tuition rates. He also opposes repealing a 2001 state law that grants in-state tuition rates to some immigrants living in Texas but without legal U.S. residency, calling it a “moral obligation.”

But how much clout he’ll have in swaying lawmakers on those issues remains unclear. Republican Sen. Konni Burton, a firebrand tea-party favorite, was perhaps most indicative of potential pushback when she recently challenged McRaven’s position that concealed weapons would stifle free speech in universities. Burton called that a false argument and said the right to bear arms was “granted by God.”

When asked Tuesday about potential skirmishes, McRaven— who led the U.S. Special Operations Command before taking the university job — told The Associated Press: “All I know is I have to take a position on these issues, and I have to take a position as an educator.”

“I enjoy the dialogue,” he added. “This is the best thing about our democracy.”

I guess Red missed that Sunday where we learned about God giving us the right to bear arms or Jesus packing a 38 Special at the Sermon on the Mount.  McRaven appears to be too much of a diplomat and gentleman to respond to the brilliant theological arguments of noted religious scholars such as Sen. Burton.

In the wake of news reports regarding the mismanagement of the new TDECU Stadium by UH’s hand-picked company, UH Student Government is now calling for the resignation of UH Vice-President for Administration and Finance Carl Carlucci and two of his subordinates.  The students who agreed to a $45 increase in their student fee in exchange for a number of promises, feel that the UH Administration has not lived up to its side of the bargain and voted unanimously to oust Carlucci.  The TDECU project was plagued by delays and cost overruns and UH ended up taking money that was supposed to be used to renovate aging Hofheinz Pavilion to finish the football stadium.  The students allege this violations a memorandum of understanding that UH Administration agreed to in exchange for the increased student fees.

The Houston Chronicle reports on the vote by UH Student Government to axe Carlucci.  Meanwhile, UH Internal Auditor Don Guyton (aka the Administration’s Puppet) is conducting three internal audits related to the stadium and the apparently incompetent management company chosen by Carlucci.  Expect nothing from Guyton who is adept at cleaning up UH messes with “internal audits.”  And be assured, Carlucci is going nowhere and that UH Administration will circle the wagons to protect one of its own.

The Perryman Group reports that former Gov. Rick Perry’s deployment of National Guard troops to the Texas-Mexico border is a job killing drag on the Texas economy.  The Waco-based firm looked at previous troop deployments along the Rio Grande to estimate the potential economic impact of Perry’s recent use of one thousand National Guardsmen to patrol the border.  The Perryman Group estimated that businesses in Texas’ Lower Rio Grande Valley would lose $541.9 million in GDP and 7,830 jobs for each year of deployment. Texas as a whole would lose 8,680 jobs and $650 million in GDP per year. The primary reasons for the economic slowdown are the discouraging effect the troops’ presence has on cross-border business and tourism.

Among his many other talents, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick apparently has inside information on the inner workings of Mexican drug cartels.  Patrick claimed at a news conference on Tuesday that drug cartels have been ramping up operations in anticipation that the troops would soon be leaving the area.  Patrick seems increasingly desperate for an excuse to keep the Texas National Guard on the border in the face of a decrease in illegal border crossings by undocumented persons.  The International Business Times reports that Patrick is fighting to keep the National Guard on the border after funds for former Gov. Rick Perry’s deployment run out next month.

[Patrick] announced he would be requesting $12 million in funding to keep the troops there until May and would work on an additional bill to extend their stay through August. “Under no circumstance should we have a complete pullout of the National Guard next month,” he said[.]

Former Gov. Rick Perry ordered 1,000 National Guard troops to the border last year amid a surge of unauthorized border crossings by unaccompanied children and families. Perry argued that the Texas border was left vulnerable to drug cartels and traffickers because Border Patrol resources were diverted to handle the influx. Perry stated at the time that he expected Washington, D.C., to eventually foot the bill for the troops’ presence there.

Troop levels have been winding down in the weeks leading up to their scheduled departure in March, and around 200 remain. The number of unauthorized border crossings has also waned since August.

State Rep. Donna Howard (D. Austin) has filed a bill that would change Confederate Heroes Day into a more general holiday honoring those who fought on both sides in the Civil War.  The Texas holiday celebrated on January 19 (R.E. Lee’s Birthday) occasionally coincides with the National Martin Luther King Jr. federal Monday holiday.  The incongruous pairing of holidays – one celebrating those who fought to preserve slavery and the Southern way life based on that institution – and another celebrating the Civil Rights champion – has caused some controversy over the years.  Howard’s bill would create some distance between the two holidays.  The Houston Chronicle reports:

Howard said she decided to write the bill after being approached by a constituent who thought Confederate Heroes Day insufficient because it does not recognize Union soldiers.

“I think the way that (my constituent) approached this is that there was a Civil War involving all of our United States of America,” Howard said. “We should be recognizing all of those who were involved with that period of our history.”

The state holiday, officially born in 1973 after the Texas Legislature combined celebrations of Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis’ birthdays, falls on Jan. 19, Lee’s birthday.  Martin Luther King Jr. Day is celebrated on the third Monday in January, which places it around King’s Jan. 15 birthday.

[Reta] Brand, [director of the Texas Society Order of Confederate Rose], said she was not concerned with the coinciding holidays, but said if one has to change it should be the King holiday.

“We had Confederate Heroes Day before there was a Martin Luther King Jr. Day, why can’t they change theirs?” she asked. “I have no problem with them both being celebrated on the same day because most of the people who celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day don’t celebrate Confederate Heroes Day.”

This peculiar brand of Confederate worship has always puzzled Red.  What other nation gets to celebrate and honor persons who were technically traitors fighting for the enslavement of their fellow citizens?  I understand that the vast majority of Confederate soldiers were not slave owners and that they may have believed that they were fighting for something else, but the reality is that they were on the wrong side of history and were sacrificed for an ignoble cause.  That they were allowed to return home in peace and live out their lives was a tribute to the magnanimous policy of Lincoln and Grant in seeking an end to the horrible conflict that saved the USA and put us on the path to global greatness.

The Daily Texan reports that UT fraternity Phi Gamma Delta hosted a “Border Patrol” themed party on Saturday night.  Members and their guests were spotted wearing construction work clothes, sombreros and hard hat with names like “Jefe” or “Pablo Sanchez” on them.  Other partiers were dressed in army camouflage.   The fraternity claimed that the theme was supposed to be traditional Old West, but guests apparently confirmed “Border Patrol” was the real theme.

“Decorations included painted photo cutout boards of people dressed in traditional Mexican attire. The bar was painted to resemble a Mexican flag, with the shape of Texas in the middle.” 

Customers are flocking to Radio Shack stores to take advantage of bargains and have one last look at a dying Texas tradition.  The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports on the demise of the long-running brand.  Many folks bought there first personal computer (a Tandy) at from the Fort Worth-based company.  Radio Shack is the latest in a long line of traditional retail failures as more and more purchasing moves to internet-only retailers.

RadioShack plans to sell up to 2,400 of its 4,000 stores to hedge fund Standard General, with Sprint planning to set up operations along with RadioShack in as many as 1,750 stores. But other proposals are expected in an upcoming bankruptcy court auction, where the fate of the stores will be determined.  Several customers interviewed outside stores Friday afternoon felt a sense of inevitability that the RadioShack name could soon become a thing of the past.

The Texas Observer has its own take on Rep. Dan Flynn’s Teacher’s Protection Act (HB 868) making an early decision in declaring its Bad Bill Award.  The Act would immunize teachers who use deadly force in the classroom to defend themselves, students or school property.  The Observer’s John Savage takes the Bill apart.

The 84th Texas Legislature has been in session more than three weeks and the Observer has yet to bestow our most dubious legislative accolade: the Bad Bill. We shall dally no more. We present to you House Bill 868 by Rep. Dan Flynn (R-Canton).

Promisingly dubbed the Teacher’s Protection Act, the bill authorizes teachers to use “force or deadly force” to defend themselves, students, or school property. Flynn’s bill expands the Castle Doctrine—the 2007 law that has led to a rash of justifiable homicides in Texas—to include teachers.

As a former public school teacher, I  understand the frustration of catching a student tagging a bathroom wall or having to break up a fight. But suggesting that teachers use deadly force underestimates the potential for hallway misfire. French teachers aren’t trained to use lethal force. Think back to your middle school P.E. teacher. Do you want him locked and loaded?

Cougar pride over the opening of UH’s new football stadium has turned sour.  UH administration, long known for taking a bad situation and making it worse, continues that tradition with a disastrous roll out of TDECU Stadium.  The Houston Chronicle reports that numerous problems have plagued the supposed show piece in UH’s attempt to return to intercollegiate athletic relevance.

Five months after Cougars fans cheered its first kickoff, the University of Houston’s $128 million football stadium has drummed up as much anger and recriminations as school spirit. Students are calling for the resignation of a top UH official they contend hired an unqualified contractor to run events there. Audits are underway to investigate stadium funding and the bidding process for the contract in question. And emails  . . . show that the companies responsible for running events have butted heads with administrators.

The disclosures in the emails, which shed light on the contracting process in question, are the latest in a series of concerns that have arisen about TDECU Stadium, which opened last August with great fanfare.  A top UH administrator,  Carl Carlucci, did not heed warnings from a UH attorney and a top athletics official when he signed a five-year contract with the companies last year, the emails show. Carlucci, the executive vice president for administration and finance, runs day-to-day operations at the flagship campus as a key aide to Renu Khator, the president and system chancellor.

Much of the problem centers around  Aramark and VenuWorks, which operate at UH as Sports & Entertainment and now control food and services at the stadium.  Those companies submitted a bid that did not conform with the university’s request for proposals.  This was pointed out by a UH assistant general counsel and an assistant athletics director who both complained that about the VenuWorks proposal.  UH awarded Sports & Entertainment the contract despite the fact that it had never operated a facility larger than 22,000 seats even though TDECU seats more than 45,0000.  The issue boiled over when the UH Band classrooms at the new stadium were vandalized putting Sports & Entertainment on the hot seat as to its management of the $150 million facility.