Tag Archives: UT-Austin

“I Fart in Your General Direction”

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The counter protest to the Mock Mass Shooting staged across from UT-Austin seems to have drawn more interest than the main event.   Time has the poop.

About 100 people with flatulence noise makers marched against a mock mass shooting Saturday at the University of Texas to divert attention away from pro-gun demonstrators.

The group took to the streets of Austin with machines that make fart sounds in their counter “mass farting” protest, the Houston Chronicle reports. Their march was in response to guns rights groups’ plans to stage a fake mass shooting at the school, complete with fake blood.

“This is about a choice between fear and a little bit of good humor,” organizer and UT alumnus Andrew Dobbs told the crowd, according to the Chronicle. “We are in a scary time right now and lots of scary things are happening and some people want us to be more afraid.”

Old Uncle Fear, the best weapon that the right-wing has in this country.

 

Forget About Syrian Refugees, We Must Protect Ourselves from the Insidious Dangers of the “Stealth Dorm”

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While Gov. Greg Abbott (TP- Texas) frets over Syrian refugees and boldly states that Texas will accept none (Red wonders exactly how that is going to work), our Poor Idiot Governor is ignoring the real crisis facing our state – the specter of the Stealth Dorm (ominous music plays).

It’s a good thing the Austin and Fort Worth City Councils are on the job, because they have recently passed anti-Stealth Dorm ordinances to deal with problems allegedly created by TCU and UT students cohabitating in willy-nilly fashion. The FW ordinance prohibits more than five unrelated people from occupying a single-family home, no matter how large it is, while the Austin ordinance puts the limit at four for new construction. The ordinances are allegedly justified as an attempt to preserve single family neighborhoods and avoid an end-around of municipal zoning laws.  The allegedly awful consequence of allowing people to decide where and how to live include increased traffic, parking problems, noise and “overflowing sewers.”  Red can see possible problems with the first three, but fails to see how 5 college students tax the sewer lines any more than a houseful of teenagers who are all related in some form or fashion.  The hubbub has caught the attention of the Business Insider which you can peruse if you want to know more.

Bye Bye Jeff – UT Puts a Traitor in His Place

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According to numerous reports, a state district judge has removed any legal impediments to UT-Austin’s plan to remove the statute of CSA President Jefferson Davis from its place of prominence on the South Mall of the main campus.  Kudos to UT for removing this monument to slavery, segregation and racism from daily viewing.  Predictably, the Confederate apologizers and historical revisionists expressed outrage that UT would no longer seek to honor a traitor who was dedicated to preserving slavery.  KSAT has the story.

A judge on Thursday cleared the way for the University of Texas to move a statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis away from the main area of campus, despite objections from a Southern heritage group that called uprooting the monument a “cultural atrocity” and compared it to the Islamic State destroying ancient artifacts in the Middle East.

Civil rights activists say the nearly century-old bronze likeness of Davis highlights the university’s racist past and the statue had been targeted by vandals. New school President Greg Fenves recently ordered it moved to a campus museum, but allowed other Confederate symbols to remain.

The Sons of Confederate Veterans, which earlier this year lost a U.S. Supreme Court decision over rejected Confederate license plates, had sued to prevent moving Davis’ statue.

But state District Judge Karin Crump said state law allows the school to determine where to place statuary on its campus. And she noted the original will of benefactor George Littlefield, who commissioned the statue of Davis and others, stated that it be placed in a position of prominence.

Texas will move Davis to the campus Briscoe Center history museum, which also houses one of the nation’s largest archives on slavery.

“Putting it in the Briscoe Center, far from whitewashing or erasing history, but puts it in the proper historical context,” said Gregory Vincent, Texas vice president for diversity and community engagement.

Vincent said the school would move the Davis statue within the next few days.

Photo from http://www.insidehighered.com 

Just How Worthless is Your College’s Football Coach?

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In most cases, pretty darn worthless it turns out.  The Count of Wall Street Journal fame has run the numbers of the coaches at the major football schools.  Rather than looking at won-loss records or conference championships, the Count analyzes exactly how well each coach did against opposing teams that were ranked in the Top 25 at game time.  This eliminates stacking of the records against lower division opponents, perennial doormats and the intra-conference weak sisters.

Who is the best college football coach?  Not surprisingly, it is the coach of defending National Champions Ohio State – Urban Meyer with a .707 mark.  The highly regarded Nick Saban is a piker by comparison with a .597 career average against quality competition.  So who is number two?  Jimbo Fisher at Florida State has racked up a .666 winning percentage in his 18 games against ranked competition.  But really, the oft-maligned Bob Stoops is likely the better coach – coming in batting .649 when going against the big boys in 77 games.

In Texas Gary Patterson at TCU is at the top of the heap with .559 winning percentage in 34 such contests.  A&M’s Kevin Sumlin is a respectable second with a .500 mark in his 20 top tier tests.  UT’s Charlie Strong (3-6) and Tech’s Kliff Kingsbury (2-7) don’t have enough games (at least 15) to make Red’s list – but neither is trending in the right direction.  And you have to wonder at UT’s hiring of Strong when he had an all-time 2-1 record in games against real teams before joining the Longhorns.

Who looks really bad?  Wunderkind Mike Leach is a pathetic .236 in 55 games against ranked competition and is fading fast having gone 1-11 at Washington State.  Kansas State’s legendary Bill Snyder is more legend than reality with a .278 record in 79 games.  Flavor of the Month Art Briles is on similar ground at .286 with all 10 of his wins over Top 25 opponents coming at Baylor.  And at the bottom of the heap is Colorado’s Mike MacIntyre who has yet to get on base (.000 in 15 games).

Who is coming on strong?  Mark Richt at Georgia racks up considerable numbers by virtue of playing in the SEC and is looking respectable at .535 in 71 games against the Beasts of the Southeast and others.  David Shaw sports an impressive .625 mark in his 24 games – all at Stanford. The only other coaches above the .500 mark are Gus Malzahn (Auburn), Les Miles (LSU), Brian Kelly (Notre Mama). Jim Mora (UCLA)  and Steve Spurrier (S. Carolina).

Longhorns a Long Way from Respectability

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USA Today reports that the University of Texas football team is not ranked in the pre-season polls for the first time in 17 years.

For the first time since 1998, Texas will begin the season without a number next to its name.

The Longhorns  are unranked in the Amway Coaches Poll, which was released Thursday. It’s not surprising given that the team finished 6-7 in 2014, capping Charlie Strong’s first year as head coach with a 31-7 loss to Arkansas in the Texas Bowl.

Texas had its worst season in recent history in 2010 when it followed a national championship loss to Alabama with a 5-7 record. The program hasn’t been the same since, going 36-28 the last four years without a single 10-win season. Still it always found a way into the preseason poll in that span, averaging a 19.5 ranking.

Not this year. Texas only received eight points, putting them at No. 38 outside the poll.

We’re No. 30, We’re No. 30, We’re No. 30

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The Houston Business Journal reports that UT-Austin is ranked as the 30th best university in the world – the highest ranking of any Texas school.  The Center for World University Rankings – yes there is such an organization updates their rankings every year.  The No. 30 spot places UT-Austin 6th among Big State Universities behind.  Univ. of California – Berkeley, UCLA, U.Cal. San Diego, Michigan and Wisconsin.

The Statue of Jefferson Davis is very proud.

Thank God Somebody Finally Figured Out What is Wrong with the UT Football Team

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Short Answer:  They suck!

For an in depth analysis for the ultimate sports geek, please turn to SB Nation which runs through a myriad of statistics and graphical analyses to come up with a precise answer as to why the Longhorns have underperformed over the last 5 years.  And the answer is – They suck! 

To illustrate the Longhorns’ suckiness, SB Nation presents exciting and allegedly meaningful visual aids such as –

Not to mention insightful analysis like –

And if that doesn’t get you excited about the upcoming season, try –

And if you haven’t fallen asleep – Hook ’em.

Today in Texas History – May 28

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From the Annals of Big Oil – In 1923, the Santa Rita No. 1 oil well came in.  The gusher came in the early morning at the solitary rig located in Reagan County.  The University of Texas had leased 670 sections of its west Texas land to Rupert P. Ricker.  Ricker in turn hoped to make enough selling drilling permits from various wildcatters to make the rental payments to UT.  Frank T. Pickrell and Haymon Krupp bought the drilling permits and formed Texon Oil and Land Company.  They then hired geologist Hugh Tucker to select a site for drilling among the almost 200,000 acres.  Carl G. Cromwell drilled the well which was spudded in only minutes before the drilling permit would have expired.  The incredible gusher and the ensuing development of UT’s vast land holdings transformed the school from a small land grant college in a small city to a major institution of higher education.  The University of Texas system has the second highest endowment of any US university ranking only behind Harvard.

UT President Turns Down Money

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The Bryan-College Station Eagle reports that incoming UT-Austin President Gregory Fenves is turning down a salary offer of $1,000,000 because of concerns over the impact of such a salary in times of belt-tightening and budget cutting.  Lest ye feel too sorry for Fenves – don’t.  He apparently will still make in the neighborhood of $800,000 with bonuses and deferred pay.

Emails show the incoming president of the University of Texas at Austin declined a $1 million salary offer because he was concerned it could upset students and faculty at the school that has been stretched for funds in recent years.

“With many issues and concerns about administrative costs, affordability and tuition, such a salary will affect the ability of the president to work with the Texas Legislature on matters important to the university,” Gregory Fenves said in an email to Pedro Reyes, the UT System’s executive vice chancellor for academic affairs.

Fenves warned that the proposed paycheck would draw “widespread negative attention from students and faculty because of budget constraints seen in the last five years.” His email was obtained by the Austin American-Statesman through an open records request.

Fenves is expected to receive his requested base salary of $750,000 a year, making him an outlier in a field where salaries generally push north of seven figures.

Michael Young, who became president of Texas A&M University on May 1, is the highest-paid leader of a public academic institution in Texas. His total annual compensation is $1.4 million, including $1 million in base salary.

Today in Texas History – May 12

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From the Annals of School Songs –  In 1903, “The Eyes of Texas” was sung for the first time.  As a prank, the UT Glee Club serenaded President Wilson L. Prather with a parody song based on the tune of “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad.” The lyrics, written by John Lang Sinclair, were based on Prather’s oft-repeated admonition to students that “the eyes of the Texas are upon you.”  Prather’s saying was based on hearing Robert E. Lee say “the eyes of the South are upon you” during his time as a student at Washington College. The song became popular with students and was adopted as the official school song and copyrighted by UT.