What's the difference between UT and A&M? (Houston: camping, living in)

[radiolibre99]

They too much history and clout to sink that low.

[hoffdano]

Originally Posted by DejaBlue

Is the Aggie Network the reason for the basic Aggie hoopla pride. I mean I know I'm not crazy. You've seen it too. The maroon SUVs. No one buys a maroon Honda Pilot but an Aggie. No one decks their newborn <1 year old kids in maroon like Aggies.

It's kind of weird it a way. The network seems really nice but the sheer explosion of all things white and maroon is a little fanatic. I swear I've seen a baby in the clear thing in the nursery with an Aggie newborn cap on. Now that's a bit much.

Aggie pride is rather strong right now because of some football success, Johnny Manziel, and UT's current downturn. Some of it is probably a bit "in your face" to the UT crowd that predicted A&M's move to the SEC would be disastrous.

You won't see many burnt orange cars because no one makes one - whereas maroon-like vehicles from the factory are not so unusual.

There was a lot of burnt orange all over the state during the Vince Young days. I assume there will be better days ahead for UT fans and their colors will come out in force again.

[ScoPro]

I was one of those who thought A&M's move to the SEC would be disastrous, but that was before we knew anything about Manziel.
He surprised everybody by playing really well so early, but it still didn't translate to any kind of conference standing - they are still middle of the pack in that conference.
However his team's moderate success has excited the base more than I've seen in years, hence the stadium rebuilding.
It remains to be seen if Sumlin can keep the momentum going on a long term basis.

For UT it is exciting to see a change in the lax culture that the program had slipped into after Brown & crew mailed it in after the fluke loss against Bama in the 2009 CCG.

I think Strong is on the right track with his tough "love" attitude with the players, instead of hugs & cookies.

[TheOverdog]

Why are the two best universities in the state going downhill?

Tounge in cheek answer but also contains lots of truths:

There is lots of bellyaching about both having to auto-accept any student in the top 7% of their graduating class, which might include people from places like the Rio Grande Valley or Brady, which don't have the wealth or resources of the child geniuses who go to The Woodlands or Plano West or wherever but didn't manage to graduate in the top 7%.

There is some truth to this of course, but then the argument becomes "is UT (or A&M) really a good school, or in the past were they just accepting a bunch of students who really would have succeeded anywhere?" and the answer is not settled yet. Also the unaccepted geniuses are going to other schools, both in TX and elsewhere and is helping the quality of schools in the surrouding areas. Then the question becomes "Do we want to help the UofH or Texas Tech become better schools" and the answer is "ehhhhh maybe" and "do we want to help U of Oklahoma and U of Alabama? NOOOO!!!"


And some of the parents of poors from the Valley and Brady don't have as much money to donate to UT or A&M post graduation, which hurts because that's an important category that colleges are ranked by and they stay longer than 4 years which is also an important category that colleges are ranked by because of reasons.

And they are actually having to educate some of the students (mostly minorities!) on how to study and how to operate in a group of wealthy whites which of course takes more resources than 400 student lecture halls really allow and modern universities are really as much about making money and lobbying for government 'research' funding than they are about educating.

So university culture is at a crossroads right now and it's mostly due to that pesky 7% auto-admit rule.

[gpurcell]

Originally Posted by homeinatx

Right now: not a lot of difference. Both flagships are in pretty bad shape. A&M nearly lost its tier one status a few years back due to inane meddling by the regents. A letter of censure by the AAU is no small matter, but I think John Sharpe is managing to hold the line. At U.T, things are currently worse. Bill Powers is a lame duck president undermined by the forgivable loan scandal at the Law School, and a range of outsourcing scandals, but the university community is forced to support him because the sense quite rightly is that whomever the regents would appoint to replace him would be worse. Faculty morale is unbelievably low at both places and while it takes many things to make a great university, top flight faculty is one of the most important, and UT faculty is leaving in droves.

Anecdotally, I know more than a dozen faculty who have accepted positions elsewhere, often at historically lesser institutions, because employment conditions at UT have deteriorated significantly. A friend who is chair of an academic department at Indiana told me that word is that Texas is ripe for raiding. While rankings are inherently flawed, I would not be at all surprised if UT falls out of the USNWR top 50 for the first time in the history of the rankings next year and the international rankings of UT have slid significantly in the last few years. Unless there is a concerted effort to increase legislative appropriations, retention packages and the quality of the faculty, it is more than possible that Rice will be the only tier one university in the state of Texas. The leading state schools in Texas are in the position of New York state universities in the 1970s. SUNY Buffalo and Rochester were once national powerhouses. They are now mediocre regional universities. U.T. and A&M increasingly look like they are headed along a similar path.

A lot of nonsense in this post. For example:

THES World Rankings for UT Austin (by far the best system)
13/14--27th
12/13--25th
11/12--29th

ARWU World Rankings
2013--36th
2012--35th
2011--35th
2010--38th
2009--38th

[cBach]

Originally Posted by radiolibre99

Wait? Why are the two best universities in the state going downhill?

Because to fix this would require raising taxes, and that is unthinkable here...

[atxcio]

UT will be fine, once Perry's regent Wallace Hall is impeached and Greg Abbott becomes governor. Abbot is a UT alum and was a professor for a time.

[TT Dave]

Originally Posted by TheOverdog

Tounge in cheek answer but also contains lots of truths:

There is lots of bellyaching about both having to auto-accept any student in the top 7% of their graduating class, which might include people from places like the Rio Grande Valley or Brady, which don't have the wealth or resources of the child geniuses who go to The Woodlands or Plano West or wherever but didn't manage to graduate in the top 7%.

There is some truth to this of course, but then the argument becomes "is UT (or A&M) really a good school, or in the past were they just accepting a bunch of students who really would have succeeded anywhere?" and the answer is not settled yet. Also the unaccepted geniuses are going to other schools, both in TX and elsewhere and is helping the quality of schools in the surrouding areas. Then the question becomes "Do we want to help the UofH or Texas Tech become better schools" and the answer is "ehhhhh maybe" and "do we want to help U of Oklahoma and U of Alabama? NOOOO!!!"


And some of the parents of poors from the Valley and Brady don't have as much money to donate to UT or A&M post graduation, which hurts because that's an important category that colleges are ranked by and they stay longer than 4 years which is also an important category that colleges are ranked by because of reasons.

And they are actually having to educate some of the students (mostly minorities!) on how to study and how to operate in a group of wealthy whites which of course takes more resources than 400 student lecture halls really allow and modern universities are really as much about making money and lobbying for government 'research' funding than they are about educating.

So university culture is at a crossroads right now and it's mostly due to that pesky 7% auto-admit rule.

Interesting information, that certainly explains a lot.

Originally Posted by cBach

Because to fix this would require raising taxes, and that is unthinkable here...

This is the part that I don't understand. What happened to the PUF (Permanent University Fund)? For as long as I can remember the PUF has provided both UT and A&M with huge amounts of money. Neither university should be having financial challenges meeting educational objectives, hiring/retaining quality faculty, funding research, etc. Is that fund no longer in place?

[Philosophizer]

Difference is the alum as others have stated. UT grads seem more self assured. A&M seem to suffer from an inferiority complex or something.

[hoffdano]

Originally Posted by Philosophizer

Difference is the alum as others have stated. UT grads seem more self assured. A&M seem to suffer from an inferiority complex or something.

Oh please. So says the man/boy with a shirtless pic ala Anthony Weiner in his profile.