SUPPORT Aggie Democrats!!!

http://aggiedems.tamu.edu/

I was an Aggie, class of 1992, and I know there are other Aggie Democrats here on DU. I was really proud to find out earlier this school year, that the official Aggie Dem organization is WAY bigger than it was when I was there (in 1992, they numbered NINE people, officially!).

Anyway, I thought they deserved our support. I am on their email listserv and those guys work their asses off in a part of the state and on a campus not exactly very sympathetic to Democrats (believe me, I KNOW). It'd be great if they got some emails of support. Click on contacts on the website for email addresses.

I need to order one of their t-shirts, wear it around here, piss people off!

in Texas. Just imagine being a Democrat in College Station! You bet they deserve our support! Thanks for posting the URL.

and weren't "out" about it. Seriously, I'm not kidding. In my fourth and fifth year, I was more vocal about it, but that made my life harder. I wouldn't give up that experience, though, it makes you tougher, LOL!

...and I spent a lot of weekends in College Station. Talk about a jarring juxtaposition between the two campus atmospheres!

And, in case you were wondering, the relationship didn't make it through junior year.

I bet it didn't!

Funny thing is, I only dated ONE republican in five years at A&M. The others were either liberal or completely apolitical. I had internal radar even back then, I guess.

I married a liberal GI I met at Ft. Hood. LOL.

Corps of Cadets '78

It took me about 10 years to get unbrainwashed.

Hell, A&M stopped waving the confederate flag just 10 years ago. (at the Aggie bonfire, that killed 12 kids, without anyone being held responsible.)

I was in Aggies Against Bonfire from 90 to 92. Talk about being harrassed, HARD. But we were genuinely concerned about the safety of bonfire and afraid something would happen.

When I graduated, I thought, well maybe we were wrong. They were pressured to start re-planting trees and I thought that was a good thing, and nothing dangerous had happened on a large scale.

Then it fell and killed and injured all those kids. WHY wouldn't they listen???? YOu can have school spirit without endangering people, for crying out loud.

Anyway, sorry, that was a tangent. I didn't know you were an Aggie! GOPisEvil graduated from there, too, as well as several other DUers.

http://users2.ev1.net/~johncoby/bonfire/

yep. That is me under "Cobo"

As I said, it took me ten years to get unbrainwashed.

Aggies Against Bonfire wasnt around in 78. I remember them in the late part of the 90's.

Looking back, bonfire was the most absolute dangerous thing I ever did in my life. (But I did enjoy it)

Hell, standing 80 feet in the air on top of logs that were just bigger than a baseball bat meant nothing to me back then.

The immortality of youth.

Yeah, Aggies Against Bonfire got organized sometime in the 80s, but weren't very public until the late 80s/early 90s.

I enjoyed Bonfire my first couple of years, then I got to looking at it: tons of WHOLE trees, wired up by (mostly) drunken kids on muddy ground, doused with jet fuel and lit on fire by (mostly) drunken kids. Recipe for disaster.

My dad was an Aggie, class of 1968, and was in the Corps (you had to be back then, but you know that) and he said they used to go around, gathering up all the trash and cast-offs in town (old furniture, etc) and burn THAT. They still had plenty of spirit and College Station was cleaner afterwards (well, except for the ashes that covered everything!).

Not one individual responsible for its design or construction had a degree.

Most were working on degrees in Dairy Science, Accounting, and other non-engineering degrees.

The safety training was an absolute joke, created by kids who had no training in safety.

The school collected money from the sales of bonfire stuff, but claimed they had nothing to do with it, when it fell.

And those drunk guys you mentioned? I was one of them.

Geez. How stupid we can be at a young age.

I have not been to A&M since the tragedy. Most of my other redpot buddies dont see eye to eye with me on the bonfire, or on my political beliefs.

with Dean's Texas Rangers. We had the "party cabin."

:toast: :beer: :headbang: :woohoo: :hangover:

The first trip to Iowa? I was on that trip! We flew out of Dallas to Cedar Rapids, then a few groups (I was with them) went on to Davenport and spent the weekend canvassing there. We got to hear Dean and meet him!

Second trip, Iowa, on the week of the primaries. I was 10 feet from the Doc during the famous scream! We stayed at a campground. Had a total blast!

and pm'd you. I don't know if he was a member of your group, but he certainly was a Dem voter and he was a member of the Aggie Amnesty International organization.

Mary

have a picture in the yearbook, but I remember them well, they were notorious, LOL. I liked what they did but was seriously afraid to be that "out" about how I felt (residual effects of brainwashing).

but not enough to be against the bonfire!!! Talk about brave!!!!

When he was still pre-school, I was the congressional district office manager for McGovern in a HUGELY repuke district (Ohio-Mike Oxley!!!) and I use to take Jake to the office with me everyday. Yep, always trying to keep his little hands away from the mimeograph ink and the college kids' pot. He was most influenced by a couple of our VietNam Vets Against the War.

Then he goes to A&M and joins Amnesty International. Mom was worried, but at least it wasn't the Corp.

Mary

It's way harder to stand up for your values when you are so out numbered. I'm proud of these Aggie Democrats.

Sonia

Wish I had gotten a chance to speak to you more. Next time, then!

:hi:

Nice meeting you too.

:hi: right back at you.

Sonia

Quite a big group compared to my Aggie Democrat days.

I was VP during my senior year ('99). Just a heartbeat away from the Presidency...of the Aggie Democrats.

We pulled off some fun events like Donkey Day. We also did lots of collaboration with NOW, especially when the new Planned Parenthood opened in Bryan.

:P

That is AWESOME. I need to order a t-shirt and join the capital area A&M club. Then I can wear the tshirt to their events and piss them off.

Their server started sending out old emails on the listserv just randomly. It was weird to see titles like "GET OUT THE VOTE AGGIE DEMS!" I was like, what?

I emailed them and asked how I can get a shirt, I hope they can take a credit card number.

Aggies I can wholeheartedly support! ever thought I'd see the day, obviously it is true that adversity makes for strange bedfellows...

Democrats have always been at A&M, but they were mucho quiet before now. Honest to God, I wouldn't have worn an Aggie Democrat shirt on campus back when I was there if you PAID me. I'd be scared shitless I'd be spit on or worse. Seriously.

I'm glad to see we have made a lot of progress on that front. Safety in numbers and all.