Texas A

Texas A&M University




Texas A&M University is a coeducational public
research university located in College Station,
Texas, United States. It is the flagship institution
of the Texas A&M University System, the fourth-largest
university in the United States and the largest
university in Texas. Texas A&M's designation
as a land, sea, and space grant institution
reflects a range of research with ongoing
projects funded by agencies such as the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration, the
National Institutes of Health, the National
Science Foundation, and the Office of Naval
Research. The school ranks in the top 20 American
research institutes in funding and has made
contributions to such fields as animal cloning
and petroleum engineering.
The first public institution of higher education
in Texas, though not the first general university
in the state, the school opened on October
4, 1876 as the Agricultural and Mechanical
College of Texas under the provisions of the
Morrill Land-Grant Acts. Originally, the college
taught no classes in agriculture, instead
concentrating on classical studies, languages,
literature, and applied mathematics. After
four years, students could attain degrees
in scientific agriculture, civil and mining
engineering, and language and literature.
Under the leadership of President James Earl
Rudder, in the 1960s A&M desegregated, became
coeducational, and dropped the requirement
for participation in the Corps of Cadets.
To reflect the institution's expanded roles
and academic offerings, the Texas Legislature
renamed the school to Texas A&M University
in 1963. The letters "A&M", originally short
for "Agricultural and Mechanical", are retained
only as a link to the university's past. The
school's students, alumni, and sports teams
are known as "Aggies".
The main campus is one of the largest in America,
spanning 5,500 acres, and includes the George
Bush Presidential Library. Approximately one-fifth
of the student body lives on campus. Texas
A&M has approximately 800 officially recognized
student organizations. Many students also
observe the traditions of Texas A&M University,
which govern daily life as well as special
occasions, including sports events. On July
1, 2012, the school joined the Southeastern
Conference. A&M operates two branches: Texas
A&M at Qatar and Texas A&M University at Galveston.
Working with agencies such as the Texas AgriLife
Research and Texas AgriLife Extension Service,
Texas A&M has a direct presence in each of
the 254 counties in Texas. The university
offers degrees in over 150 courses of study
through ten colleges and houses 18 research
institutes. Texas A&M has awarded over 320,000
degrees, including 70,000 graduate and professional
degrees.
As a Senior Military College, Texas A&M is
one of three public universities with a full-time,
volunteer Corps of Cadets.
History
Beginning years
The U.S. Congress laid the groundwork for
the establishment of Texas A&M in 1862 with
the adoption of the Morrill Act. The act auctioned
land grants of public lands to establish endowments
for colleges where the "leading object shall
be, without excluding other scientific and
classical studies and including military tactics,
to teach such branches of learning as are
related to agriculture and mechanical arts...
to promote the liberal and practical education
of the industrial classes in the several pursuits
and professions in life". In 1871, the Texas
Legislature used these funds to establish
the state's first public institution of higher
education, the Agricultural and Mechanical
College of Texas, then known as Texas A.M.C.
Brazos County donated 2,416 acres near Bryan,
Texas, for the school's campus.
Enrollment began on October 2, 1876. Six students
enrolled on the first day, and classes officially
began on October 4, 1876, with 6 faculty members.
During the first semester, enrollment increased
to 48 students, and by the end of the spring
1877 semester, 106 students had enrolled.
Admission was limited to white males, and
all students were required to participate
in the Corps of Cadets and receive military
training. Although traditional Texas A&M University
Corps of Cadets "campusologies" indicate 40
students began classes on October 4, 1876,
the exact number of students enrolled on that
day is unknown. Enrollment climbed to 258
students before declining to 108 students
in 1883, the year the University of Texas
opened in Austin, Texas. Though originally
envisioned and annotated in the Texas Constitution
as a branch of the University of Texas, Texas
A.M.C. had a separate Board of Directors from
the University of Texas from the first day
of classes and was never enveloped into the
University of Texas System.
In the late 1880s, many Texas residents saw
no need for two colleges in Texas and clamored
for an end of Texas A.M.C. In 1891, Texas
A&M was saved from potential closure by its
new president Lawrence Sullivan Ross, former
governor of Texas, and well-respected Confederate
Brigadier General. Ross made many improvements
to the school and enrollment doubled to 467
cadets as parents sent their sons to Texas
A&M "to learn to be like Ross". During his
tenure, many enduring Aggie traditions were
born, including the creation of the first
Aggie Ring. After his death in 1898, a statue
was erected in front of what is now Academic
Plaza to honor Ross and his achievements in
the history of the school.
Under pressure from the legislature, in 1911
the school began allowing women to attend
classes during the summer semester. At the
same time, A&M began expanding its academic
pursuits with the establishment of the School
of Veterinary Medicine in 1915.
World Wars era
Many Texas A&M graduates served during World War I.
By 1918, 49% of all graduates of the college
were in military service, more than any other
school. In early September 1918, the entire
senior class enlisted, with plans to send
the younger students at staggered dates throughout
the next year. Many of the seniors were fighting
in France when the war ended two months later.
Over 1,200 alumni served as commissioned
officers. After the war, Texas A&M grew rapidly
and became nationally recognized for its programs
in agriculture, engineering, and military
science. The first graduate school was organized
in 1924 and the school awarded its first PhD
in 1940. In 1925, Mary Evelyn Crawford Locke
became the first female to receive a diploma
from Texas A&M, although she was not allowed
to participate in the graduation ceremony.
The following month the Board of Directors
officially prohibited all women from enrolling.
Many Aggies again served in the military during
World War II, with the college producing 20,229
combat troops. Of those, 14,123 Aggies served
as officers, more than any other school and
more than the combined total of the United
States Naval Academy and the United States
Military Academy. During the war, 29 A&M graduates
reached the rank of general.
At the start of World War II, Texas A&M was
selected as one of six engineering colleges
to participate in the Electronics Training
Program, a ten-month activity of 12-hour study
days to train Navy personnel who were urgently
needed to maintain the then-new, highly complex
electronic equipment such as radar. These
colleges provided the Primary School, wherein
the key topics of the first two years of a
college electrical engineering curriculum
were condensed into three months. The instructional
effort at College Station was developed and
led by Frank Bolton, EE department head and
future Texas A&M president. At a given time,
some 500 Navy students were on the campus,
a significant fraction of the then-years enrollment.
Students graduating from the Primary Schools
then went to a secondary school, one of which
was at Ward Island, Texas.
Enrollment soared after the war as many former
soldiers used the G.I. Bill to further their
education. In 1948, the state legislature
formally recognized Texas A&M as a separate
university system from the University of Texas
System, codifying the de facto arrangement
between the schools.
University era
On March 26, 1960, Major General James Earl
Rudder, class of 1932, became the 16th president
of the college. Rudder's tenure marked a critical
turning point in the school's history. Under
his leadership, Texas A&M underwent a dramatic
expansion in its physical plant construction,
but more importantly, it diversified and expanded
its student body by admitting women and minorities.
The Corps of Cadets became voluntary. In the
face of growing student activism during the
1960s, Rudder worked diligently to ensure
that school continue to fulfill its mission
of providing a quality education for all Aggies.
By his death in 1970, Rudder had overseen
the growth of the school from 7,500 to 14,000
students from all 50 states and 75 nations.
In 1963, the 58th Legislature of Texas approved
of Rudder's changes, and officially renamed
the school "Texas A&M University", specifying
that the "A" and the "M" were purely symbolic,
reflecting the school's past, and no longer
stood for "Agricultural and Mechanical". In
the following 35 years, Texas A&M more than
tripled its enrollment from 14,000 students
to over 45,000.
Much of the legislative work allowing the
expansion of Texas A&M and the admission of
women was pushed by State Senator William
T. "Bill" Moore, who served from 1949 to 1981.
Known as "the Bull of the Brazos" and "the
father of the modern Texas A&M University",
Moore was a Bryan attorney and businessman
originally from Wheelock in Robertson County.
He also taught economics at TAMU before his
entry into World War II.
Texas A&M became one of the first four universities
given the designation sea-grant for its achievements
in oceanography and marine resources development
in 1971. In 1989, the university earned the
title space-grant by NASA, to recognize its
commitment to space research and participation
in the Texas Space Grant Consortium.
In 1997, the school became the home of the
George Bush Presidential Library. Operated
by the National Archives and Records Administration,
it is one of thirteen American presidential
libraries. Former President George Bush remains
actively involved with the university, frequently
visiting the campus and participating in special
events.
Texas A&M received national media attention
on November 18, 1999, when Aggie Bonfire,
a ninety-year-old student tradition, collapsed
during construction. Twelve enrolled students
and alumni died and twenty-seven others were
injured. The accident was later attributed
to improper design and poor construction practices.
The victims' family members filed six lawsuits
against Texas A&M officials, the Aggie Bonfire
officials and the university. Half of the
defendants settled their portion of the case
in 2005, and a federal appeals court dismissed
the remaining lawsuits against the university
in 2007.
With strong support from Rice University and
the University of Texas at Austin, the Association
of American Universities inducted Texas A&M
in May 2001, on the basis of the depth of
the university's research and academic programs.
Texas A&M left the Big 12 Conference for the
Southeastern Conference on July 1, 2012. This
ended Texas A&M's scheduled NCAA athletic
competitions with three former Southwest Conference
rivals - UT Austin, Baylor, and Texas Tech
- for the foreseeable future.
The university underwent several large expansions
in 2013. On July 12, 2013, Texas A&M Health
Science Center was formally merged into the
university. On August 12, 2013 the university
purchased the Texas Wesleyan University School
of Law and renamed it the Texas A&M School
of Law. Texas A&M on October 23, 2013 announced
plans to build a new branch campus, Texas
A&M University at Nazareth - Peace Campus,
in Israel.
Academics
Student body
In the fall 2013 semester, Texas A&M was the
fourth largest American university with an
enrollment of 56,255 students pursuing degrees
in 10 academic colleges. The student body
represents all 50 US states and 124 foreign
countries. Texas residents account for 85.9%
of the student population, and 33.3% are either
of international origin or members of ethnic
minority groups. The student body consists
of 47.3% women and 52.7% men.
Although Texas A&M is a secular institution,
its student body has a reputation for being
religious and conservative. According to a
2005 student survey published in the Princeton
Review, Texas A&M ranked 13th highest in the
category "students pray on a regular basis".
Breakaway, a weekly, student-organized, on-campus
prayer gathering, has attracted over 10,000
students in 2012, and is one of the largest
of its kind in the United States. In 2009,
the Princeton Review ranked Texas A&M the
eighth most socially conservative campus in
the nation. The Princeton Review also ranked
the university in 2012 as the "10th least
friendly" college in the United States for
LGBT people, and the least friendly among
public schools for LGBT people.
The university consistently ranks among the
top ten public universities each year in enrollment
of National Merit scholars. According to the
College Board, the fall 2008 entering freshman
class consisted of 54% students in the top
10% of their high school graduating class,
86% in the top quarter, and 99% in the top
half. Seventy-four percent of these students
took the SAT. The middle 50% of the freshmen
had average scores as follows: in critical
reading, 520â€"630, math, 560â€"670, and in
writing 500â€"610. Twenty-six percent of the
incoming freshmen took the ACT, with the middle
50% scoring between a 23 and 29. About 80
percent of the student body receives about
$420 million in financial aid annually. The
admission rate for students who applied as
undergraduates in 2012 was 67%. The school
is rated as "selective" by US News & World
Report.
In the fall 2008 semester, the Dwight Look
College of Engineering had the largest enrollment
of 20.5%. The College of Liberal Arts and
the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
followed, enrolling 15% and 14% of the student
body, respectively. The College of Education
and Human Development enrolls 12%, and Mays
Business School enrolled about 11%. Colleges
with less than 10% enrollment included the
College of Architecture, the College of Science,
the George Bush School of Government and Public
Service, the College of Geosciences, and the
College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical
Sciences. Approximately 8% of the student
body had not declared a major.
In the fall 2011 semester, enrollment at Texas
A&M surpassed 50,000 for the first time. A
record 50,054 students were enrolled on the
census day.
Rankings
In a comparison of educational quality, faculty
<br><br>
quality, and research output, Shanghai Jiao
Tong University ranked Texas A&amp;M 51st nationally
and 96th internationally in its 2014 rankings.
In its 2012-2013 rankings, The Times Higher
Education Supplement listed Texas A&amp;M 67th
among North America's universities, and 156th
among world universities. The 2012/2013 QS
World University Rankings ranked the university
165th overall in the world. In its 2013 edition,
the Center for World University Rankings ranked
Texas A&amp;M as the 80th university globally
and 50th university nationally.
In the 2013 edition of the U.S. News and World
Report ranking of national universities, the
school is 65th. According to The Washington
Monthly criteria, which considers research,
community service, and social mobility, Texas
A&amp;M ranks second nationally in 2012. The John
Templeton Foundation listed Texas A&amp;M as one
of the thirty-five American college programs
that &quot;communicate[s] the values of honesty,
trust, respect, responsibility, integrity,
and fairness in the classroom&quot;. The 2011 Kiplinger's
Personal Finance ranked the school as the
23rd best-value public university on the basis
of in-state tuition, and the 35th best-value
public university on the basis of out-of-state
tuition. After conducting a survey of leading
employment recruiters, the Wall Street Journal
ranked Texas A&amp;M 2nd nationally, as &quot;most
likely to help students land a job in key
careers and professions&quot;. In 2009 the National
Science Foundation has recognized Texas A&amp;M
as one of the top 20 research institutions.
Endowment
Texas A&amp;M has an endowment valued at more
than $5 billion, which ranks fourth among
U.S. public universities and 10th overall.
Apart from revenue received from tuition and
research grants, the university, as part of
the Texas A&amp;M University System, is partially
funded from two endowments. The smaller endowment,
totaling $1.17 billion in assets, is run by
the private Texas A&amp;M Foundation. A larger
sum is distributed from the Texas Permanent
University Fund. TAMUS holds a minority stake
in this fund; the remaining two-thirds belongs
to the University of Texas system. As of 2006,
the PUF ending net asset value stood at $10.3 billion;
$400.7 million was distributed to the two
university systems in fiscal year 2007. Combined,
the total endowment for the TAMUS stands at
$7.6 billion, as of 2012.
Research
The Texas A&amp;M University system, in 2006,
was the first to explicitly state in its policy
that technology commercialization was a criterion
that could be used for tenure. Passage of
this policy was intended to give faculty more
academic freedom and strengthen the university's
industry partnerships. Texas A&amp;M works with
both state and university agencies on various
local and international research projects
to forge innovations in science and technology
that can have commercial applications. This
work is concentrated in two primary locationsâ€"Research
Valley and Research Park. Research Valley,
an alliance of educational and business organizations,
consists of 11,400 acres with 2,500,000 square
feet of dedicated research space. An additional
350 acres, with 500,000 square feet of research
space, is located in Research Park. Among
the school's research entities are the Texas
Institute for Genomic Medicine, the Texas
Transportation Institute, the Cyclotron Institute,
the Institute of Biosciences and Technology,
and the Institute for Plant Genomics and Biotechnology.
Texas A&amp;M University is a member of the SEC
Academic Consortium.
In 2011 with $705 million Texas A&amp;M ranked
in the top 20 universities for research expenditures;
third behind only MIT and UC Berkeley for
universities without medical schools. In 2004,
Texas A&amp;M System faculty and research submitted
121 new inventions and established 78 new
royalty-bearing licensing agreements; the
innovations resulted in income of $8 million.
The Texas A&amp;M Technology Licensing Office
filed for 88 patents for protection of intellectual
property in 2004.
Spearheaded by the College of Veterinary Medicine,
Texas A&amp;M scientists created the first cloned
pet, a cat named 'cc', on December 22, 2001.
Texas A&amp;M was also
the first academic institution to clone each
of six different species: cattle, a Boer goat,
pigs, a cat, a deer and a horse.
In 2004, Texas A&amp;M joined a consortium of
universities to build the Giant Magellan Telescope
in Chile. Estimated to be the largest optical
telescope ever constructed, the facility will
have seven mirrors, each with a diameter of
8.4 meters. This will give the telescope the
equivalent of a 24.5 meters primary mirror
and will be ten times more powerful than the
Hubble Space Telescope. Construction is slated
to be complete in 2016.
As part of a collaboration with the U.S. Department
of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration,
Texas A&amp;M completed the first conversion of
a nuclear research reactor from using highly
enriched uranium fuel to utilizing low-enriched
uranium. The eighteen-month project ended
on October 13, 2006, after the first ever
refueling of the reactor, thus fulfilling
a portion of U.S. President George W. Bush’s
Global Nuclear Threat Reduction Initiative.
Tamu researchers have named the largest volcano
on Earth, Tamu Massif, after the university.
Worldwide
Texas A&amp;M has participated in over 500 research
projects in over 80 countries and leads the
Southwestern United States in annual research
expenditures. The university conducts research
on every continent and has formal research
and exchange agreements with 100 institutions
in 40 countries. Texas A&amp;M ranks 13th among
U.S. research universities in exchange agreements
with institutions abroad and student participation
in study abroad programs, and has strong research
collaborations with the National Natural Science
Foundation of China and many leading universities
in China.
Texas A&amp;M owns three international facilities,
a multipurpose center in Mexico City, Mexico,
the Soltis Research and Education Center near
the town of San Isidro, Costa Rica, and the
Santa Chiara Study Abroad Center in Castiglion
Fiorentino, Italy. In 2003, over 1,200 Aggie
students, primarily undergraduates, studied
abroad. Marine research occurs on the University's
branch campus, Texas A&amp;M University at Galveston.
Texas A&amp;M's Center for International Business
Studies is one of 28 supported by the U.S.
Department of Education. The university is
also one of only two American universities
in partnership with CONACyT, Mexico's equivalent
of the National Science Foundation, to support
research in areas including biotechnology,
telecommunications, energy, and urban development.
In addition, the university is the home of
&quot;Las Americas Digital Research Network&quot;, an
online architecture network for 26 universities
in 12 nations, primarily in Central and South
America.
Campus
Texas A&amp;M's College Station campus, one of
the largest in America, spans 5,200 acres
plus 350 acres for Research Park. The university
is part of the Bryan-College Station metropolitan
area located within Brazos County in the Brazos
Valley region, an area often referred to as
&quot;Aggieland&quot;. According the U.S. Census Bureau,
as of 2008, the population of Brazos County
is estimated at 175,122. Money Magazine, in
2006, named College Station the most educated
city in Texas, and the 11th most educated
American city, due largely to the presence
of the university and the size and scope of
its research. Aggieland is centrally located
within 200 miles of 3 of the 10 largest cities
in the US and 75% of the Texas and Louisiana
populations. The area's major roadway is State
Highway 6, and several smaller state highways
and Farm to Market Roads connect the area
to larger highways such as Interstate 45.
The campus is bisected by a railroad track
operated by Union Pacific. The area east of
the tracks, known as Main Campus, includes
buildings for the colleges of engineering,
architecture, geosciences, science, education
and liberal arts. Dormitories, as well as
the main dining centers and many campus support
facilities, are also on Main Campus. Notable
buildings on Main Campus include Kyle Field,
Sterling C. Evans Library, the Academic Building,
Harrington Hall, the Memorial Student Center,
the Administration Building, Rudder Tower,
Albritton Bell Tower, and the Bonfire Memorial.
To the west of the railroad tracks lies West
Campus, which includes most of the sports
facilities, the business school, agricultural
programs, life sciences, the veterinary college,
the political science and economics school,
the George Bush School of Government and Public
Service, the George Bush Presidential Library
and two schools within the Texas A&amp;M Health
Science Center. Research Park, the area of
West Campus along Kimbrough Boulevard, includes
many research facilities.
Outside the main campus, the institution formally
includes two additional branch campuses: Texas
A&amp;M at Qatar located in Education City in
Doha, Qatar devoted to engineering disciplines
and Texas A&amp;M University at Galveston in Galveston,
Texas, devoted to marine research and host
to the Texas Maritime Academy. All degrees
at the Qatar campus are granted by the university's
Dwight Look College of Engineering. On October
23, 2013, plans for a third branch campus,
Texas A&amp;M University at Nazareth - Peace Campus,
in Israel. The Texas A&amp;M School of Law is
located In Fort Worth, TX.
Texas A&amp;M also maintains Texas A&amp;M Riverside
Campus, an extension of the main campus, located
10 miles to the northwest.
Student life
Residential life
During the 2006 fall semester, 20.5 percent
of the student body lived on campus in one
of two distinct housing sections located on
opposite ends of campus. Both the Northside
and Southside areas contain student dormitories,
also known as residence halls. While some
halls are single-sex, others are co-educational.
Usually students of different genders live
on alternate floors, although some halls are
segregated by room or suite. Residence hall
styles vary. Many halls offer only indoor
access to individual rooms, but other halls
locate room entrances on an outdoor balcony.
Room sizes vary by building. Halls with larger
rooms include en-suite or private bathrooms,
while halls with smaller rooms have a common
bathroom on each floor. Several halls include
a &quot;substance-free&quot; floor, where residents
pledge to avoid bringing alcohol, drugs, or
cigarettes into the hall.
Northside consists of 17 student residence
halls, including the 3 university honors dorms.
Two of the university honors dorms are freshman
only. The halls are located near local entertainment
district Northgate, and offer convenient access
to campus dining establishments: Sbisa Dining
Hall, The Underground and Bernie's Cafe. The
demolition of Moore Hall, Crocker Hall, and
McInnis Hall is scheduled for August 2011.
A $58 million 600-bed residence hall will
replace the demolished halls that have accommodated
roughly the same number. Some halls have unofficially
claimed tables within the Sbisa Dining Hall
and many halls congregate for dinner at a
specific time each weekday.
Several of the residence halls located on
Southside are reserved for members of the
Corps of Cadets. Non-corps halls in this area
center around the Commons, a hub for activities
and dining. Southside has two Learning Living
Communities, which allow freshmen to live
in a cluster with other students who share
common interests.
Facilities for the Corps of Cadets are located
in the Quadrangle, or &quot;The Quad&quot;, an area
consisting of dormitories, Duncan Dining Hall,
and the Corps training fields. The Corps Arches,
a series of 12 arches that &quot;[symbolize] the
spirit of the 12th Man of Texas A&amp;M&quot;, mark
the entrance to the Quadrangle. All cadets,
except those who are married or who have had
previous military service, must live in the
Quad with assigned roommates from the same
unit and graduating class. Reveille, the Aggie
mascot, lives with her handlers in the Quadrangle.
Corps of Cadets
Texas A&amp;M is one of six United States Senior
Military Colleges. The schools' Corps of Cadets
is one of the largest uniformed student bodies
outside the service academies. Many members
participate in ROTC programs and earn commissions
in the United States Armed Forces upon graduation.
Members of the Corps have served in every
armed conflict fought by the United States
since 1876. There were 20,229 Aggies who served
in World War II, of these, 14,123 served as
officers, more than any other school, including
the combined totals of the United States Military
Academy and the United States Naval Academy.
Since 1876, 225 Aggies have served as generals
or Flag Officers.
Until 1965, Corps membership was mandatory.
The Corps welcomed female members in the fall
of 1974, and as of spring 2012, the co-ed
Corps boasts an enrollment of more than 2000 cadets.
The Corps is composed of three Air Force Wings,
three Army Brigades, two Navy and Marine Regiments,
as well as the Fightin' Texas Aggie Band,
whose members may be affiliated with any military
branch. Parson's Mounted Cavalry is the only
mounted ROTC unit in the United States. The
Ross Volunteer Company, the oldest student-run
organization in the state, is the official
honor guard for the Governor of Texas. The
Fish Drill Team, a precision, close-order
rifle drill team composed entirely of Corps
freshmen, represents the school in local and
national competitions. They have won the national
championship almost every year since their
creation in 1946, and have appeared in several
Hollywood productions, with prominent roles
in the movies A Few Good Men and Courage Under
Fire.
The Fightin' Texas Aggie Band, the world's
largest precision military marching band,
provides music for University functions and
presents intricate halftime performances at
football games. Some band drills are so complicated
that they require band members to step between
each other's feet to complete the maneuvers.
These drills must be drawn by hand as computer
marching programs have returned errors; their
calculations require two people to be in the
same spot at the same time.
Activities
Texas A&amp;M has over 800 student organizations,
including academic, service, religious, Greek,
and common interest organizations. Orientation
programs encourage students to become involved
in campus activities and organizations from
the beginning. An April 2005 campus survey
found that 74% of the students were involved
with at least one organization and that 88%
participated in a campus organization in the
past.
One of the oldest student organizations is
the Singing Cadets, founded in 1893. Known
as the &quot;Voice of Aggieland&quot;, the Singing Cadets
are an all-male choral group with about 70
members not affiliated with the Corps of Cadets.
The group travels nationally and has completed
several international tours; most recently,
South Africa in 2010.
Texas A&amp;M Hillel, the oldest Hillel organization
in the United States, was founded in 1920
at the original college. The organization
occurred three years before the national Hillel
Foundation was organized at University of
Illinois.
GLBT Aggies is the descendant organization
of Gay Student Services, the only student
organization to ever successfully sue the
institution for official recognition. In the
decision Gay Student Services v. Texas A&amp;M
University the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals held that the First Amendment required
public universities to recognize student organizations
aimed at gay students.
The Graduate Student Council, founded in 1995,
serves as the student government for Texas
A&amp;M University’s graduate and professional
students. It is a council representing all
TAMU graduate students with a purpose to improve
graduate students’ academic, living and
social experiences. The GSC represents student’s
concerns and is their liaison with the University
Administration.
Students exercise at the Student Rec Center,
a three-story facility encompassing 373,000
square feet, which includes exercise equipment,
athletic courts, an indoor running track,
a rock-climbing tower, and one of the top
competitive pools and diving wells in America.
The Rec Center also organizes intramural sports
throughout the year.
Some national service organizations originated
at A&amp;M. Aggie students founded the largest
one-day student-run service project in America
known as The Big Event. The annual service
project allows students to give back to their
community by assisting local residents. The
organization CARPOOL, a student run, safe
ride program has provided over 179,000 free rides
to Aggies unable to transport themselves home.
Its organizers also assist other universities
in establishing similar programs. In addition,
the Corporation for National and Community
Service listed A&amp;M among the 500 academic
institutions in the 2005â€"06 President's
Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll.
The Student Government Association, one of
A&amp;M's largest organizations, consists of over
1,300 student members in 3 branches, 15 committees,
and 4 commissions. SGA has changed little
since 1972, except its relative position within
the official framework of the university.
Media
The Princeton Review ranked The Battalion,
founded in 1893, as the 5th best college newspaper
in America in 2010. Students also publish
a secondary school newspaper, the Maroon Weekly.
The Aggieland, formerly known as The Olio
and The Longhorn, is one of America's largest
college yearbooks in number of pages and copies
sold. The university houses the public broadcasting
stations: KAMU-TV, a PBS member station since
1970, KAMU-FM an NPR affiliate since 1977,
and the student-run KANM, &quot;the college station
of College Station&quot;. W5AC broadcast the first
live, play-by-play broadcast of a college
football game, at Kyle Field, in November
1921. The game, played in Dallas between Aggies
and University of Texas, ended in a scoreless
tie.
Traditions
The Texas A&amp;M culture is a product of the
university's founding as a rural military
and agricultural school. Although the school
and surrounding community have grown, and
military training is no longer required, the
school's history has instilled in students
&quot;the idealized elements of a small-town life:
community, tradition, loyalty, optimism, and
unabashed sentimentality.&quot; Texas Monthly posits
that Texas A&amp;M students' respect for school
traditions and values is the university's
greatest strength. Some of the school traditions
date to the 1890s, while others have been
introduced more recently. These traditions
enable enrolled students and alumni to cultivate
the Aggie Spirit, a sense of loyalty and respect
for the school. They dictate many aspects
of student life, including how to greet others,
how to act at an A&amp;M sporting event, and often,
what words a student may use in conversation.
A visible designation tradition among senior
undergraduates and alumni is the wearing of
the Aggie Ring, whose design has been relatively
unchanged since its introduction in 1894.
Students may order a ring after completing
90 credit hours of coursework, including at
least 45 hours at A&amp;M, or after graduation.
Graduate students may receive a ring after
75% of their graduate coursework is completed
or after the acceptance of their dissertation
or thesis. Though unsanctioned by the University,
many students &quot;dunk&quot; their newly acquired
Aggie Rings into a pitcher of beer and quickly
chug the entire pitcher to &quot;earn&quot; the ring.
Some students dunk their rings in alternative
substances, including ice cream or nonalcoholic
beverages.
In keeping with the idea that all enrolled
students and alumni comprise a family, Aggies
have created two traditions to honor members
of the Aggie family who have died. Aggie Muster
is held annually on the anniversary of the
Battle of San Jacinto, April 21, to honor
the death during the previous year of any
enrolled student or alumni. Over 300 Musters
are held around the world, with the largest
taking place at Reed Arena on the Texas A&amp;M
University campus. All Muster ceremonies feature
the Roll Call for the Absent. As the names
of the deceased Aggies are called, a family
member or friend answers &quot;Here&quot; and lights
a candle, to symbolize that although their
loved one is not present in body, his or her
spirit will shine forever. The event received
worldwide attention during World War II, when
25 Aggies &quot;mustered&quot; during the battle for
the island of Corregidor.
Students who die while enrolled at Texas A&amp;M
are also honored at Silver Taps, a ceremony
held, when necessary, on the first Tuesday
of the month. This tradition began as a memorial
for former Texas A&amp;M president Lawrence Sullivan
Ross. On the day of the ceremony, flags fly
half-staff and notices are posted throughout
campus. At 10:15 pm the lights around campus
are extinguished and hymns chime from Albritton
Tower while students and faculty collect in
the Academic Plaza. Following a 21-gun salute
by the Ross Volunteer Firing Squad, six buglers
play an A&amp;M version of the song Taps, Silver
Taps, three times from the dome of the school's
Academic Building: once to the north, the
south and to the west. The song is not played
to the east symbolizing that the sun will
never rise on that Aggie again.
Sports
12th Man
Aggie football fans are called the 12th Man,
meaning that they support the 11 players on
the field and would be willing, if it were
possible, to enter the game if necessary.
To further symbolize their &quot;readiness, desire,
and enthusiasm,&quot; it is traditional for students
in attendance to stand throughout the game.
The tradition began on January 2, 1922, at
the Dixie Classic where A&amp;M played Centre
College. A&amp;M had so many injuries in the first
half of the game that Coach Dana X. Bible
feared he wouldn’t have enough men to finish
the game. He called into the stands for E.
King Gill, a reserve who had left football
after the regular season to play basketball.
Although he did not actually play, his readiness
symbolized the willingness of all Aggies to
support their team to the point of actually
entering the game. A&amp;M won 22â€"14, but E.
King Gill was the only man left standing on
the sidelines for the Aggies. In recent decades,
the 12th Man is represented on the field by
a walk-on player who wears the No. 12 jersey
and participates in kick-offs.
The 12th Man uses a variety of school yells,
rather than cheers, to support Aggie teams.
Each year the student body elects five students
to serve as the Yell Leaders. At midnight
before each home football game at Kyle Field
or at a predesignated location at away games,
the fans gather together to practice the yells
for the next day's game. Led by the Yell Leaders,
and the Fightin' Texas Aggie Band, the Twelfth
Man files into the stadium to participate
in Midnight Yell Practice to practice yells,
sing the War Hymn, and joke about their opponents.
At the conclusion of the yell practice, the
stadium lights are extinguished and fans kiss
their dates. This is also done as practice,
because Aggies are expected to &quot;mug down&quot;,
or kiss their dates, every time the football
team scores on the field. Sports Illustrated
named Midnight Yell as one of the &quot;100 Things
You Gotta Do Before You Graduate.&quot;
Bonfire
Almost every year since 1909, A&amp;M students
have built a large bonfire to celebrate their
&quot;burning desire to beat the hell outta&quot; the
University of Texas. Aggie Bonfire was traditionally
lit around Thanksgiving in conjunction with
the festivities surrounding the annual college
football game between the schools. Though
it began as a trash pile, Aggie Bonfire evolved
into a massive six-tiered structure, the world
record being held at 109 feet. The collapse
of the 1999 structure, causing the deaths
of 12 students and an alumnus, prompted the
university to suspend official sanction of
Bonfire, and the tradition continues off-campus.
Athletics
The Aggies are a member of the Southeastern
Conference in all sports as of July 1, 2012.
Previously a charter member of the Southwest
Conference until its dissolution in 1996,
A&amp;M competed in the Big 12 Conference until
June 30, 2012. The school's 20 sports teams
are known as the Aggies, and the school's
colors are maroon and white. As of April 2011,
Aggies have earned 138 Southwest and Big 12
conference regular-season and tournament titles
and 11 team national championships. The women's
soccer team, formed in 1993, earned 15 consecutive
NCAA Tournament appearances from 1995 to 2009,
advancing at least as far as the round of
16 in seven of the last eight appearances.
The women's volleyball team earned 12 consecutive
NCAA Tournament appearances from 1993 to 2004,
advancing past the first round each time.
In 2004 Sports Illustrated on Campus ranked
Olsen Field &quot;the best college baseball venue&quot;.
Sports Illustrated ranked the university 46th,
in a 2002 analysis of &quot;America's Best Sports
College[s]&quot; and College Station the 9th best
college sports town.
A&amp;M's archrival is the University of Texas.
In 2004, sporting events between the Aggies
and Longhorns became known as the Lone Star
Showdown. The most-watched event in the rivalry
is the annual football game held the day of
Thanksgiving. Other rivalries include Texas
Tech, Baylor University, and the recently
renewed rivalries with the University of Arkansas
and Louisiana State University.
Football
Founded in 1894, the football team has won
18 Southwest Conference championships, 3 Big
12 South Division championships, 1 Big 12
championship, and 1 national championship.
The team has appeared in 30 bowl games, winning
13, and has produced 41 first Team All-Americans,
5 Academic All-Americans, and 2 Heisman Trophy
winners, John David Crow in 1957 and Johnny
Manziel in 2012. Twenty-one Aggies play in
the NFL.
Since 1904, home football games have been
played at Kyle Field, a stadium with a current
capacity of 106,500. In 2004, CBS SportsLine.com
ranked Kyle Field the top football stadium
while Sporting News ranked it fourth. The
same year Sports Illustrated on Campus ranked
an A&amp;M football weekend the third best college
football experience.
Basketball
Founded in 1912, the men's basketball team
won 11 Southwest Conference championships
and 2 Southwest Conference Tournament championships.
The team has appeared in the National Invitation
Tournament 6 times and in the NCAA Tournament
11 times, of which 3 resulted in Sweet Sixteen
appearances, the highest round to which the
Aggies have advanced. The women's basketball
team has 1 Southwest Conference Tournament
championship,1 regular season Big 12 Conference
championship and 2 Big 12 Tournament championships,
most recently in 2011. The women have advanced
to 8 NCAA Tournament appearances, winning
the National Championship in 2011. They have
also competed in the WNIT twice, winning that
tournament in 1995.
The men's basketball team was coached by head
coach Mark Turgeon for four years until he
left for the head coaching position at the
University of Maryland. The current head basketball
coach is Billy Kennedy; he is entering his
third season and leading the Aggies into the
Southeastern Conference. The women's team
has been coached by Gary Blair since 2003.
Home games are played at the 12,989-seat Reed
Arena. G. Rollie White Coliseum, formerly
the home of the volleyball and basketball
teams, hosted basketball games before Reed
Arena opened in 1998.
Notable alumni
With over 280,000 alumni, A&amp;M has one of the
largest and most active alumni groups in America.
Many Aggies have attained local, national,
and international prominence. Jorge Quiroga
and Martin Torrijos have served as heads of
state for Bolivia and Panama, respectively,
and Rick Perry is the current Governor of
Texas and 2012 US Presidential candidate.
Robert Gates, Secretary of Defense in the
George W. Bush and Obama administrations,
is a past president of the university. Congressmen
Joe Barton, Bill Flores, Jeb Hensarling, and
Louie Gohmert, and former Austin, Texas, mayor
Will Wynn are all graduates. William A. Pailes
and Michael E. Fossum became NASA astronauts.
Aggies made their mark on the gridiron with
former All Pro Green Bay Packer Lee Roy Caffey,
1 Pro-Bowl, 4 World Championships, including
3 Super Bowls, title-winning coach Gene Stallings,
Oakland Raiders head coach Dennis Allen, Houston
Oilers defensive tackle Ray Childress, Heisman
Trophy winners John David Crow and Johnny
Manziel, Heisman runner-up, legislator, and
actor John Kimbrough, punt returner Dante
Hall, offensive tackle Richmond Webb, Detroit
Lions defensive end and punter Yale Lary,
former Dallas Cowboys assistant coach and
former player Dat Nguyen, punter Shane Lechler,
Denver Broncos linebacker Von Miller, and
defensive end Ty Warren. Paul &quot;Bear&quot; Bryant
coached at A&amp;M where &quot;survivors&quot; of his grueling
football practice camp at Junction, Texas
were nicknamed named The Junction Boys. Other
famous Aggie athletes include Randy Barnes,
indoor/outdoor shotput world record holder,
baseball standouts Chuck Knoblauch and Wally
Moon; along with Stacy Sykora, Libero for
the USA national volleyball team.
Aggies have also made a mark on pop culture.
Robert Earl Keen and Lyle Lovett, who often
strummed their guitars on the porch of their
Northgate home, have become popular country
singers. Rip Torn is a veteran of the silver
screen and Neal Boortz is a nationally syndicated
talk show host with the sixth largest listening
audience in the United States. Wen Ho Lee,
a doctoral graduate of A&amp;M, became the subject
of a 1999 espionage investigation; though
arrested, charges were dropped in 2000.
Aggies in business, particularly in the fields
of energy, construction, communications, and
chemistry, include Lowry Mays, chairman and
CEO of Clear Channel Communications; George
P. Mitchell, chairman and CEO, Mitchell Energy
and Development Corp.; Khalid A. Al-Falih,
President and CEO of Saudi Aramco; Eduardo
Castro-Wright, CEO of Wal-Mart Stores USA.
Alum Charles E. Toberman was known as the
&quot;Father of Hollywood&quot; for his role in developing
many of the city's most recognizable landmarks,
including the Hollywood Bowl, Grauman's Chinese
Theater, El Capitan Theatre, the Roosevelt
Hotel, the Grauman's Egyptian Theatre and
the Hollywood Masonic Temple.
Because of A&amp;M's military roots, many Aggies
have become leaders in the armed forces, and
were featured in the 1943 propaganda film
We've Never Been Licked. George H. Gay, Jr.,
was the sole survivor of Torpedo Squadron
8 in the Battle of Midway. Lieutenant General
Jay T. Robbins became a fighter ace in World
War II with 22 aerial victories. Major General
Robert B. Williams led World War II raid on
the Schweinfurt ball bearing factories. General
Bernard Adolph Schriever, known as &quot;the architect
of the Air Force’s ballistic missile and
military space program&quot;, became the namesake
of Schriever Air Force Base, Colorado. General
Michael Moseley is a former Chief of Staff
of the United States Air Force.
In addition, seven Aggies received the Medal
of Honor in World War II. The recipients are:
Horace S. Carswell, Jr., class of 1938
Thomas W. Fowler, class of 1943
William G. Harrell, class of 1943
Lloyd H. Hughes, class of 1943
George D. Keathley, class of 1937
Turney W. Leonard, class of 1942
Eli L. Whiteley, class of 1941
Notes
References
External links
Media related to Texas A&amp;M University at Wikimedia
Commons
Official website
Official Athletics website



Weapons Identification Project - Texas A&M University-Commerce




People really get together around an
actual problem.
2004, I was hired by Texas A&amp;M Commerce
on the joint position between
Department of Mathematics and
Department of Computer Science.
The job description of this one
it's pretty exactly what I could offer,
like a background both in classic English Department
but then also the computational
linguistics. And I'm doing a lot of
multi-departmental things with people in
computer science as in this project.
Originally, Dr. Sirikov and I started
the project as a collaboration
between the two of us,
then we brought in the other
participants.
The goal is to develop a system of
automatic identification of weapons to
estimate the level of threat.
And by doing so,
it can provide increased security in
situations like monitoring.
So, if you imagine the the scenario in the
airport where you have several groups of perpetrators
with different types of guns that pose
different types of threat,
you want to prioritize your resources.
You may just have one Response Team
that can go in right now. Where should
they go to prevent
most of the damage that could be wreaked.
The system could alert the authorities
automatically without having to
have somebody looking at the video
who may be falling asleep or not paying
attention or distracted.
I'm proud to announce here that this is
the first weapon
ontology in the world. It contains
multiple pistols, multiple
rifles, multiple machine guns.
Linguisitics, you know is a very broad discipline so there is a specific a sub area of
linguistics call computational linguistics
which deals with language from the
point of view
of computing. Now within computational
linguistics,
then these sub area are called
ontological semantics
which is what in this particular case
has been applied
which essentially describes the way the
world
<br><br>
is and that's what ontology means, and by
knowing
how the world is, the system that we are
designing but any other
system for that matter can reason about
the world.
And the type algorithm that Dr. Sirikov and Dr. Arslan use
create for each gun it's typical contour
and then you can put that contour into
your visual
hierarchy of guns. Each individual gun
is mapped one-to-one to its counterpart
in there ontological semantic
hierarchy where you find, &quot;A ha! This is a
gun with these properties.&quot;
So this is all semantic information. Very
different from the visual information
but together you can quickly get to the
semantic information
and then say there's a danger that I see
in this image or video.
The research is in here a part of the teaching.
In every other project, I've involved a
student.
For example, Pravin is working on tracking objects in video clips.
I'm working with Professor Sirikov on the object tracking.
If I have some weapon and I'm checking
that weapon, I want to know whether that
that is a really weapon or not. We're
using active contour
developed by the professor so that our
results it can be more reliable
and it can track more correctly as
compared to other algorithms.
It's really important for students to
get involved in actually research
projects that find applications in the
real world
because that means they learned the abilities that
are needed in the workplace. Students
have been prepared for an actual job
because they have done
an actual job, not a class project.