Rudy with a Bullet

He's just a walk-on. Number 39 in your program, zero in your heart. Means nothing to you. Just another sadly spotless jersey on the sideline.

So how is it that Josh Amstutz is the toughest, bravest and most inspirational member of Texas A&M's football team?

Well, look at his right leg. There are two scars left by a bullet that passed through it almost two years ago, a gift from an Iraqi sniper. How he runs on it as well as he does is anybody's guess.

Look at his jaw. It was stern and square enough for the Marine honor guard that flanked President Clinton during ceremonial events at the White House and led George W. Bush down Pennsylvania Avenue on Inauguration Day.

Look at his eyes. They're practically Aggie maroon-and-white. What other 23-year-old Purple Heart winner would volunteer as scout-team meat five days a week just so he can stand on the sidelines on Saturdays in the fall yelping, "Gig 'em Aggies"?

"I can't believe I'm on the team," says Amstutz, an A&M sophomore with freshman eligibility. "One practice it was pretty hot and everybody was complaining. But I thought to myself, Hey, this isn't bad. It beats being in 120 degrees in Iraq in a hazardous chemical protective suit. And at least nobody's shooting at me."

"another student found it, tracked him down which wasn't easy, and brought it to him. He also refused a reward. They teach more than higher education there. They teach character."

It starts with the region. When driving anywhere near College Station, slower cars will pull over onto shoulder to let faster traffic pass. People (oncoming traffic) flash their lights to let you know that there is an accident or speed trap ahead. The friendly Texans in that region will always pause to let you merge into traffic ahead of them, and everyone waves as you pass. My friends and I also spent many an evening changing the tires of stranded motorists, especially the elderly and female. Such charity and voluntarism is the rule, not the exception, anywhere near A&M.

By this point, you've arrived in College Station. Your Freshman orientation is called "Fish Camp" and it is run entirely by fellow Aggie students. For a week you live and learn A&M culture and traditions before you attend your first day of classes. When you walk onto the world's largest university campus, you've already made friends from the week prior. You're already saying "Howdy!" and waving as you pass fellow students on the grounds, and you know better than to walk on the grass or boo rivals.

School spirit is boosted by fellow students known as Yell Leaders. The Bonfire, when permitted, is built entirely by student leaders such as "Red Pots." One such Red Pot when I was there was a local hell-raiser named Paul Tibbets, grandson of the general who dropped the atom bomb on Hiroshima. The fightin' Texas Aggie mantra is thereby passed from student to student, generation to generation, by student mechanisms far outside the influence of liberal professors who spread through various schools as does a terminal cancer.

A&M also has the largest officer training corps outside of the military academies, and sometimes, the A&M classes are even larger. Various military-influenced student organizations (e.g. Ross Volunteers) continue to pass A&M traditions and values down to each successive student generation.

Of course, the news media attacks A&M and its academic standards on a regular basis. While there, I fretted that perhaps I wasn't getting the best possible education. My concern was allayed, however, when I won the International IEEE Digital Design Competition in Little Rock, Arkansas. Apparently, A&M was doing just fine at teaching the basics that young kids needed to know. If the rest of the world couldn't beat me, a mere C student, then they certainly weren't getting a better education elsewhere.

Thus, I can only conclude that the news media attacks on A&M are politically motivated rather than academically valid.

If the news media attacks A&M's academic standards, then it does so out of ignorance. A&M is one of the harder schools in the country (t.u., err, Univ. of Texas is as well) to get into if you aren't a top 10% graduate of your HS class, and incoming freshman outside of the top 25% of their class are virtually unheard of on campus. There are exceptions, of course, but this is now the norm.

In addition, getting admitted to the university doesn't give you admission to any school within the university, as you have to reapply and have the first and second year greades to get into engineering, business, etc.

I haven't attended classes at A&M in over a decade, but even when I was there, the undergraduate program was extremely challenging. If you pull a 3.5+ gpa at A&M, that is impressive and you should have no problem getting into most any graduate program, or getting a good job.

On the other hand, the so-called Ivy level schools (Ivy league + Stanford, etc.) are becoming more and more of a joke with their "no fail" policies that ensure many of their students don't work very hard.

I didn't know you were an Aggie. Good for you. I knew little about the school except for the media attacks on it, before my son expressed his desire to attend.

It's an outstanding university and it's very difficult to get admitted.

The loyalty among alumni is something I've never seen anywhere else. Amazingly, the Placement Office is available to any graduate any time. Thirty years after you graduate, if you need to find a new job, they will help you and arrange interviews. A&M is a family, and that makes it unique in my opinion.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.