a shrine of insignificance

To President Murano, Vice President Weber, Executive Director Garner, and the Battalion:

I consider myself to be a proud member of the Aggie family. Both of my parents, an uncle, my wife, two of her cousins and my younger brother attended Texas A&M University. I graduated from Texas A&M with my B.S. in Computer Science in 2004 and have been a doctoral student at A&M since. I was born and raised to be an Aggie and believe that the Aggie spirit is one of respect, civility, and decency. However, today I found myself ashamed to be an Aggie. I saw a undergraduate student wearing a shirt with the slogan “Beat the Hell Outta Obama”. Regardless of one’s political stance, I find it to be un-American, distasteful, and a betrayal of the spirit of an Aggie. The students current and past of this University have dedicated their lives, and in many cases died, defending our country. To promote physical violence against a Presidential candidate is a tactic that one would expect in a fascist or communist dictatorship not in the land of the free. Both candidates love their country. Both candidates want to see America prosper. The decision should be based on facts and issues not slogans, rumors and thinly veiled racism. We as Aggies should stand for a better nation that does not resort to cheap tactics and illegitimately co-opting Aggie traditions for the sake of an election.

Paul Logasa Bogen II ‘04 ‘10
Doctoral Candidate
Department of Computer Science

Filed under: Politics, School on September 3rd, 2008