big 12 is done

[ponyboy]

the methodists are doing their best to offer a nonbiased education.

And the end result is an enormously strong bias in the other direction. That's no education -- that's anti-christian indoctrination. Truly balanced education presents both views and allows the student to decide between alternatives.

[Stallion]

Just because Fox News has millions of people willing to support complete nonsense for political purposes doesn't mean that the actually educated experts in a field have to agree just to make people like you feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside. The world wasn't created 5,000 years ago, evolution exists and the world is warming. There really is no intelligent dispute at the Big Boy table. You can't balance nonsense with supported academic, scientifically supported evidence. Academic institutions are there to challenge those silly little ideas of people like you

[smupony94]

I really HATE that I am agreeing with Stallion

[NickSMU17]

Actually science tends to dispprove that earth is warming...

if you were really into that, you would want a much larger sample size than most global warming people use...

Its pretty much the same amount of time as you criticize those who don't believe the earth is older than 5000 years use...

Cant have it both ways...

[smupony94]

Mizzou chancellor Brady Deaton, the chairman of the Big 12 board, said Wednesday night that he anticipates clarification of the University of Oklahoma's future alignment intentions within 10 to 14 days but that he remained hopeful the conference could stay viable even if OU — and probably Oklahoma State with it — were to leave.

"I don't want to go too far there, (but) there's a legal basis for the Big 12 to go on and, certainly, I would expect that to continue," he said in a phone interview.

Not that Deaton is expecting Oklahoma to go.

"If things change, we'll try to keep it together and move forward with other members," he said, later adding, "I'm a little more optimistic certainly today than I was maybe a week ago, but that's based on the fact that I think good, careful reasoning and analysis of what's in the best interests of each of our institutions will continue to bind us together as a conference."

In fact, Deaton evidently isn't even fully resigned to the departure of Texas A&M, which only remains stuck in transition to the Southeastern Conference because of Baylor-led legal saber-rattling.

"They're full members of the conference until they are no longer members of the conference," Deaton said.

Even if Deaton didn't say it, it's reasonable to assume the conference is proceeding with plans that don't include A&M. The league already had been reaching out to other schools, including Notre Dame and Arkansas, with no success. Brigham Young is believed to be the next target.

But those plans are in check because of the rumblings out of Norman, where OU president David Boren sent out a shock wave Sept. 2 by announcing Oklahoma was considering other options.

The most obvious is the Pac-12, which made a play for OU and Texas, among others, last year.

Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott said last week he wasn't seeking expansion, but he has hedged his words in other interviews, and some believe the opening is there for Oklahoma.

Various news reports had a delegation of Texas officials visiting OU on Sunday to implore the Sooners to stay, and Deaton said, "My understanding is that that occurred in some form."

It's unknown whether Oklahoma and OSU as a pair would be enough to compel the Pac-12 to expand again, leading to further speculation that other Big 12 schools might make sense as targets if the Pac-12 is so inclined.

But until the OU matter is firmed up, Deaton acknowledged the conference can't pursue repopulating to 10 schools or revisiting discussions to go back to 12.

"We don't want to reach out there too far right now," he said, "(because) we want to make sure we have the building blocks in place and the cement to strengthen where we are today."

OU's board of regents is to meet Monday night, but Deaton said he had no sense of whether the answer would be established then.

"I just have had an understanding that within 10 days to two weeks we were likely to have some indication of where things stood, but with no firm deadlines there," he said. "We're being patient and working together, and certainly right now we're in a little bit of a position where we need for Oklahoma to give us a sense of what they're thinking about and take it from there."

As for Mizzou's stance in the matter, Deaton said he felt there was no complication for him to have a "principle objective" as chair to keep the conference together while also working in MU's best interests.

"They are not inconsistent, as some have suggested, that it's sort of a delicate line. It really isn't," he said, adding that it's understood among board members that each has a primary obligation to his or her own institution.

Deaton acknowledged that the conference must contend with trust issues even if it does hold together.

"It's clear," he said, "that we have work to be done there."

[Nacho]

president hyer, our first presient of smu, was a scientist who strongly believed in evolution. it's just a fact. you can still be a christian and believe in evolution. the two are not mutually exclusive. and btw if you don't believe in global warming or the euphemism climate change i can't help you. well over 90% of the worlds scientists regard it as fact.

[NickSMU17]

sold on 90

[jtstang]

Let's combine the two subjects, global warming and evolution.

The earth has cyclically warmed and cooled over the millenia, and now we are cearly in a warming period. The difference now over the last one is that evolution did not allow for man to be a contributing factor in the last warming cycle, we weren't here with the dinos, but we are a contributing factor in this one.

Now, in my opinion man's contribution is about like taking a [deleted] in the ocean, but there is one nonetheless. And I realize of course that view is debatable, just ask Al Gore, who we all have to thank for bringing us the glorious internets, and hence, ponyfans.com.

[Nacho]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming

you're opinion about global warming really doesn't mean jack.
man is largely responsible and really it is too late anyway. hopefully scientists will help us out of this catastrophe.

[Stallion]

We probably should broaden this debate to social issues too-if you are older than about 50 then you probably know this vitriolic hate toward left-leaning edumacators at these fancy colleges partly grew out of those left leaning liberal professors trying to desegregate the South and preaching things like integrating our society. Stupidity dies slowly.

[Samurai Stang]

Global warming is an American conspiracy to sink Japan.

[jtstang]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming

you're opinion about global warming really doesn't mean jack.
man is largely responsible and really it is too late anyway. hopefully scientists will help us out of this catastrophe.

Oh that hurts you big meanie. And your source, wikipedia, impeccable.

I told you it was debatable, at least we agree that man, for the first time, has contributed.

[NickSMU17]

pebble in the ocean...

[ponyboy]

Just because Fox News has millions of people willing to support complete nonsense for political purposes doesn't mean that the actually educated experts in a field have to agree just to make people like you feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside. The world wasn't created 5,000 years ago, evolution exists and the world is warming. There really is no intelligent dispute at the Big Boy table. You can't balance nonsense with supported academic, scientifically supported evidence. Academic institutions are there to challenge those silly little ideas of people like you

It must be awfully convenient to put words (or arguments) into someone else's mouth, to already dismiss all other points of view so that education just becomes an exercise in "I'll tell you what to believe." Who's indoctrinating whom, really, Stallion?

Look, you and I apparently disagree on the topic of religion. That's ok. But to suggest the other side doesn't have an intellectual leg to stand on is ignorance in its most basic form. There is plenty of intellectual stuffing in belief, and simply dismissing a Pascal out of hand without even trying to understand what he was wrestling with is sheer stupidity, the very definition of an illiberal education. For a more recent overview, pick up a copy of The Reason for God by Tim Keller.

Topic drift? Absolutely. But until SMU decides it wants to give an intellectually balanced survey of substantive thought, it needs to drop the Methodist part of the name altogether.

[Water Pony]

"The Holy Roman Empire was neither holy or Roman, discuss!" Linda Richmond