All publicity is ...

[newshound]

good publicity ...

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/05/national/05cheer.html

While the whole concept of government action on, of all things, cheerleading, is pretty embarrassing, SMU got a nice pop in the story.

[MrMustang1965]

'Herkie' (now living in Florida) has gotten a lot of publicity over the years for his trademarking of the pom-pom and starting the cheerleading schools. However, he was *not* the head cheerleader in 1947-48. That title was held by Joe Redwine Patterson, now a retired attorney still living in Dallas and who can be seen at almost EVERY SMU athletic event. Joe is the epitomy of Mustang Spirit. The other members of the cheerleading squad that year were Blake Tartt (retired attorney now living in Houston), Tasos Pappadas (location unknown) and I.T. Hurst (my father, now deceased).

[ponyboy]

Watch out. Our resident legal team doesn't like cheerleaders.

[giacfsp]

Texas has more HS students than almost any other state (I think California has more, and maybe one other state.) According to the radio yesterday, Texas is dead last in high school graduation rate, 48th in average standardized test (SAT/ACT) scores, in the bottom five in percentage of students who go on to college and in the bottom half (26th or so) in teacher salaries.

But the state legislature sees cheerleading as the top problem with the state educational system?

[MrMustang1965]

Texas has more HS students than almost any other state (I think California has more, and maybe one other state.) According to the radio yesterday, Texas is dead last in high school graduation rate, 48th in average standardized test (SAT/ACT) scores, in the bottom five in percentage of students who go on to college and in the bottom half (26th or so) in teacher salaries.

But the state legislature sees cheerleading as the top problem with the state educational system?

What agency compiled these stats? And wasn't the Texas lottery supposed to solve the funding problems in the educational system? What a joke.

[EastStang]

I guess the Legislature thinks the girls are spending too much time trying to look sexy and the guys are spending too much time looking at them. Thus, if we take away the sexy routines, grades will go up. Add in frumpy nunish uniforms and grades will soar through the roof. (I will now remove the tongue from my cheek).

[MrMustang1965]

Some of you may remember that during bball season, we were complaining about the half-time drill team groups that performed at Moody. If you were there, you saw pre-teens and younger doing routines that - IMO - were getting them ready to work at The Million Dollar Saloon (a strip club) on Greenville Avenue or some other men's club on Harry Hines Blvd.!

[jtstang]

Add in frumpy nunish uniforms and grades will soar through the roof. (I will now remove the tongue from my cheek).

Don't laugh--isn't DISD going to uniforms for its elementary schools next year? Who knows where it'll go after that.

[MrMustang1965]

Add in frumpy nunish uniforms and grades will soar through the roof. (I will now remove the tongue from my cheek).

Don't laugh--isn't DISD going to uniforms for its elementary schools next year? Who knows where it'll go after that.

Elementary schools in DISD have had uniforms for some time. It's the MIDDLE SCHOOLS that will have unis next year. My twin stepdaughters are *not* happy! Too bad.

[giacfsp]

By all means don't bother making the schools better when you can appease folks by regulating something as insignificant as cheerleading.

[ponyboy]

I am by nature a libertarian and am very conflicted on this. But something *has* to be done with these bump and grind routines, some of which are obscene. I am unable to take my kids to certain athletic events.

[Rayburn]

I agree with ponyboy, I have an aversion to the government meddling in this stuff, but many -- if not most -- of these cheerleader, dance teams are out of wack with the hootchie-cooch moves. I half expect them to be doing their routines on stripper poles.

My niece is in a dance team and her mom is the choriographer (or whatever you call them) she is appalled by the stuff these preteen girls do on stage in competitions.

[Corso]

I agree that some routines need to be tamed down -- a lot, in some cases. But this is not what the state government is for. This falls to individual school boards, the PTA, individual HS principals and parents. That tax dollars are going to cheerleader regulation is as disgusting as many of the routines.