Ugly Betty.....

my favorite show ugly betty on abc is the season hottest new show. i love the show for many reasons, but mainly for the purpose of watching betty's nephew Justin, who in my personal opinion clearly gay, and something that we have needed on tv for a long time. in today's' society many children are discovering themselves and their sexuality at young ages.

on last weeks episode the mother of justin confronted the father, and told her that the most important thing was for him to be comfortable with himself, not one of these stereotypical teenage boys playing sports, and things of that nature. justin has a great fashion sense, he is so talented in many ways, and reminds me of myself in many ways. so much speculation has been throwing around on blogs, and even wikipedia about his sexuality, but it is quite clear to everyone what the writers intentions are....tea says it's a hit.....

'Ugly Betty' looks good

By Scott D. Pierce
Deseret Morning News

If you were to run into America Ferrera, you'd see a cute, bubbly, attractive young woman. But if you were looking for the star of "Ugly Betty," you'd never recognize her.
"I take that as a compliment," Ferrera said.
In "Ugly Betty" (7 p.m., Ch. 4), she plays a fish out of water. Betty Suarez is an extremely intelligent young woman who's hoping for a career at a magazine like Fortune and ends up at fashion magazine Mode — and only because publishing tycoon Bradford Meade (Alan Dale of "The O.C.") hires her as the personal assistant to his womanizing son, Daniel (Eric Mabius), the new editor, because he knows Daniel won't want to sleep with Betty.
Betty isn't ugly, although the bad glasses and braces don't help, but she really just doesn't care about the whole fashionista world she's found herself a part of. Betty is an absolute delight — a character you can instantly fall in love with and root for.
"When I'm in character and I'm wearing Betty's costume, I feel more confident, more beautiful, and more pretty on the inside than when I'm myself," Ferrera said. "When I'm Betty, there's a light that shines from the inside."

There are some parallels between Ferrera and Betty. Even though she's a very attractive woman who — compared to most of us — is a svelte little thing, she ends up playing "big" girls in movies like "Real Women Have Curves" and "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" because she's not a size zero.
"I didn't even know I was fat until I started acting. I didn't know how fat and ugly I was until I started going on auditions," said Ferrera, who is neither. "To me it seems like the roles that mean something ... are roles that are flawed and the roles that nobody else wants to play."
I've got to think that a lot of actresses would have loved to star in "Ugly Betty" — it's an almost magical hour that's full of humor, mystery, hardships and triumph. Based on a Colombian telenovela, it's sort of a surreal world populated by heroes and villains — most notably the evil Wilhelmina (Vanessa Williams), who wants Daniel's job — and a mystery about what really happened to the late (maybe) Fey Sommers, Mode's former editor.
At home in middle-class Queens, Betty is surrounded by a loud, loving family (Tony Plano as her father; Ana Ortiz as her sister; Mark Indelicato as her nephew); at work in Manhattan she's swimming with sharks (although she does find friends).
For Ferrera, playing Betty "takes away the pressure on me as an actress. I'm not a model. I never wanted to be a model. ... That's not what I set out in my life to do."
"I set out to tell stories. I set out to represent real people. And to me, Betty is the most beautiful opportunity that's ever come across my path to represent a whole generation of young women who don't recognize themselves in anything they're watching. Whether it be magazines or TV or movies, they're invisible. And to me, it's an honor to take on this role. I love, love, love being her."

---

TERRENCE HOWARD: Just Styling & Profiling
By Karu F. Daniels, AOL Black Voices
How you doinnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn?
Academy Award nominated actor Terrence Dashon Howard is featured as the new Man Of Style in the Dec. issue of 'In Style' magazine, which arrived on newsstands, nationally, today.
In the fashionably savvy spread, the 37-year old 'Hustle & Flow' actor hustles to find his "purse" during the interview and also reveals he loves brooches, scarves and floral body wash.
Not on a woman -- but on him.
"Color seduces and calms people," the "soft-spoken" Howard said. "I can’t see a man in pink starting a fight."
Ummmmmmmmmmmm.
"It's limited," the Chicago native said about men's style. "I went to the fashion Oscars, the CFDAs. All of the men were wearing black. We need more options than black, blue and gray… If I had the time to design my own clothes, I would."
Howard is entirely too busy working on his film career, which includes a repertoire of countless movies from the Academy Award winning fare such as 'Crash' to box-office clunker 'Idlewild.' Just a few weeks ago, while flipping the channels, I caught a scene from 1996's ambitious 'Sunset Park,' which he starred in. The Chicago native has been at it for quite some time (he broke into acting on 'The Cosby Show' in 1984). And it's finally paying off.
The in-demand actor has a slew of films in the pike, including the forthcoming 'Pride' and 'August Rush.'
The newly single father of three also talked about OPRAH WINFREY ("She doesn’t talk about how much power she has; she's just Oprah. She's got a great figure and she dresses appropriately. She's always a great role model"); BEING FAT ("I remember a time when I weighed 205 pounds. My face was fat and stomach was bulgy. I was eating and enjoying life."); BLING ("The minute you put on that kind of jewelry, people can't relate to you" and SPLURGING ("I paid off the mortgage for my house in Philadelphia. Other than that, I don't splurge. I'm not into that").
And of course the contents of THAT DAMN PURSE ("I've got to have my cell phone, which I hate. Some lotion for my hands. Lip balm. A comb-- I use an old pick. And a breath freshener.")
For real now, how are you doinnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn?
Or more like, How you been?
Ha!

o how time changes life....

here it is the day before the day we give thanks...and i am so thankful for this special gift i have called "life".... this time last year i was running around houston, tx looking for a honey baked ham to take home for thankgiving, and ready to get home to eat. i was in love, i had a friends, and i was looking forward to my last semeter in college. i thought i had it all, i had a boyfriend that most would kill for, a new car, a bad ass apartment, and i seemed to be happy in every scense of the word, but little did i know my life was about to take many drastic turns.... i was looking forward to the holiday season this year, i was supposed to be engaged by now, picking out floor plans for a new house, and planning my huge reception, and filling out paper work to change my last name....however i am here home with my family, and taking soooo many steps forward in a positive way. i am no longer in that realtionship, and the entire break up was sooo mentally, and physically draining on my mind body, and soul, that i am glad god has given me the courage to move on. i am home now where i need to be dealing with real issues, and becomeing the man i need to be in order to be successful. i have a job i love, i am around family for the most part that i can stand, i am finically stable, and i am embarcing one of the biggest moves in my life, from TX to NYC.... i feel like for the first time in a while i am living, living with few regrets, and knowing that i am going far in life. i have developed a standard of life that i want to live, and i am making the preperations to ensure that i have a successful, long and great life...

dear santa or whoever can afford this shit....

someone told me it was takkie to create a wishlist when you are grt i don't give a shit people cannot use the lame ass excuse of not knowing what you wanted or what size, or what color, so i am about to squash all that shit now!!!

Terrance's Holiday 2006 Wishlist......

Well you know I am moving to NYC, so anything you can think of to help with my move from clothes to gift cardz to help decorate the crib....

fav colors: RED,PINK,BLACK

size: pants 28-30 inch waist, 32 length
shoe size: 11
style: preppy baby...
books: anything dealing with men of color will do
shirts: i am into the solid polos, and cute fitted tees, along with ties & bow-ties
I have also included some pictures for you viewing pleasure.....

i am now a proud NYU-er.....

well I was accepted a while back, now i have my spring schedule for graduate school at nyu. i will stay here in TX until midspring and then make my full move to NYC. I am enrolled in 9 hours via distance learning, and i will have to commute to nyc 2-3 times monthly for class meetings, and too meet with group members...... i still find it hard to believe that after not even putting the much effort into academics, i still came out on top, and everything has truly been a blessing... the time i spend here in tx i will do my community serivce, and save money to make the transition to new york little easier....

spoiled rotten.....

life experiences can change us, and we might not even know it. take myself for example, i have been back in my hometown for about two months, while i make all of the necessary preparations to move to new york for graduate school. i decided a while back that i was going to make some major changes in my life, and i must say i am feeling the exact from the changes i have made. i told myself i was going to just go with the flow, and enjoy life as a whole not just select units of it. i told myself i was going to embrace my life more, and build better relationships with people particularly my family and closet friends. i went through a horrible break up which i am still feeling the effects from, and still seeing the vi sable, and emotional wounds it left behind. my relationship with my mother has always been close, however when i left to go to college 4 years ago a lot changed. i started to develop my own thoughts, started to mole myself into the type of young black man i wanted to be, and move forward at a fast pace. well here we are 4 years later, i have a few relationships behind me, and a head full of more knowledge of just how the world, and people in general operate. for example i returned to the main campus this past week to see jl king speak, and walking around i honestly did not miss my alma matter. there were still the little tired desperate boys walking around looking at me like i was stupid. upon return home i have lenghty conversation with my other best friend jack, who is a senior at pvamu. he told me that his theory for why most hate me, is not because of my attitude, he said "terrance it is because they are not you". he told me that looking at me and really knowing me he understands how my mind works, he told me he understood most of my views, and i can come off as being rough around the edges until you get to know me.... i am a openly gay black man living in tx with a voice, and not many people can say that. i have a equal balance of gay and straight friends, and most importantly i have a i don't give a fuck attitude. if i see something i want, from a prada bag, to a university i want to attend, to a bowl of soup I GET IT AT ANY COST.... I believe that that entire attitude comes from my mother. with the lost of my father at an early age my mother did a great job making sure her "baby" was supported in everything, and well taken care of at any cost, and i will forever be grateful to her for that. looking at my life i could clearly see why others who pass judgement on me and my life without knowing me. when you have a world with so many small minded individuals then you get this kind of shit... being home has really made me become more humble in different ways, my mother and i still bump heads about simple culture issues, she is comfortable with her life, and sometimes does not understand mine, but i just have to explain to her that as much as she wants to be in my generation she is still old skool...when i look back 4 months ago i didn't know where my life was going. i had no vision, and i never thought that coming home to regroup would be so rewarding. i have come home to many business opportunities, a new job i love, and home cooked meals multiple times a week. most importantly for the first time in my life i feel like i am free to be terrance, not the flashy, label wearing, outspoken token queer boy, but the same outspoken, relaxed, original boy from bryan, tx.....so when people call me a spoiled brat, that is one of the few names besides the ones on my birth certificate, that i will answer to....

my encounter with J.L. King...

last week i found out through campus mail that j.l. king the new york time bestselling author was going be giving a lecture at my alama matter prairie view a&m university. i spoke with brandon, and we decided since he would be this close to us we would go see what the brotha had to say. i must say from hearing from people that had heard him speak, people that read the books, over all i had a tainted image of him. i figured that he was just one of these guys who has gotten rich over typical situations. i was told that he did not call himself or other men that have sex with men and maintain hetorosexual relationships with women gay. i figured that he was going to be cocky becasue he is the poster man, and the man that blew the top off this whole dl shit. by sunday i had decided i was not going to attend, however brandon soon convinced me that with me wanting to be the big time journalist, and blogger i needed to attend. i still refused to by the book, so while i was at work i copied a image from his website, and had it mounted and laminated, to get an autograph. we arrived on campus quite early i was able to walk around, and mix and mingle with people i had not seen since before gradaution. we went into the auditourm and found some seats, i had a bad feeling in my stomach, looking around the room i noticed so many black women, old and young, and many professionals from the university itself. now i an known for having a bit of a loose mouth in event like this so, so many people had told me to hold my thoughts, and please not do nor say anything i would regret. the sga introduced him, and he stepped onto the stage, everyone in the room was paying close attention to what was being said. he started off telling us about his background, not going much into his personal life, he told us about how he ws first discovered, and how he and oprah first met. he told us about doing the oprah show, and how much it changed everything. then he got to the knitty gritty, he broke down statistics about hiv and aids in the black community, and how it was destroying our communities in africa, and if we were not careful, we in the united states, the richest country in the world would end up like some of the third world countries where so many children are parentless die to aids. he went on to tell others to accept our fellow gays, and that in the world they would have to encountor gays in some way or another. he told us that it was about respect for each other....and then it was time for the question and anwser session...well with everything that had been diccussed the questions i was going to ask, had been anwsered. so when i started to hear all of the other questions, i decided to ask mine...i was please with the response i got in return. afterwards a pastor got up and decided that he was going to "enlighten" him on a few things, at that point i got up and walked out of the room, all the way down the main coridor of the student center to the oppisite end. with everything that had happened with religion and homosexuallity i was not at all in the mood for that. i walked back and was able to catch king's response which shut the pastor up, and the crown went wild. afterwards the book signing was in the lobby...i stood in line, with brandon, and once we got up to the table we had conversations with him about how actually hearing him had changed both our minds, and we were so glad we got a chance to hear words from his mouth, not what everyone else was saying. he told me hat he wanted to work with me on some things, and even return to campus soon. i gave him a card, and he told me he would be in touch. i am so glad i went, it was a great event, i felt so much differently than i had walking in......

desperate homosexuals....(PVAMU EDITION)

i live a life based on simplicity, partly because of the people i have chosen to stay away from. someone recently asked me "since you went to pvamu, you made some great friends huh?" i simply told them no i didn't because i was extremely selective when it came to friendships because of the fake and fraud that goes on in this community. in life i tell others they can take me for what i am or have nothing at all. i have been in the gay community for about 5 years, and i have seen so many people do so much underhanded shit, i have seen so many friendships destroyed, and seen so many people hurt, as well as been hurt myself. when i arrived at pvamu i found myself being one of those people who other didn't like, because i was outspoken, proud of every aspect of my character mentally, and physically, and i didn't conform to what society says a black man is supposed to be... after coming out to my mother five years ago i decided that i was going to live a life of pride in every way. i could not get along with so many of the other gay boys at pvamu because i felt and still feel so many of them were fake, phony, and fraud in many ways. many of them will throw rocks, and then hide their hands. pvamu, and college in general was not a new thing to me, growing up my mother cultured me and allowed me a lot of freedom, and she was one of the realest when it came to parents. so many young african-american gay men fear what others are going to think, yet they make themselves look stupid by doing stupid shit. they swear that society cannot "clock" them yet they are such little queens. when you decide not to talk to them because you fear mess, you are stuck up. they see you everyday on the yard, and don't speak, but when they see you far away from the yard, then they act as if you go back to charm school or some shit. during my time in undergrad my main focus was to get in, get out, and have a little fun in the meantime. i made many associations with many people, but not many were with members of my gay male community. i could tell, and still could tell the people that got to college and got the only bit of freedom they ever had in life. so let me break it down....

desperate homosexuals:

- they pile into a small living arrangement, and live in sometimes even clean, but deplorable conditions....i.e. illegal residents in the village, or more than two people in a one bedroom apt.

- they see you everyday on the yard, don't speak as if you don't exist, but break their necks to speak to you at the club or in the mall

- they scream and holla out about the lord, have parents that are very religious, yet they are the biggest whores on the yard

- they use the bsm to hide the fact that they are gay, when everyone with anyone with any type of common sense knows that most males members fuck around...

- they stay @ pvamu for years, and years, without a technical major

- they think hitting up american eagle, express, and abercrombie is doing it big, but have yet to go on a real shopping spree

- they have no mode of transportation, yet they want to look at you crazy when you pull up in your shit

- they live on campus just for the boys

- they smile in you face yet know that they really don't like you...

- they get mad at you for being comfortable with yourself, and not taking shit from anyone

- they are usually cool with members of the straight community hoping to pull and turn ni99as out....

- THEY ARE JUST A FUCKING MESS.....

if anyone got offended by any of the above listed then i could care less, i am just spilling the tea.....

R&B singer Gerald Levert dead at 40

(CNN) -- Gerald Levert, the R&B singer whose hits included "I Swear" and "I'd Give Anything," as well as chart-toppers with the groups LeVert and LSG, has died, according to his label, Atlantic Records. He was 40.
Levert died of a heart attack Friday at his Cleveland, Ohio, home, according a statement from Atlantic.
"He was one of the greatest voices of our time, who sang with unmatched soulfulness and power, as well as a tremendously gifted composer and an accomplished producer," the statement read. "Above all, he was an exceptional human being whose warmth and grace inspired us all."
Levert, the son of O'Jays member Eddie Levert Sr., first hit it big with his sibling Sean and friend Marc Gordon as the trio LeVert in the mid-'80s. The group's hits included the 1987 song "Casanova," which hit the Top Five on the pop charts.
Gerald Levert went solo in 1991. His hits included a duet with his father, "Baby Hold On to Me."
In 1997 he and singers Johnny Gill and Keith Sweat formed LSG. The group's self-titled album sold more than two million copies, and their hits included "My Body."
More recent albums by Levert included 2002's "The G Spot" and 2004's "Do I Speak for the World."
His most recent album was 2005's "Voices."
Levert had four children.

finding my way...

why is it sometime that the thing we fear the most turns out to be the best thing for us in the end?? after my horrible last break up earlier this year i was left feeling so empty and incomplete. i mean i was with this person, and i saw a life with them, i sketched and did blue prints for a house on autocad, we had cars, bank accounts, credit cards, and my family like him. i cultured him, showed him vic and anthonys, when he was used to the golden corral, i upgraded him brom ross dress for less to foley's (now macys), and club monnaco. i had a love for him, that i cannot put into words, so when he left like he did, and did the things he did i din't know how to take it, and i didn't take it well. i cried for days and night, abandoned our apartment, and avoided those most close to me. i thought would never be able to love again. during the entire summer my life was just one depressing thing after another...i even ended up in jail. while i was in jail i had a lot of time to think, i thought a lot about loving myself, and who were really the most important people in my life. i knew that when i got out of jail i needed to turn my life into something good, something powerful, and love would be the last thing on my mind. my family showed me how much they loved me, when i was released they were there to bring me home, i spent a week at home eating good food, and readjusting to my new life. i returned to houston, to another ex just for the sake of having someone sleep next to me at night, but i was not the kind of person he wanted. he wanted me to be submissive, and take his shit, and i was tired of that. i started graduate school at u of h and decided i maybe need to venture away from houston. i started to brainstorm places, atlanta, nope too typical, dc maybe, NYC YES!!!! i decided to attend nyu for graduate and after advice from many i knew that it would be good for me. i decided to return home to spend time with my family before i left, and i mustsay that was the best decision of 2006. i am here now with my mother and sibling, and i am enjoying myself. my mother and i are getting back to normal, my brother and i still have disagreements, but i just take them for what they are, and i love my crazy ass big sister to death... it feels good to be done with college, able to relax around family and not have to always worry about so much stress. in houston i was sooooo stressed over so much shit that i could not even control. i have found love, i have 3 job...yes 3 jobs, to save for my move, and i am loving life for the first time in forever.....

60 Minutes' Ed Bradley Dead At 65

(CBS) Veteran 60 Minutes correspondent Ed Bradley died Thursday at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan of complications from leukemia.

Bradley joined the staff of the venerable news magazine 26 years ago. His consummate skills as a broadcast journalist and his distinctive body of work were recognized with numerous awards, including 19 Emmys, the latest for a segment that reported the reopening of the 50-year-old racial murder case of Emmett Till.

In a special report, CBS Evening News anchor and managing editor Katie Couric said Bradley was "considered intelligent, smooth, cool, a great reporter, beloved and respected by all his colleagues here at CBS News."

"He certainly was a reporter's reporter," fellow 60 Minutes correspondent Mike Wallace told CBS News Radio.

Bradley was honored with the Lifetime Achievement award from the National Association of Black Journalists. Three of his Emmys came at the 2003 awards: a Lifetime Achievement Emmy; one for a 60 Minutes report on brain cancer patients, "A New Lease on Life;" and another for his hour on 60 Minutes II about sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, “The Catholic Church on Trial."

Bradley’s 60 Minutes interview with condemned Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh was the only television interview ever given by the man guilty of one of the worst terrorist acts on American soil; it also earned Bradley an Emmy.

His reporting on the worst school shooting in American history, "Columbine" (April 2001), revealed on 60 Minutes II that authorities ignored telling evidence with which they might have prevented the massacre.

Other hour-long reports by Bradley prompted praise and action: "Death by Denial" won a Peabody Award for focusing on the plight of Africans dying of AIDS and helped convince drug companies to donate and discount AIDS drugs; "Unsafe Haven" spurred federal investigations into the nation's largest chain of psychiatric hospitals; and "Town Under Siege," about a small town battling toxic waste, was named one of the Ten Best Television Programs of 1997 by Time magazine.

Bradley's significant contribution to electronic journalism was also recognized by the Radio/Television News Directors Association when it named him its Paul White Award winner for 2000. He joined other distinguished journalists, such as Edward R. Murrow, Walter Cronkite and Peter Jennings, as a Paul White recipient.

More recently, the Denver Press Club awarded him its 2003 Damon Runyon Award for career journalistic excellence. Bradley also received the prestigious Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Awards grand prize and television first prize for "CBS Reports: In the Killing Fields of America" (January 1995), a documentary about violence in America, for which he was co-anchor and reporter.

His work on 60 Minutes has gained much recognition, including a George Foster Peabody Award for "Big Man, Big Voice" (November 1997), the uplifting story of a German singer who became successful despite birth defects. In 1995, he won his 11th Emmy Award for a 60 Minutes segment on the cruel effects of nuclear testing in the town of Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan — a report that also won him an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award in 1994.

Also in 1994, he was honored with an Overseas Press Club Award for two 60 Minutes reports that took viewers inside sensitive military installations in Russia and the United States. In 1985, he received an Emmy Award for "Schizophrenia," a 60 Minutes report on that misunderstood brain disorder.

In 1983, two of Bradley’s reports for 60 Minutes won Emmy Awards: "In the Belly of the Beast," an interview with Jack Henry Abbott, a convicted murderer and author, and "Lena," a profile of singer Lena Horne. He received an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Silver Baton and a 1991 Emmy Award for his 60 Minutes report "Made in China," a look at Chinese forced-labor camps, and another Emmy for "Caitlin’s Story" (November 1992), an examination of the controversy between the parents of a deaf child and a deaf association.

In addition to "In the Killing Fields," his work for "CBS Reports" included: "Enter the Jury Room" (April 1997), an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award winner that revealed the jury deliberation process for the first time in front of network cameras; "The Boat People" (January 1979), which won duPont, Emmy and Overseas Press Club Awards; "The Boston Goes to China" (April 1979), a report on the historic visit to China by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, which won Emmy, Peabody and Ohio State Awards, and "Blacks in America: With All Deliberate Speed?" (July 1979), which won Emmy and duPont Awards.

Bradley's coverage of the plight of Cambodian refugees, broadcast on the CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite and CBS News Sunday Morning, won a George Polk Award in journalism.

He also received a duPont citation for a segment on the Cambodian situation broadcast on CBS News' "Magazine" series. He covered the presidential campaign of Jimmy Carter during 1976, served as a floor correspondent for CBS News' coverage of the Democratic and Republican National Conventions from 1976 through 1996, and has participated in CBS News' election-night coverage.

Prior to joining 60 Minutes, Bradley was a principal correspondent for "CBS Reports" (1978-81), after serving as CBS News' White House correspondent (1976-78). He was also anchor of the "CBS Sunday Night News” (November 1976-May 1981) and of the CBS News magazine "Street Stories" (January 1992-August 1993).

Bradley joined CBS News as a stringer in its Paris bureau in September 1971. A year later, he was transferred to the Saigon bureau, where he remained until he was assigned to the CBS News Washington bureau in June 1974. He was named a CBS News correspondent in April 1973 and, shortly thereafter, was wounded while on assignment in Cambodia. In March 1975, he volunteered to return to Indochina and covered the fall of Cambodia and Vietnam.

Prior to joining CBS News, he was a reporter for WCBS-AM, the CBS-owned station in New York (August 1967-July 1971). He had previously been a reporter for WDAS-AM in Philadelphia (1963-67).

Bradley was born June 22, 1941, in Philadelphia and was graduated from Cheyney (Pa.) State College in 1964 with a B.S. in education.

©MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.

i'm so glad i went to pvamu...

well somethings never change, it seem that texas a&m university has gotten it's semesterly attack on the already scarce black community. i am currently searching for the youtube file at the center of this tasteless, horrbile joke or whatever the fuck it was supposed to be.... meanwhile here is the letter posted on the tamu website...

An Open Letter to the Aggie Family
November 7, 2006
Yesterday was a sad day for Texas A&M. It was brought to my attention that individuals who appear to be Aggie students had posted to a public web site a home-made video that is so utterly disgusting that, regardless of race, religion, or background, I believe virtually any member of our Aggie family would be outraged and ashamed if they viewed it. The content of the video is offensive on many levels and would be so to all Aggies, but is particularly insulting and hurtful to members of our Black community. The hateful video is not simply an example of poor judgment and insensitivity; it appears to have been purposefully produced to insult and demean. When one member of the Aggie family is insulted, we are all insulted. I find the content of the video inexcusable and I believe virtually all Aggies join me in that belief. I cannot fully express my disappointment and embarrassment that Texas A&M students may have been involved in this matter. While I respect and value the constitutional right to free speech, I can neither condone nor accept that right being disrespected in this manner. We believe we have identified the students allegedly involved in producing the video and are directing them to meet with Student Affairs officials to discuss their actions, as well as their future at Texas A&M. The university has already contacted the web host and demanded that the video be removed, and they have done so.The university will be hosting a community forum at 7 p.m. this evening in Rudder Tower, Room 601 to provide students, faculty and staff an opportunity to express their opinions about how the university moves forward and overcomes this disgraceful episode. In this vein, I applaud the editors of The Battalion for strongly condemning the actions of students whose behavior is counter to everything Aggies stand for -- loyalty, character, integrity and respect. I deeply regret that anyone was hurt by viewing the video, or simply knowing or hearing about it. At a time when Texas A&M is doing more than ever to attract, retain and graduate a diverse student body, the damage done by the insensitivity of two or three individuals is immeasurable. I am extremely disappointed by their behavior, but even more saddened by the hurt this might bring to many members of our campus and extended communities.Finally, I am truly outraged by this moronic video. Those who made it are no true Aggies, and I expect they will have to live with the consequences of their actions in this matter for a very long time.Robert M. Gates, President Texas A&M University

he can fix what is broke....

the mississippi mass chior sings the song he can fix what is broke, and it has inspired me in so many ways. for the past 4 months, i have been on a journey to find just exactly who i am. back in april i met brandon who i feel that GOD put in my life for a reason. i was going through a terrible break up, and just to much emotional stress and drama, i met this person who offered to help me in many ways, but most importantly just be there in a time of need. for the most part i am now able to admit things that i have not been able to admit in the past. i met brandon, and saw a man on the outside, but a boy on the inside, and i knew that he could help me as a friend as well as i could help him. it's been seven months, and i am closer to him than my own brother. the unique thing about brandon is he accepts me and i don;t have to put up a facade for him, he takes me as i am and wants nothing more. he explained so many things to me that once confused me. you see i grew up in a small town in a mostly single-parent house hold with a hard working mother who made sure i never had a want or need, but i was so unhappy. i was ashamed of who i was, where i came from, where ie lived and just my life in general, and for what reason i don't know. looking back i had so much more than all of those i thought had so much more than me. most of my childhood was spent in my room crying, and trying to decide how to cover lies that i told. i never invited friends over, and i made it my duty to hide everything about my personal life, and for what? on the other hand i met brandon, he came from the type of family i used to look at and want ot be a part of so much. i wanted my mom to marry some executive in a suit, move to pebble creek, and have a cleaning lady. brandon had all of this growing up but he explained to me that thing may appear one way on the outside, and be completely different on the inside...he said that in black america that is mostly a facade, that those families that we see like that are often disfunctional, and just a plain mess. part of growing up and becoming a man is to accept the hand that GOD deals us and find the bst way we can to play it on the table. i have a head full of knowledge, a parent that cares, the best best friend in the world, siblings, other family members, and a man who i love a adore so much, a boy could not ask for much more....

true love can not be expressed in words....

"the only time we don't speak is during sex & the city, I get carrie fever....."

i have had a few relationships in my time, but for the first time in my life i feel like i am truly in love. when you are 2000 miles away from your boyfriend, and you want to be with no one else, don' and not worry about him having wondering thoughts then that's love. in the past i have ahad a problem being who i really was for fears of acceptance, and not understanding the importance of true love. i have had those love me, i have been cheated on, i have done the cheating, i have been hurt, and i have hurt others. i have had the realtionships that i knew were not going to work, and just stayed in them to pass time, but i have realized something... life is too short and unpromising for us to be with someone or have soemthing that has us unhappy. over the past six month i have learned to love myself. when i was down and out, and had no one else except a bestfriend, someone from my past came into my life, and i truly feel that God bought us together once again. something if we sit back and wait, god will deliver us in more than one way. all the things i wanted in a dream guy i now have, i have me someone that can make me laugh, someone that i can have complex conversations with, someone who works hard, and dammit he even turned out to be a a kappa man.... the most important thing is he make me feel good in ways i cannot put into words, for the first time i feel like i have someone that is attempting to understand me, my thought process, and me in general, and for those of you that know me, know how hard that can be....kids, the upper westside apartment, and house in the hamptons are still a little way off, but the most important thing is i am happy, and i feel like i am free to be me for the first time...

hometown not so bad, at lease for a few weeks...

in preperation for my move to nyc i moved everything from my apartment in houston, back to my mom's in bryan. i was going to go back to houston to work, and finish the semester at the university of houston. of my 3 years in houston, i only came home and stayed a week like once during my first year, when i had the summer flu. coming home has been quite an experince. i have seen so many things, and learned so much about those in my family. living in the city, attending college, and bettering myself was great for me, and i often battled with thoughts of spereation, and being ashamed. i disagree with a lot that goes on in my hometown with my family. it's amazing to me that people can point out problems with me, and even living 100 miles away i could still give them small control over my thoughts, and actions, but yet things go on right in front of them, that are more serious in nature than anything i have ever done, and people opt to ignore it. before i left and went to nyc i was at the end of my ropes with almost everyone, but after my trip, and coming back from new york know the next time i returned it would be for good, calmed me down a lot. i got a part time job here, to occupy my time, and get out of the house, and have a little change in my pocket. i have also been in contact with a lot of people from highschool that are still here, and i might even go out with them...as for the next 8 weeks I will enjoy what's left of my time here in texas, and try my best to prepare for the biggest move of my life....

cross country moving can be a bit much....

okay when you are moving like 2000 miles away from home shit can get stressful. one thing about me is i have moved probally 10 times over the past four years, and after my last move i was prepared to be in my apartment until i built my first house. well the break up came, the house plans were scratched, and i ended up deciding to move to new york for grad school. now i am face with daunting task of planning every little step of my move. i have sooo much shit, and though i have parted with much of it over the past month, something i will never be able to part with. i know i mght sound stupid by saying this, but i am worried about getting my yearbook collection to new york. as far as home furnishings i have decided to pretty much give away the things i have here, and sart over when i get to new york. i will be glad when they finally open an ikea in brooklyn. but until then i have no problem going to long island or jersey. once brandon decides to come i will come to houston, and whatever i have left here i will bring back. no biggie, just a lot of planning to do. as far as the whole apartment process, it is completely different from houston, in houston we have complexes, and great deals for apartments, in new york they want so much shit mainly so much money....but that is just the way things are...I know that all of these are just minor worroies and everything will work out in one way or another....