FORUM COMMUNITY OMNIBUS AMA THREAD

[Del Tachi]

I figure that there may be some interesting ones out there...

[Del Tachi]

Do you like it in Mississippi?

Do I like what in Mississippi, exactly?

I like living in Mississippi, and I plan to spend the majority of my adult life here.

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Hmm...I wouldn't say I have pro-Confederate views.  The amount of regional pride I have in the South is par for the course in Mississippi - nothing outside of the ordinary.   

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Sure.

[Del Tachi]

Why do you consider me more conservative than yourself?

[Del Tachi]

Do you like it in Mississippi?

Do I like what in Mississippi, exactly?

I meant everything overall (culture,weather,the people, etc.)

Now I have another question for you. Is there anything you don't like about Mississippi?

Oh sure, the food, music, weather, culture and people are what make this state great.

I can't easily articulate anything I find particularly wrong with Mississippi except DeSoto and Hancock counties.       

[Del Tachi]

Do you like it in Mississippi?

Do I like what in Mississippi, exactly?

I meant everything overall (culture,weather,the people, etc.)

Now I have another question for you. Is there anything you don't like about Mississippi?

Oh sure, the food, music, weather, culture and people are what make this state great.

I can't easily articulate anything I find particularly wrong with Mississippi except DeSoto and Hancock counties.       

What's wrong with DeSoto and Hancock?

DeSoto is a terrible Memphis exurb while Hancock is a terrible New Orleans exurb.  They're the only two counties where a majority of the residents aren't native Mississippians.  And they both voted for McDaniel...enough said.

[Del Tachi]

I've always pictured you as a young version of Haley Barbour (not necessarily as fat as he is). How accurate is this assessment?

Hopefully very accurate.  But, then again, I don't really know how you envision a 20-year old Haley Barbour to be.  If the picture in your head is some seersucker-wearing Southern frat boy with a knack for gin and tonics and all things mildly effeminate then you're thinking correctly.

I was pleasantly surprised when Haley and I ended up at the same New Year's Eve party last year.  Much better than showing up to the same Christmas party.

[Del Tachi]

If you had to leave Mississippi and live in any other three states... Which ones?

Louisiana, Virginia or Tennessee.  Significant portions of Florida, Georgia and Texas (basically everything except WTex and DFW) would be acceptable as well.  Of course, D.C. is the where I ideally want to spend the bulk of my young adulthood, and I'm likewise not opposed to the likes of somewhere like Boston, NYC or Chicago.  Certainly nothing on the West Coast though. 

[Del Tachi]

Does your username have anything to do with Del Taco?  Because that's the only thing I think of when I see it.

I had no idea what Del Taco was until after I got this username.  My username is actually two words smushed together with the space in the wrong place; I'm sure there is some type of term for something like this but it is escaping me at the moment.

The two words smushed together are "Delta Chi", which I chose as my username as I am associated with the Delta Chi chapter of the Kappa Sigma fraternity at Mississippi State.   

[Del Tachi]

u still #GOPSwagg bruh?

Of course. 

[Del Tachi]

Who would win in a fight? The Gamma-Alpha Chapter of Sigma Pi, or the Delta Chi chapter of Kappa Sigma?

Real fraternities don't exist north of the Mason-Dixon, Son.

But seriously though, what kind of fight?  A full-out brawl?  A drinking contest?  A "who has a larger presence on their campus" fight?  A notable alumni contest? 

I suppose it doesn't really matter though; MSU Kappa Sig wins regardless. 

[Del Tachi]

Are there a lot of southern Democrats left around there, or have they pretty much switched?

There are still a lot of older, White conservative people around who would vote for a Democrat while not exactly describing themselves primarily as such.  The MS legislature has a pretty sizable Blue Dog coalition, but the VRA eats away at that every round if redistributing.  Where I live in Mississippi, Starkville, there's a pretty sizable contingency of white liberals who vote Democratic, so I wouldn't say that White Democrats are exactly a rare breed in my part of the state.   

[Del Tachi]

How concerned are you about a possible McDaniel-ization of the Mississippi Republican Party?

Not much at all.  In the best national environment he's ever going to get and with millions upon millions of outside dollars McDaniel still managed to lose against the epitome of the "big spending, pro-Obamacare" GOP establishment.  If someone like McDaniel couldn't do it against Thad Cochran in 2014, then how is someone like Angela Hill or Michael Watson going to do it against the likes of Tate Reeves and Stacey Pickering? 

[Del Tachi]

How are race relations where you live?

Very swell if I do say so myself. 

Mississippi is very well integrated along racial and socioeconomic lines, and I am particularly grateful for that.  Growing up going to Mississippi public schools in a college town made my childhood extremely diverse, and that's actually something that I think I would have been cheated-out of if I had grown up in suburban Chicago or Denver.

Moreover, I now go to Mississippi State University which has the highest percentage of African-American students of any SEC school, and we have historically and consistently led the way in awarding Blacks ag and engineering degrees. 

[Del Tachi]

What kind of gin do you prefer in a G&T?

I am personally partial to Tanqueray or Bombay Sapphire.

Beefeaters. 

[Del Tachi]

Racial microrelations are probably better in the South than they are in the North, yes.

[Del Tachi]

What made you choose to go to MS State rather than Ole Miss?

I wanted to study agricultural economics, and I didn't see the point of paying out-of-state tuition for an AgEcon degree when basically all SEC land grant schools are right on par with one another...and MSU gave me free tuition

And, most of all, Ole Miss is a terrible school where prep school rejects go to so they can save face and party with daddy's money for 4-6 years.  While this may sound attractive to the likes of someone like myself, I do actually have a legitimate interest in achieving an education.   

[Del Tachi]

What made you choose to go to MS State rather than Ole Miss?

I wanted to study agricultural economics, and I didn't see the point of paying out-of-state tuition for an AgEcon degree when basically all SEC land grant schools are right on par with one another...and MSU gave me free tuition

And, most of all, Ole Miss is a terrible school where prep school rejects go to so they can save face and party with daddy's money for 4-6 years.  While this may sound attractive to the likes of someone like myself, I do actually have a legitimate interest in achieving an education.   

I am curious.....what does one do with an AgEcon degree?  Do you want to be a farmer?

Agribusiness management is certainly a path that someone could take if majoring in AgEcon, but I'm doing a policy and law concentration.  While I'm not entirely sure what I want to do ok the future, I think I want to go to law school and the. Work in some sort of bureaucratic capacity for USDA, EPA or something like that.  If I wanted to I could probably go to work on the Hill, develop a policy profile in ag/environmental issues, and then move downtown as some sort of consultant.  However, recently accounting and real estate have peaked my interest and ag can mean quite well with those fields

[Del Tachi]

OMG. What a patchwork of a thread.

Yeah I like the old way better

[Del Tachi]

Taco:

A) Do you hold a position in your chapter?

II. Do you intend on being the first president who has ties to the atlas forum?

I was formerly PCP and I'm now the corresponding secretary.

As far as electoral politics go, it's certainly something I'm giving serious consideration to and I think it would be a personally rewarding avenue for someone like myself.  However, I see myself being much more effective and satisfied in a legislative rather than executive role.

[Del Tachi]

Taco:

A) Do you hold a position in your chapter?

II. Do you intend on being the first president who has ties to the atlas forum?

I was formerly PCP and I'm now the corresponding secretary.

As far as electoral politics go, it's certainly something I'm giving serious consideration to and I think it would be a personally rewarding avenue for someone like myself.  However, I see myself being much more effective and satisfied in a legislative rather than executive role.

Ah. I myself was PCP after our first one either dropped or was dropped despite not holding any cabinet position. I'm currently our "4th Councillor" (Secretary) for the fall semester.

Very nice.  Looks like our Greek "careers" are progressing quite similarly, as I was only made PCP when it proved that the one originally appointed was not cut out for the job (I may or may not have done some House of Cards'ing to get that accomplished )  Do you plan on progressing further up in your chapter or do you have your eyes set on IFC?  I got to do this "junior" IFC thing for underclassmen this past semester, and I really enjoyed it and got to be really good friends with all of the IFC executive officers looking out for the up-and-comers.

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Yes, I was Cochran's Senate page for a semester in high school.  I recently got pretty extensively involved in his reelection efforts; I spent the better part of the school year building a strong core of campaign volunteers among MSU Greeks and, after school let out, I got to travel as part of Cochran's campaign entourage for a little while.  Of course, this allowed to get to know a lot of people who work in Cochran's office (as well as some in Wicker's, Nunnelee's and Harper's office) and the Cochran people and Nunnelee have both told me that I need to apply for an internship

If I did somehow wind-up in the U.S. Senate one day, I'd probably try to model myself off of Cochran - a moderate, Southern GOP appropriator who likes to work behind the scenes. I am, however, probably a little further to the left than Cochran and much more likely to be a loose cannon so that could prove problematic.   

[Del Tachi]

Very nice.

I'd like to one day be chapter president, though that'll probably be in my fourth year. I'm currently wondering what space I'll have to advance in the winter semester. The other guy from my pledge class to be on our Executive Council for the fall will probably be shooting for Treasurer, which is a position I'm apathetic about, but is a step above Secretary. While it's possible I could move up to Vice President (I was nominated in the last election, though as the least qualified candidate in the field, it was obvious that wasn't happening), it looks like I may have to go two terms as Secretary until something opens up. One of the issues is that a position I'd like to move into called First Councillor is voted on after Secretary, despite being seen as an office requiring more experience, so trying to  move in that direction is an electoral gamble.

While other schools may have greater involvement in large fraternal organizations (IFC, Panhellenic, etc.), the only thing we're involved in (to my knowledge) is "Greek Council" which, at maximum, represents about six organizations due to the small size of UDM's Greek community. However, I was elected as our alternate delegate to that and, combined with my election to Student Government Association, I'll be involved more than a typical member would in interfraternal relations.

60% of our Exec will be ineligible to run next year, and I'm the only member of my PC currently on Exec.  So, I'm definitely feeling some pressure to move up and if I could get to be President as early as next spring I have a clear path to IFC exec my junior/senior years.  Of course, if I can't get Pres this year then I probably could junior year, which leaves senior year for IFC stuff. 

While we may both be in similar places within our organizations, there is definitely a disconnection that occurs when talking about SEC vs. non-SEC Greek life.  They're different, but one isn't necessarily better than the other (at least, I'm not going to say that to your face ).  Greek life at MSU, while nowhere near as intense as somewhere like Bama or LSU, is very large and very visible.  22% of our student body is Greek (25% of men are) and we haven't had a non-Greek student serve on Student Body exec since the 1970s. 

Would you like to see Greek life grow at UMD or are you happy within a smaller system?

[Del Tachi]

Del Tachi what frat are you in

I've already established this.  I'm a Kappa Sig. 

[Del Tachi]

I will agree with you that anyone looking to get a political fix in college would be much better off rushing than going for SGA or whatever.

As for your little question, I meant to say that I would be getting a little this fall semester.  The way it works at MSU, your big is (typically) in the PC immediately above yours; so my big will be a junior this year, and his big (my grand-big) will be a senior.  In my chapter, the actives have a somewhat bad habit of "picking winners and losers" among incoming PCs.  For example, all of the people currently on Exec (except for me) have had Bigs on Exec.  In fact, the current President, his big and grand-big were both President preceding him.  Its like a good ol' network inside of another good ol' boy network.  So, my hope is that, as the only sophomore who's going to be on Exec, that I can snatch up one of the top prospects to be my little brother.  If I can get the rest of the active membership to go along with him being PCP and I can guide him (as a former PCP) through the perils of being PCP then hopefuly he's influential enough within his PC to sway most of their votes my direction come December.