Denton Chapter Exes Mixer - Feb. 16th

KRAM1 · February 4, 2008

Just FYI...the DENTON CHAPTER of the UNT EXES Association will be holding a Mixer on SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 16th from NOON to 5PM at TJ Hartford's in Lewisville. Rick V. and Derrick Morgan are both scheduled to talk to the Exes and there will be food and drink specials provided by TJ Hartfords. Check the Mean Green web site (athletics) and the Exes web site for details in the next few days. Lots of Mean Green items and Mean Green fans and Exes...what more could you ask for before a couple of great games at the Super Pit? The event will end by 5PM so EVERYONE can make it to BOTH the Mean Green games that evening at the Super Pit against theSunbelt's U. of Troy! Come visit with the MEAN GREEN NATION anytime between Noon and 5PM on Feb. 16th. All Exes and Mean Green fans are welcome!

Come join the fun anytime between noon and 5pm on the 16th!

Check out the Exes web site and the athletic site for more details. GO MEAN GREEN...GO EXES! :clapping:

ntsumgspe · February 5, 2008

GREAT JOB, DENTON CHAPTER !!! Is there still a Dallas Chapter ? :blink:

GO MEAN GREEN !!!

NT80 · February 5, 2008

Rick V. and Derrick Morgan are both scheduled to talk to the Exes

What time will the speakers talk?

drex · February 5, 2008

Morgan at 12:30 and Villareal at 1.

BonfireBrian · February 5, 2008

Thanks for getting this all set up!!! Should be a fun event.

Here is the article from MeanGreenSports:

http://www.meangreensports.com/ViewArticle...CRIBER_CONTENT=

KRAM1 · February 5, 2008

ntsumgspe....

About that dallas Chapet...I believe there is a dallas Chapter. They had a small pre-game event before the SMU game this yeart that my wife and I attended briefly...looked more like a few friends getting together...nothing alerted us the the "Mean Green" pre-game party area, so we didn't stay long, but did see a few UNT shirts, caps on a few folks. But, as I said, i do think there is a Dallas Chapter..

I would recommend that you contact Rob McKineey, the Exes new Director of Chapter development...yes, indeed, the Exes now have a person responsible for Chapter development...that is good news...he can be reached at the Exes center...940-565-2834 or 1-800-UNT-1153. I am sure Rob would be happy to hear from you...

You are more than welcome to come to the Denton Chapter event on the 16th at TJ Hartford's...ALL Mean Green EXES, current students and fans are more than welcome...the more the merrier! I hope to see you there on the 16th...by the way...Rob McKinney will be in attendance so you can meet him there.

Hope to see you...and a lot more of the MEAN GREEN NATION on the 16th at TJ Hartford's in Lewisville.

We owe Brian Gilmore...an UNT EX and Manager at TJ Hartford's a round of "thanks" for allowing us to use his restaurant for this event...great to see our Exes doing well and great to see them wanting to help out UNT....

GO MEAN GREEN...GO EXES!

KRAM1 · February 7, 2008

Who thinks they might make it to the Mixer on the 16th. I'd love to meet some fellow GMG posters...

ntsumgspe · February 7, 2008

Who thinks they might make it to the Mixer on the 16th. I'd love to meet some fellow GMG posters...

Count me in.

GO MEAN GREEN !!!

gangrene · February 25, 2008

This must have been one hell of party. I drove by TJ Hartfords today and I guess you guys that attended the mixer "closed down the house"....permanently.

UNTflyer · February 25, 2008

This must have been one hell of party. I drove by TJ Hartfords today and I guess you guys that attended the mixer "closed down the house"....permanently.

Yeah, looks like it's time to move it to the greatest sports bar on the planet... Fox and Hound.

NT80 · February 25, 2008

This must have been one hell of party. I drove by TJ Hartfords today and I guess you guys that attended the mixer "closed down the house"....permanently.

What happened to it? :blink:

UNTflyer · February 25, 2008

What happened to it?

Their website is shut down, the signs are covered, and the parking lot is empty. According the CEC's last earnings conference call:

"In the fourth quarter 2007 the company recognized an $8.4 million asset impairment charge relating to four Chuck E. Cheese’s units and TJ Hartford’s which has been closed."

Quoner · February 25, 2008

Their website is shut down, the signs are covered, and the parking lot is empty. According the CEC's last earnings conference call:
"In the fourth quarter 2007 the company recognized an $8.4 million asset impairment charge relating to four Chuck E. Cheese’s units and TJ Hartford’s which has been closed."

Bad time for that industry as far as the big chains go.

Brinker is downsizing too - laid off their whole real estate department.

UNTflyer · February 25, 2008

Bad time for that industry as far as the big chains go.
Brinker is downsizing too - laid off their whole real estate department.

Makes me glad I'm in the Oil & Gas industry. :ph34r:

FirefightnRick · March 9, 2008

Just curious. But did our new director give a pep talk at this event in which he ACTUALLY stated that it was a good thing that outsiders called our students/alumni at North Texas.......................COMMUTERS??????

Something to the fact of, and I'm paraphrasing here:........"People like to refer to us as COMMUTERS, well, I think that's a great thing. Commuters are the ones people call boss because they have had to work harder to get where they are today??????".

Please tell me this didn't happen? Please tell me someone is jacking with me? Please?

Rick

Edited March 9, 2008 by FirefightnRick

KRAM1 · March 10, 2008

If you do not think our new Exes Executive Director takes his job seriously, then, in my opinion, you simply have not been around him enough as yet. He came to UNT late last summer and found himself with one full-time staff member and a couple of student part-timers. Since that time he has hired a staff, made NUMEROUS contacts with students, faculty and alumni in many areas, has worked to generate new interest in existing chapters and worked to create new cahpter development interest. He has seen to it that the Denton Chapter has resources and support, has stagged the first Exes Mixer in Dallas ( a pretty darn successful one too!) that I can recall in a number of years (sponsored by the "main" Exes), et., etc., etc. I can verify that he is in no way "sitting around"...he is out trying to get the job done.

I am not sure about the "commuters" comment...I either did not hear it in the way you did, or did not see it as a "big thing" based on the whole of his comments made at the Mixer...the fact that he was there on a terrible day (weather-wise) was a good thing in my book.

I am not trying to "defend" our Director, he can do that for himself...if he needs too. At this point in his tenure I think he needs our support and positive feedback, and we should all reserve "judgements" for a bit down the road. You do recall our last Executive Director, don't you?????

If you have need to "chat" with Derrick about anything...including his commuter comments...I recommend that you give him a call. I have found him very open to feedback and suggestions....AND, I know the comments here about the "commuter-thing" come from great supporters of UNT and the Exes...so, your support is appreciated...give Derrick a call if you have questions/comments as he is looking for folks who want to step-up and take on a leadership riole in trying to build the UNT Exes program into one of the best in the country.

GO MEAN GREEN...GO EXES!!!!!

ADLER · March 11, 2008

KRAM1 I really hope you're right but it's apparent that several months into his position he relys on preconceived negative stereotypes to portray his targeted customers. That's not good.

Hopefully it was simply a faux pas of somebody still learning a job.

KRAM1 · March 11, 2008

Agreed...it is a bit of a "learning curve" to figure out the "correct" way to say things....One thing we do not need is anyone in ANY position with the University that thinks of UNT as it once was...UNT IS NOT a small "teacher's college" with a majority commuter base any longer...long gone...let's hope everyone realizes that ASAP...and that folks will recognize UNT for what it is...a Research University...third largest in the state and growing....

GO MEAN GREEN...GO EXES!

Speaking of the Exes...anyone interested in helping the Exes raise scholarship dollars for UNT students????? $10 each or three for $25 will get you chances to win some great prizes...such as a trip to Hawaii including airfare and hotel....come GMG'ers...get those checkbooks out...send me a private message if you are interested and I'll tell you how we can exchance the tickets and the check!

Come on....it's for a GREAT cause, and we need the scholarship dollars...the endowmwnt at UNT is quite low for such a big school, so the availablity of scholarship dollars is not what it should be for UNT...let's help fix that!

FirefightnRick · March 11, 2008

I promise that I plan on explaining to him, the next time I get the chance, that if he did not realize it before, that the commuter thing is an old slam at North Texas usually used by the old SWC regime schools everytime we defeat them them on the playing field.."Well who cares if you beat us(Texas Tech) 2 of the last 3 trips to Jones stadium, your still a commuter school". I'll explain to him that not only is it used as a negative criticism but that its absolutely innacurate as well considering we have one of the largest on-campus residency percentages in Texas. Had I been there that night he wouldn't have left the place without hearing it from me right then and there.

As for the raffle for prizes I would suggest take advantage of times when the most alumni will be on campus, such as for the Spring game on April 12th. Have a table set up with large signage explaining to those passing by what it's for.

Rick

March 11, 2008

I promise that I plan on explaining to him, the next time I get the chance, that if he did not realize it before, that the commuter thing is an old slam at North Texas usually used by the old SWC regime schools everytime we defeat them them on the playing field.."Well who cares if you beat us(Texas Tech) 2 of the last 3 trips to Jones stadium, your still a commuter school". I'll explain to him that not only is it used as a negative criticism but that its absolutely innacurate as well considering we have one of the largest on-campus residency percentages in Texas. Had I been there that night he wouldn't have left the place without hearing it from me right then and there.
As for the raffle for prizes I would suggest take advantage of times when the most alumni will be on campus, such as for the Spring game on April 12th. Have a table set up with large signage explaining to those passing by what it's for.
Rick

Rick, you've got your work cut out for you because you'll be battling the UNT statistics. According to them only 21% live in approved housing (that is the 14 dorms, vet village, and the fraternity/sorority houses). All of the rest are considered living off campus or commuters. The problem is that the university does not really distinguish between living off campus and commuting. I've heard that there are as many as 17,000 commuters but I find that hard to believe because of available parking. Add that to at least 10,000 that live near the campus (and require parking spaces) and there's just jot evough spaces to put them without heavy car-pooling.

The age of the average student is shown as 24 so no doubt some are married and commuting but only 2% are part-time and most can't carry a full load and work significant hours with distance commuting. We are unique in that there are more than four million people in the adjoining counties so it would make commuting easier. Couple that with the fact that we try to make it easier for distance learning to enroll and you have "commuter" written all over our university. I'd like to see more encouragement for recruiting the traditional student but we seem more obsessed with numbers.

I think that "commuter" has a negative connoitation also but some students that commuted much of their college life make fine alumni. Our good friend Silver Eagle is an excellent example of that.

It may get even worse in the future, when DART/DCTA light rail connects Dallas and Denton. Can Fort Worth to Denton by light rail be too far behind? So, maybe we will have to learn to embrace the term or work on redefining it.

FirefightnRick · March 12, 2008

Rick, you've got your work cut out for you because you'll be battling the UNT statistics. According to them only 21% live in approved housing (that is the 14 dorms, vet village, and the fraternity/sorority houses). All of the rest are considered living off campus or commuters. The problem is that the university does not really distinguish between living off campus and commuting. I've heard that there are as many as 17,000 commuters but I find that hard to believe because of available parking. Add that to at least 10,000 that live near the campus (and require parking spaces) and there's just jot evough spaces to put them without heavy car-pooling.
The age of the average student is shown as 24 so no doubt some are married and commuting but only 2% are part-time and most can't carry a full load and work significant hours with distance commuting. We are unique in that there are more than four million people in the adjoining counties so it would make commuting easier. Couple that with the fact that we try to make it easier for distance learning to enroll and you have "commuter" written all over our university. I'd like to see more encouragement for recruiting the traditional student but we seem more obsessed with numbers.
I think that "commuter" has a negative connoitation also but some students that commuted much of their college life make fine alumni. Our good friend Silver Eagle is an excellent example of that.
It may get even worse in the future, when DART/DCTA light rail connects Dallas and Denton. Can Fort Worth to Denton by light rail be too far behind? So, maybe we will have to learn to embrace the term or work on redefining it.

No, you go ahead and embrace that term. I'll continue to stick my middle finger at it. With over 6,000 students living on campus(Tcu's total enrollment is just over 8,000) as part of the largest on campus residency in the DFW region, the last damn thing I want to sell to potential donors/members listening to me speak is how we somehow live up to some criticism of being a Commuter School! If you live across the street from campus in a non university sanctioned housing place your commuting. That senario exist at every school nation wide, but why freaking promote it? It's just like the university cutting it's own throat promoting some idea of how we are the cheapest degree around. Doesn't that message make one jump for joy? It just screams: PLEASE COME HERE, LEAVE YOUR MONEY, TAKE YOUR DEGREE AND GO AWAY FOREVER!!!!!

As one alumni put it as he sat there that night listening in Lewisville: "I wanted to tackle the guy. So instead I told my wife to put the checkbook away because I refuse to join the Exes again for nothing".

Rick

March 12, 2008

No, you go ahead and embrace that term. I'll continue to stick my middle finger at it. With over 6,000 students living on campus(Tcu's total enrollment is just over 8,000) as part of the largest on campus residency in the DFW region, the last damn thing I want to sell to potential donors/members listening to me speak is how we somehow live up to some criticism of being a Commuter School! If you live across the street from campus in a non university sanctioned housing place your commuting. That senario exist at every school nation wide, but why freaking promote it? It's just like the university cutting it's own throat promoting some idea of how we are the cheapest degree around. Doesn't that message make one jump for joy? It just screams: PLEASE COME HERE, LEAVE YOUR MONEY, TAKE YOUR DEGREE AND GO AWAY FOREVER!!!!!
As one alumni put it as he sat there that night listening in Lewisville: "I wanted to tackle the guy. So instead I told my wife to put the checkbook away because I refuse to join the Exes again for nothing".
Rick

I found some good news, Rick. College Search, which I have used for several years, has finally listed North Texas as a residential campus. We had always been listed as a commuter campus before. Incidently, UT is still listed as a commuter campus.

http://collegesearch.collegeboard.com/sear...?collegeId=3551

Incidently, I thought I saw that the opening (and filling) of Honors Hall put North Texas at more than 7,000 in on-campus housing. At any rate, use numbers, not percentages, when arguing about the "commuter" college. I just say you can call us what you want but we have the third largest student body on or near the campus in the state.

KRAM1 · March 13, 2008

As long as people "put their checkbooks away" because they are looking for any reason to do just that UNT will never be known as more than a "commuter" school. The alumni of UNT...and Mean Green Nation family and friends...need to start looking for ways to get involved and get active in the Exes and the academic side and the athletic side at UNT. Too many people just like to find ways to be negative about "their" school because of some perceived slight, some REAL slight or some other thing they don't like. I am sorry, but, folks, get over it!!!! UNT is YOUR sschhol...you need to support it with your time, talent and money if you really want it to be all it can and should be. It is definitely moving upward and forward...look around...tons of good things going on...yes, even at the Exes...but instead of focusing on the positives...someone wants to use a "commuter" comment as a reason to "put away the checkbook". SAD...VERY SAD...and VERY MISGUIDED. The way you cahnge that is to get involved with yout time, talent and money. Bitching never changed anything! But, being part of the solution does...the challenge is....do you want to be part of helping things change for the better or do you want to sit back and complain when someone does something you don't like or says something you think is "offensive"?

Like I said...it is YOUR school...you make the call, because you can and you have every "right" to do as you please...no problem for me...but it does get a bit "old" to keep hearing people's excuses as to why they won't join the Exes or the Mean Green Club or buy tickets or support their academic programs with scholarship dollars, etc., etc.

By the way...were you part of the crowd of about 250 at the Exes event in Dallas recently at BlackFinn????? I was...great evening...crowded...the folks at BlackFinn are begging the Exes to come back because so many people turned out...there is also a restaurant in Highland Village that wants the Exes tio stage and event there because of the folks that turnout! Hey, good things are happening...come and be part of it.

By the way...it is time for the Denton Chapter to elect new officers and board members....ARE YOU INTERESTED???? I know it's easier to just post here on GMG.com, but, if you really want to try your hand at making things better...why not step up and help. Send me a PM if you are interested and I'll get back with you. Election is in April.

Also, the Denton Chapter is hosting a FAMILY PICNIC and Exes Center Open House on Sat. April 26th from noon to 3PM....come ji=oin the fun! You might find that you like some of what you see! I'd bet you will and you and your family will be VERY welcome!

O.K., am I now officially off my soapbox for the day! Bye...for now! :rolleyes:

ntsumgspe · March 13, 2008

By the way...were you part of the crowd of about 250 at the Exes event in Dallas recently at BlackFinn????? I was...great evening...crowded...the folks at BlackFinn are begging the Exes to come back because so many people turned out...there is also a restaurant in Highland Village that wants the Exes tio stage and event there because of the folks that turnout! Hey, good things are happening...come and be part of it.

BOOK IT !!!

GO MEAN GREEN !!!

FirefightnRick · March 14, 2008

I found some good news, Rick. College Search, which I have used for several years, has finally listed North Texas as a residential campus. We had always been listed as a commuter campus before. Incidently, UT is still listed as a commuter campus.
http://collegesearch.collegeboard.com/sear...?collegeId=3551
Incidently, I thought I saw that the opening (and filling) of Honors Hall put North Texas at more than 7,000 in on-campus housing. At any rate, use numbers, not percentages, when arguing about the "commuter" college. I just say you can call us what you want but we have the third largest student body on or near the campus in the state.

Wow, nice website Jack. That has some very interesting stats. I would have never thought of Texas Tech a commuter school?

Rick