Over 2000 students at A&M (mostly boys) are in the cadet corps, which seems like a military fraternity and does not have an obligation attached to it (like the ROTC does) but does involve a lot of tradition and ceremony and hierarchy. They are the source of a lot of the oddities at the university, or at least the differences from other universities. About the time for questions after the weekly seminar in oceanography, we can hear the cadets yelling "meatball!" from outside the building (a name for the freshmen cadets maybe?). If I run through campus in the morning, I pass the marching band practicing, which is a brigade or company of the corps. I sometimes see the color guard pass to take down the flags at the end of the day. Mostly, though, I see the guys in the brigade that marches with fake guns. I forget what they are called, but I think they are also supposed to be the governor's infantry, for fun, I guess. I have seen them lots of times, but this past Monday I watched them from my sixth floor window at work as they marched around in lots of little groups practicing being in step with each other while twirling their guns in intricate patterns. Honestly, any synchronized movements like that are always cool-looking, but I don't think I'll ever get used to have such a constant military-like presence around. They all wear their uniforms all the time, and I just don't share their military enthusiasm.
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