I see those types on Conroe and Somerville all the time, with brand new 50K or 100K cruisers or deckboats or wakeboard specials (those REALLY are annoying), loaded to the gills with teenagers to twenty somethings...blaring out loud annoying much and churning up the lake. I don't know how they buy them either, but LOTS of Aggies these days seem to have deep pocketed parents.
When I was there in the mid 90's, most of the student cars were still hand-me-down cars or used cars or economy jobs that the kids got as graduation gifts from their parents or bought themselves. Only the occasional new car, and seldom a very expensive one. A lot of people drove total POS's, or were even carless and bumming rides from friends. LOTS of poeple had part time jobs, most people, in fact.
Take a drive through the parking lot today. New 30K plus cars are a lot more common. Mommy and Daddy are doing quite well, and a lot of Mommy and Daddy's money goes to indulge their children, or to allow their children to keep up with the Joneses' children to keep up appearances of wealth and prosperity. I ran into a bunch of people as I was graduating that had ALL KINDS of free time because THEY HAD NO JOB in college! I can't even contemplate that. Most of my friends worked 15-30 hours a week, and many of us were trying to get more hours.
Credit is an amazing thing.
My problem is the wakeboarders seemed to have discovered in the last 3-5 years that is is easier to run in the same protected coves that I used to fish all the time. The scenery is nice, but it KILLS the fishing. Get ur lazy asses out there on the main lake and ride around the chop you are stirring up! I have NO IDEA how you can afford to run for hours at 2mpg.....
On the other hand, it does look like fun. My econo-skiff can barely pull a kneeboarder or tube with a well tuned 40HP 2 stroke...