The True History

I agree with my classmate Palmira in this statement: “We all need history in order to learn from our past and implement what we learn towards the future.” History is very important for everybody, not just for people majoring in history. Some people think that history is boring and useless, but the reality is that what has happened in the past has changed how we live our lives today. I am against keeping important events of our history from future generations. When I took my history I and II in college, I realized that a lot of information was not well explained in high school. I had a great teacher who also writes Texas history books for middle school. He used to tell us that sometimes some information from his books was omitted and that he had a hard time convincing the editors to print all that he wanted to teach about the real history of Texas. This type of situation hurts future generations because they deserve the true story of our history.

Texas Should Reject An Anti-immigration Law

After I heard rumors that Texas might implement an anti-immigration law, I started to research about the topic. The Texas state representative, Debbie Riddle, introduced HB 17 law and it is similar to the anti-immigration law in Arizona (SB 1070). The HB 17 is shorter and will make police officers stop suspect people to see if they are undocumented aliens, based on the officer’s own judgment. If a suspect does not have proper documentation to prove his or her status in this country, he or she will be detained and will be reported to the INS. This type of identification procedure is not going to work because the police officer does not have a proper training or have a clue how to differentiate between a documented immigrant and undocumented immigrant. They also don’t have a good system to store documentation. This law, I believe, will mostly affect the Hispanic community because they are the largest immigrant group in the U.S. Texas is known for its pro-business policies that attracts a lot of entrepreneurs and benefits the state and provides jobs for many Texans. The Hispanic community is the leading community of entrepreneurs in the U.S. and HB 17 will drive away these entrepreneurs because they are going to feel discriminated against with this type of law that persecutes their community. The last thing that Texas needs at this moment is to harm businesses.
Some people believe that undocumented immigrants come to the U.S just to take advantage of the benefits that the government offers but this is not true. These immigrants spend a lot of money buying groceries and clothing for their families. Texas relies on state sales taxes and these immigrants pay taxes every time they purchase something and that benefits the state’s economy.

My family and I had the privilege to obtain our resident cards via my mom’s family, but that is not the case for other immigrants. The main reason documented or undocumented immigrants come to the U.S is for better opportunities for them and their children. They are hard workers, persevering and self starters. Also most of the undocumented immigrants respect the law and try to stay out of trouble to keep their family united.

I am against a law that will discriminate against immigrants and will affect the Texan economy. In the state and in the country we need an immigration reform that promotes legalization for the thousands of hard working immigrants that are committed to respect the laws of this country and will contribute to the success for the U.S.

Texas Deficit

After reading a couple of my classmates’ blogs one caught my attention, it is Moderate with an Iron Fist blog. My classmate’s commentary titled “Unwanted Belief” is based on a very important issue that Texas will have a $25-30 billion dollar deficit in 2011. I think his intended audience is all Texas residents because this will affect everyone, working people, poor, students, etc. His commentary is very straight forward, a good explanation of the issue he is introducing and his solution for the problem. In his commentary he explains how different agencies have to cut their budget and that this will cause the loss of many jobs and will lead to a rise in unemployment. He also mentions how students will be affected, this part is very important for me because I receive financial aid. I rely on financial aid to pay for my education and next semester I will attend the University of Texas at Austin and I will need more financial aid. I believe I am not the only one in this situation and many others are worried about what will happen next year with the cuts the governments are planning to make. I agree with the author, “We need to raise taxes to help reduce at least half of our deficit as the [Legislature] finds alternative solutions to our current problem.” I don’t know if that’s the best solution to fix the problem but it sounds like a good start until government finds a better solution. I prefer to pay a little more taxes than face a problem like California is facing or worse than that.

Red-Light Cameras in Houston Yes, or No?

Election Day is here already, time to make decisions and demonstrate your civic engagement. All around the country people are expecting to make changes to their cities for the better. In one of the most populated cities in Texas, Houston, voters will be deciding whether to keep the red-light cameras in main intersections in Houston or not.

The proposition about the elimination of red-light cameras in Houston was proposed by the group “Citizens Against Red Light Cameras.” They claimed that the purpose of the red light camera program is to obtain money from drivers, and in addition, violates people’s right to privacy. They state that cameras don’t save lives instead it is just another way to give more traffic tickets. On the other side, the city of Houston argues that the program works and the fine of $75.00 is nothing compared to the $225.000 million that the region spends every year for damage, injuries and deaths from red-light wrecks. Many studies have showed a drop in collisions at intersections with cameras.

I have never driven in Houston because I think people don’t drive safely, but I do drive in Austin, because I feel safer. People need to drive to move around their city, because public transportation is inefficient compared to other states. Transportation collisions are a big issue in Texas. Houston is a heavily populated city the therefore problem is greater. I am in favor of keeping the red-light cameras in Houston because it will benefit the people of that city, and also contribute to reducing collisions, in addition people might feel safer driving. Red-light cameras work because it is logical. If people know that there is a camera by a light they will think twice to before running a red light because nobody wants to pay a traffic ticket. I believe that the program will help resolve the collisions caused by running red lights. I understand the arguments of the opposing group that is against the red-light camera program, but I think people prefer to be safe on the roads and a camera in an intersection will not interfere with their daily life. The other argument that they make that the program is another way that municipalities gain money, well everyone knows if you break laws there are consequences and one of these is paying a fine. I believe Texans want a safer roads and less crazy drivers running red lights. I support programs that punish irresponsible drivers that cause collisions because this can involve the death of innocent people.

Innovation For Education System In Texas

Texans students deserve a high quality education, which are not getting at these times in Texas. Texas K throught 12th grade education is in a very bad condition and this has to change presently. I found a commentary of Charles Kuffner on the blog Off The Kuff that discuss new techniques for the education system in Texas. “The case of using social media in the schools” talks about the innovation of social media as a resource of innovation for teaching. The authors intended audience is teachers, students and teachers because they all are involved in the issue of better education in Texas. The author credibility is support by his higher education acquired from Trinity University in Texas. He works in the IT industry, currently as a BlackBerry administrator.

Apparently he is aware of how technology works around our times and how people are influenced by. He supports the use of social media in schools. In his commentary he introduces the new teaching program by giving a short summary of how the program started in Portland, Oregon by a middle school teacher Elizabeth Delmatoff. He states that after the program was implemented by the teacher in her classroom, they noticed a great improvement in that school. For example students were doing extra credit, students grades were up 50% and the school achieved the absence goal of the year. I believe these are great accomplishments that prove that probably social media would benefit the education system in Texas. The author also provides to the readers a link of the social media program that explains in details how the program works. For example the link provides samples of innovative teaching lessons for teachers. This program will charge teachers 4 dollars per month, which I believe is very affordable. He states that even though some teachers do not welcome this program, he believes that this type of program shouldn’t be ignored and instead teachers should try to fit social media into schools for the benefits of everyone.

I agree with Mr. Kuffner because one thing that Texas education needs is innovation. I worked as a counselor in an after-school program and I know that children learn very fast, and they learn even faster if is about technology. I remember that one of their favorite classes was computer class. We need to face the problems of education in Texas and implement innovative literacy in the classroom. I believe that if teacher incorporate this program a long with standard techniques of teaching, big advancement will be seen. This program will make teachers job more dynamic and it will make students learning more agreeable.

Governor Rick Perry's Best Contributors

Next month Texans will be electing a governor for the state of Texas. The candidates are the current Republican governor Rick Perry, who is running for re-election and his rival the Democrat Bill White. They have created impressive campaigns to win these elections and have spent a lot of money. I always wonder how they support their campaigns, especially Rick Perry who has been governor for the last 10 years. I found this interesting editorial commentary that talks about how the current governor Rick Perry has received substantial donations for his campaign from people he had appointed as regents for top Texas universities.

The author of this commentary is Michael Landauer, who is the assistant editorial page editor in The Dallas Morning News. His credibility is sustained by his work on the voices program since 2002 and his higher education acquired from Texas A&M University. His commentary “Rick Perry has amassed a financial army of appointees” is about Rick Perry’s political campaign capital. His intended audience is the general public because this information involves public Universities in Texas, which is significant for every Texan. Landauer argues that “$17 million has come from people appointed to boards of regents for our top universities”. He offers a link to the Texas Tribune which has a list of names of different regents of universities in Texas, which gives credibility to his argument. This list shows that “Texas A&M regents were Perry’s second source of appointee cash, $113,127 per appointee and where Wendy Lee, the Texas A&M regent, was the most-lucrative appointee”. “The University of Texas regents ranked fourth, with a contribution that averaged $83,463 each”.

Personally, this information surprised me because I did not know that the regents of these universities contribute these amounts of money. I think Mr. Landauer is trying to make a statement that Rick Perry chooses appointees that will be good contributors for his campaign. Based on this information we can assume that these appointees were very good donors because some were appointed multiple times. I agree with Mr. Landauer that it shows that the appointees supported Rick Perry in order to be appointed. I thought that in order to hold a position as a regent of a University was based on qualifications, and not on being good contributors to a political campaign. The author is not satisfied with the re-election of Rick Perry. He states:” if Jesus Christ himself were governor, I would not want him to serve more than 10 years because no one should be able to appoint all the members of the state’s important boards and commissions”. Mr. Landauer also states that even thought he has always voted for Rick Perry in past elections, now he is undecided because our current governor has been in office for too long. I agree with him, we need a new person that brings diversity to the state and gives appointments to people who are well qualified and understand the diversity of the state and brings innovation, and takes in a new direction.

Attracting The Latino Vote

The Texas Libertarians are holding a luncheon for the Texas Libertarios in Austin this Saturday. The Texas Libertarians want to attract Latino voters to their side. The Libertarians think that their party is the best choice for Latinos in Texas because of their positions on personal freedom and limited government. The party claims that they support legalization for all the undocumented immigrants who have followed the rules of this country. The party supports a fast and less bureaucratic process of legalization which they state is better than what the Republicans and Democrats have offered. They also support free-enterprise system and less regulation of business matters and, which they believe will bring opportunities for U.S. businesses in Latin America and will create jobs for people in Latin America. The party endorses the legation of drugs to control the violence at the U.S. borders. They are pro same-sex marriage and believe that Latinos will view this as a positive position.

People should read this article because its topic is important for everyone living in Texas, not just Latinos. We know that the Latino community is growing very fast, and it will be the majority group in Texas in a couple of years. For that reason Latinos participation in politics activities is important and it will make big changes in the state. The Libertarian party obviously knows that, and they are starting to attract Latinos into their party.