Comment on "The Long STANDING STATE"

Why do schools make such a big deal about teaching evolution? Part of me agrees with Adriana on her article about teaching evolution in schools and part of me also disagrees. I believe that we should give students all the information that we have about evolution and where we come from and let them make up their own minds. Despite separation of church and state we may have to teach some bible stories in school. I believe that this separation is good in most cases but when teaching evolution. People do not have to completely agree with a theory to identify with that particular theory. Take what you want from one and from another and make your own, that is what I have done.
When a theory is introduced to a student in school is irrelevant but we should definitely not force one belief on the student. I can remember being taught Darwin’s Evolution theory and the Big Bang theory both in middle school. I took my own interpretation and made no big deal about it despite any religious beliefs I might or might not have. So we should let the students make up their own beliefs and teach all aspects of evolution, or completely take evolution out of the curriculum. One thing I do not like about society is that we are taught to be different but when we are different we then are condemned.

Gerrymandering in Texas

Gerrymandering is drawing district lines to include or exclude certain groups of voters. Done to significantly help or hurt one party or another. Gerrymandering is suppose to be illegal but is almost absolutely impossible to determine. In 2003 Texas Legislature redistricted breaking Austin into three districts. The three districts that run through Austin which were put in place to break up the strong democratic pull here. Austin is a red dot in a blue state. Some of the districts stretch hundreds of miles to the Rio Grande. District 10 has a nose in Austin then runs to the outskirts of Houston. The new districts of 2003 put five incumbent democrats at risk in the 2004 elections, four of which lost their seats. Texas has clear gerrymandering how can one city be broken into three pieces and it not be gerrymandered. How is a person suppose to be able to represent Austin people and Houston people equally? The two cities are very different, we think differently, and view issues differently as well. Furthermore, how is any representative really suppose to represent anyone outside of their class? We should elect more common people to represent us Austinites.

Comment On "Texas: Biger and Better Government than Your State"

I’m torn on this one. Part of me agrees with Katie and part of me also disagrees. I am big on integrity and agree that Austin should keep their promise on Proposition 2, but who made up this proposition anyway. They must not have been a true Austinite. I also disagree with the proposition itself, why does Austin need to spend any of our tax money to help out the Domain or other big businesses? Don’t they have plenty of money anyway, why should we help the competition? Personally I totally support local business, and will drive out of my way to go to a ma and pa store than to go to a large corporation. I believe that Austin should give this extra money back to Austin and support the local businesses and Keep Austin Weird.

Penalties on Sex Offenders V. Drug Dealers

Are drug dealers really more dangerous than sex offenders? It seems that judges tend to think so when sentencing them. I do not believe that the penalties on sex offenders are harsh enough many only get probation and never see the inside of a jail cell, but if you get busted with drugs you are immediately taken to jail and face severe prison sentences. Are these penalties fair for the crime committed? The effects of these crimes are much different. Someone who buys drugs or sells drugs has a choice and if a child has been sexually abused they do not really have a choice in the matter. Who made up these laws and penalties do they not have children themselves? Don’t get me wrong I am not trying to down play the sale and use of illegal drugs but if you give the dealer a chance or option of rehabilitation many can get sober. The effects on an abused child are much more traumatic. Sexual abuse can cause psychological trauma in which the victim can never fully recover and is usually affected even into their adult life, even after intense counseling. In my opinion the consequences for these offences seem to be a bit lop sided.

Austin PD finally implementing B misdemeanor citation policy

Sunday October 19, 2008

I found an interesting blog on Grits for Breakfast regarding the new cite and release law. Most Texas Police Officers can now give citations instead of arresting (at the officers’ discretion) for certain low-level, non violent misdemeanors. This article is focused on Austin and mainly Travis County who is really pushing this new policy. This move comes a year after the Legislators passed a “cite and release” law and after observing larger cities implement this law. The new policy would apply to certain Class A and Class B misdemeanor arrests. The Police Officer would give you a ticket instead of taking you to jail for a warrant. “The penalties for the offenses would not change. People who receive citations would be given a court date, and there would be no change in how these cases would move through the court system.”
I believe that this is a good move on Texas’ part especially Travis County. This way you would probably get a ticket instead of going to jail which would save my time and money as well as the officers time and would free up there time to handle more serious crimes. This policy will also reduce costs on us taxpayers for jail, and prisoner transportation. I agree with the blog when they say that this policy is a win-win situation all the way around.

Young: A teacher trimphs over testing

A commentary posted in the opinion area of Austin American Statesman by John Young. This article is directed at the general public and especially the uninvolved parents of students. The article argues that teachers are not the only one to blame in the low performance of Kimball School System or schools across the state and nation. There are many factors in learning than just the teachers. The responsibility is shared by parents, lack of discipline, and skewed teaching process. The teaching process these days is focused on the standardized test. Also people tend to focus on the negative and see how bad an area is doing but there are also factors in how the school is performing. The low performing schools are usually the high crime low income areas and the high performing schools are the more wealthy areas. Society is already pointing the finger and the teachers and just blaming them instead of looking at the big picture.
I mostly agree with this article we need to better inform people about there children’s education. This article reinforces my view about standardized testing but also makes me take a closer look at what we should do to fix the problem of just pointing the finger at the teachers. We need someone to step up and fix this instead of just looking at others to do so. The teachers do have some responsibility but so do the parents and administration. Where are the parents at anyway? How involved are they? Now days the parents are so caught up in there own lives that they do not pay attention to how there children are performing in school, how do they actually know that there even going? We have this no child left behind act were schools are having to teach to this standardized test, which I do not agree with because all that we are doing is teaching to the test and leaving out important facts about the real world. We should come up with a new solution to evaluate teachers on an individual basis instead of the testing system we have in place.

Wrongly Convicted Rape Defendant Freed After 26 Years

Here is a story which I believe is work reading, posted by Dallas Morning News. In this article a man was freed after serving 26 years in prison for a crime he never committed. Johnnie Lindsey was freed in Dallas on the morning of September 19, 2008 because new DNA testing proved that he was not the rapist.
I was drawn to this article because people need to know that our justice system is not perfect. We are human and we make mistakes hopefully this will make people aware of the flaws in our justice system. How can we allow for this to happen to keep a prisoner hostage when they are innocent? I know that this article allowed me to be more aware and not necessarily believe everything that I hear even if it is on the news. For more information go to Dallas Morning News webpage