Early Education

On Friday August 8, 2014, Blogger Adela Moreno posted an article, An Early Start at Education for All, on her blog called Forgotten Alamo. In her article, Adela argues that an early start on education is very crucial for a child’s future success. I completely agree with Adela. In one of my previous blogs called Clash over Education, I explained that early education such as Pre-K and Head-Start are very necessary and effective in the development of education. Texas should definitely invest more time and money in early education because cutting funding will only hurt these children in the future. Early education should be available to all children regardless of their parents’ financial qualifications. Just like Adela parents, my parents also cheated the system in order for my siblings and me to have an early start in school because they know that children are most eager and ready to learn when they are young. Adela’s argument is very relevant in today’s society. 

 

Marijuana Vs Texas

So I wrote a blog on July 24, 2014 called Legalize Marijuana Already. In that blog, I emphasized on how Texas Legislative should legalize marijuana use or at least start with medical marijuana usage; and also decriminalizing marijuana possession penalties. Legalization of marijuana is a very controversial topic because it has many active supporters and anti-supporters. Heather Fazio, Texas Political Director for the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP), fully supports the complete legalization of marijuana. In an article called Texas Republicans Are in a War Over Weed, she states that most states have legalized marijuana through ballot initiatives and that marijuana won’t be legal anytime soon in Texas because it goes through the state legislature which are dominated by strong-willed conservatives who oppose marijuana usage. Heather Fazio and many other supporters’ believe that marijuana possession should not be considered a crime. According to the Marijuana Policy Project, there are more arrest for marijuana possession each year than for all violent crimes combined, and 87% of these are for possession and not for sale or manufacture. The law enforcement and state government should be tough on the real crimes where victims are in danger and not on petty nonviolent pot offenders.

Some Texas office-holders and politicians are resistant to changes of marijuana legalization because legalizing marijuana can potentially increase black market sales of the drug by the cartels and negatively impact public safety. Whether marijuana is legal or illegal, the drug cartels will still have their businesses up and running. Anti-supporters of decriminalization and legalization also argue that there are no means to test impaired drivers to determine how mentally and physically affected they are and can be harmful to the public safety. If people believe that marijuana is this dangerous then they should also make tobacco and alcohol illegal because these drugs are also harmful to the “public safety.”  I've heard numerous stories of people overdosing on alcohol, but haven't heard any on marijuana. The first step in convincing the Texas legislature is to allow marijuana product testing and research to be conducted and show that marijuana should not be characterized as a Schedule I drug such as heroin and LSD, and be reclassified to a lower schedule drug.

Tuition is way to High

On Friday July 25, 2014, Blogger Aaron Taylor Bonnette posted an article, Tuition Costs, on his blog called You may all go to Hell, and I will go to Texas. In his article, Aaron argues that the cost of attendance at public universities in Texas is spinning out of control. Aaron gives his reader some credible information from SavingForCollege.com which states that students who go to college for 4 years will have a tuition of approximately $38,000, and that the national student debt is in trillions and continuously increasing. The government does provide Pell Grants for low income families. These Pell Grants do help families, but these families are also still left in debt because Pell Grants do not fully cover the cost of tuition. I've realized that loans will forever haunt your life if you do not pay it back as soon as possible. Aaron states some interesting information from Forbes. He explains that the unemployment and underemployment rates have significantly increased for students who graduated with a Bachelor’s degree. He also explains that even with a degree, it is still hard to payback student loans which leaves people contemplating if all the money spent on education is really worth it.

I completely agree with Aaron; how are students supposed to gain a good education if they cannot afford it? It seems like the government is setting up the middle and lower class for failure and trying to take all our money through student loans. Aaron’s arguments are very logical and precise. The state and national government should definitely provide more scholarships and grants for students. Texas should take the first initiative and lower the cost of tuition; it will benefit both the students and government by allowing more opportunities for students to get an education and also building a society of intelligent and educated people.

Legalize Marijuana Already

Texas should just swallow their pride and legalize marijuana, or at least legalize medical marijuana first. Texas is one of the top states that have very strict laws against marijuana. According to the Texas Marijuana Policy Project, 61% of state voters support the removal of criminal penalties for possession of one ounce of marijuana. The current Texas law states that an individual can have a jail sentence up to a year and fined up to $2,000. I think that some of these laws against marijuana are a bit extreme. There are other drugs that cause way more damage than marijuana. For example, Smoking cigarettes causes severe damages to the body and brain function. Science Daily Research reported a study conducted by the University of Alabama that stated marijuana do not have long term loss of lung function like cigarettes. Cigarettes are more deadly compared to marijuana. If Texas legislation can legalizes cigarettes knowing the negative health effects and still make a profit, then they might as well legalize marijuana and do the same.Just like alcohol, marijuana has similar effects on the body. Instead of sending people to jail for small possession of marijuana, Texas should legalize marijuana for adults 21 and over, and tax and regulate marijuana just like they do alcohol.

Colorado and Washington are the first states that completely legalized marijuana, and currently 22 states have legalized medical marijuana. If Texas doesn’t want to completely legalize marijuana, they should at least start by legalizing medical marijuana for terminally ill patients. Statistics have shown that some families are moving from Texas to states that allow medical marijuana in order to make sure their sick family member gets all the treatment necessary to survive.  Currently, Texas legislation is making small attempts in this issue of marijuana. Governor Rick Perry and prominent candidate Wendy Davis both support decriminalizing small amounts of marijuana and legalizing medical marijuana for seriously ill patients. Texas should definitely consider legalizing marijuana; I believe it will benefit both the government and the citizens. 

Is Abbott too Busy for the Texas same sex marriage appeal?

I recently read a blog from Off The Kuff called When is that appeal of the Texas same sex marriage ruling going to happen? The blog was written by Charles Kuffner on July 20, 2014. Charles Kuffner’s target audience is the citizens of Texas, mainly the ones who are interested in the Texas same sex marriage ruling. From reading this blog, the attorneys for the two same-sex couples are challenging the Texas’ marriage bans, known as De Leon v. Perry, and claim they are “suffering irreparable harm due to the violation of their constitutional rights;” and do not want the courts to grant Greg Abbott an extension.

Greg Abbott states that he wants an extension not to delay the ruling, but to give the counsel Solicitor General Jonathan Mitchell “sufficient time to prepare a brief that is accurate and helpful for the court.” Some people believe that Abbott wants an extension because he is not focusing on this case and needs more time to gather his work and research. The attorneys of the couples are against Greg Abbott requesting for an extension solely because being “too busy to prioritize this appeal” is not a good enough reason to further delay the issue.

I believe that all lawyers have multiple cases and obligations that they are involved in and should prioritize their work. I do agree with the author that it's unfair for the couples to go through a long stringent case, but they have to understand that cases like same-sex marriage is not going to be an easy case to win and they have to be patient. If Greg Abbott’s office needs an extension to make sure their opening brief is thorough, strong and precise for the courts, I would personally say grant them the extension so they can start the case without a rushed opening brief. But I do believe that Greg Abbott’s office needs to prioritize their cases better for the future because some courts may not grant extension because they are “too busy.”

Clash over Education

I recently read an article from the Fort Worth Star Telegram pertaining to the Texas governor candidates’ debate over education. The editorial, Texas governor candidates in classic clash over education, was written by Mike Norman. Mike Norman’s target audience is the citizens of Texas. The Texas governor candidate, Wendy Davis, believes early childhood education is essential for children. On the other hand, Republican candidate Greg Abbott does agree that early childhood education is important but “based on proven results, it’s becoming nothing more than tax-supported daycare.”

The argument of this article is whether early childhood education such as Head-start is necessary and how effective is preschool education. From reading this article, the author believes that early childhood education is necessary and he provided research reports and studies from a federal program called Head Start and the Department of Health and Human Services to prove that early childhood education has a long-term effect and produces cognitive and achievement outcomes. The Perry Preschool Student study focused on former African American students after later decades and showed that they had “gained higher earnings and was more likely to hold a job.” 

With all the studies and evidence that Mike Norman provided, his article clearly justifies that early education is vital. The author does provide many research and evidences to justify his claim. I believe that his credibility should be considered around 80-85% because he includes various studies from different research groups that have shown similar results. I think that early childhood education is important because children are most eager when they are young, unlike when they get into middle and high school where education is not there prime focus. I agree that cutting funding for preschool programs is not a great idea and that it will eventually hurt the future of America in the long run.

Texas accused of purposely excluding minorities in redistricting

Would you ever expect the state you live to be involved in purposely excluding minorities in redistricting to gain more votes? Well according to the Dallas Morning News, this article talks about how the U.S. Justice Department is currently investigating Texas lawmakers and their proposed electoral maps that racially discriminates minorities. Texas lawmakers and attorneys believe that they did everything possible to create an electoral map that was fair and just, without intentionally causing discrimination; but in reality it looks like they are mapping it carefully enough for the Republicans to have the majority. The attorney of justice will be using the San Antonio trial to demonstrate that Texas needs to have federal approval under Section 3 of the Voting Rights Act. I find this article very interesting because Texas has a history of voting discrimination but they seem to still squeeze through the cracks with changing the process of elections. This article is definitely worth reading because you will be surprised of the various political issues that are happening right in your neighborhood or environment. All readers should keep up with this story to see how things will unfold in the future of Texas' redistricting maps.