Explore the Lone Star State

drinking and driving

2007-08-10T14:05:00.000-07:00

A new act has been made a law that places drunken drivers behind bars for life if they kill first responders and I totally support this new law.

As we all are aware of, many of injuries and deaths caused by drunk driving occurs everyday and over twenty percent of all traffic fatalities in the United State each year are caused by drunk drivers. I think this is serious problem not only in US society but all over the world. Government needs impose higher legal actions for drinking drivers to stop this situation. Some may think it’s too severe but people need to realize the seriousness of the problem and a fact that everybody is at risk too. I believe this law is a good way to prevent people from drinking driving and should be carried out.

to see the complete article
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/texassouthwest/legislature/stories/DN-officers_18tex.ART.State.Edition1.3b82e05.html

to see the link to classmate's editorial
http://andy-theeyesoftexas.blogspot.com/

In Texas, the public has no right to read inspection reports

2007-08-03T16:52:00.000-07:00

Express-News's John Tedesco reports an accident which happend nearly 6 years ago. A tugboat and its four heavy barges slammed into the Queen Isabella Causeway nearly six years ago. It killed eight motorists. A laywer Michael Slack wanted to get the information about the inspection records of the bridege but was not able to get the information. Because Texas Department of transportation said that they were not able to entitled to the information. Public can find out the latest inspection date of a bridge, its location, when it was built and whether it is structurally sound. But not able to get the infomation about the details about Texas' bridges.

After reading this article I thought that government should allow public to know about the information of the bridges. I definitely think that publics deserves those rights to know about the facilities that they are using for their every day lives. Especially when the accidents occur, for those of the victims or the family of the victims should have right to know about the situations or status of the bridge.The article also reports that the law says inspection records for transportation projects that receive federal funding cannot be used as evidence in court. However, in my opinion when the accident happened and if there is any possibility that the bridge might cause the accident, public should be able to use the inspection record as an evidents on the court. I believe that if those inspections were done for the public's interests, they should be available for pubic's need.

to see the article
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA080307.6A.TexasBridges.34315f1.html

Texas teens gave birth at highest rate in U.S. in '04

2007-07-27T21:04:00.000-07:00

I agree with Don McLeroy’s comment that said merely providing a lot of information is not an effective solution for reducing number of pregnancy problems for teens. I believe that it’s more important for the parents to educate their own children as they reach their teenage. I do not think educating for a short period of time is going to solve the problem. Gradual teaching and continuous supervision by parents or teachers would definitely help children to grow up with abilities to make right decisions. Parents definitely need to embrace their children with care and unconditional love when teaching the underlying values of true love related to sex. In addition, the effects and negative consequences of premature teen sex should be emphasized and addressed often.

to see this article
http://www.star-telegram.com/state_news/story/181348.html

Growth in college admissions for Hispanics lags behind goal

2007-07-20T13:39:00.000-07:00

AUSTIN — College enrollment is increasing in Texas universities and community colleges, but the Hispanic growth rate is not enough to close the gaps, according to an annual progress report released Thursday.
Hispanic legislative leaders blame rising tuition and insufficient student financial assistance for the trend that could make it hard for the state to meet "closing-the-gaps" goals developed seven years ago.
Hispanic enrollment in Texas universities and community colleges has increased by 60,019 during the past four years. It will have to increase by 140,036 students over the next four years to meet a 2010 target — and by 342,136 more students to meet the final 2015 goal in the 15-year plan.
"We have a lot of work to do," Texas Higher Education Commissioner Raymund Paredes said.
"We are coming up short, and people think that we are failing miserably. The fact is, we are making steady progress but not as much as we would like," Paredes said after the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board released the report.
The report indicates that Texas is keeping pace to meet or surpass 12 of the 19 goals, such as total college enrollment and the awarding of doctoral degrees.
Paredes is hopeful that the new recommended high school curriculum that takes effect next year will help overcome a nagging difficulty in increasing Hispanic college enrollment.

For complete article see:
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA072007.03B.Hispanics_enroll.3405a78.html