Commentary for Don't Mess With Texas, It's the Law

                 I read an entry from my classmate’s blog, Don't Mess With Texas, It's the Law and her entry is about how Proposition one will be passed which means a Medical School will be built in Austin. Her entry can be found here. During my high school years, I have always wanted to be a doctor and seeing as how college is very expensive, I wanted to stay here in Austin since it will save me a lot more money but the problem was that there were no medical schools here in Austin which meant that I would have to transfer soon. This was just the thought I used to have but I no longer have anymore because I no longer want to be a doctor. However, I still want to be in some kind of field relating to the natural sciences.

                 I think that the proposition one is a great idea because it will influence people to pursue their medical career since it can be a better access for us Austinites. My classmate mentions that there’s a medical school in Houston and it benefits that city’s economy. I think that’s great and Austin should do the same since this country’s economy is in need of help anyways. I also agree with my classmate that this state will also benefit from it by getting more healthcare workers. Being in the healthcare field is one of the most important careers because it will always be needed since there are people who will need to be taken care of daily. I also think that it’s great that this proposition also wants to help improve healthcare here in Texas since this state has one of the poorest healthcare systems in the nation. Along with my classmate, I am excited to hear that this proposition will bring great things to this state.

Lower Cost For College Education

            Education is very important to me and through this blog, I have shown that. I think that it is a great idea that Governor Rick Perry is creating a program where students can have the opportunity to obtain their bachelor's degree and the fee for this would be within $10,000. I think that this could encourage many people to go to college or go back to college if they didn't have the opportunity before because it is much more affordable. As a college student, it's a little discouraging to see the cost for college education but I continue to push through and I keep a mindset that it will be all worth it in the end.

             I've been wishing for a day like this to come and even though it did, unfortunately, there are rules one must follow in order to be a part of this program. Some of the rules are maintaining a 3.0 gpa, earning a certain amount of college hours during high school, earning a certain amount of college hours at a certain community college, etc. With these rules attached to the program, it takes a lot of effort in order to save a couple thousands or up to hundreds of thousands of dollars for education but it may be well worth it. Even though I think these rules are a little tough and have a lot of requirements, it still shows the encouragement that should be given to the people who want to receive a college degree. This will push people to be more knowledgeable and it can help prepare them for the future jobs they may have due to the degree that they obtain. 

Commentary for "Cookies and ice cream for education"

                I read an entry from my classmate’s blog, Blue-Blooded in a Sea of Red, and the title of her entry is “Cookies and ice cream for education.” I found her argument to be rather insightful because it shows what the government spends with the federal budget and how the government should be focusing more on the things that are more important such as education. Education is very important in this economy, especially at this moment, because it has such a great value that could lead many people in to getting jobs. The more employed people this country has, the more the economy will gain from it in a positive way.

                 I think the way Ben Cohen visualized how the government spends the budget makes it easier for people to see where everyone’s money is really going towards. I think that the government is so worried about overprotecting our country that they tend to forget the people that are made up of this country. I think that Katy did a great job providing statistics and links that pertain to the issues of education and the video of Ben Cohen was also helpful and I think that the video should be spread in order to inform people about this issue. And if it is spread further, we can make a difference as a nation and this issue that concerns the budget for education can be improved.

Austin's environment

                I like to be friendly to the environment but I think that many people are ill informed about how they should be treating the environment. I think that our local government should regulate how many plastic bags can be used at a grocery store with each customer. With this said, when people are going to grocery stores, they should have some kind of tote bag just in case they exceed the certain amount of plastic bags they can use. There are pros and cons to this regulation though. The pros are that it will be a lot friendlier to our environment since plastics bags won't be produced as much which means money will be saved and can be put to better use. The cons are that people can possibly steal items and sneak it into their tote bag without getting caught and it may be a hassle to some people because they would have to constantly bring it back and forth to the grocery store. Since these issues exist, I think that plastic bags should still be around but just not as much.

                If the government can’t do this regulation, I think that they should try to educate the people that live here about how they can help with this regulation. The more people are educated, the better because it can spread throughout the local community and it will eventually turn into something bigger from there. Plastic bags can be used for so many things like collecting trash or putting things you need inside it in order to keep it for later on and these uses are practical but people tend to just throw it away without reusing it (if it’s clean) after they have gotten it at the grocery stores and this is what causes the wastefulness of these bags. In conclusion, I think that the government should take in consideration about regulating how many plastic bags can be obtained from each customer at a grocery store.

Female Vice Presidential Pick?

The author’s commentary that I am about to critique is from Mean Rachel’s blog and the title is "Can Romney Bring Sexy Back?" This was written back in July but it’s about how the author of the blog, Rachel, is stating how Romney was thinking about having a female as his vice presidential pick. The author’s intended audience is for the people that are planning on voting during this year’s election because she’s trying to argue that having a female as Romney’s vice presidential pick will not make a difference in what kind of presidential platform he has. The author of this blog is a democrat so it’s obvious what kind of stance she takes against Romney since he is a republican. She provided a linked video about this information and she also linked one of her own posts from the previous election that states how Sarah Palin decided to work with John McCain. I watched the video she provided and a couple of women were interviewed about how they felt about Romney’s decision and some of them said that it didn't change their mind about Romney but the others said that it depends on which female he chooses. Rachel was also featured in this video and she says how Romney hasn't changed his views about equal pay for men and women yet he was thinking about having a woman as his vice presidential pick. I do agree with the author and what she has to say about Romney because I don’t think having another person represent him, whether it’s a male or female, will change the values that Romney stands up for. 

Education in Texas

The author's editorial that I am about to critique can be found here: http://www.statesman.com/ap/ap/education/recent-editorials-from-texas-newspapers/nSDs3/. The title of the article is "Our schools: Texas must improve education". The editorial was written by The Associated Press for El Paso Times and published on September 17, 2012. The author’s intended audience is for everyone basically because the author is trying to inform why education needs to be improved. Obviously, it is mainly geared towards the government and how they should pay attention to schools since educating children should be a priority since they are the future. The author seemed to provide facts that show why the education system has been declining. For example, the author states how teachers focus on having the students pass their standardized tests instead of focusing on the basic courses such as math and science. Without the proper knowledge of these basic courses, the students will feel unprepared for the future classes they may have to take in order to further continue their education. Standardized tests don’t prepare students for their future because it’s just a way to memorize facts in order to pass a test. The author’s argument is that the Texas government should try to give a reasonable budget for education instead of taking it away so that education can be improved. The author states how cities like Houston and Dallas have been taking steps that help improve the education in their cities but it costs money to do those things. I agree with the author because I am a student myself and I think that education is vital for people since it gives us not only knowledge but it will also lead to careers that we will have in the near future in order to maintain the society. 

Unemployment Rates in Texas

The article that I have read is about how jobs in Texas have been increasing but unemployment rates are increasing as well. It’s refreshing to know that the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that Texas’ rate for unemployment is still lower than the national’s average. The jobs that are higher in demand are the education and health sector and the production industries. Different parts of Texas have different rates of unemployment. The article, Despite Two Years of Job Growth, Unemployment Inches Up, is worth reading because it shows the different jobs that have been growing and declining due to the different demands in Texas.