Commentary on "Congestion in Austin"

The issue of traffic congestion in the city of Austin has gotten out of hand in recent years. Before, traffic was a bother in Austin, but know it has become an intrinsic part of life in the city in a very negative way. People everywhere have to shape their lives in accordance to deal with the traffic. Things that go as complex as buying a home and getting a job to just being able to comfortably drive to a supermarket have become tasks that require complex planning. In my case, traffic has restricted the places where I look for a job, an apartment, and even the times that I get my classes for the semester. I must consider that my job has to be close to where I am at the time my classes end so I can make it in time because if I have to drive I will most certainly be late. I must also confine myself to an area to look for apartments so that I can manage to make it to campus on time in morning for my classes without having to get up three or more hours before the start of class. As you can see, the issue of traffic in Austin is very serious, and it is even more troubling because it will only continue to get worse.

               The blog post titles “Congestion in Austin” in the blog “Lonestar State of Affairs” brings much needed attention to the issue. Various plans that have been mentioned in regards to possible solutions to the issue of traffic are covered in the blog post but very briefly. One thing that caught my attention and would like to know more detail is the above ground rail system mentioned in the blog post. In my opinion this seems like a great idea, and I don’t fully understand the logic behind the explanation of why this idea was shut down. Also, another thing I think could be added that would give the blog post much more substance is the inclusion of some statistics regarding the vehicles in the city, the amount of people that move to the city, and the square footage of parking space that can be found in the downtown area of the city at any given point in the week. I think these numbers would help provide perspective and understanding as to how real an issue traffic is in the city of Austin. 

UT admissions disclosure

Recently, the University of Texas was asked to disclose some records regarding its admissions policy. The information that was being asked for by the Austin American Statesman had to do with what he administrators commissioned for UT Austin’s admission practices. The main allegation in the investigation conducted by Kroll Associates Inc., was that the former UT President Bill Powers had aided some students in obtaining admissions despite the objection of some admission officials. After having been told to disclose the information, the UT system proceeded to file a lawsuit against Attorney General Ken Paxton.

               In my opinion, there are many things that are wrong with this picture. The first being that once more the admissions process and criteria in UT Austin’s admissions policy has become a point of discord. I do not agree with UT choosing to not disclose the information that was asked of them. It does not seem that any specific student information would be disclosed, only the admissions criteria which should already be known by the public. The institution is a public university and should therefore operate with as much transparency as possible; there is no reason for them to not want to show evidence pertaining to the issue. If anything, I would think UT would welcome the opportunity to regain some positive reputation by proving that the allegations are false; that is of course assuming that they are false. The actions of choosing to not disclose the information and going as far as to file a lawsuit against the Attorney General only serves to make the University look guilty.

               Having expressed the idea that UT should just disclose the information, I also have to recognize that issues like this are not unheard of. It should not come to a surprise to anyone that some faculty and staff in Universities try to help their loved ones get a spot in those various prestigious Universities. To conclude, I frankly don’t see anything wrong with the former President of UT Austin helping students gain admissions. However, whether it happened or not, UT should just own up to the truth and release the information to the public.

Commentary on “Let us make school more affordable”

               The cost of college tuition is an issue of great concern. For the most part tuition costs continue to rise year after year despite the fact that it is very uncommon for a student’s economic situation to change drastically in one year. For those that have the possibility of getting financial aid, unless you have attained some sort of academic or athletic scholarship, financial aid is typically not enough. That leaves you with few options as a student, the most common one being academic loans. This said, as troubling as this situation is, I don’t believe eliminating tuition from colleges and reducing it from universities is plausible or the right answer to fix the problem.

               The blog post titled “Let us make school more affordable” in the blog “What is happening in Texas today?” poses the above mentioned solutions to the issue of the rising cost of tuition. Both solutions sound great, both solutions would be marvelous; however I unfortunately don’t think these solutions are possible. Perhaps a little more detail on the bill that was passes in Oregon would help understand the foundations of these proposed solutions. Additionally, I would also like to challenge the statement saying that by implementing these solution there would be a “higher number of individuals that receive jobs right after graduating”. If anything it would seem to me that if the solutions where to be implemented and if they were to work as intended there would be a larger pool of graduates, meaning the job market would be even more competitive.

               Although I do not have a proper solution to the issue of rising undergraduate tuition costs, I’d like to bring attention to a related issue. I think more efforts should be focused on providing more aid for students who are perusing graduate school. Very little monetary aid is offered for people wanting to further their education beyond the bachelor’s degree. I think there could be great improvements done in this area without having to resort to such drastic measures.