Don't talk/text while driving..

In Natasha’s blog, “Don’t Phone and Drive”, she is suggesting that Texas pass a law banning the use of a cell phone (without a hands free device) while driving. She first describes how she used to be a fan of texting while driving and would have to slam on her brakes several times. I think she did well on throwing that comment in there because I am positive I along with countless other people can relate to that same exact situation. Many of us are far too careless on the road the second we hear our phones ring or vibrate. Imagine how many accidents could be prevented if we would just ignore that call from our best friend, or wait to read that text message from our boyfriend or girlfriend until we got home. I completely agree with Natasha, I think if there was law banning the use of talking/texting while driving then many accidents could be prevented and lives could be spared. Hopefully we will see this law in action sometime soon..

Blocking wireless calls in Texas prisons...

Texas officials are planning to test cell phone jamming technology after a prison system lockdown that ended November 12. During this lockdown, officials found a total of 143 smuggled devices all together in Texas prisons. The devices included cell phones, chargers, and SIM cards. Of those 143 devices, 16 of them belonged to inmates on death row. Since the lockdown ended, 5 more cell phones have been found on death row. Due to all of these findings, the test to block all wireless cell phone calls has been proposed for next month on December 18 at the Travis County state jail here in Austin.

Some people think it is not such a great idea. Their argument is that the call blocking would run a risk for affecting some people using cell phones nearby. I on the other hand think the wireless call blocking is a pretty good idea. The people who are there in prison are there for a reason and clearly do not deserve any of privileges or luxuries that they got to enjoy before in their life outside of prison. I am glad that officials are acknowledging that they are of course not going to be able to monitor every single thing that goes in and out of the prison. It is good they are now taking a step to be in control of some of those things that are making it inside. I am looking forward to seeing what the outcome of the test is going to be.

Proposition 1

In Natasha’s blog she is urging people to vote “yes” for proposition 1. The proposition is for a tax increase in order to give our AISD teachers a raise.  The proposition would give our teachers a 3% raise, which according to Natasha, it’s a raise which they truly do deserve.

She gives three good solid reasons on why we should vote for Proposition 1. The first reason she provides is that we depend on these teachers to give our children a good education and that the least we can do is give them a raise. I think she is right about this, because if we think about it, what better to spend our money on than paying for our children to have the good education they deserve.

 Natasha then argues that if we don’t give our teachers the raise they deserve, then they will more than likely begin to search for jobs with better pay. She says they deserve their raise just as much as anyone else. This is very true. Most people get their raises automatically at their job after a certain amount of time working there, so it just doesn’t seem fair to require a vote for them to get their raise.

 Her last reason is that teachers do a lot to help our children to make sure they are well educated and that it is now our turn to return the favor. I think she is right about this as well. I think many people believe that teaching is not a difficult job and that they have it easy because they only have to work Monday through Friday, they get winter breaks, spring break, and summers off. But the reality is, yeah  teachers are only in the classroom Monday through Friday, but they take a lot of time outside of the class grading papers, making assignment plans to help the students better understand the material. They also spend lots of time before and after class to spend one on one time with those students who are having trouble and need extra assistance.

Overall I think Natasha’s arguments were excellent. I agree with all of her reasoning on why people should have voted yes for the proposition. She had a solid argument and did very well in her blog.

Partying Halloween weekend???

The Austin Police Department is starting up a program for the upcoming Halloween weekend. The new program involves drawing blood from any drivers suspected of being intoxicated. The drivers will first be given the usual option to take a breath test, however if he or she refuses the breathalyzer, the person will be required to have their blood drawn right there on the spot. While many people who are planning on partying downtown this weekend may not be all for the idea of being poked with a needle after a long night out of drinking, I think this program is a great idea to help and encourage everyone to have a much safer weekend. I understand many of us want to go out, dress up, and have ourselves a good time, but I do not think anyone’s fun should be at the expense of endangering someone else because of drunk driving. There are several accidents that occur every weekend caused by drunk driving. So, I think if the APD can enforce this program to be in effect for one of the busiest nights in downtown Austin, then that’s great! If this weekend turns out to have fewer accidents due to drunk driving, then I think the APD should consider extending is beyond just the Halloween weekend. If the APD were to do this then I think many people, especially those who are scared of needles and blood, would think twice about going out for the night without a designated driver.

K-12 Teachers not doing enough??

In an education blog about schools in Central Texas in the Austin American Statesman entitled Homeroom, a middle school teacher argues that many of the schools are asking their students the wrong questions. Patience Blythe, a teacher of three years at Garcia Middle School here in Austin, writes about her experience that led her to this argument. She describes that in her seventh grade advisory class, half of the black students and a very small number of the Hispanic students lived with both of their biological parents. Also, half of the students say that neither of their parents graduated high school and all of them have seen drugs in either their homes or neighborhoods. She then asked her students the question, ““If you could meet anyone in the world, living or dead, who would it be and why?” She said one of the girl’s responses was that she would want to meet her mother. The girl says” I don’t know who she is. I ain’t never met her befo’”. Blythe asked her if she was adopted and the girl replied, “ I ain’t adopted! I live with my sister.” I like how she uses this conversation between the student and herself because the way the girl responded, not just her answer in general, but the vocabulary she used is a great example of the education level of those students. It shows that many students are far from achieving the goal of attending college. Blythe goes on with her argument saying that a huge problem is that they keep asking kids if they want to go to college or not, while all of them will raise their hands in saying “yes”, 60% of those kids will drop out. Blythe strongly urges that teachers need to quit asking the simple questions and start asking questions such as, “How can we help them get there?.”
I strongly agree with Blythe’s argument, I think her way of approaching the issue was very successful. I think the K-12 teachers need to do more to figure out how they can not only teach the students their basic subjects, but teach them how to become more successful on a more personal level so that they can go on to apply the knowledge they learn in the classroom.

Abusing the ER

Zachary Meisel and Jesse Pines are both practicing emergency physicians at the University of Pennsylvania. In Sunday’s commentary of the Dallas Morning News, Meisel and Pines claim that many people are going to the emergency room for reasons that are not really “emergencies.” They also have ways their own opinions as to what should be done to resolve this issue. Their argument is directed toward the general public.

One of Meisel and Pines reasons for these unnecessary trips to the ER is that people do not have good enough judgment to decide whether a headache or fever is a true emergency. They also state that despite the long waiting periods in emergency rooms, people would rather walk into the ER then wait for an appointment with their doctors, wait again for lab tests, and then wait yet again for another appointment to review and discuss the test results. They also believe a huge problem is that primary-care providers have little reason to tell their patients not to seek emergency care. I think all of their reasons are correct. I think many people take advantage of the ER when they should be leaving it for those who are in dying need of immediate assistance. All of their reasons and assumptions are made clear in their argument. eisel and Pines are able to get their point across to the reader and at the same time do not bore the reader with several statistics. They give facts and reasons that we could relate to. I think all of their reasons stated are true of the public.

After Meisel and Pines discuss all of their reasoning, they outline what they believe could be a cure for ER overuse. They believe a start would be to change the incentives to line up with rapid access to urgent and specialist care. They then go on to suggest that if the payment structure for primary care doctors was restructured so that doctors would get paid for the after hours calls, then patients would be encouraged from their doctors to call them first before taking a trip to the ER. Their last suggestion is that emergency rooms consider taking steps to change the law on medical exams, so that some ER patients could legally be turned away as long as they could get to their primary- care doctor within 24 hours. They conclude that if these fixes were to happen then we’d eliminate many of the high costs associated with health care. I think all of their suggestions are valid and reasonable. They give interesting suggestions that could really be made possible.

Overall, I agree with Meisel and Pines argument to rid the ER overuse. I think they did an excellent job with the layout of their argument and could get a good majority of the public to agree with them. I think if we truly considered some of suggestions, everyone would benefit from it.

Does Texas Have a Reluctant Prosecutor??

According to the Texas Monthy, Randy Reynolds, Texas' district attorney for the 143rd Judicial District, is being criticized for being "too soft" for a prosecutor. Reynolds is the prosecutor for the rural West Texas counties of Ward, Reeves, and Loving. During Reynold's twelve years as district attorney, peace officers of the 143rd Judicial District have brought hundreds of cases to the district attorney’s office for prosecution. These cases included drug trafficking, theft, assault, robbery, and several other felonies. Of these hundreds of cases, Reynolds has declined to prosecute most of them. Some people say he has done this out of laziness and pure stupidity, while others say he is simply trying to save the county money. Whatever the reason, Reynold’s actions, or lack of actions, have caused some Texans to question whether or not they are in the hands of a good district attorney.This article is well worth your time because it gives a glimpse of how many felons in our state are committing crimes and then walking away unpunished. Click HERE to read more….