Will the Republicans gain control of the House and Senate on election day? Will Californians be the first state to vote on and make the drug Marijuana legal? This election day, November 2nd, 2010, there is excitement in the air as many of these questions and more will be answered after months of speculation. Voters will turn out in mass to the voting booths set up across the nation to decide which candidates will help carry this nation and decide the direction we will head towards for the next few years on both a national and local level. Besides voting for candidates, voters will be faced with many other propositions that will directly affect their local community. Unfortunately, looking at the ballot this year, I noticed one piece of legislation that is absent but is desired by many in my local area; the annexation of Pflugerville into the Austin Community College district.
Pflugerville is a community that started off the 1980’s as only a city of several hundred citizens but has recently been certified as having over 51,000 residents as of early 2010. With the tremendous growth in the community, the city has begun to show its own strength and separate identity from the larger cities of Round Rock and Austin by attracting dozens of major commercial companies and larger industrial corporations bringing growth and future to the community. With the explosion in growth and the housing population there has been an establishment of new educational facilities but one glaring omission is access to an institute of higher learning.
To be annexed into the Austin Community College district there are several steps involved. Mainly a resident must gather the signatures of at least 5% of the voting public in the given community. After a series of steps that involve the signatures being turned in and verified for accuracy along with an explanation to the community if annexation election passes, they are placed up for vote in the general elections in either May or November. In the general elections the community as a whole can decide whether to be part of the Austin Community College district.
Many residents have expressed concern for being annexed because it will lead to higher taxes on property. It will lead to a property tax increase of $.09 per $100 dollar assessed property value. This sounds like a very expensive proposition but on the value of an average $160,000 home, it only amounts to an extra $110 a year or, each month, about $12. The increase is barely noticeable on an average mortgage payment of $1,420 a month.
Some residents have stated that the cost of community college is already low compared to a four year university. Right now the cost of attending Austin Community College out of district is on average around $4,900 vs the cost of in-district is $1,700. The savings of annexation can be, on average, up to $6,000 or more on a two year program. As of 2008 there were over 1,177 households in Pflugerville out of 10,000+ that have an individual attending Austin Community College that are paying these higher “Out of District” fees. Looking towards the future over half the households have children under the age of 18 that can potentially benefit as well from lowered fees at Austin Community College. With an only $.09 per $100 property tax increase, you SAVE money by paying the property tax over the average ownership of the property vs the upfront cost of college.
Recently, as of last week, I preformed an informal study of 32 parents at Hendrickson High School during a recent layover after a marching band practice. I discovered that 10 children will be moving to within Austin city limits to attend the community college after graduation. They are relocating to pay a lower fee and due to the lack of community transportation to and from Austin Community College and Pflugerville. That is a loss of potential revenue in the form of employment and sales taxes due to the loss of residents departing the local area. The loss of residents are ones who may not return later on with the addition of their higher education that may benefit the local area with future businesses. Also, due to the fact that the payments are higher, many are applying for student aid from the government which means that even if you do not pay through property taxes specifically to be apart of Austin Community College, your tax dollars will still, in the end, be paying for these individuals maybe even themselves or their own family to attend the institution of higher learning.
It may not be enough time to be on the general ballet this November but the annexation of Pflugerville into Austin Community College district is a goal we should all set in the elections to come. Everyone has the opportunity to benefit from those who cannot afford an education, those already enrolled to those that will reap the benefits of having a better educated work force and community to live along side. It is planning for the future for those that may attend or have family that may attend in the years to come as the cost of higher education goes up each year with the most recent increase being, on average, 7.9% across the nation.
Friday, October 29, 2010
Friday, October 15, 2010
Blog Stage Four
Recently Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo made a call for a new “Driving While Ability Impaired” law to go after those with a blood alcohol level under .08. In response Radley Balko wrote an opinionated article that called to abolish such drunk driving laws. On October 12th, 2010, the politically charged blog “Grits for Breakfast” published an opinion piece entitled “Balko: Abolish DWI laws to focus on impaired driving” by Scott Hanson in regards to both the suggestion for a new law and the article piece written by Radley Balko. The author, Scott Hanson, is a respected individual in the journalist field as he has contributed several pieces to well known news media outlets.
The opinion article is written in support of Radley Balkos rebuttal to the suggestion of a new law by Police Chief Acevedo. The article is written for general audiences since this new law will end up causing a ripple effect that will affect all of us as citizens. The enforcement of this new law will tie up manpower of the police force which will result in higher costs and lower standards of public safety. He maintains what feels is a neutral tone throughout the article and publishes statistical facts that back up his opinion to show it is not just a subjective opinion but has observable scientific data.
The opinion piece written by Scott Hanson is based around the case made to justify such a law by Radley Balko. The article utilizes statistical information to back up the authors opinion that Radley Balko has a valid point in reasoning that we should abolish the DWI laws. Scott Hansons article utilizes statistical data to establish creditability for his opinion besides his educational background and experience. It has been established through research and studies that people are willing to put trust and faith within the results of studies if it utilizes a simple system of numbers. The thing, though, is that the data itself may be neutral but how it is represented can be manipulated by the individual who is presenting it to the public. How Scott Hanson presents the information, it is in an effective manner that has helped to convince and reinforce my feeling that Scott Hansons opinion is valid and correct and is something we, the citizens of Austin and the state of Texas, should look into doing.
The opinion article is written in support of Radley Balkos rebuttal to the suggestion of a new law by Police Chief Acevedo. The article is written for general audiences since this new law will end up causing a ripple effect that will affect all of us as citizens. The enforcement of this new law will tie up manpower of the police force which will result in higher costs and lower standards of public safety. He maintains what feels is a neutral tone throughout the article and publishes statistical facts that back up his opinion to show it is not just a subjective opinion but has observable scientific data.
The opinion piece written by Scott Hanson is based around the case made to justify such a law by Radley Balko. The article utilizes statistical information to back up the authors opinion that Radley Balko has a valid point in reasoning that we should abolish the DWI laws. Scott Hansons article utilizes statistical data to establish creditability for his opinion besides his educational background and experience. It has been established through research and studies that people are willing to put trust and faith within the results of studies if it utilizes a simple system of numbers. The thing, though, is that the data itself may be neutral but how it is represented can be manipulated by the individual who is presenting it to the public. How Scott Hanson presents the information, it is in an effective manner that has helped to convince and reinforce my feeling that Scott Hansons opinion is valid and correct and is something we, the citizens of Austin and the state of Texas, should look into doing.
Friday, October 1, 2010
Blog Stage Three
On September 29th, 2010 an opinion piece was published on the statesman.com entitled “Texas messes with Islam.” The article deals with the recent changes to education materials such as textbooks that the Texas school board have passed.
This article was written by an unknown author. Due to the authors anonymity, I am unable to verify their credentials. The article, though, is posted on the statesman.com therefore the individual must have a background that justifies his presence on the website. Why? Readers place trust in their media companies to keep them properly informed. If media companies are found to dispel facts or information that are incorrect, it would cause their readers to lose trust and faith in their reporting resulting in a loss of readership. It is also viewed as a civic responsibility of the media companies to properly inform their readers of current and political events, a distinguish many companies strive for.
I feel that the writers anonymity is a bit of an issue. One of the reasons why to write an opinionated article versus a straight factual article is that you do not have to be biased but are there to present and persuade a reader to your viewpoint you are presenting. Displaying your name and being proud of your work displays strength which translate into leadership to the casual reader which helps to gain their trust and to have them view more favorably your argument and maybe even have them believe in the same view point you are presenting.
The article deals with the topic of Texas recently passing motions to limit the references to Islam in textbooks. The author has aimed the article so this event is viewed in a negative light. The main focus of his article is not so much the change that is being presented but society being more concerned about political correctness then allowing the students to have access to an unbiased total view of the material that will better inform and challenge them.
His arguments are based on more of an opinion and observation then scientific fact or measurable data therefore it is hard to back up his claims he is presenting. The writer can better back up his claims based upon studies that have already been preformed in the field of psychology. Since he discusses “material that will better inform and challenge them” then he can focus on the field of cognitive psychology due to its field of study in the higher mentality processes of the human condition and how denying all opportunities can affect a human being and their behavior in the future.
The writer needs to understand, though, that there is always going to be a skewed perspective or biased view in any material written. In high school we did a project where the class was given ten factual bits of information and were told to write a summarization including all those facts. Each of our reports written were different from one another due to social conditions and our life's experiences guiding us on how we presented the facts. What he considers bias is not the same to others whereas what he views the truth may not be the same for others.
I agree overall with the tone of the article but not the facts or perspective that was presented by the writer. Also I am understanding as well that there is so much out there that is of historical significance I know we cannot expect our children to learn and understand every aspect and that some items need to be left out if viewed as of least importance. If they are of importance to you and those are your children then it should be up to you, not a text book or an educator to present those views or historical events and values to your child.
This article was written by an unknown author. Due to the authors anonymity, I am unable to verify their credentials. The article, though, is posted on the statesman.com therefore the individual must have a background that justifies his presence on the website. Why? Readers place trust in their media companies to keep them properly informed. If media companies are found to dispel facts or information that are incorrect, it would cause their readers to lose trust and faith in their reporting resulting in a loss of readership. It is also viewed as a civic responsibility of the media companies to properly inform their readers of current and political events, a distinguish many companies strive for.
I feel that the writers anonymity is a bit of an issue. One of the reasons why to write an opinionated article versus a straight factual article is that you do not have to be biased but are there to present and persuade a reader to your viewpoint you are presenting. Displaying your name and being proud of your work displays strength which translate into leadership to the casual reader which helps to gain their trust and to have them view more favorably your argument and maybe even have them believe in the same view point you are presenting.
The article deals with the topic of Texas recently passing motions to limit the references to Islam in textbooks. The author has aimed the article so this event is viewed in a negative light. The main focus of his article is not so much the change that is being presented but society being more concerned about political correctness then allowing the students to have access to an unbiased total view of the material that will better inform and challenge them.
His arguments are based on more of an opinion and observation then scientific fact or measurable data therefore it is hard to back up his claims he is presenting. The writer can better back up his claims based upon studies that have already been preformed in the field of psychology. Since he discusses “material that will better inform and challenge them” then he can focus on the field of cognitive psychology due to its field of study in the higher mentality processes of the human condition and how denying all opportunities can affect a human being and their behavior in the future.
The writer needs to understand, though, that there is always going to be a skewed perspective or biased view in any material written. In high school we did a project where the class was given ten factual bits of information and were told to write a summarization including all those facts. Each of our reports written were different from one another due to social conditions and our life's experiences guiding us on how we presented the facts. What he considers bias is not the same to others whereas what he views the truth may not be the same for others.
I agree overall with the tone of the article but not the facts or perspective that was presented by the writer. Also I am understanding as well that there is so much out there that is of historical significance I know we cannot expect our children to learn and understand every aspect and that some items need to be left out if viewed as of least importance. If they are of importance to you and those are your children then it should be up to you, not a text book or an educator to present those views or historical events and values to your child.
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