Blog Stage 4: (better late than never)

In my attempt to get all my work submitted before this evening's deadline I came across this Texas Tribune post. As mentioned, the first identified case of Zika was found in the Rio Grande Valley on a women who tested positive for the virus; making Texas the first to see this locally transmitted disease. It seems like the recent topics mentioned on Texas Tribune about the Rio Grande Valley are just unpleasant. Zina is serious virus that can be spread onto the fetus if the mother is bit which in turn could cause the child to be born with severe brain malformations. This post portrays the danger that comes with those small, evil, blood sucking animals we call mosquitoes. A brief history on Zika: the name is derived from Uganda where it was first discovered in 1947. The symptoms are mild if any, but a few mentioned on this post were inducing fever, itchy rash, joint pain, and eye redness. It is primarily spread by female mosquitoes which sole purpose is to ruin the lives of babies and beautiful pregnant mothers in order to reproduce. The Centers of Disease Control have strongly urged all pregnant mothers to stay out of Brownsville Texas as they have now confirmed over 200 cases which 5 have been linked with birth defects. Although Zika shouldn't be taken lightly, there still isn't enough evidence of widespread complications. However, CDC is still encouraging mothers to frequently get tested to prevent the disease from spreading. Zika is linked to a recent death of a baby girl in Houston Texas whose mother traveled from Latin America.

Blog Stage 8: Comment on a colleague’s work #2

I'm writing in response to my colleague Nahely Garcia's story  25 Years Later, Still No Clear Answers in the Yogurt Shop Murders Case. Being since i'm not from Austin, I had never heard of this case. Sometimes we get so caught up in our daily rituals that you tend to escape the harsh misfortunes of reality. Listening or reading to stories such as this one slow me down in terms of just making me take a breath and appreciate life. Nice job Nahely!

Blog Stage 7

In this article found on Texas Tribune South Texas parents share their frustrations on the lack of financial and educational support they receive from school districts with their special needs children. As of this year Texas has one of the lowest education rates (8.1 out of the 8.6 standard) I found this particular article interesting since I am from the Rio Grande Valley as well. The article mentioned that one of the advocating parents had to go to the private school in which her son was enrolled in three times a day to change his diaper, *clears throat* THREE TIMES A DAY. Come on guys. That is insane. If I enrolled my dog into a private doggy school and I had to leave work to go walk him three times a day because the staff wasn't properly trained to take care of that for me, I would be infuriated!! Now speaking in terms of finances, some parents raved about how this specific program isn’t receiving enough financial support because the district is distributing it to different areas in the budget. The article didn’t explain why they were convinced of this, but this could probably explain why Texas can justify for having $60 million high school football stadiums. Another problem area i’d like to touch base on is the fact that one parent who attended the meeting shared the difficulty in expressing her whole thoughts since there was a language barrier and the district would not invest money in having a professional translator. I feel that is a primary example of why Spanish speaking parents don’t get too involved with their children’s academics  in the first place.  

Stage Six: Comment on a colleague’s work #1

I'm replying to my colleague Siavash aka texnnews work on Austin's Metro System. First things first, great job explaining the frustrations of having to commute around Austin on the Metro. I've been there. When I first moved to Austin 2 years ago and let me tell you..it was a mess. I would run to the bus stop which was like a 7 minute RUN right after class only to be on the metro for TWO HOURS and then run for another 10 minutes so I can stumble into work on time. It's no surprise to me that Austin is considered to be the 4th congested city and rated 10th worst traffic in the U.S.

Blog Stage 5

This Texas Tribune article discussed the growing program being offered to Texas women prisoners that will provide them an opportunity to manage real life scenarios that they could face when they are finally released from prison. Previously, the inmates were only provided a program which educated them on substance abuse. More inmates are expected to be added into the program if the parole votes in their favor. This fairly new program offers the women knowledge on finding a job, being responsible for their household, finding a household, filling out applications, managing expenses, and coping with anger.  Completion of this program would not only educate the inmates, but it would also create a great opportunity to decrease the sentenced time for some. Most imprisoned women have spent most of their lives in a cell for acts they committed when they were younger thus they were never able to do things that normal women would be able to do. Although the women performed terrible acts to get them in prison in the first place, several years of prison life and with the help of this program allowed them to see the light in a dark tunnel. The women mentioned in this article admitted to looking forward to the normalcy of living life outside a cell, holding their grandchildren; anything but the prison life. As mentioned in the article, these women will be our neighbors so providing them with some sort of knowledge on how to become a better civilian will benefit them and people around them.

Dual Credit in Texas

This Texas Tribune article provides information on the academic development in Texas. Dual credit: a chance to prepare students for a competitive world is written by Texas higher education commissioner, Raymond Paredes. A brief introduction to Texas Higher Education commissioner which was found on THECB. Dr. Paredes is a member of the national board of directors for Big Brothers Big Sisters; was appointed to the Education Commission of the States by Governor Rick Perry; he served as a trustee of The College Board and Mercy College of New York, and was a member of the Board of Directors of the Texas Cultural Trust. In 2007, he was named one of Hispanic Business Magazine's 100 Most Influential Hispanics.

As of Fall 2015, Dual credit courses are now available to freshmen and sophomore students in high school. Texas has seen a rapid increase in participation from students, specifically those with a lower socioeconomic status. Parades does a well job at justifying his argument to the general population when explaining the positive impact dual credit courses have on students, "Statewide, 3.6 percent of high school graduates who took dual credit earned an associate degree and 1.8 percent earned a certificate by the time they graduated in 2015. Dual-credit students who enrolled at public four-year universities had higher completion rates than the overall population of first-time, four-year enrollees." I agree with Paredes as he stresses the importance of preparing our students to do well in these college level courses beginning from K-12 students. In another one of his factorial arguments, Parades mentions how there was an increase in students who attempted the ACT, SAT, and PSAT, but only approximately 30% of students did well on all three. As Paredes would say, this is definitely an area of opportunity if we want to increase the amount of money invested into higher education. 

APD enforces hands-free driving ordinance

The city of Austin plans to enforce traffic laws by ensuring that individuals refrain from using their cellular devices while driving a motorized vehicle. The Daily Texan mentions insight from local police officers and a local citizen as well which allows us to have an insight from both sides of the spectrum. APD wants to make it clear to the public that they mean business when it comes to traffic laws. First time offenders have the opportunity to reduce their fine amount if they purchase a Bluetooth device. Also they could have the ticket removed from their record if the offender refrains from receiving a second violation in the three months after they received their first. This article is neat because the millennial's aren't the population that are largely at fault. On the other hand we must abide by the traffic laws to ensure the safety of ourselves and others.

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