Bipolar Commentary

According to a The Daily Texan article, Forbes magazine had recently ranked Austin as one of the fastest growing city in the whole entire U.S. for the second time in a row.  Our rising population is predicted to attract more people and small business due to our low tax and low regulations.  But expert say that Austin would face new challenges and opportunities due to the increase of urban environment

I love the idea that Austin is growing, with new business that are coming to here. I do hope that it’s going to be more than just small businesses that are going to open in Austin. If a big corporation land their Headquarters in Austin, that means more jobs and possible tax money for the state of Texas. The thing I don’t like about the idea that Austin is growing too fast to accommodate. One of the things Austin is needs find a solution to our traffic jams. Like my previous arguments in my last couple of blogs, we need a train that connects downtown to break up the clutter. On top of that we are also at the beginning of a possible 10 year drought. What if Austin does run out of water or resources and can’t sustain a growing population? Austin might have to import it from somewhere else, thus costing the city a lot of money. We are already have -20 Billion in our biannual income, this could tack on more stress on our budget.  In the end I’m not sure how to feel about this the idea that Austin is expand. It great that Austin is growing, I just don’t like the negative effect that could happen. Then again, who knows what could happen within the next 10+ years. The concern of traffic jams could be solved by then and that we found better ways to save water so we could sustain a bigger population. 

I agree with Mr. Lee Mitchell's commentary on the legal age for consumption of alcohol. Why is it that a person can sign his life away to government but he can’t drink? I’ve heard that military bases allow underage people to drink, but that’s not something that I can confirm. Just like Mr. Lee I am a firm believer that a young adult of the age of 18 would have a cognitive mind to make his or her own decision.

If tomorrow I became the person in charge of the making the decision to legalize alcohol to 18 year olds; I would say yes, but under one condition. I will only allow young adults the age of 18 in college to consume alcohol and not high school seniors. Why? Because I feel that high school senior are too irresponsible to have the privilege to buy alcohol. There is definitely a maturity gap between a high school 18 year old and a college one. I also feel that if a high school student can buy alcohol, he/she could provide a bridge for underclassmen to get their hands on alcohol. In the end could possibility lead to more social problems that teens already have. The reason why I would agree to lower the drinking age is because it could provide a source of income for our economy. Let’s be honest here, underage college student drink alcohol. They are going to get their hands on it just by going to parties and what not. So there is no point in limiting them from buying and consuming alcohol.  Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and I agree with Mr. Mitchell’s argument that a young adult at the age of 18 can make his/her own decision. 

I just read an article on The Daily Texan talking about a possible vote on a new urban railroad line that will connect with MetroRail. As of right now the proposal is that the railroad would connect with UT’s West Campus, UT, and downtown (on routes San Jacinto Boulevard and Lavaca Street). The problem with is, city council hasn’t really decided on it. They planned to vote on this proposal the coming fall.

                I really hope that City Council will go through with this, because it would really help downtown clutter. Another thing is that it will also provide UT students another form of transportation to school; we would hopefully see fewer cars on the road at 7-9am in the morning. Not to mention that it is also a cheaper way to travel, as of right now gas prices are on the rise. For me it cost about $50 dollars (sometimes more) to fill up every week, (if I was a UT student) but it I was riding the Metro I could definitely save a lot of money. The question is how much will I be saving? Well as of right now each month is about roughly $200 dollars for gas. MetrolRail rates are $64 for a 31 days pass, $32 for reduced price pas, and free for UT/ACC students. That’s 200 dollars I could possible save if I used the metro, even If I wasn’t a student that’s still $136 dollars in my pocket.

                I think that community could make use of the MetroRail, if they extended their hours during the weekends. The reason why I say this is because everyone parties during the weekends; some people don’t want to drive downtown because it hard to find a good parking spot. The MetroRail could also be used as a tool to keep drunk drivers off the road during the closing hours of bars. Thus in the end would benefit the community in terms of safety, economy, and not to mention reducing CO2 emissions.   

I absolutely agree with Ms. Stephanie Thomas on the ideas of being selective about our crops in order to conserve water. At the moment we are at the beginning of a 10 year drought. The truth is Texas cannot keep up with our demands of water for our crops and green grass. This has me wondering if there is an alternative to our situation. An Example that Ms. Thomas used, a farmer was forced to water crops that wouldn’t grow just so he could get federal crop insurance. This farmer had spent $25,000 just to water his 175 acres on crops that couldn’t really benefit anyone.  This has me puzzled why the government is forcing commercials to water unsuccessful crops, because if you really look at it. It seems like what used to be a profitable field, had now become a money pit. I can see this problem growing more than just an agricultural watering problem but an economic problem as well. Business and corporations will definitely strafe away from Texas if we can’t stop wasting water because they will spend more money buying water, thus reducing their profits.

                I think handing out citations is a great start to make people more aware of Texas current water situation. A technique that telephone service provider use are caps, they put caps to limit a certain amount of traffic on their data service lines, and if one were to go over that cap then they are charged for overages. What if Texas started capping people for usage? Could this solve our water crisis? But then the idea of putting a cap on water seems wrong, because we would also be limiting on drinking able water. Like Ms. Thomas said, we are limited on time and we need to act fast.

Austin is going Green!

Recently Sol Design Lab founded by Beth Ferguson just installed a solar charging station in front of Perry-Castañeda Library or PCL for short. This charging station allows anyone to charge their electronic devices such as laptops, cellphones, scooters, ipods ...ect

I feel that in the next couple of years we will start to see these solar charging stations more frequently. These solar charging station outlets are alternatives to outlets that are powered by Nuclear Energy, Coals, and Petroleum.  It would really cool if someone could replace all of the outlets in our homes, schools, and work places to be powered by solar energy. If I am not mistaken, solar panels help reduce our utility bill but there is a downside. It cost a lot to install and make our current generation of solar panels. Another note is that the most efficient solar panel can only convert about 18% of the sun into usable energy. These charging stations would be ideal for an electric scooter, it makes sense to have these near libraries for scooter users for late night studying or just traveling in general. I think Ferguson is stepping in the right direction, but I don't think students are willing to stand there and wait for their ipods and laptops to be fully charged. 

A blogger that goes by the name "Off The Kuff" gives a brief opinion about Pink Slime. But mostly relays the reader to the original source. Basically what pink slime is bit and pieces of fatty scraps and connective tissues that was left over from the beef that was being processed. At first it was only first used in pet food or if it was rendered, it could of been used as cooking oil. In 2001, a South Dakota company (Beef Products) was approved to use these scraps as long as it was treated with ammonium hydroxide to stop the growth of pathogens. This later gives the mixture it's infamous name "Pink Slime" because of it gelatin-pink texture. The problem is that big fast food chains like McDonald's, Burger King, and Taco Bell are known to use Pink Slime; but it isn't just fast food chains. Pink Slime can also be found in the children's school lunches.

Off The Kuff did a great informing the reader about Pink Slime, he provided the original source and quoted important facts about Pink Slime. He even takes it a step further and started his own petition, so that the government can reconsider the removal of pink slime from children's school lunches. One like I like about Kuff is that he isn't an aggressive blogger. He states the problem and provides his own solution, he also doesn't enforce among his readers.

Improving Graduation Rates

In an Editorial written by The Daily Texan about improving graduation rates by 2016. The editor goes into detail how this would "create [a] positive change in students' lives." But the editor also reveals the bad side of the "Undergraduate Graduation Task Force" he or she said "...report dwells negatively on students who, for whatever reason, take longer than four years to graduate" the student will be penalty as an out of state student( paying out of state tuition). The editor then explains: it's because of the rise of tuition rates, work studies, study aboard, internship, and volume of require core classes...etc. Due to the increased tuition, some student might have to work during school to stay afloat.

I think this editor did awesome job to appeal to someone on the school board or to the student body. They presented factual information about the reasons why some students can't graduate on time. From my point of view i would agree with this person argument; inflation is rising, everything from food to gas cost more, and yet low paying wages are still the same. The average 4 year degree takes about 7 years now, that means if this was to go into effect. The people that took an extra 3 years would have to pay out of state tuition which would led to more delay of their bachelor degree. Thus will cause a viscous circle of prolong of a 4 year degree.