Education Reform

I enjoyed the blog post "Texas Education, Part Two," from the blog "Red State, Blue City." My classmate wrote this blog on a topic similar to my last blog posting, but went on to elaborate on suggestions as to how to fix this problem.

I definitely agree with my classmates opinion that the effects of not making education a priority are far worse than the thought of the suggestions stated. If we continue to let the education system of Texas decline, as the blogger stated, we will be up for far less opportunities in cutting edge fields. No one wants to do business with a bunch of idiots, and no one wants to go to college in a state where people are known to be idiots.

I mostly appreciated my classmates list of suggestions, and whether or not I agree with all of them, something has to be done to improve this education system. At the top of the list was gambling. Many people look down on gambling and feel it brings a sort of "trashiness," to an area, but realistically, and as bad as it sounds, uneducated people also bring that to an area. Gambling can bring a huge amount of money to an area and although I cringe at the idea of casinos popping up everywhere, if that is what would help our education system I am all for it. My classmate also mentioned cutting funds for "Public Officials," which I think everyone would agree with since the exposing of the massive amounts of funds used on executives during the bailout a couple years ago. Parent funded preschool is also an excellent idea, as preschool is optional and I don't feel should be publicly funded.

My classmate did an excellent job making suggestions on how to improve this education crises and highlighted the consequences of failing to do so nicely.

Say Yes to Vaccines

I enjoyed reading the post "Trading Freedom for Security?" from the blog "The Blue Bonnet Opinion." I myself was just reminded of the mandatory vaccine I have yet to receive when I logged onto the ACC website today.

Having grown up in a household that has always been very careful about the contents of medicines and vaccines for religious reasons I can definitely relate to where my classmate is coming from. However from my own research when this law was first passed, I discovered it is not exactly mandatory. While I plan to get the vaccine and not exempt myself for these reasons, the law has provided exemptions for students that have a medical or religious reason for declining the vaccine.

The vaccine debate is definitely a double edged sword. As my classmate stated, it seems that our personal freedoms are being taken away by making something "mandatory." However, you have the consider the fact that it is a CHOICE to attend college, and with any choice, you have to weigh the requirements. For example, maybe I want to accept a promotion at work, but that promotion makes it mandatory that I work 12 hours per day and miss time with my family. No one is forcing me to take the promotion, and if I do, I understand that those are the expectations.

Similarly, I disagree with my classmate and feel that not only has the law provided a way out in cases of religion or health, but you simply don't have to attend college in Texas, it is a personal choice. I feel this law is quite different than the executive order for the HPV shot that was mandated. Many if not all of the diseases that we are required to be vaccinated for are communicable, and can be transmitted very easily, infecting the population. You can't sneeze and give someone HPV. Forcing a Guardasil shot may or may not be a violation of personal freedoms, but this is not, lawmakers simply have to consider how this affects the general population. I appreciate my classmates statistics, and she makes a valid point that at this time Meningitis has not been a huge problem. Unfortunately, it doesn't take long for a disease to become an epidemic and I feel that rather than controlling citizens as she suggested, lawmakers are simply trying to protect the population.