Friday, May 15, 2009

Should Texas State offer a tuition cap for higher education?

With the demand for higher education on the rise, so is that of the tuition fees for Texas Colleges and Universities. The May 1st posting of Menson's Revue shines light on this growing issue. Tuition is already high enough and has continued to rise over the years. Not everyone can afford the cost of secondary education often resulting in potential students to seek alternative means of financing. Students are for forced to work full time jobs during their tenure or even worse, mount up enormously large debt in the form of loans. The author of this article has exemplified these problems by relating their own financial situation and the burden it carries. I absolutely agree with their argument and more. Rising tuition has heavily placed a strain on families that struggle to cope with the already high costs, and in doing so raises a question of fairness across the board. Placing a cap on tuition would give families the opportunity to prepare for costs without having to worry whether it will be enough later on. This proposal can’t take away from the already high fees, but at least it would place a limit and give a majority of Texas families some much needed breathing room.

Monday, May 4, 2009

State Senate backs off on ultrasound

Abortion is a sensitive issue for most people. Pro life or Pro choice, there are many arguments to be made for either side. Republican Senator Dan Patrick has taken this argument a step further by introducing a bill to the Texas Senate that would force women seeking abortion to view an ultrasound before doing so. According to the article in the May 1st edition of the Statesman, there has been a major alteration. Fortunately, Senator Patrick has made a change to his own bill by making this requirement still mandatory, but giving women the option to decline. This is nothing more than an attempt for Pro life advocates to gain control over the situation by forcing guilt or remorse upon women in hopes of changing their mind. Such a bill would only add further stress and could lead to further complications; something that wouldn’t be healthy for mother or child. I personally believe in the right to choose, but would never consider doing so myself and in choosing so, have no reason to force by beliefs upon someone else. As such, Patrick and other politicians have no business in forcing their beliefs in the form of a law. We love to preach freedom, but when it comes to such a controversial topic, are those rights really protected? Instead we are forced to rely on the interpretation of heavily persuaded politicians to make decisions for us with the intention of protecting us from ourselves. When considering this difficult decision by potential mothers, it should be left to those parties involved and no others. Despite the major amendment to the proposed bill, I hope it doesn’t make it though the House as it did the Senate.