Fighting Drugs

While surfing the internet I found an article on statesman website about how to fight drug cartels in Mexico and Texas. The author Mckenzie, is an Austin-based journalist from New Zealand with an interest in drugs and border issues. Mckenzie begins his article talking about the interview that he had with the US ambassador to Mexico when Carlos Pascual the ambassador came to Austin. What have caught my attention in this article is this interview. Mckenzie says that while interviewing Pascual he asked him the following: how serious are the Obama’s and Calderon administration in fighting drugs? Pascual gave a weak response when he said that his administration are serious and are going to stop all this drug distribution along the border.
Mexico has serious problems because 28,000 people have lost their lives. they need to find a solution as soon as possible. Mckenzie also says that the drug violence is escalating because of the increasing pressures on the drug market. The cartels have taken over Mexico and soon will try to dominate states closest to the border of Mexico. This line shocks me because we are four hours in away from Mexico and it makes me wonder how long are we are going to be safe? Mckenzie ends this article with interesting thought, he says that the Obama and Calderon administration can choose to continue their militaristic approach against drugs , but that it will mean more deaths in the near future. I think that both administrations ought to do something and fast, because we can soon can have similar violence in Texas.

Cutting down The Education Budgeting

While reading my classmates’ blogs, I found one that caught my attention. The blog is by Rebecca Isla, and it talks about the possible budget cut in education in future years. What first caught my attention is the way she explained and gave some background about the Texas economy. She says,“ A possible $18 billion cut is what Texas is facing... the reality is that they are going to cut the budget in some departments like education.” Rebecca also says that it would affect teachers in the state of Texas, and some professor would be laid off or would be given 40 kids to teach. I found this idea very important because I know that with 40 kids in one classroom it would be impossible to give individual attention. It can also create great problems.
　
Rebecca also talks about teachers not getting enough technology in the classroom to teach kids effectively and that this is a big concern for citizens. I concur with this idea because I know that technology has become a big part of our lives nowadays and if we don’t teach our kids to use it, that can stop them from success in their future. Rebecca makes a great argument about why the Texas government should not cut the education budget.

Adjusting Grades for Failing Students

While reading the Dallas news, one article caught my attention. This article talks about  Irvin  school district changing their grading system to help students pass their classes. What makes me  most concerned about this issue is that the Irving distric school has decided to eliminate homework for high school students. Grades will be only be focused on exams, essays and projects, homework will not be count.  State senate representative Jane Nelson had an opinion about this issue she said that a student generally learns by doing homework, and if the school district has not decided to count it, Nelson is not surprised that the students grades are not good.

I think that a student should be given a grade based on their homework because in this way the professor can see where the students have difficulty. Homework has been the most important part of my education path. I know right know that this is because I did what I was supposed to do. What also concerns is that teachers are forced to give students who did not pass exams or were caught cheating a second chance of retaking the exam.  What worried me was that students caught cheating were given a second chance. A student who has disrespected the system should not get a second opportunity.  In my opinion government should focus a little bit more on education.  State Government should have a sayin on Texas education and also about the grading system and requirements for a student to be pass their courses.