First Look: College Station City Council Candidate Arthur Pinto

Arthur Pinto says that the reason he is running for College Station City Council is sot hat he can “work to reengage the City Government to focus on providing quality core services essential to the safety and well being of its citizens.” According to his campaign web site he “will lead by example by both listening to and respecting our citizens, rather then acting as a member of a privileged ruling class.” Pinto is a candidate for City Council Place 3, but was born far away from Aggieland.

Originally from Lisbon, Portugal Pinto has lived for most of his life in the United States, after serving three and a half years in the Portuguese Military which included a two year deployment in West Africa as head of transportation, facilities and all infrastructure associated with the deployment. After moving to the United States, he worked for Phelps Dodge Industries in New Jersey while taking night classes to pursue an engineering degree. Pinto earned a bachelors degree in Mechanic Engineering from New Jersey Science & Technology University (NJIT) and a masters in Applied Science from Middlesex College in New Jersey. Since moving to College Station, Pinto has been very involved in the community. In 2010 he graduated from College Station Citizens University, and that same year completed College Station Citizens Police Academy. He is currently attending College Station Citizens Fire Academy, and was recently appointed to College Station Construction Board of Adjustments and Appeals.

Among the three candidates to sing the “Pledge,” Pinto is in disagreement with the current College Station on several issues. According to Matthew Watkins blog Off the Agenda, Pinto believes that “spending continues to be approved for projects that in difficult times should be tabled” and that he senses “a certain degree of arrogance from some members towards their colleagues and to the public in areas and issues that do not conform with their ideology.” Pinto’s campaign web site list several things that would like to focus on if election. These include a “focus in improving core services, the primary function of City Government, to provide a safe community with good quality of life” and “evaluate each and every issue on its merits, but let the thought process be guided by my conservative values.”

The Unfinished Global Revolution

Mark Malloch Brown, ex-Deputy Secretary-General of the UN, forecasts the way forward in global politics.

Local News: College Station School District Struggle With Budget Cuts

CS School District to Outline Budget
By Cassie Smith

From the Bryan-College Station Eagle

Bryan and College Station school-district administrators are struggling to deal with the expected consequences of state budget cuts to public education, without resorting to some of the drastic measures being taken by other Texas districts, such as widespread employee layoffs.

Tonight at 7 p.m., College Station ISD officials will conduct a forum to outline for the public the choices the district will face and the potential impact on students and employees. Parents and the general public are encouraged to attend.

College Station is considering a reduction of at least $4.5 million to its budget, while the Bryan school board is looking to cut at least $4 million from its budget over the next two years.

However, administrators for both districts have acknowledged that those amounts could rise or fall depending on the direction the state takes in handling its revenue shortfall.

And final decisions may not come until June, putting the districts in a time squeeze for the upcoming school year.

Both districts also have been making budget reductions over the past few years to prepare for looming state cuts.

Superintendents Mike Cargill of Bryan ISD and Eddie Coulson of the College Station district agree that part of the difficulty in the process is that the state's budget won't be finalized until mid-May, unless the Legislature goes into special session, which could push a budget back until July. School districts, meanwhile, have to adopt budgets by the end of August.

Cargill said there are some school districts that are "driving the bus off the cliff" in terms of budget reductions.

There are many districts, he noted, that are laying off first-year teachers only -- a "really terrible" strategy because it hurts the future of education by eliminating the younger, enthusiastic applicants.

"I think there are some districts that are overreacting," he said. "But at the same time, they wouldn't be doing that if the state wasn't making the cuts they are."

Both local districts are hoping to prevent layoffs through attrition.

College Station's 2010-2011 maintenance and operations budget is $74.5 million, of which 82 percent goes toward salaries and benefits for its more than 1,500 employees. In Bryan, 75 percent of the budget is for salaries and benefits.

A big question for both districts is whether to raise taxes to offset state reductions of public-education funding, which statewide could amount to more than $9 billion.

Amy Drozd, Bryan's chief financial officer, said the district's planners haven't discussed the possibility of a tax increase with the school board because at present they are not expecting a tax hike will be necessary.

"If they do hit us hard, we may be forced too," she said of the Legislature. "But we need to see what they're going to do first."

College Station, meanwhile, expected to raise taxes before the state budget crisis, Coulson said.

Since 2005, the district had planned to implement at tax increase for the opening of College Station's second high school, Coulson said. Currently, the district's tax rate is $1 per $100 evaluation. State law allows school districts to raise taxes to $1.04 without getting voter approval. The district is one of a handful in the state to have a tax rate below $1.04. Each penny raised brings the district about $570,000 in additional revenue.

"The questions is, will that four pennies need to be used this year, next year, or the following year? I don't know the answer to that just yet," he said.

The district also is considering cutting its costs by reducing the number of custodians, grounds and maintenance crews, special education and central office personnel, technology integration specialists, elementary and intermediate specialists, nurses, and librarians.

Air conditioners will also be utilized more efficiently, advertising will be sold on school buses and the district's website, a new schedule of school start-times will be implemented to streamline bus routes and some extracurricular activities will be reduced.

"I remain hopeful though that the state will meet the challenge in terms of being able to fund the school districts," Coulson said. "I think to pin the issue on school districts is wrong. College Station ISD will step to the plate and do whatever we need to do."

The Bryan district has implemented budget reductions over the past three years, cutting about $3.4 million in the 2009-2010 school year, another $2.6 million in the 2008-2009 school year and more than $1.4 million in the 2007-2008 school year.

Cargill said the cuts have been made with an eye toward keeping existing programs intact and retaining all employees who want to keep their jobs.

Published on Thursday, March 31, 2011

This Week on Biased Transmission

Tonight on Biased Transmission the studio guests are the founders of New Republic Brewing, a independent local brewing company.

Listen to Biased Transmission every Wednesday from 6-7pm on the Brazos Valley’s only community radio station, 89.1FM KEOS. Tune in to hear Teddy, Michael, Danny, and Sam discuss the issues and interview guest. Every week Biased Transmission discusses dangerous ideas for dangerous times.

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First Look: College Station City Council Candidate Karl Mooney

“An educator, university administrator, former police officer and businessman with experience as a past chair of the College Station Planning & Zoning Commission, and national organization leadership” is how Karl Mooney describes himself on his campaign web site. Mooney is a candidate for College Station City Council Place 3, and is among the candidates that are employed at Texas A&M University.

Originally from Point Pleasant, New Jersey, Mooney earned his bachelors degree in English Education from Trenton State College, his masters degree in Urban Education from Jersey City State College, and later a doctorate in Reading and Education from Lehigh University. Currently he directs the academic advising efforts for the General Academic Programs and, specifically, all General Studies majors at Texas A&M University as the Director of Academic Advising. Mooney has experience in local government as s member and chair of the College Station Planning and Zoning Commission. In the community he is a member of a homeowner's association executive board, attends Grace Bible Church in College Station.

According to his campaign web site, Mooney believes that College Station as a community has yet to achieve its potential, and “that progress would require careful study, hard work, diligent listening, perseverance, sacrifice and the full range of emotions brought about by compromise, failure and success.” Mooney’s opponent is among the three candidates to sign the “Pledge,” and when asked in a recent article in the Bryan-College Station Eagle about the candidates who signed the Pledge Mooney said that “I really can't address whether a coalition is the right thing or not. I know for myself that I believe folks who would support my candidacy would believe that I would act independently. And that is really the avenue I am going to pursue." On his campaign web site Mooney pledged to respond to community saying, “I will study, listen to all sides of issues, and always respond in a manner that best serves the needs of our city.”

Slavoj Zizek in Examined Life

Local News: Lick Creek Park Nature Center Funding in Question

Nature Center Deal in Danger
By Matthew Watkins

From the Bryan-College Station Eagle

The future is uncertain for a proposed nature center at College Station's Lick Creek Park as budget concerns may delay or even eliminate the project.

That disturbs some regular visitors to the park, who say the project would be a valuable learning tool and could draw visitors to the area.

College Station voters overwhelmingly approved a 2008 bond package that included $2.495 million for the nature center. The city anticipated beginning the planning stages of the project this year, with expected completion in 2013. But last month, the City Council voted by a 4-3 margin against a resolution declaring the city's intent to spend the bond money on the center -- leaving its future in doubt.

Mayor Nancy Berry first proposed delaying the project, though she said she supports it in the long-term. The economy has turned sour since voters approved the bond, she said, and the financially prudent thing would be to wait for a recovery before spending the money.

"At some point in the future it is going to be a wonderful addition to the city," she said. "I just don't feel that we can afford to invest in anything else that is going to create an additional cost to the taxpayers. I think of it as a want, but not as a need."

The nature center's supporters, however, say now is the ideal time to build because construction costs are low.

"The bond has been sold and the money is available," said former Mayor Gary Halter, a political science professor at Texas A&M. "You can't spend it for anything else."

Lick Creek Park is more than 500 acres of mostly wooded area in South College Station. It has long dirt paths with plaques providing information about the local trees and animals that inhabit the area. It's a popular place for bike riders, dog walkers and families wanting to learn about nature.

College Station Public Works Director Chuck Gilman said it's too early to know what the nature center would look like. The bond passed in 2008 didn't provide specifics. City officials planned to convene an advisory committee to help plan the center, but that process was halted by last month's vote.

Members of the nonprofit Friends of Lick Creek Park said they foresee an educational center where Boy Scout troops and school classes could learn about the environment.

Texas A&M biology professor Alan Pepper said similar centers are popular in Cibolo and Austin's Zilker Park but that the Brazos Valley is a "black hole" for such facilities. Lick Creek Park, he said, would be the perfect place to solve that problem.

He said he has taken his two sons there since they were infants. Now they are 7 and 12 and explore the woods, search for animals and learn about the fauna and flora.

"You will see every kind of living creature that you can imagine there," Pepper said. "It's like a Garden of Eden. It's like being in another world -- and it's only five minutes from your house."

Published on Tuesday, March 29, 2011

The War About the War on Higher Education

Texas Monthly executive editor Paul Burka recently wrote a piece about Texas Republican Governor Rick Perry’s war on higher education. As Burka sees it, and as I see it by the way, this is an ideological war driven by the Texas Public Policy Foundation, an Austin-based conservative think tank. In order to fight this war, Perry has stacked the Board of Regents of Texas A&M and the University of Texas with allies and campaign contributors that will align themselves with Perry’s agenda for higher education in Texas. What is Perry’s agenda?

“Some of the reforms that Perry is pushing date back to a May 2008 higher education summit hosted by the TPPF. The governor was in attendance, as were 45 regents from various state colleges and universities. What emerged from this conference were seven proposals—“breakthrough solutions,” as the TPPF put it—to change the way the state’s colleges and universities are governed. At issue is the old bogeyman of fiscal conservatism: inefficient public employees wasting the taxpayers’ money. As Jeff Sandefer, a TPPF board member who advises Perry on education policy, wrote in a paper published two years ago on the TPPF’s website, “It’s time for the Texas Legislature to stop writing ‘blank checks’ to our state colleges and universities for tenured faculty members to spend as they please.” His evaluation of the work faculty members do is “writing academic articles that few people read.”

It would come as news to many Texans that UT and A&M are in need of dramatic reforms. Both are members of the Association of American Universities (AAU), the nation’s most exclusive academic club, where membership is reserved for Tier One research institutions. In a recent U.S. News & World Report list of the best American universities, UT ranked forty-fifth (very high for a public university) and A&M sixty-third. If one applies the normal measures, these two schools rank among the best in the nation, public or private. But this has not slowed down the drive to implement reforms at A&M, nor will it save UT.

…

Another of the reforms is “split research and teaching budgets.” This may not seem like a big deal. The idea is simply to increase transparency and accountability by emphasizing teaching and research as separate efforts in higher education. But many observers, myself included, suspect that the real agenda is ultimately to curtail the role of research in higher education. Why? Because it costs money. Sandefer has written that academic research consumes two thirds of every dollar spent in American universities. Once the public sees how much more money is spent on research than on teaching, it will demand that spending on research be cut. This is why, to the UT brass, splitting budgets amounts to a frontal attack on the classic model of a research university. “Teaching and research are inextricably linked,” UT president Bill Powers told me. “Splitting the research and teaching budgets devalues the synergy between two essential components that are the essence of a world-class institution.” Like all the TPPF recommendations, the objective is not to improve the academy but to diminish public support for it in its current form.

The seventh “breakthrough solution” is to change the way Texas colleges receive accreditation. The TPPF wants to bypass the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, one of the six regional accreditation organizations recognized by the United States Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. Rather than use this prestigious body, the proposal calls for Texas to establish its own standards. The current process, which is “input based,” should be discarded in favor of a new “results-based” model. What does this mean? It means that in the name of reform, Texas colleges and universities could be in danger of losing their hard-won reputations. It may already be happening. Last fall the president of the AAU sent a letter to A&M chancellor Mike McKinney urging him to resist the “ill-conceived” reforms. McKinney, an old Perry ally, reportedly threw it in the trash.”

Conservative Dallas Morning News columnist and fellow at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, William Murchison, took exception to Burka’s view of Governor Perry and the TPPF’s so-called reforms. In a column at Dallas Blog, argues that reforms are needed in higher education because the research that takes place at these universities have caused the increase in college tuition, and that reforms can improve the quality and availability of higher education for Texans.

“The well-groomed, well-educated folk who run modern universities grow testy when told certain things they do might be done better. The Governor has them in this mood, with – in Burka’s words – his “ideological blueprint for how the state’s universities should be governed.” That’s to say, with an eye open for ways of broadening the present high-cost mission.

The anointed bogeyman for the Longhorn defense is the Texas Public Policy Foundation, which, as the state’s leading, free market-oriented state policy think tank, has been vetting new ideas about higher education reform. I blush to acknowledge myself as a senior fellow of this estimable outfit. Lest I seem to be shilling for TPPF, I will confine myself to general remarks about higher education and the role of the college teacher. I do think, as it happens, that TPPF is asking the right questions: mainly, are there better ways our two “flagship universities,” Texas A&M being the other one, can do their jobs better? (For really, truly full disclosure I confess that a direct forbear was A&M’s first president.)

All right, then: the question of cost. UT tuition costs a comparative bundle these days – something like 10 grand a year for residents. I hate to reveal what it was a half century ago – to wit, $50 a semester, plus $40-odd for the “blanket tax” that covered campus events and Daily Texan subscription. Ah, but what about inflation? I checked that. The $50 that tuition cost back then equates to $380.26 today. That leaves $9,619.74 to explain in increased costs. Better teachers today? I wouldn’t be so sure of that. No one living could excel Dr. Thomas Mabry Cranfill as expositor – not to mention actor – of Shakespeare. Walter Prescott Webb was still on the faculty then, even if starting to fade. Frank Dobie had lately retired from the English department. This was fairly high cotton for a state – as the Eastern press often portrayed us – full of cattle rustlers and oilmen encased in grease.

A lot of the increased cost today is due to UT’s function as a developer of ideas and new scientific understandings through, inter alia, big salaries and benefits for famous researchers. This is likely a good thing in terms of prestige and distinct contributions to American life. Yet research is hardly a self-justifying enterprise in an academic institution. The cultivating of young minds is the university’s larger function – the exposure of kids to ideas and, yes, hard, dull facts of the sort that get such a bad rap in modern times.”

Burka then responded to this critic on his blog at Texas Monthly:

“I would put it another way. The folk who run modern universities grow testy when politicians threaten to meddle with what they have achieved and attempt to impose ideological preference on their institutions. One of the most harmful of the reform proposals, all of which were developed by the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a conservative think tank, is to separate the teaching and research budgets. To do so is inconsistent with the mission of a modern university. It is a conservative mantra that money spent on research is often wasted. This is why I have described the attack on UT and A&M as ideologically motivated: because it is.

…

Yes, there are increased costs. And where did they come from? As public education and health care accounted for more and more of the state budget, the Texas Legislature could no longer afford to fund higher ed. In 2003, the Legislature allowed universities to set their own tuition rates. Governor Perry signed the bill. And now he complains that the cost of education is too high. That outcome became inevitable when he approved tuition deregulation.”

Is this really about instituting reforms that seek to add more transparency and prevent tax payer money from being wasted on unneeded research, or is this about turning the Texas flagship public universities into the University of Phoenix?

Texas Progressive Alliance - March 28, 2011

The Texas Progressive Alliance is ready for another sports-related tourist infusion as it brings you this week's bloog roundup.

If the goal of the 81st Texas Legislature and Governor Rick Perry is to stifle job creation in Texas for the next two years, then Off the Kuff says they're knocking it out of the park.

Letters From Texas rolls its collective eyes about the word games played by the Republicans in charge, as they announce their Senate subcommittee to find "non-tax revenue." Earth to Republicans: if we used to own it, but now the government owns it, it's a tax.

Musings looks ahead to 2021 onnecting the dots: Killing Education, Killing Unions, Funding the Tea Partiers [revised]. Give it a look. The videos are worth the price of admission by themselves!

WCNews at Eye On Williamson has this to say about the austerity budget that the House passed out of committee this week, House Appropriations passes budget - tea party blamed for cuts.

In the latest post regarding the poll he's conducting on the mortgage interest tax deduction, PDiddie at Brains and Eggs explains why he has never owned a home.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme warns that republicans are near their goal of killing public education for k-12 and at the university level.

Neil at Texas Liberal apologized for ever having voted for Houston City Councilmember C.O. Bradford for any public office. Neil feels that voting for Mr. Bradford was one of the worst ballot box mistakes he has ever made.

refinish69 is ever amazed by the stupidity of the Texas Ledge. It is the gift that keeps on giving. Case in point is Rep. David Simpson's Don't Touch My Junk Bill.

This week, McBlogger takes a look at what austerity will do to Texas.

Local News: Report Claims Texas A&M System Merger Would Save $1.7 Million

Report: A&M System Merger Will Save $1.7M
By Vimal Patel

From the Bryan-College Station Eagle

The A&M System's move to take over the administration of tens of millions of annual research dollars will save an estimated $1.7 million in annual personnel costs, according to a final report on the new model issued by the A&M System.

A consultant last month recommended that the A&M System combine into a central office the five local entities that provide research administration, the complex management of federal contracts and grants and the "overhead" money -- $53 million in fiscal year 2009 -- the government provides to Texas A&M.

Saving money and creating a more efficient system -- though even the consultant and A&M System leaders acknowledge the current system isn't broken -- have been the primary stated reasons for the move.

The savings estimate was arrived at by eliminating 28 full-time equivalent positions, at an average of $60,000 each, from the 218 that currently administer research administration across the five entities -- Texas A&M University, the nonprofit Research Foundation, the Health Science Center, and state agencies Texas Engineering Experiment Station and Texas AgriLife Research.

The savings estimate by the committee put together to implement a new Office of Sponsored Research Services was significantly lower than the estimate of the consultant, Virginia-based Schaefer & Co., which pegged the savings at between $4.5 million and $5 million for a full consolidation.

Jeffrey Seemann, who serves in the dual role of the A&M System's chief research officer and vice president for research for Texas A&M University, called the committee's savings estimate "conservative."

"We're moving very carefully here," he said of the work of the Research Administration Shared Services Development and Implementation Steering Committee. "We're trying to make sure we do no harm whatsoever to the existing research capabilities of our faculty."

He said that heads of the research administration entities have known for at least the last six months that a consolidation was happening, and had stopped refilling vacancies. Seemann said he's hopeful that approach "will help us in minimizing if not eliminating" the number of forced position reductions.

"We've all known that we just had to tough it out with fewer people," he said.

The transfer to the new office will unfold in two phases. Local entities that conduct research administration will move first. Then, later this year, an "Institution Integration Committee" will be formed to bring the A&M System's 10 other universities into the consolidated office.

Combining research administration has been sensitive and controversial, as many researchers were pleased with the ease and efficiency of the current dispersed system. A&M faculty -- as articulated in a 2007 letter from faculty group the Council of Principal Investigators to A&M System Chancellor Mike McKinney -- worried that the "indirect" research funds for overhead would be used for A&M System projects that wouldn't benefit Texas A&M University.

The federal government's contract with Texas A&M provides for up to 46.5 percent in indirect funds, meaning that for a $100,000 grant, the government in some cases is actually providing Texas A&M with $146,500. The additional money trickles down, as several groups take a percentage, including the vice president for research's office, the college, the department, and, finally, the researcher who wrote the grant.

Seemann said the A&M System will pass all indirect costs money back to the system institutions, and the only charges to system members will be for the cost of operating the Office of Sponsored Research Services.

Published on Sunday, March 27, 2011

Week in Headlines

Texas News
Report Finds Hundreds of Texas Youths in Adult Prisons

Texas Politics
Texas House Passes Bill Requiring Voters to Show ID at Polls

National News
States Weigh Reductions in Unemployment Benefits

International News
Egypt Constitutional Changes Pass in Referendum

War & Peace
NATO Helicopter Airstrike Kills Civilians in Afghanistan

Veterans Issues
Study Finds Miscommunication Hinders Veterans Care

Economics
Criminal Background Checks Upend Job Search For Some Unemployed

Poverty
Provision In House GOP Bill Would Cut Off Food Stamps Strikers

Education
Little-Known Colleges Exploit Visa Loopholes to Make Millions Off Foreign Students

Health Care
For People With Mental Health Issues, Care Is Often Elusive

Energy
Report on Oil Spill Pinpoints Failure of Blowout Preventer

Environment
Oil Spill in South Atlantic Threatens Endangered Penguins

Climate Change
Study Finds Climate Change Models Correct

Science & Technology
Humans Arrived in North America 2,500 Years Earlier Than Thought

Immigration
Border Battle Over Illegal Immigration Shifts to Beaches

Civil Rights
Appeals Court Revives Lawsuit Challenging NSA Surveillance of Americans

Labor Rights
Court Rules Wisconsin Union Law Should Be Considered By State Supreme Court

Women & Gender
Culture of Rape in United States Military

Reproductive Rights
Women Seeking Abortions in South Dakota to Get Anti-Abortion Advice

GLBT Issues
Countries Call for More Rights and Protections for LGBT People

From the Blogs
Burnt Orange Report:
Cost of Standardized Testing in Texas Increases Ten-Fold From 2000-2009

Eye on Williamson:
Education Cuts Becoming Reality in Williamson ISD’s

First Look: College Station City Council Candidate Shawn Rhodes

There are three candidates that have signed the so-called “Pledge to College Station,” and Shawn Rhodes is the candidate for College Station City Council Place 1 who has signed the pledge. Rhodes has not appeared on a ballot before, but served on different city boards in recent years, including the Planning and Zoning Commission and the Parks and Recreation Committee. Rhodes has lived in College Station for nearly 20 years and graduate from Texas A&M University in 1999; he currently works as the Director of Regulatory Affairs at KeyClaims.

According to Off the Agenda, a blog written by Matthew Watkins that covers the city government and politics for The Eagle, Rhodes is running for city council because he believes that he “can work with the members of council to help make our city a better place to live and work.” Rhodes also thinks that the “city compares favorably against most cities in Texas in a number of categories.” Rhodes goes on to say that College Station is an attractive city because of its “low crime rate, a fantastic fire department, and a nationally accredited parks and recreation department.”

When asked about the “Pledge” in a recent article in the Eagle, Rhodes said that "the concept is that there are a certain number of ideas that we agree on. We have every intention of running separate campaigns, but we would like it known that there are things we agree on in terms of issues in the city." Although, he did not agree with the criticisms that the “Pledge” interjects partisan politics into a non-partisan election, saying that "I understand that some people are going to say that, but if you spend some time looking at the pledge, nowhere does it say Republican, Democrat or Libertarian. I believe that it does mention conservative twice, but there are conservative Democrats and Republicans. I think that notion can transcend party lines."

Web Site: ShawnRhodes4CollegeStation.com
Facebook: Shawn Rhodes

Muhammad Yunus on Micro-Credit Financing for Beggars

Local News: Financial Institutions Reach Out to Low-Income Brazos Valley Residents

BV Poor Urged to Take It To the Bank
By Matthew Watkins

From the Bryan-College Station Eagle

Kay Parker has seen too many low-income people without a bank account.

The vice president of community impact for the United Way of the Brazos Valley oversees programs that offer free income tax filing and help people prepare long-term savings plans. Many of her customers rely on check cashing stores and payday loan services for their financial needs.

Parker said she recently worked with a woman who took out a $300 payday loan, couldn't immediately repay it and ended up owing $850 in interest and fees within four months.

"People work so hard for their money and they need to hang on to it," Parker said.

A group of local banks, nonprofit organizations and the cities of Bryan and College Station is trying to help them do that. On Thursday they will launch Bank on Brazos Valley, a collaborative effort to help low- and middle-income residents join banks.

The organizers estimate that about 3,000 households in the Brazos Valley -- most of them poor -- don't have a basic checking account. Instead, they keep cash stowed away, redeem paychecks at check cashing stores and rely on payday loans or vehicle title loans for big purchases.

Those practices can be costly. Texas is one of only six states that doesn't regulate payday loans, and annual interest rates can sometimes reach as high as 500 percent.

"What happens is they eat up their money and they pay fees to get access to their money and they can't build up wealth or get financial stability," said Ronnie Jackson, manager of Bryan's Neighborhood and Youth Services and project coordinator of Bank on Brazos Valley.

People who deal mostly with cash are also susceptible to theft or emergency. Jackson said he remembers working with Hurricane Katrina refugees who had benefit checks and paychecks mailed to their old abandoned homes and had no way to find and collect that money. If they had direct deposit set up with a bank, that wouldn't have been a problem, he said.

But, Parker said, many people are wary of big financial institutions or have had bad experiences with overdraft fees.

"A lot of people just have this image that banks are for people with money," she said.

Bank on Brazos Valley hopes to change their perceptions. The program has enlisted eight local banks and credit unions to offer accounts and other services targeted for low-income families. The accounts will have low minimum opening deposits and little or no monthly fees, organizers said.

The program will also provide money management courses designed to help people avoid overdraft fees, build credit and save for emergencies.

The project wont cost the cities any money. The $15,000 to $20,000 budget will be paid for by banks. Citi has already pledged a contribution and Jackson said he hopes that others will follow suit.

Don Burback, Citi's community development officer for South Texas, said his bank was drawn to the project because it will help meet regulatory obligations to serve the entire community and "it is the right thing to do."

"The draw over a long period of time is we are developing customers that are going to use loan products and investment products," he said.

Burback was also involved in creating the Bank on Houston project, which launched in 2008. In its first year, the participating banks opened over 40,000 new accounts, far higher than the 10,000 goal.

The goal for the Brazos Valley, Burback said, is to have all 3,000 "unbanked" households open an account.

For more information on the project and a list of participating banks, visit www.bankonbrazosvalley.com

Published on Thursday, March 24, 2011

Where the Council and Candidates Live

Where the College Station City Council Lives


View College Station City Council in a larger map

Where the College Station City Council Candidates Live


View College Station City Council Candidates in a larger map

This Week on Biased Transmission

Tonight on Biased Transmission the studio guest is Dr. Jennifer Ganz, Autism researcher and Associate Professor of Special Education in the Department of Educational Psychology at Texas A&M University; Lucinda Thelen, M.Ed. Lifeskills- Autism Teacher at A&M Consolidated High School, and Chris Thelen, who has Asperger's syndrome and works at the Brazos Valley Center For Independent Living in Bryan, TX.

Listen to Biased Transmission every Wednesday from 6-7pm on the Brazos Valley’s only community radio station, 89.1FM KEOS. Tune in to hear Teddy, Michael, Danny, and Sam discuss the issues and interview guest. Every week Biased Transmission discusses dangerous ideas for dangerous times.

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First Look: College Station City Council Candidate Blanche Brick

After spending a career studying and teaching history and American government Blanche Brick has spent the last year campaigning to take part in what she has studied and taught. In addition to being a candidate for College Station City Council Place 1 Dr. Brick was also a candidate in the Republican primary for Representative of District 14 in the Texas House of Representatives in 2010. Now, Dr. Brick has shifted her focus from the State House to City Hall.

Dr. Brick has lived in College Station since 1975, and has taught at Blinn College in Bryan since 1988 and is currently the Division Chair of Social Science. Her educational background includes earning her BA at Baylor University, a MA in Education at George Washington University, a MA in History at the University of Hawaii, and a Ph.D. at Texas A&M University. She has published articles on the history of education in American Educational History Journal, and has contributed opinion articles to the Bryan-College Station Eagle and The Dallas Morning News. Her involvement in the local community has included serving on the city sidewalk committee, organizing the Foxfire Annual Fourth of July Celebration, moderating the East Side Neighborhood Candidate Forums, and she is a member of A&M United Methodist Church.

According to Dr. Brick’s campaign announcement, she is running for City Council because “this is an exciting and challenging time for all of us who live in College Station, and I am asking the citizens to allow me to serve them on the City Council because I think it is ‘work worth doing.’ In my service on the City Council, I will work to bring the community together. She also outlined the issues that her platform will center around that include: core services that preserve the health and safety of this community; fiscal responsibility in the operation of city government; preservation of existing neighborhoods and business areas; planned and sustainable growth; support for education and the arts in the community; attracting and supporting businesses that contribute to the values of the community.

Web Site: BlancheBrick.com
Facebook Page: Blanche Brick for City Council

Sarah Kay: If I should have a daughter...

"If I should have a daughter, instead of Mom, she's gonna call me Point B ... " began spoken word poet Sarah Kay, in a talk that inspired two standing ovations at TED2011. She tells the story of her metamorphosis -- from a wide-eyed teenager soaking in verse at New York's Bowery Poetry Club to a teacher connecting kids with the power of self-expression through Project V.O.I.C.E. -- and gives two breathtaking performances of "B" and "Hiroshima."

Local News: Annexation Public Hearing Set for Tuesday in Wellborn

Annexation Public Hearing Set for Tuesday in Wellborn
Reporter: City of College Station

From KBTX Channel 3

The College Station City Council will conduct the first public hearing in the Wellborn annexation process on Tuesday at 6 p.m. at the Wellborn Community Center, which is located at 4119 Greens Prairie Rd. West.

City staff will present an overview of the annexation service plan, and individuals will have an opportunity to express their views regarding the service plan and the proposed annexation.

The city council directed staff to start the fact-finding process in November and the Planning and Zoning Commission recommended moving forward with the annexation process in December. The council has not made a final decision on the annexation, but is scheduled to consider the ordinance on April 14.

The city has met or exceeded all state requirements throughout the process, including the development of a fiscal impact analysis, which is not required by state law.

The second and final public hearing will be part of the regular council meeting on Thursday at 7 p.m. at city hall.

Published on Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Bryan and College Station Municipal Election Campaign Begins

Filing ended last week for candidates for the Bryan and College Station municipal elections and the Bryan ISD and College Station ISD school board elections. This year there are no contested elections for the Bryan City Council, but the College Station City Council election campaign is shaping up to be quite interesting.

In Bryan, council members Chuck Konderla of Single Member District 3 and Ann Horton of Single Member District 4 are running for reelection unopposed. In College Station, council member John Crompton in Place 1 is unable to run for reelection due to term limits, council member Dennis Maloney in Place 3 has opted not to run for reelection, and council member Jana McMillan has chosen not to run for a full term after serving the remainder of the late Larry Stewart’s term. Also in College Station, three city council members, Katy-Marie Lyles of Place 4, Dave Ruesink of Place 6, and Mayor Nancy Berry, are all facing a recall election.

Over the next two months of the campaign, Left of College Station is going to examine both the candidates and the issues of the city elections as well as providing some political analysis of the impact of the campaign. The focus of the coverage will be on the College Station city council campaigns, but there will be coverage of the issues facing the Bryan council members in their upcoming terms as well as coverage of the local school board campaigns. For a breakdown of all the coverage both on this blog and on other media outlets, check out the BCS Election Coverage page.

Texas Progressive Alliance Roundup - March 21, 2011

The Texas Progressive Alliance's brackets are still in good shape as it brings you this week's blog roundup.

WhosPlayin has been focused on City Council elections and the criminal records of two of the candidates, each of whom has assault convictions, and each of whom lied on their ballot application.

Off the Kuff discusses the budget deal that allows for Rainy Day funds to be used to close the current biennium's shortfall.

DosCentavos compares theMexican shootin' Missouri legislator and the goings on at the Texas Capitol; and tell us what Dems should be doing.

Bay Area Houston notes When the Galveston County Republican Party Chair slept with teabaggers he woke up with a bad taste in his mouth.....and no job.

Are you in favor of preserving the mortgage interest income tax deduction, or do you favor phasing it out for larger, more expensive homes and/or wealthier taxpayers -- or eliminating it altogether? PDiddie wants your opinion at Brains and Eggs.

Musings gives an update on the ground perspective of why schools need more support staff, not less, in order to ensure student success with the new, more rigorous curriculum and testing mandated by the Legislature and SBOE.

WCNews at Eye On Williamson makes clear that the recent "drama" surrounding whether to spend some of the Rainy Day Fund was done for political cover, better known as The Show.

This week, McBlogger takes a look at two crazy people who are, unbelievably, elected officials.

refinish69 is disgusted and dismayed at the stupidity that is the Texas Ledge. Nothing like a Clean Crapper Bill or protecting the ignorant to make the State of Texas proud.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme suspects that Republican hate against Muslims resulted in fires at a Houston Mosque. Republicans have sliced and diced the American public every which way - women, people of color, gays, teachers, nurses, Jews, Muslims and who knows what else. Wisconsin has woken up. Lets hope the rest of America soon follows.

At TexasKaos, lightseeker is Shocked! Shocked! at the new "edited" video that has hit the web. Check out The Media Fail Us Again- of NPR and Editted Videos.

Neil at Texas Liberal came across an example of extreme government direction of our lives.

Local News: Student Research Week Begins at Texas A&M

Student Research Week Begins at A&M
By Katie Marie Pogue

Special to The Battalion

Student Research Week is part of Texas A&M University's commitment to providing research opportunities to both graduate and undergraduate students. The 14th annual Student Research Week starts today and will occur throughout the week.

Student Research Week, originally formed in 1994, has evolved over the years into a week-long experience loaded with opportunities for students to present their research and to earn recognition. Texas A&M Graduate Student Council funds and puts on SRW. University departments provide the different awards.

According to the website, Student Research Week aims "to recognize and celebrate student research at Texas A&M University by providing an opportunity for students to present research and to foster an environment for students, faculty, staff and administration to learn about the research occurring at Texas A&M University and the resources available on campus."

The week offers various events, such as expert lunch panels, resource tables, research symposiums and esteemed speakers all geared toward communicating the benefits of undergraduate research and aiding those students already involved in research.

In an email sent out by the dean of liberal arts, Catherine Marr, class of 2009, was praised for her undergraduate research and how her position as a research assistant at Texas A&M not only prepared her for her job as a sales consultant for Physician Sales and Service, but also led her to that career path.

"Because most of my work was done alone, I learned how to manage a large project on my own. This has helped me because in the sales world, what I do with my time will inevitably be reflected in my numbers," Marr said.

Marr's research was conducted under the College of Liberal Arts and provided her with hands-on experience with doctors, introducing her to a quality patient care.

"A&M's research department gave me an opportunity to study a line of work more in-depth that I would of otherwise never been able to experience," she said. "Remembering the doctors' passion and concern for their patient's health keeps me motivated to help the doctors do what they love most."

Research opportunities are not limited to the College of Liberal Arts or geared specifically for communications majors. SRW aims to showcase research in all fields and majors. Matt Lafitte, a freshman aerospace engineering major, said undergraduate research in his chosen field would greatly benefit him in the future.

"As an aerospace engineering major, I would love to do research with a professor," Lafitte said. "I would gain real world experience [and] it would give me the opportunity to see how my education applies to the aerospace industry, and motivate me to do well in my classes."

In preparation for Student Research Week there are several other events taking place such as Research Poster Production workshop and Effective Presentation Slides workshop, as well as volunteer opportunities during the week. Students will present research in either the oral or poster section of the competition. Alternatively or in addition to competing for awards, the various lectures and informational sessions can benefit anyone considering research or someone in the process of conducting research.

Published on Monday, March 21, 2011

This Week in Texas Politics

The Texas Tribune's rundown of the week in capitol politics.

Week in Headlines

Texas A&M News
Karan Watson Named Texas A&M Provost

Texas News
The Many Faces Behind the Texas Budget Cuts

Texas Politics
Texas Lawmaker Seeks to End Quorum-Ending Trips

War & Peace
2010 Deadliest Year for Afghan Civilians

Foreign Policy
Secretary of State Clinton to Meet Libyan Rebels

Veterans Issues
Texas Agency Says Funding Cuts Would Deny Help to Veterans

Economics
US Trade Deficit Rose 15% in January on Higher Oil Prices

Science & Technology
Study Finds Humans Age at Same Pace as Other Primates

Environment
Report Finds Bee Deaths May Signal Wider Pollination Threat

Climate Change
Polar Ice Loss Quickens Raising Seas

Health Care
Report Finds Almost 12 Million Cancer Survivors Living in U.S.

Human Rights
Obama Makes Indefinite Detention and Military Commissions His Own

Civil Rights
Illinois Bans Death Penalty

Religious Rights
US Soldiers Punished for Refusing to Attend Christian Rock Concert

Labor Rights
Wisconsin Assembly Approves Bargaining Curbs

Immigrant Rights
Texas Republicans Attempt to Repeal of State Dream Act Based on Questionable Economics

Women & Gender Issues
Drinking Coffee May Lower Women's Risk of Stroke

Reproductive Rights
Limits on Birth Control Pills May Be Costly

GLBT Issues
Maryland Same-Sex Marriage Bill Moves Forward

Race & Racism
Black Child Maltreatment Linked to Poverty

From the Blogs
Eye on Williamson:
The Shock Doctrine in Texas

Burnt Orange Report:
Republican Leadership Stands Up for Ideology and Not Jobs

Big Jolly Politics:
Tea Party Caucus Advisory Committee’s 14 Points to Nowhere

Census Data Shows Brazos Valley Growth and Change

Over the last three decades the population of Texas has grown by over 10 million, and over those three decades the population has grown increasingly diverse. Texas is among the few minority majority states in American, which means that the minority populations of people of color make up a majority of the total population. The population growth in Texas has also been concentrated in metropolitan areas.

Brazos County has grown from 152,415 in 2000 to 194,851 residents, growing by more than 25% over the past decade. Aggieland has grown at a rate faster than the rest of the state, as the Texas population has increased by 20.6% over that same time period. According to reporting by the Bryan-College Station Eagle, Texas A&M enrollment has risen 20% to over 49,000 since 2000, leading to more hiring by the school and businesses in the community around it. The Brazos county government's budget has increased from $31.5 million in 2000 to $76.8 million this year.

With this population growth who represents Texans in Washington, D.C. and in Austin is going to change. It is likely that Texas will gain at least four more seats in Congress, and many of the Congressional districts will change (for the third time in a decade). When you look at the state legislature, it does appear that Brazos County will be affected by these changes. Senate District 5 was among one of the fastest growing State Senate districts in the state, as Senator Steve Ogden now represents 35.2% more people than he did a decade ago. State Representative Fred Brown now represents 28.9% more people, as House or Representatives District 14 grew significantly.

House of Representatives District 14 is among the districts that have too many people. Since the northern section of Brazos County is already part of District 17, I would imagine that it is possible that a southern section of Brazos County may be split off and redistricted into either District 17 or District 13. However, there is the possibility that District 14 could be split into two different districts (split between Bryan and College Station). However, I would guess that most of Brazos County will remain in District 14.

Professor Steve Murdock on the Texas Census Numbers

At the Tribune's New Day Rising symposium on Feb. 28, former state demographer and former U.S. Census Bureau director Steve Murdock gave a detailed talk about demographic change in Texas — with a particular emphasis on the coming Hispanic majority.

Joseph Stiglitz on The Mauritius Miracle

Nobel Price winning economist Joseph Stiglitz wrote this week about a country that provides a free college education for all of its citizens, transportation for school children, and free health care for its entire population. This country is not one of the European welfare states, nor is it among the emerging progressive democracies in South America. A tropical archipelago of 1.3 million people, Mauritius is a small island nation off the east coast of Africa.

“[Mauritius] has spent the last decades successfully building a diverse economy, a democratic political system, and a strong social safety net. Many countries, not least the US, could learn from its experience.”

Stiglitz visited the island nation to better understand the so-called Mauritius Miracle; the country’s GDP has grown faster than 5% over the last three decades. But Mauritius does not rely on exploiting natural resources, and the standard of living has grown while income inequality has decreased. So, what lessons can be drawn from this economic miracle?

“First, the question is not whether we can afford to provide health care or education for all, or ensure widespread homeownership. If Mauritius can afford these things, America and Europe – which are several orders of magnitude richer – can, too. The question, rather, is how to organize society. Mauritians have chosen a path that leads to higher levels of social cohesion, welfare, and economic growth – and to a lower level of inequality.

Second, unlike many other small countries, Mauritius has decided that most military spending is a waste. The US need not go as far: just a fraction of the money that America spends on weapons that don’t work against enemies that don’t exist would go a long way toward creating a more humane society, including provision of health care and education to those who cannot afford them.

Third, Mauritius recognized that without natural resources, its people were its only asset. Maybe that appreciation for its human resources is also what led Mauritius to realize that, particularly given the country’s potential religious, ethnic, and political differences – which some tried to exploit in order to induce it to remain a British colony – education for all was crucial to social unity. So was a strong commitment to democratic institutions and cooperation between workers, government, and employers – precisely the opposite of the kind of dissension and division being engendered by conservatives in the US today.”

So, the question becomes not whether or not the United States can afford to invest in an education system to provides an education to all its citizens and provides an opportunity for higher education to all of it citizens. The question is not whether or not the United States can afford to provide quality health care to the entire population regardless of social or economic status. The question is whether or not the United States can afford not to do these things.

Bill Gates on How State Budgets Are Breaking US Schools

America's school systems are funded by the 50 states. In this fiery talk, Bill Gates says that state budgets are riddled with accounting tricks that disguise the true cost of health care and pensions and weighted with worsening deficits -- with the financing of education at the losing end.

Tonight on Biased Transmission

This week on Biased Transmission the studio guests will be Dr.Eddie Coulson, superintendent of the College Station Independent School District, and Dr. Linda Parrish, member of the local schools activist group CSPS and a former head of the College Station school board. The main topic will be the funding crisis in Texas for our public schools and, in particular how it may affect our local public schools.

Listen to Biased Transmission every Wednesday from 6-7pm on the Brazos Valley’s only community radio station, 89.1FM KEOS. Tune in to hear Teddy, Michael, Danny, and Sam discuss the issues and interview guest. Every week Biased Transmission discusses dangerous ideas for dangerous times.

Biased Transmission on Facebook

Biased Transmission on LiveStream

Biased Transmission Online Archive of Shows

Local News: Outline of Services to Be Provided to Wellborn Detailed at Special Meeting

College Station Outlines Services to Wellborn if Annexation Goes Through
By Michelle Casady

From the Bryan-College Station Eagle

A plan detailing how the residents of Wellborn could expect city services to change if the community is annexed by College Station was outlined Tuesday afternoon at a special city council meeting.

The presentation was one of three scheduled to take place before the council votes on whether to annex Wellborn at its April 14 council meeting.

One will take place March 22 at the Wellborn Community Center and another will follow March 24 at the regular meeting of the council inside the College Station City Hall.

No public comment was allowed at the special meeting, which drew about 50 spectators, most of them opponents of Wellborn annexation.

Lance Simms, assistant director of planning and development services, said Wellborn residents would see no change in emergency medical, fire or police services, but could expect to see improvements to other services.

Many of the changes, he explained, are mandated by state law, which also requires that the annexed area -- which would encompass about 205 people living on 648 acres of property -- would receive the same level of services provided to the city within 2 1/2 years of the annexation.

Simms outlined three components of the service plan: Immediate services, additional services and capital improvement plans.

Fire, police and emergency medical services, along with solid waste collection and management of the water and wastewater facilities in Wellborn, are included under the immediate services category, which those are services College Station would begin providing immediately after an annexation.

"We're talking fall of 2012 before a tax bill is actually due," Simms said. "But they'll be receiving city services from Day One and can vote in the very next election."

The city also proposed providing some additional services to Wellborn, above and beyond what is required by the state law.

Some of those are offering building permits and inspections, animal control, code enforcement, planning and development services, recycling collection and economic and community development services.

Councilwoman Katie-Marie Lyles questioned whether offering animal control services would overload the city.

Police Chief Jeff Capps addressed her concerns, saying during a two-year period Wellborn had 164 calls for service, including animal control calls in that number.

"We do have three animal control officers and a supervisor who respond to those calls," he said. "I'm really pleased with their work and think they could take care of it."

Utility and water services wouldn't change, according to the plan. Wellborn would continue to receive power from Bryan Texas Utilities and water from the Wellborn Special Utility District, which would mean no added cost to the city.

A capital improvements project was recommended, and will be required upon annexation, to upgrade Wellborn's sewage and wastewater systems, and another was suggested for public roadway improvements.

Sims estimated the wastewater project would cost $3.3 million, the survey work $16,800 and sealant coats on the roadways $102,710.

"In my experience with past annexations, there typically isn't a financial gain," he said. "You take some hits early on, and over the long haul we're projecting a slight increase. But short-term, there are going to be some hits."

The plan also included projections that College Station would stand to gain about $113,500 annually in property taxes, $60,000 in sales tax and $44,500 from utilities revenue.

Published on Wednesday, March 09, 2011

Texas Republicans Propose More Barriers for Working Class Texans

So, you lost your job, and you having a difficult time finding employment. You file an unemployment claim with the state of Texas, so that you can pay your bills until you find another job. Only the state requires that you go into a bathroom and drop your paints before they will allow you to receive unemployment benefits. That is the proposal of two Republicans in the Texas House of Representatives.

State Representative Ken Legler (R-Pasadena) filed HB126, which would “require drug testing for applicants and recipients of unemployment compensation benefits.” State Representative Jodie Laubenberg (R-Rockwall) filed HB139, which would “drug testing of certain persons seeking financial assistance benefits.” Legler’s bill would amend the labor laws to require drug testing for anyone who files for unemployment benefits, while Laubenberg’s bill would amend the human resources code to require drug testing for anyone applying for any state financial assistant benefits. So, while Legler wants only the jobless to submit to a urinalysis, Laubenberg wants anyone in need of financial assistants to submit to one.

Before we get to whether or not this is actually effective public policy, let’s cover the constitutionality of the proposed legislation. This is not the first time this type of law has been proposed. The 1996 welfare reform bill, the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, gave states the option to drug test. The US Court of Appeals in 2003 ruled unconstitutional the first universal welfare drug-testing program, in Michigan. In that case, Marchwinski v. Howard, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) successfully argued that drug testing of welfare recipients violates the Fourth Amendment’s protection against unreasonable searches. US District Court Judge Victoria Roberts ruled that the state's rationale for testing welfare recipients “could be used for testing the parents of all children who received Medicaid, State Emergency Relief, educational grants or loans, public education or any other benefit from that State.”

While the proposed legislation very clearly is unconstitutional, is it effective public policy? A report by Miller-McCune found that “drug abusers are not significantly more prevalent on welfare rolls than they are among the general population. Basic urine tests are most likely to identify casual marijuana use and not the type of drug-related clinical disorders that can hamper an individual’s social functioning and job search. And welfare recipients suffer more commonly from a host of entirely different barriers to employment, such as depression, physical illness and lack of education.”

What is this really about? It is just an attempt by Texas Republicans to place more of the burden of Texas’ fiscal problems on the backs of the working class. Spend a few million less on the poor, and that’s a few million more you won’t have to cut out of pet projects and tax breaks for corporations.

Courtney Martin on Reinventing Feminism

Blogger Courtney Martin examines the perennially loaded word "feminism." In a personal and heartfelt talk, she describes the three paradoxes that define her generation's quest to define the term for themselves.

Local News: AAU Critical of TPPF Reforms at Texas A&M

AAU Tells A&M to Resist Reforms
By Vimal Patel

From the Bryan College Station Eagle

When Mike McKinney received the letter from the president of a prestigious national organization urging him to resist the influence of a conservative think tank, the A&M System chief threw it away, he said.

"It was a thinly veiled threat," McKinney said of the fall letter from Robert Berdahl, president of the Association of American Universities, the 63-member group that Texas A&M University joined in 2001. "With all due respect, he didn't know what he was talking about."

The strongly worded letter -- which The Eagle had filed an open records request for last week but was first obtained by The Texas Tribune and posted Monday evening -- criticizes the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a group whose ideas have been embraced by the A&M System and its Board of Regents.

Berdahl rebuked the group's idea to split teaching and research budgets, as well as a program that gives teachers cash awards based on anonymous student evaluations, which was unrolled in the A&M System in fall 2008. He also said an idea by the A&M System to measure the dollar-value of faculty members fails to factor "the quality, creativity, or impact of a faculty member's work."

Soon after McKinney threw away the letter, he decided to write a reply, he said, that "gave me my catharsis." He then discarded that and penned the letter that he ended up sending, he said.

When Texas A&M was invited to join the AAU, it was a crowning achievement, the culmination of a more than

25-year effort that spanned several presidential administrations, said Ray Bowen, who was president at the time.

But McKinney, in an interview with The Eagle last week, said he doesn't concern himself with what outside groups think about Texas A&M.

"Honestly, I spend no time worrying about the prestige of national organizations," McKinney said. "In the midst of taking a 15 percent budget cut system-wide, I can't really be worrying about what a former president of the University of Texas thinks about Texas A&M."

Berdahl served as president of UT-Austin from 1993 to 1997, then served as chancellor of the University of California at Berkeley until 2004. He became AAU president in 2006.

His letter was carbon copied to University of Texas Chancellor Francisco Cigarroa, University of Texas at Austin President William Powers and Texas A&M President R. Bowen Loftin.

Ideas Do 'Violence' to University Values

Berdahl wrote that he was directed to write the letter after discussing the Texas Public Policy Foundation's proposals in detail with the AAU executive committee.

He wrote the Texas Public Policy Foundation's "seven breakthrough solutions" to higher education reform document "demonstrates little or no understanding of the nature of graduate education, particularly in its questioning of the value of doctoral education."

The document was given to the state's university regents during a May 2008 meeting in Austin that was attended by Gov. Rick Perry, who, according to a foundation report of the event, stated, "There is not a more influential amount of public policy that can change the world as what you're talking about right here."

Berdahl wrote that the idea dealing with splitting teaching and research budgets undermines the link "between research and teaching that [has] been central to the success of American research universities."

"Separating research from teaching and oversimplifying the evaluation of faculty does violence to the values that have produced the American universities that are envied and emulated across the globe," Berdahl wrote.

Heather Williams, a policy analyst for the Texas Public Policy Foundation, said in a statement that splitting the budgets "will increase transparency and accountability by emphasizing both teaching and research as separate efforts in higher education, and hope reforms can be made to recognize excellence in both areas."

Such an endeavor would be a remarkable feat in a place that, according to Loftin in a June interview, strives to hire faculty members who can do both.

Jason Cook, a spokesman for the Texas A&M University System, said "that's one of the hardest ones. ... I don't think that one's at the top of the list right now."

No such uncertainty remains in the cash-for-evaluations program, unveiled on the flagship College Station campus as the Student Led Awards for Teaching Excellence, or SLATE. It's name was briefly changed to Student Nominated Awards Program, or SNAP. And it's name may change again soon.

The program started by giving cash awards up to $10,000 to teachers in fall 2008, and expanded shortly after throughout the A&M System's 11 universities.

At the time, McKinney said that Texas A&M University and two other system schools were blazing a trail. Nearly three years later, Cook could not point to another university in the country that has followed the A&M System's lead.

Berdahl also took aim at the "Academic Financial Data Compilation," an effort that assigned a red or a black number to faculty members by measuring the difference between the cost of employing them and how much money they brought to the university through research and teaching.

The document was roundly criticized in academia, and eventually yanked shortly after it was released in September after several reports of major inaccuracies. A new-and-improved version was scheduled to be released last week, but Cook last week said it wouldn't be ready for several more weeks.

McKinney Stands Firm

In McKinney's response (the one that was sent) dated Nov. 1, he wrote that it was "slightly ironic for you to send me a missive about research without first seeking to better understand the efforts and the objectives of the Texas A&M System."

McKinney wrote that the financial data was simply an early draft of a compilation of publicly available data sets.

"The only conclusions drawn by anyone with actual knowledge are clearly stated in my cover letter," McKinney wrote. "As a whole, the faculty at each of our universities more than cover their salary expense. We continue to refine the inputs in order to provide transparency."

The document was released following an open-records request filed by The Eagle, but no Texas A&M or A&M System official explained to the newspaper that the information was a draft until after reports of inaccuracies.

McKinney also wrote that Berdahl erred in stating that the student evaluations and financial data would be considered in faculty compensation. "No one with any knowledge of the data or with any authority has ever suggested using the data in that manner."

He continued, "I would love the opportunity to discuss with you all the progress we are making in our quest to reassure the taxpayers, the tuition payers, and the research funders that we merit continued trust with their funds and their most treasured asset, the future of Texas."

McKinney concluded by inviting Berdahl to the College Station campus.

In the interview with The Eagle, McKinney appeared to dismiss Berdahl's letter.

"Let's see. He was president at Texas and chancellor at Berkeley," McKinney said. "I'm at A&M."

Published Tuesday, March 08, 2011

Texas Progressive Alliance Roundup - March 6, 2011

The Texas Progressive Alliance is ready for this Saturday's rally to save Texas schools in Austin as it brings you the weekly roundup.

Neil at Texas Liberal noted that Texas State Rep. Borris Miles of Houston called upon Texans to flood the State Capitol just as we are seeing in Wisconsin. Rep. Miles made the strong point that it is up to each Texan to decide to fight back against the brutal and vindictive budget and social policy legislation now being considered by our legislature in Austin.

Letters From Texas closed the loop on how decisions the Republicans in charge are making affect every aspect of your child's public school education, and it's even worse than you thought.

John at The Texas Cloverleaf is looking for your support to win a DFA sponsored scholarship to Netroots Nation 2011, and shows how you can apply for your own chance.

Bay Area Houston says State Rep Larry Taylor's TWIA is in TWOUBLE.

Off the Kuff notes that quite a few Republicans are now talking about using the Rainy Day Fund. Will they have the guts to go against Governor Perry? That remains to be seen.

This Week on Left of College Station, Teddy looks at the Center for Public Integrity’s investigation into sexual assault in Aggieland. Left of College Station also covers the week in headlines.

Is DosCentavos making a return? Stace teases us with a smack-down upon the Eye On Williamson shows what 30 years of GOP degradation of government has left us, Debt and privatization, is that the future of Texas?

At TexasKaos, Libby Shaw tells us Texas Taliban Impose More Government on Women . It is as bad as you think...

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme notes that the republican war on workers, women, Hispanics, children and the poor is going gangbusters.

The Koch brothers are poised to make another bundle if the Keystone XL pipeline is approved, writes PDiddie at Brains and Eggs.

WhosPlayin went after Texas GOP Congressman Michael Burgess, who is pushing a bill to sell war bonds to finance Iraq, Afghanistan, and whatever war is next. Problem: Burgess thinks bonds are free money, having told the Air Force Times that they don't add to the debt and you don't have to raise taxes to pay for them. The Republican War on Arithmetic continues...

Free parking downtown a thing of the past?

Esther Duflo on Ending Poverty

Esther Duflo, MIT economist and co-founder of the Poverty Action Lab, asks why the worlds poorest people tend to stay poor. Duflos pioneering research applies randomized trials, used extensively in drug discovery research, to development economics. What she discovers are strategies for transforming current approaches to development policy.

Week in Headlines

Texas News
Cash-Strapped Texas Allows Billions in Tax Exemptions

Texas Politics
Texas GOP Budget Chiefs Favor Using Rainy-Day Fund

National Politics
GAO Reports Finds Government Overlaps Costs Taxpayers Billions

Foreign Policy
US Freezes a Record $30 Billion in Libyan Assets

War & Peace
Will U.S. Follow Withdrawal Deadline In Iraq?

Veterans Issues
GAO Reports Says For-Profit College Military Aid Needs Oversight

Domestic Policy
FDIC Calls for Big Bank Restructuring

Economics
Union Pay Isn’t Busting State Budgets

Education
No Easy Answers for Deep Budget Cuts in Education

Health Care
Health Insurers Offer Patients Option of Paying Extra for Higher-Priced Care

Environment
Regulation Lax as Gas Wells’ Tainted Water Hits Rivers

Climate Change
Extreme Winter Weather Linked to Climate Change

Science & Technology
First Probe To Orbit Mercury Will Answer Big Questions

Justice
DEA Bans Chemicals Used to Mimic Marijuana

Activism
Tim DeChristopher on Trial for Sabotaging Oil and Gas Land Auction

Civil Rights
Attorney General Not Sure if Guantánamo Will Shut by 2013

Immigrant Rights
Undocumented Victims of Domestic Violence Face Threat From Homeland Security

Reproductive Rights
Walk for Choice Rallies Support for Women's Reproductive Rights

GLBT Issues
Maryland’s Civil Marriage Act Moves To House After Passing Senate

From the Blogs
Big Jolly Politics:
Rainy Day Burden is on Governor Perry

Eye on Williamson:
Teacher Layoffs, Jobs, Perry’s Hypocrisy, and Texas’ Deficit

Letters From Texas:
Texas Republicans in Charge of Public Education