Jackie Mays - Texas Meningitis Vaccine

Jackie Mays makes an interesting point about the required Texas Meningitis Vaccine taking away people’s rights and freedoms. I have always gone with the rhythm and gotten my vaccine every year without thinking that other people may have an issue with it. I concur with Jackie in that some people might argue the rule requiring people to get the shot is taking away their freedom. Unfortunately, I strongly believe the shot is absolutely necessary and is very important – since it after all keeps people from getting sick. Although Jackie makes a good point saying that there are other diseases that we are not required getting a vaccine for, I still think the Meningitis Vaccine is necessary and the rule should not be taken away. The fact that there are other diseases that do not require a vaccination shows that health consultants consider Meningitis a serious disease that can do major damage and should therefore have a required vaccination. 

Unemployment.. Arggg!

Very high unemployment rates all over the United States have been a major issue ever since Obama became President in 2008. Although a number of jobs have been created throughout the nation, there is still a noticeably high unemployment rate. In June 2012, Texas was reported to have an unemployment rate of 7.0%. Although other states are worse off, such as California with a 10.7% unemployment rate, Texas still needs to some major help to reduce this large percentage of people not working (http://www.bls.gov/lau/). The problem however is that Obama does not offer any explicit examples on how to solve this huge problem. President Obama talks about how something needs to be done – as if Americans could not figure that one out on their own – but does not offer actual examples of steps that need to be taken.

Although it is easier said than done to bring down the unemployment rate, Texas still needs help, and since Obama does not seem to be helping that much, Governor Perry needs to step in. Perry needs to help Texans find jobs to reduce the number of people unemployed, which will in turn help our Texas economy. One big problem with our economy in Texas is the huge budget deficit. Perhaps Governor Perry should create a board that specifically addresses the budget deficit and works to make the budget shortfall lower. This would not only give more people jobs, but could also potentially help the Texas economy.

Additionally, the unemployment rate in Texas has doubled under Rick Perry. This illustrates that even though President Obama does not seem to have any bright ideas as to reduce the unemployment rate, Governor Perry does not seem to be doing that much better. If Governor Perry does not want all Texans to despise him by the end of his turn, he really needs to look deep into the eyes of Texas and come up with a plan as to help all the unemployed. I am no political expert; in fact, I am sadly probably one of the least educated when it comes to politics, however, I believe others would agree with me in that Governor Perry needs to come up with some plan to help our Texas economy and bring down the unemployment percentage. 

Public Transportation in Austin - By Christopher Pelletier

I completely agree with Christopher Pelletier’s thoughts in his article, Public Transportation in Austin - Austin really does need to come up with a new plan. Just as Christopher said, when I look at a map with all the colorful lines showing bus routes and more, it looks like a painting that has no connection to a map. I therefore try to avoid using Austin’s public transportation, such as the buses, and in fact, have only ridden on the city bus once in my life. Although people who are not as fortunate as me to have a car may look at me as a snobby girl who does not have to rely on public transportation, however, even if I did not own a car, I would always be looking to carpool with friends rather than taking the bus – that is how much I do not like public transportation in Austin. Furthermore, even though I agree with Christopher a lot, and would like Austin to someday have an underground rail system, I do not think that will happen in Austin anytime in the near future. Putting in an underground rail system will be very expensive, and as the majority of us Texans know, Texas is currently under a lot of debt that is causing them to cut expenditures. As a result, Texas does not have the money right now to be putting in an underground railroad in Austin. Therefore, the question still remains… if Texas does not have the money to be helping Austin’s public transportation, but yet the transportation system is awful, what should the city do? I believe the city should have certain lanes on the road that the buses are only allowed to drive it. This will allow cars to not be stuck in traffic due to a bus occupying every lane on the road. For example, if a bus were limited to the right lane only, cars would be able to pass the buses in the left lanes. Austin might even consider making more roads for buses only – not for cars to drive on, but solely for city buses to get around. This would make it easier for both the buses and cars. I realize this would obviously take money to build also, however it would not be as expensive as building a huge underground railway system in all of Austin – after all, Austin is a very big city.