Education reform may be one of the few political issues that appears to have bipartisan support. That being said, solutions so far have failed to achieve encouraging results.
Especially alarming is the fact that increased funding seems to have no effect on solving the problem. Since 1960, real (inflation-adjusted) education spending per student has more than tripled. However, test scores and graduation rates have not seen any improvement.
In 1979, Egypt signed a peace treaty with Israel. Part of the agreement included aid for Egypt from the United States. Since that time, the U.S. has aided Egypt with about $2 billion per year.
I’m sure almost all of us have seen a dead squirrel or two. Driving down the road is the prime time to see one. I can’t be sure, but if you’re from Texas you’ve probably seen more dead armadillos. However, being from Georgia, I’ve seen hundreds of dead squirrels over my lifetime.
Environmentalism is a growing trend. Since global warming appeared in the national spot light, more states and cities have started green initiatives.
Austin is the latest example. You won’t be hearing people asking if you prefer paper or plastic in Austin grocery stores anymore. The city effected a bag ban March 1. It’s called the Single-Use Carryout Bag Ordinance.
There are hundreds of types of them, several colors, prices and sizes. You can get accessories, apps and attachments. E-readers have been very popular in the last few years, and there are also several opinions about them.
Sports media is dominated by ESPN. Its round-the-clock coverage on Sportscenter, paired with its engaging talk shows, such as “First Take” and “Pardon the Interruption,” constantly serves multitudes of sports fans around the world.
Though ESPN has always been my go-to channel when turning on the TV, lately it’s been disappointing.
Government transparency may often seem to be an elusive ideal. Texas Comptroller Susan Combs, however, is leading the way toward achieving this goal with common-sense solutions and a bold vision.
Imagine yourself lying on an ice-cold bed with tubes running throughout your body as you begin to wonder if you’re going to make it. You stare out the window wishing you could be free and enjoying life. While this may sound depressing, it is the sad reality for many cancer patients.
At Baylor, sometimes the names can be a bit confusing.
For example, the English department is located in the Carroll Science Building, there is no fountain on Fountain Mall and nobody knows what the name Minglewood Bowl has to do with that patch of grass behind the Martin Parking Garage.
Many religious institutions use the First Amendment as a defense in an attempt to shirk their responsibilities for sexual abuse that occurred under their watch.
However, the freedom of religion clause in the First Amendment is not a defense for sexual abuse.
I’m not a very political person. To be honest, I tend to skim over political news and go straight to the health and science section whenever I’m reading the news, but I was ecstatic when I heard about President Barack Obama’s Brain Activity Map (BAM) project.
I recently had the opportunity to hear a lecture by Dr. Marvin Olasky entitled “Rafting the Political Rapids,” hosted by the Institute for Studies of Religion at Baylor University.
Olasky is editor-in-chief of the World News Group, the Distinguished Chair in Journalism and Public Policy at Patrick Henry College, and Dean of the World Journalism Institute. He has written over 3,000 articles and 18 books and is credited with a substantial influence on the policies of George W. Bush, later known as “compassionate conservatism.”
In just over a week, thousands of conservatives will gather at the Gaylord National Resort Hotel and Convention Center at National Harbor in Maryland, just outside Washington. The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) moved this year to the new location to accommodate more guests after record-breaking attendance last year.
The conference will feature most of the forerunners of the conservative movement, providing an opportunity for potential presidential nominees to test the waters.
February brought with it a new choice for people with severe allergies.
A new epinephrine auto-injector, Auvi-Q, hit pharmacies. Epinephrine is given to people experiencing severe allergic reactions. Auvi-Q is the first injector that has an audio component that talks through the injection process.
Before the release of Auvi-Q, the EpiPen was the only epinephrine auto-injector available. These devices use a needle to inject the medicine. Epinephrine is a drug of choice for many abusers, and owners of epinephrine should be wary of the dangers of their medicine falling into the wrong hands.
Your recent editorial, “Regents shouldn’t choose rep for students” on Feb. 27 suggests a misunderstanding of the goal of Baylor regents when they chose to appoint to the board, in a non-voting capacity, a member of the student body and a faculty member.
Last year, regents decided to include in their future meetings one individual to provide a student perspective and one individual to provide a faculty perspective. The board did this without the expectation that these individuals would represent the opinions of all faculty or students. Instead, the board was acting to ensure that the voice and perspective of a Baylor student and faculty member would be present during board discussions and deliberations. This is consistent with the process by which others are appointed to the Baylor board. Leaders who are pastors, educators, physicians, corporate CEOs, lawyers and more bring their expertise to bear in service to Baylor as Regents. What these regents provide is a valuable perspective that emerges out of their experience. Such is the board’s expectation with the appointment of a student and faculty regent.
There seems to be a general dislike of independent voters who vote party lines, based on ideas that those who vote party lines are uninformed, follow the crowd or are lazy.
Perhaps that reasoning is based on more than just their party labels, however.
Independent voters are generally not associated with a party of their own, though “independent voters” is slowly growing into its own party.
I recently had the pleasure of seeing “Born Yesterday,” an intellectual comedy directed by Jessi Hampton at the Baylor Department of Theatre Arts.
The play was written by Garson Kanin and first performed in 1946. Set in Washington, D.C., it follows the story of Billie Dawn, mistress of the rough junkyard tycoon Harry Brock. She is taken advantage of by Brock’s bribery and corruption, completely unaware of the consequences of his actions.
The play documents Billie’s education in the realms of politics and history as she learns to understand Brock’s unethical actions while discovering the beauty of a democratic system. Becoming politically informed allows her to stand up against the injustice in politics.
After reading the Feb. 19 article “Professors unite against concealed carry,” about how opposed the faculty at Baylor is to concealed carry, I felt a rebuttal was called for, and some misconceptions need to be corrected.
After all, isn’t proper academic rigor focused on objectively evaluating facts, not making decisions based on mere emotion?
First, a simple correction: The bill introduced by Sen. Birdwell was Sen. Bill 182, not 128. That’s an understandable typo, but it did make it more difficult to get the facts of what is being proposed.
During Gangnam Style’s rise in U.S. pop culture, my Korean professor spent time in class going through the lyrics to help us understand the cultural references in the song. When I shared with others the meaning of Gangnam Style, it seemed as if most didn’t particularly care. And in the months after we learned about the true meaning of Gangnam Style, the popularity of the video pretty much faded away. The trend quickly became ancient history, and people began catching onto the next big thing — the Harlem Shake.
On Feb. 18, the Lariat wrote an editorial advocating a standardized grading scale.
In general, the article argued that Baylor should not allow professors to require a percentage higher than 90 in order to receive an A.
The basis for the argument comes primarily from a feeling of unfairness. According to the article, a professor “should be able to lower the threshold to earn an A,” but raising it “is deceiving and can really affect students who work hard.”
I’m pleased that the topic of language study appeared on the opinions page of the Lariat on Feb. 7, and that the editorial there, “Five-day language classes hurt, not help,” advocated the study of another language for all Baylor students.
What concerned me was the misunderstanding about the value of a five-day-per-week meeting schedule for first-year language classes. In support of this assertion, the editorial stated that students would learn more if they had class fewer days per week. Is this true?
Christopher Dorner.
How deeply you live in the Baylor Bubble determines whether or not you recognize this name, or feel anything associated with it.
For those who don’t know, the name belongs to a particularly troubled former Los Angeles Police Department officer. With a frightening arsenal of weapons and military experience, he recently pledged to wage a war on the officers of the LAPD, on-duty or off.
The prospect of going to Pigskin Revue is not the be-all and end-all.
Sororities, fraternities and organizations across campus have worked tirelessly since the start of the semester to put together their perfect Sing acts, complete with sharp jazz hands and spot-on group vocals.
The Facebook page titled “Today’s Music Sucks,” with a profile picture of a radio being smashed by a sledgehammer, has 927 likes. There are certainly more than 927 people in the world today who hear pop artist Justin Bieber sing, “I was like; baby, baby, baby, oh!” and want to find a deep cave to hide in with their iPod chargers and collections of the “right” kind of music.
If we just cut all of the crap out, we might be able to save ourselves.
It was only a few days ago that I found out one of the most interesting things about Texas. Did you know Texas still has a mutual combat law? In essence, dueling is still legal according to sections 22.01 and 22.06 in the Texas penal code.
The law states that any two individuals who feel the need to fight can agree to mutual combat through a signed for or even just verbal or implied communication and have at it (fists only, however). As long as no “serious” bodily injury occurs and both participants know what degree of risk they are hazarding, mutual combat is a defense for a criminal or civil suit that may be leveled against you.
As someone who rides their bicycle on campus, I apologize to motorists and pedestrians.
On my way to campus, I bolt through six blocks of traffic, speed through three stop signs and hardly glance left or right the entire time. I’m already late for class because I overestimated my biking ability, so I’ll be going pretty fast. If I have to get across Fountain Mall, I part the migration of students on the two narrow sidewalks like Moses parting the Red Sea.
Recently, while chatting with an old friend and enjoying a cream cheese bagel at a student-filled, bustling Panera Bread, school,…
In his recent column (appearing in the Lariat on Feb. 8), columnist Leonard Pitts Jr. uses the word “logic or…
You know what’s worse than being single on Valentine’s Day?
Being in a long-distance relationship on Valentine’s Day, because even though you’ve theoretically found someone to spend your Valentine’s Day with, your person is not physically there.
Being single on Valentine’s Day can suck.
Especially when you have just gotten out of the first-semester relationship or you’ve realized over break that long-distance relationships doesn’t always work out.
As I begin to prepare myself for the emotional strain of once again not having a date on the day, I’ve decided on some things that could cheer me up.
