Texas Judges being Elected

I will be critiquing on article by Michael Dinh appearing in May 4, 2009 in my classmate’s blog, Texas Policy, entitled “Texas Judges being Elected.” The author of this article “Texas Judges being Elected” did very good and interesting job by discussing the partisan political elections of Texas Judges. First, he states the problem that Texas Judges have been accepting campaign contributions from lawyers and businesses that appear in their courts. He argues that the problem has reached ordinary people as well as the Chief Justice of Texas Supreme Court, Wallace Jefferson. For Michael, the problem of partisan political election is very difficult to solve, but can be solve by improving the election system we already have. He argues that a constitutional amendment that required two-thirds of the Senate and House can’t be meeting to change the system for Texans elected judges. Michael gives the benefice to elect Judges through the voters: “Electing Texas judges through the voters would also give some accountability to the process.”
Finally, at the very end of his article, Michael makes his proposal. He argues that we could modify the election process by not allowing the judges to declare a political party on the ballot. Such method would allow judges to have more freedom to do the right thing and not feel pressured to make an unpopular choice by outside sources.
Michael did very good argument about the selection of Texas judges in partisan political election but the text lack evidences and statistics to support his ideas and to convince his audience about the urgency to have credible judges who will have the freedom to rule. However, Michael excels in his argument by making his proposal feasible. Our judiciary system should be free from political influence and any others form of influence from lawyers and businesses.

Should Texas State offer a tuition-cap for higher education?

In two decades, education became very expensive and less affordable for the majority of students in Texas. Getting the highest education has become problematic for minorities and low-income students. The university as a center of education and research should open the door to all students who desire a higher education. Tuition cap will not only allow the racial diversity but also create the development of talents. If Texas Legislature doesn’t step up now to put a cap on this increase of tuition, the immediate impact will be clear: thousands of students will be denied access to higher education and hundreds of faculty and staff will be laid off. The consequence should be the jeopardy of higher education. We don’t want this to happen because we believe that education creates sophisticated and accomplished members of our community. My judgment regards the difficulty we students have when paying our tuition fees, caps on tuition will make college more affordable and protect our future as well as the future of the state.
Establishing the tuition cap in colleges and universities has been a discussion between the Legislature and the School Board of Education. The increase in tuition in higher education has led state legislators to introduce bills that would put a cap on tuition increase. As minority, low-income, and international student myself, I know how difficult it can be to come up with the tuition money. I have to work two jobs in order to pay my tuition money. This is not only unfair, but it cause inequality as well. While I have to spend my hours at work, more privileged students can relax from the difficulty from their studies. If this tuition rate would increase further, I could not afford to go to college and to visit this classroom. Be already disadvantaged, my opportunity for my life would be taken away from me. Education is a public service and everybody has the right to better their lives through education. Therefore I am strongly proposing to implement a tuition cap for all Colleges and universities in Texas.