Can't maintain stability on such shaky ground

When it comes to anything that deals with distributing budgets all I ever hear is uncertainty.  It seems like a consensus is never reached when dealing with what is important and what isn't.  Of course that is to be expected... we aren't robots, and neither are Texas legislators.  But education should never be an option to consider taking out of the budget and should always be at the top of the priorities list.

I fully support and beleive that Congress should spare advanced placement courses.  Granted I do understand that we are on a tight budget and that we need to be bringing in revenue some how, but cut our youth's generation some slack.  I'm extremely grateful that I got out of taking Spanish in college, all I had to do was take a class and an exam, and I don't think anyone should be denied that type of assistance.  If you're smart enough to get in to an AP class then I think you've earned the priviledge to have still the option to do so.

Now I know the whole notion of raising higher income taxes is a little touchy, but maybe further consideration should be vested upon that then reducing education advancement.  And no I'm not an expert in that department, but I honestly don't think it would dig us in to a deeper hole, from what I've researched it seems like a sensible solution.  Like I said before, you won't get different results if you never try anything different.  My opinion is simply that education cuts should never be considered, at least not before the wealthier population (those who can acutally afford all those college hours) could potentially help solve our economic crisis.

To be consistent with my last entry, I do realize that our higher education system is facing the financial assistance cut, but (at least to me) doesn't it seem logical that if the students won't be receiving as much monitary assistance to attend college, that in order to eventually get them in (some pay is better than no pay) it would be in our best interest to save them money and allow them to knock out some credits for free while they're still wide eyed and bushy tailed?  That's my rationalization, and although I don't have a tremendous amount of experience in understanding the structure and functions of the complexity of government, it makes sense to me, the lowly tax paying citizen.

Like the author points out, there will always be large debate over which plan will cost us less, but why not try something new and see how it turns out?  Cutting useful programs that not only save time, but motivate those students who are devoted to pursuing their college career will be detrimental in the long run.  The debate could go back and forth all day- is it cheaper to cut AP courses?  Is it cheaper to eliminate more college staff in these undergrad courses?  Is it cheaper for the state to put the burden on those who have to pay for these classes in college rather than knocking them out for free (or at a dramatically lower rate) in highschool?  Who will it hurt?  Who will it benefit?  Which is worth the risk?  At the end of the day, it's in the hands of the legislators, and I think they should be cognizant of our nation's future.  To whom much is given, much is tested.

Hope you all have trust funds

This is my second semester at UT- yes, my transfer hours still allow me to take pre reqs at ACC, and this happens to be the only one I needed.  Seeing that I still have to take at least one class here I'd say it's pretty obvious just how expensive higher education really is, even the assistance I receieve from the Army isn't enough to cover tuition (not to mention books, parking permits, etc...)  I'd say the university's shortfall is really going to cost us in the years to come.  I found it really admirable and reassuring in reading The Daily Texan that my fellow classmates are just as concerned about it as I am.  They're mere presence at the meeting was significant in displaying a representation of the entire student body which I can guarantee is worried about the funding of their future is one way or another.  In my opinion, it made an even greater impact because President Powers is being hospitalized and was unable to attend.  The entire meeting was centered around improving government funding to higher education institutions in TX.  This is a challenge, since the hole is so deep, but those speakers who attended stressed the importance of handling this situation, even though it will not be resolved quite easily and will take sacrifices.  I want to remind people when reading this article and considering why it is so important that a good education is the most sound and valuable investment one can make, especially now in the state of our nation's economy.  Sacrifices should be made, funds should be reallocated (as suggested in the article), but they should not be depleted from our education and what fuels a better tomorrow.  New funding formulas should be proposed, given the urgency of the discussions in the meeting.  Hopefully new recommendations will yield better results.  The tremendous cut of financial aid proposed for the upcoming year will be extremely detrimental to us students, but with luck a remedy will be found.