Category: Higher Education

Three reasons to face the Fourth with hope:

PRESS RELEASE
June 29, 2005

Coleman Fights to Protect Gay and Lesbian Students During Special Session: Passes amendment on bullying, re-files Dignity for All Students Act

AUSTIN, TX – Against the backdrop of a special session of the Texas Legislature to overhaul the way in which Texas funds public schools, Representative Garnet Coleman (D-Houston) has taken two extremely important steps that could reform Texas public schools to ensure the safety of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) youth.

Last night, during a long and intense debate on HB 2–a bill to overhaul the funding and programming of Texas public schools–Representative Coleman successfully added an amendment that will shed light on the bullying and discrimination that takes place everyday in our schools. The amendment, crafted by Randall Ellis (former Executive Director of the Lesbian/Gay Rights Lobby of Texas), would require the Texas Education Agency to collect data on the reasons for and frequency of bullying and discrimination in our public schools. The results of this report will help educators and policymakers create positive environments and ensure that all schools are places where students are free to learn, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity/_expression.

“Governor Perry has called us back to Austin to fix some of the fundamental ways we fund and educate our Texas youth,” stated Representative Coleman. “During this important debate, we must remember that every Texas student has the right to a public education. When students are discriminated against in school, and the school does nothing about it, we are failing them in a very fundamental way. This amendment will give lawmakers the necessary information to better understand and address the issue of bullying and discrimination against LGBT youth in our public schools”

A separate bill filed by Representative Coleman, HB 60, would go one step further. The Dignity for All Students Act would protect students from bullying and discrimination based on the ethnicity, color, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, religion, or national origin of the student or the student’s parent in Texas public schools.

The Dignity for All Students Act is seemingly a nonpartisan issue: it protects gay kids from being harassed in public schools. Representative Coleman filed the bill in response to the fact that no state or federal law extends protections to LGBT youth in Texas public schools. A national study done by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, or GLSEN, indicates 84% of LGBT youth in public schools reported regularly experiencing homophobic harassment, while 82.9% of LGBT students report that faculty or staff never intervened or intervened only some of the time when present and homophobic harassment takes place.

“Instead of addressing the real problems of our state during our regular session, Governor Perry chose to hide behind an amendment to the Texas Constitution banning the recognition of same-sex marriages,” continued Representative Coleman. “I will not tolerate politics based on fear and prejudice, and I will continue to fight for all Texas youth. I want to send a message loud and strong across Texas. No type of discrimination will be tolerated in this state.”

Rep. Coleman represents District 147 in Houston and is the Chair of the Legislative Study Group (LSG).

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See Also: PinkDome’s posting of Rep. Senfronia Thompson’s defense of civil rights for gay and lesbian Texans.

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And while we’re waxing nostalgic for Texas Civil Rights highlights this Fourth of July, don’t forget Sen. Rodney Ellis who brought a catheter to his planned filibuster of Republican-led efforts to imposed voter ID restrictions. This clip from Dos Centavos.

AP (May 30, 2004) The race or ethnicity of applicants to Texas A&M University System Health

Science Center will be among the factors considered for admission beginning with the class of

2006.

See more clips below (Read

More).

http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/news/state/053004_APstate_admissions.html
—-

-excerpt from Houston Chronicle—–

by LA MONICA EVERETT-HAYNES (May 29, 2004)

“This is an acknowledgment that we don’t live in a meritocracy and that race can be a

detriment,” Coleman said. “Now A&M should go back and look at its other

policies.”

But board members on Friday said they didn’t believe there were any

inconsistencies in banning race-based decisions at one school while allowing them at

another.

“There are different issues at different institutions and we need to take that

into account,” said Erle Nye, vice chairman of the board. “We need bigger numbers, and we’re

committed to that.”

Gates concurred: “We all have the same goal, and that is to

increase diversity,” he said. “What matters are results, and each institution must develop its own

path. We’ve done that; the Health Science Center has done that.”

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/front/2598182

—–excerpt from

The Batt—–

By Shawn Millender (June 1, 2004)

Rachel Alderson, a senior

biology major is enrolled in medical school for the fall.

“I can see why they made that

decision,” Alderson said. “(Promoting diversity) gives you a unique perspective on different groups

of people and produces a wider variety of practicing doctors for people to choose

from.”

http://www.thebatt.com/global_user_elements/printpage.cfm?

storyid=683803

By Eva DeLuna and Scott McCown
Center for Public Policy Priorities

Some may be shocked that in less than a month’s time, Texas has gone from having an $8 billion “surplus” to considering 10 percent almost-across-the-board cuts—about $3 billion in General Revenue.
The reason is the huge gap between the spending side of what the Legislature approved in the special session ($23 billion more in state funds for K-12 from 2007 to 2009, most of it to pay for local property tax cuts) and what it raised in new revenue ($8.8 billion from 2007 to 2009).

Filling the $14 billion hole dug in the special session entirely wipes out the so-called surplus and still requires finding another $6 billion. Part of this $6 billion will come from revenue growth. However, if revenue growth is not enough, and it most certainly will not be, unless the Legislature raises taxes, it will have to cut services.

Some of these vital public needs will go unmet. The cost of other needs will be shifted. College students may have to pay higher tuition. Cities and counties will undoubtedly have to spend more.

Budget instructions issued by the Legislative Budget Board (LBB) and the Governor’s Budget Office on June 2 call for 10 percent reductions in General Revenue-related spending as a starting point for the 2008-2009 draft budget. The instructions make some important exceptions: “amounts necessary to maintain public education funding based on legislative action, satisfy debt service requirements for existing bond authorization, maintain caseloads for federal entitlement services, and maintain adult prison populations.” These exceptions, however, are narrower than previous budget instructions and leave Texas facing serious cuts.

For example, the budget instructions do not allow for funding:

–School finance equity;

–Medicaid budget increases needed to cover higher health care costs or utilization;

–Public university and community college enrollment growth;

–Inmate growth and higher costs in adult and youth corrections systems;

–The Children’s Health Insurance Program, Child Protective Services (CPS) funding other than foster care or adoption subsides, child care subsidies for working poor families, and any other social service that is not an entitlement; and

–State employee health insurance, pension, and other staff benefit cost increases. Instead of budgeting for these important services, state agencies will first have to cut budgets by 10% and then ask the Legislature to fund “exceptional” items.

Once again, as has been the case since 1991, legislators will not get a true picture of what a “current services” state budget would really require, one that takes into account population and inflation growth in 2008-09 of almost 8 percent. Even if they got a true picture, however, they have no money to fund current services, much less make needed investments in public education, higher education, public safety, or health and human services.

Cutting taxes in a low-spending, high-need state was, as it turns out, very shortsighted.

See Center for Public Policy Priorities, Statement of June 7, 2006

The Secure Border Initiative Network (SBInet) is the megamammoth contract for border services that was supposed to be bid by May 30. Following are some notes on the bidders: Boeing, Ericsson, Lockheed Martin, Northrup Grumman, and Raytheon. The contract winner is supposed to be announced in September.

Boeing
Boeing Integrated Defense Systems of St. Louis will team with DRS Surveillance and Reconnaissance Group, Parsippany, N.J.; Kollsman Inc., Merrimack, N.H.; L-3 Government Services Inc., Salt Lake City; Perot Systems Corp., Plano, Texas, and Unisys Global Public Sector of Reston, Va., Boeing said in a news release. (Wash. Tech. 6/1/06: “Boeing fields SBINet team,” by Alice Lipowicz)

Partners reported in SBInet business directory (May 31): None (blank box)

Ericsson
Ericsson’s team, called America’s Border Security Group, includes Computer Sciences Corp., Fluor Corp., Sycoleman Corp. (a division of L-3 Communications Corp.), MTC Technologies Inc., Camber Corp., AEP Networks Inc., Texas A&M University, and the University of Texas at Austin. (Wash. Tech. 6/02/06: “Ericsson joins race for SBInet” by Alice Lipowicz)

Partners reported in SBInet business directory (May 31): L3 Communications, SYColeman, Computer Science Corporation (CSC), FLUOR, Modern Technologies Corporation (MTC), AEP Networks, Camber Corporation, University of Texas, Texas A&M University, Sarnoff Corporation

Lockheed Martin
Lockheed officials said they are offering a systems engineering discipline and management approach. “Lockheed Martin and its teammates bring a wealth of experience deploying mission critical systems for our nation,” Jay Dragone, vice president, homeland security programs, said in a news release. “Our SBInet solution will provide the [agency] with enhanced and streamlined capabilities to reduce the number of illegal border crossings into the United States.” (Wash. Tech. 5/31/06: “SBI Net bids move forward,” By Alice Lipowicz)

Partners reported in SBInet business directory (May 31): TBD

Northrop Grumman
Northrop Grumman, joining other large defense contractors, has announced the team it put together to bid on the upcoming SBInet, the lucrative DHS border security procurement program. The program could be worth $2 billion. Most of the Northrop Grumman team members are former partners from the DHS’s aborted America’s Shield Initiative (ASI) procurement…..

Northrop Grumman’s team of integrators includes Fairfax, Virginia-based Anteon International, Fairfax, Virginia-based SRA International, MacLean, Virginia-based BearingPoint, Ebensburg, Pennsylvania-based L. Robert Kimball and Associates, Kansas City, Missouri-based HNTB Corp., San Diego, California-based L-3 Communications Titan Group, and Falls Church, Virginia-based General Dynamics.

Note that one of the companies on Northrop Grumman’s team — L-3 Communications — had contracted with DHS for border security technology before, but this was not a good experience. L-3 acquired International Microwave and assumed that company’s role in DHS’s Integrated Surveillance Intelligence System, known as ISIS. DHS Inspector General, the Government Accounting Office (GAO), and Congress soon became impatient with the company’s performance, with some critics charging it verged on the fraudulent. After border patrol experts complained that, at tremendous expense and multimillion cost overruns, L-3 installed antiquated, low-quality, Radio Shack-level cameras along the border, and that the cameras were installed on poles which were spaced too far from each other to offer any meaningful coverage (coverage which could not have been provided in any event even if the poles were properly spaced, because of the shoddy equipment), the contract was pulled. DHS then reissued the contract, and L-3 had the unfortunate distinction of having the equipment it had installed and the technology it used explicitly referred to in the new contract language as examples of unacceptable low quality which new bidders should avoid.

Congress hopes to avoid a repeat of the ASI/ISIS-L-3 experience with SBI.net. The Homeland Security appropriations bill (HR 5441) for fiscal 2007 would allocate $115 million to SBI.net, but would withhold $25 million from the SBInet program until DHS provides a plan “to establish performance metrics to demonstrate how the [Secure Border Initiative] is a more efficient and effective approach than the failed initiatives of the past.” (WNG 5/26/06: by Haney Dan)

Partners reported in SBInet business directory (May 31): None (blank box)

Raytheon
“We’ve done a lot of security-integration systems,” said Raymond T. Wheeler , business development director for Raytheon’s SBInet program, who noted Raytheon has lined up partners such as [Bechtel,] IBM Corp. and BAE Systems for its bid. “We would take technology from the best source. We’d look to our own expertise and the expertise of others.” (Boston Globe 5/30/06: “Raytheon to submit bid for border-security contract,” by Robert Weisman)

Partners reported in SBInet business directory (May 31): IBM, BAE Systems, Bechtel National Inc.

Other Resources
PDF file of SBInet Business Directory (May 31)

by Sarah Boone

Ever since Jay Johnson-Castro learned about the other-than-Mexican immigrants (OTMs) being detained at Rolling Plains Prison in Haskell, I’ve been trying to comprehend how the salt-of-the earth, God-fearing, family-centered people, who reside in this part of Texas allow the inhumane mistreatment of the ICE ‘prisoners,’ most of whom are seeking political asylum. I know this part of Texas well – prior to my husband’s death in 1999, I was ‘married to’ it for 38 years.
This week, in an online Abilene Christian University report entitled “Haskell County Economic View Book,” I realized my feminine intuition was correct. “It’s all about money.” The most revealing information in the report was ‘no information,’ as data regarding numbers of employees, salaries, etc., for the prison was ‘suppressed’ throughout.

Like many counties in Texas’ rolling plains, there has been a decline in population as family farms have disappeared and income is lower than the state average. When the study was produced in 2004, there were no higher education programs available in the county, and there was a smaller percentage of college degree-holders than the average Texas County, while there was a higher than average percentage of high school graduates.

The study states that ‘rural communities should carefully monitor declines and develop long-term strategies to retain population.’

Based on above data, is a privately run prison a good strategy for Haskell County since there has been a significant migration in the 24-45 age group to seek better employment (more money)?

Does the prison require a college degree for most positions? Graduation from high school?

In 2004 why did the County export more workers to surrounding counties than it imported – – would this information be correct if the suppressed’ data about the prison had been available?

Was the prison responsible for a 6% increase in employment in the county in 2003 and a 5.4% increase in 2004? If not, what was?

Why was information ‘suppressed’ regarding employers with more than 100 employees? What employers other than the prison would have had more than 100 employees? The City of Haskell? Haskell County? (Only a hospital was shown as having more than 100.)

With a 75% Anglo population (smaller families) and an increasing population of those 54 and older, there’s a predicted low growth rate – unless there are jobs to keep the younger residents at home.

Will prison jobs keep them there? Will prison jobs provide adequate income for the 20% of the county’s population living below the poverty level?

The following quote from the study provides some answers: “Haskell County economic growth is limited by its slow-growing population, but unincorporated in both the population and many of the economic figures, however, is the prison, which added jobs in 2002 and represents a major gain for the county.”

Thus one has to wonder if jobs and money have bought the silence of the Haskell County residents, who go to church on Sunday and pray for forgiveness for their sin of omission (or is it commission) for allowing immigrants, just like their forefathers, to be mistreated, abused, and treated inhumanely?

Sarah Boone is a retired banking executive from the Dallas area who now serves as innkeeper at the Villa Del Rio Bed and Breakfast.