TexasTowelie
TexasTowelie's JournalA small liberal arts college in Dallas is doing the hard work of busting generational poverty
Educating students in poverty requires going far beyond the classroom to prepare them to learn. This is true for small children, and it is true for young adults, many of whom carry the traumas of a lifetime of bearing the physical and emotional stress of living with scarcity.Paul Quinn College, a historically black college in Dallas, is taking on the challenge of halting generational poverty. Administrators are learning that students' needs for help and care go deeper than they could have anticipated. So President Michael Sorrell and his band of problem-solvers keep innovating to address each issue as it crops up. Sorrell and his top leaders met recently with the Dallas Morning News editorial board to talk about a new set of approaches they are implementing.
Michael Sorrell, president: We believe the higher educational institutions should turn themselves outward, and address the issues of the day — whatever are the issues that are important to the communities that the school serves, however they choose to define that.
We think that one of the reasons why higher education is so poorly thought of right now is because quite candidly the institutions themselves have behaved selfishly. They haven't spoken to the needs that communities have.
And we started doing that, almost from Day One. You know? We turned the football field into a farm, to address issues of food insecurity. You know? We look at environmental justice issues, and the work program is really an attempt to redefine how students see themselves and their lives and to address preparedness, and access and affordability issues. So for us, what we as an institution decided to do is, we want to eradicate any generational poverty. That's sort of our North Star of ambition. And we decided to do that by creating a version of higher education which we think allows us to poverty-proof students who have the experience.
And the way to think about what we do now is to really look at it in sort of three tranches. Number one, we created the model of the urban work college. Work college is not a new concept, but it's never been applied in an urban environment. Our version of it requires students to work for a couple years on campus. But then to go work off-campus.
Read more: https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2019/04/07/a-small-liberal-arts-college-in-dallas-is-doing-the-hard-work-of-busting-generational-poverty
Cross-posted in the Texas Group.
A small liberal arts college in Dallas is doing the hard work of busting generational poverty
Educating students in poverty requires going far beyond the classroom to prepare them to learn. This is true for small children, and it is true for young adults, many of whom carry the traumas of a lifetime of bearing the physical and emotional stress of living with scarcity.Paul Quinn College, a historically black college in Dallas, is taking on the challenge of halting generational poverty. Administrators are learning that students' needs for help and care go deeper than they could have anticipated. So President Michael Sorrell and his band of problem-solvers keep innovating to address each issue as it crops up. Sorrell and his top leaders met recently with the Dallas Morning News editorial board to talk about a new set of approaches they are implementing.
Michael Sorrell, president: We believe the higher educational institutions should turn themselves outward, and address the issues of the day — whatever are the issues that are important to the communities that the school serves, however they choose to define that.
We think that one of the reasons why higher education is so poorly thought of right now is because quite candidly the institutions themselves have behaved selfishly. They haven't spoken to the needs that communities have.
And we started doing that, almost from Day One. You know? We turned the football field into a farm, to address issues of food insecurity. You know? We look at environmental justice issues, and the work program is really an attempt to redefine how students see themselves and their lives and to address preparedness, and access and affordability issues. So for us, what we as an institution decided to do is, we want to eradicate any generational poverty. That's sort of our North Star of ambition. And we decided to do that by creating a version of higher education which we think allows us to poverty-proof students who have the experience.
And the way to think about what we do now is to really look at it in sort of three tranches. Number one, we created the model of the urban work college. Work college is not a new concept, but it's never been applied in an urban environment. Our version of it requires students to work for a couple years on campus. But then to go work off-campus.
Read more: https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2019/04/07/a-small-liberal-arts-college-in-dallas-is-doing-the-hard-work-of-busting-generational-poverty
Cross-posted in the African American Group.
Hearing set for lawsuit over West Virginia gov's residency
CHARLESTON, W.Va. - A hearing has been scheduled for a lawsuit over whether West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice should be required to live in the state's capital of Charleston.
The Intelligencer reports the court on June 5 will hear motions to dismiss or stay the lawsuit by Democratic Del. Isaac Sponaugle.
Sponaugle says Justice should be ordered to live in Charleston because the state constitution requires the governor to "reside at the seat of government." Justice said he lives at his Lewisburg home, not at the governor's mansion.
This is the third time Sponaugle has sued over Justice's residency. It was first thrown out because the state didn't get advance notice of the lawsuit. It was later thrown out on a technicality, with Justice's lawyers arguing the constitution didn't define "reside."
Read more here: https://www.star-telegram.com/news/politics-government/national-politics/article229009059.html
US moves to put new tariffs on billions worth of EU imports
Source: AP
LONDON -- The United States wants to put tariffs on $11.2 billion worth of EU goods — from airplanes to Gouda cheese to olives — to offset what it says are unfair European subsidies for plane maker Airbus.
While the size of the tariffs is small compared with the hundreds of billions the U.S. and China are taxing in their trade war, it suggests a breakdown in talks with the European Union over trade at a time when the economy is already slowing sharply. The U.S. and EU have been negotiating since last year about how to avoid tariffs that President Donald Trump has wanted to impose to reduce a trade deficit with countries like Germany.
The U.S. Trade Representative's office released late Monday a list of EU products it would tax in anticipation of a ruling by the World Trade Organization this summer.
The U.S. had in 2004 complained to the WTO, which sets the rules for trade and settles disputes, that the EU was providing unfair support to Airbus. The WTO ruled in May last year that the EU had in fact provided some illegal subsidies to Airbus, hurting U.S. manufacturer Boeing.
Read more: https://www.star-telegram.com/news/politics-government/national-politics/article229008549.html
State agency issues landslide alert for much of Oregon
PORTLAND, Oregon -- State officials are urging Oregon residents to be alert for landslides across much of the state with recent heavy rains and flooding.
The Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries said Monday afternoon that heavy rain can trigger landslides and debris flows in steep terrain and that the risk is higher in burn areas.
The agency says debris flows move quickly and are extremely destructive landslides containing boulders and logs and that they can move faster than a person can run.
Officials say people should stay alert, track flooding and travel with extreme caution.
Read more: https://www.star-telegram.com/news/politics-government/national-politics/article229009149.html
Joe Biden's campaign nearly imploded before it began. Here's why he could still win
Wanting to be president is not something that White House wannabes ever really get over. Remember Richard Nixon? John McCain? Hillary Clinton?
Now comes Joe Biden — again. Most likely.
He’s late starting his third bid, which should launch shortly after Easter, a good time, symbolically speaking, to attempt political resurrection. Biden is so of the 1980s and ‘90s, olden times that seem much longer ago than they really are.
Watch today’s growing mob of progressive jump-on-the-counter, government-should-do-everything, sure-I’ve-inhaled-marijuana, watch-my-dental-cleaning, yes-I-took-Mom-to-a-porn-flick crowd of ambitious, uber-liberal Democrats. And you’d think Joe belongs in a bat-lined mausoleum with the likes of Tip O’Neill, Hugh Scott, Mike Mansfield and Everett Dirksen.
Read more: https://www.star-telegram.com/opinion/article228988759.html
(Fort Worth Star-Telegram)
Joe Arpaio: Don't send troops just to the border, send them into Mexico as well
Arlington, Texas -- Former Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio came to Arlington to talk about more than simply sending troops to the border.
Instead, Arpaio, 86, said the U.S. Army should be sent to Mexico’s southern border to stem the flow of Central American immigrants into that country during a talk Monday evening at Jambo’s BBQ Shack in Arlington.
Two previous Arlington locations canceled his appearance before mayoral candidate Ashton Stauffer brought the event to Jambo’s.
“Why don’t we send the U.S. Army — not at the border — but into Mexico?” Arpaio said.
The former sheriff said it wouldn’t be as an invading force but part of a bilateral effort with Mexico.
Read more: https://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/community/arlington/article228964359.html
(Fort Worth Star-Telegram)
Will Israel become the fourth country to land on the moon? We'll find out Thursday
Israel is on track to attempt a moon landing Thursday and, if successful, the tiny nation will become just the fourth to touch down on the lunar surface.
The landing attempt of the robotic probe -- called "Beresheet" or "in the beginning" in Hebrew -- is expected to take place Thursday between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. (Central Standard Time).
And it could be the first commercial lander to ever reach the surface of the moon.
The probe was launched Feb. 21 on the back of a SpaceX rocket and has had a largely flawless mission since. It was built by the Israeli nonprofit SpaceIL for just $100 million and is not carrying humans to the surface.
Read more: https://www.chron.com/news/space/article/Will-Israel-become-the-fourth-country-to-land-on-13750065.php
Would Julian Castro's 'Putting People First' Proposal Result In Open Borders?
The wall and immigration policy promise to be prominent features of the 2020 presidential campaign. Among the proposals making headlines nationally is what former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro of San Antonio – now a Democratic presidential contender – is calling his “putting people first” proposal. Castro advocates significantly reducing immigration regulations.
Geoffrey Hoffman is director of the immigration clinic at the University of Houston Law Center. He says Castro’s plan goes far beyond previous immigration proposals. He would set up Article 1 courts, significantly reduce the detention of immigrants and decriminalize illegal border entry.
Unlike the current immigration court system, Article 1 courts would be independent of the Department of Justice, Hoffman says. They would potentially relieve the current backlog of immigration cases by allowing judges to make decisions more efficiently.
Decriminalizing illegal border entry would reduce the current penalty – a criminal misdemeanor – to a civil misdemeanor. Such a change would mean immigrants would be routed to civil courts, rather than immigration courts, and that immigrants would not have a criminal record based on a conviction for illegal entry.
Read more: http://www.texasstandard.org/stories/would-julian-castros-putting-people-first-proposal-result-in-open-borders/
In this period of nationalistic fervor from a large segment of the population, Castro's plan will be met with skepticism.and a lukewarm reception.
U.S. House Democratic campaign arm to open Austin office, boosting focus on Texas in 2020
by Abby Livingston, Texas TribuneWASHINGTON – National Democrats are ratcheting up their Texas offensive yet again ahead of 2020.
The chairwoman of U.S. House Democratic campaign arm announced Tuesday morning that her committee will open a new satellite office in Austin. The move replicates the committee's 2018 California playbook, when the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee had a substantive, on-the-ground presence in the Golden State and flipped seven U.S. House seats there.
“When it comes to places where House Democrats can go on offense, it doesn’t get any bigger than Texas,” said U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos, D-Ill., the chairwoman of the DCCC. “In 2018, Texas Democrats proved that they can win in competitive districts. That’s why we are continuing our investments in the Lone Star State by opening a new DCCC:Texas Headquarters."
The DCCC previously announced a national offensive effort for the 2020 elections that would install staffers in the Dallas, Houston, Austin and San Antonio suburbs. Monday's announcement takes that initiative a step further, opening a central office in Austin with eight staffers including Texas Democratic operatives Roger Garza and Michael Beckendorf.
Read more: https://www.texastribune.org/2019/04/09/dccc-texas-democrats-2020-office-austin/
Wall at the Travis County Democratic Party headquarters in Austin, Texas.
Photo: Marjorie Kamys Cotera for The Texas Tribune
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Gender: MaleHometown: South Texas. most of my life I lived in Austin and Dallas
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Current location: Bryan, Texas
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