Who is to Say What Makes a Good Leader?

Leadership.  Who is to determine what characteristics makes up a good leader versus a bad one? Well the nameless writer to the editorial, Perry Falls Short on Texas Shortfall Leadership, believes that he has the right to determine how Governor Rick Perry should lead our state.  Why should we, as an audience, take anything he says as correct when we don’t know who he is and what his credentials are? I understand the fact of keeping a column private, but when you are expressing your feelings on such a pertinent subject, the audience should be able to know the background of the author.  

In this editorial, there is a main theme of bashing Governor Perry, but what is the reasoning behind it? The author kept proposing that Governor Perry tell us his exact plans for fixing our deficit, which yes that would be nice, but there isn’t a reason to tell the world what he proposes to fix the deficit if his proposal hasn’t been approved yet.  As a leader, you don’t want to tell the people what you hope to do if there is any possibility that your plan could not be approved.  Also, the author isn’t throwing out any suggestions to help our deficit.  All he can do is critique the one leading our state.  

Who was our mysterious writer trying to reach?  The author was trying to reach an audience member that doesn’t really pay attention to what is going on around them and how bad the deficit is.  Another type of person the author could be attempting to reach would be the person that is upset by the deficit which would intern rally more people against the Governor and his choices.  Does it do any good though to rally anyone against the leader of our state? No it doesn’t.  That doesn’t mean we need to just sit back and watch the Governor destroy the world around us, but we could at least be somewhat supportive and see what he has in store for us.  In general, the author’s opening statements are not backed by anything.  He is telling his audience what a good speaker should be doing, but where did he get this information? Who made him the judge of what a sound speaker should do? With that said, throughout this editorial, the author makes claims but can’t back them up.  Are you going to fall for this unknown person’s opinion?   

-Kelsey Scott 

Financial Aid Assistance?

How much money have we all spent on classes and textbooks a year? Who all takes out loans and receives financial aid from the school? In the article, Dan Patrick: "Middle Class Should Not Pay For College For the Poor", written February 8, has an interesting debate about whether or not Universities should be allowed to take 20% of student’s tuition to put toward financial aid for the student population.  Mr. Dan Patrick is the main person that is speaking out for his bill to be passed, and has made a few very intriguing points.  “Patrick describes this process as an “onerous, backdoor tax” on college tuition fees.  A student, whose family is paying tuition, Patrick argues, shouldn’t have to contribute to educate another family’s child. He would eliminate financial aid derived from tuition payments, resulting–he says–in reduced tuition costs for everyone.” Which yes, is a valid point, but at the same time, the state had reasons to allow the University to set aside 20% of student tuition for financial aid as to the state’s 2003 budget cut according to the article.  Also, is it wrong to distribute funds to the less fortunate? Don’t we want to be able to help the children that want to go somewhere in life, but don’t have the financial options? These are questions that should be asked.  These are the main reasons as to why the Universities do what they do, and why the Texas Higher Education Commissioner agrees with them.

I highly recommend reading this because it brings to light issues that were unknown to me, and I am sure some of you out there had no idea this was occurring either.  So what is your stance, should the middle class pay for the poor’s education as well as their own?