EPA: Oil, Gas, Coal stop messing with Texas

I completely agree with what Michael Cash said in his blog called Government and Politics of Texas.  In Michael's recent blog he wrote about the EPA getting shut down many times while trying to protect Texas and it's environment.  Being repeatedly shut down by Texas and Greg Abbott. The fact that we can already see a difference in the air quality at Big Benn National Park should be a wake up call to many.  But the sad part is that change scares politicians.  I also agree with his statement that new environmentally friendly energy sources should be implemented here in Texas.  Because not only would this help bolster our energy production but it would create new jobs.  I think that until someone can get environmentally safe power production making way more money than oil and coal this sad trend of pollution will continue and the EPA will continue getting stepped on. 

Safety On Campus Grounds

In light of the recent tragedy that has happened on UT's Austin campus, I have decided that I want to write about one way that could possibly increase the safety of students on any campus. I believe that a safety briefing during a students orientation, or given intermittently during the school year should be given. To raise students awareness on how to be safe. This safety briefing could include helpful information on what to do in certain situations, facts like there is safety in numbers, always let someone know where you will be (even if its your parents) or your roommates.  

Students are not in the military and most if not all have never been in a life or death situation and hopefully never will be.  Therefore most hardly ever pay attention to their surroundings.  Most of the time students (everyone now days) are preoccupied texting on there phones or listening to music.  This leaves them vulnerable to any threat that could be lurking around.  Now most would say that we should not haft to be on alert for threats, this is America.

The sad truth has been made evident in recent news.  The Texas Tribune recently published an article which can be found (here) about an 18 year old freshman, killed on campus. Another article that shows that Violent acts are and have been happening on school grounds is also published by the Texas Tribune called, UT System Drafts Sexual Assault Investigation Training.  This article can be found (here).  While this article does not necessarily talk about a case in particular I wanted to use the information they wrote about.  This article states that " One study, released in September, found that more than 18 percent of female undergraduates at UT Austin had been sexually assaulted since arriving on campus."

While it might sound lame to most students to think about attending a safety briefing, think about this.  Soldiers are given safety briefings all the time.  They are given safety briefings before weekends exp how to have safe sex, how to be safe if your going to be doing water related activities ie if your on a boat use your flotation devices.  Soldiers are given safety briefings downrange exp always be with a battle buddy, always be aware of your surroundings.  They are given safety briefings before using different types of equipment and weapons.  So I think Students should be given safety briefings on how to be safe on campus, ex if you know your going to be drinking have a plan, If you know your going to be walking back to your room at night walk with a friend or let someone know where you are.

While UT might be stepping up their security they can only do so much.  Helping students be aware of whats out there and how to lower their risk of ending up in a dangerous situation is what I want to happen with these safety briefings.