Flawed Redistricting In Dallas

    I chose the editorial Council Should Learn From Flawed Redistricting from the Dallas Morning News and it covered the risky business that went on during redistricting that caused a down fall. After months of debating and redrawing lines the ending result of the map was not looked at as successful.  The editorial stated that city officials should realize what was done wrong so that they may learn from their mistakes by the next decade. It was said that racial politics got in the way of good decision making. This was when gerrymandering really took effect and it took a toll on the new redistricting map for the city of Dallas. Apparently deals were made behind closed doors, and the result of this was a map that shortchanged Latinos and favored incumbents (current holders of political office). Mayor Mike Rawlings has already taken action to improve the bad redistricting job by starting to work through details and make changes to the city's charter.
   When I read this editorial the first thing that came to mind was what we learned in class about Gerrymandering. My first reaction to gerrymandering was that it shouldnt be allowed. Manipulating the boundaries of an electoral constituency just to favor one class is unfair and unlawful in my opinion. I don't believe gerrymandering should be legal but unfortunately it is.  I also don't agree with the fact that the redistricting was based off of racial politics. A district should not be made based off of race, and the city should not be segregated. This gives the incumbents and advantage and that just seems unfair. I think it's in Rawlings best interest to do as much as he can to prevent this from happening again in the next redistricting year. Its time for a change, and I believe its time to prevent gerrymandering as much as possible so that its the people who are favored, not our political leaders.

A&M and the SEC-Was it the Right Decision?

My classmate Megan Harlow made a very interesting point as she wrote on the topic of A&M leaving the Big 12 to join the SEC(Southeastern Conference). Basically, the Aggies have made the decision to move to the SEC and will no longer be playing their biggest rivalry the Texas Longhorns on thanksgiving day. This has been unfortunate for not only Texas fans, but Aggie fans as well being that these two teams have been rivalries since 1894;that is 118 years! Being a big fan of Texas football myself, I would have to agree on every point Ms. Harlow made. Ms. Harlow pointed out that this decision by the Aggies is separating the hearts of many fans. I believe this is completely true. For a fan, Football is a lot about the competition and loyalty to their team, so when the biggest competition disappears it takes some fun out of the game. A large amount of tradition is being lost, and some students that have waited for the opportunity to participate in that tradition now wont get the chance to do so. I agree with Megan when she states that she is "sad to see it end." Longhorn and Aggie will no longer be rivalries, and I believe this creates a loss of fans. So no, I do not believe it was a smart idea for the Aggies to leave the Big 12 and lose their biggest rivalry. I know that myself, and many other fans looked forward to the day the Longhorns played the Aggies, and now that day may never come again. 118 years of tradition is now lost.