The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl
A new YouTube mini-series has bombarded the Internet, putting smiles on people’s faces thanks to relatable content that is, in a word, awkward.
The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl is the brainchild of two Stanford graduates, Issa Rae and Tracy Oliver. The series, which was created with essentially no budget, features a realm of relatable awkward life experiences, including pretending you are in a music video when no one else is watching, faking a phone call to avoid someone and waving to the wrong person. Thanks to donations from Kickstarter, the show is now on its eleventh episode.
At a talk on the UT campus last week, Rae described her inspiration for the web series as the fact that no current African-American TV shows speak to her since the ’90s renaissance of black TV.
However, the pair pointed out that the show isn’t about “black girl problems” or the “black lifestyle.” It’s supposed to be something universal that every girl can relate to.
As the show continues to expand to larger mediums and networks, rest assured that Issa Rae and her cast will continue to explore those universal awkward moments we’re all familiar with, and, consequently, make us laugh.
Check out the first seven episodes of The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl atawkwardblackgirl.com.
The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl is the brainchild of two Stanford graduates, Issa Rae and Tracy Oliver. The series, which was created with essentially no budget, features a realm of relatable awkward life experiences, including pretending you are in a music video when no one else is watching, faking a phone call to avoid someone and waving to the wrong person. Thanks to donations from Kickstarter, the show is now on its eleventh episode.
At a talk on the UT campus last week, Rae described her inspiration for the web series as the fact that no current African-American TV shows speak to her since the ’90s renaissance of black TV.
However, the pair pointed out that the show isn’t about “black girl problems” or the “black lifestyle.” It’s supposed to be something universal that every girl can relate to.
As the show continues to expand to larger mediums and networks, rest assured that Issa Rae and her cast will continue to explore those universal awkward moments we’re all familiar with, and, consequently, make us laugh.
Check out the first seven episodes of The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl atawkwardblackgirl.com.
Brave the Shave: Veronica's Story
When you think about superheroes or celebrities we think of those that have appeared on the big screen, but in reality they are the ones who are currently sitting next to us in class, ordering their meal at the Student Activity Center, or simply studying for their next exam at the library.
This collegiette heroine saw an immense amount of need amongst cancer patients. The loss of their hair creates a decrease in self-esteem and for people like Veronica Rivera, donating a big part of herself to alleviate the sadness of these patients, is heroic in all senses of the word.
Veronica is a third year political communications major and a part of Sigma Lambda Gamma Sorority, Inc., Latino Leadership Council, Student Government, and LULAC. Her kind heart and spirit have inspired a great deal of students across campus, including her sorority sister who donated her hair as well.
This collegiette heroine saw an immense amount of need amongst cancer patients. The loss of their hair creates a decrease in self-esteem and for people like Veronica Rivera, donating a big part of herself to alleviate the sadness of these patients, is heroic in all senses of the word.
Veronica is a third year political communications major and a part of Sigma Lambda Gamma Sorority, Inc., Latino Leadership Council, Student Government, and LULAC. Her kind heart and spirit have inspired a great deal of students across campus, including her sorority sister who donated her hair as well.
Although, this idea wasn’t something she one day woke up with. When she was in high school, her cousin's girlfriend was diagnosed with breast cancer and since she couldn't afford the treatment, her family along with her cousin's began fundraising as much as they could to cover most of the expenses. Since her family had always struggled financially, Veronica felt like there wasn’t much she could do to help.
“I felt that there was always something I could do, but never really knew what,” Veronica said.
After a long year of pondering over whether to cut her hair and shave her head in order to donate it and raise awareness, she finally decided to do it. On April 13,Veronica sat in a salon chair in front of the UT tower and in a matter of seconds, a pair of sharp scissors cut her beautiful strands of hair and were later sealed in a bag to donate.
The St. Baldrick’s Foundation will soon be receiving her beautiful locks and creating a wig that will make a cancer patient smile.
“I felt that there was always something I could do, but never really knew what,” Veronica said.
After a long year of pondering over whether to cut her hair and shave her head in order to donate it and raise awareness, she finally decided to do it. On April 13,Veronica sat in a salon chair in front of the UT tower and in a matter of seconds, a pair of sharp scissors cut her beautiful strands of hair and were later sealed in a bag to donate.
The St. Baldrick’s Foundation will soon be receiving her beautiful locks and creating a wig that will make a cancer patient smile.
The Power of Mentorship
Mid-terms are upon us, which equals more studying, more late nights, more stress, and usually less social time. Lucky for us talkative types, chatting with people might actually make usmore productive. According to a study conducted by the Big Brothers, Big Sisters program, students with mentors tended to have higher grades, as well as good school attendance, than their counterparts.
“I spend some afternoon’s with Amanik, my mentee, just having fun and talking. For example, this week we made brownies and chit-chatted about her life at school,” stated Allyson Paige, Big Brother, Big Sister Mentor.
Besides good academic performance, that same study states, students with a good role model in their lives are inclined to have better attitudes and to stay out of trouble.
“I want my child to have a good role model in her life, and after seeing her interaction with Allyson, I don’t want her to stop coming. I want my daughter to be different than all the other students and achieve something,” stated Denise, Amanik’s mother.
Not only is the strong connection between young students and their mentors a sterling benefit for themselves but it’s also a positive advantage to the community.
Are you interested in mentorship programs here at UT? Check out our student organization database to find out more deets!
Besides good academic performance, that same study states, students with a good role model in their lives are inclined to have better attitudes and to stay out of trouble.
“I want my child to have a good role model in her life, and after seeing her interaction with Allyson, I don’t want her to stop coming. I want my daughter to be different than all the other students and achieve something,” stated Denise, Amanik’s mother.
Not only is the strong connection between young students and their mentors a sterling benefit for themselves but it’s also a positive advantage to the community.
Are you interested in mentorship programs here at UT? Check out our student organization database to find out more deets!
House Bill 895
On March 6, Texas representatives discussed the possibility of implementing a required criminal background check for students staying in on-campus housing. Representative Lois Kolkhorst presented House Bill 895, which, if passed, would allow public institutions to run a background check per semester on every student who lives on-campus.
Bill 895 will allow colleges to check the criminal history of on-campus residents from the Department of Public Safety secure site. Currently, public institutions are not allowed to do this, whereas private companies can. Kolkhorst, Blinn College, and Kilgore College housing officials brought forth this bill as a method for crime in on-campus housing.
Blinn College housing officials have found that students who have created disturbances in their dormitories tended to have a previous criminal background that they did not know about. This bill would allow them to see this information before these students are allowed to live on campus and prevent future disturbances from occurring. They would be prevented from living on-campus until they clear their record.
Housing officials and chief of police only have access to what the public can see, which is what is available on the PublicData.com database. This legislation enables housing staff to get to the DPS secure site that shows arrests and pending charges.
PublicData.com is a database that allows citizens to access all of the records the government collects. The private database that housing officials are trying to have access to is what contains information that is sensitive to national security or with an ongoing criminal case.
“Several higher educational institutions have found their inability to detect their student’s criminal past to be a threat to the safety of other students living on that campus and living in those dormitories,” said Kolkhorst.
Blinn College housing accommodates 1,100 students, which is small compared to bigger educational institutions like The University of Texas-Austin that houses up to 7,100 students.
“Smaller colleges run a greater risk because they are an open-admissions institution who admits anyone, so therefore we have to take extra-precautions,” said Edward Williams, a Kilgore College housing official.
Kolkhorst stressed that privacy would be a priority during the background checks and whatever steps housing officials have to take would be kept between the applicant and the college. Only housing officials and chief of police would be the ones to run the background checks, said Dennis Crowson, vice president of student services at Blinn.
“The background check can only be used for the determination of housing status and cannot be released to anyone without a court order or applicant’s consent and must be destroyed at the beginning of the next academic period to ensure complete privacy,” said Kolkhorst.
Kolkhorst defined an academic period to being one semester, and the information retrieved from that background check would be destroyed once that period ends.
“The information will remain confidential and will be destroyed by the next academic period,” said Kolkhorst.
Every student’s eligibility to stay on campus would be determined on an individual basis. Faculty and staff who would go through each student’s record would decide if their criminal background is threatening, and if they have pending convictions then the student would have to clear that up before moving on campus.
For example, a jaywalking ticket will not be taken as serious as an assault charge would, Blinn housing officials said.
“Our first priority is their safety and their security,” said Harold Nolte, President of Blinn.
If a student has pending convictions on their criminal background check, faculty would help them out in speeding the legal process to clear their record in order for them to be able to apply for on-campus housing.
“We simply don’t want someone with a long assault record living next-door,” said Kolkhorst.
The students who are found to have a threatening criminal background are suggested that they are housed somewhere else rather than on campus.
If the bill is approved, Blinn College, as well as other public institutions will be able to take the necessary precautionary methods to prevent crime in campus housing.
Although house members were in favor of the bill, many thought this bill would create a liability issue for the college or any institution who decides to implement it.
“The good news is that there will be more protection for students on campus, the bad news is there will be a higher likelihood of being held accountable if something does happen,” said Chairman Dan Branch.
The bill was left pending, but if it receives the vote of two-thirds from house members it will take effect immediately. If it does not receive that amount of votes, it will take effect until Sept. 1, 2013.
Bill 895 will allow colleges to check the criminal history of on-campus residents from the Department of Public Safety secure site. Currently, public institutions are not allowed to do this, whereas private companies can. Kolkhorst, Blinn College, and Kilgore College housing officials brought forth this bill as a method for crime in on-campus housing.
Blinn College housing officials have found that students who have created disturbances in their dormitories tended to have a previous criminal background that they did not know about. This bill would allow them to see this information before these students are allowed to live on campus and prevent future disturbances from occurring. They would be prevented from living on-campus until they clear their record.
Housing officials and chief of police only have access to what the public can see, which is what is available on the PublicData.com database. This legislation enables housing staff to get to the DPS secure site that shows arrests and pending charges.
PublicData.com is a database that allows citizens to access all of the records the government collects. The private database that housing officials are trying to have access to is what contains information that is sensitive to national security or with an ongoing criminal case.
“Several higher educational institutions have found their inability to detect their student’s criminal past to be a threat to the safety of other students living on that campus and living in those dormitories,” said Kolkhorst.
Blinn College housing accommodates 1,100 students, which is small compared to bigger educational institutions like The University of Texas-Austin that houses up to 7,100 students.
“Smaller colleges run a greater risk because they are an open-admissions institution who admits anyone, so therefore we have to take extra-precautions,” said Edward Williams, a Kilgore College housing official.
Kolkhorst stressed that privacy would be a priority during the background checks and whatever steps housing officials have to take would be kept between the applicant and the college. Only housing officials and chief of police would be the ones to run the background checks, said Dennis Crowson, vice president of student services at Blinn.
“The background check can only be used for the determination of housing status and cannot be released to anyone without a court order or applicant’s consent and must be destroyed at the beginning of the next academic period to ensure complete privacy,” said Kolkhorst.
Kolkhorst defined an academic period to being one semester, and the information retrieved from that background check would be destroyed once that period ends.
“The information will remain confidential and will be destroyed by the next academic period,” said Kolkhorst.
Every student’s eligibility to stay on campus would be determined on an individual basis. Faculty and staff who would go through each student’s record would decide if their criminal background is threatening, and if they have pending convictions then the student would have to clear that up before moving on campus.
For example, a jaywalking ticket will not be taken as serious as an assault charge would, Blinn housing officials said.
“Our first priority is their safety and their security,” said Harold Nolte, President of Blinn.
If a student has pending convictions on their criminal background check, faculty would help them out in speeding the legal process to clear their record in order for them to be able to apply for on-campus housing.
“We simply don’t want someone with a long assault record living next-door,” said Kolkhorst.
The students who are found to have a threatening criminal background are suggested that they are housed somewhere else rather than on campus.
If the bill is approved, Blinn College, as well as other public institutions will be able to take the necessary precautionary methods to prevent crime in campus housing.
Although house members were in favor of the bill, many thought this bill would create a liability issue for the college or any institution who decides to implement it.
“The good news is that there will be more protection for students on campus, the bad news is there will be a higher likelihood of being held accountable if something does happen,” said Chairman Dan Branch.
The bill was left pending, but if it receives the vote of two-thirds from house members it will take effect immediately. If it does not receive that amount of votes, it will take effect until Sept. 1, 2013.
The Effects of Parent and Community Involvement in Students
On Saturday, teachers and parents all across Texas rallied in front of the capitol to protest the budget cuts from public schools and talk about the affects it has had on students. One of the effects in question was over how budget cuts helped fund extra-curricular and after-school programs, that gave many under-privileged students a constructive learning environment and outside assistance.
The budget cuts affected both students and teachers in the state. The Office of State Representative Lon Burnam outlined the affects in a report published in January, which stated that these assets are critically needed to fund programs that improve student performance. The approximate $1.4 billion reduction was used to benefit particularly low-income, less-prepared, and at-risk students.
“Any kid can learn if given the right learning conditions,” said Allen Weeks, director of Austin Voices for Education and Youth and part-founder of the St. John Community School Alliance.
Both of these organizations have similar goals where they try to engage students and the community together by holding workshops for parents, getting students involved in activities that assist them with their homework, and attempt to improve their home environment so when they arrive to school, their focus is solely on their schoolwork.
The importance of community involvement increases even more when federal budget cuts are implemented and students have no one to go to when they get home, because their parents are steady working one to two low-income jobs, said José Roque, ex-Cigarroa Elementary and E.H. Cary Middle School teacher.
“These kids aren’t educated with the fact that there’s more out there, so that’s what we provided, the arts. We wanted to push them out through art and be able to take them on field trips because they earned it,” said Roque about how the funds and community involvement positively affected these low-income students.
The St. John Community School Alliance here in Austin has brought together community partners to stabilize families, help kids make it to school, give them food, access to healthcare, stable housing, and better their living conditions in order to improve their learning process in the classroom.
“Without outside stability, the school gets dragged down,” said Weeks.
It is this involvement that helps students in the classroom and gives them relief after they leave school grounds.
“Not being involved in these kids lives make them more prone to skip classes and easily lie to their uneducated parents about homework and such,” said Roque.
The St. John Community School Alliance holds adult academies, ESL programs, and outside services, due to the low-literacy rate among parents in the St. John community.
The majority of parents in the St. John community and around Austin are of the low socio-economical status.
“It’s hard to get the parent’s support when they’re working two jobs just to put food on the table,” said Michelle Cardenas, President of Del Valle Education Association.
The absence of the involvement from parents affects students when they have no one to go to when they get home and help them with their homework, said Cardenas. Teachers only have students for a few hours but they can not do much within that time frame, which is why parents need to be able to sit down at the table and help them with their homework and model how to be a student, said Cardenas.
These parents motivate their kids to get an educate, but they do not know how to check if they are doing well in school or can not actually help them with their homework said Roque.
“Most Hispanic parents are immigrants with a middle-school education where students can easily lie to their parents and skip class,” said Roque.
Many of these parents cannot help their kids past fifth grade and in order for students to stay on track, they need to be more hands-on with their schoolwork, said Roque. The St. John’s Community School Alliance teach parents on how the educational system works and give them tips on how they can help their children as well, said Weeks.
Graduation rates have significantly improved across the state, specifically in the St. John community it has gone from 48% to 70% graduating, said Weeks.
“There are so many bad things about the system right now, and that is why it’s important to work together as a community,” said Weeks.
The budget cuts affected both students and teachers in the state. The Office of State Representative Lon Burnam outlined the affects in a report published in January, which stated that these assets are critically needed to fund programs that improve student performance. The approximate $1.4 billion reduction was used to benefit particularly low-income, less-prepared, and at-risk students.
“Any kid can learn if given the right learning conditions,” said Allen Weeks, director of Austin Voices for Education and Youth and part-founder of the St. John Community School Alliance.
Both of these organizations have similar goals where they try to engage students and the community together by holding workshops for parents, getting students involved in activities that assist them with their homework, and attempt to improve their home environment so when they arrive to school, their focus is solely on their schoolwork.
The importance of community involvement increases even more when federal budget cuts are implemented and students have no one to go to when they get home, because their parents are steady working one to two low-income jobs, said José Roque, ex-Cigarroa Elementary and E.H. Cary Middle School teacher.
“These kids aren’t educated with the fact that there’s more out there, so that’s what we provided, the arts. We wanted to push them out through art and be able to take them on field trips because they earned it,” said Roque about how the funds and community involvement positively affected these low-income students.
The St. John Community School Alliance here in Austin has brought together community partners to stabilize families, help kids make it to school, give them food, access to healthcare, stable housing, and better their living conditions in order to improve their learning process in the classroom.
“Without outside stability, the school gets dragged down,” said Weeks.
It is this involvement that helps students in the classroom and gives them relief after they leave school grounds.
“Not being involved in these kids lives make them more prone to skip classes and easily lie to their uneducated parents about homework and such,” said Roque.
The St. John Community School Alliance holds adult academies, ESL programs, and outside services, due to the low-literacy rate among parents in the St. John community.
The majority of parents in the St. John community and around Austin are of the low socio-economical status.
“It’s hard to get the parent’s support when they’re working two jobs just to put food on the table,” said Michelle Cardenas, President of Del Valle Education Association.
The absence of the involvement from parents affects students when they have no one to go to when they get home and help them with their homework, said Cardenas. Teachers only have students for a few hours but they can not do much within that time frame, which is why parents need to be able to sit down at the table and help them with their homework and model how to be a student, said Cardenas.
These parents motivate their kids to get an educate, but they do not know how to check if they are doing well in school or can not actually help them with their homework said Roque.
“Most Hispanic parents are immigrants with a middle-school education where students can easily lie to their parents and skip class,” said Roque.
Many of these parents cannot help their kids past fifth grade and in order for students to stay on track, they need to be more hands-on with their schoolwork, said Roque. The St. John’s Community School Alliance teach parents on how the educational system works and give them tips on how they can help their children as well, said Weeks.
Graduation rates have significantly improved across the state, specifically in the St. John community it has gone from 48% to 70% graduating, said Weeks.
“There are so many bad things about the system right now, and that is why it’s important to work together as a community,” said Weeks.
What Happens Now Planned Parenthood?
It is final. The Obama Administration has cut federal funding for women’s health services in Texas, said a U.S. health official Friday.
Cutting the funding for Title X will make over 130, 000 women without a place to go for affordable women’s health services. The on-going debate of women’s healthcare and the termination of Planned Parenthood affect women at every level of society.
Planned Parenthood was the main target to cut from federal funding due to claims being made that it offered abortion services at some of its facilities. According to Deirdre Anderson, Development Director at Planned Parenthood of the Texas Capital Region, the services that are going to be affected are the family planning services, such as preventive care like birth control, PAP smears, cervical cancer screening, etc.
Medicaid allows its women to choose their health provider, and among them was Planned Parenthood, says Anderson.
Many women decided to go to Planned Parenthood because of the low cost programs it offers for women of all ages and income, specifically low-income women.
“I don’t have insurance, I’m in school, my job doesn’t pay enough, and Planned Parenthood is my only option, but now I’m going to have to think about where to go or to apply for insurance,” says Karen Garcia, a 19 year-old student at Austin’s Community College. According to Karen, Planned Parenthood is the only women’s health care provider that she can afford and it is also the closest clinic in her area, East 7th street.
24-year-old Ashley Hancock, who is not in school and has no medical insurance, has been going to the Planned Parenthood on East 7th street for over 4 years and did not even know about the debate going on regarding women’s health care and Planned Parenthood. “I can’t believe the government is going to cut the funding. The only reason I can afford to get check-ups and stuff is because Planned Parenthood offers grants and all I have to end up paying are the clinic fees,” stated Hancock, “…even if I do get to go somewhere else, I don’t have a car so I’m going to have travel on bus for almost an hour to go to the other clinic ‘close’ to my apartment.”
Many women do not just go to Planned Parenthood because of their prices but also because of the proximity between the facility and their home. “Gas is at its highest right now, and besides Planned Parenthood, Montopolis Health Clinic is somewhat close but not really,” said Tiffany Maldonado, a 17 year-old high school student.
According to Anderson, Planned Parenthood has dedicated its services to low-income women and has strategically placed their facilities at various central locations that are reachable by everyone.
Planned Parenthood offers its services to women of all ages, and according to Maldonado, she could not receive a pregnancy test at Montopolis Health Clinic if she was not 18 years of age. “You can already see the effects of not being able to get all of women’s services at any general clinic, and without Planned Parenthood I fear for the girls under 18 who are already sexually active and are going to need birth control, pregnancy testing, etc.” stated Maldonado.
Maldonado has medical insurance, therefore, she can still rely, somewhat, on a general health clinic, like Montopolis to handle her women’s health screenings and other services, but that will be until she turns 18, which is in another year.
As people sat patiently in the waiting room, Kaylin Gee, a 17-year-old student stated, “I have Blue Cross health insurance, but I’ve been coming to Planned Parenthood for almost two years because my insurance doesn’t cover everything I need.” According to Kaylin’s mother, who was not too happy about how Perry and the government were handling the situation, “Once Planned Parenthood is gone, what are we going to do? Gas prices are almost at 4 dollars, not everyone has a good job, and medical services are not cheap.”
According to Anderson, the state is going to fund the women’s health care program; therefore providers who stay in the program will have to depend on the state since the $34 million that the federal government gave Texas will soon be cut.
“Planned Parenthood is now going to turn to its donors to try to makeup for that funding,” says Anderson. Planned Parenthood’s patients do not have many other places to turn for family preventive health care, but according to Anderson, last fall Planned Parenthood-Austin area launched a fundraiser that gave them $350,000 in four months, which would help offset the cutbacks and will allow them to treat their patients the same way for a while until that money runs out.
University students are among the ones that do not have to worry, as of yet, about the cutbacks on women’s health services, since universities do not receive any federal funding from the government for their health services. According to Sherry Bell, the University Health Services Consumer Education and Outreach Coordinator, women’s health services on campus, “would not be cut as a result of reduced federal funds. Consequently, any pricing changes related to UHS Women’s Health Clinic services would not be a result of federal fund reduction.”
Cutting the funding for Title X will make over 130, 000 women without a place to go for affordable women’s health services. The on-going debate of women’s healthcare and the termination of Planned Parenthood affect women at every level of society.
Planned Parenthood was the main target to cut from federal funding due to claims being made that it offered abortion services at some of its facilities. According to Deirdre Anderson, Development Director at Planned Parenthood of the Texas Capital Region, the services that are going to be affected are the family planning services, such as preventive care like birth control, PAP smears, cervical cancer screening, etc.
Medicaid allows its women to choose their health provider, and among them was Planned Parenthood, says Anderson.
Many women decided to go to Planned Parenthood because of the low cost programs it offers for women of all ages and income, specifically low-income women.
“I don’t have insurance, I’m in school, my job doesn’t pay enough, and Planned Parenthood is my only option, but now I’m going to have to think about where to go or to apply for insurance,” says Karen Garcia, a 19 year-old student at Austin’s Community College. According to Karen, Planned Parenthood is the only women’s health care provider that she can afford and it is also the closest clinic in her area, East 7th street.
24-year-old Ashley Hancock, who is not in school and has no medical insurance, has been going to the Planned Parenthood on East 7th street for over 4 years and did not even know about the debate going on regarding women’s health care and Planned Parenthood. “I can’t believe the government is going to cut the funding. The only reason I can afford to get check-ups and stuff is because Planned Parenthood offers grants and all I have to end up paying are the clinic fees,” stated Hancock, “…even if I do get to go somewhere else, I don’t have a car so I’m going to have travel on bus for almost an hour to go to the other clinic ‘close’ to my apartment.”
Many women do not just go to Planned Parenthood because of their prices but also because of the proximity between the facility and their home. “Gas is at its highest right now, and besides Planned Parenthood, Montopolis Health Clinic is somewhat close but not really,” said Tiffany Maldonado, a 17 year-old high school student.
According to Anderson, Planned Parenthood has dedicated its services to low-income women and has strategically placed their facilities at various central locations that are reachable by everyone.
Planned Parenthood offers its services to women of all ages, and according to Maldonado, she could not receive a pregnancy test at Montopolis Health Clinic if she was not 18 years of age. “You can already see the effects of not being able to get all of women’s services at any general clinic, and without Planned Parenthood I fear for the girls under 18 who are already sexually active and are going to need birth control, pregnancy testing, etc.” stated Maldonado.
Maldonado has medical insurance, therefore, she can still rely, somewhat, on a general health clinic, like Montopolis to handle her women’s health screenings and other services, but that will be until she turns 18, which is in another year.
As people sat patiently in the waiting room, Kaylin Gee, a 17-year-old student stated, “I have Blue Cross health insurance, but I’ve been coming to Planned Parenthood for almost two years because my insurance doesn’t cover everything I need.” According to Kaylin’s mother, who was not too happy about how Perry and the government were handling the situation, “Once Planned Parenthood is gone, what are we going to do? Gas prices are almost at 4 dollars, not everyone has a good job, and medical services are not cheap.”
According to Anderson, the state is going to fund the women’s health care program; therefore providers who stay in the program will have to depend on the state since the $34 million that the federal government gave Texas will soon be cut.
“Planned Parenthood is now going to turn to its donors to try to makeup for that funding,” says Anderson. Planned Parenthood’s patients do not have many other places to turn for family preventive health care, but according to Anderson, last fall Planned Parenthood-Austin area launched a fundraiser that gave them $350,000 in four months, which would help offset the cutbacks and will allow them to treat their patients the same way for a while until that money runs out.
University students are among the ones that do not have to worry, as of yet, about the cutbacks on women’s health services, since universities do not receive any federal funding from the government for their health services. According to Sherry Bell, the University Health Services Consumer Education and Outreach Coordinator, women’s health services on campus, “would not be cut as a result of reduced federal funds. Consequently, any pricing changes related to UHS Women’s Health Clinic services would not be a result of federal fund reduction.”
"Complicate the Issue"
On Wednesday, February 29, Shane Whalley spoke to students regarding the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer community and the rights they are permitted when it comes to family and children.
Shane Whalley, currently the Education Coordinator for the Gender & Sexuality Center, came out as a lesbian 28 years ago, and since then has been talking to classes regarding LGBTQ issues. She was also able to gain more experience on the topic by working as a therapist for people coming out to express who they really are.
During the speech on Wednesday, Whalley focused on the issues the LGBTQ community face when it comes to marriage and children. Her purpose is to “complicate the conversation.” She wants people to think beyond what they read in the newspaper or hear on the news.
According to Whalley, “the media simplifies the issue,” so that the audience can understand, but the public only focuses on what they read and doesn’t care to think about the issue beyond what’s in the newspaper.
“When people think marriage, they think ‘ceremony,’ but when I think marriage, I think about the marriage license a couple is given.”
According to Whalley, a marriage license withholds about 1200 rights that gay and lesbian couples are not allowed to have.
“This is simply one of the many issues that the public needs to understand and get a knowledge of,” ended Whalley.
Shane Whalley, currently the Education Coordinator for the Gender & Sexuality Center, came out as a lesbian 28 years ago, and since then has been talking to classes regarding LGBTQ issues. She was also able to gain more experience on the topic by working as a therapist for people coming out to express who they really are.
During the speech on Wednesday, Whalley focused on the issues the LGBTQ community face when it comes to marriage and children. Her purpose is to “complicate the conversation.” She wants people to think beyond what they read in the newspaper or hear on the news.
According to Whalley, “the media simplifies the issue,” so that the audience can understand, but the public only focuses on what they read and doesn’t care to think about the issue beyond what’s in the newspaper.
“When people think marriage, they think ‘ceremony,’ but when I think marriage, I think about the marriage license a couple is given.”
According to Whalley, a marriage license withholds about 1200 rights that gay and lesbian couples are not allowed to have.
“This is simply one of the many issues that the public needs to understand and get a knowledge of,” ended Whalley.