Letters for May 31

  • Posted: Tuesday, May 31, 2011 7:00 a.m.
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All hail the most sacred Rainy Day Fund in Texas





The only surprise about the draconian budget just passed by Texas Repub-licans is that they didn't build a cathedral for the Rainy Day Fund so that we could all kneel at the altar of the billions of dollars that have become too sacred to use.



Clearly, Texas' school children aren't good enough to bestow the blessings of the Holy Funds upon them.



Nor are nursing home residents, pre-kindergartners, college students in need of financial aid, anyone on Medicaid. Since state Sen. Steve Ogden claimed that the budget covers what is "essential," then obviously none of them are essential. Perish the thought of using our riches on the "non-essential."



Better to stand in awe while the Holy Fund managers guard the gold and take their commissions, at the same time that our kids fervently pray for that rainy day.



Instead, let's marvel in the righteous glory of it all. It'll be so awesome that we won't even notice the overcrowded classrooms and the lack of technology.



Heck, just the sight of those glittering billions will blind us to the unemployed teacher next door and the hungry kid on the corner. We'll hear the mighty trumpets, but not even miss the high school marching band. And does anyone really care if the state parks are closed? After all, there aren't any slips to dock the yachts.



It makes me flat-out giddy to know that when I pay my sales and property taxes, or when I chip in at the gas tank, I'm really making an offering to the Blessed Rainy Day Funds. Hallelujah!



So what if we have among the highest drop out rates and the lowest percentage of children with medical insurance in the entire country, because, by God, our Lone Star State has the Best Golden Calf Ever!



KATHI APPELT



College Station





Faculty productivity study has false premise





The Eagle on May 23 carried a story about a researcher for the Texas Public Policy Foundation who had concluded that most faculty at The University of Texas just don't do their fair share of teaching.



According to the story, this researcher did his calculations simply by counting the total number of students taught by each professor in a semester, without takings into account what each professor taught and at what level. This so-called research is almost meaningless.



I have had surgery twice in recent years, once to remove a cataract and once to remove a tumor growing at the base of my skull.



For the cataract removal, I was in the operating room less than half an hour.



For the tumor removal, I was in surgery an entire day.



Using operations completed per day as the measure, it's obvious that my cataract surgeon was many times more productive than my tumor surgeon.



Using so-called statistics such as these, I'm sure I could "prove" that a tiny minority of surgeons do most of the surgery and that the rest are overpaid slackers.



You are probably objecting that not all operations are the same and that some things just take a lot more of a surgeon's time than others.



And that is exactly my point.



The variety of subjects taught by a large university is enormous -- as enormous as human knowledge itself, in fact -- and different subjects have to be taught in different ways.



Any university president or dean knows this and takes it into account every day, but the Texas Public Policy Foundation's researcher, incredibly, chose to ignore it. Or does the foundation think the surgeon who spent a whole long day removing my tumor (to whom I'm deeply grateful) should be fired for low productivity?






ROBIN SMITH, chapter president



American Association of



University Professors



College Station





Fine emergency care at College Station hospital





I recently visited College Station for a graduation party for a nephew. While in College Station on May 15, I had an emergency and went to the College Station Medical Center.



I had emergency surgery and wish to say thank you to the emergency room staff and the entire hospital staff who were great during my stay.



I especially want to thank Dr. Josh Goldtrich, my surgeon, for the wonderful care, and to his staff who have helped me with paperwork since I returned home to Hurst.



I was very blessed to have been helped by such wonderful and caring people. My entire family was very impressed.



SHARON HARKINS



Hurst

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