Texas Monthly Brainstorm

Eighty-two various and visionary ideas for how to make Texas a better place. (Better than it already is, of course, which is pretty darn good). See 28 more you’ll find only on the Web.

Photographs by LeAnn Mueller

Jean Good says: We need more vocational, technological classes in high school. Many kids are talented, gifted, but not in academics. Everyone is not college material. Industries could surely use more trained people. (May 18th, 2009 at 4:28pm)

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An economic downturn might not be a good time to have a mortgage or a car payment, but it’s a fine time to have an idea. When things are going well, there’s no incentive to experiment; hard times like these force us to consider creative alternatives to the status quo. Enter the Texas Monthly Brainstorm. Taking as our premise that the state of the state can always be improved, we asked 82 people to send us one idea (in one hundred words or fewer) for how to make Texas a better place. Our correspondents were a motley bunch and included CEOs, pastors, artists, politicians, journalists, professors, publishers, activists, university presidents, district attorneys, economists, musicians, a mayor, a rapper, a blogger, a coach, a rancher, a gamer, and a first lady. Some agreed; some disagreed; some came up with things we’d never heard before; some sent back riffs on the basic idea. The result is an inspiring stew pot of optimism and possibility. And who knows? Maybe, just maybe, one of these ideas (personal pod transport, anyone?) will change our lives.

For starters . . .

Make a Difference » by Joel Osteen
Legalize Drugs » by Ray Benson
Create University-High School Partnerships » by Elsa Murano
Let El Paso Go » by Alfredo Corchado
“Whiskey River” Forever! » by Ethan Hawke
Open Your Wallet » by Rolando Hinojosa-Smith
Build a Transit System of Personal Pods » by Richard Garriott
Tear Down Racial Barriers » by Sheryl Cole
Make the Legislature Meet More Often » by Dan Patrick
Nip the Dropout Rate in the Bud » by Karen Hughes
Develop Alternative Fuels » by Larry Kellner
Teach Kids About Sex » by Liz Smith
Embody Diversity » by Beverly Kearney
Texas Will Be Better When . . . » by Diana Natalico
Encourage Troublemaking » by Kathy Vargas
Establish a Personal Income Tax » by Bernard Weinstein
High-Speed Internet for Everyone » by Mark White
Hire an Ex-Felon » by Catherine Rohr
Eleven Anagrams Based on the Phrase “Texas a Better Place” » by Trenton Doyle Hancock
Improve Our Schools » by Henry Cisneros
Promote Household Conservation » by Anousheh Ansari
Cover More Children » by Vivian Ho
Improve Mexico’s Schools » by Charles Miller
Build a Green City » by Robert Earl Keen
Identify New Leadership » by Juliet V. García
Put a Solar Array on the Roof of Every Public High School » by Paul Hobby
Make Texas the Global Green Leader » by Michael Webber
Plunder California’s Universities » by Isaac Barchas
Build With Adobe » by Simone Swan
Honor Our Heritage » by Anita Perry
Never Be Satisfied » by David Robinson
Let the Border Solve Its Own Problems » by Tony Payan
Hold Nonpartisan Primaries » by Bill Ratliff
Train the Next Nobel Laureates » by Eddie Bernice Johnson
Start a State Venture Capital Fund » by Herb Kelleher
Make Texans Hike the South Rim » by Keven Ann Willey
Move the State Capital, Continually » by David Romo
Put Windmills on Utility Poles » by Garry Mauro
Encourage Innovation » by Susan Combs
Keep Taxes Low » by Joe M. Allbaugh
Make Education Free for Everyone » by Ernesto Cortes
Eliminate Teacher Tenure » by Tio Kleberg
Get Back to Basics » by Chingo Bling
Learn Spanish and English » by Nicolás Kanellos
Curb Sprawl » by Ted Flato
Prosecute Old Crimes » by Craig Watkins
Support Independent Businesses » by Naomi Shihab Nye
See the Future of Education » by Betty Sue Flowers
Slash the Prison Population » by Scott Henson
Build a National Energy Lab » by Amy Myers Jaffe
Use Public Schools to Deliver State Services » by Matthew Dowd
Protect Our Watersheds » by Andrew Sansom
Improve the Colonias » by Chad Foster
Become the Knowledge Pioneer » by Francisco G. Cigarroa