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September 2012 – Page 2 of 2

Politics & Policy|
September 20, 2012

The battle over UT

I wrote the cover storyin the current issue of TEXAS MONTHLY. The subject is the future of higher education generally and the threats to the academic reputation of UT-Austin in particular. In the story I deal with Governor Perry’s attempt, starting in 2008, to control higher ed by

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Politics & Policy|
September 19, 2012

Is Fisher moot?

The case of Abigail Fisher v. the University of Texas at Austin, an affirmative action case involving undergraduate admissions to UT-Austin, is scheduled to be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court some time this fall. I wrote about the case in an April BTL, and last night, I

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The Wanderer|
September 17, 2012

Sneak Peek: The Wanderer Goes To . . .

For the October installment of the Wanderer, I spent three days exploring a Houston hood with a colorful history (a 1973 Texas Monthly article called it “the strangest neighborhood in Texas”) and a colorful array of shops, restaurants, and watering holes. Can you guess

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Politics & Policy|
September 17, 2012

Is redistricting “fair”?

Matt Mackowiak tackled the issue in the Statesman, in an opinion piece headlined “Redistricting doesn’t need fixing.” He writes: With the primary elections in a redistricting year now in the rearview mirror, the predictable lament of losing candidates is to blame the district lines. If only the process were

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Politics & Policy|
September 17, 2012

A note to the readers of Burkablog

t has always been my policy that anyone may post comments on this blog. In fact, a large part of the success of this blog has been the community of commenters that has developed around it. I have only asked that comments show respect for other readers, as well as

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September 17, 2012

UT’s Evacuation Timing Questioned

The university received a phone call at 8:35 a.m. warning that explosions would happen in ninety minutes, but an evacuation was only ordered at 9:50 a.m, 15 minutes before the bombs would have gone off. 

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The Wanderer|
September 17, 2012

Spotted in Bandera

 For my first official outing as the Wanderer, I got to play cowgirl for a few days in Bandera, the (self-proclaimed) Cowboy Capital of the World. As I was busy riding horses, two-stepping, and eating fried delicacies, I managed to take nearly

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Politics & Policy|
September 16, 2012

New leader at Lackland after scandal

From the San Antonio Express News: The Air Force chose a woman Saturday to lead its basic training unit at a Texas base where dozens of female recruits have alleged they were sexually assaulted or harassed by male instructors within the past year. Col. Deborah Liddick is

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Politics & Policy|
September 14, 2012

GOP electors go off the reservation

The internal rifts within the Republican party are getting more frequent and more serious. From an AP story in yesterday’s Statesman: At least three Republican electors say they may not support their party’s presidential ticket when the Electoral College meets in December to formally elect the new

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Politics & Policy|
September 13, 2012

Nonstory of the year

I’m referring to the recent poll by Wilson Perkins Allen that shows Romney leading Obama in Texas by 55-40. (McCain had similar numbers, 55-44.) With Democrats getting only 40% of the vote, what’s the surprise in these numbers? There is none. Obama is not providing enough coattails for Democratic legislative

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Politics & Policy|
September 12, 2012

If Romney loses …

…the reaction from the right wing of the Republican party is going to be a ferocious backlash of “We told you so.” The GOP decided to stick with the front-runner, Mitt Romney, as is its long-established habit, and while it is certainly too early to say that Romney is in

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Eat My Words|
September 11, 2012

Blind Houston Chef Wins MasterChef Competition

Reality cooking shows have seen their fair share of Texas talent this past year. Earlier this spring, Austin’s Paul Qui was named the winner of Top Chef Texas. Now, Houston has its own culinary reality star: Christine Ha, a blind graduate student at the University of Houston. Last night on the finale of FOX’s

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Politics & Policy|
September 8, 2012

Julián Castro’s future

Castro flashed signs of big-time political talent in his speech at the Democratic convention, but he is faced with the same problem as all Texas Democrats: all dressed up with no place to go. Democrats are not positioned to win a statewide race anytime soon. They don’t have the party

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The Wanderer|
September 6, 2012

Choose Your Own Texas Adventure

The first column I wrote for Texas Monthly appeared in the March 2000 issue. The article was titled “Voting Rites,” and I argued that the Voting Rights Act, which Lyndon Johnson had proposed to a joint session of Congress 35 years earlier, was the greatest accomplishment of his

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Politics & Policy|
September 6, 2012

What Obama did and didn’t do

I thought Obama had to do two things tonight. One was tell the nation what he was going to do in the next four years that he hadn’t done in the past four years.  He did some of that–cut the deficit, cut oil imports, improve fuel economy–but there were no

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Eat My Words|
September 6, 2012

Paul Qui Returns to Uchi Roots Next Week

Paul Qui – the recent winner of Top Chef Texas and the James Beard Award for Best Chef: Southwest – is currently working on his much-anticipated Austin restaurant projects, but that doesn’t mean he has completely forgotten his chef roots. From September 10-15, Qui will return to the

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Politics & Policy|
September 4, 2012

Castro shines in keynote speech

I thought Julian Castro exceeded expectations in his keynote address. The speech itself was nothing special, but Castro rode its momentum all the way. He hit the right notes–middle class, family, opportunity, Mom, America, working together. All the cliches, in other words, but what is a keynote for if not

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Politics & Policy|
September 3, 2012

Did Greg Abbott “save” the Voting Rights Act?

The Web site “The Texas Lawbook” asks the intriguing question posed by the headline. If Abbott did save it, he didn’t mean to, that’s for sure. From the Web site: The Texas Attorney General claims in court that the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 is outdated, unnecessary and

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