Headlines

Local News
Waco City Council to Vote on New Smoking Ordinance

According to an article in the Waco Herald-Tribune, the Waco City Council scheduled vote to toughen the city smoking ordinance, either by removing certain loopholes from the current one or by going completely “smoke-free.” The council appeared evenly divided over which path to take. Supporters of the “smoke-free ordinance” proposed by the city-county health district said public health concerns justify the option of banning smoking everywhere but homes, retail tobacco stores, outdoor areas or a limited number of hotel rooms. But some on the council said the smoke-free ordinance would be too drastic and would infringe on private rights and hurt business. Some council members support the more modest “Option 2,” which would allow smoking in existing bars, as well as in restaurants and other businesses that have separately ventilated smoking areas.

Texas A&M News
Thirty Candidates Considered for Texas A&M Presidency

Texas A&M University has more than 30 candidates for the university's presidency, including nationally recognized names and individuals who have been "highly placed" in federal government. The Bryan-College Station Eagle reports that notable names not on the list are Texas Governor Rick Perry, a former Aggie yell leader, and United States Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, a former Texas A&M president. The candidates are from academia, business and government, though a breakdown wasn't immediately available; the applicants will remain secret throughout the process, as they did in the 2007 search for Texas A&M president. The search began in July following the controversial resignation, widely believed to be forced, of Elsa Murano as the university's 23rd president. Murano's departure came after the public release of a February performance evaluation of her by Texas A&M System Chancellor Mike McKinney. The former president rejected the review in a response to the Board of Regents.

Texas Politics
Voters to Consider Research University Funding

According to an article in the Austin American-Statesman, Texas lawmakers took the first steps earlier this year toward a goal that could take two or three decades to reach: increasing the number of tier-one research universities. Now the state's voters will get to weigh in on an important element of the plan. Proposition 4 on the Nov. 3 ballot would free up about $500 million from a dormant higher education fund to help seven public emerging research universities strive for a place on the national stage. Early voting begins Monday on this and 10 other constitutional amendments. If voters approve, the dormant account would be dissolved and the money transferred to a new national research university fund. Five percent of the money, or about $25 million, would be spun off each year for faculty salaries, graduate student stipends, library materials and other uses that advance research.

More on the different propositions to amend the Texas Constitution later during tonight’s commentary.

National News
Justice Department to Ease Medical Marijuana Prosecutions

The Justice Department announced this week that it would mellow out on prosecuting medical marijuana users in the 13 states in which therapeutic pot smoking is allowed. The McClatchy news service reports that in breaking more definitively from the Bush administration, Attorney General Eric Holder formally directed federal prosecutors in Alaska, California, Washington and 10 other medical-marijuana states to refocus investigations on heftier targets. The newly clarified policy amplifies earlier Obama administration statements and puts more muscle behind them. A three-page memo sent to selected U.S. attorneys guides priority-setting for the White House-appointed prosecutors. As a presidential candidate, Barack Obama declared that he wouldn't interfere with individual state decisions to permit prescription marijuana use, and Holder previously voiced similar sentiments. Within weeks of Obama's inauguration, though, federal Drug Enforcement Administration agents raided several pot dispensaries in Los Angeles. This year's raids resembled earlier Bush administration DEA raids, raising alarms about whether drug enforcement policies really had changed. An unsuccessful 2005 Supreme Court challenge by Oakland, Calif., resident Angel Raich left federal authorities with the power to prosecute medical-marijuana use even in states that permitted it.

War and Peace
Americans Deeply Split on Troop Increase for War in Afghanistan

Americans are evenly and deeply divided over whether 40,000 more troops should be sent to Afghanistan, and public approval of the president's handling of the situation has tumbled, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll. Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, has recommended the substantial increase in troop strength, and 47 percent of those polled favor the buildup, while 49 percent oppose it. Most on both sides hold their views "strongly." The survey also found that a large majority of Americans say the administration lacks a clear plan for dealing with the problems in Afghanistan. As the administration's review continues, 57 percent of those polled approve of how Obama is carrying out his duties as commander in chief, but confidence in his leadership on the Afghan war has eroded since the spring. In previous polls, Obama received some of his highest ratings in relation to his dealings with Afghanistan, including 63 percent approval in April of his handling of the situation there. In the latest poll, 45 percent approve, down 10 percentage points in the past month alone, and 47 percent disapprove, an increase of 10 points. Nearly a third of those surveyed say they strongly disapprove.

Education
College Tuition Rises While Incomes Are Flat

This year's College Board report shows average increases of 6.5% for public in-state tuition and 4.4% for private colleges. According to an article in Business Week, the consumer price index declined 2.1% between July 2008 and 2009, meaning that inflation-adjusted increases in prices this year are significantly larger than current dollar increases. At the same time, family net income has barely budged over the past decade. The average annual in-state tuition and fees at four-year public colleges for the 2009-10 academic year is $7,020, up $229 from last year. Those numbers don't include room and board, which adds another $8,193.

Environment
Fossil Fuels’ Hidden Cost Is in Billions

According to an article in the New York Times, burning fossil fuels costs the United States about $120 billion a year in health costs, mostly because of thousands of premature deaths from air pollution. The National Academy of Sciences reported this week that the damages are caused almost equally by coal and oil, according to the study which was ordered by Congress. The study lends support to arguments that society should pay extra for energy from sources like the wind and the sun, because their indirect costs are extremely small. But it also found that renewable motor fuel, in the form of ethanol from corn, was slightly worse than gasoline in its environmental impact. Coal burning was the biggest single source of such external costs. The damages averaged 3.2 cents per kilowatt-hour, compared with 0.16 cents for gas.

Human Rights
Study Finds Ending Capital Punishment Would Have Saved $2 Billion

States are wasting hundreds of millions of dollars on the death penalty, draining state budgets during the economic crisis and diverting funds from more effective anti-violence programs, according to a report released this week by the Death Penalty Information Center. A nationwide poll of police chiefs conducted by RT Strategies, released with the report, found that they ranked the death penalty last among their priorities for crime-fighting, do not believe the death penalty deters murder, and rate it as the least efficient use of limited taxpayer dollars. Nationwide, the report estimates, at least $2 billion has been spent since 1976 for costs that wouldn't have been incurred if the severest penalty were life in prison. The figure is based on an estimate in a 1993 North Carolina study that found the average extra cost of a death sentence in this state was $300,000. With 37 prisoners executed last year, the United States is among the top five countries that still have the death penalty.

Reproductive Rights
Judge Bars Restrictive Oklahoma Abortion Law Requiring Online Posting of Patient Data

According to an article in the Los Angeles Times, state judge has temporarily blocked enforcement of a new Oklahoma law that would require doctors to report detailed information about abortion patients, which would then be posted online. The law would require physicians to report such information as age, marital status, race, number of children, education level and the mother’s relationship to the father. It would also require the reason for the abortion, the cost and the type of payment used. Names of patients would not be included in information that would be posted online by the state’s health department, but abortion rights advocates say because Oklahoma is such a small state it would not be difficult to identify some patients. Reproductive rights advocates say the law would violate the privacy of patients and is an attempt to dissuade women from seeking abortions.

Women’s Issues
FBI's Report on Rape Statistics Not All Good News

Despite FBI stats showing rapes at a 20-year low, the large numbers of untested rape kits indicate that many rape survivors haven't received justice. According to an article in Women’s E-News, in 2008, 89,000 people reported that they had been raped to the police, compared with a high of 109,062 reported rapes in 1992. Experts on sexual violence attributed the decline in part to the role of DNA evidence in identifying suspects in stranger rape cases. However, while reported rapes have gone down, according to comprehensive academic studies the arrest rate for rape remains anemic at only 30 percent of reported cases, roughly the same as two decades ago. Also, despite the potential benefits of testing these rape kits, tens of thousands of them sit untested in police storage facilities throughout the United States.

GLBT Issues
HIV Infections Increasing Only Among Gay Men

According to a report by New American Media, gay and bisexual men account for more new HIV infections in the United States, 53%, than any other population group. This is the only risk group in the nation in which the annual number of new HIV infections is increasing, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). While new infections have declined among both heterosexuals and injection drug users, the annual number of new HIV infections among gay and bisexual men has been steadily increasing since the early 1990s. There are also racial differences; the infection rate among gay and bisexual African American men between the ages of 13-29 is approximately twice that of Whites and Hispanics in the same age bracket. One study found that African American gay and bisexual men were twice as likely to be infected with HIV as other gay and bisexual men. And among those infected, about half were unaware of their HIV status, meaning they were unknowingly transmitting the virus that causes AIDS to others.