The outspoken former UT dean and Boston University president on higher education’s past, present and future — including his opinion of U.S. News & World Report rankings, and Howard Zinn and online degree programs.
March 2011
John Silber: The TT Interview
The outspoken former UT dean and Boston University president on higher education’s past, present and future — including his opinion of U.S. News & World Report’s rankings, Howard Zinn and online degree programs.
The Midday Brief: Top Texas Headlines for March 25, 2011
Your afternoon reading: more budget analysis fallout; small businesses could lose tax break; UT alumni defend research
House, Senate Budget Battle Looming
This week, we saw signs Senate budget writers may be willing to spend more than their counterparts in the House. Meanwhile, a new analysis of the House budget’s possible effects on Texas jobs raised eyebrows.
The Brief: Top Texas News for March 25, 2011
Hundreds of thousands of job losses in Texas after budget cuts? Republican leaders say it could be worse.
State Senate, Facing Tight Budget, Hunts Revenue
The Texas Senate isn’t allowed to raise money. It’s right there in the state’s Constitution, which says all revenue bills must originate in the House. But there it goes, looking for “non-tax revenues” to put enough meat on the skimpy proposed budget to get senators to vote for it.
The Week in Texas Politics Recap: March 21 to March 25
No time to follow every twist and turn of the Texas Legislature? We’ve made it easier for you with our weekly recaps of the action under the dome.
Texas Could Require Disclosure of Drilling Chemicals
A recently introduced bill would make Texas one of only a few states to require natural gas companies to disclose, for a public website, what chemicals they use in the controversial practice of hydraulic fracturing.
Deep Rift in Beaumont on School Administration
Beaumont’s Carrol A. Thomas, who makes $347,834 annually, is the highest-paid superintendent in Texas, even though his district of about 20,000 students is considerably smaller than those in other Texas cities.
Analysis of House Budget Divides Lawmakers
Lawmakers offered dueling interpretations Thursday of a Legislative Budget Board analysis predicting that the state could lose hundreds of thousands of jobs if the House’s budget bill is passed.

