The recession has caused a spike in enrollment at two-year schools like Austin Community College, which now educates more than 40,000 students — within striking distance of the great behemoth, the University of Texas at Austin.
Austin
This Might Hurt: A Dose of Politics
Immunization advocates want to expand our vaccination database, but the well-educated, middle-class parents who oppose them are organized and driven — and could force lawmakers to take sides in the tussle between personal freedom and public health.
On the Records: Sunrise?
The Texas Ethics Commission and the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts are opening up more of their data to the public at no charge.
2010: Newspaper Endorsements: Statesman for White
“White brings an impressive resume that includes business leadership, a stint as a top official in the Clinton administration’s Energy Department and a successful tenure as mayor of Houston — a city as politically and ethnically diverse as our state.”
2010: Newspaper Endorsements: Statesman for Kay
“Hutchison is not the flashiest politician in the race, but she is nonetheless the best choice in the Republican primary.”
Burned Orange
A clash over a beloved campus music club at UT-Austin portends the gnashing of teeth at schools statewide as a budgetary winter threatens to envelop higher education.
2010: White, Perry Lead in Fundraising
The latest campaign finance reports show that both candidates raised more than $700,000 in January. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison spent more than any other candidate: $3.3 million.
Up in the Air
Feeling blue over paltry federal funding for high-speed rail? Forget about it. Two Austin visionaries are already looking ahead to the next transportation innovations.
A Matter of Degrees
Community colleges pitch themselves as the gateway to prosperity for lower-income students who’ve been historically shut out of higher education. Trouble is, despite increasing enrollment numbers, few of them graduate.
TribWeek: In Case You Missed It
The death penalty and DNA testing in a 16-year-old triple murder in the Texas Panhandle. The second debate between the three Republican candidates for governor. Charter schools are having a hard time hanging on to the employees that matter the most: Teachers. The possibilities and perils of a switch to electronic medical records. A rundown of top races. Who’s giving to candidates, and how much? Social networks and politicians. Ballots: The slow reveal. And a new and highly requested feature makes its debut. The best of our best from January 23 to 29, 2010.


