Expensive Expansion!

I recently commented on a post written by Cynthia Oviedo saying that I agreed with her in supporting the expansion of the MetroRail bus route. However, I just learned that the state is experiencing an approximate $27 billion financial shortfall. Texas is experiencing very difficult times in determining our new budget. This new information as well as Allison Garrett’s post has led me to change my mind about the MetroRail bus route expansion.

Allison starts by quickly making her stance on the issue very clear. She is in support of the expansion but puts emphasis on strategic timing. Allison then continues by mentioning that with our financial shortfall Texas “should be focused on cutting spending, and raising revenue, not expanding a transit system that relies on state funding.” I appreciate that she quickly chose her side of the fence on the issue because it helps me and other readers to grasp her opinions more easily. Also, her opinion is important because it helps me to understand her point of view as I continue reading and then allows me to choose to support or oppose her thoughts.

Allison mentions that “the transit would charge relatively high fees to use” but doesn’t provide an exact or estimated dollar-amount. I understand that exact numbers would be difficult to provide but if she would have provided estimates or old reports then it would have made her opinion more credible. It would have also helped to grasp the reader’s attention because numerical data always stands out.

Also, she mentions that driving is a cheaper option and I really do not agree with her here. Perhaps commuting may be cheaper for drivers of small and economic vehicles but that isn’t the case for all Austinites. Allison should have thought her statement out better to realize that the bus is a cheaper option for drivers of larger, gas-guzzling vehicles. This more-inclusive statement would illustrate that she has taken the time to think about the issue and has considered different points of view.

When Allison mentions that “the transit only averages 450-500 riders per day…” she took the time to provide a link to her source of information. I really appreciate this because it adds to her credibility and makes her opinion more dependable.

I definitely agree with Allison’s overall opinion that Texas should wait for our economy to stabilize before forking out millions of dollars to expand the MetroRail bus route. However, there were certainly statements that should have been better-worded to show that she considered different scenarios. However, I do wish that she would have provided me with more numerical data when mentioning the cost to board the bus to help me visualize the impact of our American dollar. Allison’s editorial was very interesting to read and she made very valid points in which she brought the budget to my attention when I had supposedly already decided to support the expansion. 

Patient-doctor relationships should be private!

There has been a proposed rule for the state’s Women’s Health Program that prohibits abortion counseling. The state wants to prohibit doctors that are affiliated with abortion providers from being part of the program and doesn’t want doctors referring patients to an abortion clinic, counseling women about an abortion, or providing patients with information about abortions.

The Texas Women’s Health Program provides low income women between the ages of 18 to 45 with screening for breasts, cervical cancer, sexually transmitted diseases, diabetes, and high blood pressure. In addition, the program provides birth control and family planning counseling. The program was recently almost-entirely funded by the federal government but the state plans to pick up the tab.

Since I was raised Catholic, I find abortion to be an extremely complicated issue for ethical reasons and I have come to find that even with my religious background I still do not have a clear standing on the issue. However, I am approaching this issue as a breach of a should-be-private patient-doctor relationship and I am not going to dwell on abortion itself.

First off, I feel that this proposed rule will give the state control in an area that, as I previously mentioned, should be private. It is important for doctors to be frank and direct with their patients in order to establish trust. Therefore, conversations between doctors and patients should be protected and outside the jurisdiction of government interference.

Ultimately, doctor’s ethical rights are being violated and as a result, many doctors will refuse to participate in the program which will in turn result in its failure. If the state succeeds in applying this rule it could even be argued that it is a violation on a doctor’s First Amendment rights. This would then lead to problems that could be avoided by either doing away with the rule in its entirety, making the rule extremely clear and specific, or making a few alterations to its provisions.

Patients should have the right to initiate a medical conversation with his/her doctor. It only makes absolute sense that someone who is seeking abortion information would pursue a doctor’s advice. Therefore, the rule should be altered to state that a doctor should only provide information and counseling about abortion if, and only if, the patient has initiated the conversation. This would be the best solution to the problem because the state is still limiting the flow of abortion information yet isn’t crossing the line too far by placing a complete road-block between the doctor and patient’s line of communication.

I'll ride with you Cynthia! (I'm commenting on my colleague's blog post on bus route expansion.)

As the driver of a gas-guzzler, I completely support Cynthia Oviedo’s post advocating the expansion of the Austin MetroRail route to urban areas. Cynthia mentions the buses encountering less traffic, having comfortable seating, along with cool and clean air conditioning with free wireless internet. Although I ultimately support the expansion of the bus route because of the benefits to the environment and saving money on gas, these accommodations definitely caught my attention and are a wonderful benefit to an already advantageous system of transportation.

Cynthia then goes on to mention that getting off at the Howard Station leaves you in a “deserted” area. Her defense to this situation is that people without a vehicle have no transportation from this station. Although this is a good point, I find that the fact that people have to “cross under MoPac” to get to a more populated area poses much danger to these pedestrians since Austin has a tremendous amount of traffic. This traffic is in turn filled with people, who in all honesty, are not paying close attention to the road.

Even though it is evident that Austin is growing by the increased amount of traffic, I really appreciate that Cynthia provided a link to the 2010 Census. This illustrates that she has taken the time to provide credibility to her statement which in turn reflects, to a small degree, her support for the expansion of the bus route. Anyhow, with a growing population, the city will respond by opening new schools and services to accommodate the public. The expansion of the bus route will be of great convenience to Austinites as well as to the city itself by decreasing highway congestion and minimizing our carbon footprints.

I appreciate that before closing her argument, Cynthia provided information about where the expansion of the bus route currently stands by informing us that ten miles have already been added to the bus route. I look forward to the continued expansion of the bus route to, as I have already mentioned in agreement with Cynthia, decrease traffic and pollution as well as to be of great convenience to Austin’s growing population.