Poli Tex
Winter 2013
We Want Wendy?23 Influential
Battleground Texas
26
Democratic.
Man Behind the Wheel
18
The Austin Growth Spurt
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Politex | Winter 2013 1
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EDITOR’S LETTER Sanjana Srinath
P
olitics has always been a passion of mine since a young age. I grew up surrounded by liberal politics and didn’t understand until very recently why I believe what I believe. I feel as though creating this magazine was, for all of us, an exercise both in going back to our roots and understanding what we believe, but also expanding to new froteirs of knowledge. We hope you find all of these stories to be objective and help you better understand your own opinions and the reasons behind them. On behalf of the PoliTex Team,
Ezra Serrins
“The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie — deliberate, contrived and dishonest — but the myth — persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic.” -John F. Kennedy Politex | Winter 2013 3
CONTRIBUTORS Ezra Serrins
I
was born in Austin, raised in Austin, and would like to consider myself a genuine, bleeding heart, granola, liberal. I spent a lot of my summer traveling and volunteering with Battleground Texas, about which I wrote the story Purple 2014. This year I am very involved in debate and other school activities.
Alisha Ahmed
I
come from a non-Texan family, but that doesn’t mean I am any less of an Austinite. I grew up here, loving the eccentric and liberal culture in Austin, including the music, art, and the liberalistic people. I plan to go into the medical field, and return to Austin to settle. My pastimes include playing guitar and piano, making art, fangirling and procrastinating.
Christian Estep
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Winter 2013 | Politex
R
All photos taken by Sanjana Sirnath
I
was born and raised in Austin Texas. In my free time I enjoy watching TV and vegging out on the couch. My favorite way to spend a day is to go to Starbucks in the morning where I do homework and later going home free of homework and playing League of Legends on my laptop. My contributions to our magazine include The Man Behind the Wheel and Voting Rights, Laws and you.
Raavi Asdar
aavi Asdar was born in Princeton, NJ in 1999. Raavi has lived in Austin,Texas since he was 3. He has been very involved in politics over the past year, attending Wendy Davis’ filibuster. Raavi also spent the summer volunteering at the Austin Children’s Museum.His contributions include writing a story on the childrens museum, and a feature on Wendy Davis. Raavi’s pastimes include doing homework, playing the cello, eating and sleeping.
CONTENTS
PHOTO BY CAROL VON CANON
8 10 14 16 18 20 23 26
#TwitterRevolution See how Twitter is involved in the Texas Legislature. The Austin Growth Spurt Experience first-hand the growth of Austin, and how it is affecting the people. Voting Rights, Laws, and You Understand the nuts and bolts of voting. Traffic Talk Contemplate traffic and how to deal with it. Man Behind the Wheel Look into the life of Selhadin Zeinu and his story of immigrating into the US. ACM vs Thinkery Know the differences between the Austin Children’s Museum and the new and improved version: The Thinkery. We Want Wendy? Contemplate the pros of having Wendy Davis as our new governer. Purple 2014 Examine the workings of Battleground Texas, a democrativ organization determined to make Texas blue.
Politex | Winter 2013 5
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#Twitter Revolution Written by Ezra Serrins
o you often think of Twitter being an ideal source of information? During the House Bill 2 protests many Tweeters provided more up-to-date and accurate information than formal news sources. PoliTex examined the turning points of the first and second special session of the Texas Legislature through a powerful social media outlet and look at the dissemination of information. Texas Observer - Patrick Michesl
Peoople in the rotunda the night of the filibuster. The lights are cell phones.
Representative Jessica Farrar
Because of the citizen filibuster, SB5 is dead. Thank YOU for the 3 minutes past midnight. #txlege #SB5 #standwithwendy
1.
Wendy Davis assumed the floor around 11:30 AM. Immediately Republicans in the Senate came out to oppose her filibuster and use all procedural means to remove her from the floor. When the Republicans removed Davis from the floor many Democrats, including Senator Kirk Watson (D-Austin) and Senator Leticia Van de Putte (D-San Antonio) rose to object to the Senate’s use of the three strike rule against Davis and other procedural matters. The deadline for passage was midnight and when Republican Senators moved for a vote the protestors in the gallery raised the “citizen filibuster” that Farrar refers to, when they chanted so loud the Clerk could not call the roll and the vote was unable to occur until after midnight.
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Andrea Grimes - @andreagrimes
Old white dude here to tell his personal abortion story, of the time he found himself broke and facing an unwanted pregnancy. Oh wait. #HB2 Applause in hearing room for Farrar, Cook tries to shut up clapping. Farrar: “You did allow outbursts from the other side.” #HB2 Lilith Fund - @lilithfund Calls of SHAME from the overflow room, as house committee votes out #hb2 with 1000 left to testify #SWTW TEA Fund - @TEAFund Oh come on. They reversed the numbers?! Yeah. Oops, I took away your rights again. #hb2... http:// fb.me/MkM4WbW2
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. The House of Representatives Committee met to consider House Bill 2 and take public testimony. At first the numbers showed about one third of people showed to oppose the bill and two-thirds showed to support it. In fact, it was the other way around. During the hearings in which over 1,000 wished to give testimony, the Committee cut testimony short to prevent the hearing from going into the next morning and delaying passsage as happened in the first special session. Opponents of HB2 criticized the leadership of Representative Byron Cook (R-Anderson) who allowed outbursts from those in favor of HB2 but forced those against it to be silent at all times. Many also criticised that the Committee brought in a law professor from Notre Dame University, in favor of HB2, as an expert witness rather than one of seventeen adjunct law professors at the University of Texas just down the block.
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. The process of House passage saw many amendments from both sides of the aisle presented and turned down by Representative Laubenburg (R-Parker) who authored the bill in the House. Amendments included extending the “Baby Moses” law to one year from 60 days and exempting rape and incest victims from the 20 week ban. Representative May Gonzalez (D-El Paso), a victim of sexual assault, took the floor to talk about her experiences and express concerns on behalf of her constituents that would have to travel 600 miles to receive an abortion. Gonzalez said,”I want you to look at me,” when you think of sexual assault victims, attempting to call on the passions of people, albeit to no avail. The predominantly rich white males of the Republican Party passed the bill. Becca Aaronson - @becca_aa Members are still filing amendments to #HB2, even though Laubenberg said she won’t take any... could be long debate #Txlege House tables Thompson’s amend 90-54, would have exempted victims rape/incest from 20 wk ban #HB2 #txlege Mary Gonzalez, D-El Paso “I’ve seen people in my own close family who have died having abortions in Mexico” #HB2 #txlege Andrea Grimes - @andreagrimes .@RepMaryGonzalez killing it: “I want you to look at me,” when you think of sexual abuse victims. #SB1 #HB2
The struggle went on and, in time, Governor Rick Perry signed the bill into law. At the ceremony Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst attributed the failure of HB2 in the first special session to MoveOn.org, the International Socialist Organization and the ACLU. Later the Department of State Health Services Committee, all of whom were appointed by Perry, refused to vote on proposed guidelines for implementation. Nevertheless, the law will soon go into effect and women’s health networks are trying to scramble together funds to improve the existing clinics to meet the new guidelines. Wendy Davis declared her candidacy for Governor of the State of Texas on October 3rd. The presumed Republican nominee is Attorney General Greg Abbott. All four Republican candidates for Attorney General have said they want to repeal the Seventeenth Amendment. Some things just never change. 2014 here we come.
Andrea Grimes - @andreagrimes This man just crumpled a $20 bill and asked value if he hid it under skin. This man compared HUMAN PEOPLE TO AN AMOUNT OF MONEY. #SB1 I interviewed @VictorianPrude, who got booted yday for calling Sen. Campbell an ophthalmologist (she is) http://bit.ly/12Ws4Sz #HB2 #SB1
Lilith Fund - @lilithfund Sen Garcia ‘Who brought you this bill? Were there constituents or incidents that wanted this legislation?’ Hegar: No. #HB2 #TXLege Andrea Grimes - @andreagrimes Hegar: “I do think the medical community is not in unison on this bill.” Except for the TX Hospital Assoc, TX Medical Assoc, ACOG. Watson: “Women keep wondering why you keep coming after them. It’s not jus politics to them, members. It’s their lives.” #HB2
. The Senate Health and Human Services committee met to pass SB 1, the Senate version of the bill. Hundreds showed up to testify and each were allotted two minutes and all spoke who wished to. Midway through the hearing one woman rose to oppose SB 1 and used her time to go down the line and criticize each and every member of the Committee. 30 seconds in, after calling Chairwoman Senator Jane Nelson (R-Flower Mound) an opthamologist, DPS officers removed her from the hearing room.
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. With plenty of time left in the special session Republicans were ready to pass the bill in the Senate and send it to the Governor for his signature. As in the House many amendments were proposed to the bill and Senator Glenn Hegar (R-Katy) moved to table them all. Hegar repeatedly stated his insistence on protection of life but also made several blunders when being questioned by Democratic Senators. When the time for debate had closed all of the Senators were given time to speak and close. Senator Kirk Watson (D-Austin) asked the Senate to step back and think about the implications of what it was doing for all of Texas. That night and march was held by pro-choice activists led by Senators Watson, Wendy Davis (D-Fort Worth), and Leticia Van de Putte (D-San Antonio).
Politex | Winter 2013 9
“We’re diverse and are becoming more diverse, and I think that’s a positive.” -Ryan Robinson
PHOTO BY DEAN TERRY
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the austin
GROWTH SPURT by Alisha Ahmed
Politex | Winter 2013 11
“We have so much more to do culturally than we did thirty to forty years ago.” The year is 1975, and future city demographer Ryan Robinson and his high school friends stare at the massive piles of earth and rocky ground at the future site of Mopac Expressway. The deserted site is clear of any authorized people, and the empty excavators and construction vehicles seem to draw the high schoolers to them. They approach the vehicles up close, and notice the keys remaining in the ignition. No barriers line the construction ground, so Ryan and his friends rush to the vehicles and hop on. They spend their time occupied with the equipment, driving around and having an enjoyable time. None of them realize how apparent this highway will be in the future. 35 years later, Mopac, or Loop 1, holds up a multitude of exhausted, irritated people sitting in their cars. No one honks their horns, because they know it’ll do nothing, and get them nowhere. Everyone reminisces back to the years when the road was as clear as day. This difference shows the stable change in Austin over years. The city’s growth rate soars above a majority of other American cities, at 3 percent as of 2012. Austin’s population has developed from 656,000 in 2000 to over 840,000 as of 2013, and is one of the fastest growing
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PHOTO BY ANDY HEATWOLE
Birds eye view of the Austin, which soars in a population at 842,750.
cities in the nation. People begin to wonder what has drawn so many people to this particular city, and others beg to be able to live here. “We have so much more to do culturally today than we did thirty to forty years ago,” said Robinson, the city demographer, “It’s our vibrant culture.” The city of Austin attracts people from all over the country for its liberal views and small town feel. From the people in eccentric outfits strutting along Sixth Street to the hundreds of people protesting at the capitol during important political days, this city is never short of freethinking people and progressive actions. “Austin is like it’s in its own bubble,” said Benjamin Sims, who has grown up in Austin. Austin’s distinctiveness compared to other cities attracts the people. People believe that Austin represents the liberal, open minded side of Texas, and that it
resembles a state of its own. In a sea of mostly conservatives in Texas, many think it poses as the younger, more free, college student, compared to the older, traditional southern. The music scene also triggers the growth. Musicians from all over the world come to participate in the captivating music lifestyle, while heaps of people visit Austin to partake in concerts. The nightlife in downtown Austin makes the younger, millennial population grow. The music festivals captivate people in the start of
“Young, talented, enterpreneurial people are attracted to places like austin.” their adulthood, especially single people. The food culture in Austin also fascinates people, because of its variety. “Young, talented, entrepreneurial, creative people are attracted to places like Austin,” said Robinson. Small businesses and independent job fields have prominence in Austin. The
creativity and imagination of the people spark the desire for diversity among businesses. Different job opportunities are abundant, especially when these creative people look for others to help them out and expand their businesses. Everyone has open-minded views on others’ works, so they join eagerly and willingly to spread the ingenuity. “There is a whole other group of cities where nothing’s happening,” Robinson said. “There’s no growth, there’s no job creation.” Large companies decide to set up branches in Austin because of the economic growth, and the extensive
“Austin’s success story is an organic success story. It’s because of the people.”
amount of companies means job opportunities arise. All of this stunts the growth, and it continues to circle in a large cycle, that gets larger every day. This mainly consistent cycle does not decrease, and stays as a noticeable pattern in the growing city. “The city [Austin] isn’t gonna grow as fast as the metropolitan area, or the five county area, because it’s pretty much already urbanized,” said Beverly Kerr, the Vice President of the Austin Chamber of Commerce, The growth has occurred in the past, and does not strike as a new phenomenon, but the growth still affects everyone. The economy fluctuates, which will eventually have major effects on the city. “Underneath that big growth, there’s a decided cycle: boom and bust,” Robinson said, “It’s a snowball effect that’s got a lot of momentum.” The baby boomers, or those born
closely after World War II, and the ones a bit younger, make up the majority of the population, as well as the young adults, or millennials. Someday, those baby boomers and millennials will get older, and there will be a considerable senior population. The working age at the time will not have enough resources or time to provide for the elderly, and that suggests a huge problem. The amount of resources will deplete, but if the growth rate stays consistent, and the population expands out of the Austin boundaries, we can hopefully maintain positive outcomes. “Austin has a very strong reputation for good quality of life,” Kerr said. From the strong liberal atmosphere to the pulsing nightlife, Austin’s people make the city stand out. The friendly community and eccentric society give Austin its influence. Although the city grows to resemble big cities like Houston and Chicago, it contrasts because of the culture. “Austin’s success story is an organic success story. It’s because of the people. Even back in the sixties, the city slogan was “The Friendly City,” and I think that’s still true today,” Robinson said. PHOTO BY MIRSASHA
Eccentric art at the South Austin Museum of Popular Culture
Politex | Winter 2013 13
Voting Rights Laws and You Written by Christian Estep
W
ith all the voting going on here in Texas, you might have some questions as to what rights you have when you walk into the booth. We have gathered the top five laws and rights you need to know about when voting and placed in this article for your convenience. We hope this will clarify any questions you have. The Official Denton County Texas Elections Website
1. Voting Identification
One important law to remember in order to vote you will need to show some type of identification. This identification can be a, Texas driver license issued by the Texas Department of Public Safety and Texas Election Identification Certificate issued by DPS,, United States citizenship certificate or an United States passport really any government certified identification card containing your photograph will suffice. Except for the U.S. citizenship certificate, the identification must be up to date or have expire at the most 60 days before being presented for voter qualification at the polling place.To get your voter identifiacaion you can find the form at https://registertovote.org/forms/ register/registration/texas.html
2.You Must Register To Vote
Don’t forget you must register to vote; you can’t just show up and vote. In order to vote you must be an United States citizen, and be a resident of the county where you submit the application. On election day the age requirement is 18 years old. In Texas, you must confirm that you have no current felony convictions (you may be eligible to vote if you have completed your sentencing). Last requirement you must not have been labeled as mentally incapacitated. For more information you can visit you state election office to find out how you can register. http://www.co.orange.tx.us
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3. Right to a Transtlator 2013 Studio Panamàtana / Sébastien Neil, Graphiste à Paris
If you need an interpreter or translator the following people may help you. On election day two election workers are permitted to help, or during early voting one election worker can assist you. Your employer, or an officer or agent of your union may not assist you when voting and the person assisting you has to read all of ballot to you, unless you ask that only a few parts of the ballot be read. The translator that you chose needs to take an oath saying they will fill out the ballot to you liking and won’t affect who or what you vote for. If you chose to be assisted you may be view during the voting process to ensure ballot validity, but if assisted by a person that you choose, then no one else can watch you vote. If you can’t speak english or can only communicate with sign language, than any registered voter from you country can help you communicate to election officials.
MILGAMING 2010 Version 4.0
4. Military or Over Seas Voters
Military and overseas voters can use the regular registration and early voting by using the mail process that all voters away from their home county on election day have access to. In order to register you need to fill out the Federal Postcard Application (FPCA), you can find these apilications at http:// votetexas.gov/military-overseas-voters/
http://fcusd.org/Currweb/secondary/secondary.htm
5. Students
If you’re a student who spends time in different locations, but wants to vote in Texas, you’ll need to decide which place in Texas you call “home,” i.e., where you intend to go after you’ve been away. If you want your parents’ address to be your home, you can use that address as your registration address, you can also register to vote at your college address. Just know you can’t be registered in both places.
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Traffic Talk Written by Alisha Ahmed
Photo by Paul Sableman
Bird’s-eye view of rush hour in San Antonio, Texas.
The cars move excruciatingly slow at 6 p.m. in the evening, and people burst with irritation. You have a family to get home to, as well as a life to lead. You can tell that others suffer from this same problem; you look out your window and see the person in the next car with the same look of desperation on his face as you. Read below to find out exactly how much the excessive amounts of traffic affects the city, how to lessen the harmful effects of road congestion, and how to make your time on the road a little less distressing.
Resources: “TTI’s Urban Mobility Report 2012,” by David Shrank, Bill Eisele, and Tim Lomax, Texas A&M Transportation Institute TTI’s Urban Mobility Report Press Release TTI’s Congestion Date for your city,
Austin, TX
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Nationally (2011):
spent an extra 5.5 billion hours wasted 2.9 billion gallons of fuel released 56 billion pounds of Carbon Dioxide produced $121 billion of congestion costs and lost prductivity
Austin (2011):
spent an extra 38,307 hours in traffic wasted 17,075 gallons of excess fuel produced $810 million in congestion costs
Photo by Steven List
#17
Austin Ranked for worst traffic in the U.S.
Congestion builds up as people hurry to get to their homes on a Friday.
How to lessen the waste:
Experiment with different roads. Some routes may have less traffic than others. Even if the road seems 5 miles longer than your usual highway, it could take 15 minutes less during rush hour. Flexibility leads to less irritation. Explore different times of going to or leaving your destinations. Instead of going straight home after work, maybe find a place close to work that you can relax at until rush hour is over, for example, a coffee shop. Also, don’t you have errands to run? Take care of those, and before you know it, the roads will clear up. Lastly, stay eco-friendly. Carpool, take public transport, bike or walk to work. These methods make for a cheaper alternative and a better environment.
Most congestion occurs from Monday through Friday. Rush hour peaks from 7 to
9 a.m. and 3 to 7. p.m.
Avoid:
work zones tourism areas places with geographical constraints
Average Austin Commuter (2011): spent an extra 44 hours wasted 20 gallons of fuel produced $930 in congestion costs
Politex | Winter 2013 17
Moyan Brenn Berkut83@hotmail.com
Man Behind the Wheel by Christian Estep
Y
our car breaks down and you call a cab, what seems like just a mild mannered man pulls up. The first thing the mild mannered man asks, “How was your day?” But you choose not to talk you have had a long day and you want to go home. But did you notice the lines around his eyes from all the experiences and hardships he’s gone through. Can you tell that he 18
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currently trying to move his family out of a country where their lives are in danger or that he hasn’t slept because of the nightmares he had from the days when he was in the army? To you he may seem like another taxi driver but this is a man is more than just the guy behind the wheel. “Every day I give [my customers] the opportunity to let them know me”. From walking across a dessert, to
taking a plane across atlantic ocean and to swimming across the Rio Grande. He has traveled 6,865 miles to live his life he is, Selhadin Zeinu.
“Everyday I give [my customers] the opportunity to let them know me”
Selhadin has lived in Eritrea for 18 years and when he came to the realization that he was living in a country that was under a dictatorship he decided that it was his time to leave and make a name for himself somewhere his voice could be heard and not be suppressed. He went through many countries in order to reach his goal Sudan Kenya Zambia, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Panama and Nicaragua. But the darkest time of his life even after being in Eritrea was when he was in Brazil. “It was the World Cup at the time, I was alone and with not a lot of money but I could see all the people in the streets just partying and having a good time even with everything that was going on in there life, I felt like I was the only one in the world that felt this bad.” The last big trial before he was able to Meet his greatest goal yet was to cross the Rio grande.Based on the information given by the Cia world factbook, for every 1000 people in the U.S.A. there are 3.64 migrants and 463 migrants died this past year crossing from Mexico to the United states. That Means that for this past year there had been about 5 migrants
dying every 4 days just trying to reach their mines what they may become and pursue goal of freedom. in the future. Based on the score of his test “The width of this river was he was to become a professor at a college about the length of a football field and the local to where he took his test. water was up to my neck, it was hard but it “I remember how from where my mother was something that had to be done.” made me study I could hear the kids play Back in Eritrea Selhadin and in the field while I was inside studying. I been a college professor and so having know now that because of that constant crossed over to the united states needed to studying that have a future earn his credentials again Once Selhadin I was educated so I could really see how completed the courses needed to become our government was corrupted and that I a teacher again than he was able to teach needed out” 8th grade algebra. When that phase of his Selhadin currently is working life ended he was looking for a job that hard to bring his family from Canada and Uihuuu provided better pay now that he was trying Microsoft support them while they wait patiently to move his family from Eritrea and Taxi driver was just the thing. According to the Community College Consortium for Immigrant Education Westchester Community College © 2013 CCCIE, of the 6.5 million students who enroll in community colleges, one fourth of them are migrants. At a young age Selhadin was pulled away from his family during the summers along with other children his age and free labor workers. They continue to do this for four years until they take a test in their last day of high school that deter-
“Our governmnt was corrupted ...I needed out” By Mr. T in DC
Rio Grande Panorama
“...I felt like I was the only one in the world that felt this bad.”
Politex | Winter 2013 19
Think THINKERY about the By Raavi M. Asdar
T
he Austin Children’s Museum officially closed on the 1st of Sept. 2013. The next evolution of the ACM, (the Thinkery, set to open in December 2013) features all new exhibits and has twice as much space as the ACM. In the transitional period between September and December the Thinkery staff continues to entertain kids by hosting a “traveling museum” that visits farmers markets. The Thinkery also contains its own free parking garage, so you can say goodbye to dragging your kids all over downtown looking for parking. The staff of Politex has come up with a list of pros and cons comparing ACM to the Thinkery. The Thinkery, twice the size of ACM The two kinds of exhibits at the ACM and the Thinkery are feature exhibits( which rotate out) and Permanent exhibits. The Austin Children’s Museum offers many unique exhibitions made for all age groups. Starting with the younger children Rising Star Ranch, targeted towards children two-years old and younger as well as their parents, Rising Star Ranch features many textured surfaces to stimulate young children’s sense of touch.The Funstruction exhibit, geared for 3-9 year olds, includes many activities on construction and a three-story slide. The Tinkers Workshop ,made for 5-11 year-olds ,geared towards solving problems and giving an introduction to the engineering design process, allows children to do this through many different activities including one with gears and another an area where kids can design whatever they want out of donated recyclables. Finally, we have Global City a dynamic and fun exhibit with many different parts. Global City contains a bat bridge where kids can hang upside down from a bar, a grocery store and diner where children can pretend to be shoppers or chefs.It also contains a train station where kids can watch a automatized train travel , as well as Global City library where storytime is held. The ACM has storytime twice a day where staff read books aloud and sing songs with children The Childrens Museum also has two areas for feature exhibits.
Location : The Austin Children’s Museum’s , located on 2nd and Colorado, moved there in the late 90s according to the Austin American Statesman.The area used to be a industrial neighborhood making real estate fairly cheap. Now that neighborhood lies in the heart of downtown, and busy traffic makes it difficult for many visitors to get there. The Thinkery located in the new mueller development intends to solve many of the congestion concerns that the old museum had. It also plans to solve parking concerns with its own parking garage. The city has also announced the alteration of certain public bus routes to accommodate the museum
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at 40,000-square-feet, has a whole new array of exhibits many of which have similar themes. Starting with exhibits for younger kids again the Thinkery features Bloom a gated area for very young children to wander around in. Innovators workshop and Spark Shop exhibits are similar to ACM’s Tinkers workshop, with Innovators workshop geared towards younger kids, and Spark shop targeted towards older kids.The Thinkery features a couple different new exhibits as well, Currents an exhibit on water, containing a water flute, drums and a whirlpool, and an outdoor climbing area. Mirroring Global City’s market and diner in the ACM the Thinkery has a farmers market and kitchen. The storytime nook at the Thinkery replaces ACM’s Global City library. The Thinkery also has three places for feature exhibits.
Admission price: According to the Thinkery website, the admission price of the Thinkery is set to increase from $6.50 for children two and up and adults at ACM to $9 at the Thinkery. Children 0-24 months have free entry. The Thinkery retains ACM’s open door policy, which allows the those who cannot afford admission to enjoy the museum for free. The membership prices also rise from ACM where it costs $75 for basic membership (allows an individual and three others admission for a year) and $125 for premier membership(allows an individual and 5 others admission for a year) to at the Thinkery costing $95 for basic and $150 for Premier membership .The Thinkery justifies these changes by stating on the ACM website that “the increase is based on higher costs associated with operating a facility twice the size”
The staff of Politex feels the thinkery is a necessary next step in the evolution of ACM. We think the Thinkery aptly addresses problems of size and parking associated with the old museum.
All art and photosby Raavi Asdar
(above) The old location where many children went for fun
Colorado Street
N. Congress Ave.
W. 3rd Street
(above) the Thinkery a place for fun and excitement
ACM
W 2ed Street
Muelle.r Blvd
lvd rt B po Air
(above) the old meuseum location in the heart of downtown
Aldrich St.
Aldrich St. the Thinkery Si m on
d
Av e
(above) Tinkers Workshop an exibit in ACM that deat with the enginering process
(above) Funstruction an exibit teachink kids about construction and shapes, it also had a three- sstory-slide
.
(above) the locatation of the Thinkery off Airport Bulevard in the Mueller Devolpment
(above) Rising Star Ranch a gated exibit for todelers
(above) Info desk n ACM advertising the Thinkery
Politex | Winter 2013 21
“It’s a convenient, in-town, errand vehicle,” says Brandon C.
Thinking green, driving blue. 22
Winter 2013 | Politex
We Want Wendy?
Battleground Texas
By Raavi Asdar
Politex | Winter 2013 23
T
he entire Capitol rotunda erupts into a roar. From the basement one can hear State Troopers speaking on the radio to each other about plans to evacuate the hundreds chanting and raising slogans. If one rides the elevator to the third floor of the rotunda, one can hear the chants echo in the granite dome. As one exits the elevator one sees throngs of people, one can feel the anxious tension in the air. This outburst came during Wendy Davis’ filibuster when Lt.Gov. David Dewhurst called the third strike stating that sonograms were not relevant to a debate on abortion rights, a statement which many Davis supporters disagreed with. One man when describing the atmosphere said “the mood was one of support...in anticipation and one of solidarity[with Wendy Davis]”. blocking the legislation that would have She was also the Political Actions Director Since her filibuster on June 25th, State Senator Wendy Davis (D-10) has catapulted into the spotlight of Texas politics. After standing for women’s rights for more than 11 straight hours, Davis became recognized by many in the state and around the country as an inspirational figure. In early October she announced her run for Governor for the 2014 Texas Governor’s race. Running against her in the race is Republican Greg Abbott ,the current Attorney General of Texas. On the night of the filibuster orange-clad protesters crowded the outside of the gallery door yelling and drowning out the Senate proceedings. These protesters yelled so loud that the granite floor vibrated A filibuster , when a Senator takes the floor and speaks on a piece of legislation for many hours in an attempt to stop it from passing, happened many times in Texas politics. According to the Texas Senate rules “the point of order having been raised for the third time that a Senator who had the floor was filibustering and not confining his remarks to the bill before the Senate, the chair requested the Senate to vote on the point of order”. Basically, after the third strike is called ,disputing the pertinence to the bill at hand, the Senate proceeds to a vote on the bill.The protesters were upset because the third strike had just been called debating the pertinence of ultrasounds to a bill on abortion. The hundreds of protesters were eventually hushed after being asked to be quiet many times by Texas Democratic Party representatives. They were asked to be quiet so that Democrats inside the Senate chamber could debate the legality of the strike. Then in the last ten minutes before the deadline (midnight) the protesters drowned out the Senate chamber by their noise once again. They ended up, along with Wendy Davis, 24 Winter 2013 | Politex
significantly limited accessibility to and reduced the numbers of abortion centers. The next month Governor Rick Perry called another special legislative session and the bill was eventually passed. Wendy Davis is the first Democrat candidate in over 20 years in Texas who has a significant chance of being elected. “Wendy Davis is the first Democrat in a very long time who, at the beginning of the race, is just as well known as the Republican candidate” according to Jay Root, a senior Texas Tribune political analyst who has also written for the New York Times. This threatened her Republican opponents ,and the weekend after she announced her run for governor,TV ads were placed which according to the website, Politico touted slogans like “Wendy Davis is wrong on life, wrong for our children and wrong for Texas.”. “She [Wendy Davis] could well pull off the biggest upset in Texas gubernatorial political history, when I was saying that a month ago people were saying Elliot get real , but now people are saying ‘you know it could happen’” said Rep Elliott Naishtat Democrat (D-49) in a recent interview with Politex staff.. Wendy Davis also announced in late October that she had picked Karin Johanson as her campaign manager. A Washington Post Profile from 2006 described Johanson as “a political junkie who has been toiling in the backwaters of Democratic politics for more than 30 years”. She has an impressive track record according to the Huffington Post. “Johanson, the former executive director of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and chief of staff to House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), managed Sen. Tammy Baldwin’s (D-Wis.) historic campaign in 2012.” In this campaign she got Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) elected as the first openly gay member of the U.S. Senate.
of Emily’s List an organization that works to get women into political offices. “ [Karin Johanson ] is universally respected nationwide and regarded as one of the best democratic political organizers and campaign managers in the country” said Rep. Naishtat earlier this year when commenting on Johanson. He went on to explain how the fact that Karin Johanson agreed to come down to Texas signifies that this will be a serious race. In a press release regarding Karin Johanson in late October of this year, Davis’ Communications Director Bo Delp said “Karin has proven that she can win tough races. She has taken on and beaten a full arsenal of failed leadership, Battleground Texas
Wendy Davis standing during her filibuster.
despite millions in negative ads”, he continued by saying, “Karin will be an excellent and outstanding addition to this historic and exciting campaign. We are honored that Karin will be joining us as we continue our fight to make the promise of Texas available to all families.” That said according to Jay Root “In order to win, Wendy Davis will have to over perform compared to past Democratic gubernatorial candidates, and Greg Abbott will have to underperform in terms of past Republican candidates.” One major obstacle in Wendy Davis’ path are the recent voter ID laws which have gone into effect in Texas. These laws require voters to show one of seven voter IDs to be eligible to vote. “Studies have shown that poor and minority voters will be impacted disproportionately, If that turns out to be true, it could give a slight advantage to Republicans” Root said. At the time of publication no federal court had stepped in to halt implementation of these laws. Despite all of these obstacles, in a poll taken on the 4th of Nov. by the Texas Tribune, Davis was trailing by a mere five
percentage- points; with 20 percent of the vote undecided it is still anyone’s game. “The one demographic that Wendy Davis could have some problems is with hispanic women middle aged and older, because they tend to be pro life,” said Rep. Naishtat. Senator Leticia Van de Putte (D-26) could solve these problems, as she is a pro-choice middle aged hispanic women strongly in support of Davis. She announced on the Nov. 14th. that she would run for Lt. Governor alongside Davis. “ Many pundits think that with Leticia Van de Putte on the ticket it will increase Wendy Davis’ chances immeasurably” Naishtat said. Root explains that A lot of Davis’ success in the polls is partly due to “a massive voter registration drive by Battleground Texas, help from activists associated with Annie’s List and Emily’s List (pro-women Democrat groups) and
other groups”. He further states that these groups “are making this race one to watch”He goes on to say that “ this being Texas...it’s still the Republicans’ race to lose. But Wendy Davis does have a chance,” . The Republican Party or any Representative from the Republican Gop Declined to comment by the publication time of this story. Since her filibuster a spotlight has been cast on Wendy Davis and she has become the first Democrat to have a chance of being elected governor of Texas since Ann Richards almost 20 years-ago. At the same time Greg Abbott has the traditional Republican backing with people such as the Koch brothers behind him.With all these factors taken into account this is setting up to be a very interesting race. uuuhiU tfosorc
“[Wendy Davis] could well pull off the biggest upset in Texas gubernatorial political history” Lonestar Mike
The Texas State capitol where legelative secessions take place.
Politex | Winter 2013 25
BATTLEGROUND TEXAS
I
by Ezra Serrins
rattle the broken door knob for a little while before someone walks to the door and opens it. A nod of thanks as I enter and sit down on one of the little wicker chairs that creeks. A cry of greeting followed by a return to the hum drum of conversation, phone calls, and typing. A Fellow throws me a chip bag. Andy Love leans over to me and asks me to decipher someone’s illegible handwriting on a “Count Me In” card. “I was looking for opportunities to become involved. When I learned about the Fellowship I thought, ‘this is my chance’,” said Andy Love, West Travis County organizer. The Davis Filibuster and arrival of Battleground Texas have inspired Love and Democrats all across the state to action. Wendy Davis recently announced her candidacy for governor of Texas which has led to a great boost involEzra Serrins volunteer activity. I met Grant Wiles who is a Fellow with Battleground. He grew up in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and worked for Wendy Davis in high school. After the filibuster he became involved with Battleground. “My number one goal right now is to elect Wendy Davis as governor,” he said. “I’ve thought that Wendy’s been one of the few politicians in this country or state even to advocate for people’s interests over private interests.” Battleground was founded by Jeremy Bird, the statistician who managed Obama’s victories in 2008 and 2012, as a grassroots movement to turn Texas for Democrats by getting more people involved in the democratic process. So far volunteers have registered thousands of voters and made over 48,000 calls in support of Wendy Davis’ run for governor. “A really important issue for a lot of volunteers has been women’s health and we just saw Greg Abbott’s team of attorneys work against the HB2 ruling in the district court.” said Wiles. “[Abbott] approaches government as going to work, suing the federal government, then going home rather than working for the disadvantaged people in our state. There is a reason our state is far behind other states in most metrics. And I think that he does contribute to that and that with Wendy we can have a state where we aren’t falling behind.” 26
Winter 2013 | Politex
The posters of Wendy Davis and President Obama on the wall at the Battleground Texas office
“MY NUMBER ONE GOAL RIGHT NOW IS TO ELECT WENDY DAVIS AS GOVERNOR”
Love then told me, “[Davis will] be able to get that Medicaid expansion done and hopefully we’ll get our own state exchange. She’ll be able to keep them from slashing the education budget. She’ll help out veterans. All sorts of good stuff that won’t happen [with Abbott].” Battleground’s base goal is turning Texas blue. Love’s opinion on that goal is, “It represents a huge shift in politics if we turn Texas blue. It basically makes the Republican party non-existant and lets us move forward from this mess that we’re in. Ted Cruz said that if we managed to actually managed to succeed it would be
the end of the Republican party.” Senior Fellow Will Davies is sitting on the couch on the other side of the room, throwing the miniature basketball into the hoop across the table, with a few accidental (and intentional) head shots. Davies was a fellow before the filibuster during the summer and returned for the fall fellowship. I talked with Davies about why he was involved in Battleground and he said that, “When I was growing up my mom was a school teacher and I used to go with her all the time to her school where she taught. It was a pretty rough middle school in Amarillo, Texas. It had some of the worst scores in the country and in the state if you’re going by test scores and I’d go with her and I’d just see the massive disparity between poorer people and the opportunities I had and as I grew up and I decided to get involved in politics and now I’m really excited for Wendy Davis running for Governor. She wants to provide opportunities for people like I had.” I asked Davies about how Wendy Davis’ candidacy for governor changed how Battleground operates he told me, “I think Wendy Davis is a once in a lifetime candidate. I think, in the summer when we were just doing stuff for Battleground, before we were doing stuff like for Wendy people were just like ‘is she going to run. I’m volunteering because of Wendy Davis.’ There are so many people who volunteered for this because of what she did on June [25th].” He continued, “I think everyone is just really excited because she really does stand a chance. She’s fought tough battles before. Her Senate district is a lean Republican district so she knows how to get elected when the odds are against her and she’s done it twice. So she’s used to fights and I think a lot of activists know that.” Wiles and Love joined Battleground for the fall fellowship but Davies and Central Texas Field Director Megan Klein were there for the filibuster this summer. “We were there at the capitol signing up volunteers and several people have mentioned that the filibuster is what woke them up and showed them how badly they were needed and how much was possible. We also saw a big uptick in voter registration in the weeks following and people mentioned Wendy and said it was important to be part of the process.” said Klein. She added, “I’ve also seen more than 20 pairs of pink Mizuno’s at
volunteer events across Central Texas.” sit around, sharing anecdotes and Davies told me that Battleground’s laughter. I move to leave and Davies tells greatest success so far has been, me this, “Right now in Texas we are at “Establishing a really good ground game a crossroads, we can choose between a for Democratic candidates throughout the future where the needs of the few outweigh state and getting a lot of organizers trained the needs of the many, or we can live in through the summer fellows program. an egalitarian society where every Texan People who can affect politics in Texas is better off. There has never been a better for years to come.” He also said that their time in Texas politics for young people greatest enemy is time. “I wish there was who really want to affect change than right Microsoft Uihuuu 28 hours in a day.” now.” The room is talkative and cheerful, especially as the food arrives. The Fellows Battleground Texas
Top: Battleground Volunteers register voters at a local com munity event, Bottom: Austin Summer Fellows at the office this summer after a hearty meal and hour of phonebanking.
Politex | Winter 2013 27
STAND WITH WENDY in style.
Wave Rider 16