Only YOU can prevent Drought!

It doesn't take a genius to see the constant drought seasons we have in Texas. With that being said, could relying on more rain be our solution to preventing drought in Texas? In an article posted by a fellow colleague titled water drought issue will not end by Ayan Ali goes on to discuss the significance of rain and the chain of events drought causes. Such as, wildlife dying of thirst, animals dying, ranchers going out of business due to no animals to cattle, and how food prices go up, etc.

Although by the end of the article I could understand the purpose, there were many things that prevented the reader/I from distinguishing that purpose. She starts by saying how we've been getting rain in Texas for the past few weeks, which is good for our drought, but quickly goes on to discuss the negative consequences. For example, she talks about how the drought is killing animals and then goes on to give a link to how it's affecting the bay and the animals living in it. I was confused as to where she was trying to go with her article, but near the end she gives a few clear examples as to how we can all help with our drought condition. The examples she provided lead me to see the purpose of the article which is to discuss the drought and the consequences that come with it.

I feel like Ali wasn't sure where to start her article and it showed. Ali could have started her article by discussing how the citizens of Texas could help the drought and provided examples of the effects that happen when we do not help our drought condition.( Such as the chain of events she discussed earlier) By doing that, she could have helped the reader see what the point of her article was and it could have been convincing. Another factor that threw me off was the grammatical errors in her article. If she would have proofread her article before publishing it, she could have sounded persuasive and been taken seriously.

Another thing that could have helped her article would be if she didn't rely so much on rain as our solution to the drought. Rain helps our drought, but relying on rain solely cannot be our only solution! She addresses that we could all use water less when showering, watering our garden, and etc. She could have then used that opportunity to discuss how Texas isn't so fond of allowing reservoirs to be built, but perhaps if we started approving of them more, then we could help our drought significantly. Additionally, she could have tossed in data to give her credibility instead of personal opinion. If Ali wouldn't have ranted about animals being effected, then perhaps she could have had a persuasive article worth reading.

Tolls won't stop the Traffic, So quit wasting Money!

Whether you're going to school, work, the mall, or out to eat. It's not hard to notice the continuous increase in traffic to get anywhere you want to go. The continuous traffic jams further arise questions as to what could lessen the traffic here in Texas and if building more tolls could be our answer. On an article posted on November 29, 2013 in The Texas Tribune titled "In Austin, Toll Lanes May Give Bus Service a Boost" goes on to discuss that by 2015 an 11-mile stretch of Austin's Mopac Boulevard will expand to eight lanes from six and that the two new lanes will be tolled, which will give drivers the chance to pay premium to avoid frequent traffic.

With that being said, $200 million is being invested into this project and was even stated on the article above that neither the Texas Department of Transportation nor any of the entities involved in this project predict that it will make Mopac into a free-flowing transportation route. I for one do not support this project and feel that it is a waste of $200 million that could be used on another project. If even the people who are investing into this project do not believe it could lessen the traffic, then why waste $200 million is the better question. Texas is getting more populated as time passes and what makes anyone so sure that people will actually invest in paying more for tolls?

One example as to why I don't see this working out is because even with the tollways we now have in place, there is still traffic anywhere you go. Not only that, but some people do not want to pay to take a tollway. Quite a few people I know have said they don't ever intend on getting a Texas "tag" which furthermore shows that not everyone is in on the idea of taking tollways. Another thing I have seen happen with the creation of tollways is that some people will still use it and not pay. They let their toll bills pile up and still do not pay for it. Why waste $200 million if it will only lessen the traffic by a little, some people will misuse it/not pay, and it will create debt overtime?

On an article posted by Kxan News titled Man shocked to find name on list of top toll violators goes on to discuss how more than $27 million is owed to the state by violators across the state with unpaid toll bills. This shows how people will violate the tollways and not pay, which furthermore proves that tollways are not as helpful as one would assume. Sure, they help getting to some places with ease, but why invest more in them if they will barely lessen the traffic and people won't pay? Eventually as time passes this state will get further populated and what will we do next? build more and more tolls as our only solution? I think not. I feel if Texas wishes to lower the traffic population then they need to think of other ways besides building more tolls and wasting money on plans that aren't as effective in lowering traffic. Perhaps if Texas increases the gas prices and makes even more public transportations then more people will result in not using their cars as often, which will lower the traffic significantly! It might sound like I am pushing it with such a thought, but it's a thought/start instead of wasting $200 million and not really lowering the traffic ..