Race-based admissions policy upheld

“In our view, the nation’s future depends on students being exposed to diversity in their formative educational experiences.”
— Joshua Civin, attorney for the NAACP, after the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected an appeal regarding a case challenging the University’s use of race as a criterion in its admissions process, according to The Daily Texan.

“Because even University administrators can lose sight of the constitutional forest for the academic trees, it is the duty of the courts to scrutinize closely their ‘benign’ use of race in admissions.”
— Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Chief Judge Edith Jones, in a sharply-worded dissent to the court’s 9-7 vote against hearing the appeal, according to the Austin American- Statesman.

“Grutter [v. Bollinger] also cautioned that, while it accepted diversity as a compelling interest, any sorting of persons on the basis of race must be by measures narrowly tailored to the interest at stake.”
— Fifth Circuit Judge Patrick Higginbotham in January in his 54-page majority opinion, which affirmed a previous ruling by Federal Judge Sam Sparks in 2009 which upheld the legality of the University’s use of race in the admissions process.

Texting while driving ban vetoed

“Texting while driving is reckless and irresponsible. I support measures that make our roads safer for everyone, but House Bill 242 is a government effort to micromanage the behavior of adults.”
— Gov. Rick Perry in his statement after vetoing HB 242, which would have made texting while driving illegal in the state.

“From my perspective, there will be blood on his hands. Every time that we hear about a tragedy related to distracted driving … I hope that is forwarded to the governor.”
— Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, author of HB 242, responding to the governor’s decision to veto the bill, according to the Texas Tribune.

“There’s going to be a long casualty list because of the failure to move aggressively on this problem. In a political sense, I intend to make every effort to put Rick Perry’s name at the very top of that casualty list.”
— Clyde Petersen, anti-texting-and-driving activist and former Houston Chronicle editorial cartoonist, responding to Perry’s veto, according to the West University Examiner.