From the Red River Rivalry to redistricting, the following quotes are among the best from the last few days.
“Some of the recommendations will have a longer time of implementation inevitably, but the big ones, the ones that we think will be most effective, will have to implemented very, very quickly. … This incoming cohort will be the test of whether we’ve succeeded in 2016.”
— Randy Diehl, dean of the College of Liberal Arts, on a report of the Graduation Rate Task Force released Wednesday, according to The Texas Tribune. Diehl has led the task force since its creation by President William Powers Jr. last June.
“The Texas-OU game is on Oct. 13 … That will not change.”
— UT head football coach Mack Brown commenting on the overlapping dates of the 2012 Austin City Limits Festival and UT’s football game against OU, according to YNN.
“It appears based on all the things that are going on here that it is extremely unlikely there will be a primary in April or, for that matter, before May 29.”
— Judge Jerry Smith on new estimates for when elections in Texas can take place, according to the San Antonio Express-News. The state and minority rights groups reached a deal yesterday on a set of interim Texas Senate maps, but a deal on House maps has yet to be reached.
“We have not read the report as it has just recently become available. UT Southwestern and President Dan Podolsky are fully committed to operating a top-flight residency training program and comprehensive academic health center. In an organization as large as Parkland, errors will occasionally occur, just as in any other large health care system. That said, the overall quality and care provided by the residency training program is very good, and UT Southwestern is committed to continually improving the residency training program.”
— A spokesman for Dr. Kenneth Shine, head of the UT System health affairs operations, in an email to The Dallas Morning News on Wednesday. The email was sent in response to a report issued by federal safety monitors that listed a number of persistent safety violations at Parkland Hospital in Dallas. UT Southwestern Medical School uses Parkland as its primary teaching hospital, and the report faulted several UT doctors.
“[We] must establish specific community goals designed to improve educational outcomes from pre-K to postsecondary, as well as identify strategies to leverage the community’s ingenuity, human capital and resources across the entire education system to support our long-range goals.”
— Dominic Chavez, external relations coordinator for the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, announcing his candidacy for Austin City Council, according to his press release. Chavez is running against Bill Spelman, incumbent city councilman and UT professor.
“Keystone would have provided a shot in the arm for our nation’s uncertain economy, and it could have provided economic opportunity for tens of thousands of families, stretching from here in Texas all the way to the Canadian border.”
— Gov. Rick Perry in his Wall Street Journal op-ed Monday, characterizing Texas’ response to the delay of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, which would run through the state.
