By Juan Montoya
How many ways can you twist and contort a national story on Hispanics lagging behind in science and research to fit your agenda and blueprint to sell this community on the idea that it should sacrifice its 75-year-old TSC community college to the UT System?
Trust UTB-TSC president Juliet Garcia to reinforce the point that the research going on in the 20-year-old partnership's hybrid campus is a potent economic engine that is key to improve the state and national rankings of Hispanics in science and research.
Garcia held one of the-now-frequent press conferences just as the community is abuzz with the pressure being brought by her and her "committee" on trustees to swallow her new and improved partnership to gobble up the district's assets and emasculate the board of trustees. She was commenting on a 2010 report by the Beacon Hill Institute for Public Policy Research, in the department of economics at Suffolk University in Boston.
Texas, she sadly broke the news, is behind.
It is creating a situation requiring TSC-UTB to showcase and protect its growing research component, Garcia said.
The Rio Grande Valley being needs to be ready to be the innovators in how to do this better and the nation recognizing the Hispanic population "had better become an educated Hispanic population,” Garcia said.
Not enough adults are graduating from high school or enrolled in universities, she said.
Her remarks came at a luncheon she hosted Tuesday for media to learn about current research at the hybrid, schizophrenic institution.
Texas, the media found out, ranks last in the percent of the adult population, age 25 or over, that graduated from high school. It is also 37th in the percent of population enrolled in degree-granting institutions, 35th in academic research and development, and 41st in science and engineering degrees awarded.
However, the silver lining is that thanks to her forward sightedness and vision, Hispanics at TSC-UTB are at the cutting edge of research and keeping the partnership under her helm will assure us of a brighter future.
She pointed out, for example, some of the break-throughs in research going on at the former military fort that gives hope that the institution will be the salvation of this country and mankind in general.
UTB, for example, can lay partial claim to the discovery of a previously undetected pulsar hovering hundreds of light years away above the Milky Way's galactic plane. This will allow researchers to verify our basic understanding of physics and give us a new tool to study the universe. This will allow lead researchers to justify their existence and continue to milk federal dollars to establish job security.
Other more worldly pursuits going on at the TSC-UTB campus include cutting-edge discoveries on topics such as:
Micro-engineering labor speedup techniques to maximize maquila employee productivity while simultaneously decreasing corporate salarial output;
Techniques in intercultural linguistics facilitating transition from Tlalog to Tex-Mex idiomatic expression and streamlining communication within medical delivery institutions;
Institutional and corporate structure mission manipulation and social communications propaganda techniques to entrench a dominant strata and establish control systems;
Manipulating established dominant systems and construction of techniques to suppress socially progressive democratic representatives through use of effective methods by social, clerical, and commercial opinion leaders;
Aggressive accounting techniques to produce reward systems for the elite and concealment methods to establish reward systems bypassing provincial mentalities of transparency and accountability.
While some of these may prove too esoteric for the average South Texan or TSC district resident, it is noteworthy that these cutting-edge leaps in research have been achieved despite the TSC-UTB's 20 year track record of less than 17 percent graduation rate over a six year period, less than 50 percent retention rates for freshmen, an "unrated" rank among institutions its size, and the highest tuition and facility user fees in the State of Texas.
As Buzz Lightyear would say, and we're sure Juliet would concur: "To infinity, and beyond!"
8 comments:
Unfortunately, since only 17% of the students who enroll at UTB-TSC ever get a diploma...it seems to indicate that 83% don't get the benefits described in this epistle. Does it mean that we should give up $200 million in facilities to promote the 17% and disregard the educational and vocational needs of the others; and this community? Most students who graduate from BISD are not ready for the science programs discussed here....they need remedial education and vocational training. This blogs seems to indicate that to keep 17% exposed to the cusp of modern science and technology, we should dispose of the majority (83%). So, this blog, like "The Committee" seems to be saying "If you want or need a community college education or vocational training, you should go to TSTC." To abandon the needs of the majority of the community to salve on person's ego, and to expose a very few to higher education is warped thinking. Sounds like the author has sold out.
Brownsville is not the cutting edge of science and technology and UTB surely isn't one the edge. Maybe we should go back to UTPA at Brownsville...UTPA has entrance requirements that are more atune to supporting those who can perform on the cutting edge of science and technology. Most UTB students can't make change without their computers.
Great discussion Juan. What is the scoop on the "behind the scenes" attempts to undermine and discredit the current majority? The Monitor cites Rep. Oliveira as saying that Cameron County legislators have met to discuss "alternatives" (presumably, alternatives to the Board's vote). Oliveira "could not share" details--how convenient. I guess they are meeting behind closed doors to draft another work of art to ram down our throats. I think this time they won't divulge the details until it is passed into law. What great representation we have.
The partnership might have been a good idea, but it always needed leaders to reflect a combination of community college and university perspectives. Sometime in the last 20 yrs its primary leader (Garcia) lost this vision and focused on building a university in an area that would have benefited from two institutions working for one common goal--higher education. UTB began sacraficing academic standards to increase student numbers. It needed warm bodies to reflect partnership's success. Once UT Regents & TX Legislature were convinced, UTB realized it needed to filter out the "undesireables". Pres Garcia's disconnect is clearly evident here becuase Brownsville still ranks below the poverty line, which means that most of its incoming students' first priority is to survive financially; look for jobs pushing the benefits of higher educ to a 2nd or 3rd priority (multiply those #s and you have a 17% graduation rate). These students comprise a larger percentage of students in our community. The few in the top 10 & 5% of their class were overshadowed by the many who were not college ready. Those few benefitted from the university side and easily transferred to other UT-components for professional degrees in Law or Medicine, but the partnership's main goal was not yet achieved. From this perspective, the partnership did more of a disservice to both groups of students. It failed to address the problem of the larger remedial student group because the community college component was overshadowed by the quest to build a university. Partnership also overshadowed the achievements of the few (top 5/10%) who did benefit from university side. UTB's quest for political gain has made its degree/graduation standards questionable; making its degrees appear less valuable than degrees from other UT components even when compared to its closest component (Pan-Am). The organizational culture within UTB reflects this in their low morale and their statements to students (ie., if this was a real university). Both students & faculty have become the scapegoats for its leadership's miscalculated decisions, but anyone who belongs to Brownsville elite circle will tell you that the success of any institution depends on its leadership. The tone and direction of UTB was set by Garcia. She forgot her place in the scheme of things or lost interest, but the outcome is that she failed on both accounts. The partnership needs to end for the sake of everyone: faculty and both types of students (developmental and college ready). We're all strong believers in higher education. Both institutions will rise separately and finally address the community's higher education needs from a clear and more realistic perspective. Garcia has done great things for Brownsville, people care deeply about her, but great leaders also know when its time to to step down. University style professors will soon be able to enjoy the type of students they should be teaching and Community style professors will enjoy advancing classroom excellence as well. One can only hope!
a few years back she had applied for the position of president at trinity. maybe she wanted to try her luck elsewhere. she is a great lady and everyone wishes her well.
Juliet, Lucio and all the people
are horses
that are costing taxpayers money and
need to go to other pastures.
Hey!! you have the grad rate wrong it is 6% not 17%.
won't be able to look at another buzz lightyear toy--man!!! you scare me with Garcia's picture.
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