Current Events Quiz 4.1

1. Glenn Hegar, a comptroller, was asked by Sen. Royce West "is the sky falling in Texas?" This was in regard to falling oil prices. Hegar responded by saying it wasn't but we do need to keep close attention to oil prices and how it affects us. Hegar supported this by saying although state revenue has dropped, the state budget won't be badly affected and that Texas is less dependent on the gas and oil industry than it has been in the past. Severance taxes are taxes on oil and gas. They will bring in less money than expected due to the dip in oil and gas prices.

2. Donald Trump is sitting out of the final presidential debate due to his disagreements with moderator and FOX anchor Megyn Kelly. This is a risky decision because Monday is the day of Iowa's caucuses. Instead he will be hosting an event to benefit wounded warriors and other veteran groups. I think it will help his campaign if the event is highly publicized because if there's one thing Republicans love, it's veterans. The democratic candidates are debating on whether to attend a newly proposed debate that is not sanctioned by the Democratic National Committee. It looks like they will not participate, as Hillary Clinton says she'll only take part if all the other candidates do and Bernie Sanders has stated he will not participate. Five days later is the New Hampshire primary. It doesn't look like the debate will take place because only Martin O'Malley has said he will participate.

3. Brazil troops are fighting mosquitoes by trying to eradicate the insect and handing out repellant to pregnant women. Zika and dengue are diseases that are spread by mosquitoes. Zika causes microcephaly, a birth defect in which the baby is born with a remarkably small head. Brazil has had an outbreak of Zika, which has caused them to start fighting this war. The health minister's suggestion that women try to stop getting pregnant until the crisis was resolved was controversial because it was seen as fatalistic, as if Brazilians should just give up. Brazil's Carnival celebration is coming up in a month and Rio de Janeiro is set up to host the 2016 Summer Olympics.

4. Steven Weinberg has decided to ban guns from his classrooms, despite UT's decision to comply with the law. Chancellor McRaven announced that all UT System campuses should develop gun policies while still following the law. The campus carry law will go into effect August 1st. The open carry law went into effect on January 1st. Justin Wood said that the law hasn't had much effect, explaining that “most of the people who were concealed carrying are still concealed carrying."

5. Ken Paxton, the Texas Attorney General, objected to the US government's settling of Syrian refugees in Texas without giving the state without giving the state the official one-week notice. The Justice Department settled seven Syrians, a couple and their five children, in Houston. Paxton had filed a suit to block resettlement efforts on December 2nd. The request was denied by the judge.

6. If the Lady Longhorns beat Kansas, it will mark 1,000 all-time wins for them. The Lady Longhorns are doing well this season, they're ranked 6th in the country. Their greatest weakness, according to the article, is that they play too aggressively and get sloppy.

7. I liked Austin's obituary more because it seemed more sincere and personal. The New York Times just listed his achievements, so it seemed more detached and sort of boring (especially since I haven't seen any of his work). I liked the Times lead better however because I feel like it gave more information.