Mike Falick's Blog

Off Topic: Big Medicine Has Great Debut with 1.4 Million Viewers

Thanks to all of you who read my prior post and tuned in for the premiere of the latest show created by my brother, Stephen David, and his partner, Darryl Silver -- Big Medicine.  The next episode is on Monday at 8p on TLC (in the Houston area, TLC is Channel 63 on Time Warner, Channel 183 on Dish, or Channel 280 on DirecTV).

The Big Medicine website has the following teaser for Monday's episode:

Jim Quinn chooses Robert over Garth to perform his surgery, the Doctors Davis perform a Gastric bypass on Allen Mata and former patient Charlissa Moore, is now undergoing plastic surgery by Dr. Lomonaco to have excess skin removed due to her weight loss.

Tomorrow is the Last Day to Protest Your Property Taxes

Tomorrow is the last day to turn in forms to protest your property taxes.  The Harris County Tax Office website for information on how to protest and the forms you will need.

Clout Texas has also prepared a spreadsheet (.xls) to assist you in preparing for your protest hearing .

These Pictures are Amazing: Each Image Portrays a Specific Quantity of What We Consume: Fifteen Million Sheets of Office Paper (Five Minutes of Paper Use); 106,000 Aluminum Cans (Thirty Seconds of Can Consumption)

I recently ran across this website called Running the Numbers which contains a self-described "American Self-Portrait".  From the website:

This new series looks at contemporary American culture through the austere lens of statistics. Each image portrays a specific quantity of something: fifteen million sheets of office paper (five minutes of paper use); 106,000 aluminum cans (thirty seconds of can consumption) and so on. My hope is that images representing these quantities might have a different effect than the raw numbers alone, such as we find daily in articles and books. Statistics can feel abstract and anesthetizing, making it difficult to connect with and make meaning of 3.6 million SUV sales in one year, for example, or 2.3 million Americans in prison, or 426,000 cell phones retired every day. This project visually examines these vast and bizarre measures of our society, in large intricately detailed prints assembled from thousands of smaller photographs.

Simply Audio Joins Librivox as a Place for Downloading Free Audiobooks

I have previously highlighted Librivox as a place to access free audiobooks.  Now, Simply Audio joins the marketplace of free audiobooks with 11 available titles including Mark Twain's The Stolen White Elephant, Jack London's Call of the Wild and Joel Benton's The Life of P.T. Barnum.

Memorial Day

Senate Bill 101, Which Would Have Brought Significant, Needed Changes to the Top 10% Rule, FAILS to Pass the House Tonight

I originally prepared this post several hours ago based on a press release by Senator Shapiro that stated that both the House and the Senate passed Senate Bill 101 today which would have made significant changes to the top 10% admissions rule.  Below are the highlights from the conference committee report showing the changes that would have been made. 

Unfortunately, SB 101 just failed to pass in the House by a vote of 64 - 75.  I will post a list of the House members who voted against this bill once it is available.

** Update 11:38p 5/27:

AYES - 64

Anderson(R); Aycock(R); Berman(R); Bohac(R); Bolton(D); Bonnen(R); Brown, Betty(R); Brown, Fred(R); Callegari(R); Christian(R); Cohen(D); Corte(R); Crabb(R); Creighton(R); Crownover(R); Darby(R); Davis, John(R); Delisi(R); Driver(R); Dunnam(D); Eissler(R); Elkins(R); Flynn(R); Gattis(R); Goolsby(R); Hancock(R); Hardcastle(R); Harless(R); Harper-Brown(R); Hartnett(R); Hill(R); Howard, Charlie(R); Howard, Donna(D); Jackson, Jim(R); King, Phil(R); King, Susan(R); Krusee(R); Kuempel(R); Latham(R); Laubenberg(R); Macias(R); Madden(R); McCall(R); Morrison(R); Murphy(R); O'Day(R); Parker(R); Patrick, Diane(R); Paxton(R); Raymond(D); Riddle(R); Rose(D); Smith, Todd(R); Smith, Wayne(R); Solomons(R); Strama(D); Straus(R); Taylor(R); Truitt(R); Van Arsdale(R); Vaught(D); Woolley(R); Zedler(R); Zerwas(R)

NAYS - 75

Allen, Alma(D); Alonzo(D); Anchia(D); Bailey(D); Burnam(D); Castro(D); Chavez(D); Chisum(R); Coleman(D); Cook, Byron(R); Cook, Robby(D); Davis, Yvonne(D); Deshotel(D); Dukes(D); Dutton(D); Eiland(D); England(R); Escobar(D); Farabee(D); Farias(D); Farrar(D); Flores(D); Frost(D); Gallego(D); Garcia(D); Giddings(D); Gonzales(D); Gonzalez Toureilles(D); Guillen(D); Haggerty(R); Hamilton(R); Heflin(D); Hernandez(D); Herrero(D); Hochberg(D); Hodge(D); Homer(D); Hopson(D); Hughes(R); Jones, Delwin(R); Keffer(R); King, Tracy(D); Leibowitz(D); Lucio(D); Mallory Caraway(D); Martinez(D); Martinez Fischer(D); McClendon(D); McReynolds(D); Menendez(D); Merritt(R); Miles(D); Miller(R); Moreno, Paul(D); Mowery(R); Naishtat(D); Noriega(D); Oliveira(D); Olivo(D); Orr(R); Ortiz(D); Otto(R); Pena(D); Phillips(R); Pickett(D); Pitts(R); Puente(D); Quintanilla(D); Rodriguez(D); Smithee(R); Swinford(R); Veasey(D); Villarreal(D); Vo(D); West, Buddy(R)

 PRESENT-NOT-VOTING - 3

Craddick(R); Ritter(D); Turner(D)

 ABSENT - 8

\Branch(R); Geren(R); Hilderbran(R); Isett(R); Kolkhorst(R); Pierson(D); Talton(R); Thompson(D)

** Update 12:48a: The House just adjourned.  SB101 is officially dead.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Conference Committee Report for Senate Bill 101
by Senator Florence Shapiro and Representative Geanie Morrison
80th Legislative Session

SB 101, as proposed by the conference committee, does the following:

• Requires that every student, to be considered for automatic admission, must complete the recommended or advanced high school curriculum.
• This bill puts a cap on automatic admissions. 50% of the incoming class must be admitted based on Top 10%, and an additional 10% of students out of the Top 10% must be admitted based on a holistic review.
• If the student in the top 10% of their class does not get into their first choice school because of the cap, then the student is automatically admitted to their second choice within that system
• Institutions must adopt a written policy on recruiting and retention of underrepresented groups, and seek the input of community leaders when making these policy decisions
• The institutions must inform schools on the projected percentile cap level and the schools must inform 9th graders of the change in the law.
• Sunsets the cap on August 31, 2015 and returns the Top Ten Percent to its original form.
• Institutions must publish an annual report describing the composition of their class and any plans or policies used to recruit underrepresented students.

How the proposed CCR is different from the Senate engrossed version:

• The universities shall demonstrate a commitment to providing opportunities for underrepresented groups and minorities, including increased diversity in faculty and staff.
• The new cap takes affect for the 2009-10 entering first year students.
• If the student is in the Top 10%, they have the opportunity to defer and take up to two years of classes at another institution. If the student maintains a 3.25 GPA at that institution, the student may then automatically transfer to the institution of their choice.
• Deletes the scholarship for automatic admissions students that only applies to those schools participating in the cap.

Spring Branch's Summer Reading Lists

Now Summer vacation is here, it's time to start that Summer reading .  Spring Branch has published its suggested summer reading lists for elementary, middle, and high school.

And don't forget about the Spring Branch library resources page.

Graduation Day in Spring Branch

Congratulations to the Spring Branch ISD Graduates from our 4 comprehensive high schools.  Today is your day!

Spring Woods High School held its graduation at 10 a.m.  Spring Woods High has named four valedictorians this year. They are: Cindy Dinh; Jereme Gray; Dulce Negregos; and A.J. Womac. Spring Woods salutatorian is Harry Yu.  The program from tonight's graduation, which lists all of the graduates, is available here (.pdf).

Stratford High’s graduation was held at 1 p.m.  Stratford High has named 29 valedictorians. They are: Adrienne Alexander; Natalie Ashcroft; Kinsey Baker; Laura Bateman; William Benter; Hugh Butler; Jeffrey Cook; Amro Farrag; Kelsi Franz; Sarah Grace; John Graham; Sydney Helbling; Emily Houghton; David Kajander; You Kim; Harrison Little; Yang Liu; Desiree Salazar; Adriane Schiano; Lauren Seckinger; Mariana Silak; Michael Silliman; Thanasi Skafidas; Matthew Sorenson; Lauren Steh; Robert Surles; Ted Uotani; Kristin Wall; and Tatum Waughtal. The high school’s five salutatorians are Ryan Haselden; Elaine Hirsch; Lauren Kelly; Sarah Miller; and Evan Wetmore.  The program from tonight's graduation, which lists all of the graduates, is available here (.pdf).

Northbrook High’s graduation was held at 4 p.m.  Northbrook High School’s valedictorian is Glenda Linares and salutatorian is Yvonne Madrid.  The program from tonight's graduation, which lists all of the graduates, is available here (.pdf).

Memorial High’s graduation was held at 7 p.m. Memorial High has named 21 valedictorians this year. They are: Katherine Bonnington; Lauren Buchman; Kathryn Camero; Young-Bin Choi; Taylor Cotton; Jean Ellwood; Melissa Grenader; William Huddleston II; Brittany Lane; Jennifer Lehmberg; Janice Loh; Stuart Luyckx; Alison Moore; Huiwen Pei; James Powers; Benjamin Reinhardt; Brian Rockwell; Aryan Sameri; Allison Seidel; Mary Carolyn Simmons; and Mary Stephens. Memorial High has named five salutatorians. They are: Ashlin Aldinger; Trevor Lazarus; Kimberly Nettles; Melanie Puchot; and Rebecca Schneider.  The program from tonight's graduation, which lists all of the graduates, is available here (.pdf).

Memorial High’s graduation was held at 7 p.m. Memorial High has named 21 valedictorians this year. They are: Katherine Bonnington; Lauren Buchman; Kathryn Camero; Young-Bin Choi; Taylor Cotton; Jean Ellwood; Melissa Grenader; William Huddleston II; Brittany Lane; Jennifer Lehmberg; Janice Loh; Stuart Luyckx; Alison Moore; Huiwen Pei; James Powers; Benjamin Reinhardt; Brian Rockwell; Aryan Sameri; Allison Seidel; Mary Carolyn Simmons; and Mary Stephens. Memorial High has named five salutatorians. They are: Ashlin Aldinger; Trevor Lazarus; Kimberly Nettles; Melanie Puchot; and Rebecca Schneider.  The program from tonight's graduation, which lists all of the graduates, is available here (.pdf).

Graduation Day at Spring Branch's School of Choice

Graduation at School of Choice was held this morning at 10:15 a.m.  The School of Choice graduated 57 students this year. 

The program from today's graduation, which lists all of the graduates, is available here (.pdf).

The Few Remaining Deadlines for the 80th Legislative Session

The 80th Legislative Session is winding down.  Here are the remaining deadlines:

Thursday, May 24, 2007 (136th day)

Midnight deadline for house to print and distribute senate amendments [relates to House Rule 13, Sec. 5(a), requiring 24-hour layout of senate amendments prior to consideration]

Friday, May 25, 2007 (137th day)

Last day for house to consider senate amendments [House Rule 8, Sec. 13(d)]

Midnight deadline for senate to print and distribute senate copies of conference committee reports on tax, general appropriations, and reapportionment bills [relates to Senate Rule 12.09(a), requiring 48-hour layout of certain conference committee reports in regular session]

Last day for senate committees to report all bills [relates to Senate Rule 7.24(b), but note that the 135th day (two days earlier) is the last day for second or third reading in the senate; practical deadline for senate committees is before the 135th day]

Saturday, May 26, 2007 (138th day)

Midnight deadline for house to print and distribute house copies of all conference committee reports [relates to House Rule 13, Sec. 10(a), requiring 24-hour layout of all conference committee reports]

Midnight deadline for senate to print and distribute all conference committee reports on bills other than tax, general appropriations, and reapportionment bills and all house amendments to Senate bills that did not go to a conference committee [relates to Senate Rule 12.09(b) and Senate Rule 7.21, requiring 24-hour layout of certain conference committee reports and house amendments to senate bills during the last 72 hours of a regular session]

Sunday, May 27, 2007 (139th day)

Last day for house to adopt conference committee reports [House Rule 8, Sec. 13(e)]

Last day for senate to concur in house amendments or adopt conference committee reports [relates to Senate Rule 7.25, limiting a vote on the passage of any bill during the last 24 hours of the session to correct an error in the bill]

Monday, May 28, 2007 (140th day)

Last day of 80th Regular Session; corrections only in house and senate [Sec. 24(b), Art. III, Texas Constitution]

Sunday, June 17, 2007 (20th day following final adjournment)

Last day governor can sign or veto bills passed during the previous legislative session [Sec. 14, Art. IV, Texas Constitution]