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December 7, 2004
Contact: Maureen Smith, Public Information Officer, Northwest Vista College
210-348-2011 or msmith@accd.edu

NORTHWEST VISTA COLLEGE STUDENTS RECONSTRUCT THE STATE OF TEXAS

Imagine that the state of Texas has decided to create four new states within the existing state boundary. Your mission is to develop a comprehensive plan to accomplish such an undertaking.

This was the task assigned to students enrolled in Northwest Vista s Weekend College this semester. The premise of the project was based on the Joint Resolution for Annexing Texas to the United States, which was passed by Congress in 1845. One of the terms of this resolution gave Texas the power to divide into four additional states of convenient size in the future if it so desired.

Acting as committees appointed by the Texas Legislature, the students collaborated to establish a Constitution for each new state and determine such issues as structure and power of the government, geographic boundaries, demographics, border control, and allocation of resources. Not only did each committee develop and ratify a Constitution for their newly named state, they also selected a state bird, flower, flag, and slogan.

The guidelines for the Texas project were purposely vague to encourage creativity and variety among the student groups, explained speech instructor Laura Martinez. Laura teaches the multidisciplinary Weekend College with sociology instructor Dawn Hedgepeth and government instructor Winston Padgett.

This project showed us just how tough it is to have everyone agree on one thing, noted student Jennifer Medina. This has definitely been a learning experience.

As in the real world, the students elected a president, vice president, and five governors to represent each new state. For the final presentation, students arranged the classroom to reflect the chambers of the Texas Legislature. When one of the governors got into a minor traffic accident on the day of the presentation, one of his classmates stepped in as lieutenant governor, successfully delivering a speech after just thirty minutes of preparation.

The students did not live up to our expectations for this project, Laura remarked. They far exceeded them.