• Aprill Brandon •
• Originally published August 6, 2009 at 7:12 p.m., updated August 11, 2009 at 8:45 a.m.

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• Reader-submitted questions for Gov. Rick PerryWe selected five reader-submitted questions for Gov. Rick Perry to answer during his appearance at the University of Houston-Victoria on Thursday. He only had time to answer two. We submitted the other three to his ...

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Reader-submitted questions for Gov. Rick PerryWe selected five reader-submitted questions for Gov. Rick Perry to answer during his appearance at the University of Houston-Victoria on Thursday. He only had time to answer two. We submitted the other three to his office.

Q: Do you still support the Trans-Texas Corridor? Why or why not?

A: "I support building transportation infrastructure. The Trans-Texas Corridor is gone away. The name, the concept, the legislature decided to do away with that last year. But we will need to continue to upgrade and maintain our transportation system in the state. My big concern is that we have the resources to do that and to make sure we prioritize. Businesses will not move to Texas if they think they can't move their product or their people efficiently or effectively."

Q: Recently, while on a Dallas radio station, you said that if the Obama health care plan passes, Texas will not participate. Were you serious? What steps would be required for our state to opt out?

A: "Here's what I said, is that it may be one of those issues where we really want to step back and ask all the correct questions about. Some of those questions are starting to be answered. It will cost Texas anywhere between $30 and $60 billion over the next 10 years if that health care plan goes into place the way it is written today. I cannot, in all good consciousness, put Texans in jeopardy or on the hook for that kind of money if there is an alternative. So I will look for alternatives up to and including using our 10th Amendment right to say no to an oppressive, overreaching government that is trying to come in and tell us how to better run our states. I think most moms and dads want to make the health care decisions for their children themselves, rather than having Washington, D.C., do it."

The other three reader-submitted questions were:

Do you feel that the border fence is the answer to our illegal immigration problem?

Why did you suggest Texas secede from the Union and then ask for federal funding?

Why do you insist on confiscating more Texas farm and ranch land and turning our Texas infrastructure over to foreign toll road operators when you know that Texans certainly do not want anything to do with a North American Superhighway from Mexico to Canada?

It took a lot of people to turn the dream of making the University of Houston-Victoria into a four-year university into a reality. On Thursday, all those people, from the students who campaigned to the Texas governor who signed it into law, gathered at the university to celebrate a year of hard work.

"This is a milestone for this university system," Gov. Rick Perry said at the event, which had a standing-room-only crowd. "UHV never did buy into that old adage of starting at the bottom and working your way up. You all started this darn near the top and said 'OK, let's go from here.' That's the attitude you had and it's a great attitude to have. The wheels are now turning."

Perry was at the university for the ceremonial signing of House Bill 1056, which allows the university to admit freshmen and sophomores. The legislation was formally signed by the governor on June 19.

"This is a glorious day, not just for the University of Houston-Victoria, but for the University of Houston system, the city of Victoria and the state of Texas," Chancellor of University of Houston System Renu Khator, said. "We have to be thankful for our leadership in Austin. And, of course, for the one person who had the last word and with one stoke on June 19 made a dream into a reality."

Also on hand at the event were Rep. Geanie Morrison, the author of the bill, Sen. Glenn Hegar and UHV president Tim Hudson, who all spoke, as well as many other university and community leaders.

"This expansion couldn't have come at a better time or a better place," Perry added. "It's clear the folks in Victoria understand the strong impact education has on the economy, the impact it has on the community, the impact it has on the lives of these young men and women who have chosen to come here and the way they will impact the future of this state."

Even though the governor slipped up once during his speech, referring to the school as the "University of Texas in Victoria," receiving much light-hearted heckling from the crowd in return, the atmosphere was joyous inside the Multi-Purpose Room in the University Center, especially for the students in attendance.

"A lot of work went into this, but it feels like a lot of work has finally paid off," Kristen Lindley, the first student regent from Victoria for the University of Houston System Board of Regents, said. "Many students got involved and we asked students several times to come and speak to the board of regents. I think this has made the students feel like they have power over things that happen within the system. It was really neat to see that if you want to make something happen, you can."

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