Potential Country Docs Face Roadblocks

Medical care in rural Texas isn’t as healthy as it could be. Rural medicine is restricted not only by lower income than in big cities but also by a state law that bars hospital hiring of physicians. Local leaders have to get creative to get doctors to make a move.

School Experiment Grows, Succeeds

The Knowledge is Power Program, or KIPP, began with a single school in Houston in 1994. Now KIPP schools serve more than 20,000 mostly minority students in 19 states, including 25 schools in Texas. The program is based on high expectations and focuses all students on a single, lofty goal — earning admission to a four-year college.

Ghosts of Katrina in the Ninth Ward

More than 70,000 homes are still damaged or vacant in post-Katrina New Orleans; thousands in the Ninth Ward. Photojournalist Tara Haelle shows us.

“Voluntourism” Serving New Orleans

Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans in August 2005. Now volunteers from colleges and service groups are spending their vacations rebuilding.

Pedaling to Mexico on Trash Bicycles

Every January, volunteers travel from East Austin to Mexico to deliver hand-built bicycles to workers in Mexican maquiladoras — work camps around American manufacturing plants. Each journey begins with second-hand parts in an Austin warehouse, where the bikes take shape. They end up nearly 400 miles away. Saddle up with reporter Mike Melanson as he takes us along with the recyclists on an adventure across the border…on a bicycle made from trash.

After 12 Years, Wrongfully Convicted Men Go Free

In 1997, Claude Simmons and Christopher Scott were convicted of murder and locked behind bars. In March of 2010, they walked free – not because they had completed their sentences or earned parole…but because they were innocent men. Students helped earn their release, but getting the men out of prison was only part of the battle.

Struggling to Treat the Poor in New Orleans

The New Orleans area lost thousands of hospital beds to Hurricane Katrina–most notably those at Charity Hospital, the institution that cared for  indigent and uninsured patients. Now, community clinics are trying to answer the need.

Volunteer Spirit Brings President Obama to A&M

Former president George H.W. Bush hosted President Obama at Texas A&M University. Although they have political differences, they agree on the need for public service. They shared the stage to mark the 20th anniversary of Bush’s Thousand Points of Light volunteer campaign.