![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/dentonfracking/20141106193059im_/http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/columnists/rodger-jones/20141103-texan-of-the-year-logo.jpg.ece/ALTERNATES/w140/Texan+of+the+Year+logo.jpg)
Which Texans have had an impact?
Rodger Jones: What unsung Texan should we know about?Attention readers: We need your help in finding a Texan of the Year?
![In this 2008 file photo, Elizabeth Pena poses as she arrives for the Los Angeles premiere of “Nothing Like the Holidays.” The actress died recently at age 55.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/dentonfracking/20141106193059im_/http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/sunday-commentary/20141031-pena.jpg_10-17-2014_uid_state_1_1_40327143-2-.jpg.ece/ALTERNATES/w140/PENA.JPG_10-17-2014_UID_STATE_1_1_40327143+%282%29.JPG)
Esther Cepeda: Elizabeth Peña was a small-screen trailblazer for Latinas
The late star didn’t conform to Hollywood’s image of how a Hispanic woman should act, the columnist says.
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Carly Okyle: Does my disability define me?
Writer embraces the task of writing about her cerebral palsy while hoping not to be the ‘poster child of disability gone right’
![David L. Heymann, the former acting Assistant Director General for Communicable Diseases and Representative of the Director General for Polio Eraradication WHO, is shown in a file photo as he spoke about a new global pandemic influenza action plan to increase vaccine supply in 2006.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/dentonfracking/20141106193059im_/http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/columnists/point-person/20141031-ap061023010947.jpg.ece/ALTERNATES/w140/AP061023010947.jpg)
Q&A: Sizing up the Ebola virus
Former WHO chief David Heymann talks about the spread of Ebola in West Africa
![In this file photo, from left, Gov. Jerry Brown, state Senator Alex Padilla and Google co-founder, Sergey Brin arrive at Google headquarters in a driverless car.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/dentonfracking/20141106193059im_/http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/sunday-commentary/20141031-self_driving_cars_39795747.jpg.ece/ALTERNATES/w140/SELF_DRIVING_CARS_39795747.JPG)
Vivek Wadhwa: Soon, humans won’t be trusted to drive cars
Self-driving cars of the near future will do to human drivers what cars did to horses and buggies, the researcher says.
![Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky., a 30-year incumbent, meets voters in Russellville, Ky, during the final week before the crucial midterm election that could shift the balance of power in Congress.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/dentonfracking/20141106193059im_/http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/sunday-commentary/20141031-mcconnell_kentucky_senate_40498902-1-.jpg.ece/ALTERNATES/w140/MCCONNELL_KENTUCKY_SENATE_40498902+%281%29.JPG)
Kathleen Parker: The hope-and-change formula has lost its magic
A ballot cast in the midterms is less a vote for a person than it is a vote against the void in the presidency, she says.
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/dentonfracking/20141106193059im_/http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/sunday-commentary/20141031-ve1898c.jpg.ece/ALTERNATES/w140/ve1898c.jpg)
John Dickerson: GOP might take control of Congress, but not with new ideas
The party relies on no great animating idea other than the fear (or avoidance) of the Obama nightmare, the columnist says.
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/dentonfracking/20141106193059im_/http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/sunday-commentary/20141031-ve2113c.jpg.ece/ALTERNATES/w140/ve2113c.jpg)
Dr. Adam Brenner: A preventive guide on mental illness
Reaching at-risk families holds promise of aiding kids, he says
![Apple CEO Tim Cook has acknowledged he is gay while advocating for human rights reportedly in an essay in Businessweek. He is shown here in a file photo from September.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/dentonfracking/20141106193059im_/http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/sunday-commentary/20141031-455044602_40524621.jpg.ece/ALTERNATES/w140/455044602_40524621.JPG)
Talking Points: Quotable quotes from the week’s news
Last gasps from Abbott-Davis race, Obama on Ebola, Chris Christie on Ebola, Tim Cook’s coming-out, Ted Cruz’s reaction
Kate Greene: Why the first Mars mission should be manned by women
Economically, not to mention in other ways, it makes sense to send women to Mars, but don’t bet on a crew without men, she says
![Dana Goldstein](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/dentonfracking/20141106193059im_/http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/columnists/point-person/20141024-dana_goldstein_dec2011.jpg.ece/ALTERNATES/w140/dana_goldstein_dec2011.JPG)
Q&A: Dana Goldstein on what teachers want from us
The education journalist says this embattled profession also needs an adjusted focus on testing, more diversity and leadership stability to succeed.
![US President Barack Obama is seen in the Oval Office of the White House on Thursday.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/dentonfracking/20141106193059im_/http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/sunday-commentary/20141024-534676146_40424135.jpg.ece/ALTERNATES/w140/534676146_40424135.JPG)
Charles Lipson: Oppressive walls are closing in on an unpopular president
These days, Obama finds himself welcome only in the palatial homes of Hollywood stars, the professor says
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David Brooks: Applaud the low idealist who wants more than hope
Columnist makes a case for political idealism, but not the brand that surrounded Obama’s 2008 campaign
![In this file photo, Missouri Highway Patrol Capt. Ron Johnson walks among people protesting the police shooting death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/dentonfracking/20141106193059im_/http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/sunday-commentary/20141024-police_shooting_missouri_40428378.jpg.ece/ALTERNATES/w140/POLICE_SHOOTING_MISSOURI_40428378.JPG)
Peniel E. Joseph: A new social justice movement is brewing
Events in Ferguson, St. Louis and elsewhere are signs of a brewing struggle, the columnist says.
![A sofa sits abandoned in a lot in a high poverty area of Philadelphia, the poorest big city in America.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/dentonfracking/20141106193059im_/http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/sunday-commentary/20141024-457724124_40421615.jpg.ece/ALTERNATES/w140/457724124_40421615.JPG)
Esther Cepeda: In the future, discrimination will be based on class, not race
Right now, it looks like instead of simply transcending race, our future population stands to swap one kind of bigotry for another, she says
![The images carved into Mount Rushmore evoke bygone eras of U.S. leadership that aren’t likely to be replicated given the limits of the presidency and the constraints that bind it.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/dentonfracking/20141106193059im_/http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/sunday-commentary/20141024-travel_blackhills_1_gt_2932543.jpg.ece/ALTERNATES/w140/TRAVEL_BLACKHILLS_1_GT_2932543.JPG)
Aaron David Miller: The time of great American leadership is over
We can no longer have a truly great president. That’s OK: We seldom need one, and we might not want one, he says
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/dentonfracking/20141106193059im_/http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/sunday-commentary/20141024-people-monica_lewinsky_40379931.jpg.ece/ALTERNATES/w140/PEOPLE-MONICA_LEWINSKY_40379931.JPG)
Talking Points: Notable quotes from the week’s news
Monica Lewinsky on empathy, Mike Rawlings on wealth, Jenkins and Trump on Ebola, Hitler appears in Switzerland
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Researchers: Malcolm Gladwell was wrong. Practice isn’t perfect.
Many other factors affect genius, sayDavid Z. Hambrick, Fernanda Ferreira and John M. Henderson
![Harvard President Drew Faust is pictured in the Harvard Art Museums.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/dentonfracking/20141106193059im_/http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/columnists/point-person/20141017-092614_faust_drew_153_320155_949693.jpg.ece/ALTERNATES/w140/092614_Faust_Drew_153_320155_949693.JPG)
Q&A: Harvard President Drew Gilpin Faust
The historian and award-winning author discusses the nation’s challenge of affordable higher ed.
![How worried should we be about the chemicals in our beloved pumpkin-spice lattes?](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/dentonfracking/20141106193059im_/http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/sunday-commentary/20141017-starbucks_education_38307031.jpg.ece/ALTERNATES/w140/STARBUCKS_EDUCATION_38307031.JPG)
Raychelle Burks: Go ahead, drink your pumpkin spice latte
A chemist says no chemical is 100-percent safe, but our fear of chemicals needs to be tempered
![A networking group for older workers met at the Jewish Family Services of Greater Dallas last summer.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/dentonfracking/20141106193059im_/http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/sunday-commentary/20141017-nb_05olderworkers6_32477448.jpg.ece/ALTERNATES/w140/NB_05OLDERWORKERS6_32477448.JPG)
Chris Farrell: Baby boomers’ latest revolution is unretirement
Working in golden years, on the whole, is good for the economy, the columnist says.
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/dentonfracking/20141106193059im_/http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/sunday-commentary/20141017-528415098_36771631.jpg.ece/ALTERNATES/w140/528415098_36771631.JPG)
Kathleen Parker: How unpopular is President Obama?
Desperate Dems are in deep denial over the unpopularity of their president, columnist says
![Bono said he was sorry that his band, U2, released its album for free directly into millions of iTunes accounts.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/dentonfracking/20141106193059im_/http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/sunday-commentary/20141017-534410490_40292946.jpg.ece/ALTERNATES/w140/534410490_40292946.JPG)
Talking Points: Notable quotes from the week’s news
Ebola in Africa, Ebola in Dallas, Dallas Cowboys shoplifter, Bono’s “oops” moment, “old racehorse” Bill Clinton
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Ezekiel Emanuel: Why I want to die at 75
A medical ethicist challenges those who think a long life at any cost is the American way.
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/dentonfracking/20141106193059im_/http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/sunday-commentary/20141010-ap071115021298.jpg.ece/ALTERNATES/w140/AP071115021298.jpg)
Point Person: Former Sen. Bill Bradley on making America better
It starts with early childhood education, and, as the title of his new book says, “We Can All Do Better” in several aspects of life.
![This undated family photo provided by Jennifer Cramblett shows her daughter, Payton.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/dentonfracking/20141106193059im_/http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/sunday-commentary/20141010-wrong_sperm_lawsuit_40088345.jpg.ece/ALTERNATES/w140/WRONG_SPERM_LAWSUIT_40088345.JPG)
Mitch Albom: Should you be able to custom-order a baby from a sperm bank?
‘Wrongful birth’ lawsuit raises a question: Where are we going as a society?
Jamelle Bouie: 'Talking white' at home vs. 'talking white' at the office
When it comes to language and race, audience and setting make a difference.
![UN Women Goodwill Ambassador Emma Watson and United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon at the United Nations in New York last month.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/dentonfracking/20141106193059im_/http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/sunday-commentary/20141010-533613980_39869779.jpg.ece/ALTERNATES/w140/533613980_39869779.JPG)
Heather Wilhelm: Don’t buy pre-packaged feminism
Emma Watson’s recent speech at the U.N. was revealing in what she said and how it was received, the columnist says.
![Mario Savio, exhorting protesters from atop a car in 1964, became the leader of the Free Speech Movement at the University of California at Berkeley.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/dentonfracking/20141106193059im_/http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/sunday-commentary/20141010-42-31044086_35230208.jpg.ece/ALTERNATES/w140/42-31044086_35230208.JPG)
Sol Stern: The Free Speech Movement won, but free speech lost
Fifty years after taking part in the successful Berkeley movement, Sol Stern refuses to celebrate the result.
![Members of the Army's 101st Airborne Division conduct a training exercise at Ft. Campbell, Ky. Members will travel to Liberia to build treatment centers and conduct medical training as part of the fight against the Ebola epidemic.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/dentonfracking/20141106193059im_/http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/sunday-commentary/20141010-fort_campbell_ebola_training_40217214.jpg.ece/ALTERNATES/w140/FORT_CAMPBELL_EBOLA_TRAINING_40217214.JPG)
Talking Points: Notable quotes from the week’s news
Ebola death in Dallas, Ebola threat worldwide, Obama’s critics and fans, milder pot in Denver
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/dentonfracking/20141106193059im_/http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/sunday-commentary/20141003-1005poi_lamster_web.jpg.ece/ALTERNATES/w140/1005poi_lamster_WEB.jpg)
Mark Lamster: Dallas needs to heal the broken relationship between the built city and its promise of justice
In Texas, courthouses were once a beacon of justice for all. In Dallas today, the jail complex is a distressed symbol of decline, the critic writes.
![Kirk James, senior director of the David Rothenberg Center for Public Policy at the Fortune Society, a nonprofit that helps inmates and former inmates re-enter society, speaks recently during a rally to call for overhauling policies concerning treatment of city jail inmates, at New York's City Hall.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/dentonfracking/20141106193059im_/http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/sunday-commentary/20141003-nyc_jails-solitary_confinement_39335055.jpg.ece/ALTERNATES/w140/NYC_JAILS-SOLITARY_CONFINEMENT_39335055.JPG)
Cruel punishment is all too usual in U.S. jails and prisons, attorney says
Trial attorney Martin Garbus asks: Do we really find this kind of prisoner treatment acceptable?
![SMU President R. Gerald Turner rides in a car during the SMU Homecoming parade in 2013.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/dentonfracking/20141106193059im_/http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/sunday-commentary/20141003-nm_26smuparade08_33933824.jpg.ece/ALTERNATES/w140/NM_26SMUPARADE08_33933824.JPG)
Q&A: SMU President R. Gerald Turner on his university’s place in today’s college athletics
Turner says SMU is dedicated to maintaining athletics at the highest NCAA level.
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/dentonfracking/20141106193059im_/http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/sunday-commentary/20141003-px2703c.jpg.ece/ALTERNATES/w140/px2703c.jpg)
Kathleen Parker: The silly, selective war on women
Democrats pick their spots to invoke the so-called war, the columnist says.
![This billboard in Penitas, Texas, promotes Texas gubernatorial candidate Greg Abbott recently. Despite a 3-to-1 edge in campaign cash and polling leads over his Democratic opponent, Abbott is courting Republican-snubbing Hispanic voters.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/dentonfracking/20141106193059im_/http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/sunday-commentary/20141003-governor_texas_hispanics_39832815-2-.jpg.ece/ALTERNATES/w140/GOVERNOR_TEXAS_HISPANICS_39832815+%282%29.JPG)
Ruben Navarrette: Hispanics are taken for granted by Dems, forsaken by GOP
Frustration, disillusionment and anger are growing over having to choose ‘lesser of two evils,’ columnist says
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Talking Points: Quotable quotes from the week’s news
Dallas Ebola scare, Abbott vs. Davis, Patrick vs. Van de Putte, Obama vs. jihadists
How letting my kid play alone outside led to a CPS investigation
Kari Anne Roy was confident her 6-year-old could play 150 yards from their front porch. A neighbor disagreed. Then came police. And then CPS.
Q&A: SMU's Robert Lawson on the net positives of immigration
The economics professor says that not only do immigrants boost the economy; they also boost American freedom.
![Fans watch the first half of last week’s game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Tennessee Titans. The NFL is celebrating Hispanic Heritage month.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/dentonfracking/20141106193059im_/http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/sunday-commentary/20140926-titans_bengals_football_39887837.jpg.ece/ALTERNATES/w140/TITANS_BENGALS_FOOTBALL_39887837.JPG)
Hispandering Heritage Month
Hispanics are tired of being recognized with empty gestures during one month each year, says columnist Esther Cepeda.
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Trading silence for safety
37 percent of Americans think the media should be required to get government approval before reporting on national security issues, says Christopher Ingraham
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/dentonfracking/20141106193059im_/http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/sunday-commentary/20140926-putinpx2618c.jpg.ece/ALTERNATES/w140/putinpx2618c.jpg)
Can Vladimir Putin be stopped?
His behavior fits Russia's history of expansion, says Michael Khodarkovsky
American's are self-segregating by age
Separating society by how long people have lived sows distrust and robs generations of learning from one another, says Leon Neyfakh
![President Obama’s salute heard around the world, as he exits Marine One on Sept. 23, 2014. The image is a screenshot taken from the White House’s Instagram account.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/dentonfracking/20141106193059im_/http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/sunday-commentary/20140926-coffeesalute.jpg.ece/ALTERNATES/w140/coffeesalute.jpg)
Talking Points: Quotable quotes from the week that was
Obama on jihadists, Sen. Kaine on Obama, the Twitterverse on Obama
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/dentonfracking/20141106193059im_/http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/sunday-commentary/20140919-0920poi_rothkopf_web.jpg.ece/ALTERNATES/w140/0920poi_rothkopf_WEB.jpg)
Obama and the never-ending war
It is hard to imagine an American president more committed to not deepening involvement in the Middle East. Yet here we are again, says David Rothkopf.
![Former Dallas County judge Jim Foster was mocked and abandoned by fellow Democrats after he made allegations against John Wiley Price and others. But he’s not done pushing yet.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/dentonfracking/20141106193059im_/http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/sunday-commentary/20140919-jim_foster.jpg.ece/ALTERNATES/w140/JIM_FOSTER.JPG)
Q&A: The vindication of Jim Foster?
The former Dallas County judge was mocked and abandoned by fellow Democrats after he made allegations against John Wiley Price and others. But he’s not done pushing yet.
![NFL commissioner Roger Goodell addressed the media Friday afternoon in New York.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/dentonfracking/20141106193059im_/http://www.dallasnews.com/incoming/20140919-20140919_sal_bm4_007_39851785.jpg.ece/ALTERNATES/w140/20140919_SAL_BM4_007_39851785.JPG)
Stefan Fatsis: Has Roger Goodell finally lost the media?
With owned media properties, the NFL has muscled league coverage. Until now.
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/dentonfracking/20141106193059im_/http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/sunday-commentary/20140919-endofworld_0921edi.jpg.ece/ALTERNATES/w140/endofworld_0921edi.jpg)
Alex Beam: Is this the world’s ‘inglorious end’? Nah, it’s just people.
There’s a tremendous vanity to assuming the world will end on our watch, the columnist says.
![The dried-out lake bed of O.C. Fisher Lake in San Angelo.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/dentonfracking/20141106193059im_/http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/sunday-commentary/20140919-climate_report_37477447.jpg.ece/ALTERNATES/w140/CLIMATE_REPORT_37477447.JPG)
Hey, Texas: Time for a real climate-change debate
Tim Cloward: It’s time to get past deniers for a real debate.
![Former Texas Rangers Manager Ron Washington during a press conference in Irving , TX Sept. 18, 2014. (Nathan Hunsinger/The Dallas Morning News)](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/dentonfracking/20141106193059im_/http://www.dallasnews.com/incoming/20140918-nm_17ron8_39829649_717370.jpg.ece/ALTERNATES/w140/NM_17ron8_39829649_717370.JPG)
Talking Points: Notable quotes from the week’s news
Obama on ground troops, Cornyn on Obama, Facebook for rich people, Ebola scourge, tumult in the NFL