The news of Texas covered today includes:Our Lone Star story of the day: Steven Balch, Ph.D. may be America’s original D.E.I. on campus fighter!  Today we talk about this term “academic freedom” that so many on campus are throwing about, claiming such is under attack by new laws in Texas and elsewhere.Two, of many, recent stories I had in the stack are the background for the interview:Former Texas Tech professors criticize course content changes, cite academic freedom concernsLeft-Wing Faculty Association Threatens To File Complaints with TAMU, Texas Tech AccreditorDr. Balch is an American conservative scholar and higher education reformer. He was the founding president of the National Association of Scholars from 1987 to 2009. Balch received a bachelor’s degree, magna cum laude, from Brooklyn College, City University of New York, in 1964. He received his master’s degree (1967) and Ph.D. (1972) in political science from the University of California in Berkeley. It was during the Berkeley riots that he became a conservative and he is now a Republican. Dr. Balch was awarded the National Humanities Medal from President George W. Bush at the White House on November 15, 2007. The award cited him “for leadership and advocacy upholding the noblest traditions in higher education,” and went on to say that “his work on behalf of reasoned scholarship in a free society has made him a leading champion of excellence and reform at our nation’s universities.”Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.Listen on the radio, or station stream, at 5pm Central. Click for our radio and streaming affiliates.www.PrattonTexas.com