Some of these laws I don't understand!!

I just read Mr. Riojas blog on Texas Laws and Teens, and couldn't agree more to everything he pointed out. Right now the legislature is trying to pass some very interesting laws pertaining to teens about tanning in tanning beds, buying cigarettes, texting while driving, and no driving after 10 p.m.. When I think about these laws that are trying to be passed I just think, "isn't there other stuff the legislature should be more concerned with?". Mr. Riojas did state that he undterstands the concern of the legislature of young people, but these laws that are trying to be passed still won't really be protecting them. If anything it will make some teens rebel more! To break the article down I thought he did a great job of stating his opinion about the laws being passed. Tanning. Right now the law is you have to be 18 or older to tan. If a person is not 18, then over the age of 16, they can have a parents consent. What difference will it make if there is a 1/2 thrown in the law? No it won't make much of a difference, but this shouldn't even be a problem in the first place. Mr. Riojas pointed out, "if a parent doesn't want their child to tan, then they won't".
The cell phone issue is something that every person who drives should be dealing with. Not just teens. I agree too with Mr. Riojas in that just about everyone now has a cell phone and does use it on the road. An adult could cause just the same amount of damage a child could do while texting on a cell phone. If this issue is going to be considered in the legislature, it should be considered for everyone not just teens.
And lastly my own oppinion on driving after hours is just ridiculous. Every kid does it. And every kid will have an excuse for it. Focus on more important things!!!

Is there a purpose for this?

On tuesday the house was full of guests as the legislature was trying to get through 4 very strong issues that are troubling many citizens of Texas right now. The four on topic were abortion, human cloning, states rights, and immigration. These are topics that I personally feel can't be just pushed under the rug. It seems as though that day many people were there trying to get all of the many messages they had across, when actually it seemed more of a rush. The problem here I think is that when issues like this are presented they should be given equal time and equal attention. That day while some anxious abortion mothers were surrounded by lobbyists in suits and illegal immigrants just as anxious as them, it seemed like there was no single attention to any of the sides. I understand that some meetings will run into others, but these topics should require full attention. Apparently these meetings ran into the late hours and held many people there. Yes I'm sure what had to be taken care of, got taken care of, but amidst all of the excitement I don't think it's fair that these would be all taken care of at the same time. These issues should take time to figure out and should be given the proper respect.

I completly agree!

I just got done reading Ms. Jazzs' blog in http://servingthecitizens.blogspot.com/ about the tax exepmtions for college students on textbooks. I completly agree with Ms. Jazz in that having a tax exemption would relieve so much stress. If you break down everything for a college course payment you have the price of the course itself, cost of the book or books, and then lastly the needed material for that class which may not be very much, but it is still something to be factored in. Another point she makes is paying for all of this when we have this economic downfall. The prices for everything right now has gone up and it has gotten to a point where a change may not just come over night. I liked that point she brought up because it is the truth. I can't imagine being a full time student right now and try to have a normal life when it comes to making ends meet. Yes it is possible with financial aid, but when everything is added up, it's really a wonder there aren't less people in school. I had a discussion in my speech class about this very topic of ways to cut the cost of schooling in any kind of way. We came up with many solutions. Sure some of them would take time to really figure out and put a plan to, but when we have something as simple as just passing a bill, I think these other solutions could come easier. Books are really what the kicker is when it comes to showing that school is pretty costly. We came up with things like having no text books and letting teachers come up with what might be needed for the class, fundraisers, a stronger checkout system in the library. All of those things are ways that could not only help with the cost of books, but also the overall cost of school itself. I honestly believe that if we could initiate these tax breaks that it would help tremendously for everyone. Not having taxes on books would be that little bit of help that could actually go a long way.

I think Ms. Jazz chose an awesome topic to right about and I think just about everyone would agree with what she had to say in her blog. She pointed out many aspects of the schooling process that didn't have to do just with the cost. One thing I would tell her would be to also think about when we have a tax free weekend how many people are out getting stuff just because it will help in the long run. Having no taxes on books, I can imagine, would be just like that too!!!!

What is being taught in school's these days?

First I'd like to start off this blog by saying Wow. This article by Vince Leibowitz on March 30, 2009 http://capitolannex.com/2009/03/30/analyze-evaluate-and-critique-becomes-new-strenghts-weaknesses-for-science-educators-in-texas/ is about what is going to be taught in science classes in Texas. What basically is being done is now everything in refernce to the bible or anything else along those lines is shifted to science. In my oppinion, I agree with Vince. The way he tied in the real facts to his article instead of simply throwing them out there was very assuring. I agree that if this shift is going to take place, then we will have to stick with it. This new teaching is doing away with any biblical reference which I do respect and agree with, but also does away with subjects like evolution, global warming, and gravity. I may not agree with all of these teachings, but I do think some of that stuff is fact.

This article is directed to people who see the same way he does. I think especially here in Austin this shift is a good one, but is also a controversial one (just like with every decision made in Texas). In this article he does point out his oppinion on the matter, and to a degree I see where he is coming from. In school's these days anyway, all that kids are taught is to take that stupid TAKS or TEKS test. On the science portion I think it would be better for EVERYONE's sake to just teach science. That way there is no question or confusion around it from personal beliefs...it should be just fact.

Guns in schools?

Well after alot of looking, I came across this article http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/editorials/stories/DN-guns_02edi.State.Edition1.290b017.html in the Dallas Morning News and it struck my fancy. This article by one of the writters for the Dallas Morning News is about whether or not staff and faculty should be armed at universities. The author starts out by explaing that State Rep. Joe Driver and Sen. Jeff Wentoworth are trying to get the word across about letting students and staff be armed around campus. Alot of this huff and puff boils down to what happened at Virginia Tech in 2007. I agree with the author in that no one wants that situation to EVER happen again, but does that mean to prevent it, we have to go to these great lengths? I disagree almost completly. The author points out that yes are there are places in every community that may need this kind of security and emergency personel on hand, but there are places like airports, polling places, and schools that ban the use of armed weapons(unless there is written authorization otherwise)...and I think it should stay that way. There are 11 universities in the country that allow concealed weapons in various areas of the school, and I think that is just asking for more trouble. I agree with the author in his statement that universities should be in the special category as gun free simply because it's a place to learn and get eduacated. I see where this want of security is wanted, but I think going to that extreme is just asking for it. I think that what happened at Virginia Tech was a terrible situation don't get me wrong, but if one of my teachers were to walk in to class one day with a gun under his belt or have a hand gun fall out of a student's back pack next to me, I would really not feel secure at all...regardless of if it was just for protection. The author states at the end of the article that, "students should never fear that someone around them is packing heat". I believe in having campus police on campus at all times for reasons that might come up like Virginia Tech. I know that police know what they are doing, and are there to protect everyone on the campus. I think this article was very interesting and I completly agreed with the author in that school should be a safe place for everyone.

I chose this article because it discusses 3 topics that are going on in our government right now. The first topic that is discussed is how there are some American Indian tribes here in Texas, that are trying to get casino gambling passed in legislation. On Tuesday this week, Rep. Roma Chavez filed a bill that would allow a tribe in El Paso and a tribe in Livingston, to re-open. Both of these casinos were closed in 2002 and they have said that they have suffered economically from the closing down of these casinos.
The second topic this article talks about is the bill that is in the process of getting passed about HIV testing during normal routine visits. Two represenatives filed legislation that made it a requirement to instead offer HIV screen tests during a routine check up. Everyone between the ages of 13-64 would have to face this option. Patients would in fact have a choice if they would want to or not, and interestingly enough insurance or medicaid would have to take care of the cost of the test.
The third topic sounds pretty funny to me, but it is on a note-passing ban in the Senate. When I first read this, I thought of middle school where everyone passes notes during study hall, but in this case about 2 years ago 2 lobbyists were passing notes into the chamber to get a senator off the floor. Because of that they put a ban on passing any kind of notes into the chamber at all. On Tuesday Sen. Tony Williams claimed that there will not be any kind of note passing in the senate under his watch. Prior to this message he sent across, there were few people who tried to do away with this ban. As of now he lobbyists can stay in the lobby, they can pass (love) notes still in the state house, and if they have a cell phone, text messages can be sent. I think this ruling goies back to the kind of ruling they have in high schools and such, but in this case, they have some flexibility?
I thought these were pretty interesting and they are the kind of the thing that we should know about. In one way or another, all of the topics mentioned in this article affect us all somehow.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/texassouthwest/legislature/stories/DN-dome_18tex.ART.State.Edition1.4c12e14.html