Foster Care, Cares!

I read this and completely agreed on the importance of education and care for foster kids. I have a very close friend of mine that was raised in foster care and I have seen the effect it had on her. We went to middle school together so knowing her since then to now lets me know that kids can be successful growing up in foster care.

 She went to foster care when we all went to 8th grade and thats when her roller coaster ride began. There was a couple of different homes she stayed at but with all the chaos she still maintained to go to school and work to make money for herself. Having a personal connection to this story opened my eyes to what the state actually does for these kids. The best thing they do for them is offer them the ability to go to school beyond high school. They also provide counseling and other therapeutic avenues for them to get help. 

The committee's and social workers efforts Linda has mentioned towards these kids is what makes them successful and what keeps them going. Without such systems in place these kids would end up anywhere and wouldn't get the help they need. With the proper support and help finding their place in the world there is no limit to what these kids could achieve. 

In the case of my friend she is in college, working, and has her own place. Little things have changed as far as her trust and mind set. But for what she has gone through she is a giant "SUCCESS" to me and i am very glad the foster care system took care of her. I am very appreciative of them and will continue to back them what they stand for. 

Planned Parenthood

After class today I really wanted to voice my opinion on the planned parenthood facilities being shut down. I strongly disagree with Texas and how majority of the state is against abortions. Now Im not a parent/mom so I might not be in the actual situation these women are in, but i do know if I was I would feel a lot better if I had a place to go to for help.

The facts of the matter is that there is more than just abortions planned parenthood helps young and older women with. Some women don't have health insurance or enough money to pay the treatments they would need to prevent being pregnant. Or what if they had a std from a sex partner and needed medical attention. What if they had cervical cancer and would never know unless they got that check up from planned parenthood.

Also I feel like there are some valid reasons women may want to get an abortion. Some women feel as though they are not ready or capable of taking care of a child. They might not be financially or mentally stable enough to deal with such a situation. Another situation could be a woman was raped and became pregnant afterwards. I could completely understand a woman not wanting to carry the child of a man that has caused her pain and suffering. One other and final reason could be that in the woman's career plan it would be impossible to raise a child in a stressful and overwhelming work environment.

To me these clinics offer women and men the opportunity to make a choice to protect themselves from disease, make a decision on something that could alter the rest of their lives, and to get assistance with a current condition. These facilities are important to the community and without them we will see a rise in pregnancies, untreated diseases, and people how are not able to get the help they need. This will effect the city more than the city realizes, and maybe that will cause them to change their decision.        

Voting in Texas...

Everyone knows that if a task has multiply steps to complete less people are likely to actually go all the way to the end with it. The simpler things are the more people will agree to do it. Like surveys, at first people used these long surveys to get people's opinion on things to possibly better their service or company. They found it was very difficult to get people to comply. Now to get people to do a survey they are considerately shorter, being 3-5 minutes long. Also they offer things like coupons and free food upon completion of these surveys. This is exactly what Griff was saying on the issue of voters needing a registration card to vote in his blog Government, The Texas Way. Having a lengthy process or additional steps lowers the number of voters. Making voting more difficult than necessary.

In Texas it is required that you register to vote and get a registration card. Then you must take this card and a state issued ID with you to be able to vote. The biggest argument Griff made was that the registration card should be able to be acquired right before voting (same day, same place) or dropped all together. I completely agree with him. I feel like if the process to vote was made as simple as taking your ID to the ballots, voting, then leaving more young people would turn out. A lot of politicians speak on how the youth is the future and how we could make a difference and I believe this is true. There is a count less number of college students and recent high school graduates able to vote who simply haven't. Whether its because of them missing the registration dead line or not having a registration card all together I feel that isn't a good reason to restrict someone from voting. As long as they are able to prove they are who they say they are with a state issued ID they should be able to vote.

I know there are people who do not have a state issued ID. I do not agree that these people should be completely left out of participating in voting. Maybe if we kept the registration card we could use it for the people who don't have the issued ID. That way it keeps track of them and their information so that eventually they can get one. This would also be a way of not hindering them from voting on a candidate thats gonna make decisions that will effect their future. If they live in the area (legally or not) I feel as though they should have some say on what goes on with what could change around them.

Overall voter registration cards are typically not what people think about when discussing what candidates or parties they're going for. Nor is it something thought about when deciding what time and day your off from work or school to go vote. Then to get there and find you didn't register and can not vote. This would be equally devastating as hearing you missed the date to do so and now its too late. This registration card is inconvenient, unnecessary, and just more trouble then its worth. If the card was done away with more votes would increase dramatically.      

Can Anyone Say....Public Transportation??

I'm from New York. Not just the state but the city where there is more than enough ways to travel and get around. Last year i got my first car and now realize why some many new yorkers rely on public transportation. Texas does have its buses and trains but it only covers certain areas leaving anyone outside those, like myself,  out of luck. If there was a few decent routes that covered the large populated areas surrounding Austin, it would cure some of the issues Texas has. For one it would create jobs for people who are without. There would have to be someone driving the bus, someone giving out tokens/passes, and of course someone to run the show. I know there has to be more people for this operation to work but you get the basics. Then this would generate money for the state because there is a large number of people in this bad economy who are without a car or reliable transportation. With the area growing it's only going to help the public transportation system grow with the new residents. And as stated in this article on chron.com with the more people we have moving the more we need to insure and improve the transportation system. Who knows these people could have potentially come from states with good public transportation. Taking buses or trains would take a lot of cars off the road helping with the traffic jams we all love to sit in daily. Not only does that put less cars on the road but it means less accidents and less police officers out helping with them. The police officers could be working on other needs the city/state has. While cars are at home, garages, and parking lots they aren't polluting the air and effecting the already damaged environment. The cars would not need as much gas in turn saving the owner money. There are so many advantages Texas as a whole could benefit from having a well distributed transportation system. It could open up jobs, clean the cities up and put an extra effort towards staying green, and ultimately make the state money to help tend to its other needs. Needs like education and women's health care are two other very important issues that need help.

Justice For Trayvon Martin

I was reading on how Neil Aquino commented on the Trayvon Martin case. This was located on the Texas Liberal under the heading "Trayvon Martin Case Requires Justice." Some of the facts about the case was that the 17 year old male (Trayvon Martin) was walking around his neighborhood and got shot and died. His neighbor George Zimmerman (the alleged shooter) was never arrested and is still not being charged with any crime. In the overview it says Trayvon only had a bag of skittles and an Arizona iced tea in his hands from the store he just visited. This is what Zimmerman had claimed to the police looked suspicious as he followed Tray around the neighborhood. To me those items wouldn't or couldn't make anybody a threat to society. Mr. Aquino made it more clear that he thought that the shooting was the result of Tray "walking while black or being outside while black." Honestly from the details of the story and seeing how defenseless Trayvon was i agree with Neil. There is no way people of any color should be followed around and then shoot for looking a certain way. The intended audience is everyone and anyone with ears because a situation like this isn't limited to one type of race or gender. I think the author wanted to reach anybody he could. He also provides this link Wheres The Outrage on blogs Errington Thompson has been writing on race and this very story. I think he's asking for your help and if not your help then to bring this story to your attention. What you don't know you can't change and what you can't change will never be fixed. Fixed meaning brought to justice and fairly dealt with as should all situations to where someone was killed. The justice Neil is asking for is beyond reasonable and well deserved. And not only for Trayvon but for the possible victims that could be next. 

College Admissions

Reading this editorial in the Austin American Statesman really hit home simple due to the fact that it applies to everyone in our class that plans on transferring to a university. It was about how when students apply to a university there are several things taken into account when trying to get accepted. For example they state that under the law in Texas students who finish in the top 10 percent of their high school classes receive guaranteed admission to state-funded colleges and universities. Also if a student isn't in the top 10 percent race is looked at as a deciding factor when trying to diversify the campus. There has been a few cases in which schools (UT specifically) has been sued when a student isn't accepted. Some students feel that race shouldn't be used as a deciding factor in the weeding out process of applying students, i disagree. I think that it should be mainly based on grades but i also think the few students that are allowed to get in based on race and not apart of the 10 percent group are getting a opportunity they might not have been able to get. Whether it be race, grades or any other factor being used to determine admission someone is always gonna feel left out or done wrong if they don't get in. So i definitely agree with the author, a letter stating you weren't accepted try again later is enough to blame the system for you having to find alternative less desired schools.   

Dear Saint Valentine...

Happy Valentines Day government classmates! 2-14-12