Texas Hispanic students lag in “Nation’s Report Card”

1. http://educationblog.dallasnews.com/2013/11/texas-hispanic-students-lag-in-nations-report-card.html/

2. Category of Problem/Issue identified in this article is education

3. Level of Problem/Issue in this article is State level compared to a National Level

4. This article concerns a problem/issue that individuals/families face

5. This article is important for Hispanic families and educators in Texas. Hispanic children in Texas are behind in their reading compared to the rest of the nation. It is important for educators to see and fix the problem.

6. I think that this is a issue that does need to be addressed by educators. There is obviously a problem now they need to find a solution. I agreed with Duncan when he said "The only way to significantly close the achievement gap is to stop playing catch-up (after students start regular classes) and increase access to early childhood education,” he said. “Why don’t we try fixing the problem before it begins.” Learning starts early in a child's development and if they fall behind at an early age it is extremely hard for them to catch up. Since there are so many children that are at testing age that are testing low in reading I think that some sort of tutoring should be given. They obviously need more help than others when it comes to reading so money needs to be moved around or given so they can receive the help they need. I also think that if some sort of city tutoring for parents would be helpful for Hispanics. Some of the reading problems may root from their home lives because their parents may not read English well. City tutoring could help the parents which in turn could help the students. There are several options that could be considered but I think one should be picked so these Hispanic children with low test scores have a better chance at succeeding in their reading.

Senate approves bill on anti-gay job bias

1.

2.  Discrimination law
3. National Level
4. An "enacted" policy that has been passed to help with a problem/issue that individuals/families face.
5. This policy is beneficial to the gay community and protecting their civil rights. It is necessary for government entities to continue providing protection to all of its citizens.
6.  This policy will help against discrimination towards homosexuals. It is a measure that has been considered to be added unto the preexisting job discrimination law.

The Equal Opportunity Commission has established policies to protect U.S. citizens in the workplace. Over the years it has established rules regarding workers rights. Workers are protected while applying for jobs and managers and human resource executives are to be fully informed of what is legal in the workplace and what is not. This policy was created to reiterate the importance of having policies in place to protect the U.S. workforce. Employees are protected from discrimination against them because of their marital status, sex, age, skin color…etc. The U.S. Senate has determined that unto this list it is necessary to also add that potential employees should also not be discriminated because of their sexual orientation. This policy was a must to establish a given. This policy also creates a safer working environment for many employees who are homosexual. It can be argued that the “sex” clause in laws against discrimination also applies to the gay community, but it needed to be elaborated to also include them. With the establishment of this policy, it creates awareness and consciousness in the U.S. government. The government is beginning to realize it needs to establish means to create an equal opportunity for the homosexual community. This is the beginning to many new policies that will be established in the future to benefit these individuals.

 

Texas ranks low in getting needy children into preschool, study says

1. http://www.dallasnews.com/news/state/headlines/20131104-texas-ranks-low-in-getting-needy-children-into-preschool-study-says.ece

2. Category of Problem/Issue identified in the article are education and children

3. Level of the problem/issue is at a state level

4. A problem/issue that individuals/families face

5 I think that this issue is important to families and their children. Preschool age children from low-income families are being effected more negatively in Texas than those who live in other states.

6. I think that this is a important issue to be addressed because children's mind are expanding so much before Kindergarten. Children from low-income families already have the odds against them but I think these odds are even greater when learning isn't happening from a young age. The fact that Texas has such a low rate for needy children attending preschool and having parents read to them is depressing. I think that Texas needs to come up with a solution to get needy children into preschool. Education is such an important thing and I don't think economic status should keep any child from having equal learning opportunities.

NY Times: U.S. Reading and Math Scores Show Slight Gains

1. http://nyti.ms/1b9L34b

2.Category of problem/issue: Education

3. Level of problem/issue: National

4. A policy that that individuals/families face.

5. Why is it important to individuals/families and how does it affect them?

 This affects individuals and families in a great way because the scores are up from preceding years. If this continues, we may increase our rank internationally with education.

6. What are your views?
I think this is great! We need to be keeping up with our competitors and the U.S. education levels are embarrassing compared to China or even parts of Europe. We need to continue to strive in education and stop placing kids' acceptance on popularity, sports, and consumerism. That's why the other countries are ahead. We need to continue to raise the learning expectations of students. I wasn't prepared at all for college when I entered. All the basic stuff I learned, was relearned in the basic college level classes I started out in. What's sad is that I went to one of the top school districts in Texas. Students just aren't be challenged like they are in other countries. They should learn foreign languages early. Whatever is happening to raise the scores needs to continue to happen.

San Marcos Mercury: Worsening Austin Traffic Prompts Talk of Toll Road Swap

1.http://smmercury.com/2013/11/05/worsening-austin-traffic-prompts-talk-of-toll-road-swap/

2.Category of problem/issue: Transportation/Traffic

3. Level of problem/issue: Local/State

4. A potential policy that is being considered to help a problem/issue that individuals/families face.

5. Why is it important to individuals/families and how does it affect them?

This affects the individuals and families that travel on 35 in any capacity but especially during rush hour. It would also affect them financially.

6. What are your views?

Though I'm never traveling on 35 when it's rush hour, I feel their pain. I don't know how well their idea of turning the 35 we have now into a toll lane is going to pan out. Maybe if they stuck to the original plan of expanding the toll road they already have to San Antonio, this congestion problem would be fixed. There's no need to merge the free lanes with another highway and turn 35 into a toll road. That's more expensive and really confusing.

Univeristy Star: Council Proposes Downtown, Residential Parking Plan

1. http://star.txstate.edu/node/1147

2.Category of problem/issue: Community

3. Level of problem/issue: Local

4. A potential policy that is being considered to help a problem/issue that individuals/families face.

5. Why is it important to individuals/families and how does it affect them?

Individuals and families wishing to park in the downtown area would now have to pay to park while shopping or dining. Individuals and families that live downtown, would have to apply for a permit and pay for it so they could park for an extended amount of time.

6. What are your views?

San Marcos is not Austin. Yes, downtown can be very busy at times but honestly, if they would just stop doing construction, there would be plenty of places to park. Asking people to pay to go shopping there is ridiculous. I can't afford to (being a college kid and all) so I would just avoid going shopping there all together. Plus, those students that have to meet for projects at the stores downtown, would have to pay to park. That's not fair for those students. They should be able to meet for their project for free. As students, we also have to pay for university parking so paying to park downtown is just an added expense. The council needs to get their priorities straight. FIX THE ROADS! I feel like they've been constructing the same roads since I came to Texas State 3 years ago. Once the roads are fixed, parking will magically appear and the problem will be solved without adding further costs on residents.

Illinois to become 15th state to allow same-sex marriage

1.
2.  Gay Marriage
3. State Level
4. An "enacted" policy that has been passed to help with a problem/issue that individuals/families face.
5. This affects families who have not had the joy of being marriage and have been forced to live under common law marriage. It makes same-sex couples "official" under state policies and unites families if there are children in their families.

6. There are now a total of 14 states and Washington, D.C. who have legalized same-sex marriage. I feel that it is an improvement in U.S. society and it is for the better. I feel that those who are confident in their relationships and wish to take the next step in a relationship should be allowed to do it. Everyone should have the freedom to do as they please and this is a right that has been stripped from many because their sexual orientation is different. It is an excellent policy because it now reunites different states and shows other states that it is necessary that they begin to accept this issue. It is argued that same-sex marriage is against the eyes of God, but under the eyes of the law it should be different because law makers are not God. All lawmakers have different religious views and so do citizens. It would not be fair for lawmakers to impose a certain view to citizens when they have their own views and opinions. Different citizens also have different religious views and they have different ideals of same-sex marriage. This policy will help reunite many of those citizens who have been forced to live together under common law marriage, but have never been allowed to make it official. It would reunite many families who already have children, and for those children who would like to say that their parents are married whether they are homosexual or not. This policy should motivate other states to get on board as well.

Council to vote this month on Alzheimer's facility plan

1.

2. Alzheimer facility
3. Local Level
4. A problem/issue that individuals/families face.
5. This is both important for individuals/families as it affects them. It is important for those who have family members who suffer this terrible disease. It affects those residents who dislike the idea of having this Alzheimer facility in close proximity to their homes.

6. This policy is being considered for Alzheimer’s patients to have a facility in which they will be taken care of. This is an extraordinary idea because personally I have not heard of many facilities created for the purpose of helping Alzheimer patients. If there are such facilities, I can honestly say I have never seen them. I feel that many Alzheimer patients end up in nursing homes in which they are so overcrowded they do not get the special attention that they need. This center is imperative for these patients to get the medical care that they need. Residents around this facility that is planned to be built are against its construction. Residents are afraid that there will not be enough security in the center and their lives could be endangered or they would have to change their way of life as they know it in their communities. If a patient is able to escape the facility they will wander around the neighborhood unto resident properties. Wyatt, who proposed this community center, argues that this would not be an issue because he will insure that there is fencing around the property and enough vigilance within the facility. Residents are also afraid that traffic will increase in this neighborhood and inconvenience them. It will definitely bring people from different parts of the city or out of town, people that may wander into private properties and create destruction. Another issue with residents is that they are afraid that if this center loses its funding then it will easily become a drug rehab facility and make it just as harmful to their community.

Paralyzed hunter didn't wear to end life support

1.    Associated Press.  (2013, November 6).  Nation:  Paralyzed hunter didn’t waver to end life support.  Houston Chronicle, A4.

2.    Category of problem:  Health

3.    Level of problem:  National level

4.    The article concerns:  A man paralyzed by a hunting accident made his own decision to remove himself from life support.

5.    Why is this important to families / individuals OR how does it affect individuals / families?

a.    Competent adults have the right to refuse life support, and courts have upheld those rights over the years.  But, in this case, a man made a decision to remove himself after a devastating injury.  Choices like these can often be a strain on families, and may open up another avenue of legal issues that judges will have to rule.

6.    What are your views on the issue / policy?       

a.    Knowing the time and place when a person is going to die, especially if they are sick or injured, seems like a choice everyone should be able to make on their own.  But, over the years, families have sometimes gone against the wishes of the dying person, and kept the person alive despite those wishes.  It can take a toll on all involved.  Many years back, a doctor from Michigan (Dr. Jack Kevorkian) was involved in many “suicide-assisted” cases where he administered a lethal dose of medicine to people wanting to take their own life because of illness or other malady.  His actions raised many ethical and legal issues, not so much because of the dying person’s wish to end their life, but his involvement in assisting them to do it.  His legal battles resulted in many years of court battles eventually leading him to be convicted and serving prison time.  Other circumstances have been the topic of national coverage where a person has been in a vegetative state, and the choice of removing them from a life-support machine have fallen on the shoulders of family members.  When a person’s spouse makes those decisions, the choice has sometimes gone against the desires of the dying person’s parents or children.  My opinion is that if a person wants to make those choices, they should have the right to.  I do not think anyone wants to be in a state where they place a burden on their families.  In addition to being a conscientious decision, the financial burdens placed on the dying person’s family can create encumbrances for many years.  As heart-wrenching as it is, life goes on when a person dies, and families will eventually pick up the pieces and move on.  Notwithstanding my own religious beliefs, I would not want my family keeping me alive just to keep me alive – I want them to have memories of me as a healthy, living person, not as a shell with no chance of being that person I was before.

Vandals stay busy as DISD ignores residents’ ideas for empty schools

1. http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/latest-columns/20131103-vandals-stay-busy-as-disd-ignores-residents-ideas-for-empty-schools.ece

2. Category of the Problem/Issue identified in the article is community and environment

3. Level of problem/issue is local level

4. A problem/issue that individuals/families face

5. The issue of vandalism affects anyone who lives in the surrounding area because it brings in vandals. It also has an affect on people because security in the community is questioned.

6. I personally think that the suggestions that have been given to the DISD were good ones. They are much better than having a empty building sitting there bringing in crime and vandalism. If I lived in a community where this was happening I would be outraged. I feel like most people want security in the place they live at and they aren't getting that with continued vandalism. Of course the school district is ignoring any ideas that have been given to help solve the empty building problem. They don't want to have to deal with it, "out of sight out of mind." This would beyond frustrate me if I lived in a community that was affected by a decision the DISD decided. People in the communities need to keep fighting for action to be taken on these buildings. If they don't continue to fight the issue will never be addressed.

Senate OKs gay rights bill banning discrimination

- Austin American Statesman, http://www.statesman.com/news/ap/political/senate-nears-historic-vote-on-gay-rights-bill/nbkQ2/
- National level
- Equal rights policy
- This policy affects voters, employers, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans.
- All citizens should concern themselves with this issue because it sets standards for workplace practices which influences our economy. The policy also steps toward equal rights among homosexual and bi-sexual populations.
- The recent Senate ruling against discrimination is both shocking and exciting. The ruling shocks me because I have a difficult time understanding why a law must be put in place to begin with. I grew up in a diverse community, and I have been exposed to many different cultures. However, even without exposure to other cultures I would hope that Americans could show enough compassion for other human beings to not discriminate against physical appearances or sexual preferences. The policy is better late than never. Now that a policy is in place there can also be enforcement of workplace discrimination.

 It has taken years to break ground in the fight for equal rights among homosexual marriage. Currently, 14 states have passed laws permitting same sex marriages. I believe the fight for equality has made an impact on similar issues such as the discrimination policy and hopefully more to come.

America is slowly making progress towards civil equality. This issue had me thinking about who the next group of Americans to be discriminated against would be. I thought this because we first discriminated American Indians, then blacks and now gay citizens, with many minority groups in between. It seems that America always has a group to scapegoat our problems on. Of course I don't hope for a new group of citizens to be under the pressures of discrimination, but the American trend has yet to be broken. On a positive note, the civil rights movement in the 1950s took much longer than the current civil rights movement. perhaps the existing polices and mindsets are allowing fast change for the better.