Safety in public schools

I agree with my classmate, safety in public schools is a joke. I have fell victim to situations where my safety could have been compromised. In junior high school a classmate showed me a gun in the restroom. The officers at public schools are very relaxed and not very qualified to handle serious situations, they are what we call “flashlight cops.” I also agree with my classmate on the aspect of parents being very influential in their children’s lives. If parents step up to the plate and become proactive in their children’s lives, it would help decrease the rate of violence in public schools. Kids that come from disciplined homes are less likely to act out in a social setting. Furthermore, if parents show love and attention to every child in that household, we as a society would stop the violence at its root. My classmate made another valid point about promoting parenting classes for everyone, because there is always room for improvement. If we can stop the neglected youth from looking for love and a sense of belonging in the wrong places, maybe we can stop blaming entertainers and movies for our corrupted youth. I disagree with my classmate about the metal detectors being a bit extreme. Television is raising our children today, and they learning form what they see everyday; therefore, the violence that they see on television will make them be more prone to violence. I also believe that in some schools that every child should be patted down and checked for knives and other weapons. My classmate said he was reminded of a joke about being stabbed instead of shot, but it is not at all funny when you are stabbed and bleeding, and there is no one to help you.

Subdivision bans sex offenders

An Amarillo subdivision has decided to ban sex offenders. The ban will be imposed on future developments, and will not have an effect on previously existing homes. The ban restricts sex offenders from owning or inhabiting any property in the new development of the subdivision, the Woodlands. Developers have added these restrictions to keep the neighborhood safer, and a more comfortable place to live. They want to give the community a peace of mind, not having to wonder if their neighbor may sneak into their homes in the middle of the night and violate them. Sex offenders are likely to be repeat offenders, and they want to lessen the chances of anyone being harmed in their community. Adverse effects of this ban have also been considered in implementing this plan of action. Nay Sayers think that this ban will group convicted sex offenders together, causing a violent community. Not all sex offenders are on the same level, some have committed much harsher crimes than others have. The ban has been written in the bi laws of the homeowner association‘s rules and regulations, and any violators of this rule will be forced to sale their homes and move out of the neighborhood. It is ingenious of the neighborhood developers to enact such a ban as a crime retardant. If you do the crime you do the time, and you should not be accessible to the same rights and freedoms of model citizens. A sign in your yard is not enough; it is about time that they take full consequences for their actions. It sometimes takes a lifetime to have a lesson learned.

ERs aren't the place for MHMR patients

In response to “mental health patients being sent to Austin emergency rooms,” I agree that there is a problem. The Austin State Hospital is over crowded, but the solution is not to send the patients to regular hospitals. Hospitals like the Dell Children’s Center, have lots of space but like the man power and expertise to deal with these kinds of patients. Wait times in Dell’s emergency room are twice that of what they should be. The solution to their problem would be to expand on their site or build an alternate facility to accommodate their needs. The physicians at these regular emergency rooms are not properly trained to deal with MHMR patients. The money that they would be spending on workshops and training for teaching the emergency room attendees to deal with MHMR patients could be spent on building another facility. Despite those concerns, it could also potentially be a dangerous situation. MHMR patients have special needs. Their reasoning skills are on a different level from the people who would normally visit a Brackenridge or St. David’s emergency room, and because of this their safety could be compromised by one another. Different people have a different understanding of things, and it just would not be feasible to intertwine these to groups of people. The easiest and most lasting answer to their problem is not to transfer patients to alternate facilities that does not have the proper equipment and specialist to treat them, but it is simply to just expand on what they already have.

Roots or politics?

Which has better standing, who you are or what you stand for? In Forth Worth, Texas two gentlemen are vying for House District 97. One is a well know gentlemen throughout Forth Worth and has laid roots. Bob Leonard Jr. is a former lawmaker and a one time department store owner. The other is a newcomer to the block, Craig Goldman. Goldman is young and fresh, although he lacks lawmaking experience he has been around behind the shadows. He was an aide for former U.S. Senator Phil Gramm. Although Leonard has identification associated with himself, Goldman has raised the most amount of money and an ample amount of supporters. Goldman is laying down platforms and picking sides to support based on current issues. Leonard on the other hand is standing by idle, waiting to see what moves that his constituents are going to make so he can then in turn make his. I think that you’re political platform is most important to voters when they go to the polling booth to make their decisions. Unfortunately our United States citizens tend to side with the most popular candidate. We identify ourselves with faces instead of the meaning behind the face. Leonard will most likely come out on top because he has created a name for himself in the city of Fort Worth. People are going to remember him for Leonard’s Department Store, instead of Goldman as the man that stood behind Phil Gramm. As the old saying goes, “It’s who you know, not what you know” that counts. Although Goldman may have the knowledge of the campaign, Leonard is the most popular.
http://www.statesman.com/search/content/region/legislature/stories/10/27/1027txrace.html

Activist presses lawmakers on fiscal discipline

Sullivan, the president of a group called Texans for Fiscal Responsibility, sets up a loyal Republican during a speech in Canton. He spoke of the Republican reign in Texas and a loyal Republican praised his acknowledgement, but Sullivan’s comments were insight of their pitfalls. Sullivan preached that since the Republicans have been the majority in the House and Senate of Texas that they have misused funds and did nothing in terms of property tax cuts. Sullivan isn’t mudslinging Republicans, he offers his support to any party that is in line with his beliefs. Perry promised a $2000 tax cut to homeowners over a three year period that is yet to be seen. Sullivan goes after issues that have been poorly addresses by lawmakers and for which they were given praise for such as CHIP eligibility, a bill against expanding pre-kindergarten programs, and discounting tuition for students who graduate in the top 10 percent of their high school class. Sullivan makes valid observations, but he doesn’t provide adequate accounts of numbers. He looks at the cup half empty. Regardless of party affiliation, lawmakers are going to agree on bills that we don’t necessarily agree with. Instead of doing anything about it we accept defeat in this world we call a democracy, where the many is represented by a few. Sullivan’s ambitions are a step in the right direction of addressing policy that we don’t agree on. The next thing that we need to do is get more people involve. Sullivan and his group’s initiatives definitely have my praises.

http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/09/24/0924sullivan.html?COXnetJSessionIDbuild59_prod=N2BTHZ4VWbrqQPDQJHbl3FRlWpMhvQQXFxXYyRwkdZp14XvkphQ2!-532306383&UrAuth=aNaNUObN]UbTTUWUXUVUZTYU_UWU]UWUZUcU]UcTYWYWZV&urcm=y

Ruling could halt Texas executions

Lethal Injection Challenges
Executions in Texas have come to a stand still due to a pending Supreme Court case bearing it unconstitutional. Lethal injection is the method of execution used by Texas and three other states. It has been argued that this method of execution is deemed as cruel and usual punishment, which is a liberty spelled out in the Bill of Rights. Heliberto Chi was scheduled to die in Texas by lethal injection, but was instead granted a reprieve. He was the second man on death row in Texas to be granted a reprieve. Carton Turner Jr. was the first to be granted a reprieve with the ongoing Supreme court case. The Chi case shed much needed light on the negligence of the Texas Court on an appeal for death row inmate Michael Richard. The court refused to stay open past 5 pm for the appeal of the later executed man. It was a case of miscommunication, the judge who should have heard the case was “supposedly” unaware that she was suppose to. Judges also said that they weren’t properly informed on why they needed to stay late. Counsel for Richards argued that the judges knew that they were having computer trouble and needed extra time.
Although it started out rough, I think the courts have taken a turn in the right direction. Lethal injection is cruel and unusual punishment in my opinion. The death penalty as a whole is immoral. /on the contrary felons shouldn’t be let off the hook for their crime. Their life sentence in jail should be as unpleasant as possible, so that they know that they have committed heinous crimes.
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/region/legislature/stories/10/03/1003court.html

Supreme Court rules state can't regulate Bible schools Respose

Freedom to practice the religion of your choice. This is a right that was given to us in the Constitution of the United States. But in the constitution of our own state this right had been taken away. In 1998 the Texas Supreme Courts ruled that they had the power to regulate the standard of seminary degrees and that if schools didn't comply with this they would get fined. Thier main objective to this bill was to stop "degree mills" from giving out achievement certifcates and passing them off as if the where actual degrees. They were concerned that these certificates were not being given out because the work was done but because the companies that were giving them out these were more concerned about making money, than actual academic acheviment. And this bothered the leaders of our state. But on august 31, 2007 the third circut of the Texas Supreme Court ruled that the government had no right to regulate the degrees,but in trying to do so they violated HEB's right to religious freedom. They also decided that the state can not stop institutions from using the term seminary. There most appreciated action was the turn over of a 173,000 dollar fine issued to the Tyndale Theological Seminary and Biblical Institute in Fort Worth.
Just reading this made me realize that there are alot of rights that we should never have let be taken away, or adjusted so that the government can control us more. This shows me how much more we have to work with our government and the people of power to make sure that these things don't happen as often. It's a tough job but someone has to do it.

http://www.statesman.com/news/content/region/legislature/stories/09/01/0901religion.html