Baggy Pants

To the Editor, With the high stigmatism of males wearing bagging pants, I would like to see Memphis induce a law to prohibit males from wearing their pants below their buttocks, also termed baggy pants or saggy trousers. The first reason I would like to see this is because there are so many opinions and stereotypes. This ultimately leads to however I don’t believe wearing pants in this fashion should make them cold criminals. I believe just attempting to ban baggy pants will cause people to think about the issue in their areas. To me wearing sagging trousers is lack of respect to society and mainly women. There was a TV show in the past named Family Matters. There was a comical character in the sitcom named Earkle whom was known to wear his pants above the navel area. I definitely don’t believe that’s necessary at all. l.I do realize the city has other issuers more important as criminal activity, but just starting to face the baggy trousers issue should be faced. According to USA Today at least 20 cities has passed a law against wearing baggy pants. Other cities have tried to ban baggy pants but were rejected. This is due to the First Amendment protecting the wearing of clothing as a freedom of expression. The First Amendment protects you on how you dress. It’s an American Civil Right. Some cities experience The First Amendment as being a hard Amendment to face. However, most cities which the laws have passed this fashion have a local policy including public indecent which covers how a person expose their body in public. Some cities ban baggy pants while relating it to gay, crimes, and gangs. I do not believe its always related to crime or gang.. Again, to me it’s lack of respect and public indencit. Law makers also relate saggy pants directly or indirectly to poor learning and delinquency. This is not my belief. I’ve read different article regarding how wearing pants as such started. One article namely “Pants Hang Low” based on an album being released. This article states bagging pants begin in prison. Its written oversized uniforms were issued without belts to prevent suicide and use of weapons. The style quickly spreaded to all nationalities. Now bagging pants are seen on a regular basis. I believe that one of the most effective ways to reduce bagging in schools was to induce the uniform policy. In the begging of the uniform policy, both students and some parents rebuked the policy. Since the uniform policy has been in effect, the number of children you see now wearing baggy pants has reduced significantly. We can not force all persons to wear uniforms, but at least it is a start in our schools. Uniforms seem to not only reduce the steriotypes of people that wear baggy pants in school, it has also cut down the number of school conflicts because people are not preoccupied with what their classmates are wearing. The stereotypes associated with baggy pants are far from positive. Although we shouldn’t stereotype people for any reason, it is very much a part of our culture. Inducing a law to prevent people from wearing baggy pants, in public will improve the world as a whole and bring the stereotype of a real gentleman back into the picture. Some people simply don’t know, as wrong as it may be, we are at times looked upon according to fashion. Some don’t know how important appearance can affect jobs and colleges. Some forget about the importance of how appearance effect the next generation. Like many other cities, it’s time for Memphis to ban saggy pants. Mattie Fly Public Administration 3601

Nursing Home Abuse

© Jonathan Rosen field’s Nursing Home Abuse Did you know that there are millions of elderly men and women who are abused and neglected on a daily bases while living in a nursing home. Many family members don’t know that when they put their love one’s in a facility such as a nursing home or a retirement home that they will be abused. I worked in a nursing before were the residents were being abused. The lady that was doing this crime probably never thought she would get caught. She abusing the men which she cared for on the night shift and one of the guys who could not really speak finally told someone. This young lady was fired and she has a record and she is not allowed to work with any senior citizens or children. What would pose a grown person to hurt an older person? They could not have a heart or if so it is as small as the Grinch. This story comes from a personal experience my grandmother was put in a nursing home by my mother because my mom could no longer care for her. When my grandmother got to the nursing home she was always complaining about the aids were not treating her right. They would pinch her; steal her food and drinks we would bring. Once we talked to the charge nurse and the manger we did not have any more problems. But a lot of residents are not as fortune as my granny to have family members that cared. But as time went on my grandmother started losing weight because they were not feeding her and then she got sick and my granny didn’t last long after that. I’m saying this to say that elderly people do not need to be treated like animals. In this article you will see pictures of the residents who live in the nursing homes and how they were beaten because of another adult trifling ways. In my eyes I’m trying to figure out how can adult forms themselves to beat on someone who can’t defend themselves. This breaks my heart when I read the paper or listen to the news and hear what has happen to a resident who live in a state facility. This type of abuse is a crime and you can get jail time for this. There are a lot of judges who like to take on this type of case because nine times out of tine they win. Our elderly are suppose to be treated with the utmost respect because they have lived their lives and now it is time for the next generation to care for them. I feel that if you don’t have the heart to deal with people who can’t take care of themselves then you don’t need to be in the field of nursing. There are senior citizens who are severely beaten and end up dying. I am passionate when it comes to elderly and children. Children didn’t ask to be born so why would you beat them and neglect them because of your mistake. And our senior citizens who have paved the way for us should not be abused at all. The article that was written by Jonathan Rosen field’s can be found at this website http//www.nursinghomeabuseblog.com/articles/nursinghomeabuse-1. As I stated before when I read this article I ended up in tears. There is a picture of a lady on one the pages and she has a black eye. What could this elderly woman have done to make someone punch her in her eye like she was a punching bag of some kind. This article states quit a few facts about nursing home abuse. This seems to be an uprising epic for our elderly people. I feel that if you have a love one who needs to be cared for don’t put them in a nursing home if you can help it because they might suffer neglect. Now don’t get me wrong everybody don’t do this unjust crime but the ones who do need to rot in hell. If you can if your parents need to go to a home make sure you investigate the facility to make sure they don’t have any neglect or abuse going on with their residents. And make sure you check on your love one everyday so that they will know that there is family. Because if no one comes to visit this is more likely the ones who will be abused and you don’t want that for someone you love. So read this article to see what you can do to prevent this from happening.

State taking over MCS......

Joi Peake. After reading the article in the Commercial Appeal about the schools that can be possibly taken over by the state if scores do not improve, I felt that this issue is very delicate. The schools need support and sincere cooperation from all stakeholders. The most important and number one thing all of us should focus on is the education of our children. We as a city and as a county cannot afford a lost generation. I attended a Memphis City School and my pride level is not the greatest for that. It was several years ago and at that time it was thought to be one of the better schools in the Memphis area. Towards my senior year I noticed a rapid change in our in our school system. It seemed as students came to school only because they had to, or parents sent them to be cared after. Parents must be involved in the education process of their child. In my opinion parents need to be fully engaged in the learning process of their children. Parents should return to school, to better educate their children at home. Teachers need our full support. Teachers should be able to count on parents for their children to be disciplined. The reason discipline is important to me in the school system is so it will decrease the number of in class disruptions. If class disruptions are minimized then more time could be focused on teaching and learning. In this day and time a child has very little opportunity to get a good job without the proper education. A better educated child would make a better educated citizen. Parents need to demand more of the students. Parents should be involved with the student’s class activities and home assignments. Students need to demand more of them self. If students demand more of themselves grades would improve. If students strive for perfection, I believe they will end up somewhere in the neighborhood. Being a hard working student could help you with daily life skills, if college is attended or not. Being a hard working student it will help shape the students for the future and for corporate America. Teachers need to be allowed to teach. Citizens should do whatever they can to assist the system. If students are forced to do what is needed to be done then teaching would be able to be done. This system is set up for the failure of our children at the expense of profits for the companies who provide jobs for unskilled workers in distribution companies. Distribution warehouses would suffer from Memphis being a better educated city. They need unskilled workers so that their options of having a better career would be less. It is obvious to any honest parent, student, teacher, school board member, and our mayor that our schools are not now and have not for a long time functioned as places where real education takes place. Five of the eight schools that are on the list to be taken over by the state if scores don’t improve are located in north Memphis. Most of those students live in poverty and parents are undereducated, and the system is more geared to failure. Students in those types of environments need the encouragement from the community and teachers to overcome the odds of their environment. I believe if more people show more interest in the students that want to do better, will no matter where they are or where they come from. Schools, cities, families and individuals can help solve the problem in our Memphis city school system. In my opinion the change begins at home. If there is a change made in home then a change will be made in the school. Once the schools are changed over time the community will be changed. Parents are responsible for their children. The importance of discipline and education should be one of the many family values.

F.C.C. Indecency Policies

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/20/opinion/20wed3.html When reading the article in the link above, I began thinking. The question I asked myself: What is indecency? According to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, something is indecent if it is “grossly improper or offensive.” This definition opens up a whole new discussion. New questions arise; such as, Who sees it as improper or offensive? At what point is it considered “grossly” improper or offensive? So, with all of these questions and uncertainty, how can the F.C.C. truly decide what to regulate, and how to do so? A complete description of the F.C.C.’s guidelines and regulations for obscenity, indecency, and profanity can be found at http://www.fcc.gov/eb/oip/. The basic idea of their regulations is that obscene material is not allowed to be aired at any time, and indecent or profane material may only be aired during certain hours. The specifics of their regulations and definitions are vague and could be interpreted differently by every reader. This causes a lot of problems and arguments over rulings of violations. In my opinion, programs aired on public television should be regulated, but the F.C.C. should have very specific guidelines that are set in stone and cannot be disputed. For profanity, the F.C.C. should have a set list of words or phrases that cannot be said on air during certain times. They should also have another list of less offensive language that cannot be said more than a select number of times per hour/program. I also think that if a program is up for dispute of whether or not it is offensive, it should be tested. The test should consist of a viewing by a large, random group of viewers of various age, race, profession, religion, etc. After the viewing, they should be given an anonymous survey in which they rate the program’s level of offense on a scale set by the F.C.C. The F.C.C. should pre-determine a score that will be considered offensive. I do agree that obscene programs should never be aired on public television, but should still be available, by means of pay-per-view or rental, to those of legal age (18+) who would like to view them. Basically, the F.C.C., as of their current definitions and policies, should not be able to regulate materials. If they change their policies to be more specific, their rulings would be more concrete and justified. Right now though, their policies are too vague to be justifiable or respected by television networks.

Does Memphis City Schools really need a separate police department?

I decided a while ago that the evening news had become a dumping ground for depressing information. If it isn’t a homicide or theft report, it will be certainly be an exclusive for the latest city school to fall victim to a shooting or rape case. School violence has become almost “normal” in Memphis. It seems to me that there is a lack of administrative concern for the welfare of all students. There is a school board meeting aired regularly on television to discuss the lack of school funding. Many metro schools are not receiving the quality education that they should be. With the everyday distractions that many students deal with, school should be a safe, learning environment. But, it’s not. Students at various metro schools have had students commit some type of crime. They vary from bringing firearms into the school building to multiple students being shot or stabbed. The reason schools are becoming increasingly more violent has been debated by many, but the fact remains that criminal activity in the schools exist and students need protection. But is an in school police department really the answer? I believe that the school system would greatly benefit from additional programs. Several Memphis schools have less than adequate funding for students and there are no mentoring programs available for the students in many areas. Schools should have more creative and artistic outlets for the youth to participate in. Anger management classes should be mandatory. Fundraising efforts should focus more on activities that are intriguing to both parents and communities of urban neighborhoods. But, instead of this happening, there is a constant debate over whether the city of Memphis should sue the school district and vice versa over owed money. It is amazing to me how the district is so poor but can afford to pay its board members and superintendent six figure salaries. Even with the $90 million donation the district has received from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, I somehow believe THAT will be mostly absorbed into other questionable activities. I think that the answer to increasing funding for the district is to decrease some of the unnecessary expenditures that exist. During the process of hiring a new superintendent to replace Dr. Carol Johnson, the school board decided to hire an outside agency to find a candidate for them. The thousands of dollars invested in the hiring agency could have been invested into the schools. Also, the administrative staff makes way more than the actual teachers in the district. I believe that it is overkill to be paid that much money. If education is the first priority for administrators, they should not mind taking a pay cut to benefit the students. In an article written about the possible school police force addition, Dr. Kenneth Whalum made a very astounding statement, "I just can't wrap my mind around the fact that we want to spend $15 million to create a police force that has the power to shoot our kids but a principal can't spank our kids. I am categorically, vehemently opposed to it." (http://www.examiner.com/x-13046-Memphis-Religion--Politics-Examiner~y2010m1d14-Memphis-city-schools-wants-own-police-force). I agree totally. The city of Memphis has a great burden of trying to get enough police officers to patrol the city streets, there is no way funding for a separate police station will be possible. Especially when they cannot fund programs that could possibly decrease violence in the schools.

American Breath of Life

The U. S. health care system is in total shambles. It’s reform bill is obnoxious, it over bills the clients/ patients, and it’s too costly to the public/employees. Stat’s reveal many cut backs on governmental medical assisted care, and disability care, etc. Many of our nation’s employees can no longer to even have payroll deducted healthcare, and many of the employers can no longer afford to even offer health insurance to its employees. Whether we know it or not there are still many of our nation’s children whom are medically bed-ridden or too disable to attend most day cares, rendering them hopeless on receiving day care assistance so that their parents can go out and get a much needed job, in order to get out of their fixed income situations. The service I would like to provide is an 501-c-3 Non-Profit Corporation Organizational public service called American Breath of Life. This non-profit corporation will provide an hospital (nursing setting type) of child care facility that will service children with a vast of disabilities, but having respiratory as their common problem. These respiratory disabled children will have a concentration of breathing problems such as cystic fibrosis, severe asthmatics, ventilator dependent, kidney and blood pressure problems, circulatory problems, possible mental retardation problems, etc. At American Breath of Life all of their medical care, child care, and to a very large degree their educational care will be served by a highly qualified licensed medical staff of all categories, plus dieticians, teachers, teachers aides, medical assisted aides, etc. There will be an implemented parent, client (child), medical team, facilitating staff team review, ethics, policy and procedures committee that will meet quarterly to discuss the client (child) overall care, progressions, complaints, and other interests. The governmental services have been looking for this service to be implemented in a vastly service for awhile. I intend to initiate my thorough research of the subject and of it public service to the soon. Vonnie Hill

Should Teens Be Condemened to Die in Jail

To Whom It May Concern: I read an article dating back to October 31, 2009 concerning juveniles that are serving life sentences without parole for offenses they committed like robbery, murder, or rape. In this article, one particular story caught my interest which pertained to a now thirty-two year old woman named Sara Kruzan whom murdered her abusive pimp at the age of sixteen and was sentenced to life without parole. Her story began when she was eleven years and a middle school student from Riverside, California when she met a man named GG whom was three times her age. GG became somewhat of a father figure to Sara due to the circumstances that her mother was a drug-addict and abusive and for her father well she only met him a couple of times. “GG was there sometimes” she said. “He would talk to me and take me out and give me all these lavish gifts and do all these things for me like a father and boyfriend.” Not long after, GG started talking to Sara about sex and the things men desired most out of women and unknowing groomed Sara into a prostitute. When Sara was thirteen GG raped her. Soon, Sara was working for GG as a prostitute which consisted of the hours 6p.m. until 5:30 or 6 the next morning. She and other girls would come back and turn in all their profits to GG. “He was married to all of us I guess and everything was his” she said. After years of prostitution and sexual abuse, when Kruzan was 16, she snapped and killed GG. She was arrested and convicted of first-degree murder. Despite her lawyer attempts to have her sentenced as a juvenile, the judge described her crime as well thought-out and sentenced her to life without parole. “My judge told me I lacked moral scruples,” she recalls, a term she did not know the meaning of then. “Life without parole means I’m going to die here” she said. A few years ago Sara’s story grabbed the attention of California State Senator Leland Yee who introduced a legislation to abolish the sentence of life without parole for youth offenders. The bill would not be a get out of jail pass but merely try to help rehabilitate juveniles who committed a felony before the age of 18 would serve a minimum of 25years before being eligible to go before a parole board. “When it comes to judging the actions of teenagers versus those of adults, the neuroscience is clear; brain maturation continues well through adolescence, and thus impulse control, planning, and critical thinking skills are still not yet fully developed. “Children have a greater capacity for rehabilitation than adult,” Yee said. In politics punitive almost always wins out. Yee’s bill met intense political resistance and eventually died. In February 2009, he introduced a new water-downed bill that instead of eliminating life without parole for juveniles a review would be set up of a youth offender sentence after ten years. In 2005, Human Rights Watch published a study which found at least 2,225 people incarcerated in the United States who have been sentenced to spend the rest of their lives in jail were children. Today, the number is even higher at 2,574. So my concern to you is do you think that juveniles serving life sentences violate the Constitution’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment? According to Equal Justice Initiative out of the prisoners serving life without parole, more than half are first-time offenders. At least 74 involve defendants who were 14 years old or younger when they committed their crime. Many factors contributed to the harsh sentencing of these juveniles for example the lack of legal representation, race, and economic standards. Race is a key factor in many cases due to that the American criminal justice system targets people of color. In studies shown African American youth are serving the sentence at a rate of about 10 times that of white youth. Most of the money spent on putting youth away should be spent on rehabilitation and job training. Yes, I do believe some youthful offenders need extended sentences but it shouldn’t be for life.

Steroid usage in High School Student Athletes Today”

In the world today, high school sports are taking over headlines in all kinds of areas including the media, newspapers, and even the T.V. Wins or losses is very important to high school athletes now because of the media attention they would get if they’re winning all the time versus a team that loses often. Students and coaches believe that getting the media attention would help get students into college and more exposure for their school to make money also. Kids believe in winning at all cost, and now, more kids are buying steroids online to gain muscle strength and to become more faster, which they believe will help them to become better athletes. It has become a huge issue because coaches are powerless to stop the use of their players using steroids. In fact, a coach in Texas was caught giving his high school football players steroids to enhance their performance on the field. When other coaches were wondering why the kids were bigger, faster and stronger than average it raised eyebrows. The Congress had agreed to give the kids a drug test and more than half the team test positive for steroids usage. Many speculate about the question “how many high school athletes or taking steroids and getting away with it”? Steroids are a huge issue in society today in sports. We have seen many athletes go to jail and some have even been stripped of medals in the Olympic Games. Taking steroids is considered as cheating the Games and is not allowed in most sports today. Some of the important athletes that have tested positive for steroids are Marion Jones, Ken Shamrock, Alex Rodriguez, and all time homerun king Barry Bonds. It’s important to society to test our children that are in sports for steroids because it has became so easy for kids to get their hands on it. In high school, more football players and wrestlers test positive for steroids. However, which way you want to look at it it’s cheating which isn’t acceptable in sports today. Steroids are an extremely harmful drug to a young adult’s body because of the growing stages young adults go through. I have also played high school football for four years. In my years of playing football I have eyewitness a team that had big kids like they played for college team. The team was also in our conference and we played against them twice a year. The kids were so big it was like we were out there playing with grown men. The team we faced won state every year for five years. The kids were so big my coach thought that they were taking something to enhance their performance such as steroids. Come to find out, my coach was able to have the school conduct a random drug test to see if their players were on anything. They couldn’t test the whole team bout almost half of them. I remember six of their players tested positive for steroids and were suspended for five games. We didn’t get what we wanted, we were hoping they would conduct more test to all the players because we knew more of them would test positive for the same drug. The school district had told my coach that they could not conduct more tests because it was so expensive to test these kids. I believe to this day, that we were not treated fair and it was a lot of cheating going on because of them taking these drugs. It wasn’t fair to our team and other team in our conference. Things I need to know about more on this issue is how much it cost to have student athletes tested so it can be fair to others. I would also want to know “Who is paying for these tests and what’s the maximum penalty for students who have been caught “? I like to find out “what the effects of steroids in the human body”? These or the most important questions I have for this issue of student athletes talking steroids in high school.

SHOULD POLICE ARREST PEOPLE FOR FIGHTING BACK AGAINST CRIMES

Dear Editor: I’m writing in response to the question you have asked on today’s blog. The question that is in questioned is “Should police arrest people for fighting back against crimes?” In my opinion I believe no. Citizens of the world have a right to protect their selves, family, and property, especially if harm comes to them. In common law jurisdictions, the practice dates back to medieval Britain and the English common law, in which sheriffs encouraged ordinary citizens to help apprehend law breakers. In the Tennessee Code Annotated it clearly states: 40-7-113. Disposition of person arrested by private person. — (a) A private person who has arrested another for a public offense shall, without unnecessary delay, take the arrested person before a magistrate or deliver the arrested person to an officer. If every citizens has a right to due process under the United States Constitution then every citizen have a right to protect themselves. There were 989 residential burglaries reported to Memphis Police from November 1st through November 30th of 2009 alone. Why not protect yourself. We live in an era when people are really getting out of control will rudeness, anger, and with crime! This is a perfect time for people to become proactive and do something about the problem. It’s time to take a stand; the police can’t be everywhere at one time. It’s my understanding that the Memphis Police Department has a shortage of police officers anyway. By the time the police arrive at your home the burglar had already assaulted you and took all your goods. Indeed, free ownership of guns may often reduce armed crime. The current round of official gungrabbing began after the Hungerford massacre back in August 1987. But the wrong lesson was learned then. Just consider what might have happened had someone else beside Michael Ryan been carrying a gun in Hungerford High Street. He might have been cut down before firing more than a few shots. As it is, he killed nearly 20 people before armed police could be brought in to stop the shootings. Think of the burglaries, rapes and other crimes that might never happen if the victims were armed, and therefore able to deal with their aggressors on equal terms. Anyone can learn to fire a gun. And nothing beats a bullet. As the old saying goes: “God made men equal, and Smith and Wesson make damn sure it stays that way.”

Cell Phone Usage While Driving

Many of us feel like we are great multi-taskers, being able to apply makeup, eat, and drive all at the same time, and as our culture in the United States becomes more and more advanced in technology, more people are starting to feel that they can get away with talking on their phones and texting while driving too. I am one of these people. Ever since I had my phone and a car, I have been guilty of calling family, texting friends, looking up directions, but never really thinking about what danger I am putting myself in. Just recently the state of Illinois has become the 17th state to ban all cell phone usage while driving, and as a person who resides in Illinois I will have to stop my dangerous obsession. In a study by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, results that people who texted while driving were twenty three times more likely to be in a crash than those who refrained from such an act. Another study showed that the average text took the drivers eyes off the road for 4.6 seconds, which is enough time for a car driving at 55 miles an hour to travel the length of a football field. I know that from my own experience that there have been many times that I have looked up from a text in just enough time to slam on the brakes to avoid an accident, and really, I am one of the lucky ones. Last year, one day before Thanksgiving, a high school senior was driving just a mile away from his house and sending a text when his girlfriend screamed. Patrick Sims had just hit and killed a 63 year old cyclist and changed his life forever. I can only imagine what Sims goes through every day of his life thinking about how he could have maybe resisted sending that text. I agree with the new laws that are being put into place and that cell phone usage should be banned while people are driving. I feel that people who text while they drive are taking not only the lives of the people in the car with them, but every other driver on the roads’ in their hands. I think that more states should consider the ban on cell phone usage by drivers. Sending a text that is just a couple of words is not worth taking the lives of those around you. Even though it may be hard for officers to detect whether or not a person is in fact texting, I think these new bans are a good wake up call for those who may not realize how potentially dangerous using your cell phone while driving can be. I read that using your cell phone while driving can make you slower to react in your car than someone who is legally drunk with a .08 blood alcohol level. I think that if you absolutely have to use your phone while you are in your car you should pull over to the side of the road and not risk getting in an accident.

Why College Athletes should get paid

It takes alot of sacrifice to become a big time college athlete. Alot of time and dedication is involved most of the time out of the athletes control. Athletes bring in millions of dollars to major division one schools each year. Yes, most of the athletes get there schooling paid for but when you compare a college athletes tuition to a college coaches salary a year, it does not balance out. There are coaches in basketball making 1.2 million dollars(http://www.wral.com/news/local/wral_investigates/story/5922675/), all at the sacrifice and hardwork of the players. the players are the ones who go out and win the games for the schools. Alot of times whether the the players feel good or are feeling sick, they are still expected to go out and perform at a high level. Coaches also get the benifit of having car packages, where they can drive a car until the miles run out and than get another one. what do the athletes get? Nothing. Also Some expectations are so great from coaches that they tend to lose focus on what the real purpose of college is. Some coaches really believe that players should be athletes first and than school falls after that, evan tho they want admit it. College sports is a business now ranging from a broad number of things. Some schools sell the players jerseys at bookstores and other sports stores. Most of the tome the players do not even know that their jersey is being sold until they see a fan with it on. The athletes should be giving something. People might say well they get school paid, but the price of schooling compared to the amount of time they have to put into their sport and the amount of money they bring in to a school they should get a cash reward or check. Another pont in this argument that coulds be made is the making of college sports video games. The makers of college sports video games tend to try to make the college teams as accurate as possible and the players as close to possible to the real players. They have to do that because if they did not no one would want to play the games. I think the athletes should get something for this because EA sports makes millions. A typical preaseason day for an athlete is workout at 6 am, thanjust enough time for breakfast and class. After class practice again, and for some athletes they evan have to go to class after that. That’s a rough schedule everyday having to balance that and school work. Most times a lot of work doesn’t get done because the athletescan only think about getting sleep before the next day. That’s a job.

Are Children Really NOT Left Behind?

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, was passed by former President George Bush in 2005. Initially, the act was proposed and passed as an attempt to improve the reading, language arts, and mathematics skills of low performance students. According to the Department of Education, the act encourages teachers, parents, and communities to become more involved to ensure the success of the students. In addition to that, NCLB uses public tax money to create literacy programs for the students. But just as any other policy, NCLB has both positive and negative aspects. While it focuses on teachers providing intervention based on the low performance of an individual student, it also holds the teacher accountable if the student's skills and test scores do not improve.This is the particular aspect in which I am concerned about. Though some people believe that NCLB is effective, many disagree. I believe that in a way, the act encourages the teacher to merely pass a student rather than actually helping them to pass on their own. According to the policy, the teacher's role is to provide individual help or intervene in some type of way. Now, if there are 30 students in a classroom and four of them are performing at a lower level, how can a teacher solely focus on those four without teaching the entire class? Frankly, this will distract the others from the learning process. In my opinion, it depends on the low performing student and the amount of effort that he or she is willing to put into learning, because often times it is not the teacher's fault. I will use myself as an example. During middle and high school, I never liked math. Though I was an honor student, I entered mathematics class every year with an attitude that I hated it and as long as I earned an A in every other class and at least a C in math, that was okay with me. I carried this attitude up until the 10th grade when I scored advanced on every part of the Gateway except math. After failing that particular portion, my mathematics teacher suggested that I stay after school for the Gateway tutoring program. I went to about two or three sessions and did not return. It was not until I failed the math portion a second time that I decided to help myself because I knew that if I did not pass it, I would not receive my diploma. I sought help from a family friend who is a mathematics teacher and received one on one, step by step tutoring from her. I took the test for the third time during my Junior year and scored advanced; every since, I have had a positive attitude towards learning. Point being, teachers had tried to help me, but I did not get the help until I truly realized that I did not want to be left behind due to my poor math skills. Another case where I believe that the policy was more harmful than helpful was during a time when my language arts teacher got into major trouble because she failed a large number of her students. In actuality though, the students who failed deserved to. They rarely came to class and whenever they did, it was not to learn. The students would sleep and play in class, then if the teacher addressed them, they would be disrespectful towards her. With that being said, if the students do not do the required work, how could the teacher be at fault? The following year she was my language arts teacher again and our class consisted of many "class clowns" who completed few of the assignments. However, instead of failing them, she explained that she would "give" them a D in order for them to be able to go to summer school an graduate from there; she did not want her job to be in jeopardy again. In addition to this, there is a young man who I have tutored in the past. He is now in the 10th grade and can barely read at a 7th grade level. If he was not being passed along by his teachers, he would probably still be an 8th grade student today. Surely his true skills are going to show when he has to take the Gateway soon. I have witnessed way too many situations in which the No Child Left Behind Act has been less effective than it was intended to be. While the intentions were meant to be for the good of the students, that is not always the case. According to nochildleft.com, "NCLB has a narrow focus upon math and reading test scores and is a dangerous experiment that threatens the education of millions of children." It goes on to say that hidden within the NCLB policy, are "dozens of changes that are untested, unproven, and laced with political motives that could do great damage to public education." In reality, students really are being left behind and it will only hurt them in the long run.

Right to Bear Arms

I myself am a firm believer that a person does have the right to purchase, own and enjoy firearms. I believe that if a person feels that they or their families lives are in life threatening danger you should have the right to defend yourself by any means needed. There are several groups, politicians and citizens who believe that we should not be able to own or use any such firearms for any reasons. These people believe that the key to stopping crime is to abolish the right to bear arms. Take away every citizens right to own or purchase guns and we will eliminate violence and crime that goes on everyday in the United States. I think that it is a very ignorant belief that if we take everyone guns away that that crime factor will diminish in any such way. If we take the gun rights of hard working, good American citizens all that does is create another source of income for those not interested in abiding any laws. If our government decides to take away the guns of law abiding citizens it is just going to create another black market enterprise in which criminals will fund their missions. Criminals do not care about the law. In fact, the very laws that are supposed to stop criminal actions often times just fuel the greed and violence portrayed by these organizations. When something becomes illegal, the criminals organizations tend to plagiarize what is no longer legal and sell whatever it may be for money. I do not understand how people can believe that if we take guns away from everybody that this will lessen the killings and the crime factor that is today. It is my belief that all do is leave the common, law abiding citizen vulnerable to threats and violence from gun carrying criminals. Criminals are still going to have access to guns and we as ordinary people will have nothing to protect ourselves and our families with. What does the government expect people to do, trust them to protect us from harm. We all know that this is just not possible with all of the terror that goes on in the world. Taking guns way from law abiding citizens will just push guns underground and into the hands of criminals. These criminals will use the gun trade just as they are using the drug trade today. If our government cannot stop the drug trade what makes you think they can stop a gun trade if guns become illegal? I don't believe they can. In my opinion all this accomplishes will be leaving the ordinary man helpless and vulnerable. Now I know that a lot of the people and organizations against gun rights and such have been victims of gun violence. These people have lost loved ones, children, husbands, fathers, wives, etc. and this is very sad. As you, I do not wish this on anyone. Everyday however we see or hear in papers, radio, and TV news how ordinary citizen was able to stop a threat, protect themselves, protect their family and livelihood by having access to a legal firearm. It is my wish that our government and organizations would see that it is not the gun itself that creates the violence and killings but the criminals who have access to them. Taking them away from law abiding citizens does nothing to stop the violence and crime. If our government wants to eliminate violence and crime associated with guns then they must first focus on the criminals element much more than they are. Do not take abiding citizens protection away and leave everyone easy targets for criminals. Criminals will know that they have nothing to worry about when robbing or breaking into your home if they know you do not own a firearm. The criminals themselves will still be armed of course but we will have nothing. Nothing but the word of our government to protect us and our families. Do you trust the word of our government? would you put you and your families lives at risk on the word of our government? I know there is no way I would! I say lets fight the criminals and leave the common man alone. Worry about the illegal gun owners first. Take care of the drug and illegal gun trade first. When that is completely abolished then we can discuss giving up my guns.

Equal Access for Homeschoolers

There is an argument as to whether public schools should allow homeschooled children access to class offerings and extracurricular activities. Though this has occurred in other jurisdictions, it is not something that is currently available through Memphis or Shelby County schools systems. My questions would be why not? Parents of homeschoolers pay taxes in to the school system. It would, therefore, seem that their children would be allowed to receive services. There, of course, is the argument that schools receive funding based on their enrollment. Homeschool students are not counted in the enrollment numbers. Therefore, the amount of money per student would be less. While I do understand this argument, I do not see a problem. Could this not be rectified simply by charging homeschool students for the classes and/or activities that they take part in? There are an estimated 4,000 children in the Memphis area that are homeschooled. Think of the revenue that could be generated if schools allowed those students to play football, take art class, or work on the school newspaper for a fee. Don’t get me wrong. There is a vast array of classes, programs, and sports activities offered to homeschool students in the Memphis area. But, they are just a drop in the bucket in comparison to what would be available to students if the doors of the schoolhouse were open to then as well. But, let’s not forget the cost involved. Most homeschool families, by nature, are single-income families. Therefore, in most cases, there are a limited number of funds to provide experiences outside of the daily lessons. And, those experiences that are chosen have to be carefully weighed. Families must take into consideration not only the cost of the class, but the cost of transportation, materials, the age range permitted, and the quality of the program offered. Currently the Memphis Area Homeschool Association offers the following sports: archery, baseball, basketball, cheerleading, bowling, and swimming. What about the child that is interested in football? The sheer number of interested athletes needed is a deterrent to MHEA starting a team. Not to mention that once they have a team, they would have to figure out whom to play. As it stands right now, neither Memphis City Schools nor Shelby County Schools’ sports programs compete against homeschoolers. That leaves private schools, both in and out of the area, to take up the slack and not all of them do. On a different note, what do you do about the student whose parent is not equipped to teach advanced mathematics? Yes, it would be very simple to just hire a tutor. But, wouldn’t (or shouldn’t ) it be just as easy to allow the parent to pay the school system a fee per semester and let the child take the class on their campus? The homeschool students would benefit by receiving the lesson from a teacher trained in that field and the public school students would benefit from the diversity that the homeschool student would bring to the class. In addition, the school would benefit from the revenue generated. As the parent of two children that attend public school students and two children that are homeschooled, I have the unique opportunity of seeing this issue from both sides. My public school children are in high school and have always attended public school. They have participated in the band, played football, basketball, and softball, taken art, advanced mathematics and honors Spanish, learned to design and theater stage, play chess, and how to crochet. I am forever grateful for the things they have learned in public school and the opportunities they have been given to do so. On the other hand, my homeschooled children are both elementary age. They have taken taekwondo, traveled without regard to the school calendar, participated in matinee productions of area plays, taken art classes at the Brooks Museum and science classes at The Pink Palace and Memphis Zoo. Again, I am grateful for the opportunities they have been given by being homeschooled. However, as they approach middle school age, I am finding that I wish I could send them to school just for band or just for art. Alas, they cannot. So, for now, I will continue to homeschool and drive to the different classes that I pay for my children to attend. For, above all else, their academic education is what is most important and, sadly, I am not ready to entrust that to my local school.

Increasing The Moral of America's Juvenile / Youths

MEMPHIS Increasing the Moral of America’s Juvenile / Youths America’s juvenile are plunging downhill in a mad crash dive. They are dropping out of high school at alarming rates and those that do are not continuing with further higher education. A lot of these juvenile drop-outs are not of economic stability in the jobs market to adequately provide a descent financial welfare or health care for themselves; creating a whopping $1.4 billion in health care costs. Many of our nations juveniles are drastically turning to a life of crime more and more each and every day. Our country’s future occupants seem to be falling to pieces. Who’s fault is it? Whom is felling our most precious commodity, our youths? Is it their parents depriving them of good old fashion morals? Is it the back breaking low economy that doesn’t have enough moderately higher paying jobs, if hardly any at all, which forces many of the more job experienced parents to neglect their parenting responsibilities because of having to work multiple jobs? Is it also our systems’ failed economy that’s causing many companies to bankrupt and/or closed down, depleting the jobs, causing stock market crashes, diminishing buying/purchases of goods and services, which in turn in longevity terms causes the American dollar to lose it’s power, then causing many of our children turn to a life of crime to attain quick and easy money to feed, clothe and accessorize themselves, and even help pay the bills? Is it our failing educational systems whom may not be sensitive enough to the children, parents, or the societies environmental needs, and are not being interactive enough in educational (attitude) ethics or quality teaching skills attics with an interesting higher educational module to conform to? Could it be something as simple as our government decreased social events funding has basically been cut off for our teens/youth activities and our local public slothfulness? This leaves the highly energetic teens with nothing to do to spike their interests; detouring them away from harsh inhabiting dealings. No one seems to really want to take the time to adhere to their cry of normalcy, virtually nothing fun to do and to keep it up if started. In order to answer many of these questions, then to achieve the desired goals, we as an public administrating democratic government must research, reform, reorganize, and efficiently, effectively interact the public’s needed and desired goals as an reconverted system policies, procedures, laws, bylaws, and proficiencies that main stances seem to have not been changed since the 20th century with the President Woodrow Wilson administrations. As a future public administrator and non-profit executive/director, I would like to research, direct and administer a public service for our local Memphis Tennessee youth by establishing an non-profit corporation that service youth entertainment, moral and educational intellects that will boost their confidence, knowledge and wisdom, provide increased work-force skills and opportunities, give them insight, and give them hope of prison/criminal activity retentions. Our bluff city has virtually lost its essence of youthful fun activities for its youth age society members (ages 13-20 and up to age 24). In the city of Memphis, we use to have Liberty Land, the Fair Grounds (for the Mid-South Fair), public entertaining camp sites that provided free food and activities, multiple entertaining skating rings, school dances and pep-rallies, cheer-leader/majorette competitions, more middle-school/high school battle of the bands competitions, better and more interesting job fair programs at the Cannon Center and school locations, more enjoyable and affordable school field trips, more teacher/guidance counselor call conferences and/or meetings with the parents, with more quality disciplines. The ways I feel like I can improve this horrible situation as a public servant on giving a public service are by providing a diverse Universal Entertainment Educational Thrills Theme Park, which will offer enter- tainment such as 1) domestic animal stunts show 2) Amateur entertainment provided by any and all up can coming juveniles/youth whom want to perform and compete in music, acting, singing, middle school/high school/ and college band competitions (with their majorettes and cheerleaders), run-way modeling, computer/virtual virosity/(movie) special effects competitions, social-event basketball, football, swim team, gymnastics, skateboarding, ballet, arts and crafts (includes photography), and dancing competitions 3) Business competitions, presenting the best (amateur) business plan, best pretend employment interviewer as well as best interviewee, best plan to decrease foreclosure, best architectural plan 4) Sub-contracted circus and professional musical entertainers 5) More seasonal and special events parades 5) Elder/Seniors waltz and stepping dance entertainment to show youth there is a descent life to becoming old (It’s not all boring) 6) Volunteer preachers and gospel singing groups to minister on Sunday’s and that will help with juvenile detentions and offenders in counsel 7) Providing Disable Juvenile/Youth with their own entertainment competitions. All of these events will be performed free with the exceptions of the sub-contractors. Donations largely accepted. Hopefully, this would inspire our youth. Vonnie Hill

Gates Foundation Grant Money Should Be Spent Wisely

To whom it may concern:

Recently, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation selected the Memphis City School System as the recipient of a $90 million grant to improve the quality of education of the city’s children.

The fact that Memphis is receiving the assistance of a prominent business and philanthropic figure such as Gates is great news for the city and should help to bring a positive light back to the city. However, the money is only as good as the results it creates.

What is most important to the students of Memphis is the responsible leadership that makes it possible for them to inch closer to their life goals each day. They rely on teachers and administrators to do what is best for their education. While not all of the students may receive an equal amount of the support they need from their homes, they should be able to count on an equal standard of education and attention in the classroom.

According to the Tennessee Department of Education, the achievement levels of Memphis students at both the elementary and high school levels are well below the state average. For example, in 2009 the state average score on TCAP assessment tests across the curriculum for grades 3-8 was a 50, which is a B. For MCS students the highest average was a 41 in math, which is the equivalent of a D. Science and social studies received F’s with scores of 36 and 37, respectively.

Memphis students also performed poorly on the ACT compared to other districts across the state. The average ACT score for an MCS student in 2009 was 17.5. The average ACT score in the state of Tennessee in 2009 was 20.7, more than three points higher.

The MCS system website boasts more certified teachers than any other district in the state, but these results do not offer reassurance to that fact. Changes are needed in the facilities across the city. Teachers need to be evaluated regularly, possibly by an independent firm. Most importantly, the school board must use this grant money wisely. This is a chance to turn the system around and get it headed in the right direction.

It is great that there is so much excitement about the potential of this money, but it needs to be put into action. We need to see positive results come out of this.

Should cell phone usage while driving be banned?

It has been estimated that about six percent of accidents each year are caused by cell phone usage. This figure is appalling. I have heard so many stories in the media about accidents caused by texting and talking on cell phones. Your reaction time when your on the phone is much slower than when your totally focused on the road. It is now illegal in many cities to text while driving but this law doesn't seem to really be enforced. I haven't heard of any tickets being written for this or seen anything else about it on the news. I feel that if it's absolutely necessary to call someone or text them the best thing to do would be to pull over at a gas station or off the road and do so. I know that many cities are working on trying to ban cell phone usage while driving and I think that it would be for the best. If police enforcement were stricter about this texting law that is in place in many cities people would be a little more cautious about texting while driving. A few years back I heard of a group of girls from Tennessee that got in an accident while leaving a sporting event they were cheering at. One girl survived of the four and it was discovered that the driver was texting while driving. It's just sickening that innocent lives were lost because of a simple text message that could have been sent at a later time other than when the girl was behind the wheel. I think that accident along with many others is what triggered the law against texting in the Memphis area to be put in place. I have also heard people say that texting while driving is the equivalent to driving drunk. Your eyes are not on the road and you have no way of preventing an accident because you don't have a clue whats going on around you. If your texting your reaction time is much slower than if you were paying attention, just like when someone is intoxicated their reaction time is slow. Society really needs to step back and see what a threat cell phone usage is to everyone. Not just to those doing it but the innocent drivers around them just trying to get to work or school. I think their needs to be more advertisement done to spread the word on how dangerous it really is. If people were to stop cell phone usage while driving so many accidents each year would be prevented and lives would be saved. Last November someone that is close to my family got hit at an intersection at highway 64 and Canada road. Her car was totalled and she was in critical condition for many weeks. They weren't sure if she would be able to keep one of her legs and her pelvis was crushed along with many other broken bones throughout her body. The lady that hit her was talking on her cell phone not paying a bit of attention to the road. Luckily the lady that was hit survived but missed Christmas with her family because she was still in the hospital. This very accident really opened my eyes to how serious this issue is. You don't really realize how serious it is until someone you are close to comes close to losing their lives or loses their lives because of someone being careless and doing something to hinder them from focusing all attention on the road. I hope that by reading this everyone will think twice next time before texting or talking on the phone while behind the wheel. We can make a difference.

Our Future in Health Care Reform

Our Future in Health Care Reform

Health care reform is not a party issue. Eventually a law will be in place to reform the health care system. In my family, there have been reoccurring intense lively family discussions after our traditional weekly Sunday family dinner. Represented at the table you have a lawyer, doctors, educators, entrepreneurs, community activists, the chef, two stay at home moms, information technologist, union organizer, faith leaders, legislators, banking executive, and tailor. Political divisions are republican, democrats, independents, and one representing the green party. How much will it cost? How will we pay? Who will be entering the system? Will the quality of service suffer? How are we going to get more doctors, nurses, administrators, and auxiliary staff? No matter how the discussion starts it always leads to different questions of implementation. Implementation of health care reform is understood by many to be a costly investment in the future of a healthier United States. The health care system will be impacted as historically underserved and excluded populations enter the health care system. Current and forecasts of future shortages are creating strategies to address the development of the needed workforce to for health care reform. The U.S. Census Bureau estimated in 2007 there were 45.7 million people in America without health insurance in the Publication Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2007. However the calculation of numbers of uninsured on page 67 states “estimate of the number of people without health insurance more closely approximates the number of people who are uninsured at a specific point in time during the year than the number of people uninsured for the entire year.” To my understanding 45.7 million is the lowest possible number of people entering the health care system. I wonder if the number would increase if you add to the uninsured people only covered by health insurance less than three months out of the year, and the people that are underinsured. Michal Cohen Moskowitz “State Action and the Health Workforce” estimates the nation would have to produce six million new members to enter the health workforce by 2014. As more people enter the system the demand for services will increase the health care industry will grow. The growth in the health care industry would have to address the current shortages and set in place strategies to address the workforce to cover all of America. Michal Cohen Moskowitz reviews different recruitment actions that eight states have taken to resolve shortages and prepare for the increase of health care professionals in the “State Action and the Health Workforce” published in 2007 by the Association of Academic Health Centers. Georgia, New York, and Texas have websites aim to recruit high school students to enter into health care fields. On page 10, examples of pipeline initiatives of recruitment for elementary through high school students include health career fairs, science meets, summer camps, mentorships, assistance in applications, opportunity for high school students to receive college credit for coursework, and the inclusion of guidance counselors and teachers with resources to develop interest in jobs for the health profession. Scholarships and loan repayment programs are incentives for primary health care professionals to serve in underserved areas. Of course you have include the faculty to train the future health care professionals, the incentives of the recruitment of faculty include scholarship and loan repayments, addressing the pay disparities between practice and teaching, and the increase of education capacity by building more medical schools. The will be many types of jobs generated with the health care reformation. Understanding how many people are uninsured and underinsured entering the health care system is essential to the overhaul of our health care system. States have set in place initiatives that will improve our health care system through recruitment efforts. The investment in health care reform will improve the quality of life of many people and generate jobs.

Time Spend On Electronics

Christina Zuo to whom it may concern: If you ask any teen on the street what they do on their spare time, the answer you’re getting is probably has something involving electronic. Kids or teens these days spend so much time with electronic media – cell phones, iPods, computer, video games – they might as well make it a full time job. According to Kaiser Family Foundation’s recent study, teens spent more than 53 hours a week on an electronic device.

Kids spent every waking minute – except for the time for school – on a computer or a cell phone. Kids from age 8 to 18 spend more than eight hours a day with such devices, compared with less than six and a half hours five years ago when the study was last conducted. These hours does not include the time they spend on texting or talking on the phone.

With all the time kids spent with electronics, the only thing that seems to be fading is ink. Though daily book readership has held steady at about 47% since 1999, the percentage of young people who say they read a magazine every day has plummeted from 55% to 35%. It's worse for newspapers, down from 42% to 23%.

Who should be concern about all this? The more kids spend on playing time, the less the studying will occur. The heavy media use is associated with several negatives, including behavior problems and lower grades.

So is it a bad thing for kids to spend all our time on these electronics? I’d say no. We have all seen in movies or TV shows on how human predicts what the future would be like, where everything is electronic, and we fly around wearing space suits. Consider all this electronic usage a step closer to the future.

Try spending a day without the cell phones or computer we use. One may find it rather ok, and that life is livable. Try spending a whole week or month without the electronics we have, see how the results turns out.

Dr. Michael Rich, a pediatrician at Children’s Hospital Boston who directs the Center on Media and Child Health, said that with media use so ubiquitous, it was time to stop arguing over whether it was good or bad and accept it as part of children’s environment, “like the air they breathe, the water they drink and the food they eat.” If we don’t have the devices we use now, it just seems like our lives incomplete. We are glued to our cell phones, computers, etc.

It’s not just kids who are always using the electronic devices; adults are always on it too. There’s no wrong doing is this situation. We use all the electronic media to connect with the rest of the world. The devices are there to make our life easier, and just simply a bit better.

A simple solution to the teenage over using electronics should just be disciplining them. The right ways to control the over usage is to see the behavior of the person. Does all that much time spend on the electronics changing your kid in a negative way? Is the child slacking in school? Is the child glued to the devices so much, they can’t even act normal? If you, the parent should set rules and guidelines on when to use the device, what’s the usage for and how long to use it.

Victoria Rideout, a Kaiser vice president who is lead author of the study, said that although it has become harder for parents to control what their children do, they can still have an effect. “I don’t think parents should feel totally disempowered,” she said. “They can still make rules, and it still makes a difference.” Kids can have once a week activity, where they don't use electronics and spend the day reading, or going out to play.

Should Tennessee Consider Cyber School

Tamiko Holloman To whom it may concern: I read an article titled, “Cyber Charters in the Volunteer State: Education Options for Tennessee’s Forgotten” and the article was about having cyber schools for the state of Tennessee. The article also stated that this will allow students who live in rural areas the opportunity to receive the same education as other students in big cities by being able to take the same classes while sitting at home on a computer because they may be in another state or country. Is it the same as being in the classroom? I don’t think that it is. I think the classroom setting is excellent because if you need to ask a question the teacher is there for you, otherwise you would have to email the teacher and wait on a response. If a child is kicked out of school because of disciplinary actions, they have the opportunity to take the cyber school classes. Does that mean if a student is acting up in school that they want to be at home doing school? I wouldn’t think so; the majority of the students that do get expelled don’t want to be there in the beginning. Now students who are very ill and cannot leave their home, I can see this working for them, but isn’t that what home school is for. We are already short on teachers and now we would have to find more teachers that are willing to do the Cyber School. Even though, you stated that some of the other states have excelled with their schools doesn’t mean that we will. If we try it and succeed that will be our gain but what will happen if we fail. Will we ever receive funding for another iffy idea? We are struggling now to receive funding for schools we already have. Don’t get me wrong, this is a good idea because like you said, schools are limited to the students they can enroll. Not only can students from that district attend online but across the world students can attend. Will a Middle School student be able to go to a High School once they are ready for a classroom setting? Will the student receive a High School Diploma? Will the High School Diploma be accepted at any University or Community College? According to DiplomaGuide.com, 90% of Universities accept GED, although some require a letter of recommendation, while others would like for the recipient to take additional tests like the SAT or ACT. The student can always go to a Community College, but why. Many people have trouble finding a college or job with a GED, how will finding these be any better for a High School Cyber Graduate? I believe this Cyber program will work on the college level because something similar already takes place, it’s called Regents Online Degree Program through the Tennessee Board of Regents, but on a middle or high school level, I don’t think this will excel. College students have a different mindset then younger students. I don’t think that we have been forgotten, I think that we as a state need to improve the schools we have by making sure each school has the materials they need, incorporating parents to interact with their child more in school, and we need to have more programs that is appealing to students while they are learning. The article also added that 23% of people in urban areas are college graduates, while only 11% in rural areas are college graduates. Do you think that is because there are no colleges available in these areas? I don’t think that is the why because the majority of rural area people have farms or companies that their children will run one day and the child decides if they want to run the family business or attend college. All people no matter where they live aren’t college material or some could have been like me. When I graduated high school, I decided to take a year off to explore the world before I go to college and I explored for 12 years and decided to return when I was 31. I am still in college working on my degree and I wouldn’t change my decision if I could. Tennessee is lacking in the education department but before we choose to add a new program lets work on the one we have.

A game changer under our feet Dear Editor, Scott Brown’s Senate win in Massachusetts appears to be the “game changer” every Republican wanted. As of today the game did not change. Our economy is in the tank and our government is busy fighting each other rather than helping the American people. There are game changers such as natural gas.” Natural gas burns 50 percent cleaner than coal, and power plants can be retrofitted to burn natural gas in lieu of coal with minimum cost”. “ Many car companies already make NGVs, and they are very popular in Europe. Pakistan has more NGVs than any other country. The need for natural gas refueling stations would be required, and that would create many construction jobs. With more demand for natural gas and gas fields (shale gas) would have to ramp up production and create jobs to meet the new energy. We have shale gas regions that can supply our energy needs for 100 years. Surely in a 100 years green technology will have developed enough to wean us from carbon fuels. Most of all, the American people could quit sending billions of dollars for oil and gas to foreign countries that hate us. How many jobs could be created for reclaimed if U.S. automakers started building NGVs? “ The Marcellus shale gas play will be “ a game changer” for Northeastern Pennsylvania, bring a “ huge economic injection”. Natural gas is a bridge fuel for America. We as Americans need to work with the gas companies to capitalize and protect our natural resources. It is a win win for everyone. Natural gas produces half the Co2 emissions compared to coal. Cheap, local energy will allow manufacturing to compete in the area so all boats will float up.” Shale plays could produce 15 billion to 20 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day within a decade” according to Terry Ruder, vice chairman of the Natural Gas supply Association. Americans use about 60 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day. I think something big would have to happen to shift power plants from truly cheap dirty coal to more expensive not as dirty natural gas whose price should be expected to continue up as we come out of recession and into peak oil. If we could switch to a large amount of coal plants to natural gas quickly. It will take the Co2 reduction and mercury. I think that the natural gas go down and more jobs should be to met the requirement of new energy for the natural gas.

Steriods in Basball

Any sports fan who watches ESPN (and lets be real some who claims to be a sports fan and doesn’t is lying) has been bombarded by the constant steroid talk. It can be December and baseball would seem pretty irrelevant as crucial football games are being played, but wait some idiot gets accused of doing steroids, admits to it, or the Hall of Fame argument comes up. Thrusting the real news of football to back panel and focusing on the same steroids opinions and arguments that we have been plagued with over the last 5 YEARS. Nothing has really changed. Some call the users cheaters. Some down play how much steroids actually help. Sure, since many records home records were shattered and broken the question of how to document this is up to question, but the speculation of how this might get taken care of is becoming ridiculous and wasting time for speculation about how to handle cheaters only takes the light off of current sports news and people who are competing fairly. Its drives me crazy when I tune in to SportsCenter to watch highlights of games from the day and all I get is 35 minutes of the same played out steroids talk, 15 minutes of stuff that they are trying to sell, and then the real news. So please enough with the ROIDs. I don’t even care anymore who did them or not. A-ROID, Bonds, McGwire, Palmeiro we can make a mile long list but it does nothing. Hose Canseco is a piece of garbage for being a snitch that just wanted to make money by tainting a generation of baseball. We all learn as males at a young age not to snitch in the school yard because there are consequences. Congress should have better things to do. Leave this issue alone.

Information of users should be made public, but every time a new names associated with steroids come out; ESPN viewers are subject to constant talk of these players. It is not the fact that SportsCenter mentions the new users. The problem is the amount of coverage and how much analyses is given to every person accused or convicted. Alex Rodriguez or A-Rod, now known as A-Roid, admitted to using steroids before the start of last season. The coverage completely overshadowed the upcoming baseball season. In time that could have been spent giving overviews and team predictions, viewers were subjected to watching the A-Roid interview 500 times. Then after we saw his confession every ESPN employee got at least 3 minutes of their opinion on the issue. I personally could care less what everyone on ESPN thinks about steroids. I have my own opinions and ideas about the matter. ESPN is making the matter more complicated than it really is.

Steroid users should not be allowed in the Hall of Fame. THEY CHEATED. That is like letting the women, Rosie Ruiz, who cheated to win the Boston Marathon keep her trophy. She took a short cut to victory and so did the players that used. Olympians who won medals who eventually admit or being proved off using steroids have their medals and records taken away. I was a giant Mark McGuire fan in the 1988 season when he hit 70 homeruns to shatter the record. Now that he admits I say take the record out of the books. These players cheated the integrity of the sport, their fans, and themselves. Their eligibility should not be a question for the Hall of Fame. ESPN has demonstrated every possible opinion on the issue and it has been completely been overplayed and has become stale. ESPN is not necessarily the main part of the problem. I do not understand why Congress found it necessary to involve themselves in the issue. Steroids were illegally acquired by the players, but still that would be more than a law enforcement issues. So Congress stay out of the issue and do something that benefits the welfare of the nation.