Bacon Anyone?

Recently in class, we discussed re-election strategies used by congressmen to gain a surplus of votes from the community. Out of these strategies, one absolutely disgusted me. Now, disgusted is a strong word. You may be asking, what could a congress member do to completely disgust someone? Well... How about Pork Barrel Projects?

These, in my complete honest opinion, are utterly ridiculous. These congress members are so petty that they have to figure out a way to take money from our nations budget and spend it on something nearly 100% useless... All for votes. This means, quite a bit of our tax payers money is going into something not very constructive or helpful at all. If that wasn't bad enough, it's usually something local, not even nation wide.

Now this would be completely fine... IF WE DIDN'T HAVE SO MANY PROBLEMS THAT NEEDED TO BE FIXED. I mean come on! Let me give you an example. In August of 2005, Katrina became the costliest hurricane in United States history. Somewhere around 90.1 billion dollars(2010 USD). In 2006, instead of trying to find money to spend for helping Katrina victims and rebuilding the areas, they spend 29 billion dollars on 9,963 projects in the 11 appropriations bills that constitute the discretionary portion of the federal budget. (info gathered here) 


This is what one billion dollars looks like...

Now multiply it by twenty-nine.

Get my point?

Oil spills, homeless problems, social security deficit, hurricane relief... The list goes on and on. So, my argument is simply that Our national government should not allow pork spending. PERIOD. Pork barrel spending is a ludicrous waste of our nations money. Instead of fixing problems with our nation, congress members literally put in a lot of effort to do these projects. All for their own re-election to office. I think the government should look into what congress members are attempting to do with our nations money and chop any pork they see in half. Stop it in it's tracks, and use the money for something that this nation actually needs.



- Blake

Bullying Gone Unchecked

Today I read an editorial about bullying, their victims, and what should be done about it. I believe the author of this editorial has made a very good point. The editorial mentions the reality of how common bullying situations tend to be and recent suicide stories stemmed from different types of bullying to provide evidence. The authors intended audience is most likely adults working in public schooling systems. (S)he talks about how bullying(when revealed) goes unsolved because of the schools misguided handling on it.  The author believes the school system officials should "deliver the necessary strong statements of outrage, followed by meaningful action."


I, personally, completely agree with the author. I have witnessed bullying go on throughout schools unchecked and unpunished. Bullies do, generally, have an extreme effect on their victims. This effect hurts by injecting stress, shame, and discontent into the victims lives. It is completely wrong and actions need to be taken against school bullies. At the end of the editorial, the author gives a few suggestions as to what could be done. Things like taking the bully off a sports team, rejecting access to school dances, or not allowing participation in class are very realistic punishments that could(and should) be carried out. Bullies should not go unpunished.


Although I'm unsure on the author's credibility in this particular subject, the editorial makes great points and I believe (s)he has good logic. Bullying is indeed, a major problem in today's society; it needs to be addressed, handled, and eventually ended.

Charge to make cheaper?

      Today while reading an editorial in the L.A. Times, it got me to thinking about the authors point. I found that, even though the authors' audience was California's legislature and community college board members , his point did make me think about the cost of going to college. The author does not seem to state that (s)he has any credibility in this subject at all. There's no evidence of hers/his knowledge on this subject, other than the gathered information in the editorial.
 
      The author feels that if California's CC's raise the cost of units, even by just a dollar, it would increase the schools budget by a little over double. (S)he then goes on to say, a ten dollar increase would be the best option because it would(for a full-time student) only be an increase of 300 dollars a year and would "save them money".  The authors logic of this is misplaced though. (S)he feels that the schools tuition money goes to the CC that the student is enrolled in; and in turn, will increase the schools budget.  This is false. Tuition actually goes straight to the State's General Fund. It is in no way, directly related to the CC's stimulus. I found this out by reading a comment made by Anne Elliot.  


      Another thing the author has not thought of would be the cost of things outside of tuition that are increasing as well. Things like food, books, gas, and child care are becoming more expensive. If you add these increases along with an increase in college fees, it could become too expensive for a student to handle. Which will result in the student to drop classes or even quit school. 


      In the end, I completely disagree with the authors idea. California's CC's are already the cheapest(dollar per unit wise) in the nation. They are affordable enough as they are.