Stage Seven: Original editorial or commentary #2

This article refers to the new graduation plans for high school students. In this case it
talks about the approval of students not having to take Algebra II if they are not planning
on pursuing a math or science degree. It has been said that it has been approved by the
majority and that it will be a set deal by January 2014. I do not agree with new plan for
high school students. I think that the requirements should be the same for all student
regardless of what they plan on pursuing in the future. First off, a high school student is
for the majority uncertain about what they want to do after high school. They can not
make concrete decisions at the time about their future and even if they do they might
end up changing their mind in the long run. Another thing to consider is whether this will
in any way going to affect them once they go to a university and they decide that they
do want to pursue a math or science degree. If the fact that they did not take algebra II
does not affect them once they are in college, it would not be surprising that a high
percent of the students will decide not to take the course. It would be better if Algebra II
was a course that all students had to take, it would not hurt any student to gain any
extra knowledge. If the student was able to get through Algebra I then it would not be a
huge conflict for them to step up a level. Something that has to be taken into
consideration is if the students that are pursuing anything other than math or science
are going to be required to take an alternative class. In my opinion I think it be best for
all student to have the same core class requirements regardless on their plans for the
future. In the long run it will be beneficial for the student and its better to set high
standards in education rather than lowering them.

Stage Six: Comment on a colleague’s work #1

response to post about another abortion law. 

My classmate talks about how the abortion laws have become more stricter and how this is unfair for the women looking to have an abortion. First off I am aware that this is a sensitive topic that many people usually have contradicting opinions. Respecting my classmates point of view, I do not agree with her argument of these laws not being fair for women. I in the other hand do think its a good approach from the government that the abortion laws are getting stricter to the point that it may become more difficult for women to have an abortion. The argument that ‘its my body I can do what I want’ is not a strong one. If this were the case then people should be able to do all the drugs that they wish and suicide attempts should be permitted. This may sound grotesque but its the same thing when people try to defend abortion. I do agree that the discussion of abortion should be between the doctor and his patient but the reason that the government interferes in the first place is because there are still some moral and ethical questions floating around. The other reason that the government may want to interfere is that abortions have in the past caused some psychological problems in the future to the women that have had an abortion. My other times it maybe that some women are alone and and are not well informed about other options that can help them keep their baby and they instead see abortion as their only option. Of course there are those women that are well aware and they just see abortion as a easy to get rid or their ‘mistake.’ But I am aware that there maybe some situation in which there maybe a medical problem during a woman’s pregnancy, but that would be another case. There are many other alternatives that can prevent pregnancy and that should be helpful enough for women. Overall the laws for abortion should be getting stricter, its important for the careless women to learn that its not easy to just get rid of a ‘problem’ especially if its a living being. 

Stage Five: Original editorial or commentary #1

http://www.texasinsider.org/we-can-do-better-american-people-deserve-affordable-healthcare-plan/

Like the headline of this article says, American people deserve affordable healthcare, and this is exactly what president Obama had promised the American people. In this article it is mentioned that Obama had been promising the people a couple of years ago that the Obama Healthcare plan was going to be affordable and the only result expected was for Americans to benefit from it. Another promise was that those americans that were satisfied with their current healthcare plan were going to be able to keep it and everything was meant to be perfect and fantastic. Everything that the president said was  a lie, all his promises were broken. Of course this is not a huge surprise, it is to be expected from the president to say anything that will convince the people to agree with him in order for him to have everything his way. There have been many problems that have been rising up ever since this healthcare law was passed and the american people have not been benefiting from this law at all especially in Texas. Texans are asked to ‘pay higher premiums for washington mandated coverage. Many Americans have lost the healthcare plan that they had due to this transition even though Obama promised that the people could keep their own health insurance. The consequences of this law were many, the biggest one of them all is the failure of the website that was launch and because of that the difficulty of enrolling grew. The president although aware of this problem still keeps on putting deadlines on when people should have already registered, yet he does not put a deadline on when his website should be fixed. Instead, Obama decides that the people should call for assistance, just incase they are still having trouble with the website. Obama was very thankful for his ‘navigators’ in Dallas Texas that have helped the american people. It was soon known that some of these navigators had been criminals and they were given the job to take personal and sensitive medical information from the public. All of this just gives the impression that Obama just wanted his healthcare law to be passed as soon a s possible with out any kind of legit preparation. Obama healthcare plan being one of the laws that has been passed by Obama that have failed just shows how he is Untrustworthy and how he is setting America for failure as well. Its no surprise that the people are always the ones that suffer the consequences for the mistakes made in this country but its becoming tiresome.

Stage Four: Critique an editorial or commentary from a Texas blog

http://www.empowertexans.com/?s=a+good+steward&submit=Search

The blog comment over “A good steward... when caught” talk about how business trips actually costing much more money than they should. This is happening particularly in the Dallas Forth Worth International Airport, where officials there are taking advantage and spending money over unnecessary things. Many of these trips are in the united states, yet the money spent on dinners, 5-star hotels and drinks are extremely outrageous. One example of a ‘business trip’ that ended up being too expensive was a trip to Paris which ended up costing over $68,000. This dilemma got to the extreme when one of the public officials that was responsible for oversight and accountability ended up getting three bottles of wine for $1,500 each at a $7,300 dinner. He ended up reimbursing the money only because he was informed that there would be a investigation. This is a good example on how the people are not informed on what happens to their money. I’m pretty sure that no individual would like to be paying off a thousand dollar meal and covering the bar tips for these ‘business trips.’ The editor is trying to get this message across to all the people, since all citizens are affect by what our state officials do. What is worse is that the officials do not care about the money being spent as long as it doesn’t come from their pocket, or so the editor says. I do think that this is credible argument, although there still maybe questions on the actual prices being spent on these business trips. It might be a bit to hard to actually find the correct prices and facts about this information. Although I do believe that many people might not have a huge problem believing this. Its a well known fact that the people are always the ones that end up paying for everything and those that are ‘serving’ us are the ones that get to enjoy. 

Stage Three: Critique an editorial or commentary from a Texas newspaper

http://www.statesman.com/weblogs/grapeshot/2013/jul/09/just-one-more-thing-about-rick-perrys-future/

 In this editorial the comment is about Rick Perry’s future referring to him trying to run for office again, the editor comments how poorly Rick Perry’s performance was in 2012 and how he would not stand a chance if he tried to run again. In 2016 his competitors will be much stronger than in 2012 and that will make Perry look like he did not take advantage of his past opportunity to actually win. The past candidates were referred to as jokes and if thats the case Rick Perry does not stand in a good position. I agree with this statement, although i doubt that Perry would have actually won in 2012. Now in 2016 if he decided to run again he most definitely not win. The author also mentions that even though these new candidates may seem stronger they will also have their weaknesses. That is a logical argument although Perry is also included in this there is no way that he can make up for his mistakes in the past. In my opinion I think it be best for Perry to just stick around as being governor since it seems that he has that position really well tide down. The authors intended audience is the people that are actually interested in the election for 2016, which is a good amount of people since most are interested in the national elections. The author may actually be correct about his thoughts on Perry but not everyone may think the same way. There can be some individuals that may think that the candidates from 2012 were actually strong. While others may think now that these coming up candidates are not strong at all. It all has to do with personal point of view and the individual opinions of the people, but I think many would not take Perry seriously. 

State Finally Gets a Waiver

In the Texas Tribune article, the State of Texas has finally received a waiver from "The No Child Left Behind" program.

The government wanted to intervene in Texas education because many schools failed to pass their math and reading exams. However now, only a small percent of schools will have interventions from the government. The plan from the federal government was require declining school districts to render 20% of their funds to make up for the academic failures and offer remedial tutoring services to students.

With this said, the waiver is essential to schools not being required to change everything up. By change, I mean some districts would have to be reconsider their educational structures - not at their own will- but at the will of the federal government.

As all this continues, officials have now offered other states a blueprint of all this in which other states might take into consideration in regards to improving their own educational programs.