Commentary on Anna's Political Page

I am commenting on my colleagues blog on "Science Curriculum up for Debate." Evolution has not been scientifically proven and Creationism has not been disproved. There have been atheists who went on a mission to disprove creationism, (A Case for Christ, Lee Strobell), and ended up becoming a Christian during their research. The reason evolution has not been scientifically proven is because no one witnessed the beginning of human life, which means the people who believe in evolution have faith that we evolved from a different species. So I would suggest that both theories are faith-based. In the documentary Expelled, produced by Ben Stein, he talked to highly accredited professors who have wrote books on evolution, but when he asked them where we came from, they could not give an answer. They had come down to the cell where we came from, but they could not tell him where the cell came from. So when the blog stated, "when it comes to teaching our kids; they need to know what has been scientifically proven", then we should not be teaching them evolution either because it is not scientifically proven. I think it would be fair to teach evolution as a theory, but not as scientific evidence. I believe that only teaching evolution is close minded and judgmental that Creationism does not exist. If they are going to teach one, then they should teach them all.

Nurses on Strike

Who will take care of us when we get sick? That is the question in mind because nurses have just about had it. The California Nurses Association has been organizing nurses in Texas . Last month the Tenet's Cypress Fairbanks Medical Center in Houston accomplished a successful union vote for the first time in the history of Texas. Supposedly the CNA is headed for Dallas now.
I was wondering, why would nurses want to be a union? So, I interviewed my mom because she is a registered nurse in Texas. She expressed to me how her as well as her co-workers feel as if they are at the mercy of the hospital and they are being worked until they have nothing left. She works 12 hour shifts on the night shift and sometimes she does not even have time to take a bathroom break. When she is on her way home in the mornings it is often very challenging for her to stay awake. I work 8 hour shifts and I am tired after that, I could not imagine 12 hours straight on your feet. When a group is a union they have more control of what is going on in the workplace because they have a louder voice. Nurses in California went on strike at one time and if the hospitals do not lighten the work load there might be more. The reason hospitals make their staff work 12 hour shifts is because they do not have enough employees to schedule 8 hour shifts. I understand why people are not running through the doors of hospitals to turn in applications, it is not exactly a dream job by any means. The bad thing about wearing employees out is that they are more prone to make mistakes, serious mistakes. At the hospital that my mom is employed at they sent out a note to the staff warning them that if they were caught on the premises having anything to do with the unionization then they would be escorted off the premises.
In the article that made me choose to write my blog about this by Jason Roberson, a nurse by the name of Rossia Avery said,"money isn't the issue, it's the workload." My mom second that comment by saying, "I don't care about the money, I just want my quality of life back." I do believe it is an added bonus for an increase in payment. In California union nurses are paid 18% more than non-union nurses. I think the hospitals should give major incentives and lighten the workload for their staff. Then maybe more people will be willing to work at the hospital so they can put less work on each employee.

Commentary on TX Government: A breed of its own

Samantha's statement, "TAKS,a measure of success? Not really", makes a lot of sense to me. I never thought anything about teachers trying to prepare us for the test and only the test until I read the blog. I completely agree with this based on personal experience. When I look back at my entire school life we were always preparing for the test. In eighth grade I remember my teacher telling us that we were going to have to write a persuasive paper for our test, so we wrote a persuasive paper over and over again until we had it perfect. Therefore, we did not learn to write any other style of papers that year. I totally support the statement that TAKS is not a measure of success.

A Texas degree could cost $100,000

According to April Castro tuition has increased by more than forty percent in Texas since lawmakers voted in 2003 to allow colleges to set their own tuition. On Wednesday, March 26, 2008 the UT board of Regents authorized increases in student tuition across Texas. The increase will be anywhere from five percent to thirteen percent. Why the increase? Presidents of the campuses reported that they needed the extra funding in order to offer their staff competitive salaries. I am sure the presidents themselves are included in that. I completely disagree with this. If the staff is not getting paid enough, it would be better to cut costs in other places then to raise student tuition. Democratic representative Garnet Coleman of Houston said,"Plain and simple, tuition deregulation...is the cause of skyrocketing tuition in Texas. In the next session of the Legislature, we must put an end to the increases in tuition and roll back the cost of higher education." He also estimated that a four year education could cost $100,000. Now I understand how someone can obtain a degree, work in the profession they studied for and be paying off their student loans for the rest of their life. This is one of the reasons debt has become the norm in our society. People rarely pay in full for things right away because it is so expensive, so we charge it and pay an outrageous interest rate which makes it almost impossible to eventually pay in full. If my education cost $100,000, I would not be able to attain higher education. I believe many people would not attend college if that was the case. It seems as though the campuses are more concerned about there being teachers, instead of students for the teachers to teach. I think the state government needs to take action and regulate Texas tuition.

West Texas school district approves Bibles

Eight parents of students attending Ector County Independent School District filed a lawsuit against the district last May because a Bible course was being offered. The parents felt that the class promoted biblical beliefs to students, which infringed on one's religious independence. Also, the article stated that the state and national American Civil Liberties Union and the People for the American Way Foundation sued the school district. T. Jeremy Gunn of the ACLU said,"It is unacceptable for government officials to decide which religious beliefs are true and which are not and then use the public school system as a means of proselytizing children."

A professor at a Texas college told me about the guidelines he has to follow for his lectures. He is allowed to teach the history of Muslim, Buddhism, Scientology, Evolution, Hinduism, etc. He is not allowed to teach about Christianity. There is something about Christianity that gets people in an uproar. My argument is that if you are going to teach one, teach all of them. It is not fair to the student's knowledge or Christianity itself. My opinion is that when religions that are not abundant in our culture are taught, one may feel as though they are learning about another's culture; instead of a religion. In our society Christianity is common, therefore one is more prone to getting offended because they feel they are learning about a religion; instead of a culture. This is thier culture, but maybe it is not their religion.

In an effort to bring a pleasant conclusion,the district "will continue to offer a Bible course, it will be a curriculum of its own choosing, it may use portions of any existing resource, and the Bible will be the main textbook for the course", stated Liberty Legal Institute's Hiram Sasser. Also, the course work will be formulated by educators selected by the superintendant. In the end, both sides walked away satisfied.

Bible Class allowed in Odessa school

Prison Board Approves Phones for Inmates

On Wednesday, January 24, 2008 the Prison Board found a way to allow convicts to use phones without them being able to plan crimes while they are in prison. I am for the plan because it is supposed to effect the Texas Government, the people receiving calls from prisoners and the prisoners themselves in a positive way.
It will earn the state 15 million in commissions. Convicts get 120 minutes per month and 15 minutes per call. 120, 000 prisoners are forecast to make calls on the 4,00 provided in 106 prisons throughout Texas. The state will receive 40% of the profits made from collect calls. They assume it will make the relationships between the convicts and their families stronger. They realize families are usually the key supporters of the convicts when they get released. The only objection I have heard in this is from the correctional officers. They said, "The system can't pay their people, but they can get pay phones for inmates." Hopefully the state can pay them more since they will be making a good chunk of change off this program. Officers are also concerned that they will be overloaded with work and they question whether the high-tech system will even work. As evidence California, New York and Florida already have these systems in place and they said their systems operate more simple than what the officers are thinking it will be. A Florida Department of Corrections spokeswoman said," We listen in on calls...and calls are recorded." In California they require the convicts to sign up in advance to make monitored collect calls to approved numbers. Lt. Brian Parriott, the California spokesman for the Department of Correctionals and Rehabilitation stated," It's a pretty simple system."
My main concern would be the public's safety. The system will require prisoners to identify themselves twice before the phone turns on, then they are only allowed to make phone calls from their list of approved numbers. The calls will be monitored to make sure convicts are not plotting crimes, harassing witnesses or smuggling things into prisons. The executive director of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Brad Livingston, said, "Technology has improved to allow us to ensure security." The conclusion of this movement seems as if it is positive for everyone it affects. The legislature authorized prison phones last year, but now the prisons have to put in their order of specifications they want in their phone system.

http://www.statesman.com/search/content/region/legislature/stories/01/24/0124prisons.html

Texas New Fingerprinting Law

Should teachers, janitors, cafeteria workers and other school support employees be fingerprinted? Texas seems to think so considering they made it a mandatory fingerprinting law. They believe it will make schools safer and I agree. I would have much more peace of mind knowing that my children were in a criminal free environment. Teachers have argued that the new law is an invasion of privacy. I believe that if you have nothing to hide than it should not be a problem. I do not have children of my own, but I could not stand the thought of my nieces being surrounded from day to day by someone with violence issues. This law will not prevent anything bad from ever happening again, but it will cut back on opportunities for bad things to happen. I belive this article is important to most people, because the majority of the population reproduces and will send their children to school if their children are not already in school.

http://www.statesman.com/search/content/news/stories/local/01/17/0117fingerprinting.html