Reader Response #1

       In reading "CALIFORNIA; Brown faces tough calls," by Michael J. Mishak from the Los Angeles Times, I hear facts of the man behind the bill to see the inside context of why he is striving for this change to California that is suppose to help repair the terrible schooling system in place in California. Proposition 30 proposed by California Governor Jerry Brown is his solution to restore our failing educational system, by leading a crusade to take money from the richest three percent of California population and give it to the poor school children, rescuing Governor Brown from his struggling reputation and posing himself as California's Robin Hood. Rob Stutzman, senior adviser to former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who criticizes "He's being consumed by the Sacramento political system instead of redefining it." Insinuating that he is not handling his new found power very efficiently, and hes doing worse at this point then our previous governor.
       Governor Brown has also claimed that the schools are the main focus of Proposition 30, arguing that "This is not about any other issues... It's not about parks." Yes, this will help many schools within California educational system, but how that money will be used effectively for the school system has yet to be seen. This has been a problem for many oppositions because they fear their money wont be seen by those poor school children once it goes through the governments tactics.Will every penny pinched out of the top 3% go to the schools like the Proposition's advertizements say, or will this be another failed attempt to save our schools distracted by the multiple interests of the governor.
      Proposition 30 includes:
 A 1/4 of a cent increase on all sale taxes.
An increase to the income tax by 0-1% for people making 250,001 to 300,000 dollars a year.
1-2% increase for  making 300,001 to 500,000 dollars a year.
2-3% increase for incomes of 500, 001 on up through 1, 000, 000 dollars a year.
      All of these changes would be effective for seven years, reportedly making over 50 billion dollars of the wealthy taxpayer's money. If Proposition 30 is for the schools, why does it need to force the schools into an ultimatum to choose between this solution proposed by Governor Brown, or choosing the destruction of the school system through budget cuts that will be carried out for not siding with Governor Brown. This proposition is being shown as the answer to our school system's deficit, when it is being forced down our throats as our only option. The deceptiveness of Governor Brown and his bill Proposition 30, as well as their advertisement tactics, is too much for me to see Proposition 30 as the solution to our problem.
        Maybe we need a new crusader to fight of the budget cuts and lead the battle out of our California's school debt, someone who has his cards all out on the table instead of up his sleeve. However Proposition 30 is a step in the right direction, if only lost slightly in its guidance and transparency. Even though this bill has a high likeability and seems like an easy and simple answer, it leaves too many questions unanswered and has the feel of a shepard herding his livestock, and the animals blindly following his lead. Just because he is our Governor does not mean that we as Californians need to vote for his bill, there may be better options for us.
        Possibly we will find Proposition 38 as a better option for California's school system since it requires the wealthy to use their tax money to donate directly to childhood development programs. First and foremost, our schools need to be saved from these budget cuts, soon there won't be be enough left to cut if we let them continue and we won't have a respectable school system in comparison to the other states, much less the rest of the world.
        I just wish voting yes on Proposition 30 was not my only way to refute the budget cuts, because it is not fair to use that tragedy  to sling shot Governor Brown tax increases to our number one priority, when the one who is really in need of our help is the schools.

Proposition 30 Article

website for Article
http://0-search.proquest.com.library.cabrillo.edu/nationalnewscore/docview/1037551046/139190DB54912D8D949/3?accountid=39584

Gov. Jerry Brown has spent months persuading some of California's most powerful interests to invest millions of dollars in his November tax initiative. Now, that drive for campaign cash looms over the Capitol as he considers bills that could profoundly affect his donors.

In picking winners and losers among those with stakes in the slew of proposals sent to him in the legislative session that ended Friday, Brown risks alienating key allies with big checkbooks. With each signature or veto, he also puts at risk his image as an independent, above-the-fray operator dedicated to restoring public confidence in Sacramento.

"His desk is going to be piled high with dilemmas," said Jack Pitney, a government professor at Claremont McKenna College.

The awkward dance between campaigning and governing comes as Brown ramps up efforts to sell voters on his ballot measure -- a proposition crucial to fulfilling the promise he made to repair California's finances. Moreover, the success of his campaign hinges on the continuing support of opposite interests: business and labor.

Deep-pocketed unions, which spent millions of dollars to help get the tax measure, Proposition 30, on the ballot, are backing bids to expand labor rights for housekeepers and create a state-run retirement plan for private-sector workers. Business interests, which have given millions to Brown's campaign fund and stand to give more, want a $200-million tax credit for film and television productions to be extended.

Brown spokesman Gil Duran said neither Proposition 30 nor the money Brown needs to campaign is a consideration for the governor.

"Each bill is evaluated on its merits," Duran said. "There is no other factor that enters into it."

On his biggest priorities, Brown has sought to placate all parties.

Last week he quickly embraced a proposed overhaul of the state's overburdened public pension system that fell significantly short of his own plan. It promises to save tens of billions of dollars -- but won't eliminate the impending debt, according to pension experts.

Unions cast the proposal as a punishing rollback, but in fact it spared them from some elements they had decried in Brown's plan, including a requirement that new employees squirrel away a substantial portion of their retirement money in 401(k)-style accounts. Business groups said the plan the Legislature ultimately passed did not go far enough, but they called it "a good first step" toward getting runaway public retirement costs under control.

A decision not to change benefits for workers already on the payroll still leaves the state hundreds of billions of dollars short of what it needs to pay its retirees in coming decades, analysts said. Brown and other Democratic leaders have said they could not break existing union contracts.

On some issues, Brown, who typically doesn't signal his position on a bill while it's in the legislative grinder, took a rare step into policy debates. On Friday he publicly pressured lawmakers to pass a bill that would revamp the state's workers' compensation system.

In a statement, he said that proposal, like the pension overhaul, deserved "extra special attention." Brown said the legislation was necessary to "avert an imminent crisis where workers suffer and rates will skyrocket."

The workers' compensation bill passed. The major players in that effort, including Safeway, Disney and Zenith Insurance, have contributed at least $235,000 to the governor's tax campaign.

In the final hours of the legislative session, Brown and his aides revived a proposal for a new tax on out-of-state lumber and limits on timber companies' legal liability in wildfires. The measure, backed by timber companies that have contributed to Brown's campaigns, had been left for dead minutes earlier. Brown's staff pulled lawmakers into the halls outside the Assembly chambers to pin down their votes.

Earlier, Brown had privately asked for changes in a labor-backed proposal to start a state-run retirement plan for low-income workers. State Sen. Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles) accommodated him, altering the bill in ways that eliminated fierce opposition from the securities industry and the California Chamber of Commerce.

De Leon's colleagues in the Democratic-controlled Legislature limited in other ways the number of tough choices Brown would have to make.

They sent fewer "job killer" bills -- measures that are anathema to business interests -- to the governor than they usually forwarded to his Republican predecessor. According to the California Chamber of Commerce, which tracks such proposals, the Legislature passed six this year, compared with an annual average of 10 during the Schwarzenegger administration.

A controversial bid to overhaul teacher evaluations in California was shelved. The proposal, which had been a priority for the state's powerful teachers unions, was condemned by education activists, parent groups and other organizations that called it a giveaway to labor. Passage would have placed the thorny measure before Brown as he was asking voters to pay more taxes to avoid steep cuts in school funds.

Legislative leaders also killed a last-minute push by business groups to ease California's landmark environmental law, which requires developers to study and mitigate their projects' possible effect on the environment. Opposed by environmentalists and labor unions, the proposal would have forced the governor to take sides.

Despite his repeated calls all year for changes to the law, Brown did not enter the fray.

Some Capitol insiders likened Brown's situation to that of former Gov. Gray Davis, who in 2003 signed a raft of measures that pleased the liberal wing of his party while he was raising money to fight an expensive recall campaign.

Brown is "encumbered from being able to show leadership," said Rob Stutzman, a GOP strategist who was a senior advisor to former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. "He's being consumed by the Sacramento political system instead of redefining it."

Freewrite #1

Why is "Para Teresa" written in English and Spanish?

In the poem "Para Teresa" a woman is having a flash back to a problem she had with another girl at Allamo had-to-be-its-name Elementary School. The other girl, Teresa, had a issues with her being a good student because Teresa saw it as conforming to be the way the the teachers wanted them to be. The author uses Spanish in the poem relating the characters back to their roots, and putting focus on the differences that come about from Spanish child growing up in a English speaking world. She also uses it with her character making both the Spanish and the English a part of her character.

According to the narrator this fight takes place when the narrator was a child and the poem is written when the narrator is an adult. What do you think triggers this reflection and why does the narrator now have a greater understanding of Teresa?


When the narrator looks back at what happened with Teresa during her time at Allamo had-to-be-its-name Elementary she is able to see it from a clearer perspective then she was when she was in the moment. She is actually able to take a step back and look at Teresa from a different perspective and she comes to find the she respects her for what she is trying to do. Just like the narrator is trying keep the pride of her people alive through being the best she can be, Teresa was trying to keep it alive by objecting to the teachers way, and governments, to keep her culture thriving.


Make a connection between the Introduction to Rereading America and what you learned about the influence of culture to any aspect of "Para Teresa." For example, think about how family influences the narrator's decisions in the poem. Be sure to briefly summarize the information about culture first.

In the introduction to our textbook it talked about the myth of America being the melting pot of cultures, although in some ways this is true, it is not the same ideal the was form along side this country. All of the cultures in this world have differences from one another, you can put them all together and have them all work together and play together, but sometimes there will be conflicting interests between cultures and that is unavoidable. Such as the way children are raised, which varies not only culture to culture but from family to family as well, someone who is raised to fight might have a problem with another person who is raised to obey and follow rules. Although this is troublesome, it is also natural and is bound to happen at some point.

I Am...

I am Tyler Higgins


                                                              (NEEDS EDITING)
        Some people do not like writing about themselves,  whether it is because they think they're not interesting or people do not want to waste their time hearing about their problems.  however, writing isn't always for other people, sometimes it is solely for our self. Is a way to get our thoughts down on paper so we can return to when we were writing.  when I write  it is because I never want to lose this moment, my writing is a time capsule that is waiting for me to open it once again.
        I would say I am a secluded person, whether by unfortunate circumstances or my own self destruction I am not sure. One thing I have gained from being alone, is a sturdy self confidence to other peoples opinions. I am not insulted by someone thoughts on me or on topics close to my heart, because opinions are opinions and everyone is granted their own as I am mine. That does not mean I will not fight to prove  my opinions right, because I, like the rest of the world, believe my opinions to be more acute then others. However, fight might not be the right word, because I am not looking to start a fight. I would hope to start a debate from having a difference in opinion with someone else, because that is how you get knowledge from a difference in opinion.
        I try to gain experience from everything that I do, because experience adds to your pool of knowledge. You can gain experience from everything you do if you look at it from the right perspective, sometimes you need to tell yourself that you still have learning to do, so your not oblivious to what you had already taken for granted.
       One of my favorite sayings is "Ignorance is bliss," because of the ring of truth it has to it. If people refuse to learn about something, then they will keep thinking the way they do. I see this as immoral in today's world, with how easy it is to get your word heard in the world today, many people need to be cured of their ignorance before the exercise there right to spread their opinions. This truth has shaped much of my adult life so far, and has changed the way I think. Since "ignorance is bliss" has had such a large impact to the way I think I've decide to get a tattoo in its honor. I plan to get a lightning bolt tattoo on my right thigh for two meanings; one being that the symbol of a lightning bolt historically means the annihilation of ignorance and I hope to be an embodiment of this symbol in the real world, second that I want this tattoo on my thigh so that I can say that I have thunder thighs. Less serious then the first meaning, but my humor is just as much a part of me as my feelings towards ignorance.
          I have always valued being able to make other people laugh, there's something about being able to bring a smile to someone's face that brings a smile to your own. To be able to take someone out of whatever they may be going through in their lives to have a moment of relaxation and laughter the best thing I can offer to a friend or stranger. It is the closest thing to peace that I can give.
          I also see myself as a very considerate and compassionate person, I know I get this from my mother and I thank her everyday for it. Compassion is what is missing from this world, weighted down by greed and a fight to be the person on top. Since I feel I am part of the few who share compassion, I try to give it to those who are looking for it. I am always trying to be Mister Fix-It with other people's problems. Some might analyze that it is to avoid my own problems, but sometime my problems aren't the ones causing the most grief. If I and able to help someone by giving them a different point of view to look at the situation from then I will gladly put my problems on hold to help them. I see my mom do this all the time and I look up to her so much, she is a hero to me more ways than she will ever know.
          Honesty is very undermined nowadays, many people find it hard to tell someone how they truly feel about something. I try to be honest with my feelings, if someone cares enough to hear what my feelings are  then I will give them the respect they deserve and tell them how I feel no matter whether it is kind, harsh, or brutal. I am not going to beat around the bush and lie for someone's personal censorship, to me all that is is a waste of time and nowadays time valuable. People do not need to compromise with everything other people say even if it is the majorities opinion, they need to have the courage to go against the curve and say how they truly feel.
          Another thing I am proud of myself for is how artistic I am. I feel comfortable with the way that I express myself through art, playing the piano, singing out loud, or being crafty with my hands. I think I have my own twist to things that makes it unique and my own. I am not a patient person, but when I am trying to be creative I can take as much time as I need to make it how I see it.
          Something else I am proud of is my skill as an actor, I have been in a couple of plays in my time and I have always surprised myself with what I have accomplished.  there is something to becoming someone else that is both a challenging as well as interesting process. Playing a role gives you a little bit of insight that is not available to the audience, it lets you see things from the perspective you are playing. It's a new way to look at a story, and stories are beautiful things to look at from several different angles.