Next Semester

We'll It's finally over for this semester. And I say that in a sad mood because I had alot of fun this semester and also met some pretty interesting people. I had alot of fun in my math class and also my english class. Both teachers were great except the only thing that didnt make it perfect was the class attendance. I know thats not the teachers fault but the responsiblity of the student. I know almost everyone works and has other things to do besides school, but they should at least give it a try. We'll I dont want to get into that right now since I wanted to talk about the next semester thats coming right up...January 21(I think). I already got my classes and I cant wait for it to begin. Since I have my hopes up for it to be the same as the last, Im thinking that it will be probably even better. And with the holidays coming right around the corner, this little break will be of great use..lol. We'll i guess that's it for me, thank you for reading this post whoever you are and hope your having a good holiday season. Happy Holidays Everyone and take care. Bye Bye :)

End of the Semester

We'll this is the end of the semester. With my math final coming up this monday the 15th but also a presentation due in my english class. Im not so much worried about my math final but the presentation since it has to be 10 gruesome minutes long(lol) but that the whole class is going to be reviewing me based on my performance. I hope everything goes well in that class since I dont really have a final except for a Self-Assesment essay due on the 17th. I had a real good semester and I hope the next one will be the same or maybe even better. Im just glad i got by with work and school going on and being able to balance each other out. Except that i had to give up something in the process....which was video games :( But that's ok though because everything comes with a price, right? We'll it was for school so i shouldn't be sad at all since school is more important than video games and I know that my parents will be proud of my grades also. We'll i guess I'll end this blog because I should still study for the math final and get prepared for my presentation....talk to you bloggers later ok. Thanx for reading... :)

Better Neighborhoods, Better Living

It is easy to say that some neighborhoods or communities in the Phoenix area are not looking as good as they did a few years back. Communities end up in certain bad states due to negligence because of what happens around them, for example, one community may have too much violence while another one may live near a pollution creating environment. With our states population growing more and more each year, construction has begun all over the valley to build new ones. And since new ones are being built, what happens to the “old” neighborhoods that are left in a state that many people do not wish to live in? Some of them are torn down and some of them are left just the way there are or left to mother nature to take care of, but some communities take action and face this situation with a different approach. “The ideals of green communities have become more salient in contemporary debates about community futures”(Phillip 393). That approach is by volunteering to do clean-ups, provide trash cans for recyclable use, and by getting schools with other organizations involved also to better their own community. One of the many reasons why community involvement exist is to stop violence, keep our children safe, provide better living accommodations, show community pride, and set an example for the next generation to come.
As stated before, there are many reasons to why some neighborhoods are the way they are now. And one of the major ones is violence and drugs that is happening every now and than in some communities. According to Bette Midler’s interview on what she
did in New York a few months back, a police officer said “…violence has decreased 5% ever since Ms. Midler finished her clean-up project”(Le Pour 3). This indicates that maybe community clean-ups decrease violence in areas and promote unity between one another in neighborhoods. Getting schools and police involved also decrease not only violence but also drug use and trafficking in and out of the Phoenix area. Drug economies also play a major role in why communities take action against harmful sustenance’s in order to prevent future problems. Since crime and drugs are both related in very similar ways, if drugs were to be taken care of than violence wouldn’t happen as much as it does now. “…a person on drugs is dangerous and out of control and thus capable of robbing his own family and friends and turning violently”(Anderson 78), one good way how these two subjects are related to each other. I believe that is why community involvement can help make a big difference in helping people feel safer and a better place to live in.
My proposal on this situation is to first get volunteerism out in the open to the public to get them informed on how important it is for neighborhoods. Next step is to set up a meeting at a local school and provide information on an upcoming community clean-up event and what goals we plan to achieve. We will also provide food and beverages, prizes as well, and transportation to those who need it in order to arrive on time for the meeting. We will also be discussing about the equipment we will have at out disposal and if there is anyone that would like to help out in donating equipment also. Third step will be discussing where, when, and how the clean-up will be started, the importance of setting up groups before we depart, and lastly the areas that are going to be covered. And the final step will be to track down our progress at the end of the clean-up and have a big celebration party at the end of the event, to congratulate everyone on a job well done and for their participation. “People want to make a difference; they want to help and be asked for help by others, and to be respected for it”(McGuckin vii).
I believe that this solution will solve the community problem in many ways such as better neighborhood living, decrease in violence, and more importantly community involvement. By first addressing the issue we have already started phase one which was to inform the people about volunteerism and a community clean-up event. “A very good way to reach people to get involved is by asking them what they think needs to be done”(Juliano, Personal Interview). If we are to take action against violence, we have to first pin point what is causing violence in our area. One of the main factors would be drug use and trafficking and so by stopping that we narrow our research on where it’s happening the most in our neighborhood. We go around door to door asking people for help, call to see if the police will join us in this event, and inform everyone on what we are trying to do to stop this plague. By taking out the drugs we end up decreasing the violence therefore making ourselves feel less tension between one another and better living for all. The clean-up is to make the community take pride in what it’s done, to make it look safer and better distinguished.
Sometimes community volunteerism doesn’t come for free since there are things that need to be paid for like gas transportation, equipment rental or sales, food and beverages, and money for prizes to be raffled off also. Since the clean-up will be around the neighborhood I don’t believe that gas will be more than one hundred dollars since it’s only on a one mile radius or less. Equipment rental and sales may be a bit expensive since there may be a lot of people involved in this event, so by working in groups we can limit that cost by providing limited items to a group but also having just enough to get the job done. As for food and beverages, shopping at big local retailers such as Costco or Wal-Mart may reduce the cost also since food and beverages come in big packages and at a good price. If that doesn’t work, we may also approach them in a way as to helping us out in donating beverages only and just having to pay for the food itself, either way making it simple enough to get things going and affordable with the event. The prizes for the raffle could be things that schools don’t need anymore such as computers, cash certificates or gift cards, or maybe even scholarship money for college. All this can be done is about a month I believe, it’s just a matter of how fast someone can reach the public and inform them on the event that is going to happen. As for the total cost of everything, I would estimate that the total would be no more than five hundred dollars which I feel is more than enough to start the whole event.
Some people may not feel that they need to participate in events such as this or that they have nothing to do with it at all. There is going to be some resistance and so we will try to keep that to a minimal stance as possible to make everything run smoother with less trouble and problems. Those that don’t want to volunteer will not be forced or looked downed up since this event is based solely on free will and liberty of that person who chooses to help or not. For example, some people may think that these type of events are a waste of time or that the results are never really major and may seem pointless to them. We are trying to get those that don’t want to volunteer see a new aspect of this service and try something new that they probably never tried before. We do this by explaining to them that community volunteerism can pay off in the long run, how it can make a difference, try to persuade them into getting involved. “The definition of a successful life should always include voluntary service”(McGuckin 31).
This method along with so many other approaches’ in cleaning up the community will truly make a difference in some parts of the valley. It really isn’t that much of a financial burden, it’s fun, and builds communication with others. If this proposal is passed it will help keep our streets clean, children will be safer, less violence, and lead as an example for future community events to come. We want this generation to live long and prosperous as much as possible, so by doing this we can ensure that by even just a little that may go a long way. Now on the other hand, if nothing is done about this situation and how some communities are now, violence and drugs will keep growing and growing. Children will be at a higher risk of getting involved with drugs, make poor decisions in their life, and never get to see of what may be in the future. Everyone is the way they are due to the environment they grew up in, environment influences people in so many ways and by having a clean community we set forth a good level of comfort to ourselves.

Works Cited

Juliano, Dr. Jane. Personal Interview. 7 Nov. 2008.

Berke, Philip R. "The Evolution of Green Community Planning, Scholarship, and Practice: An Introduction to the Special Issue." Journal of the American Planning Association 74.4 (Sep. 2008): 393-407. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. GateWay Community College Library, Phoenix, AZ. 8 Nov. 2008 .

Le Poer Trench, Brooke. “Bette Midler Comes Clean.” Mind Food 05 June 2008. <http://www.mindfood.com/at-m-bette-midler-coming-clean.seo>

McGuckin, Frank, ed. Volunteerism. New York: The H. W. Wilson Company, 1998.

Anderson, Elijah. Street Wise. The University of Chicago Press: Chicago, 1990.

Games & Anime :)

Happy Halloween Everybody...hope that everyone is having a great weekend and that all is well. 1st of all I wanted to share this great news that I just barely bought Little Big Planet for the PS3 (pictured left). This game is so much fun either in single player campaign or in online play..actually its alot more fun online since you get to play with people from all over the world. I also finished the game Bioshock a couple days ago and it was AWESOME!!! I got the bad ending so im gonna replay it again to get the good ending and also play it on the harder difficulty level to get more trophies and stuff. Little Big Planet is such a great game to play...for adults and kids...I highly recommend this game to those who love creativity. You get to buil your own levels, play in other player's levels, chat with friends, meet new people, just basically expand your online universe. I wanted to get Fallout 3 also but I dnt think I can keep up with 3 games at once...lol. I cant wait for SF4, RE5, GoW2, and also the new updated network for the XBox 360. OMG so many things happening in the virtual world and I cant wait for all this stuff to happen. Theres so many things I can go on with video game news but I also want to talk about anime news. Bad news 1st....One Piece the anime isn't going to be aired till November 9th :( .....so yeah that sucks but on the bright side, the manga is still being published every week and its getting really good. As for Naruto, the anime just finished with the death and funeral of Asuma which was a really good anime episode this week and as for the manga...FREAKING AMAZING. Konoha village is under attack by Pain and Kakashi is fighting with him and its getting really good. And last but not least we have Bleach, so far in the anime, Nel has just revealed her true form and she looks HOT...lol...so she's fighting with Espada #5 since Ichigo got beat up pretty bad in his last fight with Grimmjow. As for the manga, there is alot of action going on there and it's a grand battle royal with all of soul society's captains and luteinets(spelled wrong lol). Im also watching this new series called Toradora, Golden Boy, Chaos;Head, Soul Eater and many more. Great stuff to watch on the internet since I feel that it's getting better than TV lol...ok I think thats it for today pple. Hope you enjoyed the news n stuff. We'll im off, take care and Happy Gaming :)

Prop. 105 : Majority Rule-Let The People Decide Act

Prop. 105: Majority Rule-Let The People Decide Act

“Since 1998, Arizona voters have approved a series of initiatives that raised taxes
or fees or mandated state spending.”(Benson, A.R), that right there is what Arizona voters are going to be dealing with in the upcoming years. Past ballot elections have been passed or rejected by simply counting the number of votes voted for or against that proposition, simple as that. Not dealing with the “non-voters” who in this case are having a negative impact on the voting ballots by canceling out other voters. And now with a new proposition coming into play, many people wonder if this new act will make passing new taxes or laws easier or harder in future elections. Arizona as well as other states are known for increasing taxes on tobacco goods and casinos as well, so that is why it shouldn’t be a problem with prop. 105 being introduced in this years ballots. Will this new proposition lend us a helping hand in new taxes and initiatives or will it limit them to us?

Ever wondered why some consumer goods cost more now than they did 2 to 4 years ago? Same goes for taxes and how they have increased in past years and the fore coming ones that follow also. We’ll prop. 105 deals with just that and also other initiatives that Arizona voters will have to face in this years ballot elections. Proposition simply states that when a new law is introduced or higher taxes are going to be imposed, a majority of voters must be accounted for in order for that initiative to pass. Therefore it implies the name “majority rule” meaning that more than 51 percent must vote “for” or “against” that law or tax increase. Discussing key points for each side of the argument(s) will help voters improve their knowledge on whether to vote for this proposition or not. For example, voting for prop. 105 is saying that future initiatives will need a majority vote in order for it to pass and voting against it would mean to leave our laws and taxes to voter turnouts, interest groups and the state government as they are now.

I believe that I would go for this proposition. The reason why is because I feel that it is wrong to let the government handle our budget deficient or let interest groups raise our taxes without our consent or when it is not really necessary. “Since the initiative has been taken over by lobbyist and special interest groups…”(Ballot), a very good example of how tax hikes have been placed as well as other laws. We the citizens of this state must take action and do something about this before any situations get out of hand and go beyond our control. I also believe that the people’s voice is a lot stronger than that of the governments, so which leads me to believe that we are makes this state and it is what makes us. The majority rule should be placed in effect to protect ourselves from those interest groups and keeping them at bay from taxing us. I’m not so much worried about the non-voters being counted for since our population has grown by so much over the past couple years. It is also expected that more people will get out and vote more often this year with the presidential elections and this states ballots coming into play.

By passing proposition 105, we would be setting a new standard in the voting rules. Meaning, that a majority rule vote will be placed in effect for future tax and laws that our government wants to place in this state. Voting fro prop. 105 also decreases the chance for our state government board or special interest groups from spending money on what they feel needs to be spent on and not what voters want. Small businesses also have an affect on them as well when it comes to raising higher taxes. If a small business were to get a tax hike, that would mean that it‘s service goods would go up in price therefore making it harder for business to generate. Assuming that business does not go well, it will have to lay off employees or go out of business. That is why we need to keep taxing at a minimum to protect our economy and prevent any future debts. “The Majority Rules initiative would also make it harder for special interest groups to use ballot initiatives to raise our taxes.”(Americans of Prosperity), an example on why interest groups and tax hikes will hurt us in the long run. All of who would benefit from prop. 105 would be the voters of Arizona, giving an ideal form of freedom in our budget systems and also with the government when it comes to new laws and such. Voting yes for prop. 105 will make our voices be heard even louder and help make better decisions in the future to come.

On the other hand, we have those who don’t want to pass this proposition. Those that are against it say that it should be left the way it is since there hasn’t been any problems reported on the way things are now. It also states that “Non-voters essentially would be counted as “no” votes under this scenario, significantly raising the bar for victory.”(Benson, A.R), that makes it seem unfair by counting non-voters over those who actually went out and voted. Outvoting is not the right way to pass a new legislation and therefore those against this act are not tolerating it, stating that it’s unfair and ridicules. Against this act would also limit our tax hikes on this state therefore limiting support for schools, parks, wildlife, hospitals and many more things. If we were to limit taxes in the past years, how would we have money to support our education. A good example would be from a lawsuit a few years back against a tobacco company, we used that money to support education in Arizona Those that are against this prop argue mostly on the fact that “non-voters” should not be counted leaving that outvoting others should not be allowed in any way shape or form and that the voting system should be left the way it is now.

I would believe that this proposition is one that would be hard to find a common ground on. One side wants to increase taxes and leave the voting system the way it is while the other side wants to make a change for the better, or so we are told. We would all like to have our taxes not so high as to go into further debt but also not to low so we don’t have enough to support our schools, hospitals, and other places. Taxes are good and bad at the same time, so maybe a proposal where it can even will probably make it better. We need an economy to the point where it can be stable, where everyone is content with the new legislations and easier to deal with financial state budgets. Its up to every single person to go out and vote in this year’s ballot elections and vote for either side A or side B. I still stand on voting “for” this proposition because I believe it will lend us a helping hand and not limit us in many ways. There are a few drawbacks to each side but that is the responsibility of the voter to figure out which one works best for them.

What are you doing this weekend?

1st of all...I wanted to tell my mom HAPPY BIRTHDAY...even though it was yesterday and we had a great time. Ok so the question is....What are you doing this weekend? Im dedicating this blog to me personally so its ok if my teacher doesn't count this at all as a grade toward the blog assignment thing...lol. OK 1st of all....I bought Bioshock for the Playstaion 3...OMG its freaking fantastic. The graphics look really nice, its a pretty scary game, the gameplay is solid and dead on, the character animation is pretty cool also, and i cant forget about the story line. ~~Sighs heavenly~~...it's just such a beautiful game (lol..im staring at it right now)...anyways the story is relly good. If I tried to explain the story right now it would be too long because I love getting into details when I know alot of people just like to get straight to the point. But yeah its a real nice game...comes with trophy's, new challenges, and also downloadable content...yyyaayyy. This game was released for the XBox 360 about a year ago and now its for the Playstation 3. I did have the 360 when this game came out but wasnt that we interested in it but when they announced it for the PS3...I somehow got into it...who knows why. Oh yeah...I also have some sad news...my 360 died about 1 week ago ~sniff sniff~ man that sucked. It got the red ring of death right when I was gonna play Gears Of War...i was like...nnnnoooo!!!! I called Microsoft but they were like, since your warranty expired, we could fix it for you and than return back good as new. But what she didnt tell me was how much it was gonna cost (which was almost the same price if i were to buy a new one)...so I told her...ok i'll think about it and call you back. But to get back to the question...I'm gonna be playing Bioshock almost all week. I have put in about 20 hours into it and I haven't even reached half of half way (lol)...its surprisingly long but thats a good thing since it's full of secret rooms, upgradeable weapons and tonics and plasmids, it's just a beautiful game. Awww man I completely forgot about to include anime news in this blog...One Piece is getting good in both the anime and the magna, same for Naruto and Bleach. Im also watching some new and interesting ones also but I guess I can save that for later. Well take care yall and thanx again for reading. Happy Gaming Everyone... :)

The Future??

I wonder where our future is headed? I mean with everything happening right now as it is...the economic problem, the ballots, the presidential debate, and other stuff like that. I wonder if were headed the the right way or even if there is a right way. Because politicians never really keep their "promise" on ways on improving our counrty in many ways like health, taxes, and other things like that. I feel that they just sometimes brain wash people with all their ads and using big words that some never even heard. So at the end who do u really end up voting for? I mean are we voting for the candidate himself or what his party is saying? I have so many questions that I wish would be answered but at the same time...I would rather not find out. Somethings are better left unanswered right?....W'ell thats what I think. This whole world is getting crappier and crappier the more we keep "moving" ahead, when it actually feels that we are going nowhere. We all hope for the best for each and every single one of us but I feel we do that to get ourselves out of denial of a certain situation we are in or one we want to avoid, so who do we turn to? God?? Who knows since we all have our own beliefs and Gods, since I believe that there may be more than 1 God since there is more than 1 religion. I also believe that past generations had it better than us but in way they don't have a chance to survive in the generation we live in now. We've changed so much but only in a way that has such little significance and to tell you the truth I have no idea what that is. I guess we should all just hope for the best right?....yeah maybe thats the best thing to do now. We'll im signing off again and thanx again for reading.