It has returned.  The sale of all sales that brings together the students of California State University, Long Beach.  Walking past the food court towards the Nugget Grill and Pub, one gets sidetracked with the large crowd in the Southwest Terrace.  

The small terrace is filled with students who are sifting through piles and piles of clothes and squatting to search through boxes for warehouse priced street-wear clothing such as Obey.

Every semester, Zeta Phi Rho puts up an Obey sale not only to raise funds for the organization, but also to bring the campus together and help show how well established the fraternity is said senior engineering technology major Chris Pham.

The fundraiser generally has a consistent success rate in funds.  This time around, however, it did not profit more than the last sale.  

“. . . It wasn’t as successful, because we usually have an afternoon rush, but didn’t this year,” Julio de la Cruz president of the fraternity and senior biochemistry major said.  

The reason for the small profit is due to the date of the sale.  According to Cruz, the sale is normally held within the first few weeks of the semester, because everyone is on campus trying to add classes or purchasing books at the bookstore. 

“Whereas having it later in the year, students ditch class or come to campus less often,” Cruz said.

According to onlookers, the sale had a nice turnout.  “The products were great, but I didn’t buy anything ’cause I’m sadly broke,” said sophomore nursing major Stephanie Lomboy.  “I do believe it was successful because different types of people came out.”

Just a Taste of College Work

Knowing that an AP course would be difficult, I took on this class in the summer.  The workload was light and not difficult.  It consisted of reading and taking notes of the first three chapters.  Once school began, it slowly became more and more difficult for me; specifically in the critical analysis questions, because I could not apply what I had just learned.  I already knew that I was a learner based off of the book itself.  I knew I rarely applied what I learned and that led me to my problem.  Being in this class helped me realize that I cannot just base my knowledge on hard facts and not feel the need to apply it to elsewhere or come up with things on my own based on what I learned.

Once we began having class once a week, I thought, “Oh this will be so easy, class once a week.  I am sure she will not give loads of homework.  Plus, it should not be difficult to have a week to study for a class.”  Boy did I have it coming.  I did not take into account the new AP course (Macro) and how much more busy I would become.  College applications, school activities, family, college- related events, etc. consumed my time to the point of stress overload.  My dad purposely told me to not join sports, because he knew I would be busy.  I would always say, “Don’t worry once college applications are done with, you can relax and focus on school only.”  Well, that did not happen either.  It definitely lightened the stress load, but more things came onto my plate to do.

Anyway, because of this AP course, it has given me a taste of what college has in store.  Mrs. Simonds would always say that there are classes once a week and you have to study without being reminded or having a review.  I finally get it.

I did not enjoy doing the power-points online.  I like working with books, not with computers.  I know computers are supposed to make your life easier, but the hours spent online are not healthy for your eyes and I am guilty of being distracted with Facebook and such.  Again, this has taught me that I need to get use to doing things online, because college work will require computers.  I am very glad that I know all of this now and am preparing for it.

The section that I made a power-point on was not as difficult as other sections, because it was so familiar to me already.  But it did not seem to have many important things in it.  Also, it was difficult to not overlap information on a topic that was in a different unit.  I had made two detailed slides on a topic and realized that it did not go with the course outline of my unit.  It went along with a different unit so I had to delete those.  It was rather frustrating, but still beneficial.

It’s Crunch Time

“Head to Head” was a wake up call for my lack of effort into this AP class.  I did not realize how important this test is and that I cannot treat the class like a non- AP class and expect to pass the AP test.  Already behind in my reviewing, I am setting up times and days of purely “AP review”.

The court case quiz we were assigned to make up somewhat helped me.  I could probably see some of the court cases listed and give a brief summary over the topic but I would not know much about it.  Court cases are difficult for me to learn mainly, because the name of the court cases barely match the subject it is about.

Today in class, March 16, was a good review day.  The Wiki work is going to be very essential in my review.  I think it will be a great way for the class to review.  This project focuses in on the ESLRs as well.  Being in a group, we have to learn how to communicate and cooperate together outside of the classroom and be creative with our work to make it fun and interesting for the other classmates.

Hopefully, this Saturday, I will do well on the exam.

It’s My Rights and I’ll Fight if I Want To

“Integrate Don’t Segregate” is the first image you see opening to Chapter 5: Civil Rights.  Immediately the difference between civil rights and civil liberties is noted.  Civil liberties are limitations on government-what they cannot do, whereas civil rights specify what government must do.

African Americans have always been under servitude even before the Columbian Exchange.  It has taken way too long for those rights to come about.  I cannot imagine what they went through to be so successful in having Obama as our first black president.  The discrimination and terror they faced were worth the rights they acquired.  Although Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) still advocated racism against blacks, it was a step in the right direction considering culture at the time.  The Plessy case created the “separate but equal” doctrine stating that segregation was legal and constitutional as long as the facilities were equal.  It was overturned in 1954 with the Brown v. Board of Education in Topeka because it was a denial of the equal protection of the laws.  However, whites have been experiencing difficulty in getting equal rights as well.  A good example is the Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978). It was the first Supreme Court decision addressing the constitutionality of affirmative action plans.  It ruled that Bakke must be admitted to the school because the admissions policy was based on race as the sole criterion-race cannot be the sole factor.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. advocated and led nonviolent movements which helped bring about more civil rights legislation.  Since then, that desire has been passed on to women, older Americans, persons with disabilities, and homosexuals.  After World War 1, women across western Europe fought for their right to franchise (vote).  The trend soon began in the United States.  American women sought equality not only in politics, but also in the workplace.  Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits gender discrimination in the workplace.  It extends to sexual harassment and wage discrimination.  Age discrimination in employment is the most widespread form of discrimination.  Mandatory retirement was outlawed in 1986.  The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) (1990) was the most significant federal legislation to protect the rights of persons with disabilities.

“The shot heard around the homosexual world” was the Stonewall incident.  In Bowers v. Hardwick (1986), it was ruled that homosexual conduct between two adults was a crime.  In 2003 it was reversed by the decision in Lawrence v. Texas stating that laws against sodomy violate the due process  clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.  Same- sex marriage has become one of the most sensitive political issues.  So far, the Supreme Court has given the decision of allowing same- sex marriage to the states.  Massachusetts was the first state to recognize gay marriage.  In Baehr v. Lewin (1993), the Court ruled that denying marriage licenses to gay couples might violate the equal protection clause of the Hawaii constitution.

It is difficult having APGOPO class once a week, but researching the court cases and having other students talk about them are very helpful, especially in the work-study load.  Going through the amendments help as well in learning the subject of each amendment.  I noticed that a blog I did over the summer about the “Right to Bear Arms” helped me learn when we discussed which amendment that was in.   I remembered reading an article that stated it was in the Second Amendment.  Upon noticing that, I have been trying to watch the news more or pick up a newspaper and read some articles to help my participation and overall knowledge about our nation.

It’s foreign, domestic, and all about America

Government class is only one day a week.  Nothing has really changed aside from the new material being covered.  I am surprised at what I remember from only having class one day a week.  I know I should brush up before class starts.

Reading about foreign policy in chapter 14 was the worst and best chapter.  I felt like I did not have any notes to take which was the good part, but the downside was that it felt like a storybook to me.  Given, it was very interesting, but it made me worry about what I needed to know and what I did not need to know.  I did well on the quiz and test so I must have picked up some things.  I did not know that the president could make treaties with other nations without Congress’s approval.  I was happy to read that because I think the president should have a power that is solely his without checks.  Clearly, the people of America trust him enough to make the right decision hence giving him such a title.

Although the president breaks the rules by sending troops or does things that are not in line, it shows that he is not being a puppet like other nations. Diplomacy is another great power of the president.  If America is doing excellent other countries willingly please America to get the president to acknowledge them and form a relationship.

It must be difficult to have to handle both your nation and those around you.  There are tons of problems that arise in America and tons more with foreign lands.  It is great that the president has tons of government agents to help him out.  The Bill of Rights is probably brought up every day in court cases.  I believe that it is good that the judicial branch has control in that area or else the president would accumulate great animosity towards him.

It was surprising to me to find that the Bill of Rights originally was not intended for the state governments and that state governments had their own form of Bill of Rights.  The Bill of Rights was probably created originally for the national government so that the Anti-Federalists would not be deprived of their rights given by their states.

Tons of court cases have occurred adding to the rights even today.  Until Lemon v. Kurtzman in 1971 I did not know the reason why or how public schools came to be non religious.  I like the idea of school vouchers because it allows the money to support either institution without the government choosing.  It is becoming a much more level playing field of secular and nonsecular schools.  It is way more expensive to fund and be involved in a private school than a public school.

I have read scandals in newspapers that famous people have sued others for slander or defamation of character.  I at first thought it was a ridiculous case to take to court but now understand that it is against the law to do that.  It adds to the morality promoted by government.

The permitted restrictions on expression for a “clear and present danger” is a good check on a civil liberty.  A civil liberty that stood out to me was the exclusionary rule.  The exclusionary rule is he judicial policy prohibiting the admission at trial of illegally seized evidence.  Police do abuse their power at times and that is a great check on those who are titled to protect American citizens.

Opium War: Results 1750-1914

What was not a result of the Opium War?

a.  a series of unequal treaties with Britain

b. boosted China’s economy greatly

c.  China payed for the war and opium

d.  Various nations’ spheres of influence

e.  Chinese nationalism increased as groups worked to rid the country of foreign influence

Hip Hip Hooray for Election Day!

Darkness follows you into the driver seat.  You drive to a destination that you have never been to before.  Behold! A… neighborhood?  It is 6:15 a.m. and I think I am in the wrong precinct.  Turns out, I was not lost; the random house was the polling place for November 2, 2010.  Once the voting signs were up, we waited to turn on the JBC at 7 a.m.

I was the Roster Clerk.  For those who do not know what the roster clerk does, I greet the voter, find his name in the roster (making sure he is registered and not a Vote-by-Mail voter), and give him his ballot number.  (The Vote-by-Mail people must surrender their ballot if they want to vote at the polls.  By not doing so, they will become a provisional voter.) I enjoyed my position.  It was not a hectic voting day, but it was not completely deserted.

Although Oregon requires their voters to vote-by-mail, I think California would not be pleased to be forced to vote-by-mail.  Many of the voters, I was told, enjoy voting at the polls, but there was an adequate amount of Vote-by-Mail envelopes given.  I was surprised at the variety of voters that day.  It was neat to be in a neighborhood, because the voters were in their jogging clothes, walking their dogs, pushing their baby strollers, or driving by.  Some people exceeded 40 minutes in voting.  It was neat to see Jenny, my oldest sister, voting especially because my parents have absolutely no interest in voting.  Just like I learned in class, my parents contribute to the low voter turnout and believe they have  no impact on society.  From looking at the roster, I noticed many people did not vote that day, excluding the Vote-by-Mailers.  That agreed with the low voter turnout common in non presidential elections.

It was amusing to see first time voters.  Some were ecstatic, jumping around announcing it was their first time.  Others were shy and had no clue what to do.  It felt weird being younger than them and telling them what to do.  Then again, that was what I was getting paid for.  (I did not tell them who to vote for.)

From my day at that precinct, I deduced that the area was more or less Republican reflecting the district’s representative, Dana Rohrabacher’s political affiliation.  It was an encouraging site for voters to see a teenage face volunteering at the polls.  It was great being able to get people pumped to vote as well.  Before that day, I had no idea what it was like.  I did not think many people voted, but volunteering really showed me that Americans do care about the government and are doing their part in voting.  Prior to this I was discouraged to vote, partly because of my parents not showing an interest.  Which proved statistics to be true saying the family is the main influence in a child’s political socialization.  I liked hearing discussions of the candidates once the voters finished voting.  I did not hear much of them since that would be eavesdropping and I was focused on my roster clerk duties.  What I did catch was they wanted Meg Whitman to win.  One wild voter left saying,”Weed better get passed.”  Many of the Vote-by-Mailers commented on how simple doing it at home was.

I think that the voting system today seems rather ancient than to the vast and ever improving technology of 2010.  I am sure there could be many ways where counting the votes would be less time-consuming and have the voting process be simpler.  However, people like their paper ballots and the machines now have had bugs messing up the votes.  Helping in this election has really encouraged me to be a dedicated voter and possibly a helper for the next election as well.

Fail or Pass?

Upon receiving Andrew Jackson as the president I was to grade, I was content that I knew information on him already.  However, until I began to research his roles and how he acted them out during his presidency, I realized how difficult it would be to find specific things that would be a part of his role.  It really frustrated me when I could not find certain information about his role, when others could find that information on their presidents.

For me, the assignment was very difficult.  It took a lot of time and patience for the research.  Creating my own rubric did help in making the assessment.  As all assignments I am given, I learned a lot during the research.  Andrew Jackson was not the first person to use the spoils system, but it is often credited to him (kitchen cabinet).  He was known as the frontier man.  As chief of party, he appealed greatly to the people and was the first president to invite the public to the White house to celebrate his first inauguration.  Congress however, did not like Jackson.  He was not flexible in office doing things his way.

What I thought was ironic in my research was Jackson’s reason for the spoils system being that the rotation in office prevents the development of corrupt bureaucracy.  Many people would view a corrupt bureaucracy as the spoils system.

Andrew Jackson was the only president to pay off the national debt. He opposed the national bank.  I gave Jackson a final grade of a D because during his presidency, some of the first trade treaties were negotiated with European and South American countries.  He was well liked by the people.  But his rashness towards conflict and his impudent behavior to Congress is unacceptable.  He overused his constitutional power of the veto and his actions resulted in a depression and war.

The class presentations were very insightful.  Unlike Jackson, it was neat to see that Sean’s president, John F. Kennedy spoke to the public many times with his speeches and gained public approval by that.  I liked hearing that Nathan’s president, Mckinley, traveled around the world and was a great chief diplomat.  The information on the presidents were great and made me have a better appreciation for the presidents of America.  The music for Sean’s slideshow was entertaining and captivated my attention.  It would have been nice if the presenters spoke with character and maybe even got the class to get involved. (I do not know how to do that though.)

I learned to be loud and be filled with energy to ensure my audience’s attention.  Knowing your information is key to presentations, because you can tell it in a story mode, which most often captivates your audience.  I also learned that a good chief of party would increase the seats of his party in office.  For me, the head of state role was difficult to decide what information went under the topic.  I had repeated information on my slides.  I also learned that there are a lot of factors to a president’s deemed success or failure.  Such as when Sean said that most people say John F. Kennedy was a great president only because of his short time in office.

What grade would you have given Andrew Jackson, based on my presentation?

It’s time to work

A blog I previously posted about Doris Matsui really showed me how much work representatives actually put into their occupation.  Prior to the blog research, I thought representatives just voiced their constituents’ opinions in Congress.  I learned that they do more than voice opinions; they look at their district’s needs and work hard to fulfill them.  It takes a lot of dedication and passion to continuously promote the well being of the people as they depreciate your work.  It was saddening to discover that Doris Matsui’s husband died from Myelodysplastic Syndrome.  However, with that occurrence in her life, God can now use her to relate to more people and be encouraged to propose new ideas of legislation such as her bone- marrow bill.

We have a couple of assignments to complete soon.  It is overwhelming, but it feels like what an APGP class should feel like, right?  Well, it would not be overwhelming if I had better time management.  Anyway, the “Presidential Performance Report Card” is just one of the assignments given.  As the name implies, I must grade my assigned president, Andrew Jackson, on his time in office.  It is an interesting but very educational assignment, because it has me analyze the actions of a president in his many roles.  It makes me laugh knowing I am being graded on how I grade Jackson.  The most difficult part of the assignment for me has nothing to do with Andrew Jackson.  Creating my own rubric for his presidential performance takes much time and thought.  Thankfully, we were given “Questions to Consider and Answer When Evaluating Your President”.  It has been a great help.  I will be relieved once I finish the rubric, because the easy part is next, grading Jackson.

For a class activity, we mimicked the process of a bill becoming a law.  During my short time involved in the activity, I thought it was fun and insightful.  The House and the Senate generally go through the same process, but the House, as I learned in a previous chapter, has a Rules Committee.  Once the bill is introduced, the committees will send it to a subcommittee if they decide it is worthwhile.  The subcommittees will hold hearings where people testify and give information about the bill.  The bill either dies or moves to markup in the sub and full committee, then it is debated and voted on, and returned to both chambers for approval.  The legislative committee must become quite frustrated after all the time and effort was put into a bill for the president to veto it.  It is good that despite the president’s veto power, a bill may still become a law whether by overriding the veto or the president holding the bill for ten days.

This next assignment, I guess it is called “Institutions Presentation” was puzzling for me.  I did not understand why we researched three completely different topics and then had to make a presentation about them.  It was not a difficult assignment by any means, but it really confused me as to why it was so random.  I learned about the House oversight and Government Reform committee, Kagan,and the  Michigan v. Bryant case.  I also learned that the Department of Interior is a bureaucratic agency.  I was unsure of some of the things I researched such as giving two examples of the bureaucratic agencies.

Matsui for the win

California’s fifth district representative, Democrat Doris Matsui is once again running in the November election.  Her opponents, Republican Paul A. Smith and Peace and Freedom Gerald Frink do not impose a huge threat to incumbent Matsui who was first elected in March of 2005.

Constituents of the fifth district seem to show a Democratic favor considering their 2008 presidential election.  McCain received 28.40% of the district’s votes, whereas Obama received the majority of 69.62%.  However, in the 2006 gubernatorial election they voted  60.45% for Schwarzenegger, a Republican and only 34.16% for Democrat Phil Angelides.  This change in party favor may be due to the career background and publicity of Schwarzenegger.

From her time of representing the city of Sacramento, she has been an important advocate of clean energy, the economy and Wall Street reform, flood control, education, and health care.  Although she has refused to tell her position on issues in the Political Courage Test, you can deduce her stand on them from her website. She desires Sacramento to be the clean technology capital and the global leader of clean energy. She has been involved in passing legislations such as the Clean Energy Technology Manufacturing and Export Assistance Act, the Renewable Energy Incentive Act, and the Small Business Clean Energy Financing Act. Matsui encourages the return of PAYGO that resulted from a deficit to a surplus, which began under President Clinton but was removed by the Republicans when they had control.  Under PAYGO, each new legislation will be fully paid for by other cuts or increases in revenue.  She wants to modernize America’s financial regulations  and hold Wall Street accountable for their actions by the Restoring American Financial Stability Act.  Because Sacramento has had a constant threat of flooding, Matsui has been highly productive in ensuring the safety of Sacramentans from floods.  She helped secure the Folson Dam Joint Federal Project, ensure ongoing levee improvements, watershed approach, and is working on providing affordable flood insurance.  Education to Matsui is very important for the future of our economy.  She has supported legislations such as the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act.  She wants high school graduates to have access to affordable colleges.  On her site, she says, “In order to cultivate a well-trained, competitive workforce that is capable of keeping abreast of the dynamic global market, the dream of a college education must be within the reach of every qualified student.”  Health care is a topic Matsui supports because of her diverse constituents having a common characteristic of all being in support for health insurance reform.  The constituents have been a major influence in her voting of important factors in a health- care reform bill.

Doris Matsui speaking on Medicare.

On September 30, Rob Hotakainen reported about the House passing Matsui’s bone- marrow bill. Because of her husband Bob Matsui’s death, due to Myelodysplastic Syndrome, Doris has devoted great passion in passing her bone-marrow bill that calls for expanded research, treatment, and education of acquired bone marrow failure diseases.  This bill has the research be a priority rather than increase the funding for it.  (Doris Matsui replaced her husband in Congress. He was in Congress from 1993- 2004.)

Keep in mind that Doris Matsui has refused to participate in the Political Courage Test.  So, Matsui, having successfully been in office since 2005 why have you not taken the Political Courage Test, especially if your opponents do not impose a threat to your seat in the House of Representatives?  The legislation you have voted in favor of and your urging of a better economy conflict one another.  The legislations are by no means inexpensive, but you want PAYGO to return despite its possible raise in revenue?  In the meantime, how will you help Sacramento heal quickly through this economic depression until your long term legislations’ success will be noticed?