Freedom of Speech

After listening to the interview and Morse v. Frederick case, I believe the court should recognize that Joseph Frederick didn't do anything wrong and was just exercising his freedom of speech. He said in the interview that he was curious about what rights he had and what the limits were, so he decided to see how far he could get with the banner. Freedom of speech gives us the right to say what we want as long as it's not hurting anybody and in his case, disrupting education. He may have offended some people, but he didn't directly hurt them. I believe that students should still have freedom of speech in the classroom because the classroom is also located in the United States and the rules shouldn't change. As long as the learning process isn't altered by the comment, students should be able to think and say what they want. Freedom of speech is very important to a lot of people in the United States, including me. It allows people to express their opinions and beliefs. There are times when I like to say exactly what I think and the thought of getting in trouble for that is not fair.

fantasy congress 6

I ended up near the middle of the whole class at number 19. I learned a lot about how Congress actually works and what kinds of jobs they have to do. I learned about the different positions they have such as upper senator and rookie. I also learned how important passing legislation and doing various other activities is for people in Congress. There isn't much I would change about how it works but I would want it to be more clear on how the total points are divided among the players.

FC Post 5

I looked at a few teams from the people all the way on the top and compared it to mine. I noticed they were doing really well because every member in their team is very active. However, I looked at my team and saw that some members don't contribute much to my points. I realized that every job is important and it's not just the upper senators that should do well. I also noticed that most of their teams consist of democrats, but i dont know if that has anything to do with why they're doing good.

Blog Entry 4

The candidates running for election have various styles and focus on different topics. For example, Rudy Giuliani is for the war in Iraq and increased educational funding. However, he is against gay marriage and believes there should be restrictions on abortion. John McCain believes we should have stricter border security and he agrees with the second ammendment giving citizens the right to bear arms. Mitt Romney thinks we should invest more money in technology and science along with education. He also believes that we have to start using alternate forms of energy such as biodiesel, ethanol, nuclear, and coal gasification. Fred Thompson believes that a strong family is important for our nation and thinks our borders should be secured. Hilary Clinton wants to strengthen the middle class, end the war in Iraq, fight global warming, and provide affordable health care to Americans. Barrack Obama also wants to end the war in Iraq and provide a better health care system. He wants to fight poverty and protect our environment and make it better for the future. Bill Richardson is for strong civil rights, women's rights, and making sure good jobs are available for the country's citizens. John Edwards has a plan for universal health care and investing in our future by providing good education to our students. Some of these sites were a little annoying and cheesy. They were biased because they're made to get people to vote for them, which I can understand, but it's still a little annoying. However, I liked Hilary Clinton's site and I would definetly vote for her. Not only because I want to see a woman president, but also because I agree with her views and think she's very smart. I would use the prospective voting model because I'm looking towards the future, and what positive things she can add as a president.

FC post 4

I traded in my upper senator Patrick Leahy for Ted Kennedy. I noticed that Kennedy had a lot of legislation and he seems to be doing really well. In addition, he cosponsored a lot of bills and had good attendance. Patrick Leahy wasn't doing as good as I thought he would so Ted Kennedy seems like a good replacement.

fantasy congress post 3

Most of the members on my team weren't performing too well. I guess they're too busy with other things such as elections. My allstar John Dingell was doing really good on passing legislation. My upper senator Jeff Bingaman was doing okay also. However, I just traded the rest of them in for players that I think will do better such as Hilary Clinton and Patrick Leahy. Hopefully, I'll see better results this upcoming week...

Why I Chose my FC Team=)

I chose my team members based on legislation, the number of bills they cosponsored, and mavericks. I also payed close attention to how their attendance was because I think good attendance shows their commitment and willingness to get things done. I also chose mostly democrats and tried to have a few female players in my team as well.

Blog Entry #2

Watching this video actually made me realize how important Congress is in our everyday lives. The point the video is trying to make is that without Congress, we would be a complete mess. Without rules, all that is left is chaos. The various powers of Congress help ensure that we are being treated fairly (for example, one person's dollar is worth the same amount as another person's dollar). Although we complain about Congress and argue about its shortcomings, we don't always stop, think, and appreciate what Congress has done for us and what it continues to do everyday.

If I had to choose one thing to change about Congress, it would be the fact that gender and race aren't correctly represented in Congress in comparison to the population. For example, in the book on page 292, there is a chart showing that in the year 2000, 51.1% of the population were women, but only 15% were represented in the House of Representatives and 14% in the Senate. The same goes for Hispanic Americans. Out of 12.3% of the population, 5.5% were represented in the House, and 3% in the Senate. I feel that if Congress is making laws for the people, it should correctly represent its citizens.

Blog Entry #1

In my opinion, the most important issue in modern day politics is the war in Iraq. It's doing more harm than good, and I don't see how staying there is going to lead to anything other than more negative effects. I think that it's all an excuse for Bush and his administration (the who) to gain control of the oil in Iraq (the what and where) by covering it up as the "War on Terror" (how). I feel like innocent lives are being lost over something that is purely about power and gaining more control. We have no way of knowing how long it will last, but the fact that it's been going on for so long already makes me think that it will unfortunately continue for a while. (the when).

My Fantasy Congress Team

Russ Feingold -Upper Senator
Jeff Bingaman-Upper Senator
Maria Cantwell-Lower Senator
Jim DeMint-Lower Senator
John Dingell-Allstar
Barney Frank-Allstar
Tammy Baldwin-Supporting Lineup
Darrell Issa-supporting lineup
Stephanie Herseth Sandlin-Rookie
Dan Boren-ROokie

Intro

I'm 18...just graduated from Glendale High. I'm not sure what to major in yet but I have to make up my mind soon. After GCC, I plan to transfer to a four year university and work hard to pursue a career in something that interests me.