Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor

I agree with the article titled "Denial" by my colleague Rachael Doan, she gives out very good examples on how we have helped other civilians before. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott along with others have no right to stop America from helping those in need. In no way should we allow terrorist to frighten us and prevent us from helping Syrian refugees.
Her statement about the world wars is a very good statement. For example in world war 2 did we let the Nazi Germans control our decisions? As soon as Japan their ally attacked us we declared war. France has been our ally for a long time but this does not mean we should blame a whole group of people for what others do. We did the same mistake in World War 2 we locked up our fellow citizens, just because they had Japanese ancestry. So in no way should we blame Syrian refugees for the Paris attacks and prevent them from having a better life.
We as Texans have always considered our selves better then all of the states because we have a much bigger history and heritage. By Gov. Greg Abbott closing the doors for these people in need, he shows just the opposite of what we as Texans see ourselves as. If we look at the quote on the statue of liberty it says, " Give me your tired, your poor. Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me: I lift my lamp besides the golden door." That is what Syrian refugees are striving for, freedom and thats what Texas as well as the whole country stand for.

Travis County Attacks Homelessness

Homelessness, is one of many problems seen all around the world. Texas should do more to help people facing homelessness because its not only the right thing to do, but it helps give hope to the community. Community First!, a program was established to help homeless people, has for nearly 15 years lifted homeless people off the streets and into their own home in RV Parks scattered throughout Seattle. However it also has been on a mission for more than 10 years to get as many people as possible of the streets of Travis county. It's been estimated that there are 6,000 people living in the streets in the county.

With this program, Travis County has just taken a big step forward to help its residents in need. This community is privately funded and it includes RV's, tiny homes, and canvas-sided cottages. The goal of this project is to give homeless individuals, safe, secure and refined homes. Its intention is in no way an attempt to get these people in need out of sight. It's a way to help them have a better life.

The village will eventually shelter 200 people who face homelessness and will provide them essential tools such as social, medical and employment services. This all will be provided in order to help them overcome the challenges that forced them to be homeless. They will however be required to pay rent which is estimated to be around $225 to $380 and they will also be required to follow civil and community law. This will be a perfect way to help residents facing this issue because its a sincere help from people who care. It also reminds them that they are not alone and that they are part of our society.

Commenatary On The Death Penalty

The ideas of Texas residents have changed. We as the new generation of Texas should change the death penalty. In the article titled "Capital Punishment: A Burden to All Texans," by my colleague Sarah, she gives out a strong argument on why the death penalty is not a good punishment and why it should be part of the past.
She gives out factual evidence to support her thesis. For example, her statements about putting someone in jail actually costing less meaning less money wasted. Sometimes we wrongly convict people because our criminal justice system is not perfect. The amount of Texas juries who favor the death penalty have gone down. Also the State of Texas has a very big percentage of the nations total death penalty sentences.
I agree with Sara we should help these people, help them before they commit crimes that could possibly get them to be in thas position. All this money wasted in such a long process should help our education programs. Helping our youth get educated can prevent them from committing crimes that could possibly get them in that situation one day. Killing someone has proven to solve nothing. The death sentence has been around for so long and has not brought down crime. So if the government keeps enforcing this punishment they will just cause more harm than good. Texans'  tax money should not go to murdering people but to helping them.

Don't Mess With Citizens

Apparently Texas officials were able to choose who their parents were before being born. At least that's what they seem to infer. They feel they have the power to take away citizenship to those who are born in the U.S. to parents who are illegally here. The parents don't have a Texas I.D and the Texas government won’t accept a matricula or a Mexican identification, which is actually more reliable than the Texas I.D because of its features. Texas should not deny babies their citizenship because their parents don't have a Texas issue I.D.
The fourteenth amendment says "All persons born or naturalized in the United States... are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States." Parents argue that they can't enroll their children to school because they don't have the child's birth certificate. But what they can do in order to in role their children to school is write a letter were they state why they don't have the child's birth certificate, which would make them willingly say that they are illegally here. But what's really ironic about this is that Texas will not accept a friendly neighbor country's I.D but will accept simple letters from people who practically can't prove they are human. So not only are they taking the first constitutional right they get when they are born in American soil, which is being a U.S. citizen, but they are also denying them free education as well as many other beneficial things that could help them.
Texas Republican Senator Rafael Edward Cruz (or as he likes to be called Ted Cruz) agrees with Texas denying citizenship, even though he was born in Canada and is running for president. He claims that his mother (Caucasian) was born in the U.S.; therefore he is a naturalized born American however his father is Cuban born and immigrated to the United States. Cruz is establishing a double standard because he claims citizenship but meanwhile he will deny the same right to Americans born in Texas who's parents are immigrants, even if they were born on American soil.

Women Smarter Then Men?

Catherine Rampell wrote a article titled "Women have reasons for choosing majors," published on October 17, 2015. Rampell intending to inform women, college students, and anyone interested in this subject that, unlike men, women tend to choose their majors by what will keep them off poverty wages. She starts her argument by stating that for the first time in U.S. history more women will have a four year college degree than men. She says in her article ,"30.2 percent for all women 25 and older vs. 29.9 percent for men the same age." She asks why women invest more in school knowing that they are less likely to be in the labor force as well as why women choose majors that won't help them as much financially.
She answers the questions by giving factors that could possibly be the reasons. One of the factors is that many women choose to take time off their careers to care for their children.  Teaching and nursing are more stable jobs because of the flexibility they give women and they give women less of  a punishment for going in and out when they need to. Since at some point most women will get pregnant, the flexibility helps them know they have job security. While women choose jobs for this reason, men go for jobs that will put them in a better economical position. Men have more jobs in better paying careers such as engineering and computer and information sciences.
I believe her argument is really weak though I do believe women are paid less than men in most jobs, even after earning the same degrees, and I believe women surpass men in getting a better education. Rampell does not back her argument with a credible source such as where she got this information. It seems she's not too sure about her argument. When she answers her questions, I feel she gets the answer from off the top of her head. She also contradicts her argument at times.

Texas Attacks The Fourteenth Amendment

     On September 25, 2015 Gissela SantaCruz wrote a article in Mystatesman  titled "Santa Cruz: Texas' Unjust policy Hurts American-born Children." Informing the Hispanic community as well as those Americans with families, she gives out a strong argument defending the right that all Americans get once they are born, which is naturalize citizenship. She argues that Texas lawmakers are forgetting the Fourteenth Amendment and what it stands for. The Fourteenth Amendment was set up to protect the American people from states denying them their civil rights. Now the Texas government feels they have the right to exempt themselves from this federal law. These children being born to undocumented parents are not getting their U.S. birth certificate because their parents have no U.S. ID, but instead a matricula; for this reason they can not claim being American or get basic help from the government. The Mexican council gives their citizens a matricula in order to identify themselves. A matricula is a ID for Mexican Citizens to identify themselves in the states as Mexican citizens and not American Citizens.
     Gov. Greg Abbot argues that if the Mexican consulate card could be more secure then maybe Texas would accept it. However in response Gissela SantaCruz defends her argument by explaining that not only do Mexican Citizens have to prove their Mexican Citizenship, but the matricula is also denied to those who have a criminal background. It is as well denied to those Mexican citizens who are in prosecution or face a judicial or administrative process in Mexico. But she also states that the consulate card has some of the same safety features in an official state-issued ID, and that the most recent Mexican matricula is more durable then the Texas Driver License as well as including a chip that contains the information printed on the card to help verify a person’s identity. So all these features make the Mexican matricula very hard to duplicate. I agree with Giseela SantaCruz because she had a very effective argument making it a trustworthy article. America is made out of immigrants and no one has the freewill to choose where they are born or who their parents are. We should not punish our own because then we will be seen as hypocrites around the world.

The University of Texas Dorms vs Drugs

On September 8, 2015, The Daily Texan published an article titled UTPD files majority of drug-related charges in dorms and garages. This article highlights the problem and the failure that our local government faces with regard to drug use on the UT campus. The article informs present college students that not even their dorms exclude them from the law. The consequences of smoking marijuana seem to not frighten the students at the University Of Texas. UTPD officers often catch students in there dorms smoking marijuana. It seems to be a big problem on the campus; neighbors often call the cops due to the strong smell that it has. Once the police arrive, they have the right to search their dorms. Students often disagree and feel that cops should not be able to search there dorms do to privacy. But with just the smell of marijuana police have probable cause and that legally gives them authority to search their dorms.