Plastic Bag Ban

I recently read the blog post Plastic Bag Ban: A gateway to a greater environmental protection by one of my classmates.  I would have to say I agree 100% with her argument and believe that Austin should band plastic bags.  I feel so strongly about this because I saw first hand of how the bags are polluting our beautiful city.  It was a couple of weeks ago and I  went for my morning run along town lake.  I ended up walking because I was astonished at how much pollution was all over the lake in just one night.  There were bags, Styrofoam, and plastic bottles everywhere.

I will be the first one to say that it is a pain to always recycle and bring your plastic bags to the store.  I agree that if we start to recycle and bring our own bags  it makes a small step to making our city more environmentally friendly.  I liked how this article goes into detail about all the environmental issues our world has and how we can make a difference.  It allows the readers to get an idea of how bad pollution really is for our country.  

Furthermore, I thoroughly enjoyed the view they give the readers by providing a quote from The Bluebonnet State. 

“Discussing the topic of a greener city or state seems just perfect doesn’t it? Why stop at plastic bags then? Why not ban plastic bottles or milk cartons or everything else that harms the society. I find it difficult to understand that in a world where cigarettes can’t be banned even though they are a health hazard, there is banning of something as small as a plastic bag.” 

This quote allowed me to think in a different perspective about how we shouldn't stop at just banning bags and that the world needs to start making small changes.  I agree that even though banning plastic bags is very minor it could start an environmental movement.  This article really persuaded me to be more environmentally friendly and not complain when I have to bring my own bag.  I liked how they underline and bold certain words to create an emphasis of what they are trying to state.  I think that this article was very informative and used links to back up what they were stating which makes them creditable. I think the intended audience was for all of their fellow Austinites.  I can only hope that more people start to be more environmentally friendly to keep our city beautiful.  

Legalizing Weed for certain circumstances

When a soldier comes back from war they are most likely going to have PTSD.  According to the fifth edition of the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders,released in 2013, PTSD is triggered by “exposure to actual or threatened death, serious injury, or sexual violation.” Exposure may result from personally experiencing or witnessing a traumatizing event, learning that a close friend or family member has been a victim, or repeatedly hearing or studying the details of such traumas. Symptoms include re experiencing the event through flashbacks or nightmares, insomnia, depression, the inability to talk about the memories, estrangement and isolation from family and friends, self-blame, irritability, anxiety, fear, hyper vigilance, anger, aggression, and reckless or self-destructive behavior.  In the blog, "War Without End," my eyes were opened about legalizing weed for certain circumstances.  Most soldiers that said they used weed to help with their symptoms said that it helped tremendously.  One solider said, "“When I got out, I tried it again. I didn’t want to be a pilled-up zombie. I saw the difference right away. My mood was more level, I didn’t flip out, and I could sleep through the night. It’s my medicine.”  Most soldiers are given pain medicines that are very dangerous with alcohol or if they take too much at one time.  
    Furthermore, there are no signs of anyone dying of overdose of Marijuana.  I would have to agree with this article and if someone who served for our military should be allowed to smoke Marijuana if needed.  There should be special test to tell if a person has Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.  Marijuana is not as bad as alcohol and could allow a lot of people to be relieved of pain and certain disorders. 
     Of the 266 veterans for whom they had adequate information, reporters found that “more than one in three died from a drug overdose, a fatal combination of drugs, or suicide.” Of the 50 who died in motor vehicle accidents, 35 were single-vehicle crashes, a recognized means of suicide. Of the 46 veterans who died who had a primary diagnosis of PTSD, 80 percent lost their lives as a result of a confirmed suicide, an overdose, or a single-vehicle crash.  It breaks my heart that the people who served our country are having to deal with this and we could just simply solve the situation by allowing them to have medical Marijuana.  
   Lastly, I think the veterans should all come together and take a stand to make weed legal for people suffering from PTSD.  I think that most people aren't against marijuana, but since it is illegal they think it's bad.  I also think that if more people would talk about weed and understand it's not as dangerous as alcohol. they would see no reason not to legalize it.  Therefore, weed should be legal for certain circumstances and allow people with qualifying symptoms to consume it.

Education Bust

I recently read, "One Land, Under Six Flags," article about education issues.  I agree that our education system in Texas does need some sort of reform. Art is being taken out of schools which to me is a big deal.  I recently took an art education class at Texas State University and was blown away by how important art is.

Most children today don't get art past 6th grade.  As I researched for why art matters I came across something amazing.  Most blue ribbon schools integrate art into the classroom which helps improve teaching and student learning.  As a future teacher, I have realized that using art to create a different way of teaching is what is going to allow my students be outstanding.

Furthermore,  I would have to disagree about the textbook situation that Sierra describes .If a child is always learning facts from a textbook they will simply get bored.   I think schools should do away with textbooks all together.  It is the teachers job to stay on top of facts and make sure what they are teaching is correct.  Textbooks are so expensive for any situation especially college students.  I believe that a good teacher finds alternative ways to teach the facts without using a textbook.  If K-12 did not use textbooks it would save our schools a lot of money.  I think that the teacher should have a textbook and if something is important she should print the students a copy or have them write it down.

Lastly, I do agree that the state needs to do something to help reform our schools instead of making cuts.  I couldn't imagine teaching 40 kids in one classroom and trying to manage them all.   We as Texans need to find ways to fund our schools and other programs that are needed to help the school succeed.  I think that Sierra's article was very well thought out, but would like to see links with statistics. I am curious about students to teacher ratio and the cuts the legislator is doing.