1. You signed up for the military two years ago, and your country is going to war. Today you received your papers stating that you will be shipped overseas to fight. You disagree with the reasons that your country is going to war. Should you engage in civil disobedience and refuse to fight or should you go anyways? Explain.As a military officer you signed up to fight and serve. I would go because even though you disagree you are still fighting for freedom.  When you sign up you agree to go into situations that you may not completly agree with.

2. Late one night you hear a knock on your door. You open it and find an individual who is in pretty rough shape and asks for help. After seeing this person for a few seconds you immediately realize that this is an individual who has come to the country illegally. You also realize that giving this individual assistance is a violation of the law. What should you do? Explain.
I personally would not give them shelter. I would find them a away to get shelter and give them food, but not invite them in. Because, I have no idea who this individual is and I want to protect me and my family from any harm this person may cause.
3. Your country has been at war for the last three years, and due to the need for additional soldiers they decide to implement the draft. You receive a letter in the mail stating that you must report to the army in one week. You disagree with the war and you do not want to fight, but not reporting would be a violation of the law with serious consequences. What should you do? Explain.
I would not go to war. If I had a family I would need to stay and protect them. Being drafted isnt a choice and that is kind of a violation of our rights. If we have health or physical issues and are unable to fight that we should not have to fight. Freedom is very important yes, but having other responsibilities can tamper with drafting.

4. The state legislature has passed a law stating that schools are no longer allowed to teach ethnic studies. One of the reactions to this has been walkouts and sit-ins by some students and teachers to protest the law. Do you think this action is justified? Why or why not? 

I think these actions, in certain situations can be justified. In many situation doing dramatic things is the only way to get the point across. Being able to show your concerns is a right and people show their opinon is different ways. Even though sit ins and walkouts arent the best ways, sometimes it is okay.

5. You are called into Jury duty and do not agree with the trial you are assigned to. You want this person to get justice that the crime happened to and put the criminal in jail. Being asked questions you have the choice to lie and get into the jury or tell the truth about your beliefs. What should you do?

January 6th 2011

Henry David Thoreau had many beliefs and published them in a essay called "Civil Disobedience". He was able to express that the government should have certain right and the others should be taken away for them. He had different opinions and wrote them in books, poems and essays.
This relates to the tusd issue because it is relation to rights and the government. The issues are being solved by government in rule and tusd doesn't have a big say in the solution. TUSD has been approached by an issue that they have to stay strong in their beliefs just like Henry David had to. Many years have passed since Henry's time and today we still have to express our beliefs because without that it will be hard to survive in the world.

TUSD

initial thoughts about the TUSD ethnic studies issue.  What are the arguments on each side?  Who is involved?  What other information have you discovered?

The issue coming up at tusd is being blown out of proportion. It has been the same for such a long time that starting something now is just questionable. I personally have never had any problems with ethnic discrimination in any of my classes.

The side that has the most power right now is the side that wants to get rid of the ethnic studies all together. They want to eliminate the program and stop any issues from happening. The other opposing side is for keeping the program. They don't see a problem because it has been fine for such a long time bringing it up just brings up more problems.

The people involved are, tusd and their staff, Tom Horne the attorney state general, Pedicone and Huppenthal. They are all effected differently and have many issues to work out, on opposing and for sides.

I discovered while reading that there are so many different opinions that there is just argument for each side. Cutting tusd budgets is not smart. More problems will arise as budgets are cut. We already experienced this last year and it didn't turn out that well. So many different sides can take place in this issue.

30 Days_Jail

In this 30 day episode we got to experience watching a man go through 25 days of jail. I was very interested in this film. To be able to see the people that want to change that are in jail, and those who dont care. I never expected to see the change in people. Morgan, the man who went to jail, got to see how jail was. Being able to see inmates and their stories helped him to see their lives and trials differently. Instead of just punks that are dumb and deserve to be in jail, they were able to see each story.
I was very sad to see that the people Morgan got to know that wanted to change ended up back in jail. Seeing them I thought they wanted to change and their stories ended differently then I expected. To see each prisoner interested me and allowed me to see each side of the story. I got to see that, they are addicted to drugs, addicted to theft and other crimes. I hope that they see a change in themselves and find a way to get released and turn their lives around.

Assembly

I did not attend the assembly today because I was at Seminary.

Info on Sea Turtles

Sea turtles are reptiles that live in a marine or brackish environment. The flippers of sea turtles are long and paddle-like, making them excellent for swimming but poor for walking on land.http://marinelife.about.com/od/marinelife101/p/seaturtles.htm
*****I found this information very applicable to our project. I never knew that turtles had a hard time walking, I thought they just had too big of a shell for their body. This information is allowing me to learn interesting new info.

Doing this project we have decided to focus on certain turtles and their characteristics. Comparing different species of turtles will allow us to see different characteristics of each. 

12-1-10

Today is my first day back from being sick. I was gone two days and I am working on catching up with the work I missed. I was able to get caught up on a few things on the posts. I still have a little work to do but I will be able to catch up soon enough.