Want to save money? Stop killing

If the state was doing something that cost on average $1.5- 3 million each and every time, and the state could do something different and only spend $750,000, would you want to change? I would. That is the difference between a death sentence and a life sentence. Seven states are considering abolishing capital punishment because of the economy. States could save millions of dollars if we no longer sentenced people to death. I believe this is a great to save money when the states are so stretched for cash, not to mention the moral issues that surround capital punishment. The money we save on capital punishment could be used to help higher education which is in desperate need of funds. I hope that Tennessee will look into this subject as we look at ways to cut cost.

Military Suicide

In the month of January, more soldiers committed suicide then were killed in combat. The army said that 128 soldiers committed suicide in 2008. That is 128 too many! I hope that the armed forces will look into new procedures to help care for these soldiers. These men and women have fought for our country and we need to give them as much support as we can. I hope this problem will come to the attention of President Obama and Congress and they will be able to work together to fix this problem. I believe if people are having serious psychological disorders, they should be held back from being deployed. After these soldiers have been helped, they should be allowed to be deployed. I hope that our government and armed forces can work together to save lives.

What a great week

What a great week this has been. On Tuesday, Barack Obama became the first Black president. Two days later, Nashvillians defeated the English only bill. It is great to see two things that I voted on go my way. It is also great to get on CNN.com and see Nashville made CNN headlines about defeating the bill. I believe that Nashville made the right choice on Thursday. I am also very happy that a good number of people turned out and voted for and against this measure. I am very glad to be a part of these elections and can’t wait to vote again!

What does nashville want?

The English Only ordeal is almost over. We will all find out on the 22th what Nashville wants. From what I have been seeing, Nashville doesn't want English Only. One way I can tell what Nashville wants, is by what Nashville is doing. The opponents of English only have raised almost $300,000 to fight against the measure. The major contributors have been local business and businessmen that include HCA, Gaylord Entertainment and The Nashville Convention center. Also, Mayor Dean and Governor Bredeson have voted against the measure. I hope that Nashville stands up against this measure and votes NO!

Titan economy

The Titans are helping the economy! Because the Titans made it to the playoffs, it means that there will be another weekend of 60,000 people in downtown Nashville. This means more people coming from out of town and staying in hotels and eating downtown. I hope the Titans win and make it to the AFC championship and bring more people into our great city. I just hope for that game I will actually have tickets!

Can i get tap water please

I just want to give thanks to Metro Councilman Mike Jameson for making the legislation to stop metro from buying bottled water. By moving to tap water, metro will be saving $30,000 – $40,000 each year. In a time where this country is in a recession, it is great to see our local government trying to save money wherever it can. I hope that metro will try and find other ways to save money so that more money will be available for better things.

Don't ask, Don' tell

What has “Don’t Ask, Don’ Tell” cost you:

- Over 12,000 military personal have been discharged because of this policy

- $79.3 million was spent to recruit replacements during 1994- 2003

- $256.4 million was spent to train the replacements during 1994- 2003

- $17.8 million for training officers

- $14.3 million for "separation travel" once a service member is discharged

Over $ 300 million was spent just because of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. In a time where recruiting numbers are low, the military is discharging too many people. I hope that when Barack Obama takes office, he will help repeal this discriminatory law.

My views on english only bill

Here are a few examples at what could happen if the English Only ballot is passed:

- If an international visitor is in Nashville and needed help from our government, they would not be able to get the help they needed in their native language.

- If Nashville wanted to contact a foreign-based company about moving their headquarters to Nashville, we could not contact them in their own language.

- If someone who did not speak English was a victim of a crime, the government could not communicate with them.

- Nashville could not communicate with their many sister cities around the world.

- Our government could not help the many political refugees from around the world that have now called Nashville their home because the government could not speak to them in their language.

The mayor and the majority of the city council are against this ballot. Please join me and vote against this ballot. Early voting starts on January 2^nd and Election Day is January 22^nd.

I am thankful for...

It is that time of year that I will list the six things that I am very thankful for:

I am thankful that the American people voted in Barack Obama as the next president

I am thankful that we live in a free country where people can vote

I am thankful that women still have the right to choose

I am thankful that Barack Obama wants a college playoff system

I am thankful that the Titans are actually winning

I am thankful that I have the opportunity to write in this newspaper

special election

On January 22, there will be a special election in Davidson County dealing with the English Only Bill. If we are voting on a law, there should be as many people voting as they can. This special election will not show a true consensus of Davidson County. I believe that many people will not know that this election is taking place and not enough people will be informed enough to vote on this issue. I hope that voters will inform themselves and get out and vote. Early voting begins January 2^nd and will only take place at the election commission. I will be voting against this bill and I hope you will too.

Guns for kids

Lately I have seen some remarkable events taking place across the United States dealing with guns. In Northern Arizona, an eight year is charged with killing two people. In Florida, a 15 year old girl is charge with the shooting death of her former friend in the hallway of her school. These are the events where I ask, “Where are the parents?” These are the events where I wonder where these children received their gun from. The parents of these kids need to keep their guns safely hidden or teach their kids about guns. These children need to know that you should never handle a gun without the parent’s permission. I hope that if you are a parent with a gun, keep it hidden, teach your kids about guns, or just don’t have one.

History in the making

As a young person, it is a great thing to see history in the making. As Barack Obama officially won the election, you could hear cheering all throughout MTSU's campus. It was a great sound that so many people actually cared about this election and went out and voted. There were so many people around campus surrounding televisions watching history in the making. November 4, 2008 will be one of those stories I will tell my kids and grandchildren. But, my happiness was shorted lived on campus because of two separate incidents, one of those I believe had to do with Barack Obama's race. It saddens me that there are some people who still hold racist views in this society and that they attend my college. I hope that we can move past these events and come together behind Barack Obama. Even if you did not vote for him, he will be our next president and give him a chance to lead our country before you judge him.

Bipartisan problem

What ever happened to debating the issues? Both parties have a problem with very negative ads that are dealing with something other than the issues. One senate race has one candidate saying the other one is Godless. All these candidates are trying to use a fear factor to get more votes rather than debating the issues of the other candidate. Why does the personal problems of Barack Obama and John McCain really matter? What we should be looking at is what they believe they can do for this country. I feel this race has turned more into in name calling race than a political one, I think many people do not like either parties using smear campaigns in anyway, because I know i do not like it.

Voting

Last week I got to vote for the next president of the United States. It was not my first time voting, but it was my first time voting for the president. It was a great feeling and I hope that many more people will have that same feeling. I really want the young first time voters to get out and vote. I want the young people to prove the pundits wrong. College students, you need to get out in vote! Early voting ends on October 30th. I would highly suggest voting early because on November 4th, you might be busy with class or work. If you are in college, check with your college and see if your school will drive you to the polls. I am very happy that MTSU has been driving students to the polls; it shows that MTSU really cares about their students. So remember, please inform yourself about the candidates and go VOTE!

upcoming election

I believe that this election will finally bring the young people to the polls. I am seeing a growing number of students discussing this upcoming election. In less than a month, over 500 people have registered to vote on MTSU’s campus. I hope that this number doubles by the October 6^th deadline. MTSU and American Democracy Project are doing a wonderful job hosting debate parties and discussion sessions. I see people who come to these events wanting to educate themselves on the right candidate. I just hope that these people will make it to the polls. Remember, the deadline to register to vote is October 6^th and early voting is from October 15^th- 30^th. The next debate is at Belmont University on October 7^th. Watch these debates and educate yourself on the candidates before you vote!

Political Stunt?

I am perfectly fine with Sen. McCain suspending his campaign to work on the economic crisis that is going on in the United States. The idea of delaying the debate is not okay. I personally believe that delaying the debate is some type of political stunt. The American people are very confused at what is happening right now in our economy. We really need to see what Sen. McCain and Obama will do for our country when one of them is elected. The American people want to know their exact policies. I feel that if the debate goes on, the american people will feel at ease because they know the next president will take care of this problem. I hope that Sen. McCain will show up to the debate and not leave Sen. Obama alone at the podium.

Every time I go to church, I hope to praise and worship God. I want to learn something new about my religion and leave feeling uplifting. I do not want to go to church and listen to my preacher talk about politics. I believe that churches should not speak about politics or endorse a certain candidate. I believe that by doing this, you may push away some of the members of the church. A church should be a welcoming place to anyone who wants to walk in. By talking about politics, it could mess up the openness of the organization. I hope that as the elections nears, that these religious organizations will take a stand by not discussing these candidates on the pulpit.

Palin links 9/11 to iraq

Governor Palin made a statement linking 9/11 to Iraq while giving a speech to soldiers bound to Iraq. This is a problem that is still carrying on today. There is no link between 9/11 and Iraq. We do know that Saddam Hussein was a horrible person, but he did not plan and carry out the attacks. President Bush once believed that Iraq was behind 9/11, but has come out and said this information was wrong. This just shows the inexperience that Governor Palin has with common foreign policy. Al-Qaeda was behind this attack and not the country of Iraq. This is just one of the reasons why I am against the start of the War in Iraq.

No Choice Palin

There is a lot of talk dealing with the choice of Governor Palin pulling some of the Hilary Clinton supporters her way. I don’t think that could happen because Governor Palin does not support women’s rights. She is totally against a woman’s right to choose what to do when she gets pregnant. Governor Palin is quoted saying that abortion should only happen if the mother’s life is in endangered. Palin also said that if her own daughter was raped, she would want her daughter to carry the baby to term. Governor Palin is strongly against having sex education in schools. She wants abstinence only sex education even though the statistics shows that abstinence education has no affect on the teens. This nation needs sex education in our schools. We need to have a dual abstinence and sex education program. This nation needs to teach our young people that you should wait to have sex, but if you do, use a condom. According to National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, every day 10,000 U.S. teens contract a sexually transmitted disease, 2,400 get pregnant and 55 contract HIV. I believe that statistic alone should be the reason why every single school teaches sex education. I believe if we had more sex education, that the rate of abortion would drop. I think everyone would like to see that number drop. Vote for women rights, vote for Obama

When the troops donate

I believe that if you haven’t served in the war, you really don’t know what is happening over seas. We each have our own opinion about what should happen with the war. The troops are the only ones who know how the war is progressing. Recently, the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics did an analysis of campaign contributions made by troops who were overseas when they made there contributions. The analysis shows that the troops gave 6 times more to Barack Obama over John McCain. Even Ron Paul, who is anti-war, received four times more money then John McCain. As we all know, Obama wants to make a plan to withdraw most of the troops, and McCain does not want to withdraw the troops. I think it says a lot that the troops are giving money to a candidate who wants to pull the troops out and to another candidate who is totally anti-war. The troops know what is best for this country, and it seems like they think Barack Obama is right for this country. Obama 08!