In my past years I have always found universal or national health care to be a better option than that of our current system.  I have always considered health care in general to be something essential for all human beings and with that acknowledgement came the ability for me to understand how horrible it must be for individuals without health care. But this year has allowed me to sympathize and understand in a whole new way, and that is first hand. 

                To my dismay I woke up about two months ago with a sore throat, stuffy left nostril and a muffled left ear. I figured the loss-of-hearing was just a buried feeling of border-line hypochondria, so I kept telling myself that with vitamins and healthier food intake I would be fine. About three days later (yes, not very long, I know, but I was never a patient kid) I started to get a little panicky. I wanted to get my ear checked out by that point. I was not sure where I could go to get my ear checked without worrying about the price of the care I would receive since I have no health insurance. I knew that my school had a clinic but I was afraid to go there in fear of the doctor may inform the university that I had no health insurance which would create many problems. I searched for other places to look for care. It took a bit of calling to find a doctor that would take me in without any health insurance but after research, calls, money-saving and my horrible sense of direction I found some offices and went to the doctor two months later when the condition drastically grew worse.

                I am not going to go any further about my story for mine isn't important. There are many truly gut wrenching stories as a product of this problem arising from lack of health care coverage. Take the story from the New York Times (4-11-08) about a woman from Ohio who was having health problems while pregnant and tried to get help at the local clinic. This woman had previously gone there while uninsured, had a high unpaid balance and the clinic refused to care for her unless she paied $100.00 per-visit. This woman did not have that money so she was forced to find another clinic that would take her in, but that clinic was 30 miles away and by the time she was able to find that all out and try to get there it was too late -- she and the baby died.

According to a recent estimate by the Urban Institute, the lack of health insurance leads to 27,000 preventable deaths in America each year.

It is utterly absurd, ridiculous, and embarrassing that the United States does not offer a universal health care plan. Universal Health Care is offered in EVERY wealthy and industrialized nation with the exception of, of course the United States. Even third world countries such as Iraq (pre-war era) offered free health care for all. Brazil, Venezuela, Canada, China, India, Finland, Germany, England, Australia…. The list goes on.

As you can observe on the graph below the number of uninsured Americans has increased through out the years.
46.6 million in 2005
47 million later in 2007
and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 54.5 million people were uninsured for at least a part of the that year (2007).

Bush commented on the excessive numbers of people who aren't covered by health insurance and said, "How can such things happen? I mean, people have access to health care in America. After all, you just go to an emergency room."

Well, there are problems with going to the E.R.. First off people usually go to the E.R. when they have an acute condition. Doctor visits are essential because a doctor will be able to notice a condition before things worsen.

Care at the E.R's. are usually inadequate due to all the patients they receive. Sure the Emergency Room has to tend to patients, eventually. No matter how bad your condition is you usually still have to wait your turn in line.
My Sociology professor even told me about her recent visit to the emergency room where she witnessed a woman's death. The lady in the room had been wailing and screaming in pain for hours, yet she still had to wait her turn to be served, no doctors even bothered to do anything about it, and she died in her waiting.
Another thing is, some people wont even go to the emergency room because they know they will be faced with an extremely high bill and with cost's being the number one reason that keeps people away from health insurance it is no doubt that some people neglect to even go to the E.R.

The arguments brought up against a universal health care system are absurd. One of the big ones I hear is that "It would cost too much money and taxes would go up and I don't want my taxes to go up".  Well, think about how much money in insurance premiums one has to pay anyway. Also, most people in America have health insurance through their employers. Money is deducted from their paychecks for it and with government funded insurance there would be no need for that, thus more money in your pocket and finally there are about 305 billion people in America (U.S. Census Bureau), how much MORE could taxes be for health care when everyone would be contributing towards it? If anything the "good ol'" U.S. of A would save money from what they put now into the health care system.

Since these arguments can be refuted by an eighteen year old female then I dub the arguments as nothing more than right-wing excuses to divert the peoples' attentions to the reality behind them: Universal Health Care System + Saving Lives = Death in the Multibillion Dollar Health Insurance Company Business.

Universal health care would save money for businesses, individuals and most likely for the government too, not to mention giving the appearance that America actually gives a damn about its citizens, that is aside from the lives of about 27,000 Americans that would be saved, which shouldn't even come with a price tag, however, in that rich voluptuous land mass called America profits always come before people, from sea to shining sea.

(http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080910/wl_nm/afghan_usa_pakistan_dc,

http://www.democracynow.org/2008/9/11/headlines2,
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/afghanistan-pakistan-fury-at-us-crossborder-attacks-929895.html . )

In the month of March it was about $100.00 or-so (the beginning of the month), then month before it was about $90.00? Well, now it's hit a high of $120.00 a barrel. That may not seem like much of a change to some, but it shows an on-going trend and a rise in prices at the gas stations for us, at the least. In addition to gas becoming more and more pricey, select food items are going up as a result!

Now that gas prices are going up the government has mandated that oil companies increase the amount of ethanol to blend with the gasoline, which is derived from corn and about 25% of it is being used now in order to do that.  (Not to mention it's what is used to feed most chickens, cattle and hogs so even consider the law of supply & demand.) The oil companies seek farms to buy the corn from and according to a famers' blog I was reading, it has been brought to my attention that since there is a high demand on corn the famers start to designate more areas for it to grow in order to take advantage of the good prices that they are selling them for them.1 Now, since the farmers divert more acreage to corn they end up planting less wheat and soy. All this is why we see prices of bread, corn oil and other commodities typically containing corn and grains go up. This all may be good time for the farmers who sell the ingredients but it is more so for the oil companies (Shell oil reports that it has made a record high in profits of 30 billion and Exxon with something around 40 billion (New York Times), but it's going to murder the middle class and lower middle class!

The government needs to step up and do something. What people project happening is that much pressure will be put on officials of certain states to encourage drilling in areas where they suspect hold oil. Areas like the Arctic National Wildlife Animal Refuge (or ANWAR) in Alaska, off the coast of Florida and New Jersey which is horrible to consider for their locations! It is devastating to think of what may happen to life of the animals located at ANWAR, the oceans around the areas and I can speak for New Jersey at the least in stating that the main sources of money put into our economy is firstly from the chemical industry and secondly from tourism. Who would want to come see the oily Atlantic?

1. http://www.earthfiles.com/news.php?ID=1419&category=Environment

At a CNN casting Senator Hillary Clinton talked about a trip to Bosnia that she took with her daughter, Chelsea Clinton in 2006. She explained the arrival there as follows: "I remember landing under sniper fire. There was supposed to be some kind of a greeting ceremony at the airport, but instead we just ran with our heads down to get into the vehicles to get to our base." (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BfNqhV5hg4)

A bit of an uproar erupted when controversial comments and videos of sermons by Jeremiah Wright (who retired about a month ago), Reverend of the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, IL that featured comments such as, "Goddamn America", "The U.S. is to blame for 9/11", and ’The U.S. government is the one that introduced AIDS into the African American community’. Some people and media questioned why Senator Brack Obama had not spoken against the comments and why he has been a part of the church for the past 20 years. Senator Barack Obama said in response during a speech last week that "as imperfect he may be, he was like family to me (…) Not once in my conversations with him have I heard him talk about any ethnic group in derogatory terms or treat whites with whom he interacted with anything less than courtesy and respect (…) I can no more disown him more than I could disown the black community. I can no more disown him than I could disown my white grandmother (…) a woman who once confessed her fear of black men who passed her by on the street and who on more than one occasion uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe. These people are a part of me, and a part of America, this country that I love." Mr. Obama stated further that he is not trying to justify the reverends comments, for they were "inexcusable" and that the "politically safe thing to do is move on from this episode and hope that it evades into the woodwork" in order to continue on the path of coming together to resolve important issues. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kw2QIaGR8bY&feature=related)

Hillary Clinton

o ProChoice
Voted NO on notifying parents of minors who get out-of-state abortions. (Jul 2006)
Voted YES on $100M to reduce teen pregnancy by education & contraceptives. (Mar 2005)
Provide emergency contraception at military facilities. (Apr 2007)

o For stemcell research
o Pay down debt & cut taxes within balanced budget. (Sep 2000)

Civil Rights
o Supports DOMA. (Defense of Marriage Act), opposes legalizing gay marriage but supports full equality in benefits between gay and straight couples.
o Does not support the diluting of affirmative action.
o Mandatory sentences have been too widely used

*We do have to go after racial profiling. I've supported legislation to try to tackle that.
*We have to go after mandatory minimums. You know, mandatory sentences for certain violent crimes may be appropriate, but it has been too widely used. And it is using now a discriminatory impact.
*We need diversion, like drug courts. Non-violent offenders should not be serving hard time in our prisons. They need to be diverted from our prison system.
( 2007 Democratic Primary Debate at Howard University Jun 28, 2007)

The "War on drugs"
o Reduce sentencing disparity for crack.
"It is really unconscionable that someone who uses five grams of crack cocaine, compared to 500 grams of powder cocaine would face such disparate sentencing."
o Divert non-violent drug offenders away from prison. (Jun 2007)

Education
*Vowed to never abandon public schools in 1999.
o Wants to get more teachers into "hard-to-serve" areas.
Wants a "universal pre-kindergarten".
o Teacher testing only for new teachers. (Oct 2000)
o Establish right to education from pre-school thru college. (Jun 2007)
o Transfer tax cuts from rich & corporations to student aid. (Jun 2006)
o Total change in No Child Left Behind. (Aug 2007) (woo!)

Oil
o Investigate & move toward energy efficiency and conservation.
o For ending big oil tax breaks.

Gun Control
o Wants to get assault weapons and guns out of the streets.

Healthcare
o Claims to establish a universal health care system by the end of her second term.

Homeland Security
o Examine registering 18-year-old women for selective service.
Opposed to draft, but wants to register women for the draft too.

Immigation
o For extreme immigration reform .
o Supports more border patrolling on Mexican and Canadian borders.
o Does not support granting immigrants drivers licenses.
o Would crack down on employers who hire undocumented workers.


War
o Does not support the war in Iraq.
o Opposes rushing to war with Iran but also opposes being idle.

.. Barack Obama Illinois Senator                                                      o Voted Against banning partial birth abortion. Supports a womans' right to choose. o Has voted to pass the Stem Cell Research Bill. Barack Obama believes we owe it to the American public to explore the potential of stem cells to treat the millions of people suffering from debilitating and life threatening diseases. Stem cells hold the promise of treatments and cures for more than 70 major diseases and conditions such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease, spinal cord injuries, and diabetes. As many as 100 million Americans may benefit from embryonic stem cell research. As president, Obama would: * Promote Embryonic Stem Cell Research * Support Medical Advancement and Innovation * Expand the Number of Stem Cell Lines Available for Research * Ensure Ethical Standards Obama introduced legislation in the Illinois Senate to ensure that only those embryos that would otherwise be discarded could be used and that donors would have to provide written consent for the use of the embryos. (Campaign website, BarackObama.com, "Resource Flyers" Aug 26, 2007) o GOP and Bush administration budget misuse; Balance of the federal budget? Barack Obama wants to invest in education & infrastructure, structure fair trade deals, and end the war in Iraq. This will result in more money that could be "applied at home for critical issues." Civil Rights o For gay rights and stronger unions; not gay marriages. Corporate America o Believes in ending tax breaks for cooperation that outsource. Obama will fight to ensure that public contracts are awarded to companies committed to American workers. In today's economy, American workers have to compete against high-skilled workers across the globe. Obama will make long-term investments in education, training, & workforce development so that Americans can leverage our strengths--our ingenuity & entrepreneurialism--to create new high-wage jobs (Campaign website, BarackObama.com, "Resource Flyers" Aug 26, 2007) o Hold Corporations accountable for pension and working conditions * Obama joined union efforts to get Wal-Mart & other large employers to improve working conditions, wages & health coverage. * Obama supports amending bankruptcy laws to keep companies from avoiding their pension obligations. * Obama supported new rules to force companies to properly fund their pension plans so workers aren't left without adequate retirement security. * He has also voted to shore up the funding of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation. Source: Campaign website, BarackObama.com, "Resource Flyers" Aug 26, 2007 Crime o "Some heinous crimes justify the ultimate punishment." (Oct 2006) Obama's most significant contribution has been his legislative battles against the death penalty, and against in the criminal justice system. (Salim Muwakkil and Amy Goodman, Democracy Now Jul 15, 2004) Bubbled Controversy o Admitted to smoking "some" weed in high school and college. (2007) Passage from his book (This seems like more than "some" to me...) : Junkie. That's where I'd been headed: the final, fatal role of the young would-be black man. Except the highs hadn't been about me trying to prove what a down brother I was. Not by then, anyway. I got high for just the opposite effect, something that could push questions of who I was out of my mind, something that could flatten out the landscape of my heart, blur the edges of my memory. I had discovered that it didn't make any difference whether you smoked reefer in the white classmate's sparkling new van, or in the dorm room of some brother you'd met down at the gym, or on the beach with a couple of Hawaiian kids who had dropped out of school and now spent most of their time looking for an excuse to brawl. You might just be bored, or alone. Everybody was welcome into the club of disaffection. And if the high didn't solve whatever it was that was getting you down, it could at least help you laugh at the world's ongoing folly and see through all the hypocrisy and bullshit and cheap moralism. ( Dreams from My Father, by Barack Obama, p. 87 Aug 1, 1996 ) o Does not support lowering the drinking age from 21 to 18. o Questions harsh penalties for drug dealing. In 2001, Obama questioned the harsh penalties for drug dealing, noting that selling 15 tablets of Ecstasy was the same class of felony as raping a woman at knifepoint. In 2002, Obama sponsored an unsuccessful measure to create an employment grant program for edx-criminals, who often return to a life of crime because no one will hire them. (The Improbable Quest, by John K. Wilson, p.146-147 Oct 30, 2007) Education o For improving the education system. o Reconstruct bad school buildings o Fuel efficiency and Middle East stability help on fuel costs. Voted YES on factoring global warming into federal project planning. (May 2007) Voted YES on disallowing an oil leasing program in Alaska's ANWR. (Nov 2005) Voted YES on reducing oil usage by 40% by 2025 (instead of 5%). (Jun 2005) Voted YES on banning drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. (Mar 2005) Environmental Issues o Protect the Great Lakes & our National Parks and Forests. (Aug 2007) o Give Katrina contracts to locals, not to Halliburton. (Jun 2007)

..

..

John Edwards North Carolina o Believes that the government should not decide for women on partial-birth abortion. o Supports more funds for education, health care, and defense. Civil Rights o Believes that DOMA should be eliminated (because states already can ignore gay marriages) and the don't-ask-don't-tell policy in the military should be eliminated as well. o Does not support same sex marriage but supports all partnership benefits for same-sex couples. Corporations o Wants to stop tax-breaks for outsourcing corporations. o Supports the death pentalty. o Supports more DNA testing to reduce wrongful capital convictions. Drugs o Reduce sentencing disparity for crack cocaine retroactively. o Opposes decriminalizing marijuana. o Supports national ban on smoking in public places. o Does not support the lowering of the drinking age from 21 to 18. Controversy o Admits to having smoked marijuana. (Nov 2003) Education o Universal pre-Kindergarten for all 4-year-olds. o Wants to make community colleges & public universities free. o "Teach in public school that we embrace same-sex parents." o Believes that the No Child Left Behind Act is much underfunded. (Oct 2004) Environment o Wants to pay New Orleans residents to rebuild from Katrina. o Would investigate & enforce clean air laws against the refineries. Edwards on trade: o Against NAFTA, against Chile trade, against Singapore trade. (Jan 2004) o Opposes trade with Colombia, South Korea, and Peru. o Wants to renew the assault weapons ban o For universal health care. Homeland Security o Don't-ask-don't-tell is discriminatory & bad for military. (Aug 2007) o Close Guantanamo; end torture; comply with Geneva. (Jun 2007) o President is not above law; no spying on Americans. (Jun 2007) Immigation o End immigrant raids that separate parents from children. o No driver's license unless immigrants on path to citizenship. o Oppose granting driver's licenses to illegal immigrants o More technology at the border, but address underlying causes. o Undocumented workers deserve same rights as American workers. War o Against attacking Iran o Believes that the War on Terror is just a "bumper sticker slogan." o Says that troops in Iraq should stay at the embassy and guard borders. o 40,000 troops out by 2009, but no pledge for all of them to be out by 2013.

(Most information was derived from the site On The Issues and images were found from Google.)

            What better way is there to start your school year than knowing all your rights! Some people may fail to realize that as a student in a public school one carries their constitutionally protected rights with them. Although this is so, teachers and other people of higher authority may take advantage of a student and make attempts to trample over that students' rights. Below I will list these laws that protect you to, seeing as our schools fail to mention such crucial facts worthy of our knowledge. Such things are very important to know and they may prove to be of great aid in the future. Do your best to understand and remember most of them, if not all so that you may stand up to any person of authority at YOUR school that may attempt to violate your rights. Don't let the man try and bring you down!


All students are granted freedom of speech/expression by the first amendment as well as freedom of press, freedom of religion, freedom to assemble and petition.

• The right to free expression includes anything from something being said or written to what a person may be wearing or how they may wear their hair. Clothing that may convey a particular political message or go against something  is allowed as long as there is no obscene conent being featured.
  
  Example: Wearing a tee-shirt that says "Anti-Flag" or "Bush = International Terrorist".
  
  Teachers may tell you to change a specific piece of clothing because it may offend people and/or cause a distraction. If confronted in this sort of situation, kindly explain to the teacher that offending a person is not a legitimate reason for you to change your clothing. If further insisted by the teacher, justify your cause and explain to authorities.
  
  Example: (Somthing I would probibly come up if needed is...) Them having leather shoes is offensive because not only are they not vegan but they remain indifferent towards the young children in the other countires who slave day in and day out for a tiny amount of pay just to supply those shoes to them.
  
  Think of something!  Don't just don't allow them to take down something you like, support, or stand for just because think it offends others and themselves!
  
  Also, If you are told to change a piece of clothing because it "may cause a distraction" stand your ground and refuse to do so in a kind way, because it must cause a distraction first! And when I say distraction, I mean one to the point that the teacher is no longer able to control the class room!
  
  Additional Facts/Advice: You should also look into your schools dress code so see what type of clothing they consider appropriate, however whatever that may be cannot interfere with your constitutionally protected rights!

  Patches, armbands, buttons (etc) are considered forms of expression so they are protected under the first amendment yet ones featuring profanity are not protected.
  

• Freedom of Press: School newspapers are usually run by a teacher and (depending on the system) may go through a principal who can censor or edit articles they think are obscene or too  disruptive. Even so authorities are not allowed to remove an article such as one that may insult the school or one that speaks negatively about a teacher simply because the article features negative speech or may reflect negatively upon the schools' image. However articles are still not allowed to cause a severe uproar or obscenity. 
  
  Freedom of Press includes school newspapers, underground publications and whatever else students may choose to publish and distribute on school grounds. School newspapers are usually run by a teacher and (depending on the system) may go through a principal who can censor or edit articles they think are obscene or too disruptive. Even so authorities are not allowed to remove an article such as one that may insult the school or one that speaks negatively about a teachers teaching or something of the like just because the article features negative speech or may reflect negatively upon the schools' image. However articles are still not allowed to cause a severe uproar or obscenity.
  
  Underground Publications: Although school controlled media has it's restrictions students still have the freedom to go out and publish underground newspapers or pamphlets and distribute them in school. Distribution should be limited to inbetween classes, before classes, in lunch, or if necessary stealthy during class (this goes for anything students plan on handing out).The school doesn't have the right to review an underground publication before they are distributed to students even though they are being distributed in the school. If the school officals begin to complain about the material being published in the newspapers students are distributing the school may ask for them to cut or edit certain things only if it will cause a large uproar or if it meets a clear definition of slander or obscenity. Students also have the right to appeal a censorship decision within set time limits that they may set.
  

• Freedom of Religion: Schools cannot encourage or promote religion in any way. 
  
  Example: Teachers cannot lead prayer or Bible reading in the classroom and student-led prayers are not allowed at school sporting events nor can they discriminate against students because of their religion, or desire not to practice a religion.
  
  Individual students are allowed to pray at school, as long as they don't try to force other students to pray with them and not disrupt school activities . Classes are allowed to teach about religion as long as reading and class time are not used to teach that one religion is better than another, or to defame any other religion.
  
  
• Petition and Assembly: Students can to crate a club or organization if you are permited to do so and follow the school guidelines.
  
  These meetings should allowed on school property, if the other school groups are allowed to.
  
  Example: If Pro-Choice Club would be entitled to the same rights as The Christian Bible Club.
  
  Students have the right to hold protests and demonstrations on the schools' property. However, a school can restrict where you protest and can stop a protest if it interferes with school activities.
  
  Additional Facts/Tips: A demonstration outside the school or more likely to be found legal as opposed to one that is inside the building, and a protest about school issues is also more likely to be found legal than one on non-school issues.
  

Other random yet notable facts:

• The Pledge of Allegiance.
  Students  cannot be forced to say, rehearse, stand for the Pledge of Allegiance, salute the flag, or sing the national anthem.
  
  
• Discrimination
  The U.S. Department of Education has laws against the discrimination of people based on age, sexual orientation, color, disability, national origin, race, and sex (etc).
  
  
• Student Discipline
  Due process of the law applies to students and means that the school cannot give you a serious punishment, such as suspension or expulsion, without first having followed fair procedures to determine if you are guilty. Fair procedure would include…
  
  Telling you exactly what you are accused of wrongly doing
  Telling you exactly what the punishment will be AND hearing you out!
  -meaning that they give you the chance to tell your side of the story before them punishing you.
  
  The school cannot punish you more severely than other students for the same offense, without a good enough reason. If you are found guilty of something, the punishment cannot be more serious than the misconduct was. For example suspension for a minor violation.
  
  
  
  
  I truly did my best to list and explain all the rights and laws I could think of that apply to students. If you have even the slightest feeling that your rights may be violated but are not sure I would be more than happy to hear you out and research similar cases to tell you weather or not your rights are indeed being violated so that you can take action. If you would like to know anything further or have any questions, again, I would be more than happy to answer them.