The Defense of Marriage Act - Shelby Harcher

​When given the lobbying assignment, I first wanted to do something about gay marriage. I ended up changing my topic to curfews and flashmobs so when given the opportunity to research a law I chose one that dealt with gay marriage. I stumbled upon the Defense of Marriage Act while researching posible laws/bills to look at. When I saw what the bill had gone through and how unconstitutional it was, I wanted to learn more about it. This bill had a lot of interesting information and I wanted people to know what had happened. I decided to do a video to keep people entertained. I wanted the words on the screen to be powerful, so I didn't add audio besides music in the background. It took my awhile to find the right information to include in the video. I didn't want to add unnecessary information, but then again I didn't want to have too little information. If I were to do this again, I think I'd add more information about the people involved and the actual process the bill/law went through. 

When doing research, I learned that the bill was wanted by Congress but once it was put into law people weren't too happy. Even though states were allowed to acknowledge marriage with same-sex couples, the federal government still wouldn't. This bill/law went through a lot and the history behind it is interesting and should be shared because it still affects us today.  

The American Jobs Act

http://prezi.com/gzojfqkiwvbx

Reflection


I chose this bill because it seems interesting enough and like something that can easily be misrepresented as something complete where it just not. What I mean by the latter half of the last sentence is that I have a habit of forming a "strong" opinion on things that I do not  know enough about and it is really not a good thing at all, to me it breeds ignorance and I do not want to be misinformed about things. So with that said it made me want to investigate more on this because the way that President Obama was screaming "Pass this bill now!" you would think it is a solution to all of Americas' economic woes, but it is a few reasons why republicans would not pass this bill.

I honestly chose this presentation format because my storybook idea didn't work out that well. It is this program that does adult storybook format settings but it cost money and I gave myself until a certain day before I would just use prezi and I am a procrastinator so it ended up being my absolute only choice to use. All and all I should viewed my resources to see if there was a better way to present but it was just wishful thinking that I would be able to get the program and also prezi can be used a pretty good resource for story telling if you use it right.

The challenges I had were making it creative prezi is good in itself but zooming and spinning gets old after time so finding new ways to do things is very challenging but I tried to balance it. I would've probably spent more time actually designing the project instead of deluding myself into thinking that  I could get this program in time.

The creation process as a whole tells me that it didn't take much time to get the idea, it probably took a lot of time to write up due to the fact that it is 2000 pages long if I remember correctly and it

The process ended up being harder than I imagined. Since my objective was to tell a story it kinda got lost so trying to stick to that was hard. I don't even think I entirely succeeded in telling a story but I think it came out okay.

Story of a Bill: The Born Alive Infant Protection Act of 2002

By: Natalie Sanchez

BAIPA

In the beginning of this Benchmark, I didn’t really know what I wanted to research. I was interested in legislation that protected wildlife or any other type of animal, but then I ran across the Born Alive Infant Protection Act of 2002. As I continued to read more about it, I became more and more intrigued in the bill. Before researching my bill for this Benchmark, I had no idea that born alive infants had rights. I chose the Born Alive Infant Protection Act because it was a law that I, initially, knew nothing about. I chose it out of my curiosity and desire to explore to new things.

I chose to present my findings on  a website. I was originally going to make a movie, but I realized that this would have taken more work and time to produce. I chose to use create a website instead because I can manipulate and modify it more easily and can still incorporate the visual element by embedding videos on   it. I feel like a website is as fun and engaging as a movie, but it is easier to make.

During the course of this benchmark, I had a lot of other projects due for my other classes. Since my website was not due for a while, compared to my other assignments, I tended to push it back. I would get some things done, but would focus more on the other assignments. I feel like the other work that I had on the side took some of my work time for the website away. I overcame this, however, by completing small parts of the website at a time. I would assign myself to create, for example, the summary of the bill on day, and then the timeline another. I divided the task in bits, and finished it gradually. 

If I could do this project a second time, I would try to complete this website earlier. I would have also tried to be more creative with the website. I would have added more hyperlinks to the text of the website so that people could have easy referral to the meanings or history of the some of the words that I incorporate in these passages. I would try to make the website more interactive and “clickable”.

The research that I did on my bill showed me a lot about the creation process of this bill. Abortion is a pretty touchy subject in America. Some people believe in pro-choice and some in pro-life. Some don’t know how they feel towards abortion. The process of this bill’s transformation into a law was a rocky one. The first time it was introduced to the house, there was  an objection by a group of people because of “discrepancies” In the language of the bill. My thinking is that the people who objected to the bill let their personal bias towards abortion get in the way of their voting of the legislation-because they did not agree with abortion, they did not vote for the bill. The bill went through the house, to senate, and finally to the president the second time it was introduced to the house. The language was changed and the majority of the representatives voted yes to the bill. This time, however, the House consisted of different representatives. The research I did taught me that process of turning a bill to a law can sometimes be a rocky one because of the bias that representatives and senate members have towards the subject of the bill. 

When I first read about the Born Alive Infant Protection Act, I assumed that it had gotten through the house and senate pretty easily. I thought that it was a pretty reasonable law, considering that the infants were indeed alive and were humans entitled to their rights. Even the most avid Pro-choice supporters sided with this bill. Then I found out that it was not as easy as I thought it was. As mentioned before, the bill did not get through the house the first time and had to be reintroduced to the house a second time. It was only on the second time, when the language was modified to meet the opposer’s requests that it was passed.  It was a pretty tedious process.  

Here is the link to my website.

Meat and Poultry Pathogen Reduction and Enforcement Act: Kevin's Law

Screen Shot 2011-11-04 at 5.19.23 PM
Screen Shot 2011-11-04 at 5.19.23 PM
My Prezi

My original format was a book. I had downloaded the app "Blurbs". It seemed well until I realized I couldn't move things around, and I couldn't deal with it really. So I had a last minute change in format, which I chose to use Prezi, which was quick for me to use. I guess that's what I aimed for. I had two main challenges during this project, which was the format and my information. See, I honestly don't think I presented this as a story, when I look at it now. It seemed as thought I wanted to get it done. And also, I don't think I grabbed enough information. Most of the facts I used, I already knew. So I didn't learn more facts, even with the resources I used. My project would be different if my process was better. Half of the time I was trying to figure out what bill/law I wanted to do. I was trying to find a bill/law I wouldn't be bored with, one that I could actually enjoy to work on and learn more about. But since I was wasting time looking for bills/laws, I just chose to do one I was previously going over in another class. I would've figured I would learn more about it, which I didn't really. This whole thing seemed difficult but easy at the same time. It was difficult to find a law I would stick to, but easy for me to jot down facts of a bill/law that I knew about. I thought I was proud of it, but now it seems okay. I could have done better, or found another book app. But it honestly was too late. So I chose to do something quick, but I felt that I forgot the mission to making it a story. The only thing I got out of the project was the process of the bill. I think I explained that well in this project..

Advanced Art Q1 Drawings


In quarter one of Advance Art in Ms. Hulls class, I was assigned with drawing a model of Gabe, a classmate. I was supposes to draw what I see but when I did I put a fictional look on it because I'm so used to drawing manga. Here is what it looked like.

imagejpeg_2_01

I'm not that well with drawing realistic. Well, no, I'm good at drawing realistic but I don't like it. I'm good with measuring the human body and making it look correct, I like drawing hair so that was a given, but the most difficult part positioning the arms the right way. 


So then I was told to draw two glass/ see through objects.

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 MMS_Resized_Pix


The first one I kind of rushed it and I messed up a little. However, the second one I felt confident on because I put the grey scale down first and it was fun and easy because I was drawing with the eraser. I wasn't really inspired more as I just did it to do it, but I fully understand how clear objects work and how they distort light and the images you see behind them, so I found this task a little simple.


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10281409

Q1 Art Drawings - Dakota Foster

I am doing the Figure and Clea Object Drawing because it was assigned to me as a classwork grade. I want to make this a good drawing. I want to make sure I use all my ability to make the drawings as best as they can be. 

I use charcoal and pastel because that was the tool recommended. Also, in the Figure Drawing I want to make the drawing as big as I can read because I want it to look realistic. I want to make the colors in the back lighter and then darker. I want to make it that way because I want to be able to see the changes as I outline more of the body. In the Clear Object Drawing, I want to make the drawing have the effects of the light as in the model. So, I want to make outline of the model and then, the lighter parts compared to the darker parts. 

I would say that I do a lot of smudging, but I also do keep some of the lines. I want to compare the new lines to the old lines because I want to make sure that I get it as close as I can get it. I am exploring different materials and the different effects they have on the drawing. It is very challenging in the Figure Drawing to get the drawing to look like the model as much as possible. 

DROPBOX LINK:

Figure Drawing - http://dl.dropbox.com/u/12710501/IMG_20111031_083436.jpg
Clear Object Drawing - http://dl.dropbox.com/u/12710501/IMG_20111102_104503.jpg

Q1 Drawings

Jasmine

I drew this as a portrait to Jasmine. In the beginning it was suppose to be of Sam Boyd, but I kept having to start over. I drew Jasmine as I saw her and the best way I could. Her shoulders I drew broad to represent her inner and outer strength which she shows everyday. I drew her waist slim and her butt big wide because it is. 

Bowl 

I drew the bowl the best I could. I didn't really know how to make my drawing pop out like the artist's picture that he drew on the monitor. The shading aspect is also something that I need to work on as well. I think I did ok but I want to practice on making my pictures seem more realistic. 
IMG_20111102_103221
IMG_20111102_103221
IMG_20111102_103133
IMG_20111102_103133

Q1 Artwork - Nadif Bracey

I drew this as a portrait to Jasmine. In the beginning it was suppose to be of Sam Boyd, but I kept having to start over. I drew Jasmine as I saw her and the best way I could. Her shoulders I drew broad to represent her inner and outer strength which she shows everyday. I drew her waist slim and her butt big wide because it is. 
IMG_20111102_103221
IMG_20111102_103221

Story of a bill; Employment discrimination Laws

When choosing which bill I should do it was kind of difficult because there are so many bills and laws out there to choose from so I decided that I would choose the first one that sounded interesting to me and the one that I really know least about. After choosing this bill I decided that the best way to present it was in prezi, I like prezi for presenting things because it is not lecturing to people and it is not boring, I like prezi's because they give out the information but in a interesting way. Even though I like presenting in a prezi there were some issues that did occur. Some of which what order I wanted to tell the story, another problem that came up is how long should the presentation be so that is does not become boring and so that people can get a full understanding of the bill is saying. If I can do the project all over again I probably would would maybe try to present it in some kind of comical way. What the research and investigation process tells us about the creation process is basically what happens with other bills some one notices that something is not working for them so they propose a way to solve it and it goes from there, what I did notice is that it is not that hard in the beginning but towards the end it became much more easy.

Food Benchmark Quarter 1

Food Rules Slide: 
Screen Shot 2011-11-04 at 2.11.56 PM
Screen Shot 2011-11-04 at 2.11.56 PM
Personal Reflection: The well-known quote goes as such; “There’s two side to every story”. And after looking back on this unit I believe I learned both sides of the food industry meaning the negatives as well as the positives. I’ve learned the importance of keeping things under wraps so that consumers won’t actually know what’s going with their food. I also learned that the food testing companies would rather spend less money and not thoroughly test food, which is their job. Than spend money and make sure the citizens that consume the food are safe and quality food. Although I’ve noticed that a lot of things are biased. And that the extreme measures we use to produce chicken are sometimes necessary. Because if we can produce chicken quickly he can’t get things out in such high quantities as we need them.

My role in the larger food system as of now is the consumer I would like to become an active consumer. And what I mean by active consumer I that to get more involved in knows in about what I’m eating as well as was it came from. I see the biggest problem in the food system to be the food testing companies. Because after watching Food Inc I noticed that if the food testing companies start testing food correctly less people would get sick and harmful food products wont even make it to the shelves of stores.

After watching Food Inc. and reading several items would like to change my diet but it would be extremely hard because I’m’ already used to process unhealthy foods. But if I were to change my diet I’d try eating thing that didn’t have a lot of corn or products in them as well as try to buy the mostly organic food. 

Recipe: 

Jazzy Jambalaya

 

Ingredients

 

2 Tbsp Vegetable Oil

2 Tbsp Flour

1 Green Pepper (chopped)

1 Medium Onion (chopped)

1 Garlic Clove (miced)

1 ½ Cup of Vegetable Juice

1Pkg 14 oz Smoked Turkey Sausage (Thinly sliced)

1 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast (one inch chunks)

¼ Tsp Ground Black Pepper

¼ Tsp Salt

1/8 Tsp Ground Red Pepper

Hot Cooked Rice

 

 

Directions

Cook and stir oil and flour in large skillet on medium-high heat for 2 minutes until golden brown. Add green pepper, onion, and garlic. Cook and stir for 2 minutes until vegetables start to soften. Stir in juice, turkey sausage, chicken and spices. Bring to boil; cover. Reduce heat; simmer for 10 minutes until chicken is cooker through, stirring occasionally. Serve over rice. (Makes 4 servings)

 

 

The ingredients I used in my dish were green peppers, onion, garlic, vegetable juice, turkey sausage, and chicken breast. The percentage of my ingredients was processed was 40% which was the chicken breast and the turkey sausage. The other 60% was whole foods. There was 12 grams total fain the chicken breast and 4 grams of fat in the turkey sausage. As fro the vegetable juice there was 0 grams of fat. There were also o grams of fat for the green pepper, onion as well as the garlic. The vegetables and vegetable juice would probably sit best with the stomach and are the healthiest of the six ingredients.

The meal itself is a great nutrious meal its something that everyone can eat. And doest has a lot of processed ingriendtss. But the cost of the ingriends to prepare the meal would scare some families away because it cost about 25 dollars for the indriens and it only makes 4 servings. As far was the food actually cam from I’m not sure. I pretty sure the vegetables came from a farm close by because I bought them from a produce junction. But as far as the meats are concerned I think they were raised in one of the farms we see in the Food Inc. movie.

 

 

Story Of A Bill; No Child Left Behind

  • I chose 'No Child Left Behind' because it related to my lobbying topic that I've studied all quarter. In my lobbying process I chose to research educational reform because it was something I felt passionate about. In doing my research, I realized that many people mentioned No Child Left Behind as being an issue in public education, so I decided to go more in depth on the act.
    My presentation format seemed to be the most straight forward way to present my research while still using creative graphics. At first the process was difficult because I had to find who was involved in proposing the bill and what outside influences were involved. If I were to do this differently, I would try and use more sources for info to diversify my research. However, while researching the process, I was able to closely analyze what it took for the bill to be proposed. The fact that a business group who had been pushing for educational reform since the 80's were the main supporters in the cause. And even after being backed up by the president, it was not signed until a year after it's proposal. I believe that because it was a federal law, it was easier to research than that of the state or city level. Nonetheless, it was an interesting process in which I think I gained a lot of information from.
  • No Child Left Behind -Jason Davis

    Defense of Marriage Act

    ·       The beginning of this assignment started off fairly easily. We were tasked with explaining the history behind a bill of our choice. Any bill. But of course, Lauf suggested it would be easier on us to choose one linked to our lobbying topic. Knowing gay rights were a high profile topic and that they wouldn't hide any information I thought it was in my best interest to link my two topics. The first bill I found when I did research on gay rights was the Defense of Marriage Act or DOMA.

    The process wasn’t as hard as I seemed to make it in the bginning. Because of the other benchmarks I had been assigned I got a late start on the bill project but when we had to meet our first deadline (initial research) I found out quickly just how easy it was to find information about my bill. It was controversial, so there was no lack of info to be found.

    It was an interesting story to tell, from inception to creation, but there was more to it than just the history. Originally I wanted to do a documentary but as I gathered more and more information, I kept imagining things that I wanted my presentation to include that I simply couldn’t show in a documentary. I settled on a prezi because it’s a program I work well with and can make even the simplest statements engaging to the viewer.

    In the end I think my project turned out fairly well. Its far from boring and I put into the story than just the history. I would only change the outcome of it if I had more time. Given the right amount of time I would do something like a cross between prezi and documentary which is what I had planned in the beginning. 

    Story of Bill- Chinese Exclusion Act, IRCA

    For my bill I chose two bills that were about migration and did research on them 

    Screen Shot 2011-11-14 at 2.18.43 PM


        My Project. 

    • Explain your decision making for choosing the bill.
      While choosing a bill for the project, I thought about doing something that actually affected me or my family in a way. Since my parents are immigrants, I chose to do this project on immigration. Not only it affects my family but it affects a good amount of U.S population. 
    • Why did you choose the particular presentation format?
      In my opinion I think choosing Keynote as a format is a reliable way to teach anyone about something you want to teach them. 
    • What challenges did you overcome in completing the project?
      At first I chose the Chinese Exclusion Act, since it's a old law I couldn't find the legislation process. Therefore I chose a recent law and did my project on both of them. 
    • How would you do the project differently if you had to do it over again?
      I would pick a different law that affects teenagers and also make a movie type of presentation. 
    • What did the research and investigation tell you about the creation process... from idea to bill to law?
      One thing I learned is that ideas can become law in a heart beat but at the same time some ideas can take a long time just to go through that process and not all makes it. 
    • Was the process easier or harder than you imagined based on your particular bill/law research?
      I think it's a hard process because it involves a lot of debate and movement at different places. 
    Screen Shot 2011-11-14 at 2.18.43 PM
    Screen Shot 2011-11-14 at 2.18.43 PM

    History of DOMA - Ian McClendon



    • Explain your decision making for choosing the bill.
      -I chose the DOMA bill because I knew that there was always a lot of controversy involving this law. A mass population is effected by what they can and can't do to show love for their partner. I also wanted to see what major names put the bill into law and their perspectives on it then and now.   

    • Why did you choose the particular presentation format?
      -I picked a video format because Keynote Slide Shows and certain forms of presentation were already made. So I wanted to try a sort of News/ Documentary video. Instead of keeping it boring with 5 minutes of me talking in one video, I tried to change the frames for each sentence to keep the viewers attention while I move around the screen and keeping a verbal flow. 

       
    • What challenges did you overcome in completing the project?
      -Other than other people doing the same bill as me the only challenge was to make something different than the others. 

    • How would you do the project differently if you had to do it over again?
      -I would have a different set up for my scenes, different location, better camera/ audio, and to become more fluent with my speech. 

    • What did the research and investigation tell you about the creation process... from idea to bill to law?
      -As I researched I couldn't find legit websites for DOMA but I slightly referenced Wikipedia and their resources for finding my information. There was not much clarification about this act but I managed to complete the essential details for the history of the bill.  

    • Was the process easier or harder than you imagined based on your particular bill/law research?
      -It was a little challenging at first but I came up with the idea of how I was gonna present this. Then it flowed together into my final production of The History of DOMA.  

    Food Quality Protection Act-Alaya White

    • Explain your decision making for choosing the bill.
      I wanted to select something that had to do with food. 

    • Why did you choose the particular presentation format?
      I felt like it would be a great representation of the timeline format by using a Prezi.

    • What challenges did you overcome in completing the project?
      I had about a day & a half to change my topic for the project. I feel likt this was an obstacle, and had I had enough time with this one topic I would've went deeper into the project & detail with the topic. 

    • How would you do the project differently if you had to do it over again?
      I would start fresh with more time. Maybe use another general topic instead of laws & bills about food.

    • What did the research and investigation tell you about the creation process... from idea to bill to law?
      A lot of the time, bills go back and forth in order to change bits and pieces to make it pass a certain stage in the billing process.

    • Was the process easier or harder than you imagined based on your particular bill/law research?
      This was much harder than I imagine with shorter time to change the Law selected.

      Overall I think I could've done better.  I know I had a shorter time than most with the benchmark, with changing my topic and everything, and that had a big impact on the finished product.

    Lobbying for Curfew- Mustapha Idriss

    ​I plan am lobbying for there to be a strict curfew on teens under the age of 16. There has been an uprising of teen related in our lovely city. Though not teens who re out at night are engaging in such acts, majority are and it is becoming a nuisance to the citizen of the city. Everyone deserves to feel safe in the city when there out to dinner, enjoying a movie, or simply taking a stroll downtown. 

    The reason I decided to lobby for this topic is because I have been attacked recently from these "flash mobs" that have been popping up all over the city. Aslo I feel strongly about having that comfort to walk down the street and not feel like they should be watching out for ever little noise. Also it gives teens like me and other teens as well more credibility. Instead of seeing a group of teens and instantly wondering if they so go hide in a store, or if their going to have to run, we should just be accepted as equals in the community. 

    To help lobby this topic, I think the idea of more after school activities would benifit both the community and the teens in them. These could be run by schools, recreation centers, or neighborhoods. Teens who have a fun way to outlet all their extra energy, stress, anger are much less likely to run amuck in downtown philadelphia. With this in mind Philadelphia can once again become the great city it was ment to be.
     

    Story of a Bill: TSCA

    This is the story of the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976, as told by the bill's own diary!

    I chose to research the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 (TSCA) because it is so closely related to my lobbying project, which focuses on legislation that, if passed, would replace TSCA. I expected that a deep understanding of the history of TSCA would help me argue for the Clean Chemicals Act of 2011.
    TSCA started as an idea by the President's Council on Environmental Quality, and six years later it finally became a law. My research illuminated the many ways in which a bill can fail – because TSCA encountered or almost encountered plenty of failures. It was edited from its original version before it even went to Congress, died in conference committee several times, and was almost subject to a pocket veto. I imagined that TSCA's progression from idea to law would be difficult because of the chemical industries, but was impressed at the scope of the difficulties. Despite all these obstacles, the environmental groups and the concerns of citizens still got the bill through Congress eventually.
    The most difficult part of this project for me was how much general information I found. I didn't know what to do with all of it, or how to find more specific facts about moments in the process. I was able to fix this problem by coming up with a method of presentation that restricted what I the information I needed. I chose the format of diary partly because of the specific information it would require (like particular dates and that kind of thing). I also chose the format because it allowed me to highlight the particular failures and accomplishments of TSCA by making up emotions for the bill itself. I had a lot of fun personifying TSCA.
    If I had to do this project again, I think I would add in information about other bills, contemporaries of TSCA. There were many bills related to the Toxic Substances Control Act that were in Congress at the same time, and I'd love to explore what TSCA would have thought of those bills and their successes and failures.
    sfrankfischer TSCA Diary
    sfrankfischer TSCA Diary

    Story of a Bill - Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 - Blase Biello

    Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 on Dipity.



    Both pieces contain the same information, but the top is a timeline and the bottom is a flipbook. 

    Use whichever you'd like. The TimeLine is good to put all of the steps into perspective. Also, 
    you can adjust the scale by months/years using the slider to the left. 

    Reflection:

    I chose my bill because I wanted to go into a non-concrete bill. The bill was based around Reagan's "War on Drugs" so I thought it'd be interesting. Also, drugs in the U.S. is a huge problem and I wanted to investigate the U.S.'s first step in stopping the drug problem. I chose the presentation format of a timeline because I wanted the audience to be able to see the time perspective and how long each step took to become completed. The only challenge I had was finding good information on my topic because of how long ago it occurred. But, I had a good website that told me a lot of information, which was the point at which I overcame my challenge. If I had to do the project over again I wouldn't do anything differently because I am completely satisfied with the final project. The research and investigation aspects showed me a lot about the creation process. I used a site that literally told me every step behind the bill and how the name of the act even changed once it was signed by the President. But, it is very interesting to see how many amendments go into the bill when its still going through the House and Senate. The process was not harder than I imagined, the only difficulty came in finding the information and doing the research, but I used a great site that showed me everything I needed in order to put together a solid project. 

    Story of a Bill: Endangered Species Act

    The story I have chosen to tell is of the Endangered Species Act. It's presented as a magazine interview with the reporter and the bill herself. It also has links to other interesting sites. 

    Reflection:
    This benchmark was very educational for me. I learned a lot about the legislative process by focusing on the Endangered Species Act. This act was very interesting to me because I feel very strongly about how we handle this issue. After doing initial research, I had to consider different ways to present my story. I thought it would be great to have a video of the Act telling her story. I would be the act, and I had some clips and photographs from that time period that would add to the viewers understanding. However, I was not prepared for the fact that my iMovie wasn't functioning. I sat down to record myself as the Act and the camera was picking up different sounds, was delayed and distorting my image. I had to think of something different to do; I made a magazine article interview. I chose this because it didn't require excessive work and I could still use my material from the movie. While I am very proud of my final product, I wish that I could have done my original idea. However, I think that I learned a lot from this project. I see now what has to be done to pass a bill, even though my bill passed fairly easily, and I see how acts cause big changes in the way we live our lives. For example, my act caused a big legal battle over a dam, and to this day, our government is still finding their paths blocked by my Act. It is very interesting to think about how we interact with the law everyday and I understand that more clearly now that I've done this project.  

    Story of a Bill – Passenger Rail

    Learn how a bill becomes a law! Follow the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2007/2008 on it's path to becoming an act of legislation! Does it get passed? Who supported it? Find out all of this and more with "Story of a Bill – Passenger Rail"!



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    As a railfan, I wanted to focus on a bill that affected Amtrak or rail transportation. As such, I decided to research the failed Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2007/2008. Since the information would revolve around the bill's movement, I decided to make a Prezi such that it would be easy to visualize how a bill goes through the process of becoming a law. The most challenging portion of this project was researching the factors that influenced the bills movement throughout congress. However, once it was completed, it was easy to present and design the Prezi.

    If I were to re-create the project, I would probably want to incorporate multiple bills such that it would be easy to understand how bills can take different paths throughout congress. This would better allow me to present the information regarding the bill creation process. The process itself, while very intricate and with multiple steps, is rather simple in that one idea gets presented, researched, debated, drafted, budgeted, sent to the other portion of congress, at which point the system repeats itself. This long process makes it easy for congresspeople and the president to prevent a bill from becoming a law. However, the measures in place to override nay votes and vetoes allows for the government to go forth and pass legislation when a large majority of the persons agree.