For this project, finding the legislative laws was easy because I was more informed about the branch and their laws. However, once I reached the executive branch, I was a bit confused on what exactly would fully apply. Once I understood, I sped through the offices because it was something I felt strongly about.
In my opinion, finding Judicial Court cases that I was negatively impacted by was hard because when I was doing my research, I kept finding court cases that have positively shaped American History. This project started off extremely difficult because I was slightly confused but once I understood and got into rhythm, it was very easy.
I think that this project helped me learn how I am affected by the governments decisions because after I was finished, I was thinking about so many things about the executive branch that my family has been affected by and I think I will take note of that from now on. I learned a lot about the government from this project and I think that this project is going to make me do continuous amount of research.
1. What is the status of your issue at the legislature? Is this a "good" year?
My bill is the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act. On November 30, 2010, my bill passed the senate with a vote of 73 yes, 25 no. Before the Food Safety Modernization Act the legislation were trying to set in motion major improvements to the security and safety of our nation’s food supply.
2. Who is essential to the outcome?
The sponsor of the bill Sen. Richard Durbin [D-IL] currently is the stakeholder to whether or not this bill will get pressed on. Each year, illness from unhealthy food strikes 48 million Americans, hospitalizing and killing thousands. Because of this most of congress have supported this bill. If this bill were to pass foods that are consumed everyday in the United States would be check thoroughly before being distributed to the stores.
3. Who else is working on this? Can you coordinate?
There are many organizations working on this bill they include: Consumers Union, Citizens for Health, and the US Chamber of Commerce. These organizations plan on helping the bill pass by supporting it however they can. I could call a few of them and set up phone interviews.
4. Who can you influence?
Since the Secretary of Health and Human Services are going to be required to create a food tracing system that would streamline the process of finding the source of contamination, should an outbreak occur. Influencing many corporations is going to be easier. If there were another outbreak of contaminated food it will be easier for those corporations to get their products back, which in the end means less people will get sick and sue.
5. What is the time frame?
Since this is a fairly new bill there are no deadlines at the present moment. The latest actions that have taken place were in March.
During the 2nd quarter we were told to find 12 identified laws, cases, or offices involving the 3 branches of the US government. Finding 12 identified laws, cases, or offices was rather easy, but took a considerable amount of time. Since we focused on the 3 branches of the government during the 2nd quarter I decided to use some laws, cases, and offices we talked about. To find information on some of the other branches of government I went to their main sites to find more resources.
When I was young I always thought getting older would be easy. But, as I got older I came to the realization of the true world. Upon researching the three branches of the government my eye have opened even wider. I know more about out government and how they will affect me when I become a legal adult.
Voice thread link : http://voicethread.com/share/1673275/ I
chose my 12 cases by observing the ones I learned in class and was most
familiar with however I noticed that alot of my peers were doing the
same thing so I decided to pick at least 3 laws that my classmates did
not choose. I thought it would get boring reading the same ones over
and over when grading. The process however was somewhat easy , except
for the struggle I had when trying to find out when and where a case
may have specifically happened. In
hindsight , I can envision my life being more impacted by the
government the older I get because more responsibilities come up and
laws are always attached to responsibilities. I enjoyed learning about why my family and I have to follow certain rules .
The hardest part of this benchmark was finding specific laws/bills that were directly related to me. I had to take almost all of my examples from topics dealing with education because that is the largest part of my life which is controlled by the government. If I were eighteen instead of seventeen, this project would have proven a lot easier because it wouldn't take as long to find bill and laws that directly affect me. The older one gets, the more affects the government has on their every day life. A large part of this is because the older we get, the more we contribute to "the machine" as citizens; our largest votes are made with our wallets. I would like to analyze corporations roles in the United States government because they have so much power of everything that gets decided.
Coming up with ideas to include in my project was probably the most difficult part of the assignment, a lot of my ideas came from the ones we were tossing around in class however I did manage to think of a few that were more compatible for different aspects of my life that may not be applicable for others. It was also hard to decide whether I wanted to discuss the topic as a negative or positive part in my life since everything has its pros and cons. Besides those two things I found this to be a pretty laid back assignment. I think that after reflecting on a lot of our conversations on current events that the government will definitely have a bigger impact on my life. In fact I believe that as soon as you're born the gov. has a bigger impact on your life than you realize. It's what protects you and your rights even as a small child. This class has given me a lot of insight on how the government functions and I've actually become more interested in staying updated with current events in the world.
Choosing
the items in my 12 identified laws, cases and offices was such a strenuous
process. When first introduced to this assignment, I didn’t think as much
thought and researching would be needed to complete the project. After researching
just about all there is to know about the executive, legislative and judicial
branches, I eventually came across some items that spoke directly to me. One court
case that spoke directly to my life was the West Virginia Board of Education v.
Barnette case. Being raised with different religious views as most of my
classmates, I was always looked upon awkwardly when refusing to say the pledge
of allegiance. My friends never really understood why I didn’t say it, and to
tell you the truth, I was never 100 sure why I didn’t say it. I just knew I
respected my mother’s wishes. Because of this law, I am not forced to go
against my religion by reciting the pledge of allegiance. The overall process
of finding which items to include allowed me to learn more about the
government, in depth, and really put into perspective which laws, cases and
offices pertained to my life.
The difficulties with this project came
with the research. I would have never guessed finding court cases relating to
me would be as strenuous as it was. When I thought I’d found a case, it didn’t
directly relate to my life. There were always things I could relate to as oppose to me relating to them currently. The
less difficult aspect of this process was finding things that negatively
affected my life. I found that when speaking of the negatives, everything I
felt came easier to me making it easier for me to write and express myself.
As I mature and become older with
age,, I would anticipate my life being more affected by the government. Since
there are so many restraints set for children under the age of 18, as I pass
the ages at which limitations are set, I will be more likely to part take in
government activities. With age comes opportunity. The opportunities presented
to me, the more likely it is for me to take advantage of those opportunities.
This process has taught me so much about the world around me I hadn’t before
known. Forced to research all aspects of the three branches of government, I
now have a broader understanding of how I, as well as the world around me, is
governed. I understand that laws
are set forth for the welfare of this country, and that all three branches do
whatever in its power to protect that.
The
way I went about deciding what were my items were going to be was based
on what I do everyday. It wasn’t hard figuring our what impacts my life
because I thought about what I do and what governmental links it has.
After choosing my twelve topics, finding out information was not hard
at all. This process what not hard at all. The only thing that seemed
to be hard was finding out ways that the topics were negative when they
are made to be positive. After reviewing all the topics and seeing how
they directly affect my life I noticed that as I get older this will
effect me more along with other laws as well. Because I am a minor
today it will be less likely that more laws apply to me instead of for
me. For example, I am my parents responsibility until I turn 18.
I present to you "The Shy One." I first seen this image on FaceBook and I took one look at it and was amazed by the whole thing. I fell in love because it's represent me in a way. Shy and sophisticated. When I research the picture some more I found out that she wasn't the "Shy One" at all, in fact she was originally sitting on a car with a wrench in her hand. As you can I eliminated the wrench and that car and replaced the wrench with a cigarette. Adding the cigarette gave more of and sexy and sophisticated feel to the picture. I want to thank Ms. Hull because she helped me out majorly throughout this drawing.
In the start of the second marking period I had absolutely no clue what do for a project. All I knew what that I had to do something. One of the first classes during the quarter, while brainstorming and doing a simple painting it was suggested that that could be my art project; making one painting per art class. I do believe it was a great project because over the course of it you could see developing skills, new techniques, and doing something new everyday kept me interested. If I had not been interested the quality of the project would have been poor. But since it was entertaining and quite literally a new adventure everyday I was able to create simple paintings that I am incredibly proud of.
I didn't actually have any particular reason for examining the 12 identified laws, cases or offices I just picked the ones that i found to be of interest to me and then found a ways to relate them to my life. The laws I choose were all interested because after evaluating which ones pertained to my life I learned a great deal about how laws made even before I was born have a positive or negative impact on my life till today. Some laws, casing or offices I noticed if wouldn't have occurred would have affected my life negatively. Other bills and laws made more recently have been affecting my life for years and now it just being brought to the surface. This process was fairly easy the hardest thing was finding laws that pertained to my life either negativity or positivity. I think resources should have been discussed more in deep because finding laws and bill and offices was extremely hard. Overall the process was very interesting and easy. I anticipate my life becoming more difficult as I become older. Laws are evolving as well as time is and laws are becoming more redundant. David A. Buckholtz
This project really caused to me to think about what positive and negative things that effect my life. At first, I didn't think I had much that really impacted my life currently because everything currently was fine. This thought process changed after speaking to my mother about some things that have really been going on in my life that I chose to ignore. When it came down to identifying the laws that I wanted to talk about, I thought about all of the disadvantages I have now because I am legally an adult. I also thought about what things that have happened between my family members and myself in the past few weeks.
The process for this benchmark as a whole wasn't to difficult, I would say that it was very time consuming. It is very clear to me that my life will be more affected by the government when I get older. This is because I know that I want to purchase a car, a home, have children, marry, and travel often. With these activities and goals, I know there are many things that are going to to require a lot of filling out paper work. Overall this learning process has been beneficial because I know how much the government really impacts my life. I believe that if I was ignorant of this, I would have many rude awakenings when it come time to take care of myself in the future.
My first step in this process entailed performing general research. I made a list of possible topics to
search for, that pertain to laws, cases, and offices. The topics on my list
were: health, labor, civil rights, family and finance. As I searched these
topics others came about such as the Philadelphia Curfew Ordinance and the
process of obtaining a passport. I came across helpful websites that thoroughly
presented cases and laws that affect me. At some point, I thought about my life
and circumstances and what laws and court cases impact me without researching. For
the bureaucratic offices, I viewed the bureaucratic projects that the class
completed.
The process was straightforward,
but overall difficult. Finding court cases, laws and bureaucratic processes
that impact me directly was the most difficult and time-consuming aspect. I
went back and forth a few times to ensure that I chose some different topics that
actually impact me and I could explain. I anticipate that I will interact more
directly with the government as I age. Currently, I interact with the
government through my mother. In the completion of this project, I learned about
government programs, laws, and court cases that I had not heard of before. This
project helped me examine how the government impacts my life whether negative
or positive.
In choosing my 12
items, initially I chose the ones I did because we were all blurting them out
to each other in class, but then I looked a little deeper and found a few, I
felt related more to me in negative in positive ways, then they may have
impacted my classmates. This project wasn't difficult at all. The only
difficult part was picking the topics, once I had them, it was pretty easy from
there. I think that as I get older my life while become more affected by the
government because as you grow up, you start to encounter new things of the
"adult world", which is dominanted by the government, there's a law
for just about everything you do as an adult. Overall, I enjoyed this project
because it was pretty easy and helped me to learn about things in our social
justice system.
This assignment was very difficult for me because for the three branches,I couldn't find enough sub topics that effected me personally. If this topic was more about ones we could be effected by in the future than maybe I would've been mores successful but overall,this process was extremely stressful for me. In order for me to choose what topics were directly related to me,I looked at all my options for each branch,and picked out the ones that effected me. I do believe that in the near future,I will be effected by more of these topics,such as a marriage license,registering a car,maybe even adoption. Overall,I'm glad that this assignment is turned in and over with.
In researching my benchmark, I tried to find court cases, bills, and executive functions with local implications. It was easier to discuss the effects of executive departments within the City of Philadelphia, as I am more directly involved with Philadelphia bureaucracy. I also looked for court cases, bills, and executive functions that involved education. As a high-school student, nearly every decision my government makes regarding education has a direct impact on me. Finding good examples for each branch of government was difficult, but not for lack of available information. Rather, I had most trouble wading through vast catalogues of court cases and legislative bills. To find information in manageable quantities, I had to pursue a creative line of research. If I were to repeat this project several years from now, I suspect I would find it much easier. As I get older, I will become more involved with the government. I'll get a steady job, pay taxes, vote. As a minor, I'm not recognized as an independent citizen. When I turn 18, that will change.
It wan't easy deciding which laws, court cases offices to include in my project. I tried to look for things that really interested me. I also wanted to include things that had a major impact on my life. It was hard trying to find comprehendible databases that included all laws, supreme court cases and bureaucratic offices.
As I get older I expect the government to affect my life more and more. I want to be a teacher which is a government job. I also will pay more taxes and be paid by the government. My entire career will deal with the government.
