What Emma and I did was research all of the steps involved to enlisting in the Marines. The Marines are apart of the Military and we wanted to research the process of enlisting because it interested us. Emma and I knew someone who recently went through the process of enlisting to the Marines, so we used this to our advantage. We kept in contact with this person frequently so we were able to make a document with all of the steps to enlisting. We then talked to this person regarding paper work. She said that she would try and get the paper work from her recruiter. Since this was not possible, we used the steps we found out to create two flowcharts. One was with all of the steps involved in enlisting the marines, including what you would need to do if you failed certain parts. The second one was all the requirements for boot camp. 

    Since we didn't have our own recruiter we weren't able to get the paper work. This didn't affect getting the steps for our flowchart. If I had to change one thing about the bureaucratic process in the flowchart I would have changed needing a recruiter to fill out the paper work. I think that it should be possible for someone considering enlisting in the Marines to be able to look at the paper work beforehand, instead of getting a recruiter first. I think the system has become so complicated because enlisting in the Marines is a serious thing, and not all people probably take it seriously. They want people who know what they are doing, or can learn what they are doing so it's important to have all these steps in order to accept the people who could have a future in the Marines. I enjoyed this project and thought that it was a great learning experience.  

First flowchart:

(Steps to enlisting)

Second flow chart:

(Boot camp requirements)

My Email:

Hi. My Name is Kimberly Yarnall, and I currently attend Science Leadership Academy. In American Government class we had to choose a topic in which we wanted to lobby. For my topic I picked transparency in food labeling. The changing of names and making it sound like it's healthy just with a different name, can lead to obesity. The diabetes rate is five times the average in Philadelphia than the national average. Diabetes and obesity link together and the change of food names can have a significant impact on the civilians of Philadelphia and their health. I was wondering if you'd consider getting involved in the issue. Making people more aware of the issue of transparency in food labeling and making people aware that changing food names, doesn't make the food any healthier. If more people get lobbied into this issue, I think it will help the health of the people in Philadelphia. It would really mean a lot. Please get back to me, thanks.- Kimberly Yarnall

Reply:

Thank you for contacting me via e-mail. This is an automatic response to let you know that your message was received.Your comments and concerns are important to me. Due to the high volume of e-mail I receive, it may take some time for me to thoroughly review your comments and respond. If your message was of an urgent matter, you may contact my office via phone or fax. Thank you for taking the time to write.Sincerely,Rep. Jewell Williams

____________________________________________

I can't tell whether my strategy was effective or not since I haven't received a response from my representative. I thought that the email I sent was straight to the point, but did a good job at explaining what I was trying to get Jewell Williams involved with. I chose the email approach because I feel it gives him more time to think, instead of bombarding him with questions. I hope he answers me so I feel like I'm making some progress.

Screen Shot of Reply:

 What is the status of your issue at the legislature? Is this a "good" year?

Who is essential to the outcome?

Who else is working on this? Can you coordinate?

Who can you influence?

I can influence the people who aren't aware of the name changing issue. Since their aren't many people aware of this issue, it would be easy to inform and influence them to help, or consider helping.

What is the time frame?

Since there is no one local working on this topic, there wouldn't be a time frame on it, so my time for this could be long.

-The Food and Drug Administration is the oldest comprehensive consumer protection agency in the U. S. federal government.

-Wallace F. Janssen began writing about FDA as a trade journal editor in 1931.

-Joined in 1951 as assistant to the commissioner for public information and continued to be its information chief until 1966.

-How old the FDA is can be answered two different ways

           - Scientific institution: dates from 1862 when Charles M. -Wetherill started to study sample foods, soils, fertilizers, and other agricultural substances.

-Early FDA scientists became involved in matters of food safety.

-Federal concern for drugs started with the establishment of U.S. customs laboratories to administer the Import Drugs Act of 1848.

-Great Britain's first food law passed in 1860.

-FDA has a huge responsibility: safety of human and animal food products.

-FDA started with a small task, then grew. A small committe of doctors became one of the largest administrations in the U.S. government.

-February 27, 1906: horrible conditions of the meat packing industry was exposed, stirring the public to demand legal protection.

-It wasn’t just the unsanitary conditions, but also the use of poisonous dyes and preservatives.

-On June 30, 1906, Congress passed the Pure Food and Drugs Act as well as the Meat Inspection Act.

-1912 Sherley Amendment was enacted quickly to remedy that omission, but, it also created a standard that was hard to quantify: Prohibited labeling drugs.

-From so many deaths and injuries, the FDA showed gruesome examples of the dangers of untested drugs.

-1973: sulfanilamide had been given safely in tablet and powder form to treat streptococcal infections. Demand to have it in liquid form, but they didn’t do a test on it before they shipped it out to the U.S. This drug hit the market, which killed 107 adults and children.

-In 1955 260 people contracted polio after receiving the polio vaccine.

-The 50s continued to reveal the dangers of food additives. Cancer-causing additives and pesticides used to grow crops became the focus of new recalls and legislation. During this decade, FDA published a list of 200 substances generally recognized as safe (GRAS).

-1960s was known for both legal and illegal drugs.

          - Thalidomide, a sedative and sleep medication caused over 5,000 recognized cases of birth defects and limb deformities in infants born to mothers who took the drug during pregnancy.

-Started to get bans on hazardous toys and other products.

-1977 the ban on saccharin was lifted and replaced with a requirement to include a warning “saccharin has been found to cause cancer in animals” on the label.

-In 1979 the FDA arranged to have 250,000 bottles of potassium iodine delivered to where the nuclear power plant reactor overheated, threatening surrounding areas to be exposed with radiation.

-The scandal of the 1980s was an incident in 1982 involving deaths from cyanide someone injected into Tylenol capsules already on the shelf of a drug store. This is still an unsolved case, and no one knows who did this or why, but seven people died from ingesting the cyanide-laced capsules.

-1990s: packaged foods now required per-serving nutrition labeling, and an easily understood list of most important nutrients.

-The Safe Medical Devices Act was passed in 1990.

-In an effort to discourage marketing cigarettes to young people, the FDA declared cigarettes to be drug delivery devices in 1995. After that nice try, the FDA lost its clout with the tobacco industry in 2000 when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that they didn’t have the authority to regulate tobacco as a drug.

-Many issues were addressed in 2004 in the wake of 9/11 and serious reactions to many drugs. Congressional Acts authorized FDA to take more expedient countermeasures in response to chemical, biological and nuclear threats.

 http://www.usrecallnews.com/2008/06/history-of-the-food-and-drug-administration-fda.htmlhttp://www.fda.gov/AboutFDA/WhatWeDo/History/default.htm

Who represents me?

Jewell Williams represents me. He is a Democrat. His occupation is a Legislator, meaning he can work to pass, amend, and repeal walls. His standing committee assignments is aging and older adult services, appropriations, children and youth, committee on ethics, rules, and urban affairs. During the 1970s, Jewell Williams led the way petitioning Philadelphia to provide more affordable houses for the poor. He had very little support since the city was already struggling to find solutions for youth violence. That is when he founded the Susquehanna Neighborhood Advisory Counsel, becoming its Executive Director. In 1986, he graduated from the Police Academy, and joined the Temple University Police Department. In 1994, Jewel Williams took the place as Chief of Criminal Operations for the Philadelphia Sheriff’s Office. In November 2000, he won his election to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives to serve the 197th Legislative District. In the 2008-2009 legislative session he proposed to expand Philadelphia’s tourism outreach and increasing funding in order to expand the Pennsylvania Convention Center, which was signed into law. This law lets the city tax hotel rentals up to 1.5 percent, which is deposited and dedicated to save money to improve the convention center. During the time he was in office, he has gained the respect from his colleagues as a true ambassador and coalition builder. As of now, he is serving Deputy Whip of the House of Democratic Caucus. He is also chairman of the Philadelphia Delegation of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and a member of the Pennsylvania Legislative Black Caucus. He is the Democratic Ward Leader of the 16th Ward of the Democratic City Committee in Philadelphia, and Vice Chairman of the National Black Caucus of State Legislators Rules Committee. Jewell Williams has received many awards for his community service. He has talked to many people in his community, despite their working statuses, and income rates. He is a father of three children. 

How has my legislator voted on my issue in the past?

http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/RC/Public/rc_view_date.cfm?rc_body=H This is the voting from past elections. http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/home/member_information/house_bio.cfm?id=263 http://www.pahouse.com/williams/bio.asp http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.pahouse.com/mediacenter/portraits/thumbs/WilliamsTHM.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.pahouse.com/williams/&usg=__pOia9XuWCtqN-cmlXBqTvbkkI-I=&h=195&w=140&sz=12&hl=en&start=0&sig2=-053xljuekH6hO5ibAMUGw&zoom=1&tbnid=IoZDirHMqwl6yM:&tbnh=156&tbnw=112&ei=vG_DTJzeLoWglAea-v0D&prev=/images%3Fq%3Djewell%2Bwilliams%26hl%3Den%26biw%3D1142%26bih%3D647%26gbv%3D2%26tbs%3Disch:1&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=477&oei=vG_DTJzeLoWglAea-v0D&esq=1&page=1&ndsp=19&ved=1t:429,r:2,s:0&tx=45&ty=106 

11/7/10

Kimberly Yarnall

D Band

American Government

           Life for people with disabilities isn't easy. They are stuck in a world with "normal" people. "Normal" being defined as: people who aren't stuck to the confines of a wheel chair, being able to care for them selves, and not being looked at differently. Although people suffering from disabilities aren’t always looked at differently then people without disabilities, it still happens. In 1990 was when the Americans with Disabilities ACT passed. This made life for people with disabilities a great deal easier because it opened up a lot of opportunities for them. People with disabilities have a difficult time getting around if they have problems with their legs or lower body. This could result to them in a wheelchair. Other types of disabilities could make it hard to care for them selves. Being someone with a disability makes it difficult for everyday living.

            The Americans with Disabilities ACT allows the people of America suffering a type of disability the right to employment, state and local government programs and services, and means of transportation. This makes life for someone with a disability less complicated. People with disabilities don't want to be looked at differently because they struggle more than others. There is a story about a man who’s name was changed due to privacy, who was diagnosed with neurological condition that is chronic, but controllable. All throughout his life he had symptoms, but only became open about them later on in life. "Disability is seen as a private matter, a personal problem that a disabled individual struggles to negotiate in a world of 'normal' people, rather than a social or political issue." This shows that some people feel like they have to hide their disability so they aren't ridiculed by others. It isn't fair, and affects the way they choose to live. This Act has made it so the people in America who suffer with disorders and need the help from others are free to express themselves.

            Robert Durgdorf drafted the first version if the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. There was then numerous people that helped with the passing of the ADA. Making a bill or a law takes a lot of time, and isn't easy. Their is various people involved in the process and it can take awhile. I think that this Act is so important because it is a serious matter. I'd like to know that if someone I know, or if I ever suffer from a disability that there will be understanding from others and ways to help me or someone else. This Act means that the people with disabilities will be employed. They will have ways of transportation. If they need the help of others, they'll receive it. It just gives people the reassurance that it’ll be okay. This Act has had a positive influence on America because it shows equality. It is equality between the people who move around the streets without issues, and the people who need a little help.

Bibliography:

1. "Facts About the Americans with Disabilities Act." US EEOC Home Page. 9 Sept. 2008. Web. 09 Nov. 2010. <http://www.eeoc.gov/facts/fs-ada.html>.

2. Bruce, Drake. "The American Disabilities Act, and a Fall That Opened My Eyes." Politics News, Elections Coverage, Political Analysis and Opinion. Aug. 2010. Web. 09 Nov. 2010. <http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/08/01/the-american-disabilities-act-and-a-fall-that-opened-my-eyes/>.

3. "Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990,AS AMENDED with ADA Amendments Act of 2008." ADA Home Page - Ada.gov - Information and Technical Assistance on the Americans with Disabilities Act. 15 June 2009. Web. 09 Nov. 2010. <http://www.ada.gov/pubs/adastatute08.htm#12102>.

4. Deborah. "MCIL Journal." The Memphis Center for Independent Living. 26 July 2005. Web. 09 Nov. 2010. <http://www.mcil.org/mcil/log/2005/072605s2.asp#90>.

5. "The Americans with Disabilities Act." Center for An Accessible Society. Web. 09 Nov. 2010. <http://www.accessiblesociety.org/topics/ada/index.html>.