HW #1
http://chronicle.com/article/Support-Remains-Soft-for/133908/
1. I think that “Para Teresa” was written in both English and Spanish in order to help deliver a stronger message. The combination of both languages makes the poem seem more real and it helps give a better idea of the situation and the characters. The poem has a strong theme about ethnicity and what it is to be true to your roots. The girls are fighting about giving in to the American system or rebelling and not letting the system take over. The use of Spanish and English shows that Ines is able to succeed in the American system and still be true to her roots.
6. The article that I read on proposition 30 talks about its status and likeliness of being voted on. The article first gives a brief overview of what the proposition will do if it is voted for. The proposition, put forth by governor Jerry Brown, will affect the income taxes of wealthier people in California and also temporarily raise the sales tax. The money that this is proposed to make would support higher education in California. If the measure doesn’t pass, the University of California, California State, and California community colleges would receive a cut of $963 million dollars in January. If this did not pass the already extremely underfunded school system would get cut a lot more. In a recent poll, the measure currently has the support of 55 percent of California voters. 35 percent are opposed and 10 percent are still undecided. Analysts say that the support may weaken come election time. There are anti-proposition campaign ads on the television and radio that may help sway voters against the measure. In my opinion, I believe this would be a good measure for California. The school system throughout California has been receiving budget cuts for years now and it doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon. Although I don’t believe our school system is the best, it is necessary to keep affordable for people with a range of incomes. Education should be available to anybody that wants it, yet the budget cuts would definitely make that more difficult. I believe that it is alright to impose a higher tax onto people with extremely high incomes. Although there is always a lot of resistance, it seems fair that the people with the most money have to pay more to help the public. They are still far wealthier than the majority of the country. It would be completely worth taxing the people with higher incomes to help save the funding for the state education system. If the funding for schools continues to get cut year after year, the quality and accessibility of the schools will greatly diminish. The increase in the sales tax is only slight, at a quarter of a cent, and I don’t believe that that would make much of a difference either. After learning about this proposition, I definitely want to vote for it and get people to learn more about it so they can support the California Higher Education system.
