annexation

Should a city be able to annex an adjacent area without the consent of the residents in that area?

When buying a house, location of one of the most important parts of your decision. The realtors will stress “Location, location, location”. Whether you buy a house in a city or in an ETJ might be an important part of that decision for some. But when a city annexes an area without the consent of its inhabitants, the inhabitants lose say in where they live and they are now being taxed by a city they did not chose to live in, by officials they did not elect, and by laws that you had no say in. “No Taxation Without Representation” A city should not be able to annex an adjacent area without the consent of the residents of that area.

Coppell Government

The City of Coppell is a great place to live. Coppell is run in a Council-Manager format in which we have elected council members and an elected mayor, who is the head of the council, they then hire a city manager who runs the day to day operation of the city. The Mayor of the city of Coppell is Karen Hunt, and the City Manager is Clay Phillips. The mayor is elected in a general election, in which everyone in the city votes for one mayoral candidate. The City Manager is appointed by the Mayor and City Council.

Yes the city has a sex offenders list, but it was very difficult to find, and navigate. The city website is somewhat difficult to get around and it took some digging to find the things I was looking for. In the past, we have had issues with the flood plain behind our house and did not find any useful answers until we finally talked to the city manager.

I did not vote in the last local election because I was not able to. From my point of view I really don’t see much of the decisions that the city council makes, but everything that I do see, it seems like they are making good decisions. One thing that I really appreciate that the City Council decided long ago is the sign and building regulations in Coppell. I love the fact that all of the commercial buildings in Coppell are red brick, with similar styles. It is also very nice that businesses are not allowed to have large signs; all of the signs are less than 5 feet tall. There have also been some bad things that the City has done. One of the biggest mistakes that they made was concerning the North Lake property. It has kind of been no-man’s land since the power plant has been there, but once the power plant shut down, the land went for sale, and many Coppell residents wanted for Coppell to buy the land so that the lake could be used for boating once again. But Coppell was unable to purchase the land and Dallas decided to allow thousands of town homes to be built on the land (Which is under Coppell ISD but not the City of Coppell) causing Coppell ISD to have to build more schools and bringing lower income housing to the Coppell area. I will most likely not vote in future local elections because I will be at college in Waco.

I think that in most cases Local government has a much greater affect on us then national government does. Local government can affect your day to day life immediately while the national government, even if they do something that can affect me directly, it seems to take ages for anything to actually change.

Social Awkwardness

The formation of one's identity in a social environment is a problem that teenagers across the globe face. The drastic change from the sheltered niches of the elementary and middle schools, adolescents in general have difficulty in identifying social standards and merge into the established social hierarchy. The desire to not be left out of the loop, teenagers find it pertinent to purge their drawbacks and hide their insecurities. However, the degree and ease with which this process is carried out ultimately places teenagers at different levels in the social ladder. Those that cannot identify themselves with a given clique or have trouble with identifying with the prescribed interests and values, are thrust in the "social outcasts" group. The term itself "outcast" denotes that the victim had committed an act that so revolting that it calls for expulsion, or even biological disparities as evidenced by the exploitive nature of imperialist countries over the span of several centuries. So to see this term to be used to describe the exploitive nature of the conformist society towards the individual illustrates the shallow mindset of society as a whole. The issues of deindividuation and conformity are ones that many high schools and colleges grapple with, as this seemingly ignorant social behavior contradicts the very purpose of education, enlightenment. The pervasiveness and the intensity of the conformity in high schools is evidenced by the magnitude of victims that are included in bullying statistics. According to the 2009 issue of "Indicators of School Crime and Safety", nearly one-third of all students have been bullied or harassed at any one point in their lives. About 20% had been publicly humiliated, 11% had been physically injured, 4% were engaged in coercive activities, and another 4% had their personal belongings robbed or destroyed (Bullying Statistics 2009). Given the small sample size, specified population, and few measures tested, these estimates cannot be representative of social behavior of conformists, as the statistics underestimate the psychological and even physical damage inflicted upon victims. The other various dynamics that factor into society such as technological advancements and increased diversity in ethnic groups, that have usually been associated with cultural diffusion and appreciation, when taken with the statistical evidence concerning the rising number bullying statistics, provide new mediums for a more socially segregated society, as opposed to a more unified one. With internet and social networking groups came cyberbullying, with an influx in foreign immigrants and cultures, came the stereotypes and heightened racism. We begin to see that society, despite the various reform movements towards the development of a harmonious utopia, still retains some "nativist" notions on the local level, that prevents it from reaching this goal.

Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter exemplifies the negative effects of a conformist society on an individual The Scarlet Letter focuses more on the rise in individualism and realization of inner truths as opposed to the mainstream criticism of a sin. Its theme is unique in that, on the path of repentance, Hester begins to develop into the ideal character that the citizens aspire to be. In this way, Hawthorne emphasizes the importance of absolution than the magnitude of the sin itself, which is upheld through the seemingly mindless followers in society.  In this situation, Hester has to bear the burden of being criticized for her faults, however, even though the critics themselves have numerous faults and insecurities. It presents an ironic situation that exists in the Scarlet letter, as Dimmesdale, a high ranking clergyman, does not accompany Hester to the platform, in which they branded her for adultery, even though he “took it very greviously to the heart” (44) .  This scene is representative of social conformity, where social opinion, truth, and justice are shunned to comply with society’s prevailing attitudes. In which case, the victim, due to the alienation of society, is forced to contemplate on social organization, hierarchy, and certain ideals that uphold society. This idea persists in the typical high school society, where one’s alienation forces contemplation upon the social organization. The social pressures of those both in the ingroup and the outgroup, give rise to the social phenomenon known as deindividuation, for those accepted into the established cliques are forced to comply to prevailing attitudes, and those who aren’t are forced to comply with the establish hierarchy, which is exemplified by social behavior depicted in the film.

More Bryson...

In this chapter, “The Lonely Planet” of the book A Short History of nearly everything, Bryson discusses the many different ways that the Earth is so small. He explains really how small the chances of a habitable Earth existing are. For me this really affirms my belief that God created the Earth. It seems that, the chances of our Earth existing are so small that I believe that the only way it could exist is through the power of a greater being, God. It also puts it in perspective how small and unimportant our planet is. It is really hard to imagine how big the universe is when the only thing we can see is what is right in front of us. Earth is so tiny but it seems so big from our view.

Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything

In Bill Bryson’s A Short History of Nearly Everything, Bryson explains the beginning of the earth in an easy to read way. It seems like it was written for the person who does not know much about science or the big bang theory. The way he uses examples and explains things are really helpful to the reader. While I was reading this chapter, I kept thinking of all of the holes in the big bang theory. It seems like most cases science is false until proven true, but with the big bang theory, they just pretend like its true because they can’t prove it true or come up with anything better. I don’t particularly have a problem with the overall theory, it seems like it could work, and that it could be the way that God created the world. But, at the same time there are really only a few small details that could, possibly point to something somewhat like the big bang theory, and people just kind of accept it as fact. I think that Bryson does a good job of explaining his thoughts, but for someone who has the natural instinct of false until proven true, it does not really give any facts.

9/11

There is a lot of controversy surrounding the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2011. Many believe that the Twin Towers were collapsed due to extreme fires and heat, but when you really take a closer look, that theory is not supported by the evidence. The Twin Towers collapsed due to explosives that were placed at the corner supports of both the North and South towers.

When you take a close look at the collapse, the building(s) actually collapses at close to free fall speed. Scientists have calculated that with air resistance the actual speed would have been about 64% of free fall speed, interestingly enough when 64% of free fall speed is lined up with the collapse, the only thing that keeps up with that speed is the massive ejections of material that seem to resemble explosives. Also, if the above floors were collapsing on all of the floors below, floors that had no structural damage, the speed of the collapse would have been greatly slowed down .

When you look at the North Tower collapse, it gives you another interesting point to look at. When you watch closely, through the clouds of smoke, you can see a few of the support beams still standing up, before they fall over sideways. This is interesting because, if there was such intense fire, then how would some of the main support beams of the building still be standing after the collapse started?  The only reasonable answer would be that explosives separated the support beams from all of the other support beams and the concrete floors in between.

The collapse of the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001 was caused by explosives that broke the main frames of the building, in turn, the towers came crashing down. This is because there are many videos that prove this theory. Some people belive that the World Trade Center Towers fell because of the intense heat from the flames being fed by the fuel from the plane; but, that is not logical when you look at the evidence. Many people believe that because there was so much fire, the heat became so intense that the steel beams melted. Well, when you add logs to the fire does it get hotter? Maybe to an extent, but it does not alter the temperature to a significant enough amount to melt steel. Going back to the video evidence of the towers falling, you can specifically tell that there are puffs of high pressure coming out of the corners of the buildings and there not even windows on the corner panels. This is why we believe that all of the World Trade Centers were collapsed by charges.

Bible in Public Schools

I believe that the Bible should be taught in public schools. The Bible “…has had a profound impact on the history and development of the United States and remains a vital part of American life and culture. Yet, Americans are less biblically literate now than ever before…”(csmonitor) Our nation was founded on the bible, yet many don’t even know the simplest stories from it. Now I am not saying that we should all have to memorize verses or something, but simply that the bible should be used like any other historical reference (ex. The Odyssey, The Iliad) “The Bible is the most influential book ever written. Not only is the Bible the best-selling book of all time, it is the best-selling book of the year every year.”(time)
I understand that everyone has a constitutional right to practice whatever religion they want, but that does not mean we have to ignore everything in history that relates to religion. I also see the point that if the bible is taught then everyone else will want their religious texts to be taught as well, but the matter of fact is that the Bible is important to the history of our Nation.

Social Awkwardness

Social awkwardness is seen in high schools all around America and is highly prevalent due to a variety of reasons. One of the more uncontrollable causes of social awkwardness is an unfamiliar disease known as Asperger’s syndrome. Asperger’s syndrome is a kind of autism,     that results in a diminished growth in one’s social skills, as one with Asperger syndrome tend to appear to lack empathy a lack of a certain degree self-restraint, the inability to effectively respond to situations. According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, about 2/10,000 suffer from Asperger’s Syndrome. Though the ratio is quite small, the total number of school going children with Asperger’s Syndrome numbered about 64,000. The social exclusion based on a genetic deviation from social standard is largely due to the effects of conformity, as society disclaims principles of acceptance and equality. In the process, society begins to reverse its principles to fit the prevailing attitudes of society, which, in a high school setting, depend on the values of the popular students.  This stigma manifests itself in daily interactions between students, which will be represented in the film with scenes of loneliness, harassment, and self abasment . Other scenarios such as sly bullying and social awkwardness in the classroom could also be used to portray social awkwardness due to Asperger’s syndrome. The  film’s conclusion including an explaination of symptoms of Aspege’s syndrome, its causes , effects  will be used to create a feeling of empathy and to revive social conscience of equality and harmony.

Another Theater Review

I went into this Coppell High School production of the Beauty and the Beast on November 3rd not expecting much, seeing as I had never been to a CHS production before, but I left the theatre with a smile on my face, and nothing to say but “bravo”.

The set of the play was one of the most impressive parts. Technical director, Bruce Hermans, and his Technical Theatre classes did an amazing job with the set. The props and large set items fit in perfectly with the mood and theme of the show. The set did not distract from the play in any way, but at the same time it added so much to it. Also, the lighting played an immense role in the mood and feeling of the play, for example, the lighting helped create a dramatic mood to the scene.

Without a doubt, the actors were really what made everything fit together. Emily McIntyre (Belle), stole the show. Her beautiful voice entranced the audiences’ attention from the very beginning and kept it till the final curtain call. Tyler Truax was perfect for the role of Gaston,with a charismatic presence, he really made for a character, but he was very creative in his interpretation of the character and made the audience laugh on multiple occasions. Alex Smith (The Beast), acted his role to perfection, their could not have been a better actor for the role. Maria Zuniga (Babette) and Jack Robertson (Lumiere) offered comic relief to the audience, bringing a laugh everytime they were on stage.

Unfortunately, there was one character that was somewhat disappointing. LeFou, played by John Paul Ho, was rather annoying. It seemed as if he overacted his part and maybe with different direction LeFou could have been hilarious, but he just wasn’t.

Aside from that one matter, director, Lisa Tabor, made this show something that you could not take your eyes away from. Overall, the show flowed amazingly, there was never a pause in the action and no one could peel their eyes away. The actors and tech crew worked flawlessly together to make this show one of CHS’s most successful musicals ever.

Beauty and the Beast was sold out by Saturday and was a huge hit within the Coppell audience. People young and old came out to see Belle and the Beast sing and dance their way to love, because Love Always Prevails.

Theatre Review

I saw the Coppell High School Theatre production of Dividing the Estate on Monday, May 14, 2012. When I came into the show, my expectations were high. The last two Coppell HS Theatre productions that I viewed, Beauty and the Beast and Wiley and the Hairy Man, were outstanding, especially in the technical elements and special effects. But, Dividing the Estate was a bit of a disappointment. The show had no special effects and the set design did not function well.

The set of Dividing the Estate was simply boring, and some parts just did not make sense. The main entrance to the house looked like it was the outside of the house, even though it entered into the living room. The paint colors were very unrealistic, the royal blue color of the walls was distracting from the play, and difficult to look at. The floors in the dining room were painted very oddly, and I’m not really sure what they were going for. The one good element was the wood floors in the living room, they looked very realistic and fit the scene well. The arches hanging above the set also detracted from the play, and seemed unnecessary. The furniture in the living room seemed somewhat unrealistic for a Texas farmhouse. Overall the set seemed like a patchwork of random things collected from shows throughout the last few years.

The lighting was non-existent. It seemed as if there were two lighting cues in the whole show - one for before, after, and intermission, and one for during the play. The chandelier hung above the dining table was hung way too high and seemed unrealistic, and it seemed like it was never on at the right times. Overall the lighting was boring and nothing special.
Dividing the Estate was overall very exciting, and nothing special. The only enjoyable parts were the few funny lines thrown in from Doug.

Dividing the Estate runs through Tuesday, May 15 in the Coppell HS Black Box Theatre. Ticket price is $5 at the door. I would recommend this play to an older audience.

Friday Night Lights

I believe that nothing can rival the atmosphere and community feeling of a Texas Friday night high school football game.

            Walking through the gates, a crisp cool breeze rushes through your hair. As you make your way to your seat, you hear the band warming up, you see the players stretching. The lights are on, the buzzer sounds, and it’s time - for football.

            I have been going to high school football games for as long as I can remember… but the one game that I didn’t go to is the one I remember best. Southlake Carroll had not been beaten in years, they were an absolute powerhouse, and at the peak of their success. It was a few weeks after Hurricane Rita hit Southeast Texas so my mother and I were going on a trip with my church to do some relief work. I assumed that Southlake was going to kill us so I wasn’t really worried about missing the game. We got a call from my dad that Friday night telling us that the game had just gone into overtime and I was shocked. Coppell had not beaten Southlake in years. My dad called back a few minutes later to say it was going into a second overtime, and I was getting excited. I made him stay on the phone with me and a few minutes later, 500 miles away, I was yelling along with the other ten thousand fans at the stadium. 

The atmosphere of a Texas high school football game, with the whole community rallying around football, simply cannot be beat.

Why Baylor?

I want to attend Baylor University because I bleed green and gold. Everyone in my generation of my family has attended Baylor and I have spent a lot of time on and around campus over the seventeen years in my life. Baylor University is also the perfect size for me; it is not so huge that I don’t know anyone, but it is also not so small that I know every single person. I believe that I can contribute a lot to the Baylor community. I hope to contribute my video production skills to the community in a few different ways. I hope to work with Sic ‘Em Sports on highlight videos and other productions. I also would hope to be on the video board team at the sporting venues as I have been directing the video board at Coppell High School for the past two years. I have grown up a Baylor Bear and could not imagine attending any other Universities next fall.

What I am looking for in a university

Home. A home is what I am looking for in a university. I want to spend the next four years in a place I can love, a place I can learn, and a place that I can grow in my faith. First and foremost is a place that I can grow in my faith, and Baylor is just that. Baylor is a place that has strong Christian presence on campus, classes and chapel where I can learn more about my faith, and churches where I can worship. Next is a place that I can learn. I want to study media, and Baylor has a program where I can not only learn, but a program where I can be prepared for a career. Last, is a place that I can love. Waco, Texas is a place that I can love. Not only is Waco home to the beautiful Baylor Campus, but it also has a beautiful downtown area, plenty of good places to eat, and is also home to my Grandparents. With these factors, Baylor University is exactly what I am looking for in a University, and a place that I can call home.

Two Party System

I always return to George Washington’s farewell address in which he warned the nation against two things: having a two party system in our politics, and keeping out of foreign affairs; and look at where we are now. America is being taken captive by our two party system, and it is forcing the public to choose between a lesser of two evils. America cannot regain its status as a world power when we are two busy bickering back and forth between two parties that could not be further apart. It is time to put the government back in the hands of the people, and to do that, America needs the third parties to step up. America needs for people to stop choosing between the lesser of two evils and elect someone who bring America together as one nation. (The only person who has been successful of that in the last 20 years is Osama Bin Laden!)

Constitution

The Constitution is the rock of American government and the supreme law of the land. When drafting the Constitution, the founding fathers had to consider how they were going to make things such as limited government and competitive individualism work for the future. They knew that it would not be perfect, but they had to come up with something to replace the Articles of Confederation. The Constitution and the Constitutional Convention both embody the nature of Americans.

            During the Constitutional Convention, the founding fathers really had to focus on how they were going to make the government work, not only for the next few years, but for the lifetime of the nation. One principal that they had keep in their minds well drafting the Constitution was the principal of limited government. The founders did a pretty good job of this. They created three different branches so that no one branch would be too powerful. They also created checks and balances so that no one branch could attempt to give themselves more power, and also could not do anything without the approval of the other branches. The founders also were tasked with deciding on citizenship and democracy. The founders struggled with these decisions because different states wanted different things. For the most part, everyone agreed that only white, property owning males would be able to participate in government, but there were issues when it came to who was a citizen and how representation would be divided. The smaller states wanted equal representation in Congress, while the larger states wanted representation based on population. One they reached a compromise, creating two houses, one based on population, and one having equal representation; the issue of who counted in the population arose. Of course, the slave holding states wanted for the slaves to count in their population, and the non slave holding states did not want for slaves to count in the population. That resulted in another compromise, the three-fifths compromise. The founding fathers knew that they could not have the perfect Constitution, and they knew that compromises would have to be made.

            This of course resulted in flaws in their pursuit of ordered liberty. But because the founding fathers knew that the Constitution was not perfect, they built in a way to change it. The Amendments gave the government an opportunity to change things in the Constitution. And shortly after the Constitution was signed, the government passed the first ten amendments to the Constitution, also known as the Bill of Rights.      

           

            Overall the Founding Fathers did everything they could to make the best government that they could in the circumstances. And many would say they did a pretty good job.

Texas Secession

          State autonomy is an interesting issue when issues such as military, budget and resources. Many believe that states should exist as an independent entity, because the national government weighs down the states with otherwise unnecessary taxes and laws. Now there is something to be said for the national government, but in reality, are we not paying taxes for two governments (national and state) when one could do the same job?

           The biggest issue when it comes to state autonomy is when it gets to the military. States have no military forces, and would have to build them from scratch. And when there are Texans in the US military, do they stay with the US? Or do they join the Texas military?

          Another large issue is currency. If Texas were to secede from the Union, the US would probably not want Texas to keep using their currency. Therefore, the new Texas currency would have no comparison to other currencies, and would then have no value.

        It also becomes a problem when you have Texans that are in different parts of the United States, how do you decide who could become a citizen of Texas? And then what do you do about immigration from the US. And do you tax products coming from the US?

Without thinking much, secession seems like a great idea. But when you really look at the issues, and everything that the national government does, that the state would then have to take over, there is no way that a state could secede from the Union and become a stable nation. Anyways, did Texas not already try being their own nation? That did not last too long did it?