Petition Tag - program

Australia is the only western developed country without a space program, If Australia had one the benefits would be overwhelming.

> Over 9000 jobs would be created.
> Our economy would grow stronger.
> Kids who always dreamt of wanting to be astronauts can be instead of becoming American citizens and joining Nasa which would cost thousands.
> We are in the perfect position here in Australia for one. Even NASA would back an Australian Space Program.

There is some Disadvantages to this but not many, as you can see a space program would add to our already booming economy and create tons of jobs.

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Right now, full time students are unable to get government assistance such as food stamps unless working so many hours a week, which is very difficult to do if you are studying all the time or if you have dependants.

What is worse is that when we college students graduate, we will be expected to pay taxes to the very government that refused to help us.

We are trying to better ourselves so that we won't need food stamps in the future.

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Certain Policy directives in the Ontario Disability Support program and Certain Legislation under the ODSP act actually do not support people as the program title suggests, but in fact punishes people and keeps them in poverty.

It also discriminates against single benefit units with no dependants.

Workers, Managers and Offices across the province of Ontario, all have different interpretations of the directives and act.

Workers' mistakes cause undue financial and emotional hardship on clients.

Their is also no accountability.

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Individuals with Developmental Disabilities are having Adult Day Program hours and services cut and sometimes eliminated when they are funded through the Medical Assistance program in Maryland. Individuals, caregiver's and care providers and teams that support them have requested that their Adult Day Program funding be switched to DDA funding.

Individuals who have their services cut are experiencing differences in services from those funded through the developmental disabilities administration. Elimination of tracking, reviewing and reporting of social/learning goals, community activities and a drastic cut in the amount of hours that they will be served are some of the services being affected.

This is placing an insurmountable burden on caregiver’s and family members and the individuals with developmental disabilities that are in need of these services.

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NASA and space exploration has been at the forefront of science and education here in the United States since early 1950's.

From the space program has come home computers, Teflon, solar cells, transistors and many other inventions that have saved energy, improved the health of Americans and kept this country in the forefront of science.

NASA is a major purchaser of highly technical equipment which would be affected if the funding is cut.

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Currently, there are no assisted living programs for people with special needs in the state of Maine. This petition will help in getting grants to fund the start of a program that will cater to those with mental handicaps and those with special needs.

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This petition of certain citizens of Australia draws to the attention of the House the National School Chaplaincy Program, built on the excellent history of school chaplaincy in Australia, which was introduced by the former Coalition Government in 2007/08 with a commitment of $165 million for its first three years. It was endorsed by Prime Minister Rudd who said “they (Chaplains) actually are providing the glue which keeps school communities rolling”.

The program offers pastoral care and spiritual guidance to all. Chaplains necessarily have religious beliefs which underpin their work. These beliefs are representative of the school communities the chaplains work in and they do not hinder chaplains from working with those of other beliefs or none. It operates in 1915 schools and enjoys strong support among principals, schools and in the community generally.

The Rudd Government has extended funding for the program, at a reduced level, until the end of 2011, after which time there may be no more funding despite the program's social benefits, sound administration and strong community support. If elected, the Coalition would continue funding the program in its current form, at its current level of $165 million over 3 years.

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Due to Avondale School District's financial crisis a Building Utilization Study was conducted in the fall of 2009. This study was charged with the analysis of current and projected student enrollment, anticipated per pupil funding, residence trends, demographics, school building utilization, and school configuration.

The recommendation proposed was to close one of the five elementary schools in the district. The result of which will maximize opportunities for student achievement to deliver the best instructional program possible within the Avondale School District.

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You probably know that after 40 years Sesame Street is still a huge hit in America. Also it is the best children's program ever! So why oh why is TV3 or TVNZ not buying episodes of this popular children's program? Why aren't our children watching what we as parents used to watch when we were younger??

These are the replies from TVNZ and TV3

TVNZ said:

Hi there,

This was always on TV3. We suggest you contact TV3 with your email on this one.

TV3 Said:

Greetings,

Unfortunately I don't have much in the way of good news for you, TV3 hasn't owned the broadcast rights for Sesame Street for many, many years and don't know who, if anyone currently holds the broadcast rights for this show.

At this stage we have no plans to pursue the licensing for the show.

Sorry I couldn't bring you better news.

Regards
TV3 and C4

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As of November 1st, 2009 WMBC ended its broadcast of KBS World on digital channel 63.5. This service was free and only required a digital tuner connected to a television to be viewed within the metro NY/NJ area.

Two local cable companies-- Time Warner and Cablevision both offer a channel called MKtv which broadcasts many KBS World programs which are entertaining, educational, and family-friendly most of which offer english subtitles for non-Korean speakers.

A list of programs available on MK:
http://www.mediakoreatv.com/program/program_main.php?G_Language=Eng

The MK coverage area includes:
http://www.mediakoreatv.com/intro/mk_coverage_area.php?G_Language=Eng

Both of these providers are not offered in my town of residence. I am within the Comcast coverage area and I am sure that I am not the only one that want MKtv to be added to Comcast.

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The Puente Project is an academic preparation program that for more than 25 years has improved the college-going rate of tens of thousands of California's educationally disadvantaged students. Its mission is to increase the number of educationally disadvantaged students who:

•Enroll in four-year colleges and universities
•Earn college degrees
•Return to the community as mentors and leaders of future generations.

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Within the past decade, great strides have been made in Chicano/Latino Studies at MSU. Some of the successes include:

A specialization in Chicano/Latino Studies was created for the first time, open to all students of the university to gain exposure and expertise in Chicano/Latino scholarship;

A unique mentoring program was developed, led by students for students, as a way to strengthen community and promote Chicano culture on-campus. Over 200 students have participated in the Chicano/Latino Fellows program since its inception;

A space for Chicano/Latino Studies was created, expanding from a one-room to a visible six-room office on-campus to support student social and academic activities;

A stand alone Ph.D. program in Chicano/Latino Studies was created, the first in the Midwest and only the second in existence nationwide;

An intellectual community of undergraduate students, graduate students, and core faculty committed to Chicano/Latino Studies has emerged, engaged in word and action to social justice and collective empowerment.

These accomplishments of the past decade, preceded by at least twenty years of struggle by Chicano students at Michigan State, are significant for at least two reasons:

First, there is now a greater institutional presence of Chicano/Latino Studies within the university;

Second and most importantly, these accomplishments reflect an intentional process by the former Director of Chicano/Latino Studies, Dr. Theresa Meléndez, to engage in principles of collective decision-making and mutual respect, whereby students and core faculty alike had a voice in the direction of the program.

For all of these reasons and more, it is unfortunate to have to come to you now and express that Chicano/Latino Studies is facing a crisis.

The demise of the program began after the appointment of Dr. Sheila Contreras as the new Director of Chicano/Latino Studies in the Fall of 2008. With the support and encouragement of MSU's administration, Dr. Contreras has single-handedly undermined the last 10 years of hard work and collective effort, primarily by refusing to listen to the voices of the undergraduate and graduate students. Dr. Contreras has even been unresponsive to concerns raised by core faculty members since her appointment, her own colleagues in Chicano/Latino Studies.

After being unsuccessful in attempting to share our concerns directly with Dr. Contreras, the Real Chicano/Latino Studies (RCLS) was formed in the spring of 2009 as a symbolic expression of opposition to the direction and current leadership of the program. Subsequent attempts to share our concerns were taken to the Dean of the College of Social Science, where the program is housed, and after no resolution, to the Provost of the University. Despite the concerns repeatedly raised by the majority of all involved directly in the program, the administration of the University has ignored them and continued to support the Director.

We are, thus, writing you today, asking for your help!

CONTACT PRESIDENT LOU ANA SIMON and demand that Michigan State honors the students’ request for new principled leadership in Chicano/Latino Studies. President Simon can be contacted by EMAIL at presmail@msu.edu and laksimon@msu.edu, or by PHONE at 517.355.6560. If you email, you can copy the State News at opinion@statenews.edu.

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The Sweetwater County Commissioners have cut their portion of the funding to the University of Wyoming Cooperative Extension Office and will be closing all of the programs it offers to the county, including the local 4-H program.

The 4-H program has for generations, provided programs to the children of Sweetwater County, as well as contributing most of the exhibits and livestock at the Sweetwater County Fair. Children can participate in projects ranging from raising livestock such as beef, pigs, goats, sheep, poultry and rabbits to leadership, robotics, shooting sports, gardening, and many more.

Please help us keep this funding for the youth of Sweetwater County.

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Jacksonville's urban core also known as health zone one,although one of the smallest has the highest level of infant mortally, childhood obesity, asthma, diabetes, drop out, crime, and poor nutrition rates in the city. One of the ways that we would like to combat these problems is through a community garden.

Community gardens serve many purposes and have many benefits some of which include recreation & exercise, therapy, reducing family food budgets while increasing food security, social interaction, beautification, a sense of community, reducing crime and vandalism, constructive family time alternatives, fresh food and improved nutrition, and joy.

The Eastside Community Garden will be one of the pivotal parts of what needs to be done in order to increase the overall health and safety on the eastside along with bring back a sense of community.

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The State of California is facing an economic crisis like it has never seen before. It is apparent that tough decisions must be made and there have to be some cuts to the state's budget. There is no way around some form of budget cuts.

Families throughout the state are suffering in this economy and are now seeing their dreams of sending their children to have a quality education collapse in front of them. The rising cost of fees make higher education inaccessible for these families.

Thankfully California has maintained the CalGrant program even during these hard times. The future of California and its many of its citizens are relying on the CalGrant program to pay for their education and ensure a prosperous life.

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Cambrian School District is currently planning on implementing a program called RTL using the ExCEL model (Excellence:A Commitment to Every Learner): within Sartorette beginning Fall 2009 meeting the requirements of the law for the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB).

The district has already decided upon the ExCEL model which will mimic those currently in place for Fammatre and Bagby without considering our individual student requirements.

We are requesting a postponment of implementing such a program until parents and teachers are comfortable with the changes this will force upon each and every student within our school.

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About 1 in 150 children has been diagnosed with autism, based on a 2002 study done by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. This can be rephrased as being a rate of 6.6 per 1,000 children. This outdated census is based on results conducted in only 14 out of the 50 states in the United States of America. Nor does this study include the most populous states such as California, Texas or Florida. Clearly the study is limited and the numbers reflect only the tip of a monumental and critical iceberg. There is little interest or regard for a problem that needs to be solved.

One problem is that children are being diagnosed too late, a good amount of time after they have already started school. Autism is hard to detect in its early stages, and its symptoms are not obvious until its victims have reached school-age. That is when there is a distinguishable difference between the child and its companions as well as the rate of learning and progress. Many studies prove that autism can be diagnosed by age 1. That is true. However, that is if parents take their children to doctors and specialists for evaluation. If there are no symptoms and no ways to look for early signs, about three-fourths of children will begin to appear to have the condition at age 9 years. This is according to a report in the June issue of archives of General Psychiatry. This means that before the child reaches the age of nine, he/she will be shuffled through his/her early years of school and then fall far behind other students upon diagnosis.

Another problem is that after these children have been diagnosed, they are placed in cramped environments labeled “Special Education”. Overcrowded classrooms and scarce teachers for the growing population of autistic students is one obvious aspect. These classes consist of teachers who work with a wide variety of disabled students from learning disabilities to speech or language impairments, mental retardation, emotional disturbance, multiple disabilities, hearing impairments, orthopedic impairments, visual impairments, autism, combined deafness and blindness, and traumatic brain injury. These classes are not much better in providing aid, the only difference is that the students with disabilities are removed from “normal” society and grouped together where teachers will attempt to educate the wide variety of disabilities similarly. According to executive director Kim Sweet of Advocates for Children of New York, only “a small number of special education teachers work with students with severe cases of mental retardation or autism, primarily teaching them life skills and basic literacy.”

A fourth problem is pointed out in an article by Thurlow, Sinclair and Johnson. Published in the Publication of National Center on Secondary Education and Transition, it states that “the dropout rate for students with disabilities is approximately twice that of general education students (Blackorby & Wagner, 1996)… and have been identified as being among the lowest performing students on current high-stakes tests… These scores have consequences for schools and often for students. Increasingly, high-stakes tests have significant consequences for students—they determine whether they are promoted from one grade to the next, or graduate from high school with a standard diploma (Thurlow & Johnson, 2000). Students who experience failure or who see little chance of passing these tests may decide not to stay in school—because either they will not be promoted or they will not graduate with a standard diploma… Accountability without the necessary opportunities and support for youth with disabilities to achieve high standards may increase the rate at which they drop out of school and fail to successfully complete school.”

In today’s state, helping students develop emotionally, feel comfortable in social situations, and be aware of socially acceptable behavior is not enough “general education” to equip them for the real world. The effects of general certifications versus advanced certifications to teach in private schools for autism are vastly different. The difference is that private schools receive enough funding (from parents) to effectively train students while public schools only have enough to get by. One example of an effective private school is the McCarton School. By the end of 2007, five of the 23 children in the school will be mainstreamed back into their districts into regular classes. Private schools use many tools that public schools can’t afford to use which include: intensive speech therapy, occupational therapy, sensory integration, etc. to “teach the children to function in their community and in their homes—in the places they actually live”, according to Feldman who is an instructor at the McCarton School holding a PhD. in psychology. The key is that their teachers have specialized training- something that many schools lack.

Does it make any sense at all that in a society where the rate of autism is steadily rising year after year, our school budgets continue to be cut more and more year after year? That is like withdrawing from a deposit in the bank while obliviously expecting to never run out even without making more deposits and at the same being shocked that the interest rate of return in our savings is decreasing. The more you put in, the greater the interest rate of return that our society will have. Children are the future. To take money from the future, is to set the nation up for doom. What kind of nation will it be in 20 years from today or even 30 years, when high school drop-outs are our voters and politicians while special needs adults join the growing number of homeless people? It will be a nation void of stable citizens producing stable incomes to support the social security system. Eventually, the system will crumble from the burden.

If governments need further proof that this crisis is real, let them look no further. Let them observe the increasing rate at which private schools are opening to make up for the obvious lack and inefficiency in public schools. Dr. Cecilia McCarton, Professor of Pediatrics at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine founded the McCarton Center for Developmental Pediatrics in 1998. She founded the McCarton School based on the increasing number of parents searching hopelessly for a cure, for treatment, for improvement, a sign or anything to relieve. “The numbers of autistic children we began to see in our Center suddenly became an avalanche. We would be giving therapy to these children and there would be no schools for them, no places for them to go to after age five. Autism overtook us,” she writes.

Let governments observe the flooding of public schools with autism and the inability of small private schools to keep up with demand. Additional solutions for inadequate education involve the increase of funding so that the range of influence and therapy can expand and provide more benefit from the use of IEP’s rather than requiring the use of such plans and not providing tools to carry them out. Public schools can be slowly turned into similar replicas of private school systems.

A small but growing number of districts are modeled after private schools with their personalized environments and highly qualified teachers. Health coverage is often brought up as an alternative to private schools, except health coverage does everything but that…cover. The responsibility is left to the schools.

Today, under P.L.102-119, all schools must offer special educational services and, unfortunately, the government ensures that only the bare minimum is done.Public education is not broken, we just spend too little on our schools and waste too much on less important issues.

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The Sydney Southwest Area Health Service is planning to cut crucial services from their Early Childhood Centre Program.

One of the main changes includes the ceasing of the Tuesday morning drop-in service in the Balmain Early Childhood Centre (and no doubt other centres as well). This change will come into effect in mid-December and this decision was implemented without any consultation with the community at large.

The drop-in service has provided regular and accessible help to many parents in an informal setting and has also provided an important supportive forum for many parents to meet other parents.

It is essential for many parents to help care for their young children because babies needs are often immediate and cannot wait until planned appointments which are only available weeks in advance.

Many parents in Balmain are from interstate, overseas or country areas and are separated from their support networks. They rely heavily on formal services for support.

More changes - such as ceasing information forums like 'Introducing Solids' - are planned and something needs to be done to show the SSWAHS that these services are vital for the health and well being of our babies and parents and to ensure that no more services are taken away.

Please help us protect the mental and physical health of our babies and parents in Balmain and other suburbs within the Sydney South West Area and sign this petition to have our Early Childhood Services re-instated and to ensure that future changes to the Early Childhood Program be thoroughly debated by the community.

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Grand Blanc Youth Football a non-profit community tackle football program has been denied use of the High School Football Athletic Field for Home football games.

The Grand Blanc School Adminstration has provided the reason of safety concerns for physical education student s and high school football players.

In the Interim the Grand Blanc Youth Football program will be playing our 3 home games outside of the Grand Blanc community.

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WE NEED URGENT HELP!!!

AOL News:
Plan To Euthanize Horses Spurs Debate

RENO, Nev. (July 7) - Animal rights activists and ranchers are clashing over a federal proposal to euthanize wild horses as a way to deal with their surplus numbers.

Horse advocates will mount a campaign against the proposal announced late last month by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, said Chris Heyde, deputy director of government and legal affairs for the Animal Welfare Institute based in Washington, D.C.

Federal officials said they're faced with tough choices because wild horses have overpopulated public lands in the West and they no longer can afford to care for the number of animals that have been rounded up.

But Heyde maintained the agency is seeking a "magic bullet" for budget problems caused after it began rounding up the mustangs at an unprecedented rate in recent years.

He said the roundups left too many horses for the public to adopt, requiring the agency to contract for more private long-term holding facilities.

The proposal "is killing pure and simple to balance the books for an agency whose reckless management has caused immeasurable harm to a national treasure at considerable cost to the American taxpayer," Heyde said.

Ron Cerri, of the Rebel Creek Ranch in Orovada and president-elect of the Nevada Cattlemen's Association, said ranchers would prefer horses be adopted but euthanasia may be necessary to keep their numbers down.

"Unfortunately, it's something they'll have to consider," Cerri said. "I don't know of another solution."

Cerri criticized the federal agency's proposal to stop roundups of wild horses to save money. Ranchers view mustangs as competition for forage on the range.

"That would be really unfortunate," he said. "We're starting to get close to what's called `appropriate management levels' of wild horses on the range. If we stop the roundups, that number will blow up again."

There are an estimated 33,000 wild horses in 10 Western states. About half of those are in Nevada.

The agency has set a target appropriate management level of horses at 27,000. About another 30,000 horses are in holding facilities, where most are made available for adoption.

Last year about $22 million of the entire horse program's $39 million budget was spent on holding horses in agency pens. Next year the costs are projected to grow to $26 million with an overall budget that is being trimmed to $37 million.

Lacy Dalton, president and co-founder of the Let 'Em Run Foundation horse advocacy group, urged the agency to consider alternative solutions.

They include efforts to step up birth control and legislation to provide tax breaks to large landowners willing to let horses roam on their property, she said.

"The American people have spoken - they want to preserve these wild horses," said Dalton.

"They are symbolic of the wildness and freedom and independent spirit of the West. We need to find ways to save them without being a burden on taxpayers," she added.

Agency officials said they stepped up the roundups in recent years because of ongoing drought that has left dwindling forage and water for the mustangs. Horse advocates insist the action was taken to placate ranchers.

The Bureau of Land Management's announcement marked the first time the agency publicly has discussed the possibility of putting surplus animals to death. Congress unanimously passed the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act to protect the animals.

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UPDATE:

It is September now yet I have heard nothing back from the BLM. I have gotten in cotnact with some personal connections to equine groups to see if there is any news. So please KEEP SIGNING!

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The City of Calgary will start a curbside residential recycling program in 2009. The plan excludes all schools. Most schools are located in residential areas, so the trucks will drive right past the schools but not stop to collect their paper.

The cost of stopping at schools would be minimal if schools are simply added to the route as trucks move through communities to collect recycling.

The children and young adults in our schools are the leaders of tomorrow. Society will be well served if our younger generation learn the importance, the logic and the simplicity of being environmentally friendly at home, at school at work and at play.

We are asking the City of Calgary to help our schools with this by allowing schools to be included in the curbside recycling program.

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The Cougar Board is not allowing Tanner or Jared Monroe to play Cougar football in the upcoming 2008 season. The board is refusing to abide by a signed letter from the Monroe Parents.

The parents have agreed to the boards terms, they will not coach or be team mom, they will not send mass emails if boys are allowed to play, and they have already sent out a mass apology as requested by the board. However, the board refused to honor the letter.

The Cougar organization is a public youth sport program and needs to honor the right of kids to play football. Censor the parents not the kids!!!

Please help get the boys back in the Cougar program. Please stand together in unity and let the board know we will not accept children being kicked out of our program.

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Bridgeport, CT's Proposed 2009 Budget constitutes many changes and hardships for citizens in an already stressed community.

According to the budget, 43 newly civilianized staff that will operate the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) even though though the budget has scaled back funding for public library services, eliminates 19 positions in the Public Health Nursing Program, eliminates the general fund school based program, dental hygiene and reduces the nursing staff by half, budgetary reduction of 1/3 of staff funding, reduction of 25 positions, eliminates 87 direct line positions and accounts. Budget calls for a 4-mill tax hike or a 9 percent increase in taxes. As far as education, 7.4 teaching positions are not funded in the mayor's budget, and 41 new positions could not be filled.

The budget allows to provide sanitation services including garbage collection, bulk trash pickup, leaf removal, and recycling to our residents. Beyond regular trash pickup, these additional services are by no means mandated, and they carry a cost of $6,545,327.

These costs could be reduced if residents would carry the cost of garbage removal.

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In 1967, Australia launched their first satellite, WRESAT. While they may not have used an Australian built rocket (the USA donated a Redstone rocket), the effort was coordinated NOT by the Australian Government, but by CSIRO and the Universities.

Australia, along with the Soviet Union, USA and France, led the way, as it was the fourth country on our planet to insert a satellite into orbit.

Since then our space related activities have been virtually non-existent, largely due to the attitude of Robert Menzies, who oversaw the disassembly of the Woomera space launch facilities.

The only launch vehicle Australia has is built by ASRI, a non-profit organisation, and is capable of sending only up to 100kg into orbit. Compare this to the USA and Russia, who are sending people to into orbit and to the Moon. Even countries such as Iran and South Korea have launch facilities and plans to send up their own satellites.

Australia has no such plans. Australia has no space program. In this era, spaceflight will play a large role, and Australia will not be a part of it, as other countries go on to explore and colonise the Moon and Mars, unless we act now and rebuild our space program.

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Please spread awareness and help inspire a generation of scientists and engineers in Australia. It is time for Australia to take the lead - humans to Mars in 10 years!

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La Femme Nikita was an exceptional espionage/spy drama that premiered on the USA cable network from January 1997 to March 2001. It was adapted for television by Joel Surnow from the original French film of the same title and ran for five consecutive seasons. During that time, it was the highest rated drama on cable television, and it went on to become a cult classic with viewers around the world.

As a weekly serial drama, La Femme Nikita was original and ahead of its time. The unique, innovative style of the show influenced numerous other television series and movies that followed. Revolving around complex moral and ethical dilemmas, it was intelligent, sophisticated, and darkly beautiful. For many, the fascination and genius of La Femme Nikita was its dark tone of modern minimalism and its unprecedented style of character development.

The program was of such outstanding caliber that there has never been another like it...before or since. La Femme Nikita has been profoundly missed and has left a void that no other program has filled. Thousands of individuals identified with the show on a deeply personal level and felt it became a part of their lives. On a global level, people passionately love it and have remained dedicated life-long fans.

Following a campaign in the summer of 2000 to save the series from cancellation, the devoted audience was given the gift of eight additional episodes. However, fans of this riveting and darkly engrossing drama were left with an unsatisfactory open-ending. Many viewers of the show felt they were denied closure and will never feel like complete resolution has been achieved until Michael and Nikita are reunited.

After seven years absence, the fans feel the return of La Femme Nikita would reward them for their loyalty and faithfulness, update them on the lives of the characters, and provide a positive and cathartic closure to a much beloved story.

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Bullying is a form of victimization, or abuse, and it is wrong. Children should be able to attend school or take part in activities without fear of being harassed, assaulted, belittled, or excluded.

Studies show that 15%-25% of children are bullied at school with frequency. The children being bullied may have reduced self-esteem or depression, drop in school performance. Some emotional scars from bullying can be lifelong. Young people who bully are more likely to miss school or drop out. 60% of boys who were bullies in middle school had at least one criminal conviction by the age of 24.

Bullying creates a climate of fear and disrespect in schools and has a negative impact on student learning.

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Recently within the past six months there has been increased occupancy and turn-over of residents of the mobile home park at Helen and 2nd Streets.

This has resulted in a dramatic increase in socializing and loitering on the perimeter of the property and on the street during the day and through the late evening hours and the consumption of alcohol and drugs by minors.

There has also been a dramatic increase in automobile and motorcycle traffic and speeding, as well as dumping of furniture and debris on the empty lot across 2nd street.

We propose a community beautification of the properties by requiring:

1) Property owner of the mobile home park to build a fence barrier around the perimeter of the park;

2) Property owner of the empty lot to provide continued clean up and waste removal as required by the Clean Tahoe Program;

3) Neighborhood residents to provide basic landscaping along the perimeter of both properties including planting of trees, shrubs and flowers, and

4) City of Lake Tahoe to install speed bumps on Helen Avenue and 2nd Street.

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In the Phase II Renewing Regina Public schools report, one of the proposed options at the elementary level is to abandon the current dual-track French Immersion program and establish a few French Centers in its place (single-track).

This means that many of the current French Immersion school programs will leave the community school and students bussed to centralized schools.

Parents do not want to see the French program further pushed away from mainstream and made to be seen as ‘different’ to only integrate back into a French and English program in High School. We believe it is good for French and English students to have a relationship within the same school to further promote understanding of Canada’s second language rather than make those differences more apparent.

Parents do feel it more efficient to spend time learning how to better ‘integrate’ the dual track system at Hawrylak and other schools. We do not see the value in your proposed suggestions; let’s make our current system stronger!

Parents choose their community school French Immersion program to provide an opportunity for their children’s education. However if forced with the difficult decision of community versus French, typically 1/3 or more will not leave their community school. This means French Immersion enrolment will drop 33% across the board. Our vision includes more children in French, not less! Let’s provide children opportunities.
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WHAT IS THE NEGATIVE IMPACT?
• There will be a significant decrease in the number of students enrolled in French Immersion.
• Children segregated into far-away French centers.
• Children segregated at the elementary level based on English and French but then placed in a dual-track system in high school. Will students feel part of the high school, or more like outsiders? Will they be treated like outsiders?
(2006 RPS Annual Report “Regina Public Schools teaches students values such as respect, responsibility, and belonging.”)
• French and English students displaced from their family, friends and community.
• French-Immersion system in transition can be difficult for the children, parents and teachers if not effectively managed.
• Increased bussing needs and time, earlier school start times 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. replacing 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
• Siblings in different schools because one is in French and one is in English.
• Students leaving French and transferring to English to stay in their local community school.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF THE CURRENT DUAL-TRACK SYSTEM?
 It is beneficial for French and English students to work together within the same school to promote tolerance towards Canada’s second language rather than accentuate those differences through segregation.
 Learning from diversity, exposure to diversity, development of cultural tolerance.
 It is consistent at the elementary level and in high school.
 Providing non-French speaking parents a better choice to enhance their children’s education when accessible in the community.
 Parents are more likely to be engaged in their child(ren)’s school when that school is a part of the parents community.
 It is not elitist, it is inclusive.
 The system is producing highly competent French speaking students!
 Research indicates that French centre students were perceived by both teachers and students to be exposed to more French and less peer pressure than their dual-track counterparts. However, that same research also determined there were no significant differences between the two groups in regards to student use of French or student and teacher satisfaction with the program.1

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There are many senseless and irrelevant programs being broadcasted on the radio and television in the metropolitan area where the crime rate is outrageously high.

I think that Radio One should cut some programs and devote at least one hour to the youth. Allowing them to call the station and express themselves about what's going on in there community, schools, and personal situations.

A counselor of some sort would also be available to answer questions and give advice. I also believe that BET should bring Teen Summit back. It would also be a good way for teens to receive information and speak on certain issues such as sex,gang violence,and STD's.

WPGC is my favorite radio station but I have an issue with them. They speak on violence in the city every chance they get but why not open up the lines for the youth to call in and express themselves. We have all these senseless programs on the radio but the biggest issue is left unattended.

I also have a big problem with my favorite television station BET. Who like I said about WPGC have discussed youth violence but where is the shows like Teen Summit? We need these programs back in the lives of the youth so there’s space and a place to air out issues. If we don’t reach out to our youth we will never know what’s really bothering them.

Thanks,

Steven Davis Jr.

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Request that a recycling program be implemented at 2299 Post St., a.k.a. Med Complex

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