The Wilhelmsen Botanical Blog

Last night in the State of the Union Address Obama mentioned, “To make college more affordable, this bill will finally end the unwarranted taxpayer subsidies that go to banks for student loans. Instead, let’s take that money and give families a $10,000 tax credit for four years of college and increase Pell Grants.”  When Brandon told me about this I immediately shook my head and said, “psh.”  If we take away a banks subsidies for student loans, then where is their incentive to give out said loans?  They already have to charge a lower interest rate for student loans, also the repayment rate for student loans is lower (meaning that many people default on these loans).  If I was in the banking industry, I wouldn’t be too gung ho about passing out those loans and even less so now that I don’t get any kind of incentive for it.  If the banks aren’t granting student loans then where are students going to get the money to pay for college?  $10,000 in tax payer credit isn’t going to cover even a year of school at Harvard, and will only cover 2 years at a school like the University of Utah.  If high school graduates aren’t attending college because they cant afford it, then they aren’t entering the “white collar” work force.  Which means in a decade or two, when people are retiring there will be no one educated enough to fill those positions.  Which in turn will be a detriment to the economy.  Am I wrong?

So, I guess that I have been wanting to say a few things about this ever since I started getting e-mails to “Support Amendment 8.”  First of all, we Utahns voted on that particular “Marriage Amendment” in 2004 and so these e-mails were annoying because they no longer applied to me. 

As Election Day drew nearer I started to hear about the leg work that the members of the church were doing in California to encourage getting the amendment passed.  This unnerved me a little bit because in 2004 The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS church), though not officially endorsing the amendment, publicized a statement in July endorsing constitutional amendments that define marriage. On October 18 they issued a revised statement with the added text, “any other sexual relations, including between persons of the same gender, undermine the divinely created institution of family.”  This neither endorses nor opposes the amendment.  They stated their opinion and then allowed us as voters to interpret it as we would.  I feel that the large mass of Latter Day Saints that made calls and went door to door was not a separation between church and state and has brought harsher negative consequences to Latter Saints all over the United States.  (I will admit that there was going to some backlash no matter what.)

This is not to say that I don’t feel like marriage ought to be between a man and a woman because it should be.  That is what God intended for his children.  But do I think that we should take away the rights of those who have already chosen differently?  No.  I feel that their unions ought to be recognized as a union (not a marriage) and that they should get the rights and priviledges that come with being a domestic union (or couple or whatever other word you would like to use to label their status of being joined together). 

I do not remember what I voted when the amendment passed in Utah.  But the amendment reads as follows:

1. Marriage consists only of the legal union between a man and a woman.
2. No other domestic union, however denominated, may be recognized as a marriage or given the same or substantially equivalent legal effect.

I wholeheartedly agree with point number 1.  I do not agree with last part (or given the same or substantially equivalent legal effect) of point number 2 and as such I think I probably voted no on the amendment. 

So I guess what I am saying is that a lot of time our government creates a blanket statement like Marriage Amendment and then hides things like part two of Utah Amendment three.  Because they know it would not pass on it’s own.  READ THE AMENDMENTS!!!  Don’t just vote based on their title.  One other example of this is, “No Child Left Behind.”  It sounds great doesn’t it.  What parent would want their child left behind in schooling?  What they didn’t tell you is that the expectations of the testing are unrealistic and that it basically ties the hands of many teachers to be able to do much of what they had been able to do before.  In essence, it HAS left our children behind because all of our schools will be “failing” and the teachers will be unable to be as creative in their teaching because they are too busy ensuring that their classes will pass the tests.  Anyway, if you want to read about Utah constitutional amendment 3 then go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utah_Constitutional_Amendment_3  and for Propostion 8 in California http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Proposition_8_(2008).  For information on No Child Left Behind you can look here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Child_Left_Behind_Act_of_2001 and here for more info. on how Utah interpreted that bill http://www.schools.utah.gov/nclb/guidance_regulations.htm.  Getting off my soap box now.  🙂

For any of you who are still curious about who you are going to vote for please check out the following web sites for these presidential candidates opinions on the “hot issues” and any other information you may be curious about.  It is important to be well informed before going to vote.  (You will notice the I purposefully left the party names off my lists because I believe it is unimportant what party a candidate is affiliated with.)  Enjoy! (If all else fails write in the person you think would make the best president.)

Barr/Root: http://www.bobbarr2008.com/issues/

Obama/Biden: http://www.barackobama.com/issues/

McCain/Palin: http://www.johnmccain.com/Informing/Issues/

Nadar/Gonzalez: http://www.votenader.org/issues/

Baldwin/Castle: http://www.baldwin08.com/IssuesList.cfm

McKinney/Clemente: Website is not working.

This morning I was reading through some scholarships that Brandon submitted on fast web.  He would really love people to make comments on them or to vote on them starting Monday.  These are the links… “The Real America Scholarship,” The “To Rise From the Ashes Scholarship,” and “The Modern Ninja Scholarship.”  Anyway, it got me to thinking about a brief essay that I wrote when I applied at Challenger School long ago.  We were asked to write about our view of America and I feel that it is still accurate today and wanted to share it with you.  So here it is…

America 

I am grateful to live in a country where we have freedom; freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of press, and the freedom to assemble peaceably.  I also believe that it is a great privilege to live in a country that is by the people, for the people.  As a U.S. citizen this allows me to have the right to choose the leaders of my country and my state and how I want them to spend my tax money.

Today’s children are the future leaders of America and in order for them to become honest, hard working, and intelligent leaders they need the best education that they can receive.  This means that the schools that they are attending need to have better supplies and text books, better teachers, and the students need to have more hands on experiences within the classroom.  These things are only going to be possible if more of our tax money goes toward educational purposes.

In conclusion, I know that our country has the potential to bring forth the very best political leaders that we have ever had running our country, if we will only tap into our resources to do so.

Lastly, I just want to encourage all of you again to please be sure to go out and vote.  Election day is next Tuesday.  For those of you who have not yet registered to vote, do so now so that you can vote in next year’s presidential election.  Also, I would ask that when voting, do not vote democrat, republican or green party.  Just vote American, by this I mean, study out the candidates for president review their opinions of the issues most important to you, (for me these would be mostly be immigration and education) and vote for the candidate who most closely resembles your opinion.  Love you all!

This just keeps coming back to my little brain.  I have spoken to many different people on the subject hearing a wide variety of good opinions and arguments both for and against illegal immigration.  I was encouraged to think about how Heavenly Father or Jesus would handle this particular situation and base my opinion on that and the following thoughts are a result of that.

First of all, I firmly believe that laws are created for the benefit and well being of us as American’s and those who come into America as guest workers, or on visa’s and passports.  They also protect those who have come in the country with the purpose of becoming a citizen of the United States.  When a person of any ethnicity or race, comes into our country from another country without following the proper proceedure they will be subjected to exploitation.  They are not covered by the laws that protect our own citizens from sub par wages, they have to sneak around, they can’t apply for a social security number, and I would imagine they aren’t protected under our laws if they were to become subject to theft, violence, etc. 

I feel that although we are all Heavenly Father’s children and are all equal in his eyes, and even though it seems like a brotherly thing to do to let these immigrants in and work for sub par wages because it is a better life then what they could get back home, if we just shift our view slightly, then we will see it is not.  If you consider that American companies like to hire these workers over American’s because they are willing to work for wages that are below minimum wage and that we do have a law such as having a minimum wage for a reason, then we can liken these employers unto slave owners with the immigrants being their slaves.  These illegal immigrants are being taken advantage of due to the fact that they have snuck into the country, they are willing to work for sub par wages, and because to them it is “better” then back home.  This seems corrupt to me. 

I feel that Christ would encourage those wanting to migrate to America to do so as the laws outline, because that way they will have the same freedoms, rights, and protections as the citizens.  They will be able to have an even better life because they too will be eligible to receive minimum wage and benefit from that law.  He would not have us giving them jobs and paying them poorly just because to them it is a better life.  This argument to me seems to provide an argument for big companies outsourcing and paying pennies on the dollar.  For instance, if we go into madagascar (I just randomly chose a country for example) and after researching that their average pay is $2.50 a week we offer jobs that pay $3.50 a week, because “it is a better life then what their own country can offer” even though here in America we are paying employees who are doing the same job $5.25 an hour, isn’t that exploitation?  Aren’t we taking advantage of them because of their circumstances?  This is not a brotherly thing to do, it is not a Christlike thing to do, it is for the gain of the American company and the United States and not to help better the lives of others.

Oi, I have gone on for quite long enough.  I hope that my points were made clearly.  Ta ta.

How do I register to vote?

Online Download and print either a Utah Voter Registration Form or a National Voter Registration Form (for individuals who are residents of another state). Once completed, mail the form to your County Clerk’s Office. If possible, include a photocopy of your driver’s license or another form of picture identification with the registration form, otherwise you will be required to present this information at the polls. Must be postmarked 30 days before the election to be registered for the upcoming election.

Phone Book There is also a voter registration form in The White Pages (located at the end of the blue government section). This form can be photocopied. Once completed, it should be mailed to your County Clerk’s Office. If possible, include a photocopy of your driver’s license or another form of picture identification with the registration form, otherwise you will be required to present this information at the polls.

In-Person Registration The 15 day or before an election, a person may register to vote in person at the count clerks office. You will only be eligible to vote on elections. Location listings are available through your County Clerk’s Office.

Drivers License & State Agency Offices Registration forms are also available at State Agency Offices, including the Drivers Licence Division, Division of Workforce Services, Utah State Department of Health, Women, Infant and Children (WIC) Offices, the Division of Services for People with Disabilities, the Department of Rehabilitation, and public colleges and universities.

When to Re-register: Voter registration is valid for life, unless you

• Move
• Change your name, or
• Wish to affiliate with a different party

To change your voter registration status for any of the above reasons, simply fill out a new voter registration form.

What are the requirements?

Age At least 18 years-old on or before the next election.

Citizenship A citizen of the United States.

Residency A resident of Utah for at least 30 days before the election. An applicant is considered a resident of Utah if he or she has his principal place of residence within Utah and intends to continue to reside within Utah indefinitely.

Ok, all you Utah voters. I have a bit of a plea for you. As you know there is an election coming up on Nov. 6th. I don’t know if it is too late to register to vote to be able to in this upcoming election but I very strongly encourage those who are not registered to vote to do so BEFORE the 2008 election when we will be voting for a new president. My motto is, if you didn’t vote then you can’t complain about the choices our leaders make. I will post another blog with voter registration information in it.

Now let me tell you about vouchers. I am strongly against them. Here is a brief and unbiased overview of exactly what they are. Vouchers (this info. is straight from the voter information pamphlet) will provide annual, state-funded scholarships for qualifying children to attend eligible private schools. Scholarships under the program range from $500-$3000 per student, depending on family size and income. Now at first glance this doesn’t seem too bad does it? Well, consider the fact that the money for those scholarships comes from our taxes. Do I want my tax money to send kids to a private school? Umm no. I believe it would be better used updating and improving public schools.

My next point is that the average tuition cost for a private school here in Utah ranges from $2,200 to nearly $15,000 a year. (info. received from http://www.sltrib.com/education/ci_5301412) This means that only those who can afford the cost of tuition above and beyond the voucher money that they receive will be able to take advantage of the voucher program. Which means that a child with a low income family will only be able to go to a private school if they are offered $3,000 in voucher money and only if they go to the lowest-cost parochial schools. It seems to me that the chances of this voucher program helping mid to low income families is very slim. The families most likely to receive “help” from vouchers are those who can already afford to send their kids to a private school and would like a bit of an income return for doing so. This doesn’t seem quite right to me.

My last point falls in what it takes to qualify for a scholarship (again this is taken right out of the voter information pamphlet)

Qualifying for a scholarship

To qualify for a scholarship under the Parent

Choice in Education Program, a student must meet

at least one of the following criteria:

• be born after September 1, 2001;

• be enrolled as a full-time student in a Utah public school on January 1, 2007;

• not be a Utah resident on January 1, 2007; or

• be in a lower income family.

May I draw your attention to the third bullet point. To be eligible they must not be a Utah resident on Jan. 1, 2007? Does this even make sense to you? It certainly doesn’t make sense to me that my tax money would go to pay private school tuition for a non-Utah resident.

Thank you to everyone who has taken time to read my opinion. I just want to mention one last thing. In a lot of the anti-voucher commercials it speaks of the NEA as “a liberal group on the east coast who wants to take away parent choice in Utah.” I would just like to let you know that the NEA is the National Association for Education. They are a union whose sole goal is the betterment of public education for our children. Don’t you think that they, if anyone, would know what is best in educating our children? I certainly do. They are not some evil group trying to de-bunk the voucher referendum. So there you go.