Make Your Mark

In my work with the homeless community, hotels and restaurants are trying to fill positions and are coming to homeless shelters asking people to work for them. We work with job service providers to try and get these people job ready. I think we are going to see this all across the country. My concern is that if farmers cannot get the workforce they need, then the food source that we rely upon in this country is going to dry up. Read More >

I want to go to law school next year, but my parents will be putting my younger brother through college so they can't help me. However, when we submit the FAFSA, their income will count against my ability to qualify for financial aid.

I am concerned about the cost of education. By the time I finished my first year of school, I was out of money. I looked for scholarships, but found that it is difficult to find scholarships for middle class kids.

The story I feel strongly about is the lack of access to education in our country. I came from a very poor family and went to college in California and paid $17 for the first semester, actually for student fees. Now I am teaching at Front Range Community College and students there are paying $5,000 a year. It is absurd. We are keeping some of the brightest and most capable people out of education and out of the economy.

Three to four years ago my son got involved in drugs and was arrested twice. The first time he was arrested, we bailed him out of jail but the second time we told him he had to finish his six month prison sentence. His biological father was a drug abuser and an alcoholic, so clearly this is genetic. He couldn't get help! Jail or rehab were the only two choices. The classes he goes to are incredibly expensive. They cost $70+ a week and he can't find a good job because of his record. Even the meetings with his probation officer were not helpful until he found one that cared.

I am a clinical psychologist at CU-Boulder. I conducted research on a program at the Juvenile Probation Department in Boulder. It was for chronic, violent, juvenile offenders. Although such youth usually re-offend, this program turned out to reduce recidivism by 50% -- an extremely successful outcome for the individuals and for society. A few weeks after we finished the evaluation, the program was closed down. Read More >

A few years ago we had to start renting a house but have been waiting to buy our own house. The house we are renting is a rent with the option to buy. In October of 2007 we received letters from the county telling us that our rental house was in foreclosure. We pay the landlord every month on time. I contacted him he told me he had gotten a little behind but would catch up. As of today the house has not gone to auction. But it is still in the foreclosure process. Here is where I see a problem. A landlord can not pay the mortgage on a house, yet I am legally held to a contract with him to pay him. I never know if the mortgage is paid, or if tomorrow is the day I receive our eviction notice. I know this is small, but as I am going through this process I am learning I am not alone.

I’ve cared about the national deficit pretty much since elementary school. I’ve always been a saver. I liked Clinton because he was able to get us a surplus. Then, of course, we went from surplus to deficits under Bush and after deficits I heard about additional tax cuts. And I understand the economics of things, but it really disappoints me that the government is taking out loans on our future to stimulate the economy. Read More >

We have good credit but after building our house and having to put a little money back into our small business, the credit card companies have raised several of our rates to 27% even though there's been no missed or late payments, making it nearly impossible to break out of the cycle.

I went to East High School. I was one of three black kids in the accelerated classes at East. Initially, I was placed in the non-accelerated classes, until my mother requested I be placed in the accelerated classes where I belonged. Public schools remain segregated. Public schools offer the gifted and talented international baccalaureate, accelerated and AP programs. Predominately, wealthy, white kids are in these programs. The schools did a little better job in the past. Only the students in the lowest tier were ignored. Today, the students who are in the middle of the bell curve have lost their support system and the students in the lowest tier continue to be ignored.

I have a story about a student. He is in ninth grade, and he was sexually abused. When he was sixteen, he told me that he had never received any grade but an F. He's a member of a gang, and his cousin is in jail, and he is next in line to be the gang leader if the cousin doesn't get out of jail. He reads at a second grade level, and he only attended my class last year. His parents speak only Spanish and they released him from special education, which he needed desperately. He was suicidal but didn't have any health care. He actually grew two years in reading and writing as well, and this year he is in school full time. The librarian and I have worked really hard to get him back into school. I tell this story because I just can't believe how the system would allow this child to grow and get into this situation. It's one of the hardest things that I have had to deal with. Read More >

At West we are teaching to the test. Our school cut 10 teachers and we are told that if we don’t do better we will close. So teachers are teaching the test. Read More >

I own a hybrid, and I am having a really hard time with it. I came from California, where there is seldom snow. My hybrid is a little Honda Civic that gets wonderful gas mileage, but in Colorado it snows and I’m driving around in my little hybrid that does not do well in the snow. My dilemma is whether to keep the hybrid and get killed, or go out and buy a small SUV where I will get 18 miles to the gallon. The thought of that makes me…sick!

I ride my bike to work a lot. The price of gas is a motivating factor. I notice that when the price of gas goes up, there are a lot more bikers on the roads. When the price goes down, there are fewer bikers.

Our house burned to the ground on Columbus Day! What a way to reduce your carbon footprint. We are committed to rebuilding "green", but are held back by the $2000 cap on renewable energy credits and our membership in the intermountain electrical coop, IREA. They are required to use net metering but will give us only wholesale rates on what we put back into the grid.

We have a son who is currently in Iraq. He's a medical officer. We worry constantly about our son's safety. We are outraged that the Administration embarked on a war with a country whose regime had no connection to al-Qaeda, had no weapons of mass destruction, and was not an imminent threat to the U.S.

In 2004, USGS worked with the State department in Afghanistan where the geological survey there had been nonfunctional for years. I led a team that focused on getting the water supply system restructured in Kabul. We were to then go out across the country to rebuild water supply systems. We brought computers, water pumps and other electronics to 12 students. We were full of hope of rebuilding this system, but that began to fade away. The limited funds have not allowed us to finish the work we were sent there to do and the war in Iraq took so much attention off Afghanistan we were not able to finish the job.

It seems like no one knows about Darfur. I have talked to my friends at school and I have given presentations on what is happening in Darfur but no one knows anything about it. They watch the news and they read newspapers but the media is not covering it. If people don't know about it, then nothing will happen. I go online to learn more about it but there is nothing there. The world needs to be aware of it, not just the United States. Everyone should tell their friends and anyone they know, even people they don't know. I think it's very, very important.

I am on Medicare Part D [the plan for prescription drug coverage]. I am at risk of dying because I can’t afford my medication. This month, my monthly costs went from $1,500 to $1,800 per month. I am on Social Security Disability Insurance so my total income is $2,000 per month. My plan will pay $2,510 and then will not kick in again until I have paid $4,000 dollars out of pocket. Read More >

I am an emergency room doctor. I saw a 48 year old male patient, who did not have health insurance. He came to me because of kidney stones. He made four other ER visits before he came to the hospital where I work. Other than relieving his pain, no action could be taken with regards to his kidney stones because it was not catastrophic. This guy will miss numerous days of work because we cannot treat his kidney stones.

Healthcare in the U.S. suffers more from delivery to those who need it than our capacity to provide high quality medicine. Among the major problems is the having insurance companies in the supply line. Their major operation is to generate high profits for their investors. That is why they are in business. They generally deny payment on first application, then minimize their liability with the result that they include about a 25% overhead cost in their operations. Doctors must employ people just to handle the paperwork, which is generally different for each provider. I believe theses are unnecessary costs. Read More >

Throughout high school I worked at a fast food restaurant. A lot of the people who I worked with were Mexican. They were all really nice people and most of them spoke English and had been living here for about 10 years. One guy, who was about 30, had lived here close to 10 years and he was one of the smartest guys. We talked about classical music and he had better vocabulary than half the Americans I know. I asked him if he’d ever thought of becoming a teacher. He said to me “No papers.” That really hit home and made me think about how fortunate I am and how I am really glad I’m not in that position. A person does not get to fulfill what he is good at because he does not have papers. I know it’s a controversial issue, but I really feel like people who are here from Mexico and other places are hardworking, decent people and we should really be given a chance.

At my church I did three counseling sessions with a young couple who wanted to get married. They were undocumented. The man has worked for the same company in Alamosa for 11 years and the woman has been here 4 years. When the couple went to get their marriage license, they were turned away because they did not have driver’s licenses.

I have a lot of second language learners in my classroom, mostly Mexican immigrants who come with their families who are here for seasonal work. At least a third of my students are second language learners. They are great kids. There is a big push to graduate these kids. Every year I pick out one kid who I want to help. I will do whatever it takes to make sure this kid gets through the system. I also think teachers in the schools have an opportunity and a responsibility to have a personal effect on people’s lives. Read More >

In 2002, I retired from the military. I ride my bike a lot. Bike riding is the answer to obesity and transportation. Bike riding is the most efficient mode of transportation on the planet. Most destinations are very close. My town is not public transportation or bike friendly. There should be safe bike routes to schools, including elementary and middle schools. Campuses are made for cars, not for bikes, which makes them very dangerous. Buses are expensive, safe, but not healthy. I would like to see funding for safe routes to and from schools. It is a small amount of money compared to other things.

I am still in high school and I think we need more programs for student drivers. I had a very good friend die last year in a car accident, and two others in the car also died. Our community is stricken by kids dying in car accidents. I had four other friends at different high schools that also died in a car accident. I think we should have tougher driving tests and a mandatory driving class.

Until recently, I commuted to Louisville. During my commute I saw predominately single occupancy cars. Our office has moved to Lodo. I ride my bike to work, weather permitting, and take my scooter, which gets 100 miles per gallon, otherwise. Even commuting downtown I see predominately single occupancy cars. No one is making an effort in terms of global warming. I am concerned about the "head in the sand" attitude toward global warming & energy consumption. Read More >

My husband served in the Air Force for four years and then another six years in the Colorado Air National Guard, during which time he was called to active duty for more than two years post 9/11, including a tour in a classified location during the Iraq War. My husband was turned down for federal loans because of how the FAFSA considers his GI Bill and Guard tuition assistance. How can a veteran not qualify for a federal loan for higher education, especially to be turned down specifically because of the GI Bill support he received? The GI Bill is certainly not sufficient to cover expenses and we really needed that loan. I hope that this loop hole in how the FAFSA does its decision-making can be remedied, perhaps as part of this 21st Century GI Bill.

Why is it that co-payments for VA services are set at 1/3 below poverty level for vets with non service connected disabilities? And why must they have been on active duty for a minimum of three consecutive years to be eligible for veterans benefits? They put their lives on the line and were prepared to defend this nation and were promised lifetime benefits when they enlisted. Why should they be denied benefits now or be forced to make co-payments when their income is below the national poverty level? At a minimum, they should not have to make co-payments to the VA when they are below the poverty level established by the government. To require co-payments below the poverty level is simply sentencing senior vets to choose between what method of slow suicide they are going to experience: starvation, lack of heat, or lack of medicines. Which would you sentence them to?