High school students chose Obama
Last week, 700 Sonoma Valley High School students, in a mock presidential primary election, voted for Barak Obama for president by an overwhelming 48.5 percent of the vote. Hillary Clinton limped in second with 19.6 percent. Edwards, McCain and Ron Paul, in descending order, each gained less than 5 percent of the vote.
In addition to the presidential candidates, three initiatives offered opportunities for students to express themselves on important positions. First, should the registration fee for every car and truck be based on the amount of pollution it emits? Sixty-four percent said, “yes.” Second, should every eligible citizen be required to vote? Forty-seven percent said, “yes.” Third, should people who use e-mail to bully or harass be allowed to do so, as part of their freedom of speech? Fifty-one percent said, “yes.”
This last is significant in light of the growing concern about personal information broadcast either knowingly or unknowingly, over the Internet. In Dec. 2007, a survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project showed that 93 percent of teens use the internet, increasingly as a means of social interaction, to share photos, blogs, journals or maintain their personal webpages. This has increased from 42 percent in 2000. Nearly two thirds of the on-line teens are “content creators.” The survey shows that growing numbers have profiles on sites such as Facebook or MySpace, where they can upload photos and videos of themselves. Most (39 percent) restrict use of photos, and girls restrict them more than boys. Videos are less often restricted, with 49 percent saying they never restrict who watches their videos.
The mock presidential primary election, called MyVote California, was launched by Secretary of State Debra Bowen and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell. Statewide, 230,000 students participated.
Foreclosure relief bill killed
A bill by Senate leader Don Perata (D, Oakland) that would have fined lenders $1,000 a day for not maintaining vacant properties, and would have required four months’ notice to borrowers before mortgage payments jumped 10 percent or more, failed last week just short of the 27 needed votes. “The purpose of the bill was simple,” Perata said, “to keep people in their homes.” He noted that each foreclosed home creates a problem for the neighborhood. “It’s not unheard of to see three to four houses going to seed in a neighborhood, which affects everybody else,” he said. Perata had submitted the bill as urgent legislation so it could take effect right away, had it passed.
Many legislators objected, claiming the bill would put an unfair burden on already strained banks and mortgage companies. Republican Sen. Dave Cox, quoted in the Sacramento Bee, said, “This bill will make a bad situation much worse.” He said the bill would scare lenders away from California, which already has the nation’s highest rate of foreclosures.
