Higher education creates better paying jobs. Better paying jobs creates a better tax base. How much income tax is generated by a minimum wage paying job, compared to the income tax of an undergraduate degree pay scale? Do I need to go to the sales taxes paid by the two different incomes? Didn't think so. What started as "Trickle up" economics has turned into "Flooding up" economics. History has shown how income inequality turns out. It hasn't been pretty. We are heading, "full steam ahead" in that direction. 1929, 2008 are the years I am pointing to. The quick recovery of 2008 won't happen again. The Federal Government can't afford to bail out numerous industries again. I feel that the current state of affairs in our society are a reflection this imbalance. The political polarization. The mass shootings. The current horrific crimes being committed are a direct reflection of the terrible conditions we are experiencing. Horrific conditions are creating horrific reactions. People are struggling to eat, can't get health care because: 1) wages haven't kept up with the real cost of living. 2) We are out of options to make up the difference. When wages first began to shrink, (1978) "incomes" went from individual to "household". Mom and dad worked. Then they worked more hours. When that didn't maintain a comfortable lifestyle, (1990’s), borrowing filled the gap. We witnessed how that turned out, the 2008 recession. The middle class needs to be able to pay for things, not borrow to get them. Jobs are created when people buy things, (after all, someone has to make the things, deliver and sell them), that is how economics works. Henry Ford figured this out over 100 years ago! I am looking to my leaders to take some action. Be brave and do the right things for the right reasons. If the status quo is not changed, we are all going to be left behind. The people at the top, (the very rich), will continue to get further out of reach and more powerful. I don't think my fellow middle-class citizens are capable of continuing down the current path. The mass shootings for example, started in schools, (easy targets), then to theaters and malls, (bigger easy targets). These shootings haven’t changed what caused them. The next group will probably be politicians. Lack of gun laws is not the problem, more gun laws is not the answer. Lack of financial security is the problem, and all that goes with it. Please stop doing what we are doing, so we stop getting what we are getting. Let’s put a stop to the current state of affairs. Everything I have written here, is a glimpse of what I have observed. Unfortunately, I don’t have many solutions to offer, sorry. Political discussions with my contemporaries don’t happen. Everyone’s feelings get hurt, they stomp off, end of discussion. They are emulating what our leaders are doing. The dialogue needs to be started, so options are thought of and the best options given a chance to work. Please, let’s begin talking.

New York University has a serious problem with civic engagement and voter turnout. If the University is truly committed to student enfranchisement, NYU must designate Election Day a University Holiday. Currently, the NYU Law School, Columbia University, Fordham University, and Barnard College all designate Election Day as a holiday. Students should not be forced to balance school, work, and family in order to exercise their right to vote. This policy would help to address many of the issues in voter turnout which the University currently faces. According to a 2016 Tufts University report, New York University's voter turnout rate lags behind the institutional average by 2.6% and behind all private research institutions by 5.3%. Election Day off would have an immediate impact on accessibility, and it would meaningfully prioritize voting and civic engagement on-campus. NYU is among the largest private universities in the country. According to the 2018 student fact sheet, 12,022 undergraduate students are permanent residents of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. This means that 45% of the undergraduate student body lives in proximity to their voting districts and would be immediately impacted by the passage of this resolution. Even more students from elsewhere in the United States choose to register in New York during their undergraduate career. We must come together as a community and urge President Andrew Hamilton to publicly support the University Senate Resolution to Designate Election Day as a University Holiday.

The issue with Gun Violence has gotten out of control and we believe this program will help reduce the numbers drastically. The need for the Prevention of these crimes has become undeniable and we have conducted our own research to get us to the point we could design a program able to make a change. The commitment to change has to come from the individuals in the program and then we can proceed with the transformation. Our research leads us to believe that we must guide each person through the process and take the responsibility to make sure each one makes it through successfully. Obstacles in life always jump up and distract those in the process of changing so it's imperative that we anticipate these things and be there with the necessary adjustments needed to complete their change. Graduating them to a good paying job, life skills and a stable place for them to live and grow will show them they have already made the change from the type of people who would throw it all away to the ones that think things through and value what they have to lose. This is how we create better members of society is from making them proud to be a part of this society. This is how we will Save Our Streets, we must challenge everyone to do their part in making this work. Therefore we are initiating this challenge to everyone in the community from business owners and our corporate community to the volunteers and mentors who plan to be more hands on with the members of our program. We believe it will take a village to solve this matter and we must be committed to our community to change it. Written by: Steven Lamar

If you have kids in high school, they’ve probably read Orwell’s 1984. But now, they’ll get the chance to live in a real-world tech dystopia. Tech startups are quietly selling facial recognition services to high schools across the country. And the potential danger for students, especially students of color, is too troubling to just sit idly by. Facial recognition in schools also gives administrators the unprecedented ability to track and monitor students in real time, during some of the most formative years of their lives. What’s worse: as minors, students may not have any legal recourse to protect themselves from the racial flaws within facial recognition systems.

The Gateway doesn’t prepare students for the real world or post secondary education.

If he is allowed to be honored at the State of the Union as he walks in and is announced, and then gives the speech, as President, as if he has not been impeached by the House of Representatives, or as if nothing has happened, it would make a mockery of the event! He and the Senate have already made a mockery of our Constitution and our Democracy! Call The Speaker, Nancy Pelosi to say No State of the Union! 206-508-4051

Taxpayer money is being wasted. The homeless black and white man are forgotten, forced into deplorable situations, and told by the shelter board we are screwed and not a priority. The taxpayer is paying for a system that can change and we can be in jobs, out of the shelter system faster, and not even in subsidized housing, not in section 8, not in assisted living, but in our own homes. We do not have to stand by, wasting hard earned taxpayer dollars, and just accept the norm and say things cant change, we are screwed. Things can change. Perceptions of those forgotten and left behind can be challenged. Help can be obtained. We will not be silent any longer.

Trump's "Deal of the Century" is a direct attack on the rights of the Palestinian people, one that would not be possible without Christians United for Israel (CUFI), the largest Israel lobby in the US. CUFI has spent over a decade laying the groundwork for these policies. With unyielding support for U.S. military funding to Israel, anti-BDS legislation, and settlement expansion, CUFI has been moving towards this moment since its inception. It is no surprise that CUFI's founder, John Hagee, a frequent guest to the White House over the past 4 years, attended Trump's announcement. With over 8 million members and consistent presence on Capital Hill, CUFI is intimately involved in strengthening conservative backing for Israel. Trump’s shameful attempts at suppressing Palestinian freedom would not be possible without them. We cannot allow CUFI’s influence to go unchallenged! Join me now in taking back our Christian Voice!

The CDC reported in 2014 that people of color are more likely than whites to accidentally drown. In fact African Americans are likely to drown at a rate of 10X more frequently than whites. This is a shocking statistic and the reason for this I believe is lack of access to municipal pools. The 911 students at Encina are 81% minority and 93% are economically disadvantaged. They must endure the hot summers of Sacramento and there are few public pools in the vicinity. I presented this information to the Encina School Site Council in November, 2016. I thought that they would see how important a school site pool would be. I was so happy when Measure P passed. I assumed the district would provide a necessary provision. Then I saw that a track and field turf with stadium bleachers had been prioritized and was surprised that this superseded the need for a pool. The average temperature in Sacramento in July is 94 degrees and the nearby rivers are enticing. The American and Sacramento Rivers are dangerous, but attractive to swim in on hot days. On June 24 2018, an Encina Student, Mohammed Mounir Kamal, aged 17, accidentally drowned in the Sacramento River when he was on a picnic with his family. This sad tragedy should be our wake up call. Studies have shown the risk of drowning can be ameliorated by providing safe swimming sites, according to the author of “Contested Waters-A Social History of Swimming Pools in America” Prof. Jeff Wiltse, 2007. Moreover, swimming is a California State Teaching Standard. Having a pool on a school site underscores the importance of knowing this skill. A pool on campus supports four sports; Competitive Swimming, Diving, Synchronized Swimming and Water Polo. The Mission Oaks Park and Recreation District which serves the area has no pool either. Dan Barton, the Director has said he is open to operating the Encina pool over the summer. There are many models for this. For example in West Sacramento, The Parks and Recreation District has a contract with the Washington Unified School District to operate the pool during summertime at River City High School. It is called a Mixed Use pool. The approximate cost for a pool is $7 million. Encina had a winning swim team in 1991 and the SJUSD filled in the pool with dirt and asked the students to practice at Sac State. This proved to be too much of an inconvenience and the team disbanded soon after. Seven other SJUSD high school sites have pools so please consider giving these needy students a pool. A pool on campus supports four sports: Competitive Swimming, Synchronized Swimming, Water Polo and Diving. Swimming is unlike any other sport; it is a life saving skill.

Gabby is the most hardworking, talented, brave person I know. As a senior in High School, she is amazing. She deserves to be there y'all

I am a community activist within the Talladega Community. I have been communicating with parents and those who are concerned about our school system, but because for the last 3 months the Talladega Board of Education has displayed lack of leadership. They have been the topic in the local new paper, The Daily Home. We have parents that attended board meetings expressing their concerns about The Talladega Board and the Superintendent being accused of "racism". Nevertheless, we now have a parent who has a taping of the superintendent talking about black teachers and members of the Talladega School System Board.

The very integrity of the United States and the Presidency are at stake. Our core values are being challenged and wrong is wrong. Period.