I as well as many other students think that it is unfair to us that the Mackenzie Complex and the Main Gate Complexes no longer have cleaners while all of the other buildings have cleaners. I have gone to this school for 3 years now and this is the first semester that I have had to clean my own bathroom. I as well as the other students think that if you are going to cut our cleaners then you should reduce the amount that we have to pay to go to Alfred State.

Inflating tuition, inflating debt and inflating administrative pockets According to a study by The Institute for Policy Studies [IPS] institutions with higher paid presidents showed a correlation to declining permanent faculty, greater than national average student loan debt increases, and non-benefited part-time faculty grew significantly faster under these inflated administrations. The most inflated administrative salary institutions boasted twice as much spending on administrative salaries as funding for student scholarships! Our taxes should fund the education of the population. The expensive board-members, presidents, principals, and superintendents have profited for too long cutting funds by decreasing scholarships, limiting offered classes and extra-curricular and siphoning money away from the faculty. If the highest paid coach, principal, president, board-member was limited to the 95th highest percentile salary of faculty members, either faculty wages must increase or administrative bodies must allocate their salaries elsewhere. The Huffington Post reported numerous public college presidents take home over 500,000 up to millions a year in salary; the equivalent of 50 student's tuition or 8 full time faculty.

There have been to many incidents where dogs have been severely injured or killed while performing the duties of protecting their home. In some cases, non-reactive dogs have been killed as well. A dog by the name Kilo Stray "Papa Bear" was recently tased and euthanized because officers entered a home and would not let the responsible adult put him away. This petition calls upon the Senate to pass a law that states if there are posted signs at all entries saying that there are dogs inside, officers are required to bring a person from the animal control department to safely restrain any dogs, so the officers may focus on executing their duties without hurting any human companions in the process.

In 2012, the State suspended the voter-elected Board of Trustees of City College of San Francisco, even though the Board passed a balanced budget and an accreditation plan that is now mostly completed. Decisions are now made in back rooms without public oversight, resulting in sky-rocketing administrators' salaries. It's time to put the public back in control of City College and other California Community Colleges.

The U.S. Senate just voted 79-18 to advance Senate Joint Resolution 19, the Democracy for All constitutional amendment that would overturn Citizens United, to a vote on Thursday! This is a momentous opportunity to get Senators on record whether or not they think money is speech. SJR 19 would make history if a majority of the Senate votes for it, even if it doesn’t get the 2/3 needed to pass. Plus, it will show exactly which senators stand with voters -- and which stand with the wealthy interests who want to buy elections with unlimited money. Sign the petition thanking Senators Boxer and Feinstein for co-sponsoring and urging them to fight for it now.

My niece Gabriela just transferred to Science Park H.S. It's a great opportunity she couldn't miss. Unfortunately she lives about 3 miles from the school and her parents can't take her. The school offers free tickets to take NJTransit but family members don't feel safe enough letting this 7th grade girl going by herself. Children safety should be a big priority in the city of Newark, especially with so many sex offenders living in this city. There are hundreds of other parents struggling with the same issue.

I am tired of children who bully ASD children getting slaps on the wrists. These are hate crimes and should be treated as such.

I grew up in NYC and saw homeless people living on the streets. As a child I wondered, why don't we give them a home? As an adult I know that we have the answers, but first, we need to pass a bill that acknowledges that 'shelter is a basic human right.'

An online news show called The Undercurrent obtained audio from the secretive Koch brothers-sponsored conference in June where a series of speeches were made by Charles Koch and close associates outlining their repugnant and extreme philosophy of government. Quotes from those speeches, which McConnell referred to as “inspiring”, conference include: Richard Fink, the Kochs’ top political strategist, said that when he sees someone “on the street” he says, “Get off your ass, and work hard like we did.” Multiple Koch associates made comparisons throughout the conference between liberals and Hitler, Mao, Stalin, Lenin, North Korea, and suicide bombers. Fink said that “Yeah, we want to decrease regulations. Why? It’s because we can make more profit, OK? Yeah, cut government spending so we don’t have to pay so much taxes,” said Fink. “There’s truth in that, you all know, because we’re in the 30 percent of the freedom fighters.” Dr. Will Ruger, the vice president of research and policy of Charles Koch Institute, described their theory of an ideal government: “Government is thus limited to a small, but absolutely critical number of tasks, basically keeping our neighborhoods and cities safe from crime, defending our country from those who might violate our national territories, our commerce at sea, and providing justice in a fair and apolitical -- political court system.” In other words, police, military, and a criminal system- but no Social Security or Medicare, no student loans or public schools, no food or water safety rules, no publicly owned roads or bridges. Fink said about workers getting minimum wage that they are “being paid more than their value-added." If you are as offended as we are that Mitch McConnell is “inspired” by all this, join us in signing this petition.

The citizens of Shreveport, LA would like to opt out of water fluoridation. • The state Legislature approved and Gov. Bobby Jindal recently signed into law Act 761, that requires Louisiana public water systems that serve 5,000 or more customers to add fluoride to drinking water. • Act 761 states that utilities are not required to move ahead with fluoridation unless the state identifies sufficient funds to cover those costs. • The new law also allows residents to opt out of fluoridation through a petition signed by at least 15 percent of registered voters and a municipal election. What is Water Fluoridation? “When most people hear the word fluoride, they generally think of their teeth and their dentist. Fluoride, after all, is added to some public water systems and many dental products for the purpose of preventing cavities. Less well known is that fluoride is a highly toxic compound, a major industrial air pollutant, a key ingredient in some pesticides and fumigants, the cause of a tooth defect that currently impacts over 40% of American teenagers, and the cause of a devastating bone disease that impacts millions of people throughout the world. For too long, the toxicity of fluoride compounds has been overlooked by the public health and environmental communities. The Fluoride Action Network (FAN) was founded in 2000 to remedy this imbalance.” - FAN (Fluoride Action Network) http://fluoridealert.org/about/ Water fluoridation is the practice of adding industrial-grade fluoride chemicals to water for the purpose of preventing tooth decay. - FAN (Fluoride Action Network). Why is it bad? According to fluoridealert.com, yes I’m using them again, there are three main reason why we should opt out of water fluoridation. Reason #1: Fluoridation Is an Outdated Form of Mass Medication Unlike all other water treatment processes, fluoridation does not treat the water itself, but the person consuming it. The Food & Drug Administration accepts that fluoride is a drug, not a nutrient, when used to prevent disease. By definition, therefore, fluoridating water is a form of medication. This is why most western European nations have rejected the practice — because, in their view, the public water supply is not an appropriate place to be adding drugs, particularly when fluoride is readily available for individual use in the form of toothpaste. Reason #2: Fluoridation Is Unnecessary and Ineffective The most obvious reason to end fluoridation is that it is now known that fluoride’s main benefit comes from topical contact with the teeth, not from ingestion. Even the CDC’s Oral Health Division now acknowledges this. There is simply no need, therefore, to swallow fluoride, whether in the water, toothpaste, or any other form. Further, despite early claims that fluoridated water would reduce cavities by 65%, modern large-scale studies show no consistent or meaningful difference in the cavity rates of fluoridated and non-fluoridated areas. Reason #3: Fluoridation Is Not a Safe Practice The most important reason to end fluoridation is that it is simply not a safe practice, particularly for those who have health conditions that render them vulnerable to fluoride’s toxic effects. First, there is no dispute that fluoridation is causing millions of children to develop dental fluorosis, a discoloration of the teeth that is caused by excessive fluoride intake. Scientists from the Centers for Disease Control have even acknowledged that fluoridation is causing “cosmetically objectionable” fluorosis on children’s front teeth–an effect that can cause children embarrassment and anxiety at an age when physical appearance is the single most important predictor of self-esteem. Second, it is known that fluoridated water caused severe bone disease in dialysis patients up until the late 1970s (prior to dialysis units filtering fluoride). While dialysis units now filter out the fluoride, research shows that current fluoride exposures are still resulting in dangerously high bone fluoride levels in dialysis patients and patients with other advanced forms of kidney disease. It is unethical to compromise the health of some members in a population to obtain a purported benefit for another — particularly in the absence of these vulnerable members’ knowing consent. And, finally, a growing body of evidence reasonably indicates that fluoridated water, in addition to other sources of daily fluoride exposure, can cause or contribute to a range of serious effects, including arthritis, damage to the developing brain, reduced thyroid function, and possibly osteosarcoma (bone cancer) in adolescent males.

I've talked to a surprising amount of CSUS students who are in the same boat as me this semester and this petition is our chance to do something about it. It's imperative that we enroll in SWRK 125A this semester, but the class is sadly full. - Don’t want to wait another semester or year for classes you need? - Don’t have money for an extra year at CSUS because you can’t get the classes you want? - Do you want to enroll in SWRK 125A for the Fall 2014 Semester? If I can get enough votes, I will deliver this petition to the Dean as well as the Chair of Social Work. Thanks for your time!

In February, the Los Angeles City Council voted historically in 10-0 vote to draft new rules to stop fracking and toxic drilling techniques in Los Angeles - BUT now we need to officially adopt the law! Fracking and other extreme oil-production methods in Los Angeles and Orange County use dangerous chemicals, including known carcinogens and toxins that are linked to birth defects, developmental problems in children, and can cause harm to the heart, liver, brain, immune, and respiratory systems. Governor Brown has failed to protect Californians. Last year he signed a bad bill into law that will green-light more fracking in our state and could allow oil and gas companies to bypass basic environmental review. Since Governor Brown has failed to act, cities like Los Angeles are stepping up to protect residents. Across the city, we are already seeing health impacts, property damage and dangerous blowouts. L.A. residents are in the line of fire when it comes to fracking and the hazardous activities related to it and the oil industry is working to bring a massive opposition to the next fracking vote. Your Councilmembers need to hear from you now. Sign the petition to tell L.A. City Councilmembers and Mayor Garcetti to support the motion to pass a moratorium on fracking in L.A.