The University of Tennessee and Aramark are proposing that all students be forced to purchase a $300 Dining Dollars meal plan, including students that do not use dining facilities or even live on-campus. AGAIN. Even after student outrage at the proposal in Fall 2013 caused it to be taken off the table, the administration and Aramark are attempting to pass the proposal through the Board of Trustees with the mandatory meal plan component still intact.

I did a research paper on the links between animal abuse and human abuse and found through my research that animal abuse will almost always lead to human abuse. Many domestic violence, rape, homicide, and other human abuse cases first started with animal abuse. Many interviews of said criminals said they confessed to starting with animal abuse before starting human abuse. If we as a country are allowing these abuses outlined in this petition to happen in our own communities on a daily basis, what does that say about us? I also just have a great love for animals and don't understand the extent to which we, as a country, have let these problems get so out of hand. Please Don't Shop, Adopt!

Keelin, Christina, and I are working to end the injustices of childhood poverty. This starts by creating a new standard for the poverty line, so that it better reflects the cost of living today.

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler has proved he is running the FCC totally at the beck and call of the big telecom industry he once worked for. The citizens of the USA need and deserve a free and unfettered Internet. Net neutrality is THE free speech issue of this moment in US history.

Principals and teachers who recently administered Pearson-developed Common Core-related tests in New York have asserted that they are barred from speaking about the test content and its implications for student success because of “gag orders” written into the testing contracts. These gag orders and the lack of transparency are fueling the growing distrust and backlash among parents, students and educators in the United States about whether the current testing protocols and testing fixation are in the best interests of children. When parents aren’t allowed to know what is on their children’s tests, and when educators have no voice in how assessments are created, and are forbidden from raising legitimate concerns about the assessments’ quality or from talking to parents about the these concerns, Pearson not only increases distrust of testing but also denies children the rich learning experience they deserve. Parents, students and teachers need assessments that accurately measure student performance through questions that are grade-appropriate and aligned with state standards—especially since standardized tests have increasingly life-altering consequences for students and teachers. By including gag orders in contracts, Pearson is silencing the very stakeholders the company needs to engage with. Poll after poll makes clear that parents overwhelmingly trust educators over all others to do what is best for their children—educators’ voices, concerns and input should be included in the creation and application of these assessments. (Read the full letter the AFT delivered to Pearson's board of directors here: http://www.aft.org/pdfs/press/ltr_Randi-Pearson042414.pdf)

PEOPLE NEED TO PROTECT THEMSELVES!.. I don't care if it is a right to carry guns.. IF THERE ARE GUNS AROUND..MY FAMILY AND I WILL N O T! BE THERE! nor will sane friends and family either.

Physician assisted suicide is when the physician prescribes the patient a lethal medication and the patient takes the medication with the means of intentionally ending his/her life. This is an act of killing an individual and needs to be stopped. A physician's role is to help heal their patient and not help kill their patient.

I believe true health starts with nutrition.

Antibiotics are meant to be prescribed by medical professionals, in controlled doses. But right now, eighty percent of antibiotics are used on farms, and the bulk of that on healthy animals, administered through the animals’ feed. It’s done to promote growth and prevent illness, allowing animals to be kept in confined spaces that fall short on cleanliness. This overuse and misuse of antibiotics contributes to the growing prevalence of antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria, making it harder and harder to treat infections and save lives. Every year, 23,000 people die from infections caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Public Health Association, the Infectious Diseases Society of America and other leading medical groups all warn that the routine use of antibiotics in food animals presents a serious and growing threat to human health. President Obama’s administration can take action to ban the overuse and misuse of antibiotics on factory farms. But to convince them to act, we need to raise the voices of medical professionals all across the country.

I am a mother and I cant stand any more children or babies being put into the hands of their biological parents just to die!!!

I have been street harassed my entire life, and in 2005 I co-founded an organization called Hollaback! to end street harassment globally. We've collected 5,000 stories of harassment, and time and time again we hear from traumatized survivors that when they were harassed, bystanders tended to look away and pretend it wasn't happening. This deepened their trauma, leading to anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder. We've got to stop pretending that street harassment is normal; it's up to us to put a stop to it.

Without a reasonable wage people cannot work themselves out of poverty. Eventually more and more people will become homeless if things do not change. Lack of employment or underemployment are some main reasons crimes are committed according to the US Department of Corrections.