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Texas Public Information Act: A reflection

After getting the data i needed from two schools and never hearing back from De Zavala Elementary, I feel like there’s more i could have done.

Maybe I was to nice or didn’t pester enough but the process of getting information/data you want from the Texas Public Information Act or probably anyone state’s/federal information act is harder than I thought.

First off, I’m not entirely sure that most school administrations know what it is or care. When I originally called Diamond Hill Elementary, most of the people didn’t know what i was talking about till i talked to their secretary and then at the point i had to explain myself carefully.

I guess I can understand the need to be protective over documents that they feel is personal and no one’s business but it is eye opening how this process works. 

Going forward, as a potential journalist, I know I’ll have to do this again and next time I’ll be sure to be more on it without trying to step on any toes.

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Texas Public Information Act: A pain

After submitting my letters to each school individually, It was quiet a debate how long i should wait for a response till i had to contact the person again an I’m wondering if i took to long. 

S.S Dillow Elementary got back to me fairly quick. After talking to their principle and talking to their secretary on the phone, i got what i wanted that day.

From S.S Dillow, with an enrollment of 557, the school currently has no one with an Vaccine Exemption Affidavit. I know, kind of anti climatic right?

In all honestly, it kind of threw me off. But i suppose it wasn’t too surprising. 

The next one to get back to me was Diamond Hill Elementary. They were a little annoying because at first I felt like I was brushed off at first till i called and explained what I was doing and looking for. I think the whole “I’m a TCU student and my professor is a lawyer” kind of showed them i meant business, really hope i did not rub them the wrong way. 

Regarding their school, they had an enrollment of 667 and one person with an Vaccine Exemption Affidavit. Which was something.

The most irritating one to me was De Zavala Elementary school, I’ve called them multiple times and have gotten multiple emails to email and I’ve gotten nothing. But it’s kind of not surprising to me. 

I’m not trying to make assumptions but when I called their school, their phone service wasn’t up to par. It was very static like and very bad quality. 

We’ll see once i call them again. 

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Letters for the Texas Public Information Act

In an attempt to get the ball rolling on obtaining the data we need for class, Professor Stewart showed us the website foift.org. The website contain letter templates in it’s resource category to help us draft official letters to the schools we were assigned to.

To make things easier, I ended up just attaching my letters in an email to each school. Which looked like this 

The website gives a perfect way to say what you need to say to be professional and i followed it very heavily. But near the end I added the “To clarify etc.” part because i just felt like i didn’t want to step on anyone’s hands.

I know asking for these records can get some what personal and I just wanted to assure them that I was only looking for a number and not any names.

I originally sent the emails to the principles of each school, but after thinking about it i called each school and got the email for their secretary. 

Stay tuned!

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Texas public information act: the beginning

So for my law and ethics class, my professor Daxton Stewart, has us doing a class project that requires us to request records from elementary schools about students who submitted a Vaccine Exemption Affidavit form this past school year and number of students currently enrolled.

The schools will all be within the FWISD district and is spilt up between us. I have been given De Zavala, Diamond Hill, and S.S. Dillow.

Now, originally this seemed to me like how could we do this? These are records within the schools that seem private and unattainable. But as we learned in class that is not the case.

In order to keep government transparent, every state has passed it's own form of an act where citizens can request and are guaranteed government information. Which to me is really cool, as I'm already nosie as it is.

So i will sending a letter and calling the schools to get the process started. And you guys will be going with me on this journey. Im pretty positive we'll find some interesting stuff

Now, while this is cool. Professor Stewart has already warned us that some people might fight back about even asking and all. But it's within our constitutional right and our taxes paid for those. So we have a right to see those. I doubt this will get really bad but you never know. It's a good thing our professor is also a lawyer.

Stay tuned!

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Blog Post #4: Pro-Gamer is a fighter

Photo Credit:knowtechie.com

In August 2015, Michael Begums entered the “Absolute Battle 6 Tournament,” a competitive video game tournament held in Dallas, Texas where players from all over the United States come to compete. The tournament features popular fighting games like “Street Fighter”, “Mortal Kombat” and “Super Smash Brothers.” Begums would end up placing 5th  in his favorite game “Street Fighter”, his highest rank in his pro-gamer career. Oh yeah, did I mention Begums has arthrogryposis?

Arthrogryposis is a condition where a child is born with joint contractures. Which means the joints don’t move and are struck in one place due to the muscles being weak or missing. Begums, who goes by BrolyLegs online and for tournaments, can’t hold a controller with his hands or even move a joystick. He actually plays with his face, using his tongue to press buttons, something he said his been doing since he was little.

“Ever since I was 2, my mom would buy me the latest video games,” he said. “It was the one thing I could actually do. It was a great feeling to use my brain at an early age.  Even my grandfather was impressed.” Begum is ranked the #1 player online in the world with his favorite character, Chun-Li. But if asked for advice on how he overcame his disability, all he does is nod and say “Get Good.”

This story does make me smile, but the best part of all this is it avoids the whole “Supercrip” stories we were taught in class. Yes, he is doing things people would see has great and inspiring, but Begum is just happy to play and meet great people who don’t see him as a person defined by his condition, but as another player. Only difference is this player plays better with his face then most people do with their hands.With that being said, it does irate me a little when the media only refers to him a disabled. This is classic journalism 101.

For me, this hits close to home. I have two people with some type of disability in my household. My cousin Tony is partly blinded, only having sight in one eye, and my younger brother, has only six fingers. Yet, both of them still kick my butt at our favorite game “Super Smash Bros.”  Both them don’t see themselves as anything special, just players who can beat anyone they meet. My brother has even competed in tournaments, going as far as the semi-finals. My favorite part is what Begum said, people don’t see my brother as someone who is disabled, they only see him as another player who they want to beat.

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Blog Post #3: US Women’s soccer team fights for equality

Photo Credit: thenation.com

On Thursday, March 31, 2016, the U.S Women’s National Soccer Team took on their biggest challenge yet. Now, after winning three world championships, four Olympic gold medals, and staying ranked as the number one team in the whole world, who could there be left to face? Well, try the U.S Soccer Federation.

Five players from the women’s national team, co-captains Carli Lloyd and Becky Sauerbrunn; midfielder Megan Rapinoe; forward Alex Morgan and goalie Hope Solo, have filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission accusing the U.S Soccer Federation of wage discrimination.“The [men] get paid more to just show up than we get paid to win major championships,’ Solo said. “We continue to be told we should grateful jut to have the opportunity to play professional soccer, to get paid for doing it.” The women earn $1,350 for winning, while the men receive $9,375 if they win. But the men even receive $5,000 just for losing, while the women don’t even get an incentive if they lose or tie. It doesn’t help that the women are in the news for lawsuits more than winning. A study done in 2015 showed that “Sportscenter”, a popular highlight reel show for ESPN, used only their 2 percent of their broadcast to cover the women’s sports. 

See, I grew up raised by four girls. And if I said something like “you throw like a girl” or similar, I told I would get a beating. So I did my best to be fair. But come to my surprise when Joslyn Dalton comes to class and speaks about her time at ESPN W, I’m shocked. Here I’ve been watching ESPN daily since I was 13 and I’d never heard of ESPN W. At TCU, I’d pride myself that I would rather watch the women’s basketball team for the sole purpose that they are better and they won. But I felt like a hypocrite because even though I’d watch and support women’s sports, I didn’t know of ESPN W.

Now, no one is saying this is a feminist movement, but I believe this is. Feminism is “the theory that women should have rights equal to those of men, in political, economic, or social status.” And that’s what this is. These soccer players are fighting for equal pay, and they should be. There is no reason why the best team in the world should be treated like second ranked team with bad playing fields and lower wages. If the team is performing better than their male counterparts, why are they still losing for equality? The team is the leading role model for young girls out there, and they are doing their best to fight for what is right.

Photo Credit:fivethirtyeight.com

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Blog Post #2: Derrick Gordon to become first openly gay player in Men‘s NCAA Tournament

Photo Credit: usatoday.

On Saturday, March 12, 2016, The Seton Hall University Men’s Basketball Team did something they haven’t done since 1993, win the Big East Tournament. By winning the tournament, they received an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, known as “March Madness”, for the first since 2006. But aside from the story of the team’s accomplishments, one player is making history in a way no has. His name is Derrick Gordon.

After originally playing for two different schools (Western Kentucky, UMass), Gordon made history in April 2014 for announcing he was gay and becoming the first openly gay athlete in NCAA Division I Men’s basketball. “I just didn’t want to hide anymore,” said Gordon. “I didn’t want to have to lie.” After his announcement as a member of UMass, he transferred to Seton Hall. He mentions how he transferred because he didn’t like how his coach at UMass was using him in basketball, but notes that during the process, many school didn’t want him because he was the ”Gay guy.”  And how he felt exiled from the game, and school all because of his sexuality. For someone almost not being able do something their passionate about just cause of who they are downright wrong. In a way, I can relate.

In high school, my sexuality was questioned often by my football coaches and teammates because I was in band and color guard. They viewed band as less of a macho thing then football, and called color guard gay because it involved flags, dancing and was full of girl. Even after I explained that I had been in band my whole life, and was in guard to spend more time with my girlfriend, I was still made fun of.  My leadership skills, playing skills, along with my sexuality, were questioned.

At the end of all this, I greatly applaud Gordon for his actions. Nowadays, there is this gender fault line where people can’t associate a gay male as an athlete. People come to assume that gay men are just flamboyant, colorful feminized men who are into musicals and stuff. They can’t see a 24-year old man who can slam a basketball and play rough defense. Honestly thought, my favorite part in all this is Gordon is shattering this misbelief that ”gays are a distraction.”

“His everything this team needed,” said teammate Khadeen Carrington.

“He’s so mature and he’s been through a lot and matured along the way,” said head coach Kevin Willard. “He’s really a calming presence for a group that is at times extremely emotional.” Gordon continues to changes this label that media outlets and people everywhere are putting on him, from a “gay player” to a “winner.”

Photo Credit: foxsports.com

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Blog post #1: Hermione Granger to be played by Black Actress

photo credit: heraldscotland

In December 2014, J.K Rowling announced that there will be a Harry Potter play, to continue on the story. The two-part play titled “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” will open on July 30 2016, and star Jamie Park, Paul Thornley and Norma Dumezweni as an older Harry, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger. With all the excitement, what is there to complain about? Well, as with every movie/play casting choice, people will complain about a casting or two. In this case, the compliant is about Dumezweni, an English actress who is black.

In all of the movie installments, Granger is played English actress Emma Watson, who is white. With Watson’s portrayal of Granger lasting for 10 years on the big screen, audiences around the world grew accustomed to her being white. Thus, with a different color choice being chosen, a racial fault line appeared between those who saw this as a great thing and those who saw it has a dumb move. Those who were displeased, took to Twitter to voice their opinions

https://twitter.com/Swiftie_Parker/status/678988169849753600

https://twitter.com/Spade1991/status/679001293721964544

https://twitter.com/OurFolkChannel/status/679002786097266688

In all the Twitter backlash, Rowling herself voiced her opinion. “Canon: brown eyes, frizzy hair and very clever.”, the author said in a tweet. “White was never specified” Matthew Lewis, who played Longbottom in the movie with brown, pointed out” Neville Longbottom was blonde”, in a tweet. “I really don’t care.Good luck to her!”, the actor said. Eventually watson showed her support by tweeting “Can’ wait to see Noma Dumezweni as Herminone on stage this year.”

photo credit: bbc.com

As i support Dumezweni,I’m taken back to a memory during the second grade. I was at school Halloween party and dressed up as Goku, the main character from a TV show called Dragon Ball. Yet even though i was at a school event, i got severely harassed by a group of students and a parent all because Goku was drawn as a white character. Although the writer is Japanese and the character is from another planet, i was told i couldn’t be this character i loved because my skin was brown.

photo credit:imdb.com

Beside the racial fault line in this story, I’m taken back to a PowerPoint of Media Representation. How originally African Americans and Hispanics could only play lazy works, servants, Latin lovers, and thieves who wore sombreros in movies and on TV. There are times where I can just get this stereotype that people with power, like superheros or powerful wizards can only be played by whites. It’s upsetting to think about, but hopefully this isn’t a norm. That the actors chosen for these roles are chosen cause of their acting ability and not their skin color.

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