Overcoming fears: Of violence and of a bag ban
Phoenix on the rise: College students must overcome fear
A school campus should be a haven of unquestionable and unbreachable safety. For California college students in the past year, that has not been the case. From November’s mass stabbing at UC Merced to June’s murder-suicide at UCLA, to the slayings of UC Berkeley students in Bangladesh and Nice, France, unthinkable acts of violence at home and abroad have spread institutionalized fear across California college campuses.
This fear is not just counterproductive; it is debilitating.
This fear influences what students are taught they can do in the future and the manner in which they should move through life. Instead of being taught to take the world in their hands and shape it, students are being taught how to shield themselves from the world and to fear it. Those fears are encapsulated in three simple words: Run. Hide. Fight.
For students carrying textbooks with white knuckles, this is good advice.
Run as fast as you can. Run head-first toward your future, even when the world implores you to retreat.
Do not hide your curiosity or sense of adventure because you’re told it will kill you. It won’t. Better advice is to never, ever hide.
But most of all, you must fight – as hard as you can and with all you have against the notion that many would drill into your heads that the world is only getting worse.
This world is yours to create. When bad things happen, gather up the ashes and start building.
Elizabeth Rowan works for the Center for Human Services in Stanislaus County
Will it be plastic or paper at the store?
Proposition 67, the California Plastic Bag Ban Referendum, is pretty easy to figure out. Basically, there are three parts to referendum to uphold the law that banned single-use plastic bags. First, large grocery stores and pharmacies are prohibited from providing plastic, single-use carryout bags; small grocery stores, convenience stores and liquor stores will have to follow suit the following year.
Second, customers who can afford it will be charged 10 cents per paper bag.
Third, it provides $2 million to California plastic bag manufacturers to help the industry transition to making durable, multiuse, recycled plastic bags.
Anyone can look at vacant lots or along roadsides and see plastic bags caught on shrubbery, littering our landscape and blowing in the wind. These plastic bags eventually end up in our drains, aqueducts and rivers, polluting our waterways and harming marine life. Chalk that up as a big “Yes” on Proposition 67.
The additional 10-cent fee for a paper bag can be avoided by bringing your own bags. In some areas, these bags are already popular. They cost about 99 cents and usually contain some sort of message like, “Save Our Planet.” You can even make your own bags in a few minutes by sewing together worn-out jeans, heavy shirts or other materials. Chalk up another reason to vote “Yes” on Proposition 67.
Finally, the $2 million in governmental incentives to help the plastic bag industry transition helps everyone. The choice is easy. Bring your own cloth bag or say, “paper, please” and pay the dime.
Talib Abdul-Khabir is a Life Academy teacher and Modesto resident.
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This story was originally published August 14, 2016 at 7:19 AM with the headline "Overcoming fears: Of violence and of a bag ban."