Since the country is feeling the effects of the economic crisis or whatever you can come up with to describe the current situation, the economy is affecting what many Americans love the most, ok maybe behind family and friends: sports.
One of the biggest sports in the U.S., Nascar, is struggling in the economy because many drivers and teams are having trouble staying afloat with high fuel prices and the daily cost of having a team being able to compete each season.
Over the summer a story in Sports Illustrated covered a high school coach and the team he has been with for years. Bob Cimmino tried to have the school district continue to keep funding athletics but the school board disagreed, leaving Cimmino and others to try and raise enough money to fund the athletic program.
Even the three universities in the state of Arizona all have to cut their budgets because of the economy and the debt that the state is currently in. Back in July UA President Robert Shelton talked about the UA needing to cut the budget by more than $20 million. Because of this it will be interesting to see how the athletic department continues to operate even during these tough times. The football team's performance so far could bring in extra revenue for the athletic department instead of just relying on men's basketball to be the main producer of revenue.
Unfortunately I could not find the story I was looking for when writing this blog. In it the article described how some cities including Phoenix cutting some funding for kid's sports and only taking care of the trees on its main streets in the city.
It's a sad thing to see something like this take place because during my younger years sports were a constant theme each and every year. Without them, I could not even begin to think what I would have been doing during the hours of practice and games played. Hopefully these budget cuts don't hurt those kids looking to get involved in something such as sports instead of being left with nothing.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Monday, October 13, 2008
Economy preventing cities from going greener and more tidbits
With all of the focus on the stock market lately, the news seems to be covering three things over and over again: the presidential race, the economy and the war in Iraq and Afghanistan.
So for this blog I've decided to do two things. First I'll talk about a local issue or two with the economy affecting something around Tucson. And secondly I'll finish up with some links and descriptions to stories about the crisis we are in. It's better to be informed about an issue that I myself have much to learn about so hopefully this links will provide details that are interesting and informative.
One story I found that will affect Tucsonans is how the economy is preventing the city from reaching goals set back in 2006 that involve slowing the growth of emissions and greenhouse gases. The Arizona Daily Star has a Q&A describing some main details such as how much greenhouse gases have risen along with the increasing population and how using types of transportation such as carpooling and buses help reduce emissions.
The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) is a non-profit community of leaders that according to their site "work to make green buildings available to everyone within a generation." The site lists links to things such as learning how to certify your building as being green and where to find more information on helping make buildings greener. Just last month the USGBC announced that 13 people are receiving grants that total $2 million. The grants people received money for include a green roof energy calculator, transportation energy intensity index and quantifying the impact of daylight and electric lighting on student alertness, performance, and well-being in K-12 schools.
So another question to ask is how you as a person contribute to increasing greenhouse gases. Do you drive a car everyday or do you carpool or ride the bus? Do you use a lot of items that require electricity such as computers, televisions, home lighting, etc? Do you recycle or just throw everything in the garbage can? These are just some of the questions needed to be asked if you want to make an impact on a personal basis. After that other changes can be made on a larger scale such as to you home or office building which can also help take down emissions in your area.
Other tidbits:
Check out this story on the national debt clock in New York. On Saturday the debt was listed at $10,150,603,734,720. Yikes! Think about you and your family for a second when you hear this: every family in America has a share of the debt at over $86,000. The worst part about the clock is that it ran out of digits on the display. But don't worry because a new one should be put in by next year that can count up to a quadrillion dollars!
Interested in where all of the lost money on the stock market went? Check this out. This article gives a good insight for those who don't know what exactly happens to the money on the stock market when it drops, such as in the past week or two.
Wonder how much of an impact you as a person have on the economy? Read this. In it is a section detailing some interesting facts and information about the U.S. and world economy. One interesting fact is that consumer spending accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity and that if it continues to be weak, the economy would dip deeper into recession. So tough choices lie ahead. Spend your paycheck or save and just pay the necessary bills. Or should there be a spend-like-crazy weekend where people go out and spend helping the economy for all. With Christmas just a little over two months away it'll be interesting to see how much people spend for family and others with the current state of the economy.
U.S. NATIONAL DEBT CLOCK (Courtesy of this site here)
The Outstanding Public Debt as of 13 Oct 2008 at 06:13:38 PM GMT is:
$ 1 0 , 2 7 9 , 2 1 3 , 0 0 7 , 3 4 1 . 2 3
The estimated population of the United States is 304,901,479
so each citizen's share of this debt is $33,713.23.
The National Debt has continued to increase an average of
$3.34 billion per day since September 28, 2007!
Concerned? Then tell Congress and the White House!
So for this blog I've decided to do two things. First I'll talk about a local issue or two with the economy affecting something around Tucson. And secondly I'll finish up with some links and descriptions to stories about the crisis we are in. It's better to be informed about an issue that I myself have much to learn about so hopefully this links will provide details that are interesting and informative.
One story I found that will affect Tucsonans is how the economy is preventing the city from reaching goals set back in 2006 that involve slowing the growth of emissions and greenhouse gases. The Arizona Daily Star has a Q&A describing some main details such as how much greenhouse gases have risen along with the increasing population and how using types of transportation such as carpooling and buses help reduce emissions.
The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) is a non-profit community of leaders that according to their site "work to make green buildings available to everyone within a generation." The site lists links to things such as learning how to certify your building as being green and where to find more information on helping make buildings greener. Just last month the USGBC announced that 13 people are receiving grants that total $2 million. The grants people received money for include a green roof energy calculator, transportation energy intensity index and quantifying the impact of daylight and electric lighting on student alertness, performance, and well-being in K-12 schools.
So another question to ask is how you as a person contribute to increasing greenhouse gases. Do you drive a car everyday or do you carpool or ride the bus? Do you use a lot of items that require electricity such as computers, televisions, home lighting, etc? Do you recycle or just throw everything in the garbage can? These are just some of the questions needed to be asked if you want to make an impact on a personal basis. After that other changes can be made on a larger scale such as to you home or office building which can also help take down emissions in your area.
Other tidbits:
Check out this story on the national debt clock in New York. On Saturday the debt was listed at $10,150,603,734,720. Yikes! Think about you and your family for a second when you hear this: every family in America has a share of the debt at over $86,000. The worst part about the clock is that it ran out of digits on the display. But don't worry because a new one should be put in by next year that can count up to a quadrillion dollars!
Interested in where all of the lost money on the stock market went? Check this out. This article gives a good insight for those who don't know what exactly happens to the money on the stock market when it drops, such as in the past week or two.
Wonder how much of an impact you as a person have on the economy? Read this. In it is a section detailing some interesting facts and information about the U.S. and world economy. One interesting fact is that consumer spending accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity and that if it continues to be weak, the economy would dip deeper into recession. So tough choices lie ahead. Spend your paycheck or save and just pay the necessary bills. Or should there be a spend-like-crazy weekend where people go out and spend helping the economy for all. With Christmas just a little over two months away it'll be interesting to see how much people spend for family and others with the current state of the economy.
U.S. NATIONAL DEBT CLOCK (Courtesy of this site here)
The Outstanding Public Debt as of 13 Oct 2008 at 06:13:38 PM GMT is:
$ 1 0 , 2 7 9 , 2 1 3 , 0 0 7 , 3 4 1 . 2 3
The estimated population of the United States is 304,901,479
so each citizen's share of this debt is $33,713.23.
The National Debt has continued to increase an average of
$3.34 billion per day since September 28, 2007!
Concerned? Then tell Congress and the White House!
Monday, October 6, 2008
Proposition 200
Over the weekend when I was getting the mail I noticed that there was an envelope from the county. In it contained the information about the propositions that will be voted on in the upcoming general election. One thing in particular stood out because of its effect on people here in the state of Arizona which is Proposition 200 which is known as the payday loan reform act.
A YouTube account I found under the name "AZSecState" created some videos which seem to show a debate introducing the proposition and then having people discussing voting for or against the proposition.
Here a video discusses the background of the proposition and what the effects it can possibly have on the state and the people who use payday loans.
Now here is a man named Stan Barnes who is voting for the proposition because of the effects it will have on families who choose to use them. The main question in this proposition is whether to keep the payday loans or eliminate them completely.
Finally here is a woman named Debbie speaking against the proposition and mentions that the current law regarding payday loans, which is set to end on July 1, 2010, would bring about the Consumer Loan Act being reinstated and 36 percent interest rates becoming the law of the land again.
So this brings about an interesting topic because of how many payday loan businesses there are in the city. Voting yes on the ballot would extend the payday loan industry, eliminating the July 2010 date that would end the state's licensing of these businesses. Voting no would basically shut down the legal payday loan keeping the July 2010 in effect.
If these payday loan places were forced to shut down, an Arizona Daily Star article mentioned that over 100 empty stores would be found all over the city. It could lead to higher rates to rent the buildings and could leave many vacancies in low income areas.
It will be interesting to see how the voters look at this issue and what effect the payday loan industry would have on Arizona, and Tucson in particular, if they were forced to leave in 2010.
A YouTube account I found under the name "AZSecState" created some videos which seem to show a debate introducing the proposition and then having people discussing voting for or against the proposition.
Here a video discusses the background of the proposition and what the effects it can possibly have on the state and the people who use payday loans.
Now here is a man named Stan Barnes who is voting for the proposition because of the effects it will have on families who choose to use them. The main question in this proposition is whether to keep the payday loans or eliminate them completely.
Finally here is a woman named Debbie speaking against the proposition and mentions that the current law regarding payday loans, which is set to end on July 1, 2010, would bring about the Consumer Loan Act being reinstated and 36 percent interest rates becoming the law of the land again.
So this brings about an interesting topic because of how many payday loan businesses there are in the city. Voting yes on the ballot would extend the payday loan industry, eliminating the July 2010 date that would end the state's licensing of these businesses. Voting no would basically shut down the legal payday loan keeping the July 2010 in effect.
If these payday loan places were forced to shut down, an Arizona Daily Star article mentioned that over 100 empty stores would be found all over the city. It could lead to higher rates to rent the buildings and could leave many vacancies in low income areas.
It will be interesting to see how the voters look at this issue and what effect the payday loan industry would have on Arizona, and Tucson in particular, if they were forced to leave in 2010.
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