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<rss xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" version="2.0"><channel><title>Ventura County Star Stories: Pulse</title><link>http://venturacountystar.com/news/opinion/pulse/</link><atom:link href="http://venturacountystar.com/news/opinion/pulse/" type="application/rss+xml" rel="self"></atom:link><description>Ventura County Star Stories: Pulse</description><language>en-us</language><category>opinion/pulse</category><item><title>Measure of a mother
</title><link>http://venturacountystar.com/news/2008/may/11/measure-of-a-mother/</link><description><![CDATA[Every morning when I walk into my kitchen, I think of my mother, and I'm sure that busy as she must be in culinary heaven, she'd be happy about that. At the ready near breakfast makings is a worn, slightly battered tin measuring cup that she gave me decades ago. It was probably one I used when working with her in cooking and baking back home in St. Louis.  ]]></description><pubDate>Sun, 11 May 2008 07:00:00 -0000</pubDate><guid>http://venturacountystar.com/news/2008/may/11/measure-of-a-mother/</guid><category>opinion/opinion</category></item><item><title>My mother, Lupe Villa, shows resilience, strength of spirit
</title><link>http://venturacountystar.com/news/2008/may/11/my-mother-lupe-villa-shows-resilience-strength/</link><description><![CDATA[Almost three years ago, my mother was diagnosed with colon cancer and survived it. But this year, she developed a condition in the colon wall that needed to be excised. Today, Mother is home after almost three months of hospital and rehabilitation care and recovery. However, in between, she survived a savage staph infection she got in the hospital.  ]]></description><pubDate>Sun, 11 May 2008 07:00:00 -0000</pubDate><guid>http://venturacountystar.com/news/2008/may/11/my-mother-lupe-villa-shows-resilience-strength/</guid><category>opinion/opinion</category></item><item><title>The day that changed my life
</title><link>http://venturacountystar.com/news/2008/may/11/the-day-that-changed-my-life/</link><description><![CDATA[I was a typical high school teenager until the day I found out I was pregnant — the worst day of my life. I went to the doctor with my mom because I had been throwing up for almost a month and we wanted to figure out why. My doctor came back with some test results. She listed everything it was not, before she dropped the bomb: "Well, it's not cancer, thankfully, and it's not diabetes," she said, and continued until, finally, I heard the words: "But you are almost eight weeks pregnant."  ]]></description><pubDate>Sun, 11 May 2008 07:00:00 -0000</pubDate><guid>http://venturacountystar.com/news/2008/may/11/the-day-that-changed-my-life/</guid><category>opinion/opinion</category></item><item><title>3 weeks in India: 'I will never be the same'
</title><link>http://venturacountystar.com/news/2008/may/04/3-weeks-in-india-i-will-never-be-the-same/</link><description><![CDATA[For three-and-a-half weeks over winter break, I embarked on a journey that changed me and my entire outlook on life. Along with 13 other California Lutheran University students, I went for a trip to India led by professors Dr. Paul Hanson and Dr. Druann Pagliassoti. The previous semester of studying the country and seeing slides could never have prepared me for what was to come.  ]]></description><pubDate>Sun, 04 May 2008 07:00:00 -0000</pubDate><guid>http://venturacountystar.com/news/2008/may/04/3-weeks-in-india-i-will-never-be-the-same/</guid><category>opinion/opinion</category></item><item><title>3 weeks with the scarf: Dispatch from Turkey
</title><link>http://venturacountystar.com/news/2008/may/04/3-weeks-with-the-scarf-dispatch-from-turkey/</link><description><![CDATA[I am sitting on a bench in the chilly winter sunlight with a fellow teacher at Bilkent University, where I teach English conversation skills. Around us, the treeless steppes of Anatolia are blanketed in snow. A student walks by, her head wrapped in a scarf of purple silk. My friend, her own head exposed to the wind, takes a drag on her Winston.  ]]></description><pubDate>Sun, 04 May 2008 07:00:00 -0000</pubDate><guid>http://venturacountystar.com/news/2008/may/04/3-weeks-with-the-scarf-dispatch-from-turkey/</guid><category>opinion/opinion</category></item><item><title>Conejo Valley students affected by Measure B
</title><link>http://venturacountystar.com/news/2008/apr/27/conejo-valley-students-affected-by-measure-b/</link><description><![CDATA[We care deeply about our students and the quality of education they are provided. After reviewing the facts, it is clear that Measure B could severely impact the ability to educate Conejo Valley Unified School District students and poses a real threat to the future of public education in our district.  ]]></description><pubDate>Sun, 27 Apr 2008 07:00:00 -0000</pubDate><guid>http://venturacountystar.com/news/2008/apr/27/conejo-valley-students-affected-by-measure-b/</guid><category>education/k-12</category></item><item><title>Residents, businesses win with Measure B
</title><link>http://venturacountystar.com/news/2008/apr/27/residents-businesses-win-with-measure-b/</link><description><![CDATA[Thousand Oaks has come to a crossroad for the future development of the city. At this critical juncture rests Measure B — the initiative allowing the people to vote on a project larger than 75,000 square feet that lowers traffic service below our general plan minimum. Traffic at this level of service, according to the Highway Capacity Manual, varies from "noticeable to frequent intersection failures" and "significant rates of delay."  ]]></description><pubDate>Sun, 27 Apr 2008 07:00:00 -0000</pubDate><guid>http://venturacountystar.com/news/2008/apr/27/residents-businesses-win-with-measure-b/</guid><category>opinion/opinion</category></item><item><title>City Council elected to represent T.O. citizens
</title><link>http://venturacountystar.com/news/2008/apr/27/city-council-elected-to-represent-to-citizens/</link><description><![CDATA[I strongly disagree with the "Committee to Keep Thousand Oaks Traffic Moving" that wants Thousand Oaks citizens to vote on all large development projects.  ]]></description><pubDate>Sun, 27 Apr 2008 07:00:00 -0000</pubDate><guid>http://venturacountystar.com/news/2008/apr/27/city-council-elected-to-represent-to-citizens/</guid><category>opinion/opinion</category></item><item><title>Little measure with a big effect
</title><link>http://venturacountystar.com/news/2008/apr/27/little-measure-with-a-big-effect/</link><description><![CDATA[The recent hoopla by those against Measure B, the Thousand Oaks traffic initiative, set for the June 3 election, fails to explain what is really behind their motivations.  ]]></description><pubDate>Sun, 27 Apr 2008 07:00:00 -0000</pubDate><guid>http://venturacountystar.com/news/2008/apr/27/little-measure-with-a-big-effect/</guid><category>opinion/opinion</category></item><item><title>Californians can support education without tax increases 
</title><link>http://venturacountystar.com/news/2008/apr/20/californians-can-support-education-without-tax/</link><description><![CDATA[Earlier this year, the governor proclaimed a state of fiscal emergency. Our state budget is estimated to have a deficit of at least $16 billion. Needless to say, a fiscal crisis of this magnitude affects everything we do in the state and can be detrimental to school funding.  ]]></description><pubDate>Sun, 20 Apr 2008 07:00:00 -0000</pubDate><guid>http://venturacountystar.com/news/2008/apr/20/californians-can-support-education-without-tax/</guid><category>education/college</category></item><item><title>Your letters: State budget cuts and California students
</title><link>http://venturacountystar.com/news/2008/apr/20/no-headline---ob10fclets20/</link><description><![CDATA[   ]]></description><pubDate>Sun, 20 Apr 2008 07:00:00 -0000</pubDate><guid>http://venturacountystar.com/news/2008/apr/20/no-headline---ob10fclets20/</guid><category>education/college</category></item><item><title>V.C. schools face $83 million in budget cuts
</title><link>http://venturacountystar.com/news/2008/apr/20/vc-schools-face-83-million-in-budget-cuts/</link><description><![CDATA[Question posed by The Star on the Opinion Pulse page: "Do you approve of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger considering suspending Proposition 98, which ensures a minimum percentage of the state budget is spent on K-12 and community colleges?"  ]]></description><pubDate>Sun, 20 Apr 2008 07:00:00 -0000</pubDate><guid>http://venturacountystar.com/news/2008/apr/20/vc-schools-face-83-million-in-budget-cuts/</guid><category>education/college</category></item><item><title>It's inhumane to lock up youths for life
</title><link>http://venturacountystar.com/news/2008/apr/13/inhumane-to-lock-up-youths-for-life/</link><description><![CDATA[I am 21 years old and I was sentenced to life without parole when I was 17. I was residing in Ventura County at the time of my arrest. I was convicted of murder and robbery in 2006. I support Senate Bill 999 (the Juvenile Life Without Parole Reform Act) because I think juveniles are not adults mentally. I believe that no juvenile is very mature because I remember when I was one.  ]]></description><pubDate>Sun, 13 Apr 2008 07:00:00 -0000</pubDate><guid>http://venturacountystar.com/news/2008/apr/13/inhumane-to-lock-up-youths-for-life/</guid><category>opinion/opinion</category></item><item><title>Prosecutors ignore fundamental truth
</title><link>http://venturacountystar.com/news/2008/apr/13/prosecutors-ignore-fundamental-truth/</link><description><![CDATA[Tony Throop recently voiced his opinion in these pages that a 14-year-old child is not an adult and should not be tried in adult court (March 9, "Discarded souls"). One could say he wrote as an expert — he himself has firsthand knowledge of the grievous crimes that a juvenile can commit, as well as the result of applying adult sanctions to juvenile offenders. He was the first juvenile from our county, and perhaps in the state, to be sentenced to die in prison — the most severe adult sentence, short of execution.  ]]></description><pubDate>Sun, 13 Apr 2008 07:00:00 -0000</pubDate><guid>http://venturacountystar.com/news/2008/apr/13/prosecutors-ignore-fundamental-truth/</guid><category>opinion/opinion</category></item><item><title>Your letters: Should juveniles be tried as adults?
</title><link>http://venturacountystar.com/news/2008/apr/13/no-headline---ob10juvletters13/</link><description><![CDATA[   ]]></description><pubDate>Sun, 13 Apr 2008 07:00:00 -0000</pubDate><guid>http://venturacountystar.com/news/2008/apr/13/no-headline---ob10juvletters13/</guid><category>opinion/opinion</category></item><item><title>Time for both sides to budge
</title><link>http://venturacountystar.com/news/2008/apr/06/time-for-both-sides-to-budge/</link><description><![CDATA[As will surely become clear when the hot days of summer arrive, California now confronts two problems more threatening to more people than any other current ones: the state budget deficit and a looming water crisis.  ]]></description><pubDate>Sun, 06 Apr 2008 07:00:00 -0000</pubDate><guid>http://venturacountystar.com/news/2008/apr/06/time-for-both-sides-to-budge/</guid><category>opinion/opinion</category></item><item><title>Haven't we been here before?
</title><link>http://venturacountystar.com/news/2008/apr/06/havent-we-been-here-before/</link><description><![CDATA[The problem: Our schools don't have enough money (again)! Why is that? There are many reasons, but here are a few of my observations. Remember when we voted on Indian gaming the first time? This was supposed to help our schools with all kinds of money. There were promises by the politicians of decreasing classroom size, raising teachers' salaries and the funding of extracurricular activities, such as music programs and physical education.  ]]></description><pubDate>Sun, 06 Apr 2008 07:00:00 -0000</pubDate><guid>http://venturacountystar.com/news/2008/apr/06/havent-we-been-here-before/</guid><category>education/college</category></item><item><title>Speak out against home-schooling decision
</title><link>http://venturacountystar.com/news/2008/mar/30/speak-out/</link><description><![CDATA[Recent events have caused a great stir in the home-schooling community in California, and rightly so. A state appellate court ruled it is illegal to school your children at home without a credited teacher's certificate. Most home-school families do not meet this requirement. When first learning about this decision, I felt frozen.  ]]></description><pubDate>Sun, 30 Mar 2008 07:00:00 -0000</pubDate><guid>http://venturacountystar.com/news/2008/mar/30/speak-out/</guid><category>education/k-12</category></item><item><title>Jig is up for free-wheeling home schools
</title><link>http://venturacountystar.com/news/2008/mar/30/jig-is-up-for-free-wheeling-home-schools/</link><description><![CDATA[A California Appellate Court has struck terror in the ranks of home-schooling advocates by ruling that their children can't be taught at home without at least some oversight. Public education foes see this as an all-out attack on the concept of home schooling. That is not the case.  ]]></description><pubDate>Sun, 30 Mar 2008 07:00:00 -0000</pubDate><guid>http://venturacountystar.com/news/2008/mar/30/jig-is-up-for-free-wheeling-home-schools/</guid><category>education/k-12</category></item><item><title>Appeals Court makes a valid point
</title><link>http://venturacountystar.com/news/2008/mar/30/appeals-court-makes-a-valid-point/</link><description><![CDATA[The knee-jerk uproar that's followed a state Court of Appeal decision to require credentialed teachers for home-schooled children was predictable, but ignored some vital questions.  ]]></description><pubDate>Sun, 30 Mar 2008 07:00:00 -0000</pubDate><guid>http://venturacountystar.com/news/2008/mar/30/appeals-court-makes-a-valid-point/</guid><category>education/k-12</category></item></channel></rss>