Welcome to Thinking Out Loud, a blog that contains postings from The Tampa Tribune’s Editorial Board and from various Tribune Community Columnists. Unlike the unsigned editorials that represent the newspaper’s institutional voice, the blog postings offer personal perspectives on the issues, personalities and events of Tampa Bay.
We invite you to participate by posting your comments. We’ll do our best to respond.
Contributors:
Joe Guidry
Joe Guidry is the deputy editorial page editor of The Tampa Tribune. He is a Tampa native and a graduate of the University of South Florida. He is married and has an adult son.
Jeff Stidham
Jeff Stidham grew up and lives in Bartow. He has been with the Tribune for nearly 22 years, the last 10 on the editorial board.
William Yelverton
William Yelverton is a Tribune editorial writer who has worked for the paper nearly 22 years. He lives in the Dade City area.
Jim Beamguard
Jim Beamguard is a Tribune editorial writer. He is a native of North Carolina and a graduate of Davidson College. He and his family live in Brandon.
Jackie Papandrew:
Jackie Papandrew is a freelance writer and editor. Her syndicated humor column appears in publications in the United States, Canada and India. She lives in Largo with her husband and children. Visit her website at www.jackiepapandrew.com.
Camille Beredjick
Camille Beredjick is a senior at Chamberlain High School, an avid musician and a scribbler with a quirky sense of humor. In the fall, she will be attending Northwestern University to study journalism, political science and music, and she plans to pursue a career in journalism.
Jim Harnish
Jim Harnish is in his 17th year as Senior Pastor at Hyde Park United Methodist Church in Tampa. He and his wife, Marsha, have two daughters and two grandchildren. He is a graduate of Asbury Theological Seminary and received the honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from Bethune-Cookman University. He is the author of six books and numerous articles and studies. He enjoys playing with his grandchildren and cheering for the Florida Gators.
Angela Hunt
Angela Hunt is a novelist living in Pinellas County with her husband and two 220-pound mastiffs.
Sheryl Young
Sheryl Young was a Tampa Tribune Community Columnist in 2005-2006. A freelance writer since 1997, including the Tampa Bay Business Journal, Tampa Style Magazines, St. Pete Times and nationally in Better Nutrition, Today’s Christian Woman and more. She’s received a First Place Amy Foundation national "Roaring Lambs" Writing Award, and has lived in Tampa Bay with her family for over 20 years.
Christie Gold
Christie Gold teaches English and journalism at Freedom High School in Tampa where she advises Revolution, the school newspaper. She has been both the Hillsborough County Teacher of the Year and Florida Journalism Teacher of the Year. She lives on a small farm in Wesley Chapel where she trains as a competitive equestrian.
Natalie D. Preston
Natalie D. Preston is a karaoke singing, only-child pouting, Seminole Tomahawk waving, newlywed bride blushing, 50-state traveling, girlie girl who loves to shop, read, run and jump up and down on her soapbox.
Fernando Figueroa
Fernando Figueroa is a researcher, educator and lives in Riverview.
Gary Beemer
Interests include humor, politics, economics, community and world affairs, finance, people, religion, music, sports, current events, the arts and education.
Nicole Yunger Halpern
Nicole Yunger Halpern is an undergraduate at Dartmouth College, where she studies everything she can get her nerdy little hands on. Desired major: life. No, not necessarily biology. Life.
Kris DiGiovanni
Kris DiGiovanni is a Tribune Community Columnist, Huffington Post contributor, Daily Kos diarist, and teacher, who recently moved from NW Hillsborough to another planet - a small beach community in Pinellas County. She also blogs at www.sandscript.wordpress.com
H. David Braswell Jr.
H. David Braswell Jr. is an Information Systems Professional. He is a native New Yorker and a lifelong NY Giants fan. He attended college in California (Cal State Northridge) and moved to Tampa in 1998.
Sean Marcus
Sean Marcus teaches creative writing, journalism and reading at Chamberlain High School. He has one son and is
expecting a daughter in early March. He can be reached at wuizabug@gmail.com
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<?php echo $s_category_name; ?>: ObamaCare Battles, Reports from the Front Lines. What are the teenagers saying? - from TBO Blogs Thinking Out Loud
ObamaCare Battles, Reports from the Front Lines. What are the teenagers saying?
Posted Sep 21, 2009 by Al Mccray
Updated Sep 21, 2009 at 10:32 PM
Today’s teenagers are growing into adulthood armed with the internet, cable news channels, and seeing history being made by the election of a “Man of Color” as president of the United States.
The age of Barrack Obama is upon these teenagers. The president’s policies will definitely have a lasting impact on their futures.
Today’s teenagers are smart, alert, engaging, and are asking critical questions like no other generations before them. At a click of mouse on a pad, they can access the world, and they can go click - click and get over 1, 000,000 selections to choose from about almost any topic. Information that had required me (at the same age) to spend days in the library can be acquired in minutes.
This is probably the first generation where the kids help their parents with their home work and fix the computers.
When it came to today’s issue of healthcare, and ObamaCare, what do these teenagers have to say? To find out, I reached out to Ms. Julie Owens and Mr. Brian Hoover, teachers at Chamberlain High School in North Tampa.
Chamberlain High School students with their teachers
(L-R) Roberson Myrons 19, Mary Tomaino 17, Joanne Santiago 17, Teachers Julie Owens and Brian Hoover, Nzhada Harris 15, Andres Rivera 15, and Zachary Kustin 16
(L-R) Susan Valdes, School board member and Jeff Boldt, Principal at Chamberlain High School
I wanted to get a cross section of ages, racial makeup and different thoughts of the students. I wanted male and female students that were White, African American and Hispanic.
My ground rules were very simple;
1. No adult help with writing their comments,
2. Gets parental/ guardian permission to participate with this project,
3. Be available for a group picture.
I could not have completed this difficult task without Ms. Owens’ and Mr. Hoover’s dedication, devotion and determination. I also would like to thank Ms. Susan Valdes, the district school board member, and Mr. Jeff Boldt, the principal at Chamberlain High School.
There is one person who operated from behind the scenes, and out of the limelight, who helped me put all this together. Stephen Hegarty with his connections, super precision for details, coordination, and by his weekend follow-up calls and emails to me (on his own time) was crucial to all of our success. Mr. Hegarty is the Hillsborough County School’s Media Relations Manager. Thanks Stephen.
Let’s see what the students and their teachers have to say in the next article.
