“Undocumented Students Strive to Adapt” By Corey Mitchell

In this article Corey Mitchell explains the troubles of new teenage immigrants trying to assimilate into the U.S school system to receive higher education. Mitchell starts by telling the story of “Kevin” who is a young immigrant from El Salvador who had just recently crossed the U.S. border that year. Kevin is one of 200 students enrolled in International Academy for English-language learners or ELL’s located in the District of Columbia at the Cardozo Education Campus. (Corey 1) The majority of students at Cardozo fled violence from Central America.

Cardozo’s academy comes from a model developed by the International Network of Public Schools, a nonprofit organization that focuses on serving immigrant students from around the world. Each year over 39,000 immigrant children will enter the United States as unaccompanied minors.

Under federal law, all children, no matter their immigration status, have the right to enroll in public schools. Some districts accept this with open arms while others have a more difficult time.

The overall theme is the same for all ELL’s, they wish to be with their families, finish school, and stay in the United States to live happy heathy lives. This article would be a good addition to the book “Unity in Community” because it shows a serious problem that young immigrants are having to deal with today. I would say that no matter what a person’s preferences are on illegal immigration, all people should be allowed the right to higher education whether it be in the United States or anywhere else in the world.

Top Writers

Writer Lyla

Verified writer

5 (876)

Karrie

Verified writer

5 (339)

Doctor Jennifer

Verified writer

5 (893)

hire verified writer

Students would learn from this article and possibly become open to the idea of making this more possible in schools around the world. Not only does it deal well with immigration but also assimilation which is discussed a few times in separate articles in the book.

In this article Cohen brings to light the troubles of the Fair Housing Act, the anti-discrimination law that is almost 50 years old. While efforts to desegregate inner cities are moving very slow, the FHA did move faster after the Obama years. It helped families move out of poor, segregated neighborhoods, into much better living conditions by increasing the buying power of housing vouchers. Today Trumps administration threatens to cut the FHA because they think it needs to be reworked. The Fair Housing act was put into work right after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. and has grown stronger over the years. Its protection now covers race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, and families with children. In 1988 Congress also increased the penalties associated with violating it. Even with these gains many urban areas still show high levels of segregation.

The FHA has always been political in its aim, says Elizabeth Julian, a former HUD official. She says that breaking down the racial, ethnic, and economic barriers that prevent people from living where they would like to be is not only good policy, but could also diffuse explosive dynamics that gave rise to Trump.  The Fair Housing act was passed to spare America from a major housing collapse, now at almost 50 years old, it may yet to do so. Rachel Cohen’s article “The Fight For The Suburbs” would make for a good chapter in the book “Unity and Community” because it deals with a serious problem that could be affecting students and their families all across the country, possibly even students at Missouri State I believe all people no matter ethnic background and economic status should have the right to proper housing. People should not be grouped together in places they do not want to stay. I think this also deals with assimilation in communities. People should not fear others from different backgrounds moving into their communities. They should welcome them with open arms, bringing unity to the community.

This article focuses on the effects that air pollution has on human health in the United States. It starts out by telling about Donora, PA. Which was a town that was covered with thick smog from the local zinc mills, after five days of smog many people became ill and died. After this major disaster, the federal government began to crack down on air pollution and created the Clean Air Act in 1970. Since then, the total number of air pollutants from factories have fallen, but there are still many more pollutants arising today. Pollution is not only a mixture of gasses but also micro-particulates from smokestacks and car tailpipes, roads and rubber tires, and even brake pads. A study showed that fourteen healthy bike riders rode bikes and inhaled gold particles, a substitute for pollutants, after fifteen minutes these particles were detectable in the bloodstream and stayed for 3 months. Particles like these can have major effects not only on the lungs but vascular system, muscles, and can even cause advanced aging of the brain.

Newer technologies have helped reduce the amount of air pollution but it is still not enough to help this major problem. Today a sign at the Smog Museum in Donora says, “Clean Air Started Here.” But is clean, clean enough?  Air pollution is a good topic to be included in “Unity and Community” because it effects each one of us every day from communities, to cities, to countries. To help our environment, and the overall health of every student on Missouri State campus each person need to take part in less pollution. If you live closer to campus then walk or ride a bike instead of taking your car, or even take a bear line. It doesn’t just stop at air pollution, we all need to do our best to lessen our carbon footprint as a whole. This includes plastic and paper usage, electricity and energy usage, and even water usage. If we all work together as a Missouri State community we can help better our air quality and increase both our lifespan and the environments overall.