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Texas Southern University

Texas Southern University

Texas Southern University is a historically black university in Houston, Texas, USA. The university was established on March 3, 1947 by the Texas Legislature and it was initially named Texas State University for Negroes. Prior becoming a state university, Texas Southern University was owned by the Houston Independent School District and had been known as Houston College for Negroes. Texas Southern University's school colors are maroon and gray and the school nickname is the Tigers. Texas Southern sports teams participate in NCAA Division I-A (I-AA for football) in the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC).

History

Texas Southern University was established by the Fiftieth Texas Legislature on March 3, 1947, under the provisions of Senate Bill 140 as a state-supported institution of higher education to be located in Houston.The institution, which was initially named Texas State University for Negroes, was established to serve African Americansqv in Texas, offering them, for the first time, a program of study comparable to that available to white Texans. The state accepted Houston College for Negroes to begin the university, as it had one permanent building, a faculty, and students. Senate Bill 140 and subsequent enabling legislation authorized the university to offer a full range of programs, including "pharmacy, dentistry, arts and sciences, journalism education, literature, law, medicine, and other professional courses," and further stipulated that "these courses shall be equivalent to those offered at other institutions of this type supported by the State of Texas." The intent of the legislature was to perpetuate the segregation of higher education in Texas by offering the state's black citizens a university equivalent to the University of Texas. The establishment of Texas State University for Negroes was the culmination of a long struggle by Houston blacks to obtain an institution of higher education in their community.

Campus

The university currently sits on a 150 acre (0.6 km²) campus in Third Ward and enrolls almost 10,000 students. The university is currently compromised of eight schools and colleges:the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, the Thurgood Marshall School of Law, the College of Education, the College of Continuing Education, the School of Technology, the Jesse H. Jones School of Business, and the Graduate School. The Thurgood Marshall School of Law is one of the four public law schools in Texas.

Athletics

Texas The University of Texas offers a wide variety of men's and women's varsity sports. The Texas Southern University Tiger athletic teams compete in the NCAA Division I-AA Southwestern Athletic Conference.

Varsity Sports

Men's varsity sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, tennis, and track and field. Women's varsity sports include basketball, bowling, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, tennis, track and field, and volleyball.

Rivalries

TSU's best known rival is Prarie View A&M.

Athletic Facilities


- Health and Physical Education Arena
- TSU Recreation and Wellness Center
- Robertson Stadium
- Reliant Stadium
- Toyota Center

Notable alumni


- Yolanda Adams, Grammy Award-winning gospel singer
- Congresswoman Barbara Jordan, the first black woman from a Southern state to serve in the U.S. House
- Congressman Mickey Leland, U.S. House
- Congressman Craig Washington, U.S. House
- Michael Strahan, Defensive End for the New York Giants
- Don Narcisse, Former Saskatchewan Roughriders Wide Receiver (1987-1999) / CFL Legend
- Harris County Commissioner Sylvia R. Garcia

See also


- Pretty Baby II - The name of the TSU Tiger Mascot
- Texas Senate Bill 140
- Texas Southern Tiger - The school nickname
- Ocean of Soul - TSU Marching Band

External links


- [http://www.tsu.edu Texas Southern University Website]
- [http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/view/TT/kct27.html Handbook of Texas Online's entry of Texas Southern University]
- [http://www.tsuball.com Texas Southern University Athletics] Category:Historically black universities and colleges in the U.S. Category:Houston, Texas Category:Universities and colleges in Texas

Historically black university

In the United States, historically Black colleges and universities (HBCU) (a type of minority-serving institution or MSI) are colleges or universities that were established before 1964 with the intention of serving the African-American community. Before 1964, African-Americans were almost always excluded from higher education opportunities at the predominantly white colleges and universities—with notable exceptions such as the integrated Oberlin College in Ohio. There are more than 100 historically Black colleges in the United States, located almost exclusively in the southern and eastern states. Four HBCUs are located in the midwestern states (two each in Missouri and Ohio), while one is in the Virgin Islands. Morehouse College and Spelman College have been described as the Harvard College and the Radcliffe College, respectively, of the historically black higher-education institutions in the United States. Howard University, Hampton University, Morgan State University, and Clark Atlanta University are other significant HBCUs. Historically Black colleges are not necessarily predominantly Black today. One classic example can be found in West Virginia, whose population is nearly 95 percent white—higher than any other state outside of the three northern New England states. By 1964, the tenth anniversary of the Supreme Court's landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision, West Virginia State College (now West Virginia State University) had become primarily a commuter college with a student body well over 80 percent white, which it remains to this day. Throughout this time, the school's administration has been primarily African-American.

Famous alumnae/i of HBCUs

Famous alumnae/i of historically Black colleges include:
- Mary McLeod Bethune (Barber-Scotia College)
- Julian Bond (Morehouse College)
- Ed Bradley (Cheyney University of Pennsylvania)
- Toni Braxton (Bowie State University)
- W.E.B. DuBois (Fisk University)
- Ralph Ellison (Tuskegee University)
- Medgar Evers (Alcorn State University)
- James L. Farmer Jr. (Wiley College)
- Maurice Hicks (North Carolina A&T University)
- Langston Hughes (Lincoln University (PA))
- Jesse Jackson (North Carolina A&T University)
- Samuel L. Jackson (Morehouse College)
- Martin Luther King Jr. (Morehouse College)
- Spike Lee (Morehouse College)
- The Lords of the Underground (Shaw University)
- Thurgood Marshall (Lincoln University (PA) and Howard University)
- Christa McAuliffe (Bowie State University) -- notable white graduate of an HBCU
- Ronald McNair (North Carolina A&T University)
- Steve McNair (Alcorn State University)
- Toni Morrison (Howard University)
- Hazel R. O'Leary (Fisk University)
- Rosa Parks
- Walter Payton (Jackson State University)
- Jerry Rice (Mississippi Valley State University)
- Lionel Richie (Tuskegee University)
- David Satcher (Morehouse College)
- Shannon Sharpe (Savannah State University)
- Ruben Studdard (Alabama A&M University)
- Ben Wallace (Virginia Union University)
- Booker T. Washington (Hampton University)
- Essie Mae Washington-Williams (South Carolina State University)
- Oprah Winfrey (Tennessee State University)
- Andrew Young Jr. (Dillard University and Howard University)
- William R. Moss III (Hampton University)

See also


- List of historically black colleges of the United States
- A Different World- a sitcom set at a ficticious historically black college

External link


- [http://www.ets.org/research/pic/hbcprefa.html Students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities: Their Aspirations & Accomplishments] Category:African-American history Historically black universities and colleges in the U.S. Category:Universities and colleges in the United States

United States

:For alternative meanings, see the disambiguation page for US, USA, United States, or American. The United States of America is a federal democratic republic situated primarily in central North America. It comprises 50 states and one federal district, and has several territories. It is also referred to, with varying formality, as the United States, the U.S., the U.S.A., the States, or simply and most commonly, America. The official founding date of the United States is July 4, 1776, when the Second Continental Congress—representing thirteen British colonies—adopted the Declaration of Independence. However, the structure of the government was profoundly changed in 1788, when the states replaced the Articles of Confederation with the United States Constitution. The date on which each of the fifty states adopted the Constitution is typically regarded as the date that state "entered the Union" (became part of the United States). Since the mid-20th century, following World War II, the United States has emerged as a dominant global influence in economic, political, military, scientific, technological, and cultural affairs.

Geography and climate

The United States shares land borders with Canada (to the north) and Mexico (to the south), and territorial water boundaries with Canada, Russia, the Bahamas, and numerous smaller nations. It is otherwise bounded by the Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea, in the west; the Arctic Ocean, in the northernmost areas; and the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean Sea, in the eastern and southeastern areas. Forty-eight of the states are in the single region between Canada and Mexico; this group is referred to, with varying precision and formality, as the continental or contiguous United States, sometimes abbreviated CONUS, and as the Lower 48. Alaska, which is not included in the term contiguous United States, is at the northwestern end of North America, separated from the Lower 48 by Canada. The archipelago of Hawaii is in the Pacific Ocean. The capital city, Washington, District of Columbia is a federal district located on land donated by the state of Maryland. (Virginia also donated land, but it was returned in 1847.) The United States also has overseas territories with varying levels of independence and organization. When inland water is included in the total area, only Russia and Canada are larger than the United States; if inland water is excluded, China ranks third and the U.S. ranks fourth. The United States' total area is 3,718,711 square miles (9,631,418 km²), of which land makes up 3,537,438 square miles (9,161,923 km²) and water makes up 181,273 square miles (469,495 km²). The United States' landscape is one of the most varied among those of the world's nations: among its many features are temperate forestland and rolling hills, on the east coast; mangrove, in Florida; the Great Plains, in the center of the country; the Mississippi–Missouri river system; the Great Lakes, four of the five of which are shared with Canada; the Rocky Mountains, west of the Great Plains; deserts and temperate coastal zones, west of the Rocky Mountains; and temperate rain forests, in the Pacific northwest. Alaska's tundra, and the volcanic, tropical islands of Hawaii add to the geographic diversity. Hawaii The climate varies along with the landscape, from tropical in Hawaii and southern Florida to tundra in Alaska and atop some of the highest mountains. Most of the North and East experience a temperate continental climate, with warm summers and cold winters. Most of the South experiences a subtropical humid climate with mild winters and long, hot, humid summers. Rainfall decreases markedly from the humid forests of the Eastern Great Plains to the semi-arid shortgrass prairies on the high plains abutting the Rocky Mountains. Arid deserts, including the Mojave, extend through the lowlands and valleys of the southwest, from westernmost Texas to California and northward throughout much of Nevada. Some parts of California have a Mediterranean climate. Rainforests line the windward mountains of the Pacific Northwest from Oregon to Alaska.

History

American history started with the migration of people from Asia across the Bering land bridge approximately 12,000 years ago following large animals that they hunted into the Americas. These Native Americans left evidence of their presence in petroglyphs, burial mounds, and other artifacts. It is estimated that 2-9 million people lived in the territory now occupied by the U.S. before European contact, and the subsequent introduction of foreign diseases such as small pox that greatly diminished the native populations. Some advanced societies were the Anasazi of the southwest, who inhabited Chaco Canyon, and the Woodland Indians, who built Cahokia, located near present-day St Louis, a city with a population of 40,000 at its peak in AD 1200. Vikings first visited North America around 1000, but did not settle permanently. Following the discovery voyages of Christopher Columbus around 1492, other Europeans began to explore and settle there. During the 1500s and 1600s, the Spanish settled parts of the present-day Southwest and Florida, founding St. Augustine, Florida in 1565 and Santa Fe (in what is now New Mexico) in 1607. The first successful English settlement was at Jamestown, Virginia, also in 1607. Within the next two decades, several Dutch settlements, including New Amsterdam (the predecessor to New York City), were established in what are now the states of New York and New Jersey. In 1637, Sweden established a colony at Fort Christina (in what is now Delaware), but lost the settlement to the Dutch in 1655. This was followed by extensive British settlement of the east coast. The British colonists remained relatively undisturbed by their home country until after the French and Indian War, when France ceded Canada and the Great Lakes region to Britain. Britain then imposed taxes on the 13 colonies, widely regarded by the colonists as unfair because they were denied representation in the British Parliament. Tensions between Britain and the colonists increased, and the thirteen colonies eventually rebelled against British rule. British Parliament, George Washington (1789-1797).]] In 1776, the 13 colonies split from Great Britain and formed the United States, the world's first constitutional and democratic federal republic, after their Declaration of Independence of that year, and the Revolutionary War (1775 to 1783). The original political structure was a confederation in 1777, ratified in 1781 as the Articles of Confederation. After long debate, this was supplanted by the Constitution in 1789, forming a more centralized federal government. Prior to all these was the Albany Congress in 1754, in which a union was first seriously proposed. From early colonial times, there was a shortage of labor, which encouraged unfree labor, particularly indentured servitude and slavery. In the mid-19th century, a major division occurred in the United States over the issue of states' rights and the expansion of slavery. The northern states had become opposed to slavery, while the southern states saw it as necessary for the continued success of southern agriculture and wanted it expanded to the territories. Several federal laws were passed in an attempt to settle the dispute, including the Missouri Compromise and the Compromise of 1850. The dispute reached a crisis in 1861, when seven southern states seceded1 from the Union and formed the Confederate States of America, leading to the Civil War. Soon after the war began, four more southern states seceded. During the war, Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, mandating the freedom of all slaves in states in rebellion, though full emancipation did not take place until after the end of the war in 1865, the dissolution of the Confederacy, and the Thirteenth Amendment took effect. The Civil War effectively ended the question of a state's right to secede, and is widely accepted as a major turning point after which the federal government became more powerful than state governments. Thirteenth Amendment). The title of the painting, from a 1726 poem by Bishop Berkeley, was a phrase often quoted in the era of Manifest Destiny, expressing a widely held belief that civilization had steadily moved westward throughout history. [http://americanart.si.edu/t2go/1lw/1931.6.1.html (more)] ]] During the 19th century, many new states were added to the original 13 as the nation expanded across the continent. Manifest Destiny was a philosophy that encouraged westward expansion in the United States. As the population of the Eastern states grew and as a steady increase of immigrants entered the country, settlers moved steadily westward across North America. In the process, the U.S. displaced most American Indian nations. This displacement of American Indians continues to be a matter of contention in the U.S. with many tribes attempting to assert their original claims to various lands. In some areas American Indian populations were reduced by foreign diseases contracted through contact with European settlers, and US settlers acquired those emptied lands. In other instances American Indians were removed from their traditional lands by force. Though some would say the U.S. was not a colonial power until the Spanish-American War when it acquired Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines, the dominion exercised over land in North America the United States claimed is essentially colonial. The Philippines became independent in 1946. During this period, the nation also became an industrial power. This continued into the 20th century, which has been termed "the American Century" because of the nation's overriding influence on the world. The US became a center for innovation and technological development; major technologies that America either developed or was greatly involved in improving include the telephone, television, computer, the Internet, nuclear weapons, nuclear power, aviation, and aeronautics. In addition to the Civil War, another major traumatic experience for the nation was the Great Depression (1929 to 1939). The nation has also taken part in several major foreign wars, including World War I and World War II (in both of which the US later joined the Allies). During the Cold War, the US was a major player in the Korean War and Vietnam War, and, along with the Soviet Union, was considered one of the world's two "superpowers". With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the US emerged as the world's leading economic and military power. Beginning in the 1990s, the United States became very involved in police actions and peacekeeping, including actions in Kosovo, Haiti, Somalia and Liberia, and the first Persian Gulf War driving Iraq out of Kuwait. After attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, the United States and other allied nations found themselves involved in what has come to be called the "War on Terrorism," which has primarily encompassed military actions in both Afghanistan and Iraq.

Government

Iraq of the United States.]]

Republic and suffrage

The United States is an example of a constitutional republic, with a government composed of and operating through a set of limited powers imposed by its design and enumerated in the United States Constitution. Specifically, the nation operates as a presidential democracy. There are three levels of government: federal, state, and local. Officials of each of these levels are either elected by eligible voters via secret ballot or appointed by other elected officials. Americans enjoy almost universal suffrage from the age of 18 regardless of race, sex, or wealth. There are some limits, however: felons are disenfranchised and in some states former felons are likewise. Furthermore, the national representation of territories and the federal district of Washington, DC in Congress is limited: residents of the District of Columbia are subject to federal laws and federal taxes but their only Congressional representative is a non-voting delegate.

Federal government

The federal government is the national government, comprising the Legislative Branch (led by Congress), the Executive Branch (led by the President), and the Judicial Branch (led by the Supreme Court). These three branches were designed to apply checks and balances on each other. The Constitution limits the powers of the federal government to defense, foreign affairs, the issuing and management of currency, the management of trade and relations between the states, and the protection of human rights. In addition to these explicitly stated powers, the federal government—with the assistance of the Supreme Court—has gradually extended these powers into such areas as welfare and education, on the basis of the "necessary and proper" clause of the Constitution.

The Congress

necessary and proper The Congress of the United States is the legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, comprising the House of Representatives and the Senate. The House of Representatives consists of 435 members, each of whom represents a congressional district and serves for a two-year term. House seats are apportioned among the states by population; in contrast, each state has two Senators, regardless of population. There are a total of 100 senators, who serve six-year terms. The powers of Congress are limited to those enumerated in the Constitution; all other powers are reserved to the states and the people. The Constitution also includes the necessary-and-proper clause, which grants Congress the power to "make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers."

The President

necessary-and-proper clause At the top level of the executive branch is the President of the United States. The President and Vice-President are elected as 'running mates' for four-year terms by the Electoral College, for which each state, as well as the District of Columbia, is allocated a number of seats based on its representation (or ostensible representation, in the case of D. C.) in both houses of Congress (see U.S. Electoral College). The relationship between the President and the Congress reflects that between the English monarchy and parliament at the time of the framing of the United States Constitution. Congress can legislate to constrain the President's executive power, even with respect to his or her command of the armed forces; however, this power is used only very rarely—a notable example was the constraint placed on President Richard Nixon's strategy of bombing Cambodia during the Vietnam War. The President cannot directly propose legislation, and must rely on supporters in Congress to promote his or her legislative agenda. The President's signature is required to turn congressional bills into law; in this respect, the President has the power—only occasionally used—to veto congressional legislation. Congress can override a presidential veto with a two-thirds majority vote in both houses. The ultimate power of Congress over the President is that of impeachment or removal of the elected President through a House vote, a Senate trial, and a Senate vote. The threat of using this power has had major political ramifications in the cases of Presidents Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Bill Clinton. The President makes around 2,000 executive appointments, including members of the Cabinet and ambassadors, which must be approved by the Senate; the President can also issue executive orders and pardons, and has other Constitutional duties, among them the requirement to give a State of the Union address to Congress once a year. Although the President's constitutional role may appear to be constrained, in practice, the office carries enormous prestige that typically eclipses the power of Congress: the Presidency has justifiably been referred to as 'the most powerful office in the world'. The Vice President is first in the line of succession, and is the President of the Senate ex officio, with the ability to cast a tie-breaking vote. The members of the President's Cabinet are responsible for administering the various departments of state, including the Department of Defense, the Justice Department, and the State Department. These departments and department heads have considerable regulatory and political power, and it is they who are responsible for executing federal laws and regulations. George W. Bush is the 43rd President, currently serving his second term.

The Courts

George W. Bush The highest court is the Supreme Court, which consists of nine justices. The court deals with federal and constitutional matters, and can declare legislation made at any level of the government as unconstitutional, nullifying the law and creating precedent for future law and decisions. Below the Supreme Court are the courts of appeals, and below them in turn are the district courts, which are the general trial courts for federal law. Separate from, but not entirely independent of, this federal court system are the individual court systems of each state, each dealing with its own laws and having its own judicial rules and procedures. A case may be appealed from a state court to a federal court only if there is a federal question; the supreme court of each state is the final authority on the interpretation of that state's laws and constitution.

State and local governments

supreme court of each state. Note that Alaska and Hawaii are shown at different scales, and that the Aleutian Islands and the uninhabited Northwestern Hawaiian Islands are omitted from this map.]] The state governments have the greatest influence over people's daily lives. Each state has its own written constitution and has different laws. There are sometimes great differences in law and procedure between the different states, concerning issues such as property, crime, health, and education. The highest elected official of each state is the Governor. Each state also has an elected legislature (bicameral in every state except Nebraska), whose members represent the different parts of the state. Of note is the New Hampshire legislature, which is the third-largest legislative body in the English-speaking world, and has one representative for every 3,000 people. Each state maintains its own judiciary, with the lowest level typically being county courts, and culminating in each state supreme court, though sometimes named differently. In some states, supreme and lower court justices are elected by the people; in others, they are appointed, as they are in the federal system. The institutions that are responsible for local government are typically town, city, or county boards, making laws that affect their particular area. These laws concern issues such as traffic, the sale of alcohol, and keeping animals. The highest elected official of a town or city is usually the mayor. In New England, towns operate directly democratically, and in some states, such as Rhode Island and Connecticut, counties have little or no power, existing only as geographic distinctions. In other areas, county governments have more power, such as to collect taxes and maintain law enforcement agencies.

Political divisions

With the Declaration of Independence, the thirteen colonies proclaimed themselves to be nation states modeled after the European states of the time. Although considered as sovereigns initially, under the Articles of Confederation of 1781 they entered into a "Perpetual Union" and created a fully sovereign federal state, delegating certain powers to the national Congress, including the right to engage in diplomatic relations and to levy war, while each retaining their individual sovereignty, freedom and independence. But the national government proved too ineffective, so the administrative structure of the government was vastly reorganized with the United States Constitution of 1789. Under this new union, the continued status of the individual states as sovereign nation states fell into dispute in 1861, as several states attempted to secede from the union; in response, then-President Abraham Lincoln claimed that such secession was illegal, and the result was the American Civil War. Since the Union victory in 1865, the independent status of the individual states has not been broached again by any state, and the status of each state within the union has been deemed by mainstream officials and academics to be settled as being subordinate to the union as a whole. In subsequent years, the number of states grew steadily due to western expansion, the purchase of lands by the national government from other nation states, and the subdivision of existing states, resulting in the current total of 50. The states are generally divided into smaller administrative regions, including counties, cities and townships. The United States–Canadian border is the longest undefended political boundary in the world. The U.S. is divided into three distinct sections:
- the "continental United States," also known as "the Lower 48" and more accurately termed the conterminous, coterminous or contiguous United States
- Alaska, which is physically connected only to Canada
- the archipelago of Hawaii, in the central Pacific Ocean. The United States also holds several other territories, districts, and possessions, notably the federal district of the District of Columbia, which is the nation's capital, and several overseas insular areas, the most significant of which are American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the United States Virgin Islands. The Palmyra Atoll is the United States' only incorporated territory; it is unorganized and uninhabited. The United States Navy has held a base at a portion of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, since 1898. The United States government possesses a lease to this land, which only mutual agreement or United States abandonment of the area can terminate. The present Cuban government of Fidel Castro disputes this arrangement, claiming Cuba was not truly sovereign at the time of the signing. The United States argues this point moot because Cuba apparently ratified the lease post-revolution, and with full sovereignty, when it cashed one rent check in accordance with the disputed treaty.

Foreign relations and military

sovereign] The immense military and economic dominance of the United States has made foreign relations an especially important topic in its politics, with considerable concern about the image of the United States throughout the world. Reactions towards the United States by other nationalities are often strong, ranging from uninhibited admiration and mimicking of all things American to anti-Americanism. US foreign policy has swung about several times over the course of its history between the poles of strict isolationism and imperialism and everywhere in between. Three of the nation's four military branches are administered by the Department of Defense: the Army, the Navy (including the Marine Corps), and the Air Force. The Coast Guard falls under the jurisdiction of the Department of Homeland Security in peacetime, but is placed under the Department of the Navy in time of war. The combined United States armed forces consist of 1.4 million active duty personnel, along with several hundred thousand each in the Reserves and the National Guard. Military conscription ended in 1973. The United States Armed forces are considered to be the most powerful military (of any sort) on Earth and their force projection capabilities are unrivaled by any other nation. The 2005 defense budget amounted to $401.7 billion, which is an increase of 4% over 2004 and of 35% since 2001. Over 50% of that number is spent in research & development. (For comparison, in 2004 the European Union (considered as the second-largest military force) had a combined total of 1.6 million troops, and a defense budget of €160 billion, with less than 10% of that being spent on R&D.)

Largest cities

The United States has dozens of major cities, including 11 of the 55 global cities of all types — with three "alpha" global cities: New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago. The figures expressed below are for populations within city limits. A different ranking is evident when considering U.S. metro area populations, although the top three would be unchanged. Note that some cities not listed (such as Atlanta, Boston, Las Vegas, Miami, Nashville, New Orleans, Seattle, and Washington, D.C.) are still considered important on the basis of other factors and issues, including culture, economics, heritage, and politics. The twenty largest cities, based on the United States Census Bureau's 2004 estimates, are as follows:

Economy

The United States has the largest single-country economy in the world, with a per-capita gross domestic product of $40,100. In this market-oriented economy, private individuals and business firms make most of the decisions, and the federal and state governments buy needed goods and services predominantly in the private marketplace. gross domestic product The largest industry of the U.S. is now service, which employs roughly three quarters of the U.S. work force. The United States has many natural resources, including oil and gas, metals, and such minerals as gold, soda ash, and zinc. In agriculture, the U.S. is a top producer of, among other crops, corn, soy beans, and wheat; the United States is a net exporter of food. The U.S. manufacturing sector produces goods such as, cars, airplanes, steel, and electronics, among many others. Economic activity varies greatly from one part of the country to another, with many industries being largely dependent on a certain city or region; New York City is the center of the American financial, publishing, broadcasting, and advertising industries; Silicon Valley is the country’s primary location for high-technology companies, while Los Angeles is the most important center for film production. The Midwest is known for its reliance on manufacturing and heavy industry, with Detroit, Michigan, serving as the center of the American automotive industry; the Great Plains are known as the "breadbasket" of America for their tremendous agricultural output; the intermountain region serves as a mining hub and natural gas resource; the Pacific Northwest for fish and timber, while Texas is largely associated with the oil industry; the Southeast is a major hub for both medical research and the textiles industry. Several countries continue to link their currency to the dollar or even use it as a currency (such as Ecuador), although this practice has subsided since the collapse of the Bretton Woods system. Many markets are also quoted in dollars, such as those of oil and gold. The dollar is also the predominant reserve currency in the world, and more than half of global reserves are in dollars. The largest trading partner of the United States is Canada (19%), followed by China (12%), Mexico (11%), and Japan (8%). More than 50% of total trade is with these four countries. In 2003, the United States was ranked as the third most visited tourist destination in the world; its 40,400,000 visitors ranked behind France's 75,000,000 and Spain's 52,500,000. Labor unions have existed since the 19th century, and grew large and powerful from the 1930s to the 1950s. See Labor history of the United States. Since 1970 they have shrunk in the private sector and now cover fewer than 8% of the workers. However union membership has grown rapidly in the public sector, especially among teachers, nurses, police, postal workers, and municipal clerks. There have been few strikes in recent years. The United States' imports exceed exports by 80%, leading to an annual trade deficit of $700,000,000,000, or 6% of gross domestic product. It is the largest debtor nation in the world, with total gross foreign debt of over $13,000,000,000,000 (2005 estimate); and it absorbs more than 50% of global savings annually. Since the 1980s, the U.S. has increased the use of neoliberal economic policies that reduce government intervention and reduce the size of the welfare state, backing away from the more interventionist Keynsian economic policies that had been in favor since the Great Depression. As a result, the United States provides fewer government-delivered social welfare services than most industrialized nations, choosing instead to keep its tax burden lower and relying more heavily on the free market and private charities. Sixteen states and the District of Columbia have minimum wages higher than the national level ($5.15 per-hour), including the highest, Washington State at $7.35. Twenty-six states are the same as the federal level; two--Ohio and Kansas--are below; and six do not have state laws. America's wealth is relatively highly concentrated. The average C.E.O. earns 500 times the typical amount a worker grosses, this is up from 25 times in the late 1970s. In terms of wealth the top 1% of Americans own 40% of all assets and 50.1% of the country's income goes to the top twenty percent of households. Average wages for the majority of employees have been largely stagnating since the 1970s. America's poverty line defined as a family of four earning less than $19,157 is at 12.7% of the general population. Approximately one out of every five children in the United States grows up below the official poverty line. Among racial groups; African Americans have the lowest median income while Asians had the highest. Regionally, the southern states had the lowest median incomes while the West Coast and New England had the highest. The current Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan remarked that the U.S.’s growing income inequality since the 1970s is, "not the type of thing which a democratic society - a capitalist democratic society - can really accept without addressing."[http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0614/p01s03-usec.html?s=itm] However, Greenspan also noted, "...you can look at the system and say it's got a lot of problems to it, and sure it does. It always has. But you can't get around the fact that this is the most extraordinarily successful economy in history."

Transportation

Alan Greenspan ]] Because the United States is a relatively young nation, most of the development of U.S. cities has taken place since the invention of the automobile. To link its vast territory, the United States built a network of high-capacity, high-speed highways, of which the most important element is the Interstate Highway system, commissioned in the 1950s by President Dwight D. Eisenhower and modeled after the German Autobahn. The United States also has a transcontinental rail system, which is used for moving freight across the lower forty-eight states. Passenger rail service is provided by Amtrak, which serves forty-six of the lower forty-eight states. Many cities in the United States have extensive mass-transit systems. New York City operates one of the world's largest and most heavily used subway systems. The regional rail and bus networks that extend into Long Island, New Jersey, Upstate New York, and Connecticut are among the most heavily used in the world. Air travel is often preferred for destinations over 300 miles (500 kilometers) away. In terms of passengers, seventeen of the world's thirty busiest airports in 2004 were in the U.S., including the world's busiest, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport; in terms of cargo, in the same year, twelve of the world's thirty busiest airports were in the U.S., including the world's busiest, Memphis International Airport. There are several major seaports in the United States; the three busiest are the Port of Los Angeles, California; the Port of Long Beach, California; and the Port of New York and New Jersey. Others include Houston, Texas; Charleston, South Carolina; Savannah, Georgia; Miami, Florida; Portland, Oregon; San Francisco, California; Boston, Massachusetts; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Seattle, Washington; plus, outside the contiguous forty-eight states, Anchorage, Alaska, and Honolulu, Hawaii.

Society

Demographics

Hawaii The mean center of the U.S. population continues to drift farther west and south. The fastest growing region is the western United States followed by the southern portion. According to Census 2000, the states that saw the greatest increases from 1990 were: Nevada (66.3%), Arizona (40%), Colorado (30.6%), Utah (29.6%), Idaho (28.5%), Georgia (26.4%), Florida (23.5%), Texas (22.8%), North Carolina (21.4%), and Washington (21.1%). [http://www.census.gov/population/cen2000/phc-t2/tab03.pdf]

Ethnicity and race

:Main article: Racial demographics of the United States The United States is a very racially diverse country. According to the 2000 census, it has 31 ethnic groups with at least one million members each, and numerous others represented in smaller amounts. The majority of Americans descend from white European immigrants who arrived at the establishment of the first colonies (most after Reconstruction). This majority--69.1% in 2000--decreases each year, and is expected to become a plurality within a few decades. The most frequently stated European ancestries are German (15.2%), Irish (10.8%), English (8.7%), Italian (5.6%) and Scandinavian (3.7%). Many immigrants also hail from Slavic countries such as Poland and Russia. Other significant immigrant populations came from eastern and southern Europe and French Canada. Russia Hispanics from Mexico and South and Central America are the largest minority group in the country, comprising 12.5% of the population (2000 census). People of Mexican descent made up 7.3% of the population in the 2000 census, and this proportion is expected to increase significantly in the coming decades. About 12.3% (2000 census) of the American people are African Americans (Blacks). African Americans are spread throughout the country, but their presence is largest in the South. Asian Americans--including Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders--are a third significant minority (3.7% of the population in 2000). Most Asian Americans are concentrated on the West Coast and Hawaii. The largest groups are immigrants or descendants of emigrants from the Philippines, China, India, Vietnam, South Korea, and Japan. Indigenous peoples in the United States, such as American Indians and Inuit, make up 0.9% of the population (2000 census). About 35% live on Indian reservations.

Religion

Polls estimate that just under 80 percent of Americans are Christians of various denominations. The other 20 percent comprises other religions such as Hinduism, Judaism, Islam, and Buddhism, other various faiths, and those without a specific religion. The United States is noteworthy among developed nations for its relatively high level of religiosity. According to a 2004 Gallup poll, about 44% of Americans attend a religious service at least once a week. However, this rate is not uniform across the country; attendance is more common in the Bible Belt—composed largely of Southern and Midwestern states—than in the Northeast and West Coast. In the Southern states, Baptists are the largest group, followed by Methodists; Roman Catholics are dominant in the Northeast and in large parts of the Midwest due to their being settled by descendants of Catholic immigrants from Europe (such as Germany, Ireland, Italy, and Poland) or other parts of North America (mainly Quebec and Puerto Rico). The rest of the country for the most part has a complex mixture of various Christian groups.

Education

West Coast's home at Monticello and the University of Virginia (library building shown above, and designed by Jefferson), the only collegiate campus on the list. Both sites are located in Charlottesville, Virginia.]] In the United States, education is a state, not federal, responsibility, and the laws and standards vary considerably. However, the federal government, through the Department of Education, is involved with funding of some programs and exerts some influence through its ability to control funding. In most states, all students must attend mandatory schooling starting with kindergarten, which children normally enter at age 5, and following through 12th grade, which is normally completed at age 18

March 3

March 3 is the 62nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (63rd in leap years). There are 303 days remaining.

Events


- 1431 - Eugenius IV becomes Pope.
- 1639 - The early settlement of Taunton, Massachusetts was incorporated as a town.
- 1791 - The United States Mint is created by the U.S. Congress.
- 1820 - The U.S. Congress passes the Missouri Compromise.
- 1845 - Florida is admitted as the 27th U.S. state.
- 1845 - For the first time the U.S. Congress passes legislation overriding a presidential veto.
- 1849 - Minnesota Territory organized as a political division of the United States.
- 1849 - The United States Department of the Interior is established.
- 1849 - The U.S. Congress passes the Gold Coinage Act allowing the minting of gold coins.
- 1857 - France and the United Kingdom declare war on China.
- 1863 - Idaho Territory organized as a political division of the United States.
- 1865 - The U.S. Congress authorizes formation of the Freedmen's Bureau.
- 1873 - Censorship: The U.S. Congress enacts the Comstock Law, making it illegal to send any "obscene, lewd, or lascivious" books through the mail.
- 1875 - The first ever organized indoor game of ice hockey was played in Montreal, as recorded in The Montreal Gazette.
- 1877 - Rutherford B. Hayes is privately inaugurated as the 19th President of the United States (his public inauguration coming on March 5).
- 1878 - Bulgaria regains its independence from Ottoman Empire.
- 1879 - The United States Geological Survey is created.
- 1885 - The American Telephone and Telegraph Company is incorporated in New York State as a subsidiary of American Bell Telephone. (American Bell would later merge with its subsidiary.)
- 1891 - The Penalty Spot Kick rule in Soccer is concieved, but does not come into effect until the next season
- 1904 - Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany becomes the first person to make a sound recording of a political document, using Thomas Edison's cylinder.
- 1905 - Tsar Nicholas II of Russia agrees to create an elected assembly (the Duma).
- 1910 - Rockefeller Foundation: J.D. Rockefeller Jr. announces his retirement from managing his businesses so that he could devote full time to being a philanthropist.
- 1915 - NACA, the predecessor of NASA founded.
- 1918 - Germany, Austria and Russia sign the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk ending Russia's involvement in World War I, and leading to the independence of Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland.
- 1923 - TIME magazine is published for the first time.
- 1931 - The United States officially adopts "The Star-Spangled Banner" as its national anthem.
- 1933 - Mount Rushmore National Memorial is dedicated.
- 1938 - Glenn Cunningham breaks the world record for the indoor mile run by completing the distance in 4 minutes, 4.4 seconds.
- 1938 - Oil is discovered in Saudi Arabia.
- 1939 - In Mumbai, Mohandas Gandhi begins to fast in protest of the autocratic rule in India.
- 1940 - Five people are killed in a arson attack on the offices of the communist newspaper Norrskensflamman in Luleå, Sweden.
- 1943 - World War II: In London, 173 people are killed in a crush while trying to enter an air-raid shelter at Bethnal Green tube station.
- 1944 - The Order of Nakhimov and Order of Ushakov were instituted in USSR as the highest naval awards.
- 1945 - World War II: Previously neutral Finland declares war on the Axis powers.
- 1945 - World War II: Hundreds of people die in The Hague after the Royal Air Force mistakenly bombs a civilian area in the city.
- 1949 - The Tucker Automobile Corporation folds.
- 1953 - A Canadian Pacific Comet Jet crashes in Karachi, Pakistan killing 11.
- 1955 - Elvis Presley appears on television for the first time.
- 1957 - In Frankfurt. Germany, Corry Brokken wins the second Eurovision Song Contest for the Netherlands singing "Net als toen" (Like it used to be).
- 1958 - Nuri as-Said becomes the prime minister of Iraq for the 14th time.
- 1959 - The San Francisco Giants officially name their new stadium Candlestick Park.
- 1961 - Hassan II becomes King of Morocco.
- 1969 - Apollo program: NASA launches Apollo 9 to test the lunar module.
- 1969 - In a Los Angeles, California court, Sirhan Sirhan admits that he killed presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy.
- 1971 - Beginning of Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 and India's official entry to the Bangladesh Liberation War in support of Mukti Bahini
- 1972 - The space probe Pioneer X is launched by NASA.
- 1973 - Presidents Rule introduced in the Indian state of Orissa.
- 1974 - A Turkish DC-10 crashes at Ermenonville near Paris, killing all 346 aboard.
- 1974 - Roman Catholic and Lutheran officials reach an agreement for eventual reconciliation into one communion, marking the first agreement between the two churches since the Reformation.
- 1976 - Fleetwood Mac records Rumours, which will be a blockbuster album in 1977.
- 1978 - Charles Chaplin's remains are stolen from Cosier-sur-Vevey, Switzerland but are recovered 11 weeks later near Lake Geneva.
- 1985 - Censorship: Women Against Pornography award their "Pig Award" to Huggies Diapers, claiming that the television ads had "crossed the line between eye-catching and porn."
- 1991 - An amateur video captures the beating of Rodney King by Los Angeles police officers.
- 1995 - In Somalia, the United Nations peacekeeping mission ends.
- 1997 - The tallest free-standing structure in the Southern Hemisphere, Sky Tower in downtown Auckland, New Zealand, opens after two-and-a-half years of construction.
- 1999 - LaGrand case: The State of Arizona executes Walter LaGrand, a German despite German legal action in the International Court of Justice.
- 1999 - Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones begin their successful attempt to circumnavigate the world in a hot air balloon without stopping.
- 2001 - A U.S. Air Force Materials Command C-23 Sherpa transport crashes during stormy weather in the U.S. state of Georgia, killing 21.
- 2001 - A bomb explodes outside BBC Television Centre in London. The attack was attributed to dissident Irish Republican terrorists.
- 2002 - Citizens of Switzerland narrowly vote in favour of their country becoming a member of the United Nations.
- 2005 - Mayorthorpe Massacre: Four members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police are gunned down during a drug bust near Mayorthorpe, Alberta in the worst attack on the RCMP since 1885 and the North-West Rebellion.
- 2005 - Steve Fossett becomes the first person to fly an airplane around the world solo without any stops without refuelling - a journey of 40,234 km/25,000 mi completed in 67 hours and 2 minutes.
- 2005 - The freighter M/V Karen Danielsen, crashes into part of the Great Belt Bridge of Denmark, 800 m from Funen. All traffic across the bridge stops, effectively separating Denmark in two.

Births


- 1455 - King John II of Portugal, (d. 1495)
- 1520 - Matthias Flacius, Croatian protestant reformer (d. 1575)
- 1583 - Edward Herbert, 1st Baron Herbert of Cherbury, English diplomat, poet, and philosopher (d. 1648)
- 1589 - Gisbertus Voetius, Dutch theologian (d. 1676)
- 1606 - Edmund Waller, English poet (d. 1687)
- 1652 - Thomas Otway, English dramatist (d. 1685)
- 1805 - Jonas Furrer, first President of the Swiss Confederation, (d. 1861)
- 1831 - George Pullman, American inventor and industrialist, (d. 1897)
- 1839 - Jamshedji Tata, Indian industrialist (d. 1904)
- 1845 - Georg Cantor, German mathematician, (d. 1918)
- 1847 - Alexander Graham Bell, Scottish inventor (d. 1922)
- 1863 - Arthur Machen, Welsh-born author (d. 1947)
- 1873 - William Green, American labor union leader (d. 1952)
- 1886 - Fred A. Busse, Mayor of Chicago (d. 1914)
- 1886 - Tore Ørjasæter, Norwegian poet (d. 1968)
- 1893 - Beatrice Wood, American artist and ceramicist (d. 1998)
- 1895 - Ragnar Anton Kittil Frisch, Norwegian economist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1973)
- 1895 - Matthew Ridgway, Supreme Allied Commander of NATO, U.S. Army Chief of Staff (d. 1993)
- 1911 - Jean Harlow, American actress (d. 1937)
- 1918 - Arthur Kornberg, American biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- 1918 - Fritz Thiedemann, German equestrian (d. 2000)
- 1920 - Julius Boros, American golfer (d. 1994)
- 1920 - James Doohan, Canadian-born actor (d. 2005)
- 1920 - Ronald Searle, English illustrator
- 1922 - Nándor Hidegkuti, Hungarian footballer
- 1923 - Barney Martin, American actor
- 1923 - Doc Watson, American musician
- 1926 - Lys Assia, Swiss singer
- 1926 - Joseph Anthony Ferrario, American Catholic prelate
- 1926 - James Merrill, American poet (d. 1995)
- 1930 - Heiner Geißler, German politician
- 1930 - Ion Iliescu, President of Romania
- 1933 - Lee Radziwill, American fashion executive
- 1937 - Bobby Driscoll, American actor (d. 1968)
- 1940 - Germán Castro Caycedo, Colombian writer and journalist.
- 1940 - Perry Ellis, fashion designer (d. 1986)
- 1945 - George Miller, Australian film director
- 1946 - John Virgo, English snooker player
- 1947 - Jennifer Warnes, American singer and songwriter
- 1947 - Miyamoto Teru, Japanese author
- 1949 - Jüri Allik, Estonian psychologist
- 1949 - Gloria Hendry, American actress
- 1950 - Tim Kazurinsky, American actor and comedian
- 1953 - Robyn Hitchcock, English musician
- 1953 - Zico, Brazilian footballer
- 1955 - Andy Breckman, American comedian and radio personality
- 1958 - Miranda Richardson, English actress
- 1959 - Ira Glass, American radio host
- 1962 - Jackie Joyner-Kersee, American athlete
- 1962 - Herschel Walker, American football player
- 1966 - Tone-Loc, American musician
- 1970 - Julie Bowen, American actress
- 1973 - Victoria Zdrok, Ukrainian model
- 1974 - David Faustino, American actor
- 1977 - Ronan Keating, Irish singer
- 1981 - Lil' Flip, American rapper
- 1982 - Jessica Biel, American actress
- 1988 - Ian i-Pod Bengson, Bassist of The Two Tens

Deaths


- 1111 - Bohemund I, Prince of Antioch
- 1239 - Vladimir III Rurikovich, Grand Prince of Kiev (b. 1187)
- 1459 - Ausiàs March, Catalan poet (b. 1397)
- 1554 - John Frederick, Elector of Saxony (b. 1503)
- 1703 - Robert Hooke, English scientist (b. 1635)
- 1706 - Johann Pachelbel, German composer (b. 1653)
- 1707 - Aurangzeb, Mughal Emperor of India (b. 1618)
- 1717 - Pierre Allix, French protestant pastor (b. 1640)
- 1744 - Jean Barbeyrac, French jurist
- 1765 - William Stukeley, English archaeologist (b. 1687)
- 1768 - Nicola Porpora, Italian composer (b. 1686)
- 1792 - Robert Adam, Scottish architect (b. 1728)
- 1850 - Oliver Cowdery, American religious leader (b. 1806)
- 1927 - Mikhail Artsybashev, Russian writer (b. 1878)
- 1932 - Eugen d'Albert, German composer (b. 1864)
- 1937 - Amelia Earhart, American pilot (disappeared)
- 1943 - George Thompson, English cricketer (b. 1877)
- 1959 - Lou Costello, American actor and comedian (b. 1906)
- 1961 - Paul Wittgenstein, Austrian-born pianist (b. 1887)
- 1966 - William Frawley, American actor (b. 1887)
- 1966 - Maxfield Parrish, American artist (b. 1870)
- 1966 - Alice Pearce, American actress (b. 1917)
- 1982 - Georges Perec, French writer (b. 1936)
- 1983 - Hergé, Belgian comics creator (b. 1907)
- 1983 - Arthur Koestler, Austrian writer (b. 1905)
- 1987 - Danny Kaye, American actor, singer, and comedian (b. 1913)
- 1988 - Sewall Wright, American biologist (b. 1889)
- 1990 - Gérard Blitz, Belgian waterpoloist and entrepreneur (b. 1912)
- 1991 - Arthur Murray, American dancer and dance instructor (b. 1895)
- 1993 - Carlos Marcello, Tunisian-born gangster (b. 1910)
- 1993 - Albert Sabin, Polish-born medical researcher (b. 1906)
- 1994 - Howard W. Hunter, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (b. 1907)
- 1996 - Marguerite Duras, French writer (b. 1914)
- 1996 - John Cardinal Krol, American Catholic clergyman (b. 1910)
- 1998 - Fred Friendly, American broadcast executive (b. 1915)
- 1999 - Gerhard Herzberg, German-born chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1904)
- 2001 - Louis Edmonds, American actor (b. 1923)
- 2002 - Harlan Howard, American musician (b. 1927)
- 2003 - Hank Ballard, American singer (b. 1907)
- 2003 - Horst Buchholz, German actor (b. 1933)
- 2003 - Peter Smithson, English architect (b. 1923)
- 2003 - Goffredo Petrassi, Italian composer (b. 1904)
- 2005 - Max M. Fisher, American philanthropist (b. 1928)
- 2005 - Rinus Michels, Dutch football coach (b.1928)

Holidays and observances


- Hinamatsuri - Japanese celebration day for girls.
- Malawi - Martyr's Day
- Bulgaria - National Day

External links


- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/3 BBC: On This Day]
- [http://www.tnl.net/when/3/3 Today in History: March 3] ---- March 2 - March 4 - February 3 - April 3 -- listing of all days ko:3월 3일 ms:3 Mac ja:3月3日 simple:March 3 th:3 มีนาคม

Texas Legislature

The Texas Legislature is the central lawmaking body of the U.S. state of Texas. The first legislative session after Texas became a state occurred in 1846–1847. Like most state legislatures, it consists of two chambers: a Senate and a House of Representatives. The Texas State Senate has 31 members and the Texas House of Representatives has 150 members. The legislature currently meets in the capitol building in Austin, Texas on odd numbered years, usually from January to June. The sessions may not last more than 140 days. The Lieutenant Governor, elected statewide separate from the Governor, presides over the Senate, while the Speaker of the House, the presiding officer of the House of Representatives, is elected from that body by its members. Both have wide latitude in choosing committee membership in their respective houses and have a large impact on lawmaking in the state. The governor may call the legislature into special sessions (the legislature may not call itself into session, as is the case in some other states). The special sessions have a limited duration of 30 days and the governor sets the agenda. Recent special sessions have dealt with congressional redistricting and school finance. As established by the Texas Constitution, a senator must be at least 26 years of age, a citizen of Texas five years prior to election and a resident of the district from which elected one year prior to election. Each senator serves a four-year term and one-half of the Senate membership is elected every two years with the exception that all 31 Senate seats go up for election for the first legislature following the decennial census in order to reflect the newly reapportioned districts. A representative must be at least 21 years of age, a citizen of Texas for two years prior to election and a resident of the district from which elected one year prior to election. They are elected for two-year terms, running for re-election in even-numbered years.

External links


- [http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/ Texas Legislature Online]
- [http://www.house.state.tx.us/welcome.php Texas House of Representatives]
- [http://www.senate.state.tx.us/ Texas State Senate]
- [http://www.lrl.state.tx.us/ Legislative Reference Library of Texas]

Resources


- "Citizen Handbook". [http://www.senate.state.tx.us/CHBook/CHBook.htm The Senate of Texas]. Retrieved Apr. 13, 2005.
- . Retrieved Apr. 13, 2005. Legislature Category:U.S. State legislatures

Houston Independent School District

The Houston Independent School District (HISD) is the largest public school system in Texas and the seventh largest in the United States. In the 2004-2005 school year, HISD had 302 campuses, approximately 209,000 students and over 12,000 teachers. With over 30,000 employees, HISD is one of the largest employers in the city of Houston. HISD is highly regarded for the bilingual education of its predominantly Hispanic student body (including recruiting teachers from Mexico, Spain, and Central and South America) and its magnet (Performing Arts, Science, Health Professions, Law Enforcement, etc) High Schools are considered a model for other urban school districts as a way to provide a high quality education and keep top performing students in the inner city from fleeing to private schools or exurban school districts.

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