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In lieu of the upcoming November election, the majority of media attention and focus has been on the Presidential race. However, on the California ballot (of which many Whittier students will be voting by) there are 12 state propositions that, despite their importance, are relatively unknown to voters.

While some propositions have earned publicity by their controversial nature, such as Proposition 8, regarding the California Supreme Court's decision to lift the ban on gay marriage, most students are not only unaware of the general premise of the propositions, but their details and implications. While each is significant in one aspect or another, three bills that, if passed, will affect the lives of Californian residents, are as follows:

Proposition 1A: ?Safe, Reliable High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Act.

Proposition 1A proposes the allocation of $9.95 billion dollars to build a high-speed train from San Francisco to Los Angeles. The leftover $950 million would be used for additional tracks tentatively set from Sacramento to Stockton to Fresno, San Francisco Transbay Terminal to San Jose to Fresno, Fresno to Bakersfield to Palmdale to Los Angeles Union Station, Oakland to San Jose, Los Angeles Union Station to Riverside to San Diego, Los Angeles Union Station to Anaheim to Irvine, and Merced to Stockton to Oakland/San Francisco (via Altamont.) The $950 million would also be used for modernizing passenger rail service, which includes tracks, signals, and structures. The total state cost is estimated to be about $19.4 billion over a span of thirty years to pay off the original price ($9.95 billion) and the $9.5 billion interest on the bonds. An additional estimated $1 billion a year would be needed to operate and maintain the new rail system, but this particular cost would be aided by passenger fare revenue, depending on the success of the new system. The project would be paid for with general obligation bonds, which, if supported by a voter referendum, are backed by the government's taxing powers and the project's revenue. The propositions intention is to make public transportation in California quicker and more efficient, which, in turn, will cut down on pollution used by and gas needed for personal vehicles. Traveling throughout California would become much easier and quicker; a trip from San Francisco to Los Angeles on the new high-speed train would take an estimated two hours and forty minutes.

Proposition 5?: Nonviolent Drug Offense: Sentencing, Parole and Rehabilitation.

Proposition 5 strives to improve the rehabilitation and parole systems previously instated for first time and nonviolent drug offenders in order to decrease overcrowding in jails. Consequences of minor offenses will more often be in treatment programs instead of incarceration, which is currently more common. Special rehabilitation staff would be hired, and drug education programs would be implemented at each prison. The propositions also creates three new programs, or "tracks" for different degrees of criminals, described here by the League of Women Voters of California:

Track I: Offenders charged with nonviolent drug possession offenses, with no prior violent or serious offenses, could enter into a deferred entry of judgment arrangement with the court that does not require probation supervision… an offender who completes the assigned drug treatment program and stays out of trouble would have the charges against him/her dismissed. Also, rather than the offender paying for the cost of the treatment program, the state funds these programs.

Track II: A modified form of [a previous proposition], this track would generally divert offenders convicted of a nonviolent drug possession offense to treatment and probation for up to a year…Offenders cannot participate if convicted of a violent or serious felony during the prior five years. Offenders with five or more offenses in the prior 30 months are not eligible.

Track III: This is similar to existing state-funded drug court programs for adult felons. This track generally provides treatment and probation supervision in lieu of incarceration in prison or jail for up to 18 months…judges would be provided discretion as to which offenders would be admitted.

Funding for this project would derive from a sum of $100 million that was appropriated to the Substance Abuse Treatment Trust Fund in 2007-2008 originally intended for a previous proposition. $150 million is allotted for 2008-2009 and $460 million is set for 2009-2010 with an annual increase to adjust to living and other costs. 15 percent is allotted for Track I programs, 60 percent for Track II and 10 percent for Track III programs. Penalties, including marijuana offenses will also be affected. For an adult or minor possessing less than 28.5 grams of marijuana, the crime would be charged as an infraction. Furthermore, adults will be charged a $100 fine, but additional penalties cannot exceed $100. All money from fines will be put in a fund for at-risk youth programs for drug prevention. Minors would not be fined for a first offense under the new proposition, but they would be required to attend a drug education program.

Proposition 7?: Renewable Energy Generation.

Proposition 7 requires government owned utilities to generate 20 percent of their own energy by 2010 (previously a standard only enforced in relation to investor-owned utilities and electric service providers), 40 percent by 2020 and 50 percent by 2025. These companies must enter into contracts for renewable energy sources for no less than 20 years. The California government website explains that the proposition includes a new definition of "solar and clean energy plant" as "electrical generating facility using wind, solar photovoltaic, solar thermal, biomass, biogas, geothermal, fuel cells using renewable fuels, digester gas, municipal solid waste conversion, landfill gas, ocean wave, ocean thermal, or tidal current technologies with a generating capacity of 30 megawatts or more."

The proposition requires $3.4 million annually to be given to the California Public Utilities Commission and California Energy Commission for their regulation of companies' energy use; this money will come from customer fees. While it is currently unknown, it is likely that electricity rates will rise in response to the additional cost of alternative energy sources will produce.

This bill's intention is to reduce California's dependence on natural gases as a primary energy source.

It is also intended to raise renewable energy usage and lower California's greenhouse gas emissions. While it is thus unclear whether this ambitious goal can be achieved in the time allotted and how costs may rise as a result, it is an effort to encourage more environmental livings.

Although only three propositions have been emphasized in the above article, it is merely to highlight their importance, positive or negative, in relation to students' lives.

Other propositions on the California ballot should not be ignored; it is the duty of the registered voter to become enlightened about the politics of their state and country, particularly those that will affect them.

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