For my on campus event I chose to go to one of the presidential brown bag lunches. I chose this because I wanted to expose myself to some ideas that were against my political beliefs. I think that I sometimes only talk about politics with the friends that I know will agree with me and only read about the news from sources that advocate a liberal agenda. However, I really do believe that it is important to spend time listening (open-mindedly) to people who have differing opinions because it is a good way to discuss and understand why I feel the way I do. Unfortunately this event was not as much a stretch for me as I would have liked, as all of the speakers strongly supported Obama over McCain and there was little if any discussion of areas in which McCain might be more qualified or reasons why one might wish to vote for him. Because of this disappointing result I chose to watch the election results on November 4 with a group of friends that included a McCain supporter. I found that this experience produced some of the results that I had hoped for when I attended the presidential brown bag lunch discussion. For instance I was reminded about how important I think it is that people of all political orientations work together. I feel that the smugness and superiority that often comes with being a part Washington’s party in power is often very damaging and stands in the way of our government being productive. Additionally, I think that the goals of the American people are in many areas the same for most people, with the real disagreement lying in how to accomplish these goals. During this election I have been rather upset with how much we as a society have been vilifying the members of the parties who oppose our political beliefs. I am as guilty for doing this as anyone else is, however I feel that this is something we should strive to move away from in the future. The conversations that I had while watching election results with friends that have opposing beliefs gave me hope that this is possible.
I don’t really know much about the city of Georgetown, especially in the political realm, I don’t know if we have a mayor, or who that person might be and I don’t know what propositions or ballot initiatives were decided during the election, because I voted by absentee. I feel bad that I am so uninformed about the town in which I live, so I decided to attend a public meeting of some sort in Georgetown for my off campus event. I chose to attend the Georgetown Municipal Airport Advisory Committee meeting. I pick this event because I didn’t even know Georgetown had an airport (also, to be honest, it was at a more convenient time for me than some other meetings). The meeting was held at a firehouse right next to the airport at 7 on a Monday night. The main question under discussion at this meeting was about the lease for the land the airport is on. As I understood the situation the land is leased from Georgetown for the airport to be able to operate. The board members were discussing if they wished to renew the lease with the same terms that they had had before or if they wanted to renegotiate it. I thought that this was particularly interesting because it is not at all how I would have imagined such a decision being made. It was by no means an elaborate legal process including polling about how individuals felt about the decision. Instead each of the members gave their opinions and it was fairly quickly decided that the lease would be renewed as it was before. I really enjoyed seeing the legislative process on such a small scale with just a few people in a room talking about what they thought would work best. It certainly seemed more reasonable and humane than some of the debates that occur between legislators in Washington.
Friday, November 21, 2008
Friday, November 7, 2008
Civic Engagement Blog (take two)
I am optimistic about our motives for civic engagement. I certainly feel like we are on the right path to avoiding the “coat-drive” self-righteousness, but I also thing it is important to keep this goal in mind through out our work. However, the fact that is a concern we are aware of will help us to avoid such a situation.
I think that it is certainly okay for us to be ambitious, and I think we might have more fun if we try something that “stretches” us. At the same time, if we do choose an ambitious project I think we also need to be willing to accept the fact that we may not get everything accomplished that we set out to do. Since our ideas from the last meeting are still sort of fluid and in the works it’s hard for me to say whether they are to big or to small. I think all the ideas we threw out are still new enough and flexible enough at this point that we can work with them to ensure that they are not to small.
I think I would prefer us all to work together as a group. While I do understand the advantages I feel that working together and having a shared experience would really help us to get to know each other better, understand how each individual works, how we can work together and what we can learn from each other.
I really feel like 3 is a magic number in terms of encounters. I feel that in order build some sort of relationship we really need to be in contact with the same population at least three times. For my schedule committing to work once every other week would probably be easiest. In terms of scheduling encounters I am really fond of the following: Perhaps we can set up a regular weekly time for some of the cohort to work at whatever site or project we choose. Then we could sing up for the various days according to our schedule. That way students could work on the project as often as they wish (although I’m sure we would set a minimum) and if you know you’ll be crazy-busy for the 2 weeks in March planning whatever for the organization you are president of you could schedule around that.
I’m not really excited about the populations we have discussed working with. This is largely because I feel especially passionate about other populations. I spent the summer working as a call councilor for a crisis hotline that picks up for two major national suicide hotlines. As a result of this work I am really passionate about helping people going through mental health crises, or those struggling with disabilities. I’m not suggesting that we all go be call councilors for a suicide hotline, but I would be interested to see how we could maybe meet the needs of persons with physical, mental, and/or psychological disabilities. I also feel that veterans are a population that is in great need, especially those just returning from Iraq. There really are not a lot of services for these men and women, especially for those who are dealing with issues like PTSD. This is an issue that we might be able to do a lot for by raising awareness and seeing how we can work inside the system (i.e. the government) to demand a change in this. Since this project is about civic engagement and not just volunteerism it might be interesting to explore some ideas that tap into the civic side. Maybe we could facilitate a letter writing campaign or start a petition to demand better mental healthcare for veterans. As a non-mental health alternative I’m also a big fan of amnesty international and I think it might really interesting and eye-opening.
If we do decide to pursue working with children or the elderly I really think that the project would be nice if it was one-on-one and fairly unstructured. I think this is important because it would facilitate making connections and building relationships. Also I think this is an important way we can avoid the “coat-drive” problem because this way we can listen to what the people we are working with want and need instead of assuming that we know what is best for them. If the unstructured idea is too fluid for some people we could come up with a basic outline of what we want to do and then maybe talk to the groups we would be working with to see how they feel about it and if they have any additional suggestions or ideas. I like the idea of incorporating art, literature, sports/team building, etc, but I think we should talk to the people we would be working with before we make any unchangeable choices and also see if they have additional ideas.
If we do decide to work with children I would prefer to work with economically disadvantaged children, but I do not have a particular age preference for the group we would be working with.
I mentioned above (fourth paragraph) some of the ideas I have for organizing the project in terms of scheduling and contact. I think that there are ways the program work well whether we decide to structure it in a centralized or decentralized way. The suggestions in my fourth paragraph are simply ideas I had that I think could work well, but I’m interested to see what others have to say about this part of the project in particularly and I am certainly open to suggestions. In terms of the project having leaders or no leaders I think it might be hard to say definitively what would be best in this area without first knowing what sort of project we want to do. For instance if we decide to do art with kids than maybe a couple of people would want to form a sort of lesson plan or activity and others could help do the activity with the kids. On the other hand we certainly do not have to have leaders and another sort of project (doing something with amnesty international or the caring place for instance) might be just a easily and successfully completed without leader. I am open to all of the potential options involving leaders (or lack there of), however if we do decide to use leaders of some sort I think it might be best to use a system of volunteering/nominating and voting on leaders.
I think it would be really neat if everyone could come up with one or two ideas of a project that we could do (complete with preliminary research of the organization involved – maybe Suzy could help us individually with this if we want) and then present that idea to the group. I think this would be a really interesting way to do things because it would make each of us more invested in the projects we are discussing and it might let the group hear about some ideas that haven’t really been discussed yet. For me I sometimes end up liking ideas that are completely different from my own, just because they are ones I never would have come up with on myself. If others aren’t so interested in having to filter through so many different suggestions then I think it would be really good to either have Suzy take the lead on this or at least guide us through the process. I think having Suzy help us would be really great because she has a good deal of experience working with different organizations and so she can help us understand how they work and if they might be a good fit for us.
I certainly don’t want to prevent anyone from doing something they have their heart set on, however I do think it is important for us to explore a few different ideas, so the following suggestions are some projects others might not have thought of but still might be really interested in:
Amnesty International: this is an organization that works to correct civil rights injustices throughout the world. You might have heard about them in history class from their attempts to raise awareness about Nelson Mandela and other “forgotten prisoners” of South African Apartheid in the 1960s. The USA branch of the organization has a bunch of interesting suggestions and ideas of how to get involved on their website, including those especially for college students. Of particular interest to us might be lobbing congress, educating the public, and starting a letter writing campaign. For more info check out http://www.amnestyusa.org/get-activist-toolkit/page.do?id=1031046.
Lone Star Circle of Care: this is an organization here in Williamson County that provides healthcare for people who are uninsured or underinsured. They have clinics in Georgetown (literally walking distance down 29), Round Rock, and Granger. I’ve work with them through APO and done things like filing, making folders, and reading to kids in their pediatric waiting room. They have a website too, it’s http://www.lscctx.org/index.html.
R.O.C.K. (Ride on Center for Kids): This organization is here in Georgetown and they do hippotherapy (therapeutic horseback riding). This would be really neat if we wanted to work with kids and animals. R.O.C.K. works with kids that have cognitive and mental disabilities. Also, the staff always has organizational stuff they can use help with if you don’t feel comfortable working with kids. Website: http://rockride-org.doodlekit.com/home.
That’s pretty much all I have to say for now, but I can’t wait to read everyone else’s ideas!
--Margaret
I think that it is certainly okay for us to be ambitious, and I think we might have more fun if we try something that “stretches” us. At the same time, if we do choose an ambitious project I think we also need to be willing to accept the fact that we may not get everything accomplished that we set out to do. Since our ideas from the last meeting are still sort of fluid and in the works it’s hard for me to say whether they are to big or to small. I think all the ideas we threw out are still new enough and flexible enough at this point that we can work with them to ensure that they are not to small.
I think I would prefer us all to work together as a group. While I do understand the advantages I feel that working together and having a shared experience would really help us to get to know each other better, understand how each individual works, how we can work together and what we can learn from each other.
I really feel like 3 is a magic number in terms of encounters. I feel that in order build some sort of relationship we really need to be in contact with the same population at least three times. For my schedule committing to work once every other week would probably be easiest. In terms of scheduling encounters I am really fond of the following: Perhaps we can set up a regular weekly time for some of the cohort to work at whatever site or project we choose. Then we could sing up for the various days according to our schedule. That way students could work on the project as often as they wish (although I’m sure we would set a minimum) and if you know you’ll be crazy-busy for the 2 weeks in March planning whatever for the organization you are president of you could schedule around that.
I’m not really excited about the populations we have discussed working with. This is largely because I feel especially passionate about other populations. I spent the summer working as a call councilor for a crisis hotline that picks up for two major national suicide hotlines. As a result of this work I am really passionate about helping people going through mental health crises, or those struggling with disabilities. I’m not suggesting that we all go be call councilors for a suicide hotline, but I would be interested to see how we could maybe meet the needs of persons with physical, mental, and/or psychological disabilities. I also feel that veterans are a population that is in great need, especially those just returning from Iraq. There really are not a lot of services for these men and women, especially for those who are dealing with issues like PTSD. This is an issue that we might be able to do a lot for by raising awareness and seeing how we can work inside the system (i.e. the government) to demand a change in this. Since this project is about civic engagement and not just volunteerism it might be interesting to explore some ideas that tap into the civic side. Maybe we could facilitate a letter writing campaign or start a petition to demand better mental healthcare for veterans. As a non-mental health alternative I’m also a big fan of amnesty international and I think it might really interesting and eye-opening.
If we do decide to pursue working with children or the elderly I really think that the project would be nice if it was one-on-one and fairly unstructured. I think this is important because it would facilitate making connections and building relationships. Also I think this is an important way we can avoid the “coat-drive” problem because this way we can listen to what the people we are working with want and need instead of assuming that we know what is best for them. If the unstructured idea is too fluid for some people we could come up with a basic outline of what we want to do and then maybe talk to the groups we would be working with to see how they feel about it and if they have any additional suggestions or ideas. I like the idea of incorporating art, literature, sports/team building, etc, but I think we should talk to the people we would be working with before we make any unchangeable choices and also see if they have additional ideas.
If we do decide to work with children I would prefer to work with economically disadvantaged children, but I do not have a particular age preference for the group we would be working with.
I mentioned above (fourth paragraph) some of the ideas I have for organizing the project in terms of scheduling and contact. I think that there are ways the program work well whether we decide to structure it in a centralized or decentralized way. The suggestions in my fourth paragraph are simply ideas I had that I think could work well, but I’m interested to see what others have to say about this part of the project in particularly and I am certainly open to suggestions. In terms of the project having leaders or no leaders I think it might be hard to say definitively what would be best in this area without first knowing what sort of project we want to do. For instance if we decide to do art with kids than maybe a couple of people would want to form a sort of lesson plan or activity and others could help do the activity with the kids. On the other hand we certainly do not have to have leaders and another sort of project (doing something with amnesty international or the caring place for instance) might be just a easily and successfully completed without leader. I am open to all of the potential options involving leaders (or lack there of), however if we do decide to use leaders of some sort I think it might be best to use a system of volunteering/nominating and voting on leaders.
I think it would be really neat if everyone could come up with one or two ideas of a project that we could do (complete with preliminary research of the organization involved – maybe Suzy could help us individually with this if we want) and then present that idea to the group. I think this would be a really interesting way to do things because it would make each of us more invested in the projects we are discussing and it might let the group hear about some ideas that haven’t really been discussed yet. For me I sometimes end up liking ideas that are completely different from my own, just because they are ones I never would have come up with on myself. If others aren’t so interested in having to filter through so many different suggestions then I think it would be really good to either have Suzy take the lead on this or at least guide us through the process. I think having Suzy help us would be really great because she has a good deal of experience working with different organizations and so she can help us understand how they work and if they might be a good fit for us.
I certainly don’t want to prevent anyone from doing something they have their heart set on, however I do think it is important for us to explore a few different ideas, so the following suggestions are some projects others might not have thought of but still might be really interested in:
Amnesty International: this is an organization that works to correct civil rights injustices throughout the world. You might have heard about them in history class from their attempts to raise awareness about Nelson Mandela and other “forgotten prisoners” of South African Apartheid in the 1960s. The USA branch of the organization has a bunch of interesting suggestions and ideas of how to get involved on their website, including those especially for college students. Of particular interest to us might be lobbing congress, educating the public, and starting a letter writing campaign. For more info check out http://www.amnestyusa.org/get-activist-toolkit/page.do?id=1031046.
Lone Star Circle of Care: this is an organization here in Williamson County that provides healthcare for people who are uninsured or underinsured. They have clinics in Georgetown (literally walking distance down 29), Round Rock, and Granger. I’ve work with them through APO and done things like filing, making folders, and reading to kids in their pediatric waiting room. They have a website too, it’s http://www.lscctx.org/index.html.
R.O.C.K. (Ride on Center for Kids): This organization is here in Georgetown and they do hippotherapy (therapeutic horseback riding). This would be really neat if we wanted to work with kids and animals. R.O.C.K. works with kids that have cognitive and mental disabilities. Also, the staff always has organizational stuff they can use help with if you don’t feel comfortable working with kids. Website: http://rockride-org.doodlekit.com/home.
That’s pretty much all I have to say for now, but I can’t wait to read everyone else’s ideas!
--Margaret
Monday, November 3, 2008
Civic Engagement Blog
I'm not exactly sure what civic engagement means to me. I know that I have always viewed volunteerism as an important part of my life and that seems to be a key element of civic engagement as well. I also feel like civic engagement has a more purposeful drive and more stable foundation than simple volunteerism. I hope to make an impact on SU with CE work in paideia. I am trying to remain open and fluid about what that is exactly at this point, but it is important to me that the CE work I do have a positive impact on at least one life. In approaching the topic of CE I am a bit concerned about finding a topic or issue that all of us in the cohort feel passionate about. I think that will be a key factor in making our CE work great, but because we are such a diverse group I am a bit concerned about us being able to choose something everyone cares about.
The areas I am interested in (today at least): are healthcare for the un/underinsured, mental health issues, domestic hunger (especially in children), and homelessness.
The areas I am interested in (today at least): are healthcare for the un/underinsured, mental health issues, domestic hunger (especially in children), and homelessness.
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