Shopping for a Cause

I was not too sure about my topic for this week so I choose to talk about thrift stores that aim to help a cause. For Continuing the Heritage I was blessed to work with the Roy Maas’ Youth Alternatives thrift store, and I was really impressed by the work they do and what they stand for.

I know many of us are hesitant to try out thrift stores but now there have been more and more that partner up and donate a portion of what they make to specific organizations. Roy Maas for example donates what they make to their foundation which helps children that are from a troubled home and if they need it they give them a place to stay and help them get jobs since many of them aren’t socially incompetent.

This is carrying on what Goodwill started but many stores choose specific organizations to donate to like the Texas Thrift store donates to the Army of Hope. The big name stores have started to sell some things that give back like Walmart sells some breast cancer awareness things but this does not compare to the amount of work and commitment that these local thrift stores have to offer.

 Looking for what thrift stores donate to what organization may be hard because many of the local smaller stores do not have a website however with the size of San Antonio I’m sure there are plenty of organizations that are benefactors of these stores. I just thought this would be good for our class to look into because it is possible that there is a thrift store that donates to the cause that your group chose.

Roy Mass' Foundation

Boysville Auxiliary Thrift  

Social Media Giving Campaigns a Hand

http://publicyte.com/dosomething-org-knows-how-to-throw-an-annual-meeting/

Every year, the city of New York holds a meeting where they discuss the advancements of the non-profit organization, DoSomething.org. This organization is very significant because it rallies teenagers on social causes. I believe that the success of this organization is due to the targeted audience. Teenagers are only a few years away from becoming adults and part of the real world. They are going to be the people who will make decisions that can possibly change the laws we have today. So informing them is a good step in the right direction.

DoSomething.org not only focuses on one issue, but many. Their campaigns deal with Hurricane Sandy, bullying, animal adoption, and donating school supplies for children. I find it amazing and I thought they made a smart move on advertising it through our social media. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, and Snapchat are used by millions every single day. What other better way to get out the word? People need to know that the advancements on technology can be used in a positive way. Instead of hacking someone’s bank account, technology can be used to inform others about the issues people are struggling with.  

Taking a picture of you and a group of friends doing community service seems pretty insignificant, but when you post it and others see it, it can possibly motivate others to do the same.  

Fear means Go

I got this article from Twitter #Social change. It tells of a man whose mother also told him the phrase “Fear means go.” It also told of when he was a young child, he was scared of going to his first day of school. He was going to be on live television and feared her wouldn’t have anything valuable to say. His mother told him that fear is a campus, and everyone must overcome it at some point in their lives in order to become the person you are destined to become.

The author also give a good example of how fear is still implemented in the older generation, such as being a judge and going into a class with other people who have a much higher and intimidating education they the author does. It does take a toll on people now a days, even for me, I still get a little intimidated by people who know a subject much better than I do. It’s fearful for me to speak up and voice what I have to say and be shot down by some other student who makes much more sense than I do. But this is just me, one person. It does not compare to how fear affects a whole community.

If people were to overcome this sense of fear that they have, for whatever reason, that we as a community could move forward, we could go! In my opinion, this phrase sums up the exact reason why we as a community don’t get involved as much as we need to. It is probably because we fear one another, or we fear of getting hurt physically and emotionally.

 Studies show that people who work full time jobs tend to go out and give back to the community more often than people who don’t, and the same goes for people who are married, they tend to be more trustworthy than someone who is single. Now a day’s people who give back to the community are indeed single and have low paying jobs. Is it the fear of not having any money to pay bills that causes people to not go out and make a social change? No one really knows for sure.

http://ht.ly/htVWN

The Way of Social Action

http://beforeitsnews.com/alternative/2012/05/the-way-of-social-action-2180229.html

Trusting people is kind of hard for me to do basically because I am not sure that people will be there in the times that I will need them. Reading this article, it showed that there are still good people out there in the world. This young man stepped in for a pregnant woman in her time of need. This young man showed me two lessons that can come in handy in life. Knowing that there was a drunk man that was causing the problem, the young man decided to use his words to solve the problem rather than his fighting skills. Another reason that he taught me was that even though you do not want to get involved with other people’s problems, sometimes you have to step in and take control of the situation. What the man wanted to accomplish was done in words rather than in muscular fighting.

I chose this article because it was a real life situation that someone lived and decided to act. I was looking at the picture at the beginning of the article and it surprised me that the person that was in the article is actually an older man. I know that I got inspiration from looking at the picture of the elderly man in a wheelchair standing in front of all those officers. Conflict does not have to be done in fighting, rather than creating a solution with words and making a difference. 

Design for Change

http://www.fastcoexist.com/1681353/spreading-the-message-of-design-for-change#1

The article attached is an amazing article discussing social change. In a world that is in much need for a positive transition towards a society that we all hope to live together in, perhaps the biggest factor is simply a desire to follow out said ideals. Our interest is the key motivator behind the majority of actions that we choose to complete. When our internal interest fire is stoked, the odds of a positive outcome increase exponentially. The “Design Ignites Change” program does an excellent job of grouping together individuals that have a desire to create a social change. Perhaps even more important, is the way that they choose to do this; with commonality and design. “Design Ignites Change” is a nonprofit organization that intends to give back much more than just money that they could have been receiving. The group sends out designs to multiple people in order to spread their message of a social change that we all can agree is needed. Many of the designers that receive said messages are enthused by such a motive and methodology. Another huge aspect is the money that they provide for students in forms of Scholarships. As opposed to simply striving for change, they are creating an anecdotal change in society. When the subject of creating a difference is discussed, a plethora of individuals can spew ideas or possible plans that all sound beautiful in the confines of a boardroom. However, “Design Ignites Change” takes the extra step, and executes while at the same time giving back in a time of need.

Honduras.. "The Murder Capital" of the World.

http://preparetoserve.com/honduras/social-issues-in-honduras-crime-emigration-water/

Honduras is a really nice county with a lot of natural resources and a lot of beautiful views and and landscapes. That is all worthless when it is the unsafest place to live in as of right now. It is sad to say this about my country that I love so much but it is the reality of my people and my family who are right now living in Honduras. "According to the UN Honduras has the highest murder rate in the world."This has been a really big social issue in Honduras. First, all of the murders took place by gang members and people that killed because of money, but later on it all got really bad and even people involved in politics killed people because of money and their own interests. 

Twenty-two journalist where killed over the past two years. These people where clearly murdered by powerful people that where involved in unmoral acts that wanted them to be quiet and not report on the truth that they knew. This goes against human rights and against the right to express freely and the right of being an independent human. It is inhuman to be killing people and destroying families just for the benefit of some people. 

Not only journalist have been killes by powerful people, more than 60 campesinos or farmers have been killed over the past 3 years because they have been against selling their land to the rich and powerful. It is shameful to know that people that are wellof and have a lot of money, become greedy and start to take away the little that poor people have in order for them to become richer. 

In the future I really want to return to my country and try to make a difference so we can be rich as a country again. 

Millenials

http://ncoc.net/MillennialsCHI

This article and video focus on the generation dubbed the “Millenials.” This generation is composed of people from the age of eighteen to the age of twenty-nine. The Millenials are the group of people that describe most of the population here at St. Mary’s University. I chose to re-publish this article in my blog because it spoke of civic engagement of my generation, as well as how we can help better the country as and for this group of people.

The video gave many statistics centering on the issues and accomplishments met by the people of this group. To learn fifty percent of people did not vote in this past election and forty-three percent said voting did not matter because of a broken Washington left me in awe. Such a large number of people in this country have no care or have simply given up with government leaves me amazed. As I may possibly go into politics myself one day, I do not see these stats as a good indicator that would be a great path to take.

However, as the article and video progress, I learned of the grand things my generation has accomplished and of the promise the older generations see in us. Millenials are among the largest group to give back to their community, and those with college degrees are among the most politically active of all the generations today.

Trey Grayson said “Millenials are a force to be reckon with in the political world.” A very true statement if I must say so myself, I see my generation stepping up constantly in the community and in the classroom and I have no doubt that the generation of the Millenial will bring up the nation through civic engagement. 

PNG to act on 'sorcery murders'

I was astonished when I found out about the woman in Papua New Guinea who was tortured and burnt to death by hundreds of people blamed of sorcery and the authorities "couldn't" intervene. PNG authorities said that they will work hard to reinforce laws that are against murders blamed on sorcery but my question is, is that really going to work?

According to authorities, about 50 people have been killed accused of witchcraft in the past year. I believe that this is one of those cases in which people want to "take action" and it only gets worse. No one has the right to kill/murder or harm anyone regardless of that person’s beliefs, practices, and culture. If we want to believe in witches and all that kind of stuff, it is fine, but it doesn't give us the authority to go and murder someone who is presumed to be a "witch". It is very sad that in this case, people are taking action but they are taking action in harming other people who regardless of being "witches" or not, are still human beings and should not be treated like that. This is very interesting because I wonder if authorities are really trying to reinforce laws against cases like this or are just letting it slide and ignoring the issue.

What is even worse is that most of these people accused of sorcery turn out to be innocent. The Church has been trying to help but it has only gotten worse. Let's hope that this gets solved quickly before more innocent people die and citizens of Papua New Guinea keep thinking that they have the right to kill others using "excuses" such as sorcery.

This is the link to the article. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7825511.stm 

There are a few more articles on this on this same page. 

Bookless Library

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/article/Bexar-set-to-turn-the-page-on-idea-of-books-in-4184940.php#ixzz2JUmyqnAb

http://blogs.publishersweekly.com/blogs/PWxyz/2013/01/21/maverick-libraries/ 

      Bexar County has announced their plan to build the nation’s first bookless library on the county’s south side in the fall. County Judge Nelson W. Wolff believes that paper books have lost their allure and future generations may have little use for them. The bookless library was inspired by the local UTSA engineering library, which went bookless in 2010. The public library system will be called “BiblioTech” and Wolff hopes for it to have a floor layout similar to Apple Stores. At this library, residents will be able to check out one of 100 e-readers available for home use. Although the city has been providing library services to the county, it recently upped the tab from $3.7MM to $6.7MM- the highest city-county bill in the nation.  

      With the high cost of the library, is this really necessary in the Southside area? Personally, I feel that there are other needs that should be attended to rather than making an expensive, bookless library. Why not make a less expensive library that incorporates e-readers, but will not hurt the pocket book? We discussed this article in one of my classes and we came to the conclusion that this could be a political move. Maybe they are using this expensive bookless library to push “Pre-K for SA” in some way? Either way, I feel that this money spent on a bookless library could be spent somewhere else, but nonetheless a library like this is inevitable in this technological era.

      What does this have to do with civic engagement? I feel that as a resident of Bexar County, our perspective in this is crucial. If I feel that this library is too expensive, I must take action and start a petition or go make a visit to County Judge Nelson. 

Chris Brown accused of falsifying community service

       http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/05/showbiz/chris-brown-probation/?hpt=en_c2

 I chose these article because its amazing how “celebrities” are not even willing to do community service knowing they have a lot to give. As many of us know, Chris Brown got in a big problem with the prosecutor four years after he attacked Rihanna and earned five years of probation. He’s deal was unusual than the rest when he pleaded guilty to assaulting his pop singer girlfriend. The deal allowed him to complete his court-ordered community service in Virginia under the personal supervision of Richmond Police Chief Bryan Norwood. “The Los Angeles district attorney alleged in a motion filed Tuesday that Brown's mother supervised most of it, and investigators found evidence it was never done.”

           Chris Brown's feeling of entitlement is already enhanced by his celebrity status. If the authorities overseeing this case do not respond to his obvious disrespect of authority, the system will have failed. To recycle the original sentence is absurd considering his act of violence against the singer Rihanna should have been categorized as attempted murder. The attack on this woman was not a trivial act, yet the punishment imposed seemed to reflect that his violent behavior was not a concern. He has, since the imposing of this soft sentence, displayed behaviors that indicate he is capable of acts similar to those which brought him to beat his girlfriend so badly that she was barely recognizable and landed her in the hospital. If the authorities continue to succumb to this man's wealth and celebrity then they will be equally culpable in any of Mr Brown's future acts of violence.

I hope he gets what he deserves, and is prosecuted to the fullest extent. Just because you are "above the law"

does not make it OK. But since money talks in our society, I doubt he will ever learn from his mistakes