Amika's Blog

LINK: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1L2cLwmLL5jXtqIhqYRdhMAM0WjOs7dLFGK0tjlWerAs/edit#gid=0

Reflection on Mission, Values, and Engagement 1) I believe that the values that the Sisters of Notre Dame gave us were there to guide us while attending NDNU. The values are there to teach us about dignity, respect, diversity, and community service. Coming into NDNU and seeing these values, I believe that they tie into my own values and beliefs as well. Every school I have gone to, it has been a catholic school. Growing up catholic, I have always believed in the gift of diversity and community service and giving back. That's how I've always been taught. I believe that those values that the sisters gave us should be values that we all stick with for the rest of our lives. 2) The opportunities that were given to me at NDNU that displays "to honor the dignity and sacredness of each person" was probably this class. While attending our state and local government class, I've learned to honor the dignity and sacredness of each person probably through the guest speake...

Since I only volunteer occasionally at San Bruno Mountain Watch, I do know that my CP is funded through grants by the government. That is how they get their fundings to do planting and restoration.  Majority of the time my CP relies on donations and services from other people. With the funding from the government, you have to be approved by them in order in keep and maintain the money from them, and to keep the organization going. If my CP was not funded by the government, then I do not think that it would be here. Maybe so if the volunteers and donations covered the cost of the organization. Government funding organizations are very important and if you take that away, then these organizations wouldn't be here maybe. Overall, my CP does rely on the government for funds to keep it running smoothly. 

“A budget is a statement of values.” What values underlie the way your CP gets and spends its money or resources? Which Hallmarks, if any, are expressed in the way your CP manages its budgeting and service delivery?   Since my CP is San Bruno Mountain Watch, I believe that they get their money by donations , volunteers, supporters, and probably money from their own pockets. I believe that they do budget their money pretty well and uses the money for plants and tools and other stuff that is needed for planting and restoration. Since it is a nonprofit organization and we volunteer to do work, we do not get paid. So any kind of money only goes to the resources that is needed. One of the Hallmarks that I think applies to this topic is, " We commit ourselves to community service" San Bruno Mountain Watch is known for their community service that I thought that this Hallmark was the best because it shows that SBMW serves the community and wants to make it better. ...

Describe the community in which your CP operates… is it a city, a town, a rural area? What kind of mayor does the community have? Does your CP have any interaction with local government officials? My community partner is San Bruno Mountain Watch which operates in the city of San Bruno. San Bruno is a small city located on the peninsula of San Francisco which is close to San Mateo. The mayor of San Bruno is Jim Ruane and he is on his second term as mayor in the city. He has served as a council member since 1995. San Bruno Mountain Watch does work closely with the cities government officials such as the mayor but also the citizens that lives in the town as well. The CP needs to keep connections with San Bruno's government officials for the protection of the San Bruno Mountains.    

Since California is mainly a democratic state, they use their power to preserve state and local values in the face of conflicting Federal policies in many ways. Recently while researching I've noticed an article that stated that San Francisco is suing President Trump over executive order targeting sanctuary cities. San Francisco is suing the Trump administration because they are violating the states rights in the U.S Constitution. The reason why the city is suing is because the Trump administration started issuing orders to put counties and cities on notice that they will loss federal funding if they do not start cooperating with immigration officials/agents. California as a state alone is very liberal and very protective over immigrants that are in this state illegally and if they do not comply, they would lose federal funding. Federal funding usually covers health care, programs for the poor, etc. California knows that this is avery wrong thing and it violates the rights that the...

The link below is my CP Timesheet :) https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KWHiA9OW6ApLO7DCQsPOY8wstWlhwv8QFjFBwCJLq7o/edit?usp=sharing

Find and summarize a case study about an effort to update or challenge a state constitution. If your CP has engaged in this kind of advocacy, you may use your CP as an example. While researching, I have a found a couple of articles that show some states trying to  change their constitution. The state that I saw that was the most recent would probably be Tennessee. The sate of Tennessee is calling for a Article V, which is trying to get their constitution altered. They are trying to have an Article V resolution so a convention could appear. Researching some more I also noticed that the resolution did indeed happen and it went to an effect already. After it passes the House, it was later signed by Tennessee's Gov. Bill Haslam. What i've also noticed while researching is that many other states I saw was doing the same thing in a way. I kept noticing that it said that Tennessee was the 34 state to called for an Article V, so many other states had ...

Defining subsidiarity in my own words is, giving the lowest institutions support where they most need it.  The definition of devolution is almost the same as subsidiarity. It is, the transfer or delegation of power to a lower level, especially by a central government to local or regional administration. I believe that subsidiarity and devolution somewhat means the same. Devolution branches off of the idea of subsidiarity. They both tend to give the lower level of institutions more power where they most need it. Both ideas focuses on helping and tending to other people to gain power. It was said in the handout that the principle of subsidiarily is to respect the "alliances" that people have formed with their neighbors. It seems like everyone knows that there are levels of subsidiarity so no one oversteps their boundaries and only tends to help others when needed. 

The question is, what do you know about the relationship between citizens and your CP? On what levels do they interact? How can citizen participation affect your CP? In my opinion, I am not sure about the relationship between citizens and my CP, but I do believe that my CP wants more people within their community to get more involved and informed about the things that they do. I also believe that the people who work at my CP are also people who belong with a particular community and what to make it a better place for everyone who lives there. I would say that the citizens and my CP interact on a medium level I suppose. Citizen participation can affect my CP in a positive way. It affects it in a positive way because people will get more involved and the CP will expand and grow more larger. If it expands more, other citizens within other communities will take notice and might want to participate also. It is a really good thing to get involve in y...

The question is, Why is there tension between the state and local levels of government? In what ways is this tension healthy for our political system overall? There is tension between the state and local government because both the state and local governments feel like they are in better positions to be in charge, make policies etc. Another reason why there could be tension between the state and local government is that maybe the state and the local government both have their own ways of dealing with things, dealing with things that pertained to their own specific territories. One more reason why there is tension is because the state and government could have different conflicts and different worries when dealing with things that happen in their own territories, they're not the same in a way. There are different conflicts so that is another reason why there is tension between the two. Some ways maybe the tension could be healthy is that, it could possibly bring new ideas and o...

"Beyond winners & losers, there is a field.... I'll meet you there"  I believe that the person who said this quote was Rumi, a famous poet. This quote could relate to this class in many ways. In a general sense, I believe that the quote means that I doesn't matter the outcome of your situation, we all end up at the same place, together. How it can relate to the class is, everyone might have different approaches to somethings, but at the end we all end up at the same place and achieve our goals together.                                                                                                                          -Amika