Facebook page for PAH

Hey class,

Laurel and I are trying to put together a Facebook page for Project Angel Heart and I'm trying to gather some volunteer testimonials.  They are pretty simple, here's mine:

 As a volunteer for Project Angel Heart, I have delivered many meals to people throughout the Denver metro area.  I haven't tried the food yet, but I am always told how good it tastes.  The clients are so grateful for the food that they receive that you can really tell that it makes a huge difference in their lives.  I have had nothing but good experiences with Project Angel Heart.

If you guys could write a testimonial about your experiences and maybe make it a little more specific than mine, that would be great.  Thanks for the help.

Make a difference- Click here to donate!

I'm going to play off of Erin's post a little bit here, but I'll try to make it different enough that you can answer it without repeating yourself. Her post made me think quite a bit, actually. It is true, what Professor Bateman said about our generation's community service hours: countless historians and sociologists are increasingly making the claim that Generation "X" is in fact the most aware and active in history in this regard.

Yet, the scope--in fact the very definition--of community service is changing, and I can't help but wonder what effects this both has and will have on the community as well as society's perception of what defines the public good. With the advent of globalization, community concern is increasingly focused on the international front. Americans as a whole are no longer satisfied with helping their communities, rather we are crusading to end global poverty, end hunger, build homes in Africa, provide heathcare to everyone worldwide, etc. Of course, this is wonderful for promoting global awareness, but the problem is that not everyone can feasibly do this. Instead, Americans are by and large choosing to support those who do such service in other ways--primarily, through utilizing the internet's one-click donations and online petitions. Thus, serving the public good is becoming more and more about not what you do but how much you donate and to whom.

My question, therefore is this: how do these new changes and developments affect society's definition of the public good? Do they at all? Is the "click here, make a difference" mentality of community service a helpful addition to an already community-oriented society or a "quick fix" excuse for an instant-gratification society? What should community service entail? I'm interested to get all of your reactions.

Mandated Volunteering

On Monday in class Professor Bateman briefly mentioned the fact that it is quite possible that our Generation “X” has performed more hours of community service than the Baby Boomer generation. This increase of service could be due to the fact that it is required of many of us for high school graduation, or the heavy emphasis that college admissions place upon a record of involvement in the community. Unfortunately, it seems unlikely to me that the cause of this increase is true altruistic efforts on the part of young adults.

My question for everyone is whether or not this mandated service will have an impact on our involvement later in life. Do you think that forced volunteering (an oxymoron in itself) will motivate us to be involved members of our communities when we are adults? Or will there be a backlash effect, resulting in even less civic engagement than there is today?

In regard to civic engagement and democracy, is a forcible rebuilding of community ties and mutual service sufficient to invigorate American government? Putnam said in our reading, “To revitalize our democracy we shall need to begin by rebuilding social capital in our communities, by renewing our civic connections.” Can mandated volunteering create civic connections to improve our democracy, or is this too lofty a goal for an instant gratification generation like ourselves?

In a chapter on attitude and behavior, my introductory Psychology course textbook contains a particularly poignant statement, “Doing becomes believing.” By merely going through the motions, we will gradually condition ourselves to believe in and continue whatever behavior we are practicing. My book also says, “Moral action strengthens moral convictions.” Can we change our societal apathy and community unawareness for the future by grudgingly participating in service today?

Reflections and Advice

We apologize for the two short blogs this week, but as we had only one class, our information to talk about is limited. It seems our blog topics thusfar have been somewhat exhausted, and that as a whole the class is finding it hard to connect to blogs about illness or rhetoric or the public good which are, as you know, the central themes of the course.

Therefore, our blog today will focus on a completely new subject. Since we are more than halfway through the winter quarter, we would like to know the opinions of the class concerning our WRIT 1522 course. Reflecting on the past few weeks, what advice would you give to students who will be taking the class in the upcoming quarter? What are the strengths of the course and what have you found most instructive? Further, is there anything that has impacted you in the discussions or the writing we have done? Feel free to focus on one or more of these aspects.

-Erin and Cristina

The Public Good Made Personal

In class today, we discussed the topic of the public good. Through networking, it is possible to create a personal relationship with various members of society and take small steps toward a public good. In this aspect, relationships work towards improving the quality of life through the interaction of many. A passion for this type of networking is essential to keep it going and to make it successful.

Erin and I were wondering about everyone’s take on achieving the public good, and how to go about it. More importantly, we want to know the networks (geared towards the public good) in which everyone has been involved. We’re taking the idea of achieving the public good, and making it more personal for everyone in the class. It would be nice to know each of our personal passions.

We would like a small comment on how to go about achieving the public good, and a personal story of a philanthropy, community group, or volunteer organization that is close to your heart. Tell us a little bit about the group, about your involvement, and why it is so important you.

Authenticicicity? Why Yes, Authenticicity!

In class on Monday we devoted considerable time to the subject of authentic writing. The question what is authentic writing was posed to the group but we never reached a conclusion. We could not decide what truly authentic writing is, or even which types of our own writing are authentic. Writing with a grade was initially disregarded as unauthentic; but when we came to the subject of writing for a living or money we also dismissed its authenticity. We discussed the authenticity of writing for fun but once again decided that it was not authentic because it had no outside motivation. The banter then moved to our WRIT 1522 writing. Ideas were presented and shut down, we chased our tails for a while longer, finally choosing to rest on the issue of our our writing for Project Angel Heart. Once again we reached no conclusion. The lack of payment was considered a score for its authenticity, but the reality that we are in fact without choice in the matter once again sidetracked the conversation. 

What a conundrum eh? Well, I'd like to actually find out what types of writing are authentic to each of you. If anyone feels confident enough to make a case for what kinds of writing are universally authentic it would be interesting to hear also. 

P.S. If anyone would like to, they should address what types of reading are authentic as well.

an attempt at something new

I think I speak for most of us when I say that we're getting a bit burnt out on the never-ending discussion about how our work at Project Angel Heart makes us feel regarding illness, if we've changed our minds on how we view disease, etc. etc. etc. Please, no one take that too personally because all of the discussions we've had have been beneficiary in some way, but I just think it's time for something new. so here's my attempt...

we've had many commments on how negative stigmas are and how they should be gotten rid of, but have any of us stopped to consider what our society would be like without such stigmas and stereotypes? i hate stereotypes as much as the next person, but what would happen if we simply eradicated them completely? would we truly benefit? in fact, is it even within the bounds of human consciousness to exist without any sense of stereotypes?

human beings are pack animals - we are not meant to live as hermits. and so much of our time is spent trying to fit into a certain group or image - how would we really function without these social stereotypes and images?

this, at least for me, raises a fascinating conundrum and a double standard of sorts - we are constantly striving to be individuals, to define ourselves as different from everyone else on the planet, and yet we are trying to fit certain stereotypes of the individual. is this is any way escapable? is it negative or positive?

i realize that i really didn't talk about illness at all during this post, and that i basically just asked a ton of (relatively) rhetorical questions, but i would really like to hear what such questions make each of you think about. and hopefully, it will be a welcome break from commenting constantly on our reactions to AIDS :)