Week Eight

This week’s topic was advocacy and the arts. I believe that art programs in general are highly underrated and while not all the assigned reading was focused on nonprofits devoted to the arts I found them all to be quite informative and enjoyable.

The article titled The Power of Nonprofits painted a colorful and exciting picture of the birth and growth of nonprofits in America. The small section on Martin Luther J. King especially interested me as while we all know his basic history I had never thought to associate so many nonprofits with the life changing work he did.

Arts Groups Pumped $166.2 Billion Into U.S. in 2005, Study Says presented some statistics that actually really surprised me. Apparently nonprofit art groups contributed 5.7 million jobs in 2005 alone. I’m curious what that number is today with the increased budget cuts within public programs. Communities seem to be doing a really good job of picking up the slack, which is wonderful. I hate to think of art becoming an activity one participates in only if they can afford to.

In The Poetry Gives Teens A Voice article it was really the last sentence that got me, “It was really a movement”. These are the kind of stories about true empowerment that I really love. Clearly the activities that these kids are participating in through this program are changing their lives. This article only highlights how ridiculous it is that art and music education continue to be swept under the rug in public schools around the country.

Two of the articles from this weeks reading focus on proposed legislation that would take away the tax exempt status of nonprofits that were found to be engaged in “unethical fundraising practices” where not enough of their total funds were focused toward actual program services. Honestly there is a part of me that feels like there are better things that Oregon’s attorney general could be doing with his time as there are already websites, many which we utilized during our scavenger hunt, that contain this sort of information for interested donors. At the same time there are thousands of nonprofits out there that are doing incredibly important work and I hate to think about their credibility being questioned by the general public because of the poor choices of a few bad apples.  As long as the power to essentially shut down certain nonprofits is based completely on legitimate misuse of charitable funds I believe this to be a good thing. However there is a part of me that remains concerned about where this legislation could take Oregon in the future. I assume that all of you know what is going on right now with House of Representatives voting to strip Planned Parenthood of all it’s federal funding, a blow towards pro-choice ideology which will eliminate birth control, cancer screenings, and STD testing and treatment from the lives of those who will no longer be able to afford it. Here is a great clip of some floor highlights if you haven’t been keeping up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ed58TatSEW4

Okay, so you’re probably wondering where I’m going with this. Basically I just hope that we as citizens remain aware and that nonprofits aren’t targeted based on their ideology or what type of work they are doing.

Week Seven

This week’s readings really dove into the world of for-profit education. I found this to be especially interesting as I, like many, had the previous tendency to only categorize education into public and private. I had not given for-profit education much thought and I had certainly not realized the far reaching negative effects of turning education into a business. 

I found the chapter Education and Research from Nonprofit Nation to have some interesting statistics but I was especially drawn to the section on quality. Studies show that private schools tend to have a more positive educational effect yet receive (in general) less money and lower paid teachers. Makes you wonder what exactly is going on here. I noticed that these statistics are from 1993 and I’m curious if the same trends apply now that private education costs have gone through the roof. Is the “more positive educational effect” of a private university carrying graduates into jobs where they can actually pay back their debts?

The short article from education.com provided a useful overview that simplified the for-profit school debate. While it didn’t seem to bring many new ideas to the table I was however interested by the fact that only a very small number of private schools are for-profit. One of the other articles mentioned that enrollment in for-profit colleges had increased by 236 percent from 2008 – 2009 and I had a mental image of massive amounts of unsuspecting students being wronged. While I still find a serious problem here further research shows that many for-profit schools have actually had recent declines in enrollment.

http://southtownstar.suntimes.com/business/3258261-420/company-enrollment-phoenix-percent-rules.html

The above link is one example a for-profit school having decreasing enrollment. Hopefully it’s a trend and not just an exception.

The article titled Fed Up at the University of Phoenix was absolutely infuriating. Besides providing non quality education to people trying to better themselves they are also the top recipient of federal financial aid dollars. That means that University of Phoenix students are not only wasting their own money they are wasting all of our money. On top of this, federal loans to University of Phoenix students are guaranteed. That’s just ridiculous. I strongly believe that these loans should be more regulated. If the process of applying to these loans required including examples of what you want to do with your degree it would force potential students to look further into the worth of the degree they were actually attempting to receive.

The Subprime Opportunity article was once again infuriating. The foreclosed futures section of this reading was especially upsetting. As student loan debt is not dischargeable in bankruptcy, the attendance of a seemingly accredited online college can be a mistake that will literally haunt you for a lifetime. Keep in mind this is whether or not you graduate.

The article from ConsumerAffairs.com was once again upsetting (SURPRISE). I did however really agree with the U.S. Department of Education’s proposed regulation that would cut off federal financing to programs that have high debt-to-income ratios and low repayment rates. This action would help students out in the long run, keeping them from wasting money, and perhaps push certain for-profit schools to improve the quality of their education. 

Week Six

Week Six

Let me just start by saying that Paul Hawken’s Commencement Address was absolutely brilliant. I reread his address as I began to write my post and I realized that there were so many great quotes within his speech that I basically just wanted to copy and paste the entirety of it here. Alas that probably would not lead to a 4 on my post this week...

My favorite part of Hawken’s address was actually the paragraph where he briefly discussed having a different kind of economy where the Earth wasn’t exploited for a profit today that will cost us in life, happiness and health in the future. “You can print money to bail out a bank but you can’t print life to bail out a planet. At present we are stealing the future, selling it in the present, and calling it gross domestic product”. It’s in every person on the planet’s best interest to keep the planet healthy but it’s become so easy not to. Convenience and profit take center stage and everyone finds a way to point the finger.

The article “Social Finance Goes Green” seemed a bit convoluted to me but I do know that I like the idea of private investments and individual gain being able to maintain the common good. As I stated previously I think one of the greatest issues facing the world today is that profits are the bottom line and no one is willing to decrease their earnings (not even for a quarter) especially when their competitors are keeping the status quo. I believe that we as a society need to shift our paradigm in general and that success and wealth shouldn’t be measured simply by money and material assets but if saving the Earth could be viewed profitable it might just be what we need to make some serious changes before it’s too late.

The Mother Jones article “A Guide to Environmental Non-Profits” proved to be quite informative. While the summary’s of organizations that do good for the earth will probably prove to be a good resource later on I must admit that I was most intrigued by the bit on anti-environmental groups with deceptive names. I actually ended up going to a few of the anti-environmental group’s websites and was especially interested in a section on The Institute of Cetacean Research page labeled “Illegal harassment and terrorism against ICR research”. It goes on for pages with pictures and videos of damage done to ships etc. I thought that this was kind of an odd thing to make so public. I don’t know if proving that they’re strongly lacking in public support is really doing them any good.

http://www.icrwhale.org/eng-index.htm

If you feel like checking the website out be careful about downloading the videos, they’re in a strange format.

The McKenzie Watershed Council Annual Report was a real “feel good” read. It was awesome to see how successful this organization has been and how much community involvement they have fostered. I was very impressed with how many different partners they have and the wide variety of their partner’s focuses. Having the understanding and support of a community is really want allows a nonprofit’s work to be a success story.

I’d also like to pass along that The Coalition Against Environmental Racism (CAER) has an upcoming event, Community Circles: What Environmental Justice Means to You. The purpose of this event is to create a safe place in which the campus and Eugene community can come together to explore in depth environmental justice, from meaning to examples to action. This event will be on Tuesday, February 15, 2011 at 7:00 PM in the Multicultural Center (EMU, Suite 33). 

Not sure if any of you will be interested and available but I figured I’d put it out there anyways. Hope to see you there!