Sunday, April 13, 2014
Thursday, April 10, 2014
Blog Topic # 13 - Governors
To what extent does the governor interact with your community partner?
There is no direct interaction between my community partner and the governor. The governor simply does his job and we play off of the hand we are dealt. The governor does not even know that PSANDNU exist. If the governor does something beneficial for our community (NDNU) then we applaud him and give him praise. If he does something disadvantageous, then we may choose to try to influence him to change the unfavorable action or even go as far as to rally against him. Either way we a not even a blimp on his screen at the moment. We actually have Veronica Villalobos Cruz as the Vice President of External Relations for the Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities to lobby/represent our school, and other private universities, in the state capitol. She may be one of our best resources to interact with the governor and other state officials.
Does he/she have the authority to make an impact on your community partner's operations?
Directly, the governor has no authority over our organization, but has the power to impact us by impacting our community. The governor has the authority to impact us negatively and positively. The impacts that are felt the most, is when it hits our wallets. That type of impact seems to be the most common and reoccurring. When the governor makes cuts to financial aid, we find ourselves organizing and heading his way to give him a piece of our minds.
Blog Topic #12 - State Constitutions
Is your community partner constitutionally mandated?
My community partner is unfortunately not constitutionally mandated. The PSANDNU is more like an interest group than a government entity. They are actually nothing close to a government entity. We have no affiliation with any form of government, other than the fact that we are their constituents. PSANDNU does have its own constitution though. It is similar to other constitutions, in the way that it setups up the governing body of PSANDNU. Of course, it is not perfect, but it is nice to have some guideline/foundation.
Does it seek any kind of protection relating to its existence or scope, or any guarantee relating to its area of interest, under a state constitution?
My community partner does not seek any kind of protection from the government. If we wanted to, we could make a huge stretch and say that we use the government for protection regarding freedom of speech or freedom to assemble. We did seek protection of financial aid funding from the state of California, when we went to Sacramento to voice our concerns about Cal Grant cuts. That was a recent example, but there may be more to come as we grow older as an organizations. It is hard to foresee what obstacles we will face in the future. As for problems directly with the state constitution, there are none.
My community partner is unfortunately not constitutionally mandated. The PSANDNU is more like an interest group than a government entity. They are actually nothing close to a government entity. We have no affiliation with any form of government, other than the fact that we are their constituents. PSANDNU does have its own constitution though. It is similar to other constitutions, in the way that it setups up the governing body of PSANDNU. Of course, it is not perfect, but it is nice to have some guideline/foundation.
Does it seek any kind of protection relating to its existence or scope, or any guarantee relating to its area of interest, under a state constitution?
My community partner does not seek any kind of protection from the government. If we wanted to, we could make a huge stretch and say that we use the government for protection regarding freedom of speech or freedom to assemble. We did seek protection of financial aid funding from the state of California, when we went to Sacramento to voice our concerns about Cal Grant cuts. That was a recent example, but there may be more to come as we grow older as an organizations. It is hard to foresee what obstacles we will face in the future. As for problems directly with the state constitution, there are none.
Tuesday, April 1, 2014
Blog Topic 11 - Taxing and Spending
Does your community partner have authority to raise funds through taxation?
My community partner, PSANDNU, does not have any authority to raise funds through taxation. We may be able to charge members an initiation fee and/or annual fee, but this may dramatically affect our member count. We will be involving ourselves in fundraising, but not through taxes. We have had plans in the past to do sales for edible goods, but have not currently do anything.
If so, what factors or processes are involved?
Unfortunately, PSANDNU does not tax. PSANDNU is not a government or government entity, and therefore does not have any ability to tax.
Discuss the ways in which your community partner is associated with taxing, spending, or both.
Actually, neither. The only thing we can do, is possibly influence how taxpayers money is spent. Our mission to the State Capitol was the prime example of our attempts to influence how tax money is spent. We had gone to stop cuts to spending on CAL Grants. CAL Grants are reserves of money that the state uses to help students, who meet the criteria, pay for college. This is important because it is a huge chunk of a lot of students financial aid. In the end, we have no direct say on the spending, but try to influence.
My community partner, PSANDNU, does not have any authority to raise funds through taxation. We may be able to charge members an initiation fee and/or annual fee, but this may dramatically affect our member count. We will be involving ourselves in fundraising, but not through taxes. We have had plans in the past to do sales for edible goods, but have not currently do anything.
If so, what factors or processes are involved?
Unfortunately, PSANDNU does not tax. PSANDNU is not a government or government entity, and therefore does not have any ability to tax.
Discuss the ways in which your community partner is associated with taxing, spending, or both.
Actually, neither. The only thing we can do, is possibly influence how taxpayers money is spent. Our mission to the State Capitol was the prime example of our attempts to influence how tax money is spent. We had gone to stop cuts to spending on CAL Grants. CAL Grants are reserves of money that the state uses to help students, who meet the criteria, pay for college. This is important because it is a huge chunk of a lot of students financial aid. In the end, we have no direct say on the spending, but try to influence.
Saturday, March 22, 2014
Blog Topic 10 - Public Admin: Budgeting & Service Delivery
"[State and local budgeting] is as tangled and intricate as the webs of a thousand spiders on methamphetamines" - Ann Bowman/ Richard Kearney, 2012
I thought that was a vivid way of describing budgeting... I could definitely visualize it better after that.
1) Does you community partner rely on money or services provides by any public entity?
At the moment, PSANDNU does not receive funding from any sources. Any funds that PSANDNU has or has had came from fundraising or donations. Being that we are more of a grassroots organization that just started, we have not found a source of funding. Our current missions, such as our lobby trip to Sacramento, have been self-funded by our members. This shows how determined and dedicated these students are to the goal we are trying to accomplish. In the future, we may be able to acquire funding from ASNDNU, but we must first obtain legitimacy. The next step after legitimacy would be to petition for funds.
2) Are the money and services provided in a consistent and reliable manner or is the community partner subject to periodic application, approval, re-application, etc.?
The currently are no funds. When we are able to ask for funds from ASNDNU, we must constantly apply for them, seek approval in two forums, then use a school credit card that is allowed out for a period no longer than 24 hours. This will need to be done every time we are in need of funding, as an organization. I was told that legitimate groups are allocated a certain amount at the beginning of the year, but I will need to look into this more.
3) How does this consistency, or lack thereof, affect your community partner's operations?
PSANDNU is very prideful, so we have been able to manage to the best of our abilities. Of course, the lack of funding is holding PSANDNU back from its full potential. Participation during events like the Sacramento trip has fallen because there were students that were unable to financially commit. Also, without funding, we lack resources.
4) Do other people or organizations rely on your community partner to provide funding?
Fortunately, no one relies on PSANDNU for funds, because we do not have any. It would be the equivalent of squeezing blood out of a rock. Since we are a grassroots organization, we are at the lowest level of the pyramid.
I thought that was a vivid way of describing budgeting... I could definitely visualize it better after that.
1) Does you community partner rely on money or services provides by any public entity?
At the moment, PSANDNU does not receive funding from any sources. Any funds that PSANDNU has or has had came from fundraising or donations. Being that we are more of a grassroots organization that just started, we have not found a source of funding. Our current missions, such as our lobby trip to Sacramento, have been self-funded by our members. This shows how determined and dedicated these students are to the goal we are trying to accomplish. In the future, we may be able to acquire funding from ASNDNU, but we must first obtain legitimacy. The next step after legitimacy would be to petition for funds.
2) Are the money and services provided in a consistent and reliable manner or is the community partner subject to periodic application, approval, re-application, etc.?
The currently are no funds. When we are able to ask for funds from ASNDNU, we must constantly apply for them, seek approval in two forums, then use a school credit card that is allowed out for a period no longer than 24 hours. This will need to be done every time we are in need of funding, as an organization. I was told that legitimate groups are allocated a certain amount at the beginning of the year, but I will need to look into this more.
3) How does this consistency, or lack thereof, affect your community partner's operations?
PSANDNU is very prideful, so we have been able to manage to the best of our abilities. Of course, the lack of funding is holding PSANDNU back from its full potential. Participation during events like the Sacramento trip has fallen because there were students that were unable to financially commit. Also, without funding, we lack resources.
4) Do other people or organizations rely on your community partner to provide funding?
Fortunately, no one relies on PSANDNU for funds, because we do not have any. It would be the equivalent of squeezing blood out of a rock. Since we are a grassroots organization, we are at the lowest level of the pyramid.
Call 2 Action - Waterdog Lake
This year for call to action day, I aided in uprooting plants that were not indigenous to Waterdog Lake in Belmont. This is important to maintain the grow because these plants will take over and kill other indigenous plants that are necessary to maintain that ecosystem. I was accompanied by Jonathan Slocum, Manny Andrade, and Tiffanie Lee.
We were fortunate to work with Jonathan Gervais, the Belmont Parks and Recreation Director that spoke in our class. This call to action day was relevant to the State and Local Government class because we were helping a city entity (Belmont Parks and Recreations) in it's task to preserve the plants in Waterdog lake and remove the plants that are harmful. This is one of the many tasks that the parks department has. To help them will save them many hours of much need man power and help the environment, both at the same time. During this time, we experienced how this entity serves the city of Belmont and the multitude of tasks that are required to maintain this large piece of Belmont's property.
Sunday, March 16, 2014
Blog Topic 9 - The Judiciary
My community partner, PSANDNU, does not ever have recourse to judicial processes as a way of resolving problems. Also, my community partner does not involve the prison system in anyway. Not at this point in its existence anyway. We select a few missions every semester, problems that concern our community (NDNU) and attempt to address them. In my community at NDNU, there is not judicial system or prison system, luckily. There really is no need for either of those systems in a university. Maybe if PSANDNU tackles an issue in the future, it might involve one or more of those systems, but not currently.
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