Playing Devil's Advocate

It is finally time to vote. As the class has said countless times, it is going to be a difficult process and not everybody is going to agree. I feel like we should take a step back and realize the power we have. We have the power to give medicine to those that cannot afford it, to provide a stimulating playground to young children, to allow for intellectually curious students to see space through a telescope, to secure women faced with domestic violence, to provide a baseball field for students looking to potentially play in college, or to purchase more portable and better quality table and chairs for those that want free meals.

As I have mentioned, each organization would provide some value to the community if we choose to give our money to them. However, when voting I would like everybody to keep in mind the potential arguments against giving to each organization, since everyone will likely be focused on talking up organizations as opposed to talking them down.

Family Enrichment Network: They are asking for a better playground for their school when they already have a functioning playground. It may not be the most elaborate, but the $10,000 worth of supplies they are asking for is not necessary. They want a sensory station for outdoor use when they already have some of these for the kids to use inside. They want a $1,165 art easel. That is correct. $1,165. They want 4 balance beams even though many of their students are under the age of 7, which will likely lead to many injuries. Also, when I went on the site visit to FEN they had many different supplies that would stimulate all of the senses of students.

SOS Shelter: My main argument against giving money to this organization is that what they are asking for is a little ridiculous. They want many cameras and DVD monitors for security when they never even told us they had any trouble with security in the first place. I do not think they mentioned one time when one of their members got taken away or somebody tried to sneak or break into the house. Also, the whole system is very expensive and they made it seem like an all or nothing type of project.

Soup and Sandwich Program: Although we all loved its founder, the Soup and Sandwich is not meeting or providing some sort of solution for a need in the community. It provides one meal a week to a limited number of people and the organization isn’t even asking for food. The organization wants higher quality tables and chairs so the volunteers do not have to spend as much time cleaning up, and from the reaction I got from those that went on the site visit, it did not seem like it was back breaking work to move the tables and chairs.

Boys and Girls Club: The Boys and Girls club is asking for a baseball field. From my childhood days a baseball field was any open space. All you need is 4 makeshift bases and space that they apparently already have. I have turned my backyard and street into a functioning baseball field at times, so I am pretty sure if they have an open field then they do not really need our money.  The backstop I would understand, but they are asking for the field first. Also this will be a project that will need repeated funding, as maintaining all of the dirt at usable quality costs money.

Kopernik: Kopernik wants a telescope that is supposed to inspire somebody to pursue a STEM career. However, the two people that actually live in Broome County from our class have no desire to give to this organization because they have been there and realize how futile it is in comparison to something Broome County actually needs. As Melissa pointed out in class, not that many people are even attending the events. To spend $1500 for a few students to see stars does not make much sense.

Hope Dispensary: The Hope Dispensary needs money for operations and medicine. The only argument against it is that I do not recall them ever having to turn down patients that qualified for the medicine because they did not have enough money. I may be wrong here, but I cannot think of any other arguments against it.

I know for some of these I was stretching the truth a bit and seemed heartless, but it is just something to keep in mind as we figure out whom we give our money to. Does anybody have any more arguments against organizations that I missed?

Thoughts on our Culture towards Domestic Violence

Problems the SOS Shelter tries to deal with are truly a niche, in regards to this area, and legislation in general. Not many directly benefit from such an organization, at least not as many as organizations like Boys and Girls Club, Hope dispensary  or many educational based organizations. It's truly a niche, a problem that many don't face (at least via reports to police). Is it an important issue at all if only certain individuals benefit?

In Endicott,  over 10,000+ Calls were placed to the police, out of these calls, 10% of them were domestic violence related, Broome had a report of 40,000+ calls, of which over 1000 were domestic violence related. But legislation, nor many parts of the community reflects this problem. As the presenters for the SOS Shelter said on Tuesday, it wasn't until recently police could actually do something about domestic violence besides telling the perpetrator to go take a walk and cool off . It made me really think about our Culture towards Domestic Violence, and made me wonder if we really take it all that seriously.

Last year, a bill went to the House of Representatives called the Violence Against Women Act, and it was voted down. It was originally brought up in 1994, and received 195 votes against it. Earlier this year the bill was reauthorized, and received 138 votes against it, even though that's less than 195, it still speaks volumes on how we act in regards to women in danger 20 YEARS LATER.

The SOS shelter is fighting an uphill battle, quite frankly the welfare of women is not of any priority right now in America, and quite frankly, I myself was guilty of giving the issue any real consideration. As i'm sure everyone who knows me know, I mainly focused on issues in regards to education, because that is one of the major problems I see in the youth and area I grew up around. But i'm 100% sure there were many of victims of domestic violence that I walked by everyday, said hi to, bought things from, and generally grew up with.

The SOS Shelter receives women and children from here, but also most of the major cities here in NY (Syracuse, Buffalo, NYC, etc.,), when other organizations dealing with this issue have an overflow of applicants. SOS Shelter is often the go to organization. This is also indicative of our culture. Women and Children in dangerous domestic situations do not have many places to go. I often wonder if an organization like habitat for humanity ever looks at this, and think about building a house for such situations as domestic violence.

What do you all think, is this an uphill battle? Are the tides shifting, albeit slowly? What possible solutions do you think should be engaged? Is this just a niche community need, and therefore not really worth our time or money?

Almost Time to Relay!

Well, it's almost that time of the year again, when we all come together at Relay For Life. For those of you who do not know what Relay for Life is, it is a huge nationwide event as part of the American Cancer Society that encourages people everywhere to come together and raise money for the fight against cancer. This year, it is on April 26th-27th from 5pm friday night to 5am saturday morning. This twelve hour long event features many different parts to honor those who have either lost their lives to cancer, are currently battling cancer, or have survived cancer. 

We first divide up into teams for the event and create a team goal. Each member on the team then creates a personal goal and asks for donations to their personal page prior to the event. At the event, each team sits together and creates a booth for themselves with activities unique to the team. The only rules are that all fundraising that takes place at the event goes to Relay for Life, and that one person from each team should be walking around the track at all times. Individuals are also rewarded for the donations they receive with prizes.

There are three main parts of the event. On is The Survivors Lap, where cancer survivors take the first lap around the track to open the ceremony. Then, everyone is invited to walk. The second part, which is my most favorite, is the Luminaria Ceremony, where bags are lit to honor those who lost their lives or are currently fighting cancer. This ceremony is the most touching part because of the way it is orchestrated. The last part is the Fight Back Ceremony, which closes the event and everyone takes one last lap and pledged to spread awareness about cancer.

Relay for Life is such a special event because it unites people all around the country in so many ways. It brings people in a community such as Binghamton University together by making us work together to battle something that affects so many people around the world. If you can, please try and sign up for a team because raising money for an organization like the American Cancer Society really has the potential to make a difference in the lives of so many.

To see more about Relay For Life, click on the attached link:

http://www.relayforlife.org/index