Aloha

The time has finally come for this blog to end.  Looking back on my past posts, I have come a long way from where I first started.  In the beginning, I knew very little about nonprofit organizations except that they try to help people with certain issues in their lives.

Some of the things I wanted to try to connect were business and nonprofit organizations.  For the most part, I did make some connections between them.  One of the first things you will learn in BA 101 is that the main goal of a business is to create wealth for its owners.  One of the first thing Bob asked us was “why do we have nonprofits?”  The general consensus was that nonprofits are created by philanthropy and their main goal would be to benefit the community or certain status groups.  Two types of organizations, one with a passion for generating wealth and the other for helping people.

There are so many aspects of the nonprofit sector I had no idea about.  Like I said before, my idea of nonprofit was very limited.  After this class, we went over, churches and nonprofits, schooling, Obama’s education plan, arts and culture, and even the environment.  I knew that churches were some sort of nonprofit but I did not know that they were special enough that they don’t have to submit tax forms.  I had no idea the importance of the nonprofit sector to education.  The fact that some schools could have been shut down without nonprofits.  Even the arts in our communities benefit from the nonprofit organizations.

I believe that not enough people do not know enough about the nonprofit sector.  That person who did not know enough used to be me, but now that I know a lot more about it than I did.  Knowing what I know now, I would tell people to make more of an effort to find a nonprofit organization they are passionate about and support them.  We need the nonprofits more than we know.

I apologize that my last blog was not as concise as my others.  Or that this last post was spastic and all over the place.  I just wanted to keep this last one as short and sweet as possible.  I rarely have anything to say and in this case, I still don’t have much to say except this class has opened new doors for me down the road and I am glad I took this class

Stuff

I watched the Story of Stuff with Annie Leonard and I she opened my eyes about my stuff.  Her main focus on her video was something we learned about in business which is called the materials economy.  The materials economy includes 5 key points; extraction, production, distribution, consumption, and disposal.  I really liked this video because it connects to my two other field of study which are sociology and business.  The one point of her video I want to talk about is the extraction part.

The first thing Leonard talks about is EXTRACTION.  Extraction is how we get the materials needed to make the product.  Leonard re-names it how we trash our planet.  I am not sure how recent or dated this video is but the same message that has been playing is still playing; we are over using our resources.  This is not something only limited to the United States; we are over using all over the world.  That act could be limited to the United States since it is us who destroy other countries to get resources of our people as Leonard mentions.  It seems like we know what is wrong and what we’re doing wrong but we are not doing much about it.  It seems as though it is encouraged to find materials for as cheap as possible to keep material costs down.  Businesses like it when you keep material costs down because it allows your contribution margin to go up.  Contribution margin is the Unit Cost – (Labor Cost + Material Cost).  The contribution margin is a gauge to see how much profit you are making per unit.  Getting back to the video, Leonard shows some alarming statistics about extraction.  1/3 of the planets natural resources are totally wiped out, the United States has less than 4% of original forests left, 40% of United States waterways are undrinkable.  This is alarming because the United States only takes up about 5% of the total population of the world, yet we use 30% of the world’s resources.  This not to mention the amount of resources other countries use (not including United States production in foreign countries).

My reaction to this is that we know we are destroying the environment.  We also know that we have been doing this for a very long time (since the 60s we’ve been pretty sure).  In addition, we even know that we are doing nothing about it.  My question is knowing what we know, why not change?  To attempt to answer my own question, I believe that we do barely anything (as a whole) because we are blinded by the wonderful things that come from.  I’m not going to sit here and say that I am never using another laptop because of the damage it causes to the environment, or trash my iPod because of where the materials come from etc.  I believe that we only can say what is wrong because to do what is right would mean a whole new lifestyle.  Honestly, technology has destroyed the environment.  However, technology is still growing and still helping us fight disease and even cure some along the way. To put it simply as I can, I think that we are just too deep into the lifestyle that it is already irreversible for us to change.  Hopefully maybe someone in the future can change what I just said but at this point, we are beyond saving.  Luckily, there are ways we can slow down the rate of destruction and I believe that’s the first step.

What impact will the rise of for-profit colleges have on higher education?

I decided to write about the for-profit colleges because I believe that they are going to change the game for students going to college in the future.  I believe that because these for-profit colleges are cheaper than the traditional college, more students will be able to get degrees which means that more will be expected of new employees.

http://chronicle.com/article/For-Profit-Colleges-Change/64012/

http://www.highereducation.org/

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-education-secretary-arne-duncan-keynotes-devry-policy-forum-2010-05-11?reflink=MW_news_stmp

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/zac-bissonnette/for-profit-colleges-hardl_b_568975.html

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/education/20100506_For-profit_colleges_leave_many_students_in_debt.html

The Show MUST Go On

I feel like the arts and culture in today’s society is greatly underappreciated.  For example, when schools need to cut budgets, usually the first program cut is the school’s band / orchestra program.  Also, community symphonies also take a hit.

My high school did have a band / orchestra program.  A lot of the other schools had band but probably not orchestra.  Usually, the “better” schools had band and orchestra.  Since a lot of the lower quality schools did not have fine arts, they were given the opportunity to get what is called G.E. (Geographical Exception).  That meant you could go to a school that was not in your district.  I started playing in band starting in the 7^th grade because I wanted to make sure that I went to school with my friends because I was a G.E. student.  The school district that I lived in was not in good shape and if I had attended there, there is a good chance I would not be here.  The high school I went to has so many G.E. applicants that there is a waiting list.  The one thing common in everyone’s application is that they want to take band or orchestra.  However, because of financial problems with the government, the school cannot afford to take many.

Now even though you get in to the music program, it is still tough because we don’t get a lot of money from the school.  The school has to divide the money up evenly between music, athletics, academics, etc.  I was president of the music department when I was a senior and I attended the band booster meetings and firsthand saw the difficulties.  It cost money to have a concert at a certain venue.  We believed that as being one of the top music programs in the nation, it was not fair to have concerts in the cafeteria since our school does not have an auditorium.  The band boosters were like their own little nonprofit.  There was a board of directors (all volunteers) who had meetings once a month, they had fundraisers for the program, and all the money raised went to the music program.

The trouble with arts and culture goes beyond the education level.  Due to financial constraints, our Honolulu Symphony had times when they weren’t paid.  The longest streak of not being paid was 15 weeks long.  Can you imagine not being paid for 15 weeks?  That’s a little over 3 months of nothing.  Luckily, the situation is better and I believe they are getting paid but, the symphony lost a lot of musicians and administration because they could not afford to live like that anymore.  I’m sure the problem is even worse for the smaller community bands as well.

Going back to the school’s fine arts issue.  I believe that the students who are enrolled in the music program are some of the brightest students at the school (for my school this was true).  It’s something about students participating in the arts that help them do better.

Here are some links… Please check them out

Moanalua High School Music Department

www.mohsmusic.com

Honolulu Symphony salary report

http://www.honolulusymphonymusicians.org/index.html

On to the next one

I understand that this week’s blog should be about healthcare but I would like to continue with education for this week because of the Obama Education Agenda and the topic of Bill Gates’ Foundation.

Career & College Readiness

When the statistic showed that 29% of all entering college students are underprepared in at least one of the basic skills of reading, writing, and math, I was not surprised at all.  I barely passed pre-calculus in my senior year of high school and I had to take remedial math my freshman year here at Oregon.  Luckily, my major does not require math so taking that extra remedial math class probably won’t hurt me down the road when it comes to graduating on time.

Common Core Standards Initiative

This one I believe is possible but will be hard to attain mainly because not every student has the same path in education.  At my high school there was a small group of students who are known as “at-risk” kids.  Those kids didn’t take the traditional classes everyone else took.  Instead, they learned basic practical arts like cooking, sewing, etc.  Although I do believe that basic practical arts is very helpful, I do not think that being skilled at sewing will help anyway do well in a college level math course or so.  I do not believe that all students can be put under one umbrella when it comes to education.

Increasing Number of Charter Schools

I think that the charter school program is interesting.  My high school has a charter school connected to us.  Those kids came to our prom, functions, and even graduated with us without even stepping on to our campus.  I find it interesting that they can be separate because of their “unique theories of action” but yet still participate with regular schools who have certain regulations in place.

Effective Teachers & Leaders

This will also be a tough sell especially in Hawaii where I’m from.  Like I said before, there are only a few people who want to become educators because the pay is so poor.  I believe that many of our brightest minds avoid becoming teachers because they won’t be able to support themselves or a family.  I know that teaching should never be about the money but eating is something I’m sure they aren’t willing to sacrifice.  I’m glad that we’re trying to recruit the brightest people because that’s who we want teaching our kids.  The agenda says it best, “Critical to meeting this challenge is recruiting and training exceptional leaders.”

Longitudinal Data Systems

This one I found really exciting.  To have my education career tracked and monitored so my education could be tailored almost to my needs.  To have that kind of data kept I believe could be beneficial to you in making decisions about your education.  Also, data collected can be used to find trends or patterns with the following generations of students and also find trends in teachers as well.

Increasing STEM Skills

This one I find as the least important of all the topics on the agenda.  I do believe that the STEM skills are important, I don’t believe that it is necessary to focus these skills on every student.  I don’t believe that being exceptionally proficient in these skills are going to be that beneficial later in life.

Gates Foundation

A question posed to us in class was about Bill Gates and his foundation.  I think that Gates can do whatever he wants with that money.  For what reasons he donates $200 million is something that only Bill Gates can answer.  I hope that he is donating it because he truly wants education to be better.  However, we did say that he could be creating leverage for himself if he wants to go into politics later.  He can also use the money to sway decisions because I’m sure $200 million speaks loudly and clearly to everyone.

Schooled

This week’s blog post is about the education sector.  This past lecture had many eye opening facts for me.  For example, I did not know that in other states, teachers at private institutions K-12 are paid less than public school teachers.  In Hawai’i where I’m from, there are few people who want to be a teacher, especially a public school teacher.  For most, if you wanted to be a teacher, you want to be employed by a private school.  Private schools in Hawai’i receive so much money from donors that they can afford to pay teachers and get teachers of the best quality (Barack Obama is a graduate of Punahou Schools on Oahu).  Private schools can afford new technology, new facilities, better athletic facilities, etc.  Public schools do not have the same luxury where I’m from.  The state determines who gets what IF there is enough money.  Usually, if it’s a school in a low income neighborhood, they get a lot of new technology and facilities because the state says that the children in that area need the opportunity to be exposed to new technology.  While that is true about the low income community schools, public schools in better parts of the state also need the new technology as well.  The public school I went to was deemed “too-wealthy” to get any new technology for a long time.  Just because the school is in a “nicer” part of the state doesn’t mean we get a lot of help.  Many of the kids that live in the nice areas go to private schools.  In addition for public schools, teachers wages are being cut, we have Furlough Fridays which cuts out 2 Friday classes out of every month.  My father is a public school teacher and he told me that he could lose up to $10,000-$15,000 per year.

This is a good place to start talking about higher education prices.  I remember professor saying that he paid $295 per term for tuition.  Now, in-state students pay about $2,500 roughly per term for tuition.  I laughed to myself because I pay about $8,000 per term because I’m out-of-state.  I wasn’t laughing because I was bragging about being able to afford the higher tuition.  I was laughing because I would love to pay $2,500 per term.  Going back to my father, he is losing about $10-$15,000 a year.  That’s one terms payment he could have been able to pay for.  Luckily, we set up an account when I was younger so I could have some money for college but still, I don’t think he thought that school would be this expensive.  The thing is, tuition is still going up.  Tuition has been going up for a long time and it does not look like it will stop.  I am lucky that I was the first born in my family and I could look at a lot of schools to attend for college.  I don’t know if my younger sister will be able to do the same.  I almost feel guilty because she might not have the same opportunity as I will which could ultimately affect her future.  When you’re from Hawai’i, there is a certain kind of pressure to go to a mainland school for college.  I wanted my parents to have that satisfaction of saying my son goes to school on the mainland.  Also for us, we want to show everyone we can make it out of Hawai’i because for most, they can’t afford to leave.  I know that this adventure will only last me a few years but for some of my friends, they will never have the same experience I had.  That’s why I feel so badly if my parents are not able to afford my sister’s education if she chooses to go out of state.

Church

This week’s reading was about religion and social service in the nonprofit sector.  A few things that surprised me about the nonprofit sector is how “shady” the religion portion of nonprofit is.

“No one knows with any exactitude the revenue, expenditures, and assets of American religion.  Unlike other nonprofits, religious organizations are not required to submit annual financial reports to their members, and there are some data at the denominational level, but there is no comprehensive national information on religious finances” (Nonprofit Nation, p. 58).

I feel that the churches should be required to submit all financial information no matter how big or small the organization is.  If all other nonprofit organizations must submit their financial information, then church organizations should have to do the same.  Since the churches are not submitting this information, there is a large grey area of what is happening with the money raised.  For example, back home I know of pastors who live in some of the nicest neighborhoods and drive the nicest cars.  I also know pastors who can’t afford to live somewhere nice, or drive a nice car.  How do we know what each church is doing with the money?  I always understood that church was a symbol for all things right.  I don’t think it is right that the churches can slide past rules set up to create order.  If churches are the model organization for nonprofit, I feel that they should also play by the same rules and not get special treatment.

The idea of church for me now is that they are some special organization with special benefits and passes when it comes to the law.  I feel that there is so much more opportunity for scandal because of all these free passes the church gets.  I believe that most churches are in fact doing the right thing.  By that I mean doing the right thing with the money raised etc.  They might not be reporting it because they don’t have to but at least they are doing good with that money.  We must also remember that there are people who wouldn’t do the right thing and use the money for other uses.  People like that is the reason why all church organizations should submit information like everyone else.

The Beginning

The purpose of this blog is to hold my reactions to the following readings from our nonprofit book.  I will be blogging about my how I felt after each reading.  It relates to PPPM 280 because these reaction entries could possibly spark an interest in me to invest some interest in the nonprofit sector.  There are 3 sectors; government, business, and nonprofit.  I am interested in the business sector because of the almighty dollar.  After a few classes, the nonprofit sector seems like it goes hand in hand with business.  However, there are aspects of both that can also be completely different.

My name is Jarrett Pang.  I am from Ewa Beach on the island of O’ahu from the state of Hawai’i.  I am a sophomore here at the University of Oregon where I am a sociology major and business minor.  I am taking this PPPM course because I want to finish my social science requirement and also possibly minor in nonprofit as well.  I think that being versed in both the business and nonprofit sector could be beneficial.  I have had a very small experience with nonprofit meaning that my family just donates to them.  I have never worked with one ever.  I am hoping to learn why the nonprofit is so important and if I have a role with them in the future.

After reading chapters 1 and 2 from “Nonprofit Nation” and being in class for the past couple days, there were a few surprising things that I found.  One surprising thing was how many nonprofit organizations there are, and what was even more surprising was how many different kinds of nonprofit groups there are with their own different set of laws they must follow.  Not only was I surprised about how many organizations were nonprofit, but which organizations were nonprofit.  Organizations like the NFL are a nonprofit group.

One of the theories I agree with is the anthropologic theory of nonprofit / philanthropy.  “The growth of associations is particularly noticeable with the onset of large, urban, and administratively complex societies.  In general, major economic and social change is typically accompanied by growth in the number, membership, and functions of voluntary associations” (p.36).  I agree with this statement because as someone who studies sociology, we learn that as populations change, the people in the population either adapt to the change or leave said population.  I can see that if a population were to grow, there is a possibility that the amount of problems will grow as well.  With the rise in these problems, more opportunities to start these nonprofits also rise.  One could relate the amount of nonprofit organizations to the population it is in.  The nonprofits are there to fulfill the needs of the changing population.

Something that made me think in a different way was the impact that nonprofits have on the government and business sectors.  I always knew that each sector is connected but I had no idea the way businesses and government use nonprofit.  I also think that it is borderline manipulation of these nonprofits.  I do understand the incentive of the tax break and how it rewards people and companies who donate.  When I was younger, I got to a point where I wouldn’t help out with chores unless I got paid.  My parents said that it would be better if I did things without expecting a reward.  At that stage, I became a business looking for tax breaks because I donated my time to do chores.  At that age, I also wondered if my parents were being cheap and just did not want to pay me.

Back home in Hawai’i, the population is steadily growing.  The town I am from used to be small when I was younger but lately there have been a lot of new subdivisions showing up.  In fact, just behind my house used to be just a flat plain of nothing.  Now, they are building more houses and maybe more buildings.  The entire west side of O’ahu is being developed to be similar to the east side where Honolulu and Waikiki are located.  With the rising population on the west side, I have noticed more nonprofit organizations popping up.  I think with the current youth delinquency on the west side, organizations like Boys and Girls Club, Boy Scouts, and Girl Scouts are there to keep kids off the streets.

End