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Group A

10/25/18

I can honestly say I hadn’t given much thought to virtual volunteering prior to the past weeks readings. I was curious to know, who that actually wants to make a difference seeks this out. After reading the Huffington Post article, I can see trying this out for myself. The reason being is certainly not too altruistic but the idea of using skills that I might not be using in a current functional area or under a specific job role, it’s intriguing. The ability to help grade papers for a teacher in Maine is not only kinda cool but not anything I would actually look for locally. My mindset personally wants to do active volunteering locally but would be accepting of less engaging group work if it were across state lines. I also like the concept of online or home school high school students meeting their required volunteer service hours online.

Despite assurances, people weren't thrilled about the test message that hit phones.

It was while sitting in the Indianapolis City-County building at my fellowship that I heard scores of groans before I even heard my own cell phone notification that displayed the presidential alert. Apparently, like most Americans, I was annoyed at first sight. The article indicates major concerns ranged from if Trump would be using the emergency management system as a Twitter alternative and could the government access all of our pictures, sound, video on our cell phones... I’m pretty sure they could already. Both valid, at least I think so.

Recently three concerned citizens tried to block the alert in court based on the 4th and 5th amendments and the idea that Trump just isn’t responsible enough for this level of access, they clearly lost. 2 of 3 are small business owners and 1 of the 2 is a former researcher for a civil rights attorney. Like nonprofits, they all have experiences working with/for the community. 58% of nonprofits recently surveyed are less concerned about their own orgs in reference to current political climates and more so of their communities. Legal aid alliances are springing into action to make sure np orgs understand their rights when coming against the President or any government entity. Those rights include the ability to take a position on issues or actions and criticize or praise sitting public officials.

Bill Cosby is finished. But real change has only just begun.

The takeaways from this overall situation are plentiful but just how depends on the lens from which you are viewing. To think that this is a black and white issue would be ignorant to many aspects of culture, society, and humanity. While the Cosby brand served as a beloved prototype for fatherhood, education, and Blackness; Bill Cosby was able to successfully set the bar for decades as a moral majority stakeholder. This notion alone is the slap in the face that troubles the spirit of the most avid “fan” even if they claim to be torn regarding the accusations and the verdicts. In the end, there are no winners. No one can extend the grace nor permission to those that wish to continue to watch their beloved childhood television shows starring, written by, or produced by Bill Cosby, just as no one can persecute those that choose to watch.

What should be clear though is that Cosby admitted to drugging at least one woman, for that, he is guilty. Understand that any argument surrounding his purchasing of a major network, the long list of white men who stood accused of similar or worse crimes before, during, or after his conviction, his age, nor his television persona are relevant to this fact. These issues are separate and while they may be indicative of racial bias, blatant prejudice, and injustice, they have no bearing on the bottom line; Bill Cosby is an admitted and convicted sex offender. I can absorb this fact while feeling sick in the pit of my stomach for his legacy which was long and rich, angry for the victims, and sad for his wife and others with close association to him. I can feel all of this, as I queue up “A Different World” to watch one of many of my favorite episodes from one of my favorite television shows that ultimately lead me to undergrad at an HBCU.

Students may be the focus of education and schools may be the providers of it, but the role of the teacher in modern learning organizations is also important.

This blog was the pits to read. In all of its matter-of-fact “do this and we’ll be great” ideas, there was not a piece of theory or statistics for that matter that brought this home for me. I appreciate the notion that teachers are not replaceable but not so much that it stemmed from the idea that an advancement in technology was somehow pushing a movement within the education organizational chain that excluded actual educators.

I believe what the author was alluding to was Education 3.0, where studies have shown that students learn better from their peers and “think, pair, share” tactics than memorization and being lectured at. It doesn’t suggest that there is no place for a teacher but as the think piece stated in the beginning, we are 17 years into the 21st century but our education system is not. It’s time to innovate education and no I do not believe that technology is the starting point nor the key. Students need a revamp in how they learn not more opportunities to stare into screens.

#virtual reality

Less than one percent of people who've applied for public service loan forgiveness actually got it.

Absolute madness but no surprises here. The article basically summarizes that less than 1% of the 30,000 of 43 million student loan carriers has qualified for loan forgiveness in the ten-years that the law came into effect back in 2007. In order to qualify you need to have a direct loan, be on the standard or income-driven repayment plan, work in public service and have paid 120 payments...on time.

The issue here is that somehow people who legitimately believe that they have done everything right, got all the way to year ten to find out that they were wrong. I want to know who the 96 are, how brilliant are they, is this the result of some sort of nepotism, are they really lucky, or one of the few in public service that actually makes a decent paycheck?

#personal finance

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