Blog#8 A Budget is Statement of Values

A Budget is Statement of Values

My community partner has a budget in its own. Founded by Ms. Christine Pielenz and Mr. Bill who own the land. The Farm provides charity to the citizens of Half Moon Bay which depends heavily on volunteers. The farm Potrero Nuevo Farm is a non-profit organization which helps deliver fresh organic produce to homeless shelters and other charitable organizations. Also, Potrero Nuevo Farm donates the use of its land, harvest support, use of farm equipment and other materials to the Catholic Workers and that in turn feeds the low-income and homeless. In that way, they fulfill the hallmark number six ‘‘We create community among those with whom we work and with those we serve’’ and also hallmark number two ‘‘We commit ourselves to community service.’’ They also gain money from a program called U-Pick where people can harvest their own vegetables, berries, herbs, and flowers. Also, they have a coffeeshop-like shop called The Bike Hut, run by farm managers Jay and Suzie Trexler, The Bike Hut is a place where cyclists can enjoy fresh water, teas, and some snacks and they have the choice to pay what they want in return for this kind of service. It is self-serve and open 24/7/365 for the enjoyment of Half Moon Bay bikers.

CTA Day Reflection

Black Lives Matter

Call To Action Day

“We honor the dignity and sacredness of each person” (Hallmark Two). After what we heard about the brutality of police officers to the African-American community, Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement founded by three brave women, Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometi. The movement first started in 2013, when Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old student, brutally got shot by a police officer in Florida. BLM movement was first started on the social network website Twitter by the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter.

I heard the whole keynote that was presented by Bobby Vaughn. Actually, his last words moved me “All lives matter, black lives matter, LGBTQ lives matter, Muslims lives matter.” It made me realize that it is not only my life or my family’s lives but also every human being. His words also follow one of the Catholic Church teaching’s themes, “The dignity of every person and human rights.” In fact, We need to be treated equally by the government, whoever has authority or even among each other. We also have discrimination problems in Saudi Arabia. I think it is a universal problem.

Group discussion is a really perfect idea for people to share what they think about in order to be better as a community. It also fulfills one of the hallmarks that was written by the Notre Dame De Namur sisters “We embrace the gift of diversity.” In my group discussion, I was able to talk with people who have different points of view about the Black Lives Matter movement and discriminations in general. I know that could sound normal to you, but to me it was not. Any problem related to politics is illegal to discuss it in Saudi Arabia. The government tries to control what people say or think.

Blog#7 - Potrero Nuevo Farm Role in The Local Government

The Potrero Nuevo Farm

Potrero Nuevo Farm is a nonprofit organization protected by the Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST). An organization that was built to preserve natural resources from getting polluted. It provides clean air and water, locally grown food, and a place for people and wildlife to thrive.

Potrero Nuevo Farm has a lot of impact on the local community. They help minimize the amount of homeless and poor people by providing food for free. The farm helps other charities in an indirect way by producing fresh organic fruits and vegetables and deliver them to homeless shelters and places that serve food for the poor and families in need. Also, the farm helps sustain the Bay Area natural habitat and keep it healthy and livable for us and our future generations. Moreover, Potrero Nuevo Farm provides educational programs to help children learn how to cultivate different kinds of produce. And that also is helping the local government to achieve one of the hallmarks that was written by the Notre Dame Sisters " We Educate For And Act On Behalf Of Justice And Peace In The World."

Blog#6 - Focus question on State Legislatures

State Legislatures

Focus question: what are the three principals functions of legislatures?

Well, the three principals functions of legislatures are:-

1- Policymaker:

Which includes enacting laws and allocating funds. Legislatures alone do not have control of the state policymaking. but they are the dominant policymaking institutions in state government.

2- Representation:

Legislatures are expected to speak for their people in the legislative chamber and also they act as their constituents’ facilitators in the state government.

3- Oversight:

Concerned that the law they passed in addition to the funds they allocated frequently did not produce the intended effect. Their role takes legislatures into the administrative realm.

C.E. - Day 3

Potrero Nuevo Farm

Day 3

February 26, 2016, was our third day volunteering at the farm. My team and I arrived at 12:45 pm and met Suzie. We helped clean another small area in the farm of weeds and dead plants so we can plant some other types of plants. Then, Suzie, the farm’s manager, taught us how we transplant most kinds of plants. Four healthy rhubarb plants were transplanted by the team. After that, we tried some fresh organic produce such as carrot that we picked it up ourselves. Finally, we helped the farm sow six different kinds of onion in raised beds. I sowed Walla Walla onion seeds in one bed and then placed it in the greenhouse. 

  The pictures below summarize what we did the third day:

Cleaning another small field in the farm.

Renita digging around the rhubarb plant in order to transplant it.

A picture of a rhubarb plant with its metal pot

Suzie teaches us a little bit about onions before we plant them 

Me sowing Walla Walla onion seeds in the wood raised bed.

The raised beds next to each other in the greenhouse.

C.E. - Day 2

Potrero Nuevo Farm

Day 2

On February 19, 2016, my team and I arrived at the farm around 12:45 pm. We met Suzie and Jay as usual and they taught us a little bit about the U-Pick program that they provide in the summer. They also made us sign a form that explained the rules and policies for training at Potrero Nuevo Farm (See the pictures below). After that, they showed us an area where they plant herbs and we did clean that area from unwanted plants that can affect the herbs feeding process.

The pictures below best describe and summarize what we did on the second day.

A picture of our team with the managers of the farm around the herbs field.

A picture of Renita working on removing unwanted plants from the field.

A picture from the other field where we spent a lot of time removing big unwanted plants from the field.

A picture of me removing a big unwanted plant from the field.

C.E. - Day 1

Potrero Nuevo Farm

Day 1

Eight miles south of Half Moon Bay is the Potrero Nuevo Farm. It’s a 300-acre private farm that is perfect to grow healthy organic produce. Without spraying chemicals, The farm benefits from breeding different kinds of cattle such as cows, to fertilize the land.

My team and I arrive at 12:30 pm every Friday at the farm. The farm managers Susie and Jay start to welcome us into the farm. We have different assignments each Friday. The first day, Susie and Jay divided us into two groups. The first group helped remove weeds and unwanted plants from the field while the other group helped spray strawberry’s plants with tea in order to protect it from harmful insects. Lastly, Susie taught us how to plant small plants the right way. It is no just digging and putting plants in the hole, it is more like knowing the soil and choosing the perfect place to plant them. For three hours, we spent the time talking and discussing farm’s work.

The pictures below summarize what we did the first day:

A picture of my team before we started working.

A picture of the first group removing unwanted plants from the field.

A picture Of me walking around the field and spraying tea all over strawberry plants

My team helped Susie plants more small plants around the field.

Blog#5 Marijuana Legalization for Ohio

Marijuana Legalization for Ohio

Marijuana legalization movements have been increased over the past couple of years. People now understand what is it, what is the advantages and disadvantages of using it. According to Governing.com, 22 states along with the District of Columbia have already legalized marijuana in some form. Some are for medical use only, others for both medical and recreational use (Governing, 19 June 2015). For example, in 2015, the legislature passed and the governor signed into law that allows the use of marijuana for medical purposes only in California. Now, there is a new movement challenges the state government of Ohio to take another look at marijuana legalization after it got rejected.

Ohio, one of the states in the midwestern region of the United State, had rejected a law that allows people to possess and use marijuana for recreation purposes. In fact, In November 2015, voters in the ballot rejected this law, saying that it

Many Ohioans are regrouping to vote for legalizing marijuana usage in this year's primary ballot. And maybe, just maybe this year the state of Ohio will surprise us and  join the rest of the 22 states that allow for the use of marijuana, at least for medical purposes.

References:

Bischoff, Laura A. "Marijuana Effort in Ohio to Face Challenge from State Lawmakers." Marijuana Effort in Ohio to Face Challenge from State Lawmakers. Dayton Daily News, 16 June 2015. Web. 18 Feb. 2016.

"State Marijuana Laws Map." GOVERNING. 19 June 2015. Web. 17 Feb. 2016. <http://www.governing.com/gov-data/state-marijuana-laws-map-medical-recreational.html>.

"Marijuana Legalization in Ohio Resource Page." Health Policy Institute of Ohio. 16 Feb. 2015. Web. 18 Feb. 2016. <http://www.healthpolicyohio.org/marijuana-legalization-resource-page/>.

"Marijuana Legalization for Ohio – Legalize Ohio 2016." Legalize Ohio 2016 Marijuana Legalization for Ohio Comments. 23 Nov. 2015. Web. 18 Feb. 2016. <https://legalizeohio2016.org/about/>.

"Medical Marijuana Identification Card Program." MedicalMarijuanaProgram. 12 Feb. 2016. Web. 18 Feb. 2016. <https://www.cdph.ca.gov/programs/MMP/Pages/default.aspx>.

"Failed Ohio Pot Legalization Effort Vows to Regroup." WLWT. WLWT, 18 Nov. 2015. Web. 18 Feb. 2016.

Blog#4 Catholic Social Teaching - Subsidiarity and the Proper Role of Government

Catholic Social Teaching

Subsidiarity and the Proper Role of Government

Catholic social teaching, according to the United State Conference of Catholic Bishops, is a belief created by the Catholic Church related to social justice. It includes poverty and wealth, along with economics, social organization and the state role. Those teachings help governments to set up rules that are accepted by the Catholic Church in order to bring justice to its people and value their life. It has nine themes, one of them is called “Subsidiarity and the Proper Role of Government.”

The word subsidiarity is a term in Catholicism. It stems from the Latin word subsidiarius, and it means people should feel for each other and help each and every one of them to bring the best result for all. Pope Pius XI created that term to show people the differences between “higher collectivities” and “lesser and subordinate bodies.” For example, a park needs cleaning because it became a perfect environment for mosquitoes and other insects to live in. Localities can start a program to clean the park without waiting for approval from the state or higher level governments such as the national government. For the common good, localities can create activities to help its community get involved and solve small specific problems around their area.

The concept of devolution can share the same goal as in subsidiarity concept. Devolution is to decentralize local government to have the power to legislate laws on their own. This concept empowers localities to act within their community to achieve their goals and tasks. In fact, that is exactly what subsidiarity aim to achieve. For example, if a local government sees a goal that satisfy its people in a good way, they can make a law to achieve it.

To sum up, catholic social teaching was developed by Pope Pius XI to help governments serve their people fairly. Subsidiarity is one of its themes and it represent the people of any government, and how they should act to help each other and feel for the good of all people.

Blog#3 Potrero Nuevo Farm

Potrero Nuevo Farm

Eight miles south of Half Moon Bay is the Potrero Nuevo Farm. It’s an 300 acre private farm that is perfect to grow healthy organic produce. Without spraying chemicals, The farm benefits from breeding different kinds of cattle such as cows, to fertilize the land. Recently they got protected by the Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST), an organization that protects and cares for open spaces around the peninsula. They both share the same values and vision.

Potrero Nuevo Farm is an organization relies heavily on volunteers. They provide a constructive activity for volunteers to help plant and harvest crops. Not to mention the farm enjoys donating the use of its land, seeds, harvest support, and farm equipment to charities. Also, they partnered with Table of Plenty and Half Moon Bay Catholic Worker, two non-profit organizations that feed people in need. Together with volunteers, they donate and serve food for poor and low income families and communities. It shows how citizens can engage with their communities by harvesting the field and deliver healthy, fresh produce to poor families and homeless people. Additionally, the organization also hosts a U-Pick program for locals. From June to November, members of that program come to the farm and pick up their own produce. Organic, fresh and nutritious vegetables, berries and several kinds of herbs. Moreover, they also have educational programs for kids in high schools.

Blog#2: Why is there tension between the state and local levels of government? In what ways is this tension healthy for our political system overall?

The Tension Between State and Local Governments

The relationship between States and their localities in many cases is strained. State government gives their local governments life, they create the laws for them. However, throughout history, state governments have not treated their localities as they suppose to. That is why the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) stated on the state-local relation “Legislators should place a higher priority on state-local issues than has been done in the past. The time has come to change their attitude toward local governments.” They want the state governments to see localities as partners in the federal system.

It is the state that can decide the amount and type of authority a local government could have to operate effectively and efficiently. The state government holds all legal powers, and the amount and type of authority are varied. Some states give their localities the power to restrain themselves, but other more conservative states force them to wait for the legislators approval so they can act. A rule was established and laid down by Iowa judge John F. Dillon in 1868 called “Dillon’s rule.” The rule was to limit those powers that granted by the state to those localities. The U.S. Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations (ACIR) on the relations between the states and their localities, “The laws and constitutions of each state are the basic legal instruments of local governance.” The ACIR believes in the importance of the distribution of the power between both the state and its jurisdictions, which goes with Dillon’s rule.

Money mostly is the reason for the tension between state governments and their localities. Local governments enjoy their own revenue such as user fees and property taxes, however, they depend on their state to give them a proper income. 40% of the state goes to its localities. Local officials want their state to fund them and give them the ability to decide what is good for them. Not only this, but also they want to take control over how they want to spend it. For example, the state of North Carolina transfers about 7% of the state corporate tax revenue to its localities for school capital costs only. Also, many local officials seek the Second-order Devolution, so they can shift the power from the state government to them.

State mandates are also a reason to create a big friction between states and local level of governments. When a big problem happens in the local officials, states tend to come up with a solution. For example, in Florida, they saw the problem with solid waste management, so they legislate a new law requires counties to set up a lot of recycling programs. Not only that, but also counties were required to achieve at least 30% recycle rate.

I do not see how this tension between state and local governments can be healthy for our political system. It creates problems and sometime people will start losing their trust in their governments. In my opinion, I feel that the local government should have the ability to set their budget. In addition to that, they need to be empowered by their state governments to legislate new laws, without waiting for the state legislators to approve it. It also depends on the importance of that law if it will help improve the life in that jurisdiction or not.

Acterra and its Stewardship Project (Pearson-Arastradero Preserve)

Acterra

Acterra is a non-profit organization founded in 1970 based in Palo Alto. It provides many programs about the environment. The organization has more projects for educational purposes too. From what I read about Acterra’s projects, It creates a great atmosphere for people to work together to restore our natural habitat. Members of that organization along with volunteers gather in a park and help each others to achieve a clean and lively environment. It has a program called Stewardship where volunteers help clean parks and open spaces.

One project that really interest me called Pearson-Arastradero Preserve Stewardship Project. The preserve is owned by the City of Palo Alto. The project covers a 662-acre in the foothills of Santa Cruz Mountains. It involves members and volunteers to help keep the preserve healthy. The main purpose of that project is to remove invasive plants from Pearson-Arastradero Preserve and plant some native plants instead.

As you might read from my last blog that I love taking care of plants. Plant and water them makes me feel like I give back what the environment keep giving me. It gives me a fresh air to breath, and nutritious produce that I enjoy every time consume them. I’m so excited to be a part of that project and help keep our world healthy.

Franchise’s Garden at Notre Dame de Namur University

Francoise’s Garden

I read about Francoise Blin de Bourdon. A noblewomen from France. One of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur. Francoise worried that people will not be able to get access to fresh and healthy food. She observed the peasants who worked for her family have food insecurity, comparing to the upper French classes family back in the 17th century. Francoise believed that all people should have access to nutritious food. Fresh and clean. 21st century urban farm enthusiasts and gardeners shared her worries and believe and make it a tradition. In this Founders’ week. our university will make a project in the its garden to honor that tradition. I am so excited to try this tradition for the first time this year.

When I was little, my mom used to encourage me to help her plants around the house. We used to have a small garden in the backyard. We planted tomatoes, herbs and other edible plants. I still remember how seeing those plants grow made me excited and at the same time nervous. Nervous that one day these plants could die and perish because I didn't plant them right. But I was a kid back then. I also enjoyed helping my father mowing the lawn using a lawn mower equipment, and making it short and beautiful. Now I think you know why I am dying to try to do it with others who share the same interest. I love gardening, and this activity will make me use this passion to help other people get fresh produce. In addition to that, it will make our university’s campus beautiful and a lot healthier.

Can not wait for the founder’s week to come so I can experience this activity and see how people in America doing during that event.

My Reborn

Yay, I did it !