Friday, May 23, 2014
Movement Paper - Fliers
From: Sheila Edward, Soc. 122, MW 3:30-4:45 p.m.
Date: 5/23/14
Date: 5/23/14
The posting of fliers around campus was interesting. I have seen the fliers posted by others but did not know by which means they came about; now I know. The Hunger group had many great ideas for fliers. They had many statistics and facts about the issue of hunger, and the art layout of the finished product was quite impressive if I do say so myself. It was fun to hand them out at the tabling event, as well as the poster-board sign that was made to go on the table. I felt as though I was an active member of society at that point, not just out for my own good, to accomplish selfish goals and aspirations, but as a member of a whole. This feeling I can carry with me and call upon whenever I am asked to take part in an event for a church or an event for children at school, or anywhere I can be of help. The entire course has been so helpful in getting involved in issues that are very important to me, but have never really acquired the skills to act upon the feelings and emotion that come with seeing hunger or the criminal justice system at its worse. It could not be easier to prepare a document (flier) in Word, add art work, color, so forth, and create something that is beautiful and informative – using just the right words to convey your message and persuade others to see things from a different perspective. It may not always be black and white, there are behind the scenes issues – the backstage if you will, to many of societal problems and publicly not willing to deal with them – that is until someone else does it first. The next time someone is sitting at the computer, they could come up with some interesting facts and ideas to help change the world if not your neighborhood for the better, and pass it around at the next PTA meeting or block party.
Movement Paper - Protest March - Tabling
From: Sheila Edward, Soc. 122, MW 3:30-4:45 p.m.
Date: 5/23/14The informational picket on campus event was the most exhilarating. Preparing the signs taught me how easy it is to gather the necessary material to go out and march for your cause. In framing the issue of hunger or any other issue, I found that researching the subject and coming up with some catchy slogans, can start a movement just like that. Imagine if people were to see your protest and decided to join and more and more people decided to join – before you know it there is a protest march going on outside a business executive's window, or a shoppe keeper whose products being sold were made in sweatshops. As long as the rules are followed, which are available on the Internet, everyone has the right to a peaceful demonstration. This goes for any movement you wish to either start or participate in an existing movement, branching out on your own. As long as there is organization and agreement a person can voice their dissatisfaction with any injustice or social problem. As long as there is injustice or problem in the world there should be an opposites-attract solution. An individual who is motivated to make change for a better world is the solution. Identifying the "us" and "them" in any campaign and choosing the words carefully to persuade the public to open their eyes and see the most human issues, not the fake issues on Capital Hill can help change policy while educating the public. Certainly the goal is to not alienate anyone but to convey a message that will enlighten certain opposing groups to humanity.
Movement Paper - Push Polling
From: Sheila Edward, Soc. 122, MW 3:30-4:45 p.m.
Date: 5/23/14The push polling / online survey event was excruciating. I forgot how much I loathe cold calling as a telemarketing person many, many years ago. The main thing is that I had the opportunity to see how the online survey Catyshack worked. It is a brilliant program that is efficient yet not very difficult to understand. It is like going to work at a call center and bring up the different screens needed, according to the type of information you are entering into the system. I made ten calls exactly, and spoke with two people directly. One person was from a social services office, and wondered how or why I got her, or reached her office under the circumstances. That was very interesting if I had not been in such a bundle of nerves, and could have recognized the opportunity to discuss with her her concern for the issue of hunger in this region, being a social services representative herself, would have made very interesting write-up. However, after explaining I was from the FSU sociology department conducting a survey, she declined the interview. The next person I spoke with was a bit more willing, even if my computer screen was not. She seemed to be an older person in the mid to late fifties range, who was on the way out of the door to run errands and asked how long it would take. I explained that it would take only ten minutes or so. When I tried to bring up the interview questions my screen would not cooperate and I had to finally explain the situation and end the call. The rest of the calls were answering machines, hang-ups, or not in service. Unfortunately I did not actually get to discuss any of the questionnaire, and analyze the information later.
Movement paper - Chalking AHHH
From: Sheila Edward, Soc 122, MW 3:30-4:45 p.m.
Date: 5/23/14The chalking movement exercise was very enlightening. I have always seen the markings on the sidewalk as I went to classes on campus, but I never knew that it pertained to a specific class given at State. The most fun I had was actually writing with the chalk. I brought back subconscious memories of playing hopscotch, or watching children today draw on the sidewalks at play. However, the issue of hunger, and food injustice, and victim rights is a much more important task than hopscotch. It is wonderful how groups form and participate in activating change in the country or around the world. It is a powerful image to hundreds and thousands of people gathered for the same cause, or to find encouraging words, enlightening statistics scrawled on a sidewalk when you lest expect it. These tiny little messages can lead to a thought or idea that will lead to a conversation, and a neighborhood meeting, to a town meeting, and maybe eventually a national discussion. The tiny steps that an individual can take can make a world of difference in the long-run. God knows there are so many issues out there that need to be dealt with- from hunger, to sweatshops, to animal rights – there is a whole movement of movements waiting to be developed and organized. Through networking skills and coalitions, food movements and political efficacy, public policy will have to change. I would like to see more children involved in chalking movements, because I had a hard time bending over and writing whole paragraphs on hunger statistics. Overall it was a very energizing and flexible experience.
Movement Paper - Film "A Place at the Table"
From: Sheila Edward, Soc. 122 MW 3:30-4:45 p.m.
Date: 5/23/14The movie discussion segment of the course was most interesting. I became familiar with most of the issues on the table from hunger to sweat shops and the environmental movement. The film that my team put on was "A Place At The Table." This documentary explored issue of world land use, how it is being used for commercial use and the local farmer has no way to feed his/her family. It also discusses the deterioration of farming soil, and how eventually the land will become less and less fertile and commercial farm industries will destroy the land eventually and food and food prices will be harder to sustain. The food movement uses these images to get the world public to take sides when it comes to basic rights such as access to food, and a means to feed your family. The food movement as well as many of the environmental movements are putting the pressure on farm industries and shining the light on food injustice around the world including the United States. This film especially touched my sense of community because much of the injustice happens right in surrounding communities, across town, or down the street from a college or university. The main issue is that no one owns anything except those with the money and power, and do not particularly give a damn about individual families at large, only the global opportunities to fill their pockets more. So what do you do? Go door to door to see who needs help? Well that would be a start. Community based organizations now take on the much of the responsibility some believe should be the responsibility of the federal government. But when an individual is in dire need the community is the way to go. However, to actually make changes in public policies that no longer see the individual will be the test.
Monday, May 19, 2014
Fwd: Senator Boxer: Rally May 21st for Climate Change Action
From: "U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer" <senator@boxer.senate.gov>
To: tkubal@csufresno.edu
Sent: Monday, May 19, 2014 2:35:36 PM
Subject: Senator Boxer: Rally May 21st for Climate Change Action
To: tkubal@csufresno.edu
Sent: Monday, May 19, 2014 2:35:36 PM
Subject: Senator Boxer: Rally May 21st for Climate Change Action
|
Thursday, May 15, 2014
Chalking Tactic #5/Landon Clow
Landon Clow
5/15/14
Chalking Tactic #5
Words: 360
The final social movement group event was the entire group came together around the free speech area and wrote down facts from the C.A.P.E mission statement. Given that this was the last time the group would meet I could not help but feel a sense of sadness knowing that the social movement group would be coming to an end. I am not sure how the other group members felt but I am thankful for being able to be a part of the Citizens Advocating for Pretrial Expansion.
As a group we decided to chalk as much information as we could. One of the facts that were chalked was that on average it costs the state of California 47,000 a year to incarcerate a prisoner. This fact was chosen to show just how much the criminal justice system is costing the state while the money could be spent on education or broadening the availability of health care. The last fact that was chalked is that the jail population in California is made up of 71 percent of pretrial detainees which has a negative effect on the tax payers of the state. This issue can be deemed as a major contribution to the overcrowding in the jails and prisons.
A real life example was also chalked by the group that gives the story of a man who was accused of a crime and could not afford bail, which led him to being gone for a long period of time. The end result was the emotional damage and loss of employment. The last social movement event went about as well as I could have imagined. The only change I would make was that as a group we decided to keep the activist group rather than terminating it after the end of the semester. I would like to thank the instructor for creating the social movement group assignment. After completing the chalking with my group I was re insured that why I have gained a new appreciation for activism, and for taking a stand for those who are affected by the social injustices of the world.
Broken On All Sides/Movie Tactic #4/LandonClow
Landon Clow
5/15/14
Broken On All Sides/Movie Tactic #4
Words: 411
The fourth event that the Citizens Advocating for Pretrial Expansion attended was showing the documentary Broken on All Sides created by Matthew Pillischer. To prepare for the film, fliers were made and put around campus to inform the students of Fresno State the location and time the documentary took place. The viewing of the film was in the Industrial Tech building. Having no prior knowledge of the documentary I was truly unaware of how heart wrenching of a documentary it was. Given that the main focus is in Philadelphia, the viewer cannot help but feel a sense of compassion to the social injustices of the American Criminal Justice System.
Within the documentary there were a lot of facts that were shocking due to not fully grasping how poor of a condition the American prison system is in. The first being when it was stated that as a nation we hold five percent of the world's population but have twenty-five of the world's total prisoners. This fact is alarming in many ways, one being that the entire criminal sentencing system is broken. The film also points out that there have been far too many people whose lives have been damaged unfair laws on crime. There is no justifiable evidence that could be provided to support the claim that the United States should have twenty-five percent of the world's prison population. Another part from the documentary Broken on All Sides that is still resonating is that once you have been labeled as a felon it stays with the individual even after incarceration. Matthew Pillischer concludes that with the overwhelming difference in African Americans in prison compared to any other race, the prison system at its current state is being called "The New Jim Crow". Due to the fact that African Americans, who are given the title of being a felon, are seen as second rate citizens in terms of employment and the activities of maintain in today's society.
I thoroughly enjoyed the documentary Broken on All Sides. It was an eye opening experience in that it put real life faces to the social injustice of the American criminal justice system. The film also shows that through the will of the people changes can be made. A quote from the documentary that stood out was, "Let us believe that we can threaten any opposite power structure in place, this is opposite the youth."poll push
Push Poll
When me and my group conducted this push polling we used a website called Catishack to dial random numbers, so that we could ask people to take surveys. Catishack did a great job of calling a lot of people who would answer the calls, but some people didn't take the surveys. For the few who took the surveys they were asked to answer questions based on pre-trail expansion. Some of the questions asked the participant on opinions they had about pre-trial expansion. One of the questions asked the participant "do you know about the prison realignment program?" The results indicate many of the participants didn't have knowledge about the program. Another question asked the participants had to do with individuals being detained while awaiting trial and how it affects tax payer dollars. Results of this question showed over 52% of the participants answered that they agreed and were aware. After the participant were asked the question "Are employees exempt from termination of employment if detained for a long time?" the two responses to this question were close in numbers. 47% of respondents answered true and 53% of participants answered false.
The most predominant race was the Hispanic group they represented 55% of the sample. The second highest race percentage to participate in this study was the White/Caucasian (23) group. The Asian/Pacific Islander, Native American, and Black/African represented 5% of the sample.
cape
Oliver Moreno
Social Movements
Cape
The first thing my group did was help out in the protest on March, 4. I've never been part of protest before it felt good to be part something that was going against the norm. It was great making posters with my peers and hearing different chants from different groups in the class. It felt good to go up on stage and say our group's chant by the free speech area. I believe we got a lot of people's attention with marching around campus. Similar what we lean in class in order for a social movement to be successful it needs the proper funding and the proper people to carry out the message. When people went up to our table and wanted information about pre-trial expansion I felt like I was a teacher and they were the student.
It felt good to do something with people that have similar perspective and beliefs as you. Being part of social movements has great benefits. First, it lets you be part of a team; everyone needs to be social and be part of a group that they were passionate about. Second, being part of a social movement's means you're trying to change the world somehow. The elite think this society is perfect the way it is. I believe this society still needs to go through transformations in order to be considered an efficient and good society. Remember humans created this society. Everything a human does is not perfect, because how something that is not perfect can created something perfect.
Social movements are important in our society to create change and lower the inequality level in this society. Imagine if Dr. Martin Luther King didn't go against the norm and contributed to the civil rights movement. No color person would be allowed near whites. Being Deviance can pay off.
Movie
The other activity my group decided to do was to show of pre-trial expansion. The film we choose was about people who have experience injustice by our justice system. One of the people that were wrong was an African American who went to jail because of a ticket we had. It was with jail for a month because of a ticket. His family didn't have money to bail him out, so he stayed in jail until his court date came. It's ridiculous how long it takes to go to court for something minor. The only people that this is affecting are the poor. People who don't have money and are accused of a crime and taken to jail have to stay in jail. Because they don't have the money to get bailed out. We never see a rich person who has committed a small crime stay in jail for a good while. Rich people have connections and they abuse these connections.
After the film we had a discussion about how our justice system is a joke. This justice system needs improvements. The creators of this present justice system were all rich and made this current system to benefit them. In order to create a new and effective justice system both the elites and the lower/working class have to come together. By having both parties this will lead to both parties point of view seen. The movie discusses how social movements are good for things to be changed. One of the main people interviewed was a woman who would organize different social groups and get them to create a positive protest. They used non-violent tactics that got the media's attention. This society we have to fight for rights and beliefs. If you are passionate about something and you have enough people that share the same passion should fight for your beliefs.
Listening Table
The listening table was another tactic my group did. This tactic was very convenient because it was the same day of the protest march. Our group decided to make posters and charts about pre-trial expansion. We did a small presentation poster which showed different facts and gave more information about our cause. It felt good to discuss pre-trial expansion with new people. Some of the people who approach our table seem interested in to learn more about Cape and pre-trial expansion.
I believe one on one conversation with people is the easiest way to pursue people into joining your movement. Fraternities and sororities do the same thing when they want people to join their orgs. Rush week is when different orgs table and they want people to join their org. Having a one on one conversation with a person it gives you a connection with the person. History and experiments showed that people tend to like people with the same values and attributes. Having conversation with people and lead to a connection and a friendship.
One of the things I learn about the listening table that most people don't like to go up to tables. They have to have something that intrigues them to the table. People want to be entertained and they want to be sold about the movement. Listening table are good for recruiting people. If you have a good attitude and sell your movement it's easy to get more members to join. Now days thanks to facebook or another type of social media meetings and protest areas are now aware to the public.
Chalking
The last thing my group did was chalking in the free speech area located at Fresno State University. During the semester as a class we went to the free speech area and we chalk facts about domestic abuse. It was very successful getting people's attention around campus. People were walking through the free speech area and they saw words on the floor and they stopped to read what it said. It was interesting to see people's reaction about different facts. When my group chalk in the floor in the free speech area had similar results as the one we did as a class. As we were writing facts about pre-trial expansion on the floor people would stop and ask us about what we were doing. Some of the people walking by wanted to learn more about pre-trail expansion.
Chalking was a great experience because it lets people know the facts about your subject without spending money on advertising. Plus the message gets sends to the population that can help you the most. As we discuss in class, the people that are most likely to protest are college students and sing people. Because people with children and are married have the obligation to take care of their family. College students should be the prime target because some students are young and passionate and want to be part of something that can change their life. Social movements are important in our society. Social movements are a great way to change something about our society. Deviant behavior can be a positive thing. The more we fight for our rights the more inequality drops.
Push Polling Tactic #3/LandonClow
Landon Clow
5/15/14
Push Polling Survey Tactic #3
Words: 390
Out of the five social movement events I took part in, I found the push polling to be the most difficult. As a group we created questions that were to be used during two hours of calling random generated numbers in Fresno County. I had a very difficult experience in the first hour that I did the push polling compared to the second hour. During the first hour I was terribly nervous and when someone would answer the phone I spoke way too fast and in most cases it caused the individual on the other line to decline or hang up. After the hour was through I was upset with myself and made a conscious effort to do a better the next scheduled hour. The difference between the two phone sessions was like day and night. I was able to speak clearly and found two people who were willing to take the survey.
After conducting the push polling survey there were some very interesting results from the 93 people who took the survey. The first being that when the question of whether or not people knew that it was costing them their tax payer dollars for those who are awaiting trial. The overall response was mixed in that 55 percent were aware and 32 percent did not know the affect it had on their tax paying dollars. The results indicate that if more people had knowledge of it having a financial effect on them one could conclude that there may be stronger support to fix the insufficient system.
Another compelling result was of the individuals who were asked that if an employee should be exempt from termination if held for an extended period of time. An astounding even response was found in that 50 percent were in favor while the other 50 percent were against the idea of exemption. I feel that one should not lose their job because of their inability to post bail. The other two intriguing stats that were found were that the majority of those interviewed made roughly 10,000 or less a year and 83 percent were female. It may be concluded that those of a lesser income may be more in favor of fixing the criminal justice system rather than those of a higher income.Marching Tactic #2/LandonClow
Landon Clow
5/15/14
Marching Tactic #2
Words: 369
After the tabling event, the whole Social Movements 122 class and other students took part in a march around campus. Earlier in the day sign had been made for each person to hold and the sign I had read prison overcrowding then it was circled with a line through it. Once everyone was in a line formation we began the march from the free speech area. As I was walking with my sign held high I looked around and saw something I will never forget. I am proud to say that I have experienced an event were a large number of students who at best know each other's name came together and took part in a powerful right of free speech.
As we continued to march down Shaw Ave in front of Fresno State, for a long time in a while I was able to completely soak in the experience and felt although people may have not agreed with what we were saying our voices did not go unheard. It was at this point that a strong sense of unity was formed amongst the group even though we had just met one another a few months ago. For the rest of the march I was dreading it coming to an end but the overall feeling of joy will stay with me forever.
Even though I felt the march was an extreme success, there were a couple of things that I will use in future marches that I partake in. The first being that I spend more time taking in the experience than chanting and being vocal about other group's causes. I also felt that one way to improve would be for a couple agreed upon chants that everyone would be able to chant at the same time. However given it was my first march I saw the mistake as an example to learn from rather than it being seen as a negative. The other thing I noticed is that toward the end of the march the group started to branch off into two groups, which was understandable given the amount of people who are marching for the first time as well.Tabling Tactic #1/LandonClow
Landon Clow
5/15/14
Tabling Tactic #1
Words: 437
The tabling event that was part of the March Forth on March Fourth was the first social movement experience. Minutes before arriving I was extremely nervous due to not knowing how the event would go. When I first arrived myself and one other group member helped set up the tables for the event. As the set up process continued I began to feel a sense of empowerment knowing that I had the ability to share important information about advocating for pre- trial expansion. Little did I know at the time that experiences from the tabling event would still have a positive affect my outlook on life.
During the tabling I was able to have a one on one conversation with two people about why they felt so strongly in support of the C.A.P.E social cause. The first person I met was a young lady who said she had family members who had gone through the jail system and how negative the experience was on her whole family. Right after I finished speaking to her I could not help feel a since of pride that although C.A.P.E. was created for a class, the group still resonated with people who have gone through a hard time because of the criminal justice system.
The other individual I spoke to about the social movement was a young man who had some serious doubts about the importance of the social cause; it was during this conversation where I gained a strong emotional attachment to the social movement group. It marked the first time in which I had to argue in a constructive and positive manner for a social injustice that I truly believe in whole heartily. Once the conversation was over I had convinced the man to see the importance of the need for pretrial expansion.
Although I was extremely pleased with the effort of involvement I had put forth, there were still a few things that looking back on I wish I had done a little differently. One mistake being that during the tabling event each group had to read their mission statement. Due to my fear of speaking to large groups of people I did not speak as loudly as needed and mumbled during some parts. The other mistake I made was I did not allow myself to sit back and enjoy the event as whole but rather came off as being serious throughout. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed being a part of my first social movement. It has inspired me to make an effort to get involved in events outside of class.Jatinder Sandhu - Democracy Now
Jatinder Sandhu
Soc 122
5-15-2014
Democracy Now
http://www.democracynow.org/2014/5/15/we_have_to_stop_this_inequality
May 15, 2014 marks the day thousands of people across over 150 cities went on strike today. They are arguing for a higher minimum wage. They want an increase from $7.25 to $15 an hour. Their demands simple, 15 dollar minimum wage and nationwide unionization of fast-food workers. Kendall Fells is the organizing director in NYC, she and about 600 people descended upon a McDonalds on Fifth Avenue. The tactics they used were pretty aggressive, they tried to charge inside, and they set up a sit in kind of situation to get their message out. The same story is being told around the United States today. Fast food workers on average only make between $10,000 and $18,000 a year. They argue that on that kind of salary it's impossible to live in large cities. I agree that living off 18,000 a year is not a livable wage, but the argument against doubling the wage is that working in fast-food does not warrant that wage. Raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour would also raise the cost of living equally. It's hard to say which side is right. As it stands now it is highly unlikely that this movement will be able to bully their way into a $15 minimum wage.
http://www.democracynow.org/2014/5/15/fast_food_ceos_oppose_worker_raises
In the previous article we talked about fast food workers demanding a higher minimum wage. In this article we get to talk about the other side, the CEO's, who are against the minimum wage raises. On one hand workers are working 30 to 40 hours a week to bring home a $400 paycheck every two weeks while CEO's make $9600 an hour. The math is quite clear and that suggests that there is a large income disparity in the United States. The common worker barely making it by, and on the other side CEO's making an obscene amount of money. CEO'S make 1200 time more than the average fast food worker. Catherine Ruetshlin goes into detail of a study she is doing. She argues that Corporations like McDonalds, Burger King, and all these other fast-food companies can easily afford to raise the minimum wage of the common worker. It would be healthy for them to do so, because having a healthy happy worker fosters loyalty. CEO pay has grown by 470% since 2000, while on the other hand worker pay has only gone up 0.3%. It's hard to favor companies that can afford to pay that much for their CEOs but not their common workers.
SOC 122 Tactics
Alejandro Aguirre
May 15, 2014
SOC 122 – 3:30
Kubal
C.A.P.E. Tactics
Tabling
On the fourth of March, I participated in an event known as "March Forth", which was a day for students to talk about their issues at their tables to passersby. After the tabling, I, along with the other students participated in the march that protested these various causes.
Thirty minutes prior to the event, I helped set up all the tables for every group that would participate. After all the tables were set, my group (C.A.P.E.) and I had enough time to finish decorating our board and making our picket signs for the march. Once everything was set up, I interacted with people who asked questions about our cause. The visitors seemed intrigued by the information I was telling them. My group also contributed by doing as I did. Our efforts resulted in six signatures from people who were interested in receiving more information from our cause. Although obtaining more signatures would have been nice, I think my efforts of informing people of our issue was successful in two respects: simply teaching them what our cause is about and influencing an interest in them about it.
There are a couple of reasons why I think the tabling portion of the event did not go as well as I anticipated. First, I think that if there were louder and more interactive musical performances, people's attention would be easier to attain. This is not to say that I did not enjoy The Raging Grannies or the flash dance. I admired their performances and passion they displayed at the event, but I thought having more performances would have better portrayed our event as dedicated. The other suggestion is to have more time (in class, or at home) to decorate our boards so as to have a higher chance to attract people's attention.
Overall, I think this part of the event went well in the two previous respects mentioned earlier and in altering people's opinions about our issue.
Marching
On the fourth of March, my group (C.A.P.E.) and I participated in a march of protest on Fresno State's campus that commenced an hour after the tabling tactic my group and I also participated in at the school. The event and activity was publicized by chalking messages on the floor about the event in the Free Speech area a few days prior to the event. The purpose of the march was to further express the meanings of all groups' causes.
My group and I all made our own individual picket signs regarding our issue. After we had made our picket signs, all the groups in the class began to march around the campus at 2 PM with their signs raised. We marched from the Free Speech area, through the midway near the fountain, and even on Shaw Avenue. There were very few chants and call-outs from the groups that were meant to attract more attention.
Despite my and my group's efforts, I felt that our protest could have taken place during an hour when students are mostly out of class during a break like lunch, which is typically at noon. Also, our messages on the signs were made with standard markers, which were not sufficient in displaying them. To make the signs legible, we needed to have either bold our letters with our standard markers, or buy thinker point markers (we did not know this would be an issue until someone outside of our protest commented on that issue). These would be the areas on which I would improve if I were to engage in a march again.
I think my group and I (as well as the other groups) did a decent job in catching people's attention, but would have been more effective if the previously stated issues were corrected. I say this because the person who commented on our march enjoyed it, but said it would have been nice to be able to read the content.
Film Screening
The third tactic I engaged in with my group (C.A.P.E.) was publicizing a film that my group and I would present to the public at our school's campus in the Industrial Tech Building. The film we publicized was Broken on All Sides, a documentary that discussed the issues of the justice system through the processes of incarceration. After the film followed a discussion panel between the instructor, the students belonging to the group, and the rest of the audience.
The only thing my group and I had to do to publicize our event was to post up several posters of our film that I, alone, created and designed (what it was about and when and where it was going to play) around our campus. The poster presented a picture of the film's cover art, what it was about, where and when the film would be presented, and mentioned that a discussion would follow afterwards.
When the day came to see the film, I was upset to see that only three people aside from my group attended to see the film. This makes me wonder if there were issues with the posters I had designed. Looking back at them, I suppose I could have used a different format that would have caught more people's attention. Color would have also helped. In addition to the issue of how the poster was presented, I think there may have been an issue with distributing the posters. For example, some places where large crowds of students are present forbid postings. This complicates our groups' efforts to bring more people to our event. These are things I plan to fix or prevent the next time I participate in an event like this.
I recall that two people aside from our group commented on the film, but I was not sure if their opinion was opposite from the film's perspective. So, I think the film reached the opinions of the audience in terms of the lack of education that inmates had and the economy that may have led to these lives of crime.
Chalking
The next group tactic I was involved in for C.A.P.E. was chalking on our campus at Fresno State. There was really no formal publicizing of the event because the purpose of the messages expressed through chalking is to be discovered by passersby on their own time. Publicizing our actions and messages would defeat the purpose of people reaching out to read these messages as a result of their curiosity to know what these messages read.
In terms of what my group and I did to set up our tactic, we first discussed a day and time that would fit all of our schedules to chalk on our campus. Our group also agreed on who would provide the chalk to write with. Afterwards, we discussed what we would write on the ground. We decided to provide some information that we presented on the March Forth event I participated earlier in the semester.
We all decided to chalk in an area where students are most likely to walk by. It was right in front of the Free Speech area near the fraternity/sorority booths. Every participating member (including myself) wrote at least two messages pertaining to our cause. We chalked in the evening, which may not have been the best time of the day to display our messages. I say this because it is a time when the majority of students have finished their classes for the day and have gone home. There were very few students who were passing by our chalking and asked about our cause. They all asked what our cause was about and what our acronym meant. After answering these questions, the students expressed their understanding of the messages' purpose.
If I were to engage in such an activity again, I would suggest to chalk earlier in the day so as to be surrounded by more people, thus having a higher amount of interest among our peers. This can play a vital role in positively altering the opinion of passersby. Aside from this, I think our efforts made a decent change in opinion in respects to the content of our messages.
Push-polling
The final tactic I engaged in was conducting a phone survey pertaining to my group's issue. Each member of my group (including myself) came up with at least one question that either addressed our issue or demographics. The media liaison of our group recorded these questions and later posted them online for our survey.
The experience of calling people to engage in a survey was just as I have predicted – unpleasant. The reason for this is due to the many rejected phone calls and surveys that I have experienced. This and more will be discussed from the collected findings from the surveys.
Out of 88 respondents, 51 (58%) participated in our survey. Most of the respondents were not familiar with the prison realignment program. Only 1 of 21 respondents was strongly familiar with it while most knew little to nothing about it. Also, most of these people were aware that pre-trial detainees affect their tax-payer dollars. When asked whether respondents knew if detainees were fired after a prolonged detention, about the same number responded either "yes" or "no".
In terms of demographics, most of the respondents were Hispanic (55% out of 22 respondents) while the least were Black, Asian, or Native American. Fifteen out of 21 respondents were between the ages of 18-29 and the least represented were senior citizens (1 respondent). Of the 22 respondents who decided report their income, 36% said they made under $10,000. Only one participant earned the above $200,000 and between $70,000-$100,000 while the rest made between $10,000-$70,000.
I think this tactic revealed a great deal of information, but I could not adequately tell if the respondents were moved by the survey or if their opinions have changed as a result. I do not really see a different way I can approach this tactic to have better results, because of the fact that a phone call is less personal, thus making it easily avoidable for the respondent to reject the phone call or survey.
Jamie Garcia
Jamie S. Garcia
T. Kubal
Soc 122 M/W 3:30
Event 1: Listening Table/ March 4th 
As a class we decided on using a portion of our funding to purchase a small article in the Fresno State News paper to promote our tabling event during March Fourth. Additionally we purchased snacks and beverages to be served during our tabling to entice a crowd. On ST.A.R.T's personal social media account on Instagram we posted small image with details on the event as well.
During class time and on the day of we were able to decorate and design our poster boards. That was filled with information regarding our topic. For example; the rising cost in tuition over the past thirty years, as well as, statistics of the average house hold income in comparison to the average tuition rate. Additionally, we posted a link, and a description of our cause's petition. The petition was calling for the rate of tuition to be frozen at the cost during first year of enrolment for five years or upon a four-year completion.
We had a great number of people interested in our cause, especially interested in our petition. Many voiced their own concern and or discontent with the rising tuition rates. The attention of the treats and beverages, and the presence of the other social movements attracted a large crowd. The presence of the other movements possibly attracted viewers who may have not been interested before, but were attracted secondarily.
I believe our table received the most attention during the tabling as well as the march around Campus. Our clear slogan and catchy name was easy for people to remember and repeat. We chanted out to the crowd: "Freeze tuition, Sign Petition". If our movement had the ability to provide internet access via tablets or laptops would have given passers by or attendees the ability to sign our petition immediately, and could have capitalized on the momentum of the day, before students wandered off and forgot or lost interest.
Before our tabling even I comprised a power-point with the information our movement had gathered, some statistics, a few catchy images, and the fliers for our documentary viewing (original fliers where provided by our treasurer Alyssa), as well as some other information. Those power-point slides were printed and added to our poster board during the tabling. I organized and distributed tasks to the members of our group before and during the movement, and collected our materials at its end. I designed and created the group name, and slogan, as well as their marching signs. Additionally I added the power-point slides and images from the march to our social media account on Instagram. 
Our event gathered a lot of attention, both during the tabling and during the march. I believe students were made aware of facts and realities about their own tuition, that before they may have not considered or known. Those facts in my opinion altered their view of the tuition crisis currently facing Fresno State Students. Had our movement been better prepared and had been linked with groups more experienced in the movement, I think our petition could have become a hot topic amongst our student body, if not at the very least gaining the attention of the administration.
Event 2: Social Media Account – Instagram
The social media account set up for ST.A.R.T was an Instagram account. On this sight users are able to upload and share videos and pictures with their followers, on an immediate update, or are also able to view to people who look up their account. We publicized our account by adding our account name Instagram@fresnostateSTART to every flyer we handed out, each chalking, and any information we handed out or made public. We gathered a lot of followers from out interactions during the tabling on March fourth. The account got more hits with each flyer and chalking that we made seemed to gather more attention to our account. We also made the effort to follow fellow Fresno State organizations, like many of the clubs, and local fraternities and sororities.
The activity on our account was mostly post from the power-point, providing information about tuition, and our position on its rapid increase. The further along in the semester began to ad additional photos, more of them where action shots. Like our group attending the tabling, the March and later events like handing out flyers and chalking. Most of ST.A.R.T's member's had their own accounts and were able to follow the account, but it was hard to get large number of followers like some of the other clubs on Campus. I attribute that to the lack of publicity ST.A.R.T gained through out the year. And its relatively newness as a group on campus. We made every attempt to gain attention for the account, but it didn't seem to do well in comparison to other local clubs. Perhaps we should have tagged (linked) people in the pictures we posted in order to gain more attention to our account and therefore our movement.
My personal involvement with this aspect of ST.A.R.T, was that I made the account, and provided the log in and password to each of my group members. Additionally, I followed a majority of the local clubs 
and organizations at Fresno State, and uploaded a majority if not all the pictures to the account. However, Jarod took many of the pictures and sent them to me later. It was a collaborative effort to keep the account up to date.
In terms of altering the public opinion of tuition cost at Fresno State I believe the Instagram account may have done the least. I think its most beneficial attribute was its ability to keep followers aware of the progress and events being held by ST.A.R.T., as well as providing a steady stream of info.
Event 3 and 4: Informational Flyer/Chalking
We pulled slides and information from the power-point and other resources to add information to our fliers, and printed out full page fliers of our Documentary Viewing. Fabiola and Jarod were able to make additional copies of the Fliers. Fabiola made something like a pamphlet, with key points and links to information about tuition and our accounts and petition. As we walked around campus chalking and talking to students we were able to hand out the pamphlets and fliers. We borrowed chalk and tried to pick locations were the most amount of traffic would walk past them. With the brightest most attractive colors I could find, I wrote the most attention getting facts, our group could come up with or pull from our fliers. For instance, "the tuition for a student at Fresno State is approximately 30 % of the average income of a California residents total yearly income".
We were able to attract attention from students as they stopped and read our facts written in chalk. We were able to talk to them briefly and or hand them a pamphlet or flyer. On a few occasions we were able to get pictures of this interaction with fellow students. Unfortunately the interactions we did have were often brief, and we didn't have the ability to fully disclose our intentions with them, or persuade them to sign our online petition. I think out interactions would have been better received during a time when fellow students are more open to spending time listening, when they have breaks between class and are able to spend time listening. Rather then later in the afternoon as we walked in between the hallways and walkways around campus.
While we were passing out flyers and handing out information we gathered attention, but its interaction was so brief I doubt there was any great alteration in opinion of Fresno States current tuition cost.
Event 5: Documentary and Discussion
In order to publicize our fifth event, as a group we handed out fliers at all of our events, with the details and location of our documentary viewing, as well as our mission statement. Additionally, we did some chalking the day before, as well as posting it on our social media site – Instagram. As an event it was quite easy to set up. The room for the viewing was previously booked for us, and we had to pick a date convenient for our group. Finding a documentary or movie discussing our specific topic was a little harder to come by. Often the content of the documentaries was not in accordance with our group's views/ mission statement. Fortunately enough we were able to get some advice from our Professor and he was able to aid us with some documentaries that fallowed along better with our cause.
Unfortunately for our group, Jarrod and Myself were able to attend the viewing for our social movement; due to conflicting schedules our other group member's were unable to make the viewing. There was however a decent turn out of other students, about the same amount showed up for our documentary, as for others, as I had witnessed.
I believe our documentary viewing would have had an improved turn out if our group as able to promote it better to our fellow students. If we were able to tie into a bigger event that gathered a lot of attention, perhaps our small movement would have gathered a larger audience. Also, it was the intention of our group to have our viewing immediately after the March 4th movement, in order to maintain momentum, and stay current in the minds of our fellow students. That however wasn't successful and another date had to be chosen, a date that I believe was to far after the march, for us to capitalize on.
My specific involvement with this event was that I distributed fliers to my fellow students promoting the event. Again I uploaded screen shots of our even to our social media site, reminding our followers of our up coming event, and I was able to attend the screening and participate in the discussion afterwards.
It was clear from the discussion after the viewing that the documentaries and the event had informed and altered the opinion of those who viewed it. Many felt a new sense of concern over their tuition; as well as a newfound interest in the disbursement and allocation of our tuition money.
Push Polling
Joanna Sanchez
Soc 122
MW 3:30
Push Polling
Push polling was a whole new experience for me. At first I was intimidated to make phone surveys but once numbers started to dial the fear was over. Unfortunately I was not able to get a hold of anyone. I had a few people answer the phone but they were Spanish speaking and then someone answered and then hung up on me. I posted the survey link on one of my social networks and I believe most of our results of the survey came from my fellow cyber friends.
Our survey varied in statistical questions about animal issues and it also had a few open ended questions. On average 35-40 people answered all the questions and 84% percent of the respondents were females. The majority of our survey responders which was 94% are between the ages of 18-29. Also 70% of our responders were Hispanic and 16% were White. 69% of respondents that took our survey were pet owners and 43% percent of all respondents knew about animal abuse statistics that occur in the US.
One question that mostly all respondents didn't know was that in San Francisco 1.2 stray or abandoned animals are euthanized for every 1000 residents and that Fresno is 40 times higher making it one of the worst cities in the state. 33 respondents answered our first open ended question which asked if they felt any type of sympathy for abandoned animals on the street. The majority of them answered that it would be nice to give them a home or help them if they were able to. A lot of them also stated that they did feel sympathy and bad for these animals because it's a sad situation. 30 people answered our second open ended question which asked if they thought animals had rights. Everyone answered with yes stating that they are living creatures and that they deserve to be treated just like humans.
Overall I think our survey went well along with the results. For being a group of only 3 girls and having 35-40 people answer our survey I think is pretty good. One thing I think we could have done better was some advertise more so people can take our survey but overall I am happy with our results.
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